Apparently Henk de Jong has been there in 2006:
http://www.hsdejong.nl/myanmar/shan-state/indexes/kyaing-tong.html

Perhaps contact him by email.

I haven't been there, but many people do go to the area. The problem is that right now much of the area around Kengtung is closed due to fighting. Who knows what will be open a year from now.

You might ask any questions you have over on Thorntree, as there are plenty of travelers there who have been to Kengtung. That forum is just getting up and running again after being down for weeks, so it may take longer than usual to get answers.

Thank you Kathie for your response. I will check Thorntree. Where did not read that the area was closed.

Kengtung itself is not closed, but many of the nearby villages are closed. Someone reported recently being allowed to go to only a couple of nearby villages. Of course, the situation changes frequently, so hopefully, more of the area will be open when you go. When are you planning on going?

We are planning to go in January 2014. I appreciate the clarication. It would be sad to book that part of the trip and then go out of the way to that area and really not be able to experience the hill tribes.

We spent 5 nights in Kengtung in Feb 2012, and it was one of the highlights of our trip. You have to hire a guide to trek to the hill tribes and need a permit from the local immigration office in Kengtung, but your guide will arrange this for you and it's really no hassle. You cannot stay overnight in any of the villages, which means some long days trekking, especially as you have to drive to the trailheads. There were some villages that were off-limits, but that didn't affect us at all, and we had absolutely no problems.

If you want to experience areas that are still relatively unvisited by foreigners, I would definitely urge you to go. It takes some effort (and expense) to get to Kengtung which puts many people off, but it really is worth it. We were the only people staying at our guesthouse and we saw no other foreigners during our treks.

Here's a link to my photos of Kengtung and hill tribes we visited:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87697758@N07/sets/72157631641750478/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87697758@N07/sets/72157631642108402/

Forgot to say that Kengtung itself is an absolutely fascinating town. It has many monesteries and a wonderful market where you will see many people from the hill tribes buying and selling goods. We used to visit the market every morning with our guide to buy provisions to take to the villages we visited.

SarahAB- Thank you so much for your input. It seems not many people travel to Kengtung. I would love to be able to talk to you about your trip. My email is lisagreenacres@gmail.com if you are open to that.