Chiang Mai (or Chiang Mai) is the second largest Thai city after Bangkok.
Once upon a time it was the capital of the separate kingdom of Lanna. Now Chiang Mai is a cultural and student center that is ideal for remote work and casual tourism.
Why go to Chiang Mai
Beyond the mountain trails, coffee plantations, hot springs, strawberry farms, ancient temples and trendy establishments.
When to go
Chiang Mai has three seasons.
- Cold season: November through February.
The best season to visit the north of the country: the temperature is 25-30℃ during the day and 14-20℃ at night, with no rain and no wind. November is also the Yi Peng Festival, where hundreds of burning paper lanterns are launched into the night sky at the same time. It is an ancient Lanna tradition to celebrate the end of the rainy season and the arrival of the cold season. It looks fabulous.
- Smog and heat season: March through May.
It’s not a good season to travel to Chiang Mai. The northern regions are the land of farmers. After “winter”, farmers (not only Thai but also Burmese) burn the oil cake left over from the harvest. Then, because of the heat, the dry wood starts to burn, and forest fires are added to the mix.
The intensity of the smog is different every year, in 2022 there was almost no smog, but in 2019 it was very heavy. I recommend installing the AirVisual app to monitor air quality.
- Rainy season: June through October.
The greenest, wettest and freshest season. If you don’t mind the ever cloudy skies, come and visit. The nature in this season is very beautiful and the prices are lower than in winter.
Money
The official currency is the Thai Baht (THB). A good exchange rate is usually available at SuperRich exchange offices. If you are changing money at Bangkok Airport, the SuperRich exchange office is located on the lowest floor, near the terminals for buying tickets for the express train to the city (signposted “City Train”). The Value Plus exchanger also offers an adequate exchange rate.
Transportation and how to get around
Motorcycle rental
The most popular way to get around in Chiang Mai and Thailand in general. You can rent a bike from 200 to 1500 THB per day. If you rent for a month, the price is lower. Good rentals are D2, Mango rental, Toons.
A passport and a deposit will be required for renting, no one checks your license at this stage.
Rent a car
Traffic in Chiang Mai is easier than in Bangkok, so you can easily rent a car. Considering that in the mountains the temperature can drop to 0 degrees (only on the very peaks and only in the cold season), a car would be the best solution for exploring the North of the country. I used the services of Budgetcatcher Rent A Car, the cost for a medium sedan is ~1200 THB per day.
Cab
Cabs in Chiang Mai are cheaper than in Bangkok and the islands, there are plenty of cars, so getting around inside the city by cab will not be a problem. The cheapest services are Indriver and Maxim, the most expensive is Grab. The average cost of a trip around the city is 60-150 THB.
Grab and Indriver also have a bike-taxi option; it’s cheap and you won’t have to stand in traffic. It is better to prefer Grab service, in this case a delivery worker in a branded uniform will come to pick you up – they have an additional helmet for the passenger. If you order a bike cab through Indriver, you will be picked up by a private driver who may not have a helmet or rearview mirror :).
If you catch a cab on the street, make sure the driver has a meter (Taxi-Meter) and has turned it on when boarding.
Knock, knock
Three-wheeled vehicle. One of the most expensive ways to get around, so bargain. You can check the cost per route in advance on cab apps. Tuk-tuks are more of an attraction than an everyday means of transportation.
Cycle rickshaws
The carriage bicycle, a mode of transportation not found in Bangkok or Pattaya. It holds only one person, is not very mobile and is more expensive than other transportation.
Songteo
Colorful pickup trucks with benches inside. They follow fixed routes, picking up and dropping off passengers. Fares start from 30 THB per person. If there are not enough passengers, the Songteo can take your route like a cab, then the price is negotiable.
Bicycles and scooters
Chiang Mai is a small city, if you plan to move around within the center and are not loaded with stuff, you can rent a scooter or bike. for example through the anywheel app or a regular rental company.
Communications and Internet
Internet in Thailand is super fast – 5G. This is also why Chiang Mai is constantly on the lists of the best places for digital nomads.
There are three operators in the country: AIS (or 1-2-call), DTAC (or Happy) and True Mobile. You can buy SIM cards at the airport, cell phone stores, and at Family Mart and 7/11 stores.
Where to live in Chiang Mai
1.The Old Town is the historical center. If you go for the first time, you should definitely come here: narrow streets, low-rise buildings, temples, a huge number of authentic guesthouses.
2. The Nimman neighborhood is youthful and modern. Nimman will appeal to fans of third wave coffee shops, ramen, shopping centers, instead of tourists here concentrates young people from all over Thailand. The only downside is that it can be noisy due to the bars and the airport nearby.
3. Night Bazaar and Ping River area – cheaper, lots of markets, but still close to all the attractions.
4. University (SMU) neighborhood – nearby is a large park with a lake, the not-so-famous Chiang Mai Zoo, Mt. Suthep, which means it will be cool and green.
5. The area near Chiangmai Centrale – suitable for long term commuters who have their own transportation, the area has a well developed infrastructure, a huge selection of new condominiums at an affordable price.
What to see in Chiang Mai
Temples
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is the most visited temple in Chiang Mai. It is located on Mount Suthep, which juts into the city. You can grab a couple of viewpoints on the way up to it, such as this one.
Wat Chedi Luang, a 15th century temple in the center of the old city, is featured on numerous postcards and souvenirs.
Wat Sri Suphan is a completely silver temple, looks very unusual, not so popular with tourists, and for nothing.
Parks
Nong Buak Haad Public Park is a tiny but very cozy park in the oldest city.
Angkaew Reservoir is a lake in University Park with a beautiful mountain panorama. Picnic, yoga, jog or bike ride – this way.
Royal Park Rajapruek is a huge park on the outskirts of the city with rose garden, greenhouse, lotuses.
Elephants
There are so many elephant conservation centers and sanctuaries in the north of Thailand, which gives a great opportunity to interact with elephants in a gentle way – feed, wash or walk in their company. No chair rides or show programs.
Elefin Farm & Cafe Elephantswith
A picturesque place 45 minutes from Chiang Mai. Elephants here are well-groomed and walk without chains and ropes. For 100 baht you can take a basket with fruit and feed them, you can even swim with them in the river. On the territory of the farm there is a cafe with Thai food and drinks.
Chai Lai Orchid Elephant Hotel
It’s not a hotel, it’s a few wooden huts in the jungle, where elephants come in the morning and you have breakfast with them. This option is called Elephant wake up call, the experience is unforgettable! It is advisable to book accommodation a couple of months in advance.
If you’re interested in something else entirely
MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum is a small contemporary art museum on the outskirts of the city. A great option to dilute temples and elephants. The museum has a store with nice souvenirs and a café.
Pong Yaeng Jungle Coaster & Zipline coaster- roller , zipline and other similar activities in the middle of the jungle.
The Booksmith Bookshop – A bookshop with books from London and a coffee shop.
The Cocoon Sauna & Ice bath is an herbal sauna with ice bath and salt pool. Located on the outskirts of town on the road to Doi Inthanon, a great option to warm up after the coldest point in Thailand.
Neighborhood Community is a public space of several floors, lots of tables, open terrace, where people come to work with their laptops, have a cocktail or eat pizza at Adirak Pizza. In the evenings there is live music, a DJ and lots of students hanging out.
here for sth – a store of women’s clothes that come from Korea. Very stylish things with a budget price tag.
Massage
There are thousands of massage parlors in Chiang Mai – and almost everywhere the services are of a high standard. That’s why we only list the unusual ones.
1. Supattra Blind Massage is a salon where massages are given to visually impaired people. Very simple in decoration, but the experience is truly extraordinary.
2. Chiang Mai Women Correctional Institution Vocational Training Center – here women ex-prisoners give massages. They do massage really well, so you will have something to tell your friends after your trip.
3. Senz Diva Massage is the place to go for a delicate erotic massage. And it is not Pattaya-style, but real practices like Yoni or Lingam massage. You can come here with a couple.
Where to eat: from streetfood to Michelin
Dippers
Tacos Bell is a macaroni stand (a mobile cart or tent with food) that opens after 8 p.m. and runs until midnight. The menu includes burritos, quesadillas, nachos, tacos – tourists from Mexico said they tasted better here than in their homeland. The tavern doesn’t have an address, so look for it around this point.
Michelin cafes and restaurants
- Khao Soi Mae Sai is the best street food cafe to try Khao Soi, a Northern Thai dish of curry, coconut milk, broth and two types of noodles that combines Muslim, Thai and Burmese traditions. Because of its inclusion in the Michelin list, there is always a queue of tourists and locals alike. But it goes quite quickly: about 20 minutes.
- Blackitch Artisan Kitchen – go here for a gastronomic adventure of 10-20 dishes. Tasting sets change periodically and on average cost 2200-2890 THB. But everyone who has tried it assures that it’s worth it.
- The House by Ginger is the food of the North of the country. Same Khao soi, but with a modern twist. Try it to compare with the street version!
Food places from other countries
Tom yam and Pad Thai are undoubtedly delicious, but Thai food gets boring quickly. For a change, there are a couple of places with European and non-European dishes.
- Hummus Chiangmai – the owner of this Israeli bistro personally greets and seats people. The hummus and shakshuka here are unrealistically tasty, and there is also a rarity – a children’s room. Hummus Chiangmai is such a successful project that the founder recently opened a second location in Bangkok.
- Auf der Au Garden is a German buffet for those who miss mashed potatoes and buffets. It costs very little – 220 THB for lunch and 270 THB for dinner, the choice is like in a 5-star hotel, even ice cream is included, all dishes are very tasty.
- 86 Eighty Six Ramen is a ramen shop that stays open until 2am and serves pork-free ramen from 98 baht. Located in the heart of the Nimman district.
- Why not – Italian restaurant, the menu is huge: Greek olives, New Zealand sauvignon blanc, tiramisu and, of course, pasta and pizza. It’s a great date night spot. Many products like mortadella and cheeses can be bought home.
What to drink
Tea
Thai Milk Tea – Thai Milk Tea is sold in any cafe and is made of strong black tea, milk and sugar (or condensed milk). Sometimes orange coloring and spices are added to the drink. It reminds of sweet tea from childhood, more often it can be found in a cold version with ice.
Try the Bubble Thai Milk Tea at Brown Cafe, which will have chewy tapioca balls. Fruit drinks are also good at this cafe, and you can replace the classic sweet balls with collagen balls (the country is obsessed with collagen).
Coffee
- Roast8ry Lab is a regular winner of coffee championships. Chiang Mai’s most famous coffee shop, one of the first third wave coffee shops in the city (operating since 2011). Expensive, stylish, crowded. Cold Brew, Flat White, coffee and martinis, micro-lots of coffee beans, barista courses – this place has it all.
- cnx is a coffee shop-photo zone, and inside there’s a mini Grand Canyon layout. Every angle is photogenic and so are the drinks, by the way.
- Graph is a chain of coffee shops for coffee gourmets. It has coffee with tomato and activated charcoal, microlots from Thai mountains and very beautiful serving. Also old-timers among coffee shops (operating since 2014), have a branch in Phuket.
- Pluto is the ultimate stylish cafe. Even those who don’t have Instagram, take out their phones and take photos. It is a full-fledged restaurant, you can eat steak here, or just drink very delicious cream-cheese coffee.
- Goodneighbor Cafe is an out-of-the-way but worthwhile breakfast spot. The menu includes bagels, which are baked right here with dozens of toppings. Coffee is also at the highest level: siphon, aeropress, funnel, when ordering any coffee they ask what kind of roast you want (the brightest flavor is light roast).
- SS1254372 Cafe – for eggs benedict and quinoa bowls, go here. This place with an unusual name and interior is adjacent to an art gallery. Another spot for breakfast and adding to your photo gallery from Chiang Mai.
- Taobin coffee machines – surprisingly, this machine has coffee that tastes better than some coffee shops and costs pennies. Look for the white machines with the turtle on the logo.
Something stronger
- The North Gate Jazz is a well-known jazz bar in Chiang Mai. Tuesday is the most popular night with something of an open mic. If you come in and see a crowd – don’t leave, try to sneak through it to the second floor, it’s usually much less crowded.
- Yayee Rooftop is a ruftop in the Nimman neighborhood for meeting the sunset with a cocktail. Over a cocktail, you can do some spotting: planes land and take off right over this neighborhood. Located on the roof of the hotel.
- Looper Co. is a coffee bar by day and a bar with great cocktails and atmosphere in the evening.
Shopping
Thais are very fond of markets – it’s much more than just buying and selling, so when you check in, your host will almost certainly tell you what and where the market is today. Be sure to go: the markets in Chiang Mai are very pleasant, quiet, and they sell not fakes or mass-market, but local inexpensive quality products.
1. One Nimman is a cozy European-looking courtyard with a tower in the center, lots of stylish off-grid stores, a decent food court, and the courtyard often hosts festivals and concerts.
2. Craft markets and stores – Chamcha Market, Prempracha (pottery store) and Baan Kang Wat, where local artisans live and sell their wares. It’s hard to single out one, I recommend checking out each one, they are small and authentic.
3. Sunday Market is a Sunday evening market in the Old Town. From 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. the whole street is closed off and turns into a market with food and clothes.
4. Central Festival is the largest shopping center with chain stores (Uniqlo, Zara, Decathlon).
5. Flower Market – located in Chinatown. Go to buy a bouquet of fresh orchids for 30 baht, and there is a fruit market a 10-minute walk away, where you can buy local strawberries.
Health care and insurance
Unfortunately, Thailand ranks number one in traffic accidents. Just in case, write down the names of the clinics. Bangkok Hospital and RAM Hospital have very good but expensive treatment, Sriphat and McCormick are slightly cheaper. The government-run Hang Dong Hospital, San Sai Hospital and Maharaj can also be used.
The easiest way to find insurance is through aggregators such as Cherehapu. If you are already in the country and the insurance you had before your trip has expired, you should now choose options with the “I am already traveling” option.
If there’s an urgent need to work
1. One Workspace is a tiny but comfortable co-working space with a coffee shop and a garden on the first floor. There are monitors for rent, a meeting room, Skype rooms, and daily/weekly/monthly subscriptions.
2. Punspace is a network of popular co-working spaces, all located in the center. A place not only for work, but also for networking, as this is where digital nomads from all over the world concentrate.
3. Alt ChiangMai – coliving & coworking space to close both the housing and coworking space issue at once.
What to see around Chiang Mai
San Kampaeng Hot Springs
A hot spring park 50 minutes from Chiang Mai. Here you can bathe in a warm pool or just soak your feet, and as an attraction, boil eggs in the hottest spring (98 degrees). Enterprising Thais sell eggs here in ready-made baskets with a string. Dip them into the boiling pool for 15 minutes and the snack is ready.
Doi Inthanon
National Park, home to Thailand’s highest point. At the top, the temperature drops to 0 degrees in December-January, so take warm clothes. It takes 1-1.5 hours to drive.
What to see in the park? Mae Ya Waterfall and Wachirathan Waterfall, Grand Pagoda Nabhapolbhumisiri, Kew Mae Pan nature trail trekking and a coffee break at 22 Aquarius Glamping Cafe. All this can be done in 1 day if you start from Chiang Mai at 7-8am.
Khun Chang Khian
A coffee village where you can see how coffee is grown and roasted, buy beans or drip coffee to go. In the same village, the sakura gardens at Khun Chang Khian Highland Agricultural Research Station bloom in January-February. It is an hour’s drive from Chingamai, 25-30 kilometers up the mountain serpentine.
The Giant Chiangmai Thailand
A restaurant in a huge tree. The place is a bit far from the city, but if you work out the logistics and drive past it, you can enjoy a beautiful view.
Pai
A small town 130 kilometers North of Chiang Mai. A mecca for backpackers and vegans, some go here as a Northern alternative to Pangan. Some go to Pai because of the road, a scenic serpentine with 762 turns.
Points of interest in Pai: creative space with Dacha Tree Cafe, Gallery & Deli, stylish farmhouse rentals from artist Art Farm Studio.
Points of interest in the area include Pai Canyon, Coffee in Love, Sai Ngam springhot , Nam Lod Cave and Kho Ku So Bamboo Bridge. And if you have time, you can drive to Dekdoi coffee jabo to watch the sunrise above the clouds, dangle your feet over the abyss and sip coffee.
Chiang Rai
The city with the same name is located even further north, closer to the border with Laos. Chiang RaiWat Khun White Temple is usually visited for the temples – white (RongWat Rong Suea Ten Blue Temple), blue (), black (Baan Dam Museum, which is not really a temple but a private museum) and a temple with a viewing platform right in the head of the statue (Wat Huay Pla Kang).
Just outside of town is the excellent Singha Park, which periodically hosts balloon festivals. Even without the festival, it’s nice to rent a bicycle and ride around the area.
Other interesting things in the area include tea plantations (Choui Fong Tea and Doi Mae Salong) and macadamia Leesoawmacadamia Coffee Shopplantations (), where you can try macadamia milk in addition to the nuts themselves.
There is also Golden Triangle Park near Chiang Rai. The Golden Triangle is the crossing point of three countries, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. You can walk across the bridge to Myanmar, walk in the neighboring country for a few hours and return without a new visa – but border rules may change.
Chiang Dao
For those who have traveled to all these locations, I recommend going to Chiang Dao. It is located at the foot of Doi Luang Chiang Dao, which looks like a wall with sharp peaks in the middle of the fields.
There are many campsites and hotels in this area. In addition to the views, visit the bat cave temple (Wat Tham Chiang Dao) and take photos at the Giant Trees Alley.
