Chiang Mai is an ancient city in northern Thailand that has successfully modernized while preserving its peaceful temples, shrines, and village traditions. It has a population that moves at a gentle pace and still has connections to rural village life. Surrounding Chiang Mai are rice fields, forests, hill tribes, and opportunities to explore the natural beauty of the region through activities like elephant encounters and trekking. Chiang Mai offers visitors a relaxed escape from the hustle of other Thai cities like Bangkok in its rich cultural heritage and lifestyle.

1. ChiangMaimeans‘newcity’,butinthisnorthern
Thaimetropolis,centuries-oldheritageandsimple
villagetraditionsstilltakecentrestage.
Words RUTH HESSEY
Heavenly
KINGDOM

3. T
OO OFTEN, A traveller’s search for nirvana
in Thailand seems to lead through a jumble of
cheap eats and raucous drinking holes, to a
scorching-hot beach covered in discarded
plastic straws and cocktail umbrellas.
There is an alternative. Tucked away in
the country’s cool, lofty north, there is an
escapee’s paradise called Chiang Mai.
While Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, is a bustling, chaotic
network of klongs (canals), concrete, highways and skyscrapers,
Chiang Mai has modernised itself without letting go of its
peaceful shrines and lily ponds. Bangkok clangs off the tongue
like cymbals in a melodrama, but the two syllables of the ancient
northern capital chime like temple bells.
Chiang Mai is located in a valley overlooked by the glittering
Buddhist sanctuary of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Surrounded
by 13th-century battlements, five antique gates and a tree-lined
moat, the citadel of the Lanna Kingdom (or northThailand, which
was once considered an independent state) was a trading hub
for hundreds of years. It still reverberates with the velveteen
tramp of hippies and the silver trinkets of the hill tribes —
although these days they are exchanging organic passionfruit
and strawberries, not opium. In flower-filled lanes, dozens
of gold-leaf wats (Buddhist temples) happily coexist alongside
chilled-out bars and ornately decorated restaurants.
Chiang Mai means ‘new city’, as it was built on the remains of
an earlier civilisation, with ramparts to defend it against invading
Mongols and Burmese. Rural villages flourish within 15 minutes
of the CBD and, although the city is growing fast, you can walk
from one end of the old town to the other in 30 minutes and cycle
safely round the entire city in about an hour. Every Sunday night,
the fabled Walking Street Market stretches from the Tha Phae
Gate along Ratchadamnoen Road, creating a ripple of musicians,
vendors, villagers, artists and craftspeople selling every ingenious
product, decoration, service and snack you can imagine.
CLOCKWISE Chiang
Mai’s old city wall and
moat; monks visit one of
the city’s waterfalls; Wat
Phra That Doi Suthep
Buddhist Sanctuary; giant
water lilies. PREVIOUS
PAGE Monks launch
lanterns during Loi
Krathong festival.
NORTHERN LIFE
Although the region is located far from
the sea, water is the reigning element. Fed
by the glaciers of the Himalayas to the
north, the Ping River snakes down Chiang
Mai’s eastern side. It is spanned by a series
of elegant bridges and flanked to the south
by giant teak trees, the likes of which
once covered the entire countryside.
All this makes Loi Krathong — the
annual full moon festival in which locals
give thanks and honour the water spirits
— more important to Lanna Thai people
than any other event on the calendar. In
late November, citizens of all ages flock to
the riverbanks to release lanterns into the
sky and floral tributes onto the water as
part of the two-day festivities.
Throughout the rest of the year, the
people of Chiang Mai move at a gentle clip.
Traditional Thai values are enshrined in
phrases such as mai bpen rai (it doesn’t
matter) and sanook mai? (was it fun?). You’ll
also hear people say sabai sabai (everything
is great) regularly, and the question all
northerners ask each other on a daily
basis: aroy mai? (is it tasty?).
DETAILS
NightBazaar Chang
Khlan Rd. Thamel
Coffee 2F 45–47
Kuang Men Rd; www.
thamelcoffee.jimdo.
com. Ton Lamyai
and Flower Markets
Praisanee Rd. Walking
Street Markets
Ratchadamnoen Rd.
WarorotMarket
Chang Moi Rd.
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5. EAT
MingMuang
(Nimmanahaeminda Rd)
serves consistently
delicious Thai food.
If you’re craving steak,
fries or pizza, LaVa
Cafe,Bar&Grill(183/15
Chang Klan Rd) delivers,
or try a risotto at Akyra
Manor’s Italics (22/2,
Nimmana Haeminda Rd,
Soi 9, www.theakyra.
com), known for its
innovative Italian food.
Modernity meets
colonial swank at
Rachamankha(6
Rachamankha 9 Phra
Singh; www.racha
mankha.com), a
beautiful hotel with
fine dining and live
music. AcchaFusion
India(Nimmana
Haeminda Rd, Soi 9) is
lively and great value
— and the vegetarian
tandoori platter is
a knockout. Baan
Jangarpor’s (71
Charoenprathet Rd)
serves northern
Thai cuisine in a
150-year-old teak
house, while LeSpice
(31 Charoenprathet,
Soi 6, Changklan Rd)
specialises in tender
tandoori. Visit Dhara
DheviCakeShop
(www.dharadhevi.com)
for coffee and cakes,
or the Amazing
Sandwich (20/2 Huey
Kaew Rd; www.amazing
sandwich.com) and
SmoothieBlues(32/8
Nimmana Haeminda
Rd, Soi 6) for a truly
western-style
breakfast. For eating
around the clock,
SomphetMarket
(Moon Muang Rd, Soi 6),
rolls out street food
day and night, and
ChiangMaiGate
Market contains a
cornucopia of village
treats open 24/7.

6. dwarfed by the huge
bolts of linen, silk, satin,
chiffon, seersucker and
lace. Venture down the
numerous side alleys for
bohemian treasures —
thinkvoluminous harem
pants, leather sandals or
scarves. You may even
find the alley with the
hill tribe tents — where
embroidered handbags
can be picked up for
less than $10 (they sell
for more than $100 in Australian boutiques). Don’t miss Thamel
Coffee on Kuang Men Road, just a block from Warorot. The cafe
has a Moroccan feel with hand-painted furniture and murals,
mosaic lanterns and wall hangings, but it serves pizza, a range of
ice-creams and cold fruit drinks. There’s no better place to
recover from the heat of the busy market.
Moving along on the eastern side of Warorot, right by the
river past the fresh produce stalls, the flower markets offer
exotic blooms of all description from roses, marigolds and
orchids to garlands of jasmine. You can cross the bridge here to
wander along Charoenraj Road on the other side of the river,
where old Chinese teak shophouses have turned into antique
shops and riverside eateries serving cheap authentic food.
GIFTS OF NATURE
The real beauty of Chiang Mai, however, is its proximity to the rice
fields and forested hills of the rural north. Within a few hours, you
can be living in the verdant highlands with the tribes, or trekking
over mountain ranges, past waterfalls and rapids overlooking the
Mekong. You can nuzzle elephants in the Golden Triangle
The affluent university precinct spills
out onto Nimmanahaeminda Road. It’s a
pleasant area — tree-lined sois (laneways)
branch off the main street and its student
population has encouraged a thriving
cafe and restaurant scene. It is also good
for pedicures, haircuts, art galleries and
fashionable boutiques, and some of the
smaller bars and hotels, such as the city’s
recently opened five-star Akyra Manor,
showcase a more playful side to modern
Chiang Mai. The award-winning boutique
hotel’s exterior facade was inspired by the
old citywall. Dating from the 13th century,
it survives in varying states of crumbled
brickwork throughout the old quarter.
Within walking distance of the old
town (or a short tuk-tuk ride away) is
another highlight of the city. The Night
Bazaar on Chang Khlan Road is as rowdy
as Nimmanahaeminda is intimate. It has
everything from American fast-food
palaces to market stalls stuffed with
textiles, clothing, souvenirs, and jade and
silver jewellery; footpaths are stacked with
little tents full of knick-knacks. There are
food courts off the main drag and, in the
back lanes, an interesting mix of ladyboy
bars and old mansions.
If you want to shop with the locals,
get down to Chinatown early in the
morning, before it gets too hot. Warorot
and Ton Lamyai Markets are two old-style
emporiums on opposite sides of the same
dusty street. They enclose a rabbit warren
of stalls and galleries where you can buy
almost anything from Thai snacks such as
dried fruit and sausages, to woks, clothes
and tools. The nearby streets are also
fantastic for buying fabrics. Dive inside the
cloth merchant’s maze and you’ll be
CLOCKWISE FROM
FAR LEFT Rice
paddies; bags for sale
at the Walking Street
Market; Rachamankha
restaurant; children of
Chiang Mai.
CULTURE
BehindtheNight
Bazaar written by
Australian crime
writer Angela Savage,
follows a hard-nosed
Aussie girl taking a
break from her private
detective work in
Bangkok to visit an old
friend in Chiang Mai.
Almost immediately
she is thrown into
the city’s underworld
and the arms of a
handsome undercover
cop. It’s great fun to
read while visiting the
actual places. One to
read before you go
(but best not to take
with you) is TheKing
NeverSmiles, by
Paul M Handley.
Banned in Thailand,
this unauthorised
biography of the
country’s longest
reigning monarch,
King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, provides
fascinating insights
into the courtly
intrigues which led
the idealistic young
king to the throne.
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7. (the point where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet) and there’s
even an alpine cloud forest on Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest
peak, located less than two hours to the west. Pai — about three
hours’s drive from Chiang Mai — is a beatnik town with music in
every cafe, while Chiang Rai, 200 kilometres to the north, is
famous for its wedding-cake architecture and lakes.
The Lisu hill tribes live a little closer to the city, about 1.5 hours
north. The Lisu people wandered here from Tibet and southern
China about 100 years ago, and after decades of poverty, found
prosperity in eco-tourism. Lisu Lodge is part of a community-
based project that aims to conserve the heritage of the tribes.
Women can be found at sewing machines making their iconic
candy-striped textiles, while a shaman will put on a showwith his
splendid headdress and plaintive stringed instrument. Gardens
surround the bamboo pavilions and colour is everywhere.
It’ll take you about two hours, but a trip to the mountains
of Doi Inthanon National Park can include a homestay with the
GETTING THERE VIRGIN AUSTRALIA OFFERS
FLIGHTS TO CHIANG MAI WITH ITS CODESHARE
PARTNER SINGAPORE AIRLINES/SILKAIR. TO
BOOK, VISIT WWW.VIRGINAUSTRALIA.COM
OR CALL 13 67 89 (IN AUSTRALIA).
Karen tribe, where a day spent wandering
through rainforest ends around a campfire
drinking moonshine under the stars. (Your
hosts will probably be shivering while you
enjoy the fresh 19-degrees-Celcius air.)
The Karen people are hard-working,
and despite many having converted to
Christianity, they have retained a strong
connection to the spirit world. They’re a lot
of fun and everyone contributes to village
life, young and old. But don’t expect hot
showers or a duck-down mattress here.
For all its metropolitan sophistication,
Chiang Mai remains a city where the
population still has one foot in the village.
Despite the impact of climate change
— which has brought low rainfall and
reduced crop yields to this notoriously
fertile landscape — life still revolves around
the timeless cycles of wet and dry; reap
and sow. It’s a place to remind yourself
that there’s really no hurry, no reason to
endlessly strive, no point in stress. It is the
Lanna Thai tradition to enjoy each day of
your life, just as it comes.
CLOCKWISEThe
baratAnantara
ChiangMaiResort;
aKarenwomanweaves
traditionalcloth;Akyra
Manor’squirkyexterior;
thelushDoiInthanon
NationalPark.
STAY
AkyraManor(www.
theakyra.com) is a sleek
boutique hotel in a
lovely part of town.
It has a pillow mist
menu, fabulous food
and terrific staff.
RarinJindaWellness
SpaResort(www.
rarinjinda.com), located
on one of Chiang
Mai’s most fascinating
streets, Charoenraj
Road, offers affordable
luxury by the river.
The boldly decorated
AnantaraChiang
MaiResort(www.
chiang-mai.anantara.
com) is a well-run
hotel, with colonial
bones and high
standards. For local
village culture,
TrikayaTours (pong@
trikayatours.com) will
organise a custom
tour and homestay
with the Karen hill
tribe. LisuLodge
(www.asian-oasis.com)
is community-run
and the Lisu tribe
are vivacious hosts.
The peace and quiet
here is as thick as
velvet. Another retreat
is KhumLanna(www.
asian-oasis.com), where
you can stay in an
exquisite teak house.
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