Chiang Mai
Thailand
- Cityscape
- Moated ruins and bright boutiques
- City life
- Slow, steady and sassy
There’s no city that better symbolises Thailand’s diverse cultural heritage and modern aspirations than Chiang Mai: tour buses crowd Burmese-style temples and ornately carved teak houses; vendors in hilltribe costumes ply souvenirs beside fast food outlets.
Until 1938, Chiang Mai was the sleepy capital of the ancient Lanna kingdom. Filled with splendid temples, saffron-robed monks and dusty tracks, the venerable walled city retained most of its somnambulant charm right up until the late 1980s and the arrival of mass tourism. These days, if you spend some time wandering the back streets of the old city you can still find the remnants of its previous life. Juxtaposed with this peaceful heritage is a raft of cool design, creative youth and frenetic activity.
Pictured: Puripunn
Boutique hotels in Chiang Mai
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and boutique hotels in Chiang Mai
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Getting there
Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
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Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Chiang Mai has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
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Eating, drinking & dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Chiang Mai.
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Smith Maps
Here is the map of Chiang Mai; each Mr & Mrs Smith hotel is marked by a flag; click it for more details.
moreLocal knowledge
- Taxis
- There are few metered taxis in Chiang Mai. Three-wheeled tuk tuks are ubiquitous, but tend to charge foreigners (‘farangs’) double fares. There are also numerous songtaew (covered pick-ups with two bench rows in the back), which run specific routes (THB10–40) and can also be rented by the hour or for certain trips – negotiate a price beforehand.
- Tipping culture
- A 10 per cent service charge is included in most bills although this rarely filters back to staff. Feel free to tip if you are pleased with the service.
- Siesta and Fiesta
- Business hours are between 8 or 8.30am and 5.30pm on weekdays; banks usually operate between 9.30am and 3.30pm. Many mall-based shops are open between 10am and 9pm. Some stores in nightlife areas open very late to keep up with the bars and casual restaurants open until 1am or 2am.
- Packing tips
- Chiang Mai is cool and casual. Pack your favourite pair of Jesus sandals, lots of sunscreen and your biggest pair of sunglasses. Gents might want trousers for the evening. When walking (or driving) around, bring along a lot of water.
- Recommended reads
- If you aren’t familiar with the infamous story of Jim Thompson, the American businessman and founder of the eponymous, monolithic Thai silk business who strolled off into the jungles of Malaysia in 1967 and was never seen again, pick up William Warren’s Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery. SP Somtow’s Jasmine Nights is a quirky read that follows a 12-year-old protagonist as he deals with life on an isolated Thai estate. Smoking Poppy by Graham Joyce is the tale of a father trying to spring his daughter, locked up on a drug smuggling charge, from a Thai prison.
- Cuisine
- Northern Thai cuisine is very different from the food most travellers’ experience in Bangkok – most noticeably in northerners’ preference for ‘sticky rice’, which locals roll into small balls before eating. Curries, which can be deathly hot in Central Thailand, are also slightly milder here. Everyone goes gaga over the local pork sausages, called naem, eaten with raw cabbage and chilli sauce. Try these at Warorot Market (Corner of Changmoi and Witchayanon Roads). Probably the best known dish from the region is khao soi: yellow noodles served in a bowl of mild chicken curry.
- Currency
- Thai baht. £1 is approximately THB65.
- Time zone
- GMT +7 hours
- Dialing codes
- The country code for Thailand is +66. The area code for Chiang Mai is 053. Drop the ‘0’ when calling from overseas.
- Do go/don't go
- The weather is nice and cool between December and February, or at least cool by Thai standards. March through May is unbearably hot. Also, while the mid-April Songkran water festival might be fun for some, for many it’s just plain hazardous.
