Thailand Guide
The north
Chiang Mai
CHIANG MAI is Thailand's second city, famous for it easy-going ambience and an old quarter that's retained many of its traditional wooden houses and quiet, leafy gardens. Elegant temples are the primary tourist sights, but these are no pre-packaged museum pieces – they're living community centres, where you're quite likely to be approached by monks keen to practise their English. Inviting craft shops, good-value accommodation, rich cuisine and a tempting number of courses, in everything from Thai cookery to traditional massage, further enhance the city's allure, making Chiang Mai a place that detains many travellers longer than they expected.
Several festivals attract throngs of visitors here too: Chiang Mai is considered one of the best places in Thailand to see in the Thai New Year – Songkhran – in mid-April, and to celebrate Loy Krathong at the full moon in November, when thousands of candles are floated down the Ping River in lotus-leaf boats.
The most famous and fascinating temples in the city – Wat Phra Singh, Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Chiang Man – are clustered conveniently close to each other in the old town, though the main local place of pilgrimage, for Buddhists and tourists alike, is Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, which glitters in the sun from its perch some 1300 metres up the neighbouring mountain. The city is also well-endowed with museums: the Arts and Cultural Centre in the old town for high-quality displays on Chiang Mai and Lanna culture, the National Museum to the north for the best of the region's historical artefacts, and, further north again, the Tribal Museum for a useful introduction to the hill-tribes of northern Thailand.
Beyond the city limits, a number of other day-trips can be made, such as to the ancient temples of Lamphun or to the orchid farms and elephant shows of the Mae Sa valley – and, of course, Chiang Mai is the main centre for hill-tribe trekking.
Activities
1 Chiangmai Green Alternative Tours 31 Thanon Chiangmai– Lamphun 053 247374 or 084 611 1711 www.chiangmaigreen.com Eco-friendly and culturally sensitive operation that offers a fascinating diversity of worthwhile nature field trips. Sharing the proceeds with knowledgeable local guides, they can take you up Doi Suthep, Doi Inthanon or Doi Chiang Dao, be it for bird-watching or even seed-collecting, in association with Chiang Mai University, to learn about local plant species. You can also visit a local organic farm for one or two days.
2 Chiang Mai Mountain Biking 1 Thanon Samlarn 081 024 7046 www.mountainbikingchiangmai.com Mountain-biking trips, ranging from single-track downhill rides, mostly on Doi Suthep, to cross-country leisure or hike-and-bike trips.
3 Chiang Mai Rock Climbing Adventures 55/3 Thanon Ratchaphakinai 053 207102 or 086 911 1470 www.thailandclimbing.com Runs climbing courses to Crazy Horse, Buttress, a limestone outcrop in the San Kamphaeng area, 50km east of town, which offers highly varied climbing with more than seventy routes, as well as caving courses, and offer equipment rental and sales, private guides and a partner-finding service.
4 Click and Travel 158/40 Thanon Chiang Mai– Hod 053 281553 www.clickandtravelonline.com www.chiangmaicycling.org Cycling tours of Chiang Mai and the north, lasting from half a day to two weeks.
5 Contact Travel Chiangmailand, 420/3 Thanon Chang Klan 053 204664–5 www.activethailand.com Sells a wide range of adventure tours, including whitewater rafting, trekking, cycling and kayaking.
6 Eagle House Treks 16 Soi 3, Thanon Chang Moi Kao 053 235387 www.eaglehouse.com Runs the standard type of trek, with elephants and rafting, but to carefully chosen quiet areas and with an educational bent, and passes on a proportion of costs towards funding projects in hill-tribe villages.
7 Flight of the Gibbon 112/9 Tasala 089 970 5511 www.treetopasia.com Offers full-day rainforest canopy tours on zip lines and sky bridges.
8 Kayak rental Wat Faham, Thanon Fa Ham Kayak rental for a gentle independent paddle up and down the Ping River in town. Price: B100
9 Mae Ping River Cruises Depart from the jetty beside the Wawee Coffee restaurant, on the east bank just north of Nawarat Bridge 053 274822 or 081 884 4621 www.maepingrivercruise.com Cruises in a converted rice barge along the Ping River, through lush countryside north of town Opening time: Boats leave every couple of hours and take 1hr 40minPrice: B250
10 The Peak Thanon Chang Klan 053 800567–8 www.thepeakadventure.com Has a fifteen-metre rock-climbing wall where you can take one-day courses and arrange climbing trips to Crazy Horse Buttress, a limestone outcrop in the San Kamphaeng area, 50km east of town, which offers highly varied climbing with more than seventy routes, or Kiew Lom Reservoir near Lampang, including camping and kayaking, as well as climbing and caving trips in the Soppong area and abseiling down Vachiratharn Falls at Doi Inthanon.
11 Scorpion-tailed boat cruises Depart from a pier on Thanon Charoenrat north of Nakhon Ping Bridge 081 960 9398 www.scorpiontailed.com Opening time: 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm; 1hr 30minPrice: B500 per person Boat cruises down the River Ping in a reconstruction of vessels that plied the river a century ago.
12 Trekking Collective 3/5 Thanon Loi Khro 053 280340 www.trekkingcollective.com Pricey but high-quality customized treks from one to ten days and can cater for specific interests such as bird-watching; it is involved in community programmes to help tribal people.
Courses in Chiang Mai
1 AUA Thai Language Courses 24 Thanon Ratchdamnoen ( 
053 277951 or 053 278407 
www.learnthaiinchiangmai.com The longest-established and best place to learn Thai, and certified by the Ministry of Education. Several levels of classes are offered, starting with spoken Thai for beginners (60hr over about 6 weeks; B4200), with class sizes limited to 5–12 students. Individual and small-group instruction can also be arranged, starting from B290 per hour for 1–2 students.
2 Baan Thai Cookery School 11 Soi 5, Thanon Ratchdamnoen 053 357339 www.baanthaicookery.com Thai cooking classes, day and evenng. Price: B700-900
3 Chetawan Thai Traditional Massage School 7/1–2 Soi Samud Lanna, Thanon Pracha Uthit 053 410360–1 www.watpomassage.com Massage school affiliated with Bangkok's world famous centre of traditional Thai massage, Wat Pho. which offers thirty-hour courses (6hr/day for 5 days) in traditional Thai massage or foot massage (B6500).
4 Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School 47/2 Thanon Moonmuang 053 206388 www.thaicookeryschool.com The original, and still the best, of Chiang Mai's many cookery schools. Offer courses of one to five days, covering common Thai and one or two traditional Lanna dishes, including the use of substitute ingredients available in the West. Each day begins with either an introduction to Thai ingredients, shopping in the market, making curry pastes or vegetable carving. Price: B990– B4600
5 Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School 2/2 Soi 5, Thanon Ratchdamnoen 081 288 5989 www.thaifarmcooking.com Cookery school which offers something slightly different, with the chance to pick your own organic vegetables, herbs and fruits for cooking on their farm, thirty minutes' drive from town (transport provided). Vegetarian, vegan and 3-day courses also possible. Price: B900/day
6 Lanna Muay Thai 161 Soi Chang Kian, Thanon Huai Kaeo 053 892102 or 081 951 3164 www.lannamuaythai.com Thai boxing classes.
7 Mae Sa Crafts Village In the Mae Sa valley near Mae Rim 053 290052maesa2@cm.ksc.co.th Teaches north Thai crafts such as making paper, umbrella painting and batik dyein. Live-in accommodation, with swimming pool, also available.
8 Naisuan House Off Thanon Doi Saket Kao 081 706 7406 www.taichithailand.com Introduction to t'ai chi in an eight-day programme.
9 Northern Insight Meditation Centre At Wat Ram Poeng (aka Wat Tapotaram), Thanon Canal; near Wat Umong 053 278620 www.palikanon.com/vipassana/tapotaram/tapotaram.htm Holds disciplined Vipassana meditation courses (with a rule of silence, no food after noon and so on), taught by Thai monks with translators. The minimum stay is ten days, with a basic course lasting 26 days, and payment is by donation.
10 Nova 201 Thanon Tha Pae 053 273058 www.nova-collection.com Teaches jewellery making in one- to five-day workshops.
11 Old Medicine Hospital Off Thanon Wualai, opposite the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center 053 275085 or 053 201663 www.thaimassageschool.ac.th Chiang Mai's longest-established centre for courses in traditional Thai massage runs highly respected ten-day courses in English (B5000), under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. They're held twice a month, though the group size can get a bit too big at popular times; two-day foot massage courses are held at weekends.
12 TMC To the northeast of town on the Mae Jo road, 2km beyond the Superhighway 053 854330 www.tmcschool.com Teaches three main courses in Thai massage, each taking five days, with the foundation course costing B7500. A three-day version of the foundation course is also taught (B6500), as well as reflexology (2 days; B3200) and self-stretching exercises (1 day; B3000). All courses include transportation and lunch.
13 Thai Dance Institute 53 Thanon Kohklong 053 801375–6 www.thaidanceinstitute.com Lessons in Thai dance.
14 Yoga Studio 65/1 Thanon Arak www.yoga-chiangmai.com Yoga courses.
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