Thailand Guide
The north
San Kamphaeng Handicraft Highway
The road to San Kamphaeng, which extends due east from the end of Thanon Charoen Muang for 13km, is also known as the "Handicraft Highway": it's lined with every sort of shop and factory, where you can usually watch the craftsmen at work. The biggest concentrations are at Bo Sang, the "umbrella village", 9km from town, and at San Kamphaeng itself, once important for its kilns but now dedicated chiefly to silk-weaving. It's a worthwhile trip to watch age-old crafts in process, but the main problem is getting there. Frequent white pick-ups to San Kamphaeng leave Chiang Mai from the central Lamyai market, but it's difficult to decide when to get off if you don't know the area. You could sign up for a tour or hire a tuk-tuk for a few hundred baht, but the catch here is that the drivers will want to take you to the shops where they'll pick up a commission. The best way to go is by bicycle or motorbike, which allows you to stop where and when you please, but take care with the fast-moving traffic on the narrow road.