When visitors come to Thailand, they tend to have a mental to-do list, derived from overheard stories at hostels, or the pages of a guide: ride an elephant, pet a tiger, eat a ripe mango, lay on the beach, and of course, visit a floating market. All of these things are possible, but the problem is, everyone else has the same idea too. Take Damnoen Saduak floating market, a Venus flytrap for swarms of tourists and avoided by Thais. But luckily, Bangkok, once called the ‘Venice of the East’, has rivers and canals twisting through in curlicues, and with them, numerous floating markets, including Bang Khla, Amphawa and most recently Bang Nam Pheung.

Partially floating market

Bang Nam Pheung is relatively new to the floating market scene, and unlike Damnoen Saduak, actually caters to locals. Situated just south of Bangkok in Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan province, Bang Nam Pheung is a designated agricultural zone, and the floating market was created to showcase the products of the region and stimulate the local economy. What makes Bang Nam Pheung different than most tourist destinations within Thailand is its emphasis on sustainability and eco-awareness, opting for banana leaves and coconut husks rather than the typical plastic bags in plastic bags in plastic bags.

Oyster omelette for your health.

The region is rich in natural resources, producing crops such as lemon, bitter gourd, bananas and mushrooms. Many of the stalls within the market sell only one kind of produce, or specialise in crafts made from raw materials native to the land, inspired by the One Tambon One Product initiative.

The floating market, which does not technically float, is an argosy of handicrafts you can’t find elsewhere, fresh produce, and delicious prepared food you can enjoy by the silty waters. The best way to tackle the market is by coming with an empty stomach in the early morning, and eating your way through to the very end. Once you're full, eat more. My floating market favourites? Tod man (fried catfish covered in a delectable sauce), oyster omelettes made to order, juicy Isaan sausage and coconut ice cream.

Soothing chimes to set the mood.

Reaching the floating market is no easy feat, but worth the trek. To make a day out of it, you can rent bicycles or a boat to journey down the river, visit the local Mon-style Buddhist temples, meander through Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and Botanical Garden, or even visit a haunted building and mystery lake. For a full Bang Nam Pheung excursion, stay overnight at Home Stay Bang Nampheung, or if you’re feeling like splurging, Bangkok Tree House, a luxury eco-hotel immersed in mangrove palms.

The market is open weekends 07:00-15:00, though vendors start packing up as early as 14:00. To avoid crowds and get the freshest foods, come as early as possible.

The easiest, yet most expensive way to reach Bang Nam Pheung (a 45 minute to one-and-a-half hour drive from central Bangkok), is by hiring a taxi for the full day (try Mr Kampol Srisomboon at 086 750 3634), as it will be more difficult to find a return taxi back to central Bangkok once you are there. You can also take the MRT to Klong Toei station or Queen Sirikit station, and from there, take a motorbike taxi or taxi to Klong Toei pier (Tha Klong pier). From the pier, take a longtail boat (10 baht) to Chaeng Pier on Ratrangsan Road, and then a motorbike, taxi, or songthaew to Bang Nam Pheung. Alternatively, you can take the BTS to Bang Na station, exiting from stairway #2, and then take a motorbike or taxi to Sanpawut pier, and from there, take a cross-river green ferry. From the other side, you must take a motorbike, taxi or songthaew to Bang Nam Pheung. You can also take an air-con bus to Phra Pradaeng from Victory Monument (#140), Chatuchak district (#138), or Bang Lampu (#82).

Home Stay Bang Nampheung
33/2 Moo 3, Bang Nam Pheung, Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan
T: (08) 9825 0107, (02) 461 0843
350-400 baht

Bangkok Tree House
Moo 1, Bang Nam Pheung, Samut Prakan
T: (082) 995 1150
Doubles from 4,690 baht/US$150
www.bangkoktreehouse.com

Tags: bangkok tree house, damnoen saduak, floating markets, markets, one tambon one product

In typical travel-hipster fashion, I covet my little-known, off-the-map, you-probably-haven’t-heard-of-it finds: the sidewalk bar that serves Isaan-style pork croquettes, vintage clothing on the abandoned floor of Union Mall, the, um, Japanese toilets at Terminal 21. My latest find? 1001 Nights Gallery, which is on the other side of the Chao Phraya River.

No Nescafe, I promise.

Conceptually, I felt like I was Moses taking a trip down the Nile in a woven basket, though in reality, it was just one BTS stop beyond Saphan Taksin. Below the gallery is the 'House of Commons' cafe, which is a peaceful, if not memorable, place to read or chat. The best part? There won’t be any fellow travellers there, feverishly highlighting their guidebooks and making you feel inadequate.

Contagious smiles.

Venture upstairs, and you will find 1001 Nights Gallery, the artistic baby of Zakariya Amataya. Amataya’s soft-spoken voice, whispy goatee, and unassuming posture do little to convey his role as the latest mover-and-shaker in Bangkok. He is someone to keep an eye on: a poet, political activist, and the first Muslim to win the Southeast Asian Writers Award. The son of illiterate farmers, Mataya writes mainly in Thai, which is not even his first language. He grew up in the deep south of Thailand bordering Malaysia, beyond the tropical paradise most tourists see. Having experienced the violence of the 'red zone' first-hand, his political inclinations inform, but do not define, his poetry. He writes in long, open-ended free verse, ripe with nostalgia, fear and hope.

It's poetry time.

His latest project, 1001 Nights Gallery, is an art space which nurtures open dialogue and positive change -- with poetry, movie, politics, philosophy, music and story nights attracting the young and the curious. While most events, presumably, will be in Thai, Amataya is making an effort to integrate English-friendly components. But don’t let the language issue be a barrier -- sometimes it’s nice to check out another culture’s niche events, even if you can’t understand the words; and the (budding) photography gallery requires only your eyes.

1001 Nights Gallery
666 Charoen Nakhon Rd, at the corner of Charoen Nakorn Soi 22 and opposite Shell Petrol Station
BTS: Krung Thon Buri
See their updates for future events

Tags: 1001 Nights Gallery, galleries

Living in a city where skyscrapers sprout like dandelions and Starbucks open alongside wats, it is easy to forgo historical sites for more modern lures. But Bangkok’s absurd concurrence of the old with the new is the nub of its charm, and the ancient sites are as worthy of a visit as Chatuchak market or rooftop bars. Whenever I show a visitor around in Bangkok, the first place I take them to is Wat Pho (also known as Temple of the Reclining Buddha, or Wat Phra Chetuphon).

Expect to feel small.

Because Bangkok is an easy transit hub to elsewhere in Thailand, tourists often spend under 24 hours in the capital. If you can choose only one site to visit along the Chao Phraya River – and I assure you that less is more on hot day with a tight schedule – get the highest dose of promethean beauty at Wat Pho, famous for its giant reclining Buddha statue. You’ll feel a bit like Jack in the face of his ogre at the top of the beanstalk, but in this case, the giant is a 43 metre long gold-plated statue with mother-of-pearl encrusted feet. Not too scary, right?

100 baht for beauty.

Wat Pho has undergone dramatic renovations over the course of multiple centuries, rendering it almost unrecognisable from its original structure. The temple could break a record with its number of records: it claims to be the oldest wat in Bangkok, with the largest reclining Buddha, and more Buddha images than any other temple in Thailand.

Molting gold

The complex also includes one of the oldest Thai massage schools, where skilled massage therapists continue to offer massages to this day (250 baht per hour for a body or foot massage, 350 baht per hour for a herbal massage, expect a wait and close quarters with fellow customers). This is a slightly above average rate for Thai massages in Bangkok, and if you're baht-pinching, you can find cheaper joints without a queue in nearby Chinatown, or an upscale ambience with reasonable prices at Health Land.

The temple’s museum showcases instruments and charts used in the ancient practice of Thai massage, though the curated indoor spaces are lacklustre compared to the reclining Buddha and temple structure itself.

Welcome, he says.

Wat Pho is within walking distance of the Grand Palace and a one-minute boat ride across the river from Wat Arun. Allow at least 40 minutes to explore the complex in full, and avoid weekends if you want to be able to admire the fine details of the relief plaques without being shoved.

You can make a day of visiting all of the tourist sites, or breakaway after Wat Pho for cool-down drinks at Viva & Aviv or literary high tea at the Mandarin Oriental.  Sweating under the hot sun for the sake of culture is worthy of a reward, right?

Taken at Wat Pho. What you most certainly should not wear.

Wat Pho is situated to the south of the Grand Palace between Thanons Thai Wang, Sanamchai, Chetupon and Mahathat. It's about a five-minute walk south of Sanam Luang and the entrance is on Thanon Thai Wang. Beware of touts insisting that the temple is closed. The closest pier for the Chao Phraya River Express is Tha Tien (N8), buses 1, 3, 25, 44, 48, 91, 503, 508 and 512 all stop nearby.

Wear appropriate clothing for a place of worship, covering your legs and shoulders.

Just a touch of xenophobia?

Open daily 08:00-17:00, admission 100 baht, including water.

Tags: temples, Wat Pho

When I heard the name V64, I envisioned a more advanced version of V8, the red juice with eight different vegetables treasured by mothers and juice masochists. But V64 Art Studio is named after Vibhavadi-Rangsit 64, the quiet street 20 minutes north of nowhere, which forms the base of some 75 artists in more than 30 studios.

A familiar scene given new dimensions.

“Who are V?” and “What do V do?” V64 says on its website. For anyone who has discovered how loosely the term gallery can be used in Thailand -- in some cases it's not unlike calling a stack of books a library or a box of band-aids a hospital -- then you've been conditioned to keep your expectations low.

An artistic jungle.

While I sat in the back of the taxi on the way to V64, watching the meter rise, I prayed there would at least be some street food near the studio to make the trip worth it.

An army of Victorian ladies and gents.

But V64 is unlike any other art space I have encountered in Bangkok, and powerful enough to wipe away any preconceived notions I had about the state of contemporary art in a country where funding art is a low priority, aside from the recently reviewed Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

An artist's process.

The space comprises a working art studio and residency, gallery, sculpture park, art academy and music school, community space, coffee shop and bar, and gift shop.

Scary, adorable, or both?

V64 was conceived by the artists in Section 7 of Chatuchak Market seeking a communal space that could support the thriving creative scene in Bangkok and allow for an interactive viewing experience.

Pretty yet dripping faces.

V64 may be ambitious in its endeavour, but the artists running the show look like they’re having too much fun to be concerned. The art is varied in its quality, which may just be the difference between great and greater. The general impression is of painstaking technical craft paired with refreshingly bold concepts.

A hi-so gallery space, replete with tea.

The artists occupy their spaces differently. One artist installed a dipping pool and hanging lights in a space no bigger than a freshman college dorm room, while another left barbed wire and open cans of paint on the ground, as either an artistic statement on the process of art, or a lazy cleaning job.

Dizzying wood.

The individual spaces together form an elaborate collage of different mediums, bursting with personality and demonstrating an earnest desire to create. Visitors are free to wander in and out of the sculpture park and galleries, which start to feel like a fun house at a carnival as you pass by distorted abstract murals and brass statues of open-mouthed demigods.

V64 Art Studio
143/19 Changwattana Soi 1
(Vibhavadi 64 Road), Bhangkhen Laksi, Bangkok
T: (02) 973 2681/2 or 089 143 0986 (mobile) ‎
BTS: Mo Chit
MRT: Chatuchak or Phahon Yothin (north)
From there, it's a 20 minute taxi ride. Ask your driver to take you to Changwattana Soi Neung (Soi 1)
Bus nos 510 & 29 pass by Vibhavadi Road
Open daily 10:30-20:30
Entrance is free. Art is priced according to the artist. The gift shop offers reasonably priced take-home items from many contributing artists. If you plan to stay around the northern Bangkok area, another thing to visit is the vintage clothing section of Union Mall in Lad Prao.
v64artstudio.com

Tags: galleries, V64 Art Studio

If you're searching for fine art, masterfully curated and periodically refreshed, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) is likely not for you. But if you define 'fine' as suitable for a lazy Bangkok weekend, the BACC is an ideal venue. The BACC does not demand much of your time or any of your money; you can rove in and out of the exhibits as you please, with no need for any order.

An artist working his magic.

The best feature of the BACC is not necessarily what hangs on its walls, but the structure itself: a modern collage of rounded corners and straight edges, with a spiral interior, twisting tightly like a shirt wrung out to dry. Even on weekends, the building remains empty compared to its bustling neighbour, MBK. Why furry iPhone cases and blonde hair extensions  are more sought after than art is grist for the aporia mill, but consider the extra leg room a blessing.

Start your visit at the cafe on the third floor, a cosy spot for basic coffee, tea, hot chocolate and homemade banana muffins. Then make your way through the small galleries, lined up in a row like a school dormitory. Due to a hazy mix of construction delays and bureaucratic red tape, some spaces are either unoccupied or half-occupied -- as if the artist went out to buy canvas tacks and never came back.

A post-modern exhibit on the art of movement. Or, an escalator.

Stop by the tables lining the galleries to admire the work of impressive local artists, where you can talk to them about their process and buy greeting cards and other knick-knacks to take home. The facility also features frequent art talks (in both English and Thai) and even a black-box theatre with mime artists.

A painting on display.

Though the BACC is by no means a trip to the Louvre, it is a pleasant space with the potential to support Bangkok's art community. Quirky, confused, and free of charge; a perfect way to spend a rainy day in Bangkok or an excuse to escape the heat.

BACC (Bangkok Art and Culture Centre)
39 Rama I Rd, Pathumwan
BTS: Connected to National Stadium, or a short walk from Siam
T: (02) 214 6630-1
www.bacc.or.th
Tue-Sun 10:00-21:00

Bangkok is for gluttons. There are practically as many food stalls as people. And with the reliable public transportation and cheap motorbikes, you can keep your heart beating at a leisurely low rate. If you need a day to get yourself back on a healthy track, here are some suggestions.

A trot, a jog, or a run through a Bangkok park.

06:00: Though Bangkok may feel like a city that never sleeps, millions are tucked away in their beds by nightfall and arise in the early hours of the morning.

Head to Queen Sirikit Park (part of the greater Chatuchak Park, open 04:30-21:00) and take a run or a stroll along a stretch of green. Also consider Lumpini Park near the Sala Deang BTS, or Benjasiri Park (Queen’s Park) near the Phrom Pong BTS. If it’s smack in the middle of hot season, from March to May, wake up even earlier to beat the heat. (Avid runners, be aware that the Laguna Phuket International Marathon is coming up on June 10 this year, while Nong Khai hosts a charity marathon on June 3 and Pattaya has a marathon in July.)

09:00: If you’re feeling ambitious, jog down Phahonyotin Road to Banana Family Park in Ari -- it's around three kilometres from Chatuchak Park, or you can take the BTS from Mo Chit to Ari, and then walk. At this healthy haven, munch on the vegetarian spring rolls, fresh sauteed vegetables, or fruit som tam and grab a bottle of diluted wheatgrass juice.

If you’re coming from another side of town, Ethos in Khao San Road, open at 9:00, or Rasayana Retreat: Living Food Café in Phrom Pong, open at 10:00, also make great healthy morning pick-me-ups.

12:00: Get a two-hour Thai full body massage. Throw in a facial or Thai herbal compress if you feel like you deserve an extra reward after your run. For a reliable massage in a hi-so ambiance, try Health Land Spa, with seven locations in Bangkok alone, including Asok and Sathorn. Book ahead of time to avoid a wait.

15:00: All that hard work in the spa means you'll have worked up an appetite. Go to a Gourmet Market or Villa Market, which are often connected to malls, and check out their salad bar or produce section, where they will have pre-packaged salads. The bar I frequent the most in Bangkok is the salad bar at the Gourmet Market in the ground level of Siam Paragon. If you are strategic with the weight of your vegetables, you won’t spend more than 100 baht, and you can get the dressing on the side. Just a warning: Gourmet Market is filled with delicious sweet goodies that are unavoidable to walk by on your way to the salad bar. Be strong! Take a walk around the mall to help your digestion.

17:00: As evening falls, it’s time for another workout. Gyms like California WOW Xperience in Asok, True Fitness and Fitness First require memberships to attend classes, but you can bargain with them for a one-day or three-day trial membership, sometimes even for free. Hinting that you are considering living in Bangkok long-term will help the free part. For a drop-in yoga class with no strings attached, Yoga Elements  in Chit Lom and Absolute Yoga, with multiple locations, both hold great classes. The hot yoga at Absolute Yoga is a guaranteed workout, and Yoga Elements is better to get your zen on.

Vegetarian food porn with accompanying ticket.

19:00: Treat yourself to a delicious vegetarian dinner at the cafeteria in Tops Supermarket, attached to Robinson Department Store in Asok. Open from 09:00-21:00 and adjacent to the bakery of Tops, you'll see a sign that says “Walee Vegetarian Food”. Opt for the brown rice with two sides for 40 baht. Pay first at the ticket counter, where you will receive tickets in five and 20 baht denominations. When you are done, return to the counter to refund any tickets you have not used.

You have just completed a healthy day in Bangkok. Reward yourself with some fresh-squeezed beetroot, apple, carrot and celery juice for 60 baht at Tops.

Tags: massage, parks, vegetarian food, yoga

Feeling bored in Bangkok? Have you dried up like a coconut husk from a lack of excitement? It's time for a day of random travel, Bangkok style. Random travel is simply that: motion for the sake of moving. The details of a culture are definitely written in the way that daily life is lived -- Thailand is at its most interesting when it doesn't know it's being watched. The Grand Palace and famous wats are great, but wandering away from it all can be a rewarding view into the way that Thais really live -- monks on alms rounds, groups of school children on their way home, motorcycle cab drivers napping the hot afternoon away.

Open windows, cold beer, palm trees. WIN.

A good way to spend an afternoon is to ride one of the commuter trains out into the suburbs and take a look around. Train timetables can be found online at the State Railway of Thailand's website and once you arrive it's time to explore the Thai way: by eating and walking around.

Our normal itinerary is a snack, then search for a temple or wat (or whatever -- this is how we once found a random museum of looms used to weave in Hua Thake), then some green space for a bit of a rest (and an iced coffee), then more food, and then back on the train home.

Most commuter trains run quite often so it's easy to manage an afternoon without risking being stuck (although there's nearly always a way back) -- just ask the ticket agent to book you a return when you leave to ensure there is an inbound train.

On the train to Mahachai.

Bangkok is big and spread out, but grab a window seat and watch the suburbs give way to rice paddy, coconut palms, and water buffalo in the course of an hour -- travel in the most freeing sense of the word!

Tags: Grand Palace, trains

Jim Thompson was a designer, a silk magnate, a Thailophile, and, incidentally, a spy for the West. The history of his undercover involvement in the OSS and the personal politics of his later years are both fascinating and widely misrepresented. But at the Jim Thompson House in Bangkok, you will hear about none of this.

The manicured, yet delightful gardens.

The Jim Thompson House is less a journey through history than a window shopping tour -- where everything is old, quietly beautiful, and unfortunately not-for-sale. The lair of one of the most legendary men in Thailand in the 20th century is surprisingly quaint, with verdant gardens, rooms filled with porcelain ware, and sloping walls constructed without a single nail. Of the Bangkok house tour circuit, Jim Thompson’s should be the first on your list.

The museum is well-maintained and efficient, directing each group of wide-eyed tourists through the house in precise 30-minute increments, allowing you just enough time to casually admire the wood panelling beneath the windows and black and white tiles of the entryway. Like most museum tours, sanitised tidbits of information are delivered piecemeal and in monotone, and fall short on real historical insight, but joining a tour of the house is the only way you'll get to see it.

It'll almost feel like you live there.

A carefree way to spend a Saturday or Sunday in Bangkok, the Jim Thompson House is an oasis of green in a concrete city. For only 100 baht for adults, and 50 baht for those under 25 (or students), marvel at the beauty of a home carefully curated by the man who single-handedly revived the Thai silk industry.

You can see a lot, learn a little, and shop at the gift shop when you're done. Take home a Jim Thompson postcard (10 baht) or a print of an ancient map of Thailand (150 baht). For a greater understanding of the man of the house, read The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War by Joshua Kurlantzick (currently not sold at the museum).

Jim Thompson's House
Open daily 09:00-17:00
6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road
T: (02) 216-7368
www.jimthompson.com
Guided tours are compulsory and offered  in Thai, English, French, and Japanese.

The museum is a five-minute walk from the National Stadium BTS station, and a five-minute cab ride from Ratchathewi BTS Station.

Tags: Jim Thompson, silk, wooden homes

Oh, glorious weekends. They can never come soon enough, but when they do, we can be paralysed by the choices of things to do in Bangkok; lying prone in your hotel room, watching Thai soaps with the AC on full blast, is always a tempting option. But you're in the city of angels, damn it!  When you're done sleeping off your hangover from Friday night's pub crawl or the diabetes-inducing mojitos at Bar 23, check out the activities below, which can each soak up an entire lazy day if you let them. Some are more kid-friendly than others (aka, don't take your three year-old wakeboarding).

Sleepy Bangkok street.

Picnic in Lumpini Park

Hello, nature! I almost forgot you existed. Real, live, carbon-monoxide absorbing trees are hard to come by in this urban jungle. If you're not stuck inside during a monsoon in Bangkok, grab a picnic blanket and maybe even a loaf of french bread and soak in that beautiful oxygen.
Open daily 05:00-20:00
BTS: Saladaeng and Ratchadamri
MRT: Silom, Lumpini

Chatuchak Market

The whole city might have the same idea, but JJ Market is Bangkok's signature weekend activity -- shopping until your feet bleed and the inside of your wallet is a gaping chasm of despair. Yes, it's that traumatic. But still worth a trip!
Open Saturday and Sunday, 09:00-18:00
BTS: Mo Chit
MRT: Suan Chatuchak or Kamphaengphet

Practical and sparkly things at Chatuchak Market.

Wakeboarding at Lake Taco

Described by my fellow Travelfish.org correspondent Brock as "the most ridiculous lake ever", Lake Taco is a confusion between a lake, pond, and a Mexican delicacy. Dive in the water or sit on the deck chair for a weekend day that will make you feel like you're back at summer camp.
Open Monday to Friday 12:00-18:00, and Saturday and Sunday 10:00-18:00.
BTS: Udom Sok, then a taxi ride to Soi Wat Luang Porto

Siam Ocean World

Walk through an underwater tunnel. Take a glass bottom boat and explore the flora and fauna. Watch the cute little terrifying sharkies get fed. Feel like you are underwater when indeed you are dry. Scores of people (and their entire extended family) will be there as well, so go in the morning or evening if you don't like to interact with fellow humans.
Open daily 10:00-21:00
B1 and B2 of Siam Paragon Shopping Complex
BTS: Siam
www.siamoceanworld.co.th

Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

Wats and artifacts aside, finding modern art in Bangkok has paid off as much as my search for quality cheese. But the BACC has exhibits that change frequently, and is an interesting window into the growing Thai art scene. Explore the small cafes and stores inside, where you can purchase Thai art books and old movie posters.
Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-21:00
939 Rama 1 Road, across from MBK
BTS: National Stadium
www.bacc.or.th

Tags: Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Chatuchak, Lumpini, Siam Ocean World, wakeboarding

The two cities that are arguably the most popular for travellers in Thailand, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, clearly have a lot to offer. How do they compare, in a nutshell? (Yes, we know we're succumbing to some cliches here, but it's part of the fun...)

Chiang Mai's Chinatown: Street food for all.

The food
Chiang Mai: Signature khao soi; Isaan papaya salad, spiced just how you like it. Bangkok: Juicy mangoes. Grilled prawns. Korean kimchi. Pad Thai. Sushi boats. Anything, anywhere, any hour of the night.

Bangkok, you so fancy.

The culture
Chiang Mai: Farang-friendly to a fault; wheatgrass shots and blowzy dharma bums. Bangkok: A harsher collide between the developing world and global modernity. Burger Kings by time-worn wats.

The livestock of Chiang Mai

The pull
Chiang Mai: Come for a few days to visit, get a teaching job, leave three years later. Bangkok: Permanent expats in business suits; sweaty tourists passing through.

The night life
Chiang Mai:  Happy hour by the Ping River, laidback evenings and all-night parties. Bangkok: Where Asia comes to party, British pubs and chilled-out lounges, exclusive clubs and cover fees.

Careful with your life when crossing streets in Bangkok.

The locale
Chiang Mai: Forty minutes from limestone caves and outdoor adventures. A weekend trip to the Burmese border. Bangkok: Two hours to Kanchanburi and Khao Yai, three hours to Koh Samet and Hua Hin, a plane ride to anywhere.

The shopping
Chiang Mai: Hilltribe pompoms and pillow cases, weekend bazaars and cultural festivals. Bangkok: Chatuchak craziness. Malls and malls and more malls. International brands, with Western styles.

Tags: bangkok versus chiang mai, bangkok vs. chiang mai, best thai city, chiang mai versus bangkok