A fraction of the size of Chiang Mai's more famous night bazaar, the mini version in downtown Chiang Rai is still a pleasant place for an evening stroll and an excellent option for snacks and a beer or dinner.

Entrance to the small night bazaar in Chiang Rai.

The offerings are similar, though much reduced in choice, to the Chiang Mai version: hill-tribe handicrafts, pirated DVDs, T-shirts, carved soap candles and so on -- though how many Hmong shoulder bags can one possibly need?

Same same, but not different.

What we do like at the Chiang Rai market and we feel make it a worthwhile evening destination are the excellent eating and drinking areas -- a nice alternative to Chiang Rai's other eating spots.

Crickets, beetles, worms or ants?

There are two adjacent sections, one comprised of nice wooden furniture and waitstaff wearing north Thai costumes, and another more aimed at locals with aluminium chairs and staff in jeans and T-shirts. The former has all the usual Thai and north Thai dishes and a very tasteful traditional Lanna dance show (though you may have to put up with a guitarist singing Hotel California between dances), while the latter has live Thai rock and country bands, cheap draught beer and lots of fried insects and snack food.

Beer snacks for sale

Both areas are reasonably priced and fun and personally we like to have a couple of pre-dinner drinks and snacks in the local area, move to the nearby "tourist" section for dinner then perhaps head back over the soi to catch a local band or game on the big screen TV.

North Thai traditional dance.

The night bazaar's open daily from dusk until midnight-ish, and is located off the main drag, Phaholyothin Road (see map).

Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?

Tags: Hotel California, Lanna dance, markets

The Thai Premier League football season kicked off last weekend with the usual suspects installed as hot pre-season favourites: Buriram Utd (last season's winners as Buriram PEA), Chonburi FC and Nonthaburi's Muang Thong Utd and with no less than two North Thai teams in the line-up as well: Chiang Rai Utd and TTM Chiang Mai. Hang on... Chiang Mai? They were wallowing in the lower reaches of the second tier last time we looked -- they're rubbish -- how did they get there?

Live EPL games are a huge draw for Thai bars and restaurants

Well, in fact Chiang Mai FC are still in the first division and TTM Chiang Mai are no relation to them and indeed didn't actually exist last year. TTM, which stands for Thai Tobacco Monopoly, began playing in Samut Sakhon, moved to Phichit a couple of years ago and then upped and moved to Chiang Mai during the closed season. Each move was apparently for "political reasons" but firstly the Bangkok suburbs already have quite a few established Premier League teams such as Muang Tong, Bangkok Glass, Port, BEC Tero, Insee and so on and secondly Pichit isn't, let's face it, very sexy. Maybe the owners noted a lack of Premier League teams in Thailand's second city saw a good opening?

TTM are one of the oldest Thai teams, being founded in 1963, and actually won the Thai Premier in 2005. Chiang Mai FC (formerly Chiang Mai Utd) have never won much (well, except Regional League, Northern Division in 2010), and are not great but they do have reasonable support in the city. Many Chiang Mai football fans are not happy about suddenly being presented with a new Premier League team from out of the city and would much prefer to continue to support the old Chiang Mai FC even if they are pretty awful.  (See this clip of a packed ground for a second division, third tier game against Buriram FC), although when you watch their excellent promo clip here you may agree they'd be better off moving into marketing than sticking at sport!?

Suddenly upping and moving entire teams across the country for political or business reasons is common practice in Thailand, and it certainly makes life confusing for supporters. Just in the inter-season break this year Buriram PEA merged with Buriram FC of the second division to become Buriram Utd  -- this might have been done for domestic harmony, since Thai politician and PEA owner Newin's wife happened to run Buriram FC; and Si Saket relocated to Ubon and changed their name to Isan Utd. Worse still, Songhkla based Wuachon Utd, who received their Premier League place by default after Buriram FC  didn't take up their promotion place due to the merger with their city neighbours, now find themselves playing "home" games 1,500 km away in Buriram.

Football's popular even in areas such as this mountain top Hmong village near Chiang Mai.

It's a shame that the Thai FA allows this sort of stuff to go on since it does make a bit of a mockery of a football championship that clearly has a lot of potential. Some of the top teams play half decent football, compete with some success in Asian football tournaments and have good support; we reckon it's always a nice change to see a Thai wearing their home colours of Chiang Mai FC or Buriram PEA rather than the ubiquitous Man Utd or Liverpool shirts. (Check out this clip of Buriram's very impressive travelling army, which would be the envy of certain EPL teams, or another of the awesome Muang Thong Ultras doing a worthy impression of the Anfield Kop.) Many of these teams, especially those in towns with large expat communities such as Pattaya or Chiang Mai, also count many farang fans among their supporters.

Hmong lad all dressed up in his Chelsea kit. Shame he's not wearing Chiang Mai FC colours!

Just to show we're not biased here's a link to Chiang Rai Utd -- the Fighting Beetles -- who are mid-table kind of team but who, as far as we know, got there on their own merit without merging with anyone else or suddenly relocating from Nakhon Nowhere. Lamphun and Lampang both currently play in Regional League Northern Division 2.

Chiang Rai Utd play at the Mae Fah Luang Stadium while Chiang Mai FC and TTM Chiang Mai share the 700 year old Stadium. Most matches are played on Sundays; check the relevant links above for fixtures.

Tags: footbal, Thai Premier League

Maybe I'm a cynical old whatever but... "monk chat club" sounds a little like monk feeding time in Luang Prabang. Not that it's the tourists' fault: the monks seem more than happy to go along with it. Luang Prabang novices have never been so well fed and Wat Chedi Luang donation boxes are brimming. But is this a laudable attempt by an ancient religion to move with the times or merely Buddhism's modern day adherents jumping on the bandwagon of 21st century commercialism?

Ready to chat.

What is a 'monk chat' you may well be wondering? In wats frequented by tourists there are sitting areas set aside where m0nks who can speak some English, and or who would like to improve their English-language skills, make themselves available for informal chats with tourists.

Come to join us....

Obviously highly dependent upon their language skills -- and for that matter the English skills of the visitors since we haven't seen many monks yet who can converse in French or Hebrew -- but the 'chat' or conversation could be about Buddhism, Thailand, Chiang Mai or anything you want really. It could be questions on finer points of Theravada doctrine or just 'my girlfriend doesn't understand me, what should I do'; but if you bear in mind a popular question for Thais for a monk is 'what number should I play in the lottery', it certainly doesn't need to be anything especially profound.

"Hmm... still reckon Spurs deserved a draw though."

Again, these monks may often be novices or young lads and even if you have genuine questions on the finer points of doctrine don't necessarily expect detailed answers, though of course you can still expect an interesting chat about some of the basics: their life, Buddhism and all things Thai.

Don't forget the donations box on the way out. There's the rub: the essential elements of a monk chat are seats, table, monks and donation box. You're not exactly paying for your chat but if you've sat and wasted a few hours of their meditation time would you feel comfortable leaving and ignoring the large and strategically placed box with donation written on it?

"We're off to join the club!"

It seems like half the temples in central Chiang Mai -- certainly those down Ratchadamneon Road -- have areas set aside for monk chats with perhaps Wat Chedi Luang being the most popular. Having strolled around said wat last weekend we hesitated at the monk club since two temple-related questions did spring to mind. First, why are touts, preying on gullible tourists, tolerated in the temple precincts?  And second, if someone has taken the trouble to stick up worthy signs saying 'please don't buy the captive birds it only encourages this cruel practice', do you see the same bird sellers there day in, day out as well?

Thought monks got up early?

Anyway try it out for yourselves if you have an hour to spare and see what you think -- and remember -- donation box is up to you!

Tags: Jesus, Luang Prabang, Spurs, Therevada Buddhism

I like Christmas in Chiang Mai -- most decent nearby getaways from here are either booked out ages ahead and/or charge ridiculous festive season supplements. There's a crisp edge to the weather in Chiang Mai too which, without climbing Mount Fansipan, is about a festive season a feel as you'll find in most of Southeast Asia (if you're from the northern hemisphere). If you go up to Inthanon you may even find some ice and for once in the year wear those Christmas socks that your aunt in Chipping Norton saw fit to send.

Christmas decorations lend some sparkle to the Chiang Mai shops.

It's also busy tourist-wise in Chiang Mai, so bar owners and restaurateurs will be in good moods and staff from Tha Pae to Loi Kroh, as well as a few of the locals, will be wearing the obligatory floppy red hats.

See, you put on a floppy red hat and you want to smile.

Thais, at least in Chiang Mai with its large number of expats and visitors, do Christmas very well. Of course it's a completely commercial exercise as it is anywhere, but Thais are always up for a paaarty, be it Thai, Chinese or Western New Year, Halloween, Royals' birthdays, Christmas or anything else. Thai good humour is infectious; even the grumpiest tourists ought to have smiles on their faces.

On and around Christmas Day wander around the Tha Pae/Loi Kroh/night bazaar area and it should be fun. Every bar or resto worth their salt will be hosting festive dos of one sort or another: les French will be bistro 'opping to find the best deal on foie gras, Americans will be stuffing groundhogs or whatever it is they eat at Christmas, Aussies will have all probably left for the beach, Brits will be calculating the big screen TV size versus cost of Sangsom bucket ratio in order to work out where to watch the Boxing Day big game, and Scandinavians will be trying to explain to anyone sober enough to listen why their Christmas is a day earlier than that of most other people.

Due to a shortage of reindeer in Chiang Mai, the local Santa employs elephants instead.

For your festive feast, though turkey green curry's not really an option you should otherwise have plenty of choice among all the expat-run establishments in town.  For a Christmas dinner US-style check out the popular Duke's which now has two locations, at the night market and riverside and which always gets excellent reviews. The English-style Red Lion Pub on Loi Kroh is offering a tempting looking three-course special for 590 baht while if French is more your thing try the good value Marco's -- also on Loi Kroh -- or the tasty Terrasse, again on the same street, where chef Jean-Jacques says he'll have lots of festive specials on the menu.

 

Give your guesthouse room a bit of festive cheer with these baubles from Central.

If you're in recovery mode on Boxing Day, consider heading up to Huay Tung Tao for some fresh air and relative peace and lake-side quiet? The Thai food's great or it's perfectly okay to BYO picnic. (You can take your own booze and buy their food or take your own food and buy their drinks -- they won't mind and one way or another they're getting business.) We're sure you could borrow some plates and cutlery from your friendly guesthouse, swing by Kasem to pick up some bread, cakes, cheese and cold cuts, and off you go!

Oh and if you do want to catch the Boxing Day games you could do worse than try the friendly Number 1 Pub, (Loi Kroh Soi 1), and remember early kick-offs will be 20:00 Thai time.

Reckon we'll be recovering at home, so bring on The Great Escape, set up the Cluedo and open the port and Stilton!

Tags: Chipping Norton, Christmas, Huay Tung Tao, Loi Kroh, night bazaar, picnics

We've been a bit reluctant to try this popular Chiang Mai attraction out to be honest since swinging through tree tops didn't really sit well with our vertigo. But as it came recommended by several mates and, apart from anything else, its ads are plastered over every other tuk tuk and outside every tour agent's office in town, we thought we'd better give the Flight of the Gibbon a go.

The experience is much better than their dubious ads.

First mistake: we drove up there ourselves from Chiang Mai. The tiny village of Mae Kompong is not easy to find and we noticed later that their website specifically asks you not to drive yourself there to avoid parking problems and congestion in the village (and to avoid getting lost); their standard package includes pick up and return to your hotel. Having said that the drive through the scenic Mae Kompong valley and through the village itself is stunning if best appreciated from the comfort of their minibus. (It's around an hour's drive in all.)

Great spot for a coffee break

In fact, at the risk of getting side tracked, the valley was so spectacular we'd go up there anyway even without any zip-lines at the end. The wooden houses clinging to the steep sides of the tiny and narrow valley made for one of the most picturesque villages we've seen in the area and the pristine, lush forest along the valley was simply beautiful. There were some great looking resorts and tempting coffee shops in the lower, slightly wider part of the valley but we'll save that for a later post... so back to the Gibbons.

You mean I have to go up there, do I?

So, having smoked half a pack of cigarettes (in a no smoking zone), fingered the emergency Xanax secreted in my pocket and dallied as long as possible over choosing a helmet and harness, (and starting to feel distinctly like Mr Bean in the judo class sketch), we realised it was now or never.

Go for it!

At this point I'd have to say the staff were awesome -- professional, fun and reassuring (they didn't even snigger too much) -- so not wanting to be shown up by my wife, who's into these things and whose idea of a birthday treat is a bungy jump -- we went for it.

Needless to say it was brilliant and after an initial outbreak of cold sweat and trembling knees I enjoyed every minute of the course. There are around 5 kilometres of zip-lines, abseiling, (and/or rappelling -- can't remember which is which), along a well-designed route in a truly spectacular treetop setting. When they say it's fun for any age or ability, it's true -- even for those with vertigo.

Abse...going down a tree!

The current rate when we checked their site was 3,299 baht per person, which may seem a bit pricey but remember it's a whole day out and includes lunch, a waterfall trek and transfers, as well as the treetop course itself -- and it certainly is a great experience. (Where safety is concerned it's probably best not to skimp on the price either.)

Awesome jungle.

Flight of the Gibbon is open daily, but they require a minimum of 24 hours notice for a visit. Here's the number: (053) 010 660-3, and full details can be found on their site here.

Tags: abseiling, Bungy jumps, Flight of the Gibbon, Mae Kompong, Mr Bean

Following on from our recent train to Chiang Mai post you might want to consider the daily special express train to liven up the journey. It's an all-sleeper train with only 1st or 2nd class air-con options.

So what's so special about the 'special express'? For a start, it has a disco carriage and a gourmet restaurant.

Bogie Gourmet carriage. Why the ashtray? Aren't all Thai trains non-smoking?

State Railways of Thailand have linked up with a bunch called NP Rithy Co. to offer what they somewhat unfortunately call the Bogie Gourmet Express. This comprises a karaoke/disco car, a Bogie Restaurant (tempting?) or a special VIP Exclusive Bogie dining experience: who could resist that?

Below is their sample menu, but we advise against trying the web site printed underneath since a) it's only in Thai and b) had viruses when we tried checking it.

Thumbs up! But are they smiling?

We're not really sure how gourmet fried pork in oyster sauce or chicken and cashew nuts can be, but anything would be an improvement over the Thai railways' standard fare, and the prices don't seem to be more than usual anyway. So ask the waiter for a VIP Bogie, (no sniggering at the back there), then boogie on down to the Bogie karaoke, which by all accounts (well, a bloke we met in the pub)  can be a really good laugh.

Meals and karaoke carriage are officially open from 17:30 to 22:30, though we've heard with staff joining in it can go on a lot later. That may be because they've hit the rather odd drinks list shown below too hard?

Thai State Railways 'Coke cane' only 20 baht!

The train in question is the #14 express, Chiang Mai to Bangkok departing at 17:30 daily, and  the #13 express Bangkok to Chiang Mai daily at 19:35 (we think). You can if you so desire call NP Rithy on (02) 214 2711 or e-mail them at nprithy@nprithy.com if you need further info or just to suggest to them that they sack their proofreader.

Ticket prices are 2nd class upper, 771 baht, lower 841 baht; 1st class 1,253 baht for upper, 1,453 for lower.

Enjoy!

Tags: karaoke, State Railways of Thailand, trains

Songkran is the Thai name for the Theravada Buddhist New Year which falls on the 13th April. (The Mahayana Buddhist New Year, in Vietnam or China for example, is based on the lunar calender - in Thailand it's always a fixed date.) It's not only Thai New Year but in theory is the same for Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Sri Lanka though dates may vary slightly.

Even 5 yr olds will attack mercilessly

Now firstly you have to get to Chiang Mai and it's a very popular destination for Thai tourists over the New Year holidays therefore flights and trains book up well ahead as do any mid to upper range hotel and half decent guesthouses. So if you haven't already made arrangements then a tourist bus and less popular guesthouse are going to be your only choices unless you're very lucky.

Secondly, if you have made it to Chiang Mai then dismiss any considerations of whether you'd like to participate or not or perhaps join in the fun one day then go and check out some temples whatever the next day. It is unavoidable and all 'normal' activity in the city stops for five days or so whilst Chiang Mai turns into a giant water fight.

All roads in the centre of town will be totally gridlocked for the duration and all roads in and out of town will be severely congested so if you do have to get to the airport or bus station allow five times what it would normally take you. Note also that a lot of public transport - tuk-tuks and songthaews - are 'commandeered' for the festivities so there's not so much available and if you do find one the driver's going to want seriously compensating for his troubles!

Now forget any TAT niceties about Lanna maidens, flower petals and delicate finger bowls of water - you're more likely to be faced with high powered water pistols and buckets of iced water. (Be very careful on motorbikes or bicycles because that doesn't stop you being a target and can be dangerous.)

Unless you lock yourself in your hotel room for 5 days you will be drenched from morning to evening - soaked the minute you leave your hotel room - so make sure that any cameras, passports etc you carry are wrapped in plastic bags.

Standard practice in Chiang Mai is for a bunch of friends or a family to pile into a pick-up truck with huge bins of water, pistols, bags of flour and buckets and head into town to soak anything that moves. As a foreigner you will be a particularly tempting target!

However many times you get drenched or your $1,000 Nikon has just been totally destroyed you have to keep smiling, take refuge in your hotel room or leave town. Good news is that in Chiang Mai, unlike some other towns, it's only really a dawn to dusk thing so you can get dried out and go out for dinner in relative safety.

Main concentrations of combatants will be around the moat and key points such as Central Huay Kaew and Worarot but any side street and quiet soi will have kids and or grannies waiting to ambush you. (See map)

Yes it can be a lot of fun and the total mayhem is quite something to behold but be prepared - in Chiang Mai it goes on a  long time! TAT worryingly give the dates as 7th to 19th!? but 12th to 17th are going to be the main days though kids are already our practicing now!

Enjoy - good luck and take care!

Tags: Central Department Store, Chiang Mai public transport, Worarot