This is a slight departure from our usual topics as we look at an excellent new Chiang Mai initiative in the field of natural medicines and beauty treatments. Skin cream,  herbal shampoo, moisturiser, hair restorer (oops too late for that!)... have I  finally lost the plot? I'll admit that having (very tentatively and making sure no one we knew was watching us) entered the new store on Moonmuang Soi 6, I came out entirely convinced. I'd been hearing about the Arun Thai natural products for a while and you'll come across them in numerous guesthouses and stores throughout the city as well as Walking Street, but since we were walking past their new store and workshop near Somphet Market we decided to pop in.

Nice display with it too.

There are other similar producers about but what made it newsworthy for me was the range of products aimed specifically at travellers (ed: this isn't a sponsored post, by the way -- none of our posts are, ever). For instance, natural alternatives to the dreaded Imodium or whatever for upset stomachs, herbal creams for heat rashes and prickly heat, balms for rucksack strap irritations, even creams for fungal infections and of course mosquito repellents.

Done a trek so have you got something for heat rash, backpack sores, rotting feet!?

Now DEET is nasty stuff -- it's a highly potent insecticide (we read somewhere it was a component of the notorious Agent Orange), and spraying it on yourself is obviously bad for your skin apart from being bad for the environment. Yes, you may only give a quick squirt as you head off into the forest, but millions of tourists every year... well it soon mounts up, so any effective natural alternative has to be good.

Having tried Arun Thai's natural repellent out on various guinea pig mates, it does seem at least as effective as any commercial chemical version. Unlike many available natural repellents, Arun Thai's is not based on citronella which they point out is effective but only for a short time. Their version combines citronella with clove and basil oils but importantly the rarer, but very effective neem oil. Neem oil comes from the sadao leaf, which is a common Thai curry ingredient but also has medicinal properties that are perhaps not so well known.

The lab!

Anyway, this is all very interesting stuff and if you've just got back from a trek with sore legs, upset stomach, prickly heat, rotting feet, heat rash and sore shoulders, then you can find treatments for everything here; staff are helpful and speak English and the prices are reasonable.

Arun Thai
59/1 Moonmuang Soi 6 (the top end of the soi if you walk down from Somphet or directly opposite Blue House)
T: (053) 289 653

Tags: Moonmuang, mosquito repellent, Mosquitoes, natural medicines, tropical health

The Chiang Mai Hilltribe Handicraft Training Centre was established in 2007 by the Seventh Day Adventist Church to help train and provide income for education for women and girls from poor hilltribe families in northern Thailand. The making and sale of clothing, bags and accessories allows the women to earn money to help pay for their children's schooling as well as offering employment opportunities for the older students themselves during vacation periods.

The workshop and sales centre on Maneenoparat Road.

The Centre's blurb states that they employ Akha, Lisu, Lahu, Hmong, Karen, Yao and Khamu workers so you'd expect a pretty wide range of attire on offer. In fact apart from some Yao and Hmong jackets, none of the items are at all traditional and the themes seems to be an eclectic selection of crossover Western/hilltribe styles with classic, for example Hmong, patterns (lots of swirls and bright colours) decorating pencil cases, mobile phone holders, pillow cases and so on. It's fair enough since there's only so much commercial potential for Akha hats, and they've come up with some pleasing results.

Traditional Karen leopard skin pattern.

It is very much the same kind of product that you'll see in Chiang Mai's Walking Street Market, in Luang Prabang's Hilltribe Market, Sapa high street or increasingly in such places with no hilltribe connections at all, like Phnom Penh's Russian Market. In this case, however, you're buying straight from the makers and without any mark-up by intermediaries, and so at considerably lower prices. When we visited the shop items seemed so cheap we thought some of the tags were misprints! The shoulder bag pictured above, for example, was around $3 -- which just goes to show the mark-up some vendors elsewhere are adding. Needless to say, there's no bargaining here and all prices are marked.

It's also interesting to be able to see the products being made right there in the workshop across the entrance hall from the showroom, which you are free to visit as well.

Well produced catalogue.

They also have a professional catalogue, so are aiming perhaps primarily at the gross trade and indeed we reckon this not very well known outlet would be of interest to some of our European friends who like to stock up on cheap knick-knacks in Chiang Mai and other places to stock their stands when they do the rounds of European summer festivals and markets. We say not very well known since the location is -- while not exactly out of the way -- not an area you'd be likely to casually wander through. The workshop/showroom is situated at 248/1 Maneenoparat Road,  Tambon Sripum, which is the exterior moat road close to Wat Lok Molee and Computer Plaza, and right next door to the Seventh Day Adventist church itself. (See map.)

The workshop.

The centre is open Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00 and if you have problems finding it here's a number -- though we doubt much English is spoken: (053) 287 047.

Tags: Akha, Chiang Mai's Hilltribe Handicraft Training Centre, karen, Khamu, Lahu, Lisu, Sapa, souvenirs, Yao

Nimmanhemin -- or Nimmanheminda -- Road and its surrounding sois form Chiang Mai's rapidly growing chic quarter of town, and indeed the whole area itself is now known as Nimmanhemin or commonly Nimman. Located on the west side of the city in Suthep district near the foot of the mountain, it was until some 20 years ago still just a dirt track on the outskirts of town, but has since seen a meteoric rise to trendiness. Nimmanhemin goes from the Rimcome junction with Huay Kaew Road to Suthep Road in the south, though most of the action is in the northern half of the road and the sois that lead off it. It's actually where the six-lane superhighway comes to an abrupt stop, so the road is unfortunately very busy traffic wise.

Commonly pronounced 'Nimman'.

Nearby Chiang Mai University (CMU), with its large student population, probably helped the area's growth but now it's also become a sought-after location for well-heeled locals and Thais fleeing hectic Bangkok, as well as Chiang Mai's large expat community. The kilometre or so of Nimmanhemin Road itself plus the sois to the east and west have become absolutely packed with coffee shops, tea houses, wine bars, sushi joints, live music restaurants, art and craft shops, trendy clothes stores and boutiques with silly names.

See what we mean?

In fact we wouldn't mind betting there are more cafes with free WiFi and blueberry cheesecakes per square kilometre here than almost anywhere else in Thailand, and we do wonder how the population supports quite so many -- though it has to be said that they do open and close with bewildering regularity, and what was last week a designer clothes shop is probably this week a specialty tea outlet.

'94 Coffee', Soi 9.

A Starbucks is on the corner of Soi 9 -- though we're pleased to see it often fares far worse than local coffee chains -- and an outlet of Chiang Mai's own Mike's Burger on the main drag. Other usual suspects are Black Canyon and local chains 94 Coffee and Wawi Coffee (both on Soi 9), plus the expat and increasingly upmarket Thai fave Kasem store.

Restaurants and bars abound; the most famous and a magnet for trendy tourists from Bangkok is the famous Monkey Pub in Soi 9, though you'll find many more in the same vein -- that vein being inside chic bar space, outside garden seating, live bands and big screen TVs for showing mainly EPL football matches. The bars and restaurants are predominantly aimed at rich young Thais and though you'll find a smattering of expats this area hasn't really caught on among tourists yet (though it's only a 10-minute/100 baht tuk tuk ride from, say, Tha Pae.)

Brightly coloured buildings on Nimmanhemin Road.

Restaurants include numerous Japanese, Thai, North Thai, Chinese and Italian joints , the latter including Lanta Pizza on Soi 5. There are also increasingly good evening street stalls along the main drag offering the usual array of Thai snacks. Apart from the action on Nimman itself, Sois 1 and 3 have plenty of handicraft shops and fashionable boutiques, while the restaurants and bars are concentrated in odd-numbered Sois 3 to 11.

All in all, this is a good spot to waste an evening browsing the boutiques, taking in some live music with a cold beer in hand and choosing from the myriad eateries to dine at -- or you could do a coffee-shop crawl in the afternoon, stuffing your face with mango meringue pie while checking your e-mails and browsing the stores in between.

We can't have any pretensions at comprehensive Chiang Mai coverage without mentioning what is the city's largest market: Worarot. Worarot refers to a entire downtown district of the city, spreading out on both sides of Chang Moi Road and covering an area roughly between Ratchawong, Tha Pae Road and the River. Worarot (or Warorot) market itself is known in the local dialect as Kat Luang, or big market, but the area is actually a complex of covered and street markets. This area is also traditionally Chiang Mai's Chinatown.

Chang Moi Road.

To the north of Chang Moi Road is a labyrinth of narrow lanes housing wholesale shops and vendors, with not too much of particular interest for casual visitors but with a strong Chinese feel to them. Between Chang Moi Tat Mai and Kuang Mane roads, (see our map), is a Hmong and hill-tribe market, while facing the River Ping is the photogenic flower market backing on to the Lam Yai covered market. Kind of in the middle of all this -- and surrounding streets are also full of stalls and ambulant vendors of all description as well -- is the Worarot covered market itself.

Food stalls in Worarot.

The two covered markets, Worarot and Lam Yai, are similar three-storey buildings situated on either side of Wichayanon and linked by a footbridge. The contents are fairly similar too, being mostly foodstuffs -- fresh and dried produce -- on the ground floors and clothes and household goods on the upper two floors. The centre is open so you can look down on the ground floor from either of the two upper-storey walkways or mezzanines, which provides some good photo opps.

View from 2nd floor mezzanine at Worarot

Foodstuffs cover everything from fruit and veg to the obligatory fried insects and dried produce from every part of the kingdom, as well as neighbouring countries such as Burma and China. There are also plenty of noodle and rice stalls so it's an interesting place to grab a snack too.

Popular Chiang Mai sausage vendor.

The two covered markets are open from around 06:00 to 18:00 but there's almost 24-hour action in the adjacent streets, plus a popular local night market around Chang Moi too. Don't expect pirated DVDs and souvenir T-shirts, but authentic it certainly is. This is a fascinating area to explore and for a rundown on the heritage aspect of this Chiang Mai institution and fears for future development check out this excellent article.

Tags: Chinatown, Lam Yai market, markets

"Forget it, Jake -- it's Chinatown!" is a classic line from a classic movie, but a Chinatown in LA, London or Sydney is going to stand out far more than a Chinatown in Bangkok or Chiang Mai will ever do. Chiang Mai's so-called Chinatown is the Worarot market and commercial district though apart from a few more shop signs than usual being in Chinese and a few lanterns festooned on buildings around Chinese/Lunar New Year you wouldn't usually be able to tell -- for the simple reason that most central commercial districts in most Thai cities, whether Hat Yai, Nakhon Sawan, Surin or Chiang Mai are full of Thai citizens of ethnic Chinese origin.

Did someone say assimilation?

Statistics vary enormously but it's a safe guess that between 20 and 30 percent of the population of Thailand is in fact of ethnic Chinese origin. Indeed Chinese trading communities certainly existed in Mon ports and entrepots in the region before the Thais even migrated to Thailand.

Gold shop, Worarot.

The majority of that Chinese minority live in cities and many of those are involved in commerce. Unlike in many other Southeast Asian countries however the Thai Chinese community is highly assimilated, with the majority adopting Thai language, culture and Thai names -- even, for example, the current prime minister.

No pix of Thai PM handy so we'll insert some shadow puppets from Nakhon Sri Thammarat instead.

So, Worarot certainly does have a large number of Thais of Chinese origin but walking around you'll see Thai street food for sale (mainstream Thai cuisine has long incorporated many Chinese dishes, including chicken rice, dim sum and noodles), and if you do hear Mandarin or Cantonese being spoken it'll probably be by a Chinese or Singaporean tourist.

Must be Chinatown -- they've got red lanterns.

Incidentally, many of the more recent Chinese migrants to northern Thailand are Yunnanese Muslims and so don't celebrate what is strictly-speaking the Mahayana Buddhist New Year. To be pedantic, there's no such thing as "Chinese New Year" -- the Vietnamese celebrate Tet, which is their own version of the Buddhist lunar new year, as do Mongolians. People practising Theravada Buddhism, the predominant religion in Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, celebrate new year on a fixed date every year: April 13 for New Year's Eve, April 14 for New Year's Day.

Thai electric cables with Chinese gate in background

So, what is it about "Chinatown" anyway? Perhaps in the more staid Western cities, Chinatown conjures up a more vibrant, exotic quarter of the city, with interesting food and possibly more street life -- but really, who needs that in an average Southeast Asian city anyway? China's only a 45-minute flight from Chiang Mai ... so if you want the real deal, it's not too far away to actually go.

It's all go in Chiang Mai's Chinatown.

Tags: chicken and rice, Chinatown, Hat Yai, Lunar New Year, New Year, Songkran, Tet

We're covering a very different kind of market compared to our last post's one on Prathu Chiang Puaka though it's certainly another of our faves in Chiang Mai. Kamthieng market is what in the West we might call a garden centre, as it sells flowers, plants, trees, garden equipment, furniture, decorations and so on.

Snare an unusual Chiang Mai souvenir here!

This is obviously not the sort of market where foreign visitors might flock to pick up bargains; there's not a fake watch, pirated DVD, Hmong handicraft or kilo of rambutans in sight. But it's a good bet as the city's most picturesque and photogenic market and a great place for a stroll.

Attractive and dirt cheap -- shame they won'y squeeze into a backpack!

The market is huge -- think of an open-air, spread out Chatuchak -- and contains just about any kind of tropical or sub-tropical plant you can think of: fully grown trees, bedding plants, potted herbs, rare collector orchids, temperate flowers such as roses, cacti, lilies and lotuses and so on. Most stalls specialise so you'll find one with 30 different species of begonia, another with 27 colours of bougainvillea, fern houses, an ornamental banana plant vendor and yet another with half a dozen mango varieties for sale. This is like a pot plant version of a botanical garden and surely fascinating to peruse even if you don't list gardening as one of your hobbies.

Myriad varieties of each plant.

Then there are the garden ornaments: pots, fountains, statues, coloured stones, paving stones cut from any rock imaginable, fish ponds, bird baths...  Some stuff is very tasteful and some -- as below -- is so kitsch it's almost cool.

Don't you wish one of these would fit in your backpack?

If that still doesn't grab you, wander over to the fish section and check out the spectacular fan-tailed guppies, Siamese fighting fish, ornamental catfish and the range of weird and wonderful aquarium decorations on offer.

A few garden cherubs -- just what you always wanted?

Several coffee shops and food stalls are dotted around so you could spend a while wandering the market. If most of the items are too large to take home as souvenirs perhaps you could check out the seed packet shop and try planting a few exotic flowers or veggies at home?

Grow your own.

Kamthieng is located off Atsadathon Road (see map), which leads off northwards from the northeast corner of the moat road. The market is set off to the right of the road just before it meets the superhighway and directly behind the huge Tesco/Lotus. You could walk it in say 30 minutes from Tha Pae or pay around 60-80 baht for a tuk tuk. Tuk tuks aren't too common at the market itself though so it may be worth arranging for your driver to pick you up or wait.

Just like a forest, only with signs.

Tags: gardens, markets, plants, Tha Pae

As we all know some of the best Thai food can be found in markets and street stalls. In Chiang Mai, the night market at Prathu Chiang Puak or Chiang Puak Gate market, is one of the best food markets we know of in town. It's located on the exterior side of the northern moat road, Sri Chum Road, immediately west of the Gate itself (see map).

You can just make out the gate -- rear, top right.

Food is no-frills, traditional Thai market fare. You'll find fruit vendors, juice and coffee stands, and dishes including a range of noodle soups and fried noodles, all the usual chicken, pork and duck dishes, and cooked-to-order classic stir-fries such as pak boon fai deang (morning glory -- either vegetarian or with crispy pork), pat kha pao (the ubiquitous stir-fry with chilli and basil), pat prik gaeng... (hot and spicy...), tom yam, and standard fried rice. And that's just for starters.

That has got to be good!

Check out the khao kha moo (stewed pork shank); above you can almost see the patiently waiting customers' mouths watering, which may not be surprising as some say this khao kha is reputed to be the best in Chiang Mai.

Pad Thai specialist warms up.

Some stalls specialise in one dish, such as the pad Thai one above, and as that guy cooks only the popular Thai style fried wheat noodles day in, day out you can pretty much be guaranteed he knows what he's doing and his version will blow most Chiang Mai guesthouse versions away. (Price: 30 baht or 40-50 baht if you want fresh prawns.)

Seafood, crispy pork, mushrooms and... pink eggs.

Other stands will have a variety of vegetables and fish/seafood, crispy pork and so on on display, with English menus available for those not familiar with the Thai combinations. Just FYI: even though we're a way from the sea up here we've never had any problems with the seafood.

"Where are the clams for table 5?!"

With short order cooks such as the above, you'll wait all of five minutes for your dinner, even at the busiest times.

"Watch out for the farang with the camera at table 7 -- he's got to be from Michelin!"

Order stir-fries "on rice" -- rat khao -- which is a one-off dish that will set you back all of 30 baht, or order a selection of larger dishes with rice on the side to share. We paid, for example, 40 baht for fried butterfly clams in roasted chilli paste and basil sauce.

Mix and match.

Taste-wise, we reckon many of these dishes, served up on aluminium tables while you're seated on plastic chairs -- are as good as you'll find in any top hotel restaurant.

We also couldn't help feeling that the noisy, brash, bustling atmosphere, scented with oily wok fumes and with a soundtrack of revving tuk tuks, waitresses yelling out orders and the obligatory blind karaoke singer, fit perfectly with and add to the taste of the  fiery, intensely flavoured, brash dishes being unceremoniously flung onto tables.  (No tomato rose decorations, no kow-towing, Lanna-style clad waitresses -- nope!)

The hustle, bustle and smells of a Thai street food market.

And your dinner is going to set you back all of 30 baht if you're moderately hungry up to say 80 baht if you're really starving. Most stalls will actually give you free drinking water, served from large plastic demi-jars, so you don't even need to pay for the bottled water.

... and here's the market's star cowboy cook!

The market sets up late afternoon and continues until late, so you can still get a good feed at midnight. Bon appetit!

Tags: Chiang Puak, markets, night markets, pad thai, street food, Thai food

The Food Factory is a food hall located in the Huay Kaew branch of Central shopping mall -- but possessing a slightly more imaginative name than you might expect for Central. Now the food offerings aren't frankly the most imaginative, but it does have several advantages: cheap prices, bilingual menus, it's clean and bright and on offer are a wide range of classic dishes, so you get to sample Thai "street food" in conditions that ought to reassure even the most nervous eaters.

This, the Food Factory.

You'll find all the classic Thai street and market choices available here: roast duck, chicken, crispy pork, red pork, stewed pork leg, a zillion variations on fried noodles and noodle soups, som tam, khao soi and so on and on, at prices ranging from 25 to 35 baht. Overall it isn't a bad spot to grab some lunch, with the disadvantages being you'll probably have to put up with Thai soaps on their omnipresent TV screens and if you don't then you'll wish you did, since it probably means their live house band is playing instead.

Metallic grey industrial chic.

For those not familiar with Thai food halls, you buy coupons then exchange them at any stall you wish and consume your choices in a central seating area. Juices, sodas and beers are also available and when you've finished you simply exchange your remaining coupons for cash.

Now if there's nothing there that tickles your fancy then you can move 10m around the corner to another food-hall -- the 'Tops Flavours' version.

Same, same but not very different.

This enlarges your noodle possibilities to a zillion and 27 choices plus there's a good bakery and fruit juice options. With similar prices, English dish names are noted though seating is slightly more cramped. Both are open seven days a week from around 10:00 to 21:00.

Plenty of foreigners, so some basic English spoken.

If neither of these appeal, then you can always nip 10m in the other direction where you'll find Mike's Burgers, Subway, a German sausage outlet and the odd Curry Pot 'Indian fusion' restaurant -- which despite having eaten at on several occasions (their rotis are quite good) we've never worked out what the fusion is supposed to be with, exactly.

Indian and ?

This is the Huay Kaew Central outlet we're referring to by the way -- not the airport one -- and is located at the start of Huay Kaew Road on the northwest corner of the old city moat. (Find our map on this page.) Bon appetit!

Tags: Central, Huay kaew, noodles, Thai street food

Don Phayam market is a bit out of the way but well worth the trip if you'd like to visit, what for us is, the quintessential Chiang Mai market. Take all the Thai market cliches beloved of guide books and tour programmes: bustling, colourful, lively, traditional, vibrant, and you've got Talaart Don, (sometimes written Ton), Phayam. Add lashings of exotic fruit, vegetables and herbs, a smattering of fried insects and it ticks all the market boxes.

Bustling, tick, colourful, tick, lively, tick, traditional, tick, vibrant, tick.

It's actually a relatively small market, and its location at the junction of Suthep Road and the canal road (see map) make it slightly out of the centre of town, but perfect to combine with a trip to say, Wat Umong, Chiang Mai aquarium or Doi Suthep. Now despite all the awesome northern delicacies on display, there's actually nowhere to sit and eat in the market itself so, it's a great excuse to stock up and have a picnic somewhere else?

One foot or two?

You'll find mountains of pork scratchings fried in the largest woks you'll ever see, mounds of various nam phrik (chilli dips) to accompany it, freshly grilled, sizzling Chiang Mai sausage sold by the foot (mild, medium, spicy, with lemongrass...), and all your favourite insects: worms, beetles and ants.

Deep fried pork calories, I mean, skin bits, a Thai (and British) fave.

Don Phayam's a good spot to stock up on very fresh fruit and vegetables -- some familiar, some not -- while in one corner of the market you'll find hill-tribe women selling forest products such as mushrooms and orchids.

Jungle -- pavement -- wok!

The range of fruit and veg in Chiang Mai markets is particularly impressive since, while all the 'regular' tropical crops are grown in the lowlands and valleys, the cool highlands around the city also support many of the more temperate products -- more familiar to Westerners but exotic to Thais.

Jam-making, anyone?

You'll also find flowers, a meat and fish section, the usual mobile phone, bric-a-brac and household goods stalls around the edge. All in all, it's a great place to wander: sample the local specialties, take some photos and smile a lot at the very friendly vendors -- they don't get many tourists up this way.

Fruit, fruit and uncanny kiwi-like fan.

Tags: Don Phayam\, markets

The Blue Diamond health-food cafe in Chiang Mai's old town is hugely popular with expats, locals and tourists and has a reputation for being perhaps the best Western breakfast spot in town. It is actually open all day -- 07:00  to 21:00 -- so it's a lunch, afternoon tea or dinner option as well, with plenty of Thai food options to choose from, but as the sign below indicates, it's breakfasts that made it famous.

Blue Daimond The Brekfas Club.

Now the emphasis is on healthy eating, with organic-only fruit and veggies used and plenty of vegetarian and vegan choices, so think lashings of muesli, yoghurt and fruit salads for breakfast, and oodles of salads for lunch.

We were pleased to see that there were still plenty of unhealthy -- but tasty -- English-style fry-ups too, so you don't actually need to have a beard and Grateful Dead T-shirt to eat here.

Dinner options include Western dishes as well as Thai classics (peruse the menu below...), though we're a bit dubious about some of their cross-over dishes such as Massaman curry and spaghetti!?

Doors of perception.

Coffee's also important at Blue Diamond (as the below indicates), so there's a wide range of local brews and teas, as well as fruit juices and shakes too. The restaurant also incorporates a shop and bakery, so you can also stock up on organic fruit and veg, teas, coffees and so on while you're here.

Nothing makes sense before coffee.

Blue Diamond is tucked away down Moonmuang Soi 9, so just past Somphet market on the left as the traffic flows (see map here). All in all, a great -- yes and healthy -- eating and drinking spot and not for nothing one of the most well known in town so we'll leave you with a last shot of some happy eaters:

Look no (well not many) beards ...

Tags: bakery, health-food, Moonmuang, organic vegetables, Somphet