Some of our other regional Travelfish.org blogs have been busy of late giving you the rundown on popular and prevalent scams in their respective patches (such as here and here) so we thought we'd do the same for Chiang Mai... the only problem is we can't find any!

Scam-free town? We'll find one somewhere...

Many scams in other cities involve transport so that ought to be a good place to look... Jewellery or tailor shop scams a la Bangkok? Nope, not here, and we've never heard of a tuk-tuk offering a 10 baht ride to Sankamphaeng on the off chance you'll buy a parasol.

The old  "no it's closed, let me take you somewhere else" routine may have happened but I've never heard of it personally. "My meter's broken" -- Chiang Mai taxis don't use meters anyway (see previous transport post), while the Phuket "you've damaged my jet ski, that'll cost you!" trick falls flat where there are not a lot of jet skis, as in Chiang Mai. Rip-offs in the style of having to bargain for the price of a bottle of water as you may need to do in Saigon -- nope, not that either.

"I'll give you 10 baht for it, but that's my bottom price."

We've heard rumours of one-offs in our many years in Chiang Mai: an idiot backpacker buying grass from a tuk tuk driver only to find the cops banging on his door 10 minutes later (that was about 10 years ago) and the "someone put something in my drink in Loi Kroh Road" line -- yes, it's called alcohol -- but nothing that can be classified as a regular scam.

Yes, there's a two-tiered entrance fee system in operation at many spots, but what's new, and you're going to get that in many places.

A worst case scenario transport-wise is that you'll be overcharged a bit, but bear in mind a Thai tourist from Bangkok or even local residents are also occasionally overcharged. Wouldn't want to tar them all with the same brush but many Chiang Mai tuk tuk drivers do have a tendency to overvalue their services and even after 15 years in the city we still frequently have to bargain and always double check the agreed on price.

As in most other places they're banking on the fact you don't know what the correct fare should be, so after having checked with a bunch of drivers that we know it may be of use to note the following standard tuk tuk fees. (All fares are from Tha Pae Gate.) And please note, if you are reading this in say 2015, prices are likely to have risen by then.

Short distances e.g. Night Bazaar, Central Huay Keow = 60 baht

Railway station or Arcade bus station = 80 baht

Airport or immigration = 100 baht

The following longer destinations include waiting time and return:

Wiang Khum Kham or Sankamphaeng = 300 baht

Mae Sa = 400 baht

Hang Dong = 500 baht

Note you can add on a 20 baht night fee supplement. If they don't agree then hail another -- there's always plenty about.

Prices courtesy of Neung -- English spoken and he's on (089) 051 1437.

Red songthaews (a kind of bus-taxi) have a flat fare around town of 20 baht per person and if you hire them privately for more distant destinations expect to pay slightly more than equivalent tuk tuk fares. (See further songthaew details in earlier post.)

Tags: Central, Chiang Mai zoo, Mae sa, sankamphaeng, scams, taxis, tuk tuks, Wiang Khum Kham

There's plenty of travel advice to Thailand floating around in light of the current flooding. Here we're not going to offer any new tips, but rather attempt to put some of the existing information into perspective.

Such activities here are now contrary to FCO and other governments' advice. This was Sukhothai, last week.

We're somewhat put out, though hardly surprised, by some of the Western media's rather sensational coverage and here's an example by the UK's Daily Telegraph. Calling Don Muang Bangkok's second airport is, we guess technically true, but the report doesn't mention it's now used mainly for cargo, as well as by small low cost carriers Nok Air and Orient Thai. Nok have for now relocated to Suvarnabhumi but we've heard nothing of Orient Thai. The Thai Airways planes on a flooded runway in the article's  dramatic photo are in fact cargo planes.

Sensational or exaggerated media reports can be ignored (assuming one realises they're exaggerated), but advice issuing from governments can't be so easily dismissed, unless you want to find your travel insurance invalidated. Note if your government warns against travel for a certain area then, generally speaking, insurance agents based in that country no longer consider your travel insurance valid if you ignore said government advice. Here is the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice for Thailand published October 26 and following is a list of the 27 provinces they have seen fit to advise against travelling in:

Bangkok; in the North, Sukhothai, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan and Uthai Thani; in the Central region Chai Nat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Lopburi, Saraburi, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Pathumthani, Nonthaburi, and Samut Sakhon; in the Northeast, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Srisaket, Roi-et, Surin, Mahasarakham and Kalasin; and in the East, Chacheongsao, Nakhon Nayok and Prachinburi.

Here are some links to some other government warnings as of October 27.

We're not sure on what basis the FCO compiled their list and would love to know. While the lower central provinces and Bangkok suburbs may well be best avoided under current conditions, we're at a loss to see the potential dangers of travelling in many of the other areas. In many of these districts floods have subsided (such as in the north), and in others we've not heard any reports of current extensive flooding either (the northeast, for instance in Surin). It appears to us to correspond, at least partially, to a list of provinces that have suffered flood damage in recent times regardless of whether they are still suffering or not.

Sukhothai for example was flooded some three weeks ago but on a visit last week we saw nothing other than minor flooding in very restricted areas. Certainly we couldn't see any impediments or potential dangers involved with visiting the provincial capital or old city, which are the likely tourist destinations in that particular province. As we've already mentioned, declining to visit places in the aftermath of the disaster is effectively a second blow to recovering communities.

Even in northeastern provinces where some residual flooding remains, we can't see any life threatening dangers and the worst case scenario would seem to involve getting one's feet wet. We don't mean to make light of the more than 300 deaths reported so far in the last month or so's flooding -- sadly many children or older people unable to swim, or in the former case playing in dangerous areas. But there's a big difference between badly flooded regions with 1-2m of floodwaters and others containing residual puddles.

The distinctly dry-looking Sukhothai old city on October 16.

Sukhothai could do with some tourist bucks to help recover from the damage caused by the earlier deluge. Please check up-to-date info carefully, and conditions can change rapidly, but in our opinion the inclusion of certain areas on the FCO list is unnecessary and misinformed. As the FCO points out, travel in those areas is up to the individual, but bear in mind if you crash your motorbike or break a leg insurance isn't going to cover your costs.

PS For anyone who can read French we've just found these rather sensible and restrained warnings from the French embassy, which proves that not all Western governments favour knee-jerk overreactions! Vive la France!

PPS As of October 28 reliable reports have at a minimum, Phichit and Sukhothai as back to normal, and Nakhon Sawan and Phitsanulok as cleaning up post flood -- in Ayutthaya the waters are only just starting to recede, so the latter definitely remains off-limits for visitors.

Tags: floods

Dates seem to vary slightly according to the source -- one of which is here-- but our usually reliable man on the ground in Yunnan reports that two Chinese cargo vessels travelling on the Mekong between Jinghong, Yunnan and Chiang Saen, Thailand were hijacked at around midday on October 10. The particularly brutal hijacking took place some 20km north of Chiang Saen, close to Sob Ruak and between Burma and Laos. Thirteen crew members were blindfolded and shot. All passenger and cargo boats (and cargo vessels regularly carry paying passengers anyway) on this route have now been halted for an indefinite period.

Chinese cargo boats docked in Chiang Saen.

Reports are still slightly confused but it appears the hostages may have been executed during a gun battle with a Thai border patrol unit, which then boarded the boats after hijackers were either killed or fled. Since a substantial quantity of drugs was found on the boats along with its regular cargo of apples and garlic, the thinking is that the hijackers, rumoured to be a gang run by Burmese Shan smuggler Nor Kham, had taken the boats to use in a drug transportation operation. Chinese boat companies have had frequent problems with such bandits who've not hesitated in the past to deal viciously with Chinese crews reluctant to cooperate in their activities.

Passenger boat from Jinghong to Chiang Saen.

The passenger boat service running from Jinghong to Chiang Saen town was a popular, and highly scenic, route for backpackers and tour groups travelling between China and Thailand, but for at least the immediate future the land route is the only option. 

The land route from Jinghong to Chiang Saen is overland to Boten on the Lao/Chinese border, onwards to Luang Nam Tha from where there are a number of transport options to Huay Xai and Chiang Khong on the Lao/Thai border. Once in Chiang Khong you're hooked into the main Thai overland bus system, including regular transport to Chiang Saen and nightly buses to Bangkok.

This tragedy serves as a warning that the Golden Triangle region is still not as tame as many would make it out to be -- indeed you may count  us among the guilty parties, as shown by our recent Golden Triangle post here or a pretty picture post of a still dangerous area here.)

Tags: Boten, Burma, Chiang Saen, China, drugs, hijacking, Jinghong, Luang Nam Tha, Shan

On the basis that you'd assume no news was good news there was no news yesterday - which is good news! Although water had spread out to areas further from the river over the last couple of days levels are now happily down right across Chiang Mai. Worarot and night bazaar areas and west of the Ping were reported pretty much dry today though there is standing water remaining on the east bank and southern suburbs.

Water's down from yesterday but lots of clearing up to do!

A big clean up is now underway and larger public buildings such as certain schools etc would welcome any help they can get to enable kids to return to school on Monday morning. The receding water leaves piles of mud, silt leaves branches etc behind so if you don't have anything important to do and you fancy a bit of exercise grab a broom or mop in the nearest school and give a hand. (If you can't find one then here's a link to ABS junior school 's FB page where they have just put out a request for help so the  little angels/monsters - delete as necessary - can get back to their studies!)

Chiang Mai City council actually apologized to affected persons and businesses at their inability to prevent flooding though have rather ominously said that receding waters have given them some breathing space to repair and consolidate sandbag barriers before the incoming typhoon hits early next week!? Yes unfortunately typhoon Nesat that hit Northern Vietnam over the past few days is now heading towards Laos and North Thailand. It has been downgraded to a tropical storm but heavy rain is to be expected and further flooding is a distinct possibility.

Highways out of Chiang Mai are all clear though we understand that rail services are still seriously disrupted mainly due to severe flooding in provinces in central Thailand. Finally here's a link to some spectacular aerial images of the flooding.

Having found out I had to go to Vientiane for a meeting my first reaction was #@!* -- what a trip, or words to that effect, until my wife pointed out there was a Chiang Mai to Udon Thani flight (CNX-UTH). This is extremely convenient, with Nok Air running a twice-daily flight for a little over 3,000 baht. (Prices vary depending on the day of the week, flight time and so on but my morning one was 3,300 baht.)

Check out the paint job!

When we booked they had a morning flight at 11:20 and an afternoon flight -- but we've since checked times again online and just come up with gibberish, so best to check with a travel agent. Flight was 80 mins on a 36-seater prop plane (known technically as a small one.) At Udon Thani a shuttle minibus service runs to the bus station for 80 baht, and from there Issan's your oyster! An international bus service direct to Vientiane from Udon Thani airport also operates for 80 baht per person, taking about two hours including visa formalities. It runs throughout the day every couple of hours or so.

Only slight problem was that it is supposed to be an express service, so they don't like waiting around at the border and I was counting on a visa-on-arrival at the Friendship Bridge. If there's not many people in the queue you should be okay, but otherwise the bus won't wait. If the worst comes to the worst there are plenty of taxis and tuk tuks waiting on the Lao side to whisk you into Vientiane. Just don't forget to take your bag off the bus when you arrive at immigration!

Since we don't have any pix of the not very photogenic Udon bus station to hand we'll stick a couple of pretty photos of Vientiane instead:

Over to Judy Garland for this caption.

Although if you do like a soundtrack with your blog post you might want to check out this awesome version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow instead. One more for good luck then ...

Still life Beer Lao.

It was less than four hours from Chiang Mai to Vientiane, so we easily made it for sun-downers at the excellent Sengtawan Riverside. Cheers!

Tags: Beer Lao, Judy Garland, Nok Air, Udon Thani, Vientiane

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

So you've got three options for getting to Chiang Mai: road, air or rail. Never liked the first one much ourselves since the busy Bangkok-Chiang Mai highway is not the most scenic part of the country and some of the hell-for-leather drivers can give you a pretty scary ride. Yes, it is the cheapest means and yes, it's faster than the train, but if speed's your priority, take a plane and if money's an issue, the extra few baht for a train fare won't make a huge difference.

And nobody is telling them to mind the gap.

Note if you are fixed on a bus that that doesn't mean you're limited to the Khao San tourist buses. Most buses are half decent these days and safety has improved enormously, but there's still a bit of a cattle truck mentality among staff sometimes and service is  frequently better on the regular Thai blue bus companies running out of Mor Chit bus station.

Flight-wise, no less than six airlines now shuttle between Bangkok and the northern capital: Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways, Air Asia, Nok Air, One to Go and Orient Thai -- many now code-share with international lines such as Air France. (This site seems to cover most flights).

There are some good deals for the 50-60 minute flight, especially if you can book well in advance, but the third option -- rail -- can save you a bit of money as well as being a fun way to travel.

There are several price options for the train: 3rd class (best to avoid unless you're really hard up), 2nd class fan, 2nd class air and 1st class. These also come in night sleeper or day time options, though 3rd class is only wooden seats. While you might just about survive a day train ride like this, the night one is very hard going.

Second-class fan and air-con sleeper trains have pretty comfortable fold down beds, but there's a lot of debate over the pros and cons of fan or air. Air-con carriages are more expensive and generally a bit smarter, but temperatures vary between freezing and "is the air-con working at all?" As a rule of thumb we'd maybe opt for air-con carriages in summer and fan in winter. (Good, more detailed rundowns of the various carriages can be found here as well as in this Travelfish.org Thai train feature.)

There are also rapid, express and sprinter services to choose from, but beware the rapid ones are in fact slow ones, and sprinters are seated service only -- air-con, but no fold down beds. (Try this site for times and prices.)

It's worth noting that the best parts of the journey scenery-wise are probably the first and last parts, coming through Ayutthaya and Lopburi and then winding through the mountains south of Chiang Mai. This means that if you do take the night train, you'll still have daylight for most of the best bits.

This was going to lead us on to a rundown on the new Thai rail 'Bogie Gourmet' service, which despite its extremely unfortunate name, is actually quite good deal. But since we're running out of space here it'll now be in a separate post to come soon.

Thai railways' new 'exclusive VIP bogie' service.

Tags: Air Asia, Ayutthaya, bangkok Airways, Hualamphong, Lopburi, Mor Chit, Nok Air, Orient Thai, Thai Airways

Every Thai town has its public transport idiosyncrasies and Thailand’s northern capital of Chiang Mai, is no exception.

Firstly, despite being one of the kingdom’s larger towns, there is no public bus service -- well, there are a few buses, but not much of a service. Probably under pressure from the songthaew and tuk tuk mafias, the rare public buses are now reduced to going round and round the Super Highway ring road. If you are lucky enough to find one it’s a 10 baht flat fare.

Secondly, there are no motorbike taxis – not a great loss!

Paew, English0-speaking driver. Call her on 086 915 4938

So you’re left with tuk tuks and the red songthaews (meaning two benches in Thai). The songthaews are bright red, souped up pick-up trucks that more or less function as buses anyway and while not having fixed routes – the first passenger to get in determines the route – they will stop and drop off anyone, anywhere on their way. Flat fare is 20 baht within downtown, and 30–40 baht if you’re going a bit further, such as to the Arcade bus station or the railway station. Flag one down, tell the driver where you want to go and then they’ll tell you whether it’s on their route or not. You can also rent one for the day – good if there’s a few people – and that will set you back around 2,000 baht or so depending upon where you want to go.

Chiang Mai tuk tuks are of the cramped, low-roof Bangkok style, so not great for going any great distance and not particularly cheap either. Congratulations if you can get one to turn their engine on for less than 50 baht – most inner city rides will be 60–80 baht while longer rides such as to trains station or Nimmanhemin, will set you back 100–120 baht. You do have to negotiate for tuk tuk fares, but fortunately the common Bangkok tuk tuk scams are largely absent from Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai tuk tuk

Finally, last and probably least, are the metered taxis. Similar in appearance to Bangkok ones, they also in theory have a 35 baht starting fare then clock up per kilometre. But since Chiang Mai is a lot smaller than Bangkok, this is never going to amount to more than a 50 baht ride. No wonder they won’t turn their meters on, and a usual fare within Chiang Mai is going to set you back 120 baht or so. They are very few and far between, and you’re only going to come across them at busy points such as Airport Plaza or the airport itself.

Tags: . Chiang Mai railwa station, Arcade bus station, Central Airport Plaza, Chiang Mai taxi