No-one enjoys visiting Chiang Mai immigration office but for all expats and many tourists in Thailand’s northern capital an occasional visit is unavoidable, so here are a few tips on how to make your trip as painless as possible. Chiang Mai immigration office is one of the most pleasant (or least unpleasant?) immigration offices or … read the full post

With its wooden tables, thatched roof and mud floor, the organic farmers’ produce market in Chiang Mai is very much an old-style, traditional village market conveniently set up in downtown Chiang Mai city. Some of the produce does even originate from the city, since the market takes place adjacent to the Chiang Mai University agricultural … read the full post

Wat Sri Suphan is a worthy addition to our current Chiang Mai temple coverage — it’s a good one and its location adjacent to the Wualai walking street market makes it very convenient to combine the two. With Wualai being Chiang Mai’s traditional silver-making district, the temple’s claim to fame is unsurprisingly its silverwork. Having … read the full post

The Nice Mum Lodge opened its doors in Chiang Mai around a year ago and though we had been somewhat put off by the slightly twee name,  we checked it out it proves to be quite a worthwhile flashpacker choice for the city. The lodge is run by an elderly and very friendly Thai couple, … read the full post

Yes, Chiang Mai is home to two Central department stores, Kad Suan Kaew and Airport Plaza — in this post we’ll deal with the former since it’s the closest to downtown and probably more frequented by tourists than its larger, though slightly more out of town, confrere. The giant red brick monstrosity, situated at the … read the full post

We like loops — loops are good; no A to B and straight back to B again, no backtracking, no repetition, but departing your destination in one direction, travelling in a loop, circle, oval or trapezoid and returning from a different direction. As far as Northern Thai loops go, this is a particularly good one: … read the full post

Chiang Mai International Airport — airport code CNX — is Thailand’s third busiest after those in Bangkok and Phuket with nearly 3 million annual visitors and around 140 flights a week. The vast majority of those flights link this northern hub to the capital itself but direct flights head to other Thai cities as well … read the full post

Following on from our recent post on Chiang Mai’s Arcade Bus Station, here’s some more detailed information on the new Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang service by the 999 bus company. The first thing to note is that the plush new Thai bus with Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang emblazoned on the side is not going to … read the full post

We’ve covered north, south and east: now it’s time for the final stretch of our Chiang Mai hike, which covers the stretch of moat road between Suan Buak Hat Park and our initial starting point at the northwest corner and junction of Huay Kaew Road. This stretch is one of the least built up and … read the full post

Looking for some great street food in Chiang Mai? The short section of Intawarorot Road, near the Three Kings Monument between Chaban and Phrapokklao Roads and opposite the City Arts and Cultural Centre, is little frequented by visitors to Chiang Mai but very well known among residents for its delicious and cheap food. It’s worth … read the full post