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Last update: Jan 5, 2023
A travel guide to Chiang Mai.
Where to stay in Chiang Mai.Chiang Mai can be divided into three areas, namely the Old town, the Night bazaar and the Riverside area. These are all quite different in character, and where you want to stay depends on your budget too. The Old town has a range of hostels, guesthouses, budget hotels, but also luxury hotels, the Night bazaar is a modern area with high-rise hotels, the Riverside is where some luxury hotels and resorts are.
Nimmenhaemin road and area, which is the trendy neighborhood of Chiang Mai, is popular with CMU University students, upper-class Thais and Chinese visitors. This neighborhood is mostly high-rise buildings and is a fairly long walk to the tourist areas in the Old Town. For tourists wanting to see a historic town the trendy Nimman area could be disappointing. The old town is a pleasant oasis, an old historic square town inside a metropolis of a million people that is Chiang Mai today. There are many interesting old temples (Wats) and cute little streets that date back hundreds of years. But make no mistake, Chiang Mai has become a large, modern town in the last 50 years. It is not an original town like, for example, Phrae, which was the center of the teak industry in Northern Thailand, and Phrae is much more authentic than Chiang Mai.
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Lanna Culture: a walk into the past.Thapae gate is the best place for a walk into the old town of Chiang Mai, westward on Ratchadamnoen road, the main east-west street in the old town. Ratchadamnoen means Royal Promenade or Royal Road, and it runs straight from Thapae gate to Wat Phra Singh temple, the most important royal temple in town. Looking left and right, there are only modern buildings around; on the left a posh Honda dealer, next to it a large Toyota car dealer, on the right a Yamaha motorbike dealer, modern hotels, lots of restaurants, and also the occasional Wat. The Thai conservation philosophy is: "If money can be made by razing a fine old wooden building and replacing it with concrete crap, then go for it."
Right at the first crossing is a very good place, the Wawee coffee shop, where one can sit down with a good cappuccino and watch the goings on. The terrace of the coffee shop is also an excellent place to observe the Sunday market, once this has filled up with throngs of tourists in the evening. First time arrivals with large backpacks often walk down Ratchadamnoen road in search of a hostel or guesthouse, unaware of the fact that this main road has only upmarket hotels. The guesthouses are all on the tiny backroads that are easily missed; the smaller the lane the cheaper, generally speaking. The old town has mostly modern buildings, but there is the occasional old teakwood house. After 2 blocks on the left there is the Lanna Architecture Center, which is a traditional house located at the crossing of Ratchadamnoen and Prapokklao road. There are very few restrictions on new buildings in Chiang Mai; the old town within the moat has a building height restriction of 23 metres, or eight floors. Buildings within a 100 metre radius of temples can be no higher than nine metres. Modern development has always been more important in Thailand than preserving heritage buildings. Thai people usually prefer short-term profit over long-term preservation. Apart from a few traditional wooden houses, what remains of the ancient town of Chiang Mai are the many Wats. Because they were sacred places and rarely sold or destroyed, most of these temples are still there. The many wooden houses have mostly disappeared, but there are some left in the corners of the town. How many temples were there 130 years ago, compared to now? Read it here: King Inthawichayanon's map. At the end of Ratchadamnoen road, about 1 km walking from Thapae gate, is Wat Phra Singh; probably the most important temple of the town. A few special temples.
In the back of the Wat Phra Singh compound is a modest sized wat, the Viharn Lai Kham, famous for its wall paintings. Viharn Lai Kham is the smaller wat, just behind the large Viharn Luang (Luang means large). The entrance fee for the Wat Phra Singh compound is 40 baht. Lai Kham is a type of mural art made by a special painting method that is unique to the northern region of Thailand. It is a technique of gold-leaf stenciling, and as you can see below, the walls and the pillars of Viharn Lai Kham are decorated in red-and-gold patterns.
The murals on the right (the north wall) of Viharn Lai Kham show the history of Prince Sang Thong (Songthong), and on the left (the souithern wall) the history of Suwanna Hongse (Suwannahong). These murals were created during the 1820's, and the artist has painted himself above the window in the middle.
The murals were extensively restored in 2008. The murals on the souithern wall, the history of Suwanna Hongse, have mostly disappeared over the centuries.
Wat Jed Yod (Ched Yot) is probably one of the least visited major temples because it is located outside of the old town in an inconvenient place. Jet Yod translates to "seven peaks" and refers to the seven chedis which top the rectangular temple. For Thailand, it is a very unusual temple building, because it is a copy of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya in India.
Jed Yod was built in the fifteenth century to host the Eighth World Buddhist Council.
Wat Ket Karam or Wat Sra Ket is a small but nice temple on the eastern riverside road, and it has its own little museum.
The Wat Ket area has many interesting old houses which have been turned into galleries and cafes. Some of the trendy restaurants are very popular at night, and in the afternoon, there is a good view of the Ping river to enjoy. How to get there: cross Nawarat bridge, turn left and walk a short distance north. One can also cross the footbridge at Warorot market, and end up just in front of Wat Ket Karam.
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Unexplored museums.After a few days in Chiang Mai, you may have been up to Doi Suthep, and seen the famous temple. And your will have done a temple tour, small or large; for an afternoon or a few days, depending on your interest. Seen the Folklife Museum. Fed the pigeons at Thapae square. Sampled some of the many different restaurants, the traditional Thai and Indian food, the fusion food, the many small vegetarian places, the modern Japanese restaurants. Now you're looking for something else to do. Chiang Mai is also an important cultural city and a center of Lanna art; it can be traditional art or modern art. The area around Chiang Mai has many unique museums, apart from the well-known official ones. Some smaller or private museums are very interesting but relatively unknown; here are a few examples. The MAIIAM Museum of Contemporary Art opened its doors in 2016. The Museum houses the Bunnag-Beurdeley family’s permanent collection. MAIIAM is located close to the village of San Kamphaeng, 12 km east of Chiang Mai. Just before the museum is Bo Sang, the umbrella making village with many handicraft shops, cafes and some small eateries. Entrance fee is 150 baht; seniors 100 Baht.
Map of MAIIAM Museum and San Kamphaeng: cmpark.htm The Dara Pirom Palace Museum is half an hour drive north in Mae Rim village. The museum is not a palace in the Western sense, but a historic wooden mansion; a teakwood Victorian style house which was home to the famous Lanna princess Dara Rasami (also: Dara Rasamee or Dara Rasmi) (wikipedia.org), who was one of the consorts of Chulalongkorn, King Rama V of Siam. Dara Rasami was the daughter of King Inthawichayanon, the 7th Ruler of Chiang Mai from 1870 until 1897. Dara Rasami was also a pawn in the annexation plans of Britain in the 1880-ties, which King Rama V of Siam tried to prevent. The admission fee for the museum is 20 baht per person.
The Lanna Architecture Center is a traditional house located at the crossing of Ratchadamnoen and Prapokklao road, almost in the middle of the old town, and certainly worth a visit if you don't want to go all the way to the Traditional House Museum. It is a colonial house built in 1895 by a European trader, and used to be owned by the prince Chao Burirat. Don't confuse it with the Lanna Traditional House Museum (below), which is a group of old houses at the Chiang Mai university area. The admission to the 2nd floor is 120 baht, a bit steep since it's just a house, not a museum.
The Lanna Traditional House Museum. This collection of teakwood houses is an open-air museum, and part of the center for the promotion of arts and culture, Chiang Mai University (CMU). It is not far from town, located on Doi Suthep road; between the old city and Doi Suthep. Entry fee is 20 baht. Chiang Mai University (CMU) museum site: art-culture.cmu.ac.th
The Roitawarabarn Baan Devalai - Porter house. Roitawarabarn Baan Devalai Museum is located at the bottom of Doi Suthep. Drive westward to the end of Suthep Road, (that's not the road to the top of Doi Suthep, which is Northwest), take a left and then a right and its then up a narrow alleyway right at the bottom of the forest. This is a house/private museum with large hand painted murals, facades, glass etchings and thousands of intricate and traditional Thai art pieces. The house is made of teak and hardwood, and there are also some large Ganesh statues. Still a work in progress, but open to the public. GPS Coordinates: 18.793583, 98.947485
There are plans to modernize the area, and create a McKean park, see the map on the right. McKean is about 10km south of Chiang Mai, just past the ancient city of Wiang Kum Kam. Just south of McKean's entry gate you can drive past some quaint houses and the quirky Suebnathitham Church which seems to be protestant. The eastern moat is dry now, so the colony doesn't look like an island anymore.
These leper colonies were often created on islands to quarantine people with leprosy, and sometimes they were a kind of prison. McKean was no prison, but a humane center for leprosy patients. One can still see the little cottages where the patients lived at the McKean Leprosy Hospital. Only in 1941 a cure was discovered for leprosy, and by the mid-1980s McKean began to adapt, and turned itself into a retirement center. When McKean retired, in 1931, there were more than 500 inhabitants at the center, of which 350 were leprosy patients. There were 143 buildings, including 116 cottages, 9 dormitories, a church, an impressive administration building, and a recreation center.
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Botanic Gardens.The Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden (QSBG) is in the Mae Sa valley, north of Chiang Mai, and on the "Samoeng loop" (see map on: motorrents.htm). It is a famous, international class arboretum and garden; the largest and best botanic garden in Thailand, set against a mountainside in a large forest. Within the park area are gardens, glasshouses, and trails through the rainforest. The large glasshouse complex on the top of the trail is a conservatory for a wide collection of tropical plants. The twelve greenhouses contain cacti, ferns, medicinal plants, orchids and other species. Since 2017 there is also a treetop walkway through the rainforest with a length of more than 400 meters. The Botanical Garden is quite large and situated on a steep mountainside. Walking up the steep road is possible, but it is more convenient to enter by car or motorcycle and take a short walk on the many side-roads and trails. The Natural Science Building is indicated as a museum on the official map, but is usually not open to the public. The map of QSBG below is an improved version of an old tourist map, which shows the nature trails better than the many official maps. The QSBG organization releases a new map every few years, and these give an impression of the garden roads and trails, but are not very accurate or practical. This map is a bit more rational, and has more emphasis on the nature trails. By the way, the trails do have signs in Thai and English.
Once in the garden a 3,6-kilometer loop road runs around the park. This road is on Google Street view; as well as some of the walking trails. There is an open air bus service that runs within the garden. The nature trails are:
The trails are unfortunately not circular, so you have to track back to get back to your vehicle.
Distance: 25km, entry fee 100 baht.
The Royal Park Rajapruek - A large, modern, park-like garden, 9 hectares of beautiful manicured gardens against a mountain back drop. This park is somewhere between a theme park and botanical garden. The buildings include The Tropical Dome, Shaded Paradise, Orchid Pavilion, Desert Plant Greenhouse and Bug World. Outdoors you can see the Palm Garden, Sawadee Garden, Flower Garden, Royal Garden, New Theory Garden and Lotus Garden. Distance: 12km, Entrance fee is 200 baht; for 60 baht you can rent a bicycle.
Topiary Garden.Tweechol Botanic Garden is a modern artificial garden and arboretum on a flat area, and thus very different from the QSBG garden which is set against the side of a hill. At about 0,25 square km it is one-tenth of the size of the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden; which has an area of more than 2 square km. Tweechol garden is walkable, whereas QSBG is so large that a vehicle is necessary to explore the area. One can visit Tweechol in about 2 hours, while it could take a day to explore QSBG thoroughly. Tweechol is for a large part an artificial topiary garden: sculpted foliage in the form of deer, dolphins, dinosaurs, dragons and gorillas. There is also an arboretum, herb garden, a small petting zoo and a cactus garden. Tweechol Botanic Garden is part of the Horizon Village & Resort, about 30 minutes driving northeast on the 118 road toward Doi Saket. Distance: 15km, entry fee 85 baht and bicycle rent is 75 baht.
Terracotta Gardens.
Since 2019 there is a large new hotel, the Phor Liang Meun Terracotta Arts Hotel, built in a sumptuous terracotta style. It is an upmarket hotel, and just across the road is a Terracotta Garden where breakfast is served. The hotel is decorated with larger-than-life terracotta copies of Khmer, Hindu and Thai gods. Shiva, Ganesh, Krishna, Khmer lions and many other statues from neighboring countries sitting peacefully side by side. The new hotel is situated on a small side street of Prapokklao road, to be precise on Prapok Klao Road, Soi 2. The owners of this new hotel also have a terracotta factory near Lamphun, 45km south of Chiang Mai. It is located in the Suanmaithai sculpture garden. The Terracotta Arts Hotel and garden are only for guests, but the Suanmaithai sculpture garden is an alternative.
The Terracotta garden (Suan Mai Thai).
You can visit the terracotta factory, which is located in a large sculpture garden, just west of Lamphun. Mr. Sutthipong Maiwan or Father Dang is the artist, who owns the garden and clay sculpture factory. It became a showroom of art and culture in the middle of an enormous garden of 200 Rai (55 acre) filled with fascinating sculptures. These terracotta sculptures are in the shape of Khmer statues, Indian Avelokatishwaras, Apsara's and other spirits all sitting peacefully together.
There is a restaurant at Suanmaithai garden, which is popular with Thai tourists. The garden is not easy to find on google maps, but from Google Earth it looks like a resort with many ponds and moats, a bit like an Angkor temple, with a central temple in the center. On Open Street Map (OSM) it is also easily visible by the large moats and ponds.
How to get to the Terracotta art park:
This large resort-like place is private property, but open to the public and has no entry fee. When you go all the way down there, it makes sense to combine it with a visit to Lamphun.
Note that the Suanmaithai terracotta art park is a work in progress. In 10 or 20 years it may be a theme park, or still a private property.
And if you want to visit more nature, national parks, and arboretums, you can do the 4-day Mae Hong Son loop. Lots of nature and also a cultural experience; for example the closer you get to Burma, the more tribal people. No botanical gardens on the MHS loop though.
Finally: Arboretums.Don Yen arboretum - A medium sized, hidden arboretum in Ban Pong Din, a small village on the highway number 118 past Doi Saket. And there are many (smaller) arboretums, botanical gardens and specialized Medicinal Plant gardens in and around Chiang Mai.
Dual pricing in Thailand.Dual pricing systems are intended to make foreign tourists pay more than locals. In Thailand many museums and attractions use dual pricing, and foreigners also have to pay more than locals to enter a national park. The entry fees for locals are shown in Thai script, and thus not obvious to the western tourist. The museums and botanic gardens often charge 3 or 4 times the normal price to foreigners. That is not as excessive as the national park fees, which can be 5 to 10 times the price for Thai nationals. Only a few museums do not use dual pricing and charge one price for everyone, for example the Dara Pirom Palace Museum, and the MAIIAM Museum.
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Chiang Mai's walls and bastions.The fortifications around the old town of Chiang Mai were rebuilt by Kawila (Chao Kavila), after he liberated the city from the Burmese at the end of the 18th century. To defend against further attacks by the Burmese, he added the bastions at each corner.
There are five gates in the four walls, clockwise starting from the northern gate: Chang Phuak gate, Tha Phae gate, Chiang Mai gate, Suan Prung gate, and Suan Dok gate. These gates are recent constructions made between 1966 and 1969; they do not resemble the original gates at all, as one can see on King Inthawichayanon's map. During the second world war, the old gates and walls were demolished and used for road construction, and the re-created gates are very wide and sit aside modern roads. In many places road crossings of the moat have been added. More on the construction of modern roads here: Surveying Chiang Mai in 1893. The few remains of the wall at the four corners of Chiang Mai are not original; in 1996 to 1997 archaeological excavations were made, before the wall remains were extensively renovated. They reused old bricks mixed with new brickwork to restore what remained of the walls. Unfortunately, the remains are just some low walls close to the corners of the old town. During the winter of 2018/2019 a new large scale renovation was started using new brickwork. This makes the restored parts in the walls and bastions clearly visible. The bastions on the four corners and the moat are the only remaining part of the fortifications that are original. Keep in mind that all bastions have been restored, some of them several times, in centuries past. For example, below is a black and white historical photo of Jaeng Sri Phum bastion in the northeast corner. By 1967 it was obviously in a very deteriorated state.
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Kamphaeng Din wall.Chiang Mai was originally laid out at the end of the thirteenth century as a roughly square fortress. Later an outer earthen and brick wall was added: Kamphaeng Din wall. Kamphaeng Din is Thai for earthen rampart or earthen wall. It circles around the southeast area of Chiang Mai along the Mae Kha canal. It is mostly made of a quite strong earth and clay mix and has surprisingly survived many monsoon rains. On the western side near Thipanet road there is a stretch of wall which completely intact. This is the best part of the wall; it is located in the Kanchanpisek Park at the southwest corner, Jaeng Ku Ruang, just outside of the old city. This quiet park is just south of the popular Nong Buak Hard park in the SW corner of Chiang Mai old town; one has to cross the moat and a busy road to reach it. The dirt / clay wall is about 5 metres high at this location, but lower in most other parts.
Kamphaeng Din circles around the southeast area of Chiang Mai - the "suburbs". The square brick city wall around the old town was the "fortified city" or main old town where the king and nobility lived along with the Buddhist monks in their monasteries; the clay and earthen wall went around the suburbs where the common people lived. Although Kamphaeng Din is less impressive than an old brick city wall, it is completely authentic. And best of all: the clay wall is for a large part still there - whereas the remains of Chiang Mai's city walls have been reduced to nothing or perhaps a few feet of frequently restored low brick walls in some places.
Why is the old dirt wall still there whereas the original brick city walls have gone? Perhaps because the bricks could be reused, but nobody was interested in the old dirt walls. Only the trees found a fertile clay soil, started growing abundantly and covered the walls with their lush foliage.
If you want to see the Kamphaeng Din walls then the easiest part to see it is east of the old town, along the Kamphaeng Din road which runs along the old wall. Walk down Loi Kroh road and turn left into Kamphaeng Din road; it is just before the bridge over the stream that borders the old dirt walls. Of the original 4000-meter long Kamphaeng Din wall between 1300 and 1600 metres remain; so roughly 30 to 40 percent is still traceable, the rest has completely gone. Only the canal remains; and together with the many trees growing in the clay soil of Kamphaeng Din it creates a green line around the city. The Chiang Mai Department of Fine Arts and the Chiang Mai Municipality have for many years made plans for a restoration project of the rather dirty Mae Kha canal around Kamphaeng Din wall. This project has finally been started in 2022.
The hidden fifth bastion.Besides the four corner bastions Chiang Mai has a hidden fifth one: the Jaeng Thiphanet or Thiphanet Bastion on the southwestern corner of Kamphaeng Din; where it makes a corner. It is difficult to see from the road to the airport (Mahidol road) because it is surrounded by buildings and trees which shield the old walls and bastion. The Thiphanet Bastion is the blue circle in Kamphaeng Din wall on the map above. It is located in a poor area of Chiang Mai, surrounded by houses which are partly built on top of the old wall, and often next to it.
The outside of the bastion is enclosed by bushes and trees, the top can only be reached through some small alleys from Thiphanet road, not from the Kanchanpisek park side. However there are some guard dogs, which can suddenly pop up from behind fences and try to scare you with very loud "WOOFs". Perhaps have a look at the Kamphaeng Din wall on the eastern side of Chiang Mai first, which is much easier.
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More walled cities in northern Thailand.There used to be many more walled cities in northern Thailand, but most walls have been demolished and the bricks reused for houses and road building. Many smaller villages in the Siamese Shan kingdom had just a ditch with a bamboo palisade. Some pieces of the old walls of Nan remain and have been restored, but they are only a very small part of the old wall. Here are a few more suggestions of historic towns, some not far from Chiang Mai:
Chiang Rai: White Temple and Black House.
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Wat Ket Community Traditional Museum is located inside the Wat Ket temple grounds; it is a somewhat dusty collection; varied items that mostly date from the early twentieth century and perhaps the late nineteenth; like textile, photographs, statues, phones, radios, swords and daggers, old currency and household items. It is an eclectic collection of beautiful, weird, interesting and bizarre objects. No entry fee but there is a donation box.
The McKean Senior Center is not a museum but an interesting and historic place. In 1905 Dr. James McKean got permission to establish a leprosy colony or leper asylum on a large island in the Ping river. Now the colony has been renamed to Dok Kaew Gardens and turned into a retirement home. The hospital, colonial houses, church and the many small dwellings for the leprosy patients are still there, between the many large trees, and surrounded by teak plantations.
There are four corner bastions: Jaeng Sri Phum or Sripoom (NE), Jaeng Katam (SE), Jaeng Ku Ruang (SW) and Jaeng Hua Rin (NW). The word Jaeng is Thai for bastion or fort.
The "White Temple" or Wat Rong Khun is certainly something to behold, a real "Bling-bling temple", and worth a visit if you stay in Chiang Rai. Wat Rong Khun is a contemporary, privately-owned art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple. It is quite small inside so there are usually queues. For an idea of the murals inside (no photos allowed), google the artist: Chalermchai Kositpipat.