Getting from Bangkok to Chiang Mai

My hour long Air Asia flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai started off on a good foot as I barely made it to the airport in time which turned out to be a blessing because I didn’t even have to wait a single minute.  When it was finally time to board the plane I was pleasantly surprised when I boarded a BRAND NEW airbus 320 jet!  The fact that the plane was new was immediately noticeable upon walking into the plane by the smell.

The interior of the plane smelled like brand new leather.  I first wondered if they just had the seats reupholstered but the usual yellow interior from the ancient Air Asia planes was white and brand new looking.  I asked the flight attendant and she said the plane was delivered 3 days ago.  I was debating in the back of my head whether a new plane was a good or a bad  thing since old planes have obviously stood up to the test of time while new planes were a proven commodity.

The new plane meant less freebies from Air Asia as I was charged  not only for my meal (a sandwich I paid for at booking) but a can of soda while on board.  If charging for the soda wasn’t enough, they actually charged me for a cup and ice!  Personally I will take a brand new plane over free soda but some people may have other ideas.  The hour long flight was smooth with absolutely no turbulence and the landing was smooth.

Where are all the Skyscrapers?

Regardless of which country you think about, you would expect the 2nd largest city to be pretty big.  The countries and cities that come to mind first such as the United States (New York, Los Angeles), Brazil (Rio De Janiero, Sao Paulo) and China (Shanghai, Beijing) are some of the largest countries in the world and obviously several times larger than Thailand.  Even so I would expect a city of 600,000 in northern Thailand to have some resemblance to the metropolis I live in Bangkok. I already knew the airport was only 10 minutes via tuk tuk to the city center so I was paying attention to the city while the plane was making its final decent.

I was looking for some evidence of city and I saw none so I figured that we didn’t fly over that part.  It turns out Chiang Mai has no skyscrapers and very few noticable buildings over 20 stories. An interesting fact about Chiang Mai is the city center or “Old Town” is completely surrounded by a moat!  Yes, you read that right.  The center of Chiang Mai used to be surrounded by brick walls which were surrounded by a moat.  A small section of the brick wall still remains which is where the beginning of the Sunday walking market is (you can read about it below).

Getting Around in Chiang Mai

Unlike Bangkok which has to be top 10 on the list of worldwide cities with the most taxi cabs, Chiang Mai has very few.  I saw less than a handful of “taxi-meters” during my 72 hours in Chiang Mai.  Tuk Tuks on the other hand were plentiful.  Taking the place of the taxis were trucks with benches on either side of their covered beds (I don’t know the name of them). Since there is less traffic volume than Bangkok, many tourists also take to the roads themselves.  In addition cars which cost in between 1000-2000 baht ($30-60USD) per day you can rent motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles.  I decided to brave the Thailand traffic on a moped which I rented for 200 baht ($6USD) a day.

The automatic Honda scooter/moped? I drove around on was more than adequate to explore the city. The first thing to know if you’re driving around Chiang Mai is the moat is surrounded by traffic on each side which are going in opposite directions.  It is pretty easy to get caught up in the traffic flow and just go around in circles (or squares in the case of Chiang Mai).  To actually leave the city on your own is not that bad.  Traffic gets less congested as you leave the main city into the surrounding areas.

If you inspect the map (below) and the tourist map you can pick up at the airport, you can see there are only a handful of main roads which exit the main part of the city in each direction.  A major landmark such as a shopping mall or sign for the zoo usually marks the right road to use to get to an out-of-town location.  Walking is always a viable option which is best at night when it cools down a bit.  This is why choosing the right accommodations will help you get around more efficiently as well as save money although you’ll no doubt want to leave the city limits to explore the surrounding areas of northern Thailand.

Things I did In and Around Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai Night Safari

Sunday Market Walking Street Fair

Visit the Long Necked Karen Hill Tribe

Monkey School

Insect Museum

I saw the sign for the insect museum while returning from the long neck hill tribe visit.  My driver hadn’t been to the museum so I decided to check it out.  The entrance fee was 100 bht ($3USD) and it reminded me of most insect museums I have been to.  The insect museum consisted with the standard cases of dead, pinned-up insect species as well as a decent selection of live beetles, scorpions and various other bugs as well as live butterfly and dragonfly netted in rooms.  Although the $3 15-minute tour wasn’t a total waste of money, I would only recommend it to serious insect lovers (or haters) as it was pretty much standard fare.

Night Bazaar

I was warned by a Canadian expat about the night bazaar being overpriced.  I just gassed up my moped and decided to go check it out around 9 or 10 at night.  The night bazaar consisted of a bunch of food and product vendors on a few streets at which looked like a small China Town.    It is located around the Mae Ping river on the east side of Chiang Mai (yellow area on above map).

From Bridge over Mae Ping River Near Night Bazaar

More Things You can do In & Around Chiang Mai

Things which were advertised all over the place and included in various tours I checked out but didn’t fully pursue.  Any of the following popular attractions are worth checking out especially if you are interested in the individual activities.

“Templing”

There are dozens of temples big and small within the Chiang Mai city limits and many more in the surrounding areas.  I overheard two tourists talking about “templing all day” while I was eating breakfast and for some reason it made me not want to ever enter a temple.  I have been in Thailand for the past 8 months and visited for 3 weeks back in 2005 and I still have not been inside a temple.  I actually rode my rented moped about 20km out of the city to go to Doi Suthep temple which was near the top of a nearby mountain and didn’t enter because it was completely saturated with tourists.  If “templing” turns you on, Chiang Mai is a “templer’s” paradise so knock yourself out.

Elephant Camps & Treks

Another thing to do out of Chiang Mai was various elephant camps and treks.  Most multiple day all-inclusive tours included something to do with elephants.  They look like quite an experience but I’m just into sitting on the back of a stinking wild animal for hours getting bit my mosquitoes in the middle of the jungle.

White Water Rafting & Off-Roading

Most packaged tours included some form of rafting.  There were also numerous tours which involved off-road motorcycles and ATVs.  With less rules and regulations than the US I would be willing to bet that any daredevils who like outdoor motorized activities would have a blast with these.

Flight of the Gibbon

Along with Tiger Kingdom, Flight of the Gibbon was advertised everywhere.  It was included in many 2 or 3 day package tours and consisted of zip lining, rock climbing and eco-tourism.  You can read about it on TreeTopAsia.com It looked pretty fun but I didn’t have the time.

Tiger Kingdom

Tiger Kingdom was promoted hugely from everything to pamphlets at the airport, to numerous billboards to stickers in tuk tuks.  The Canadian expat woman I talked to in the huge 3 story Starbucks by the gate at the beggining of the Sunday walking street fair told me to avoid Tiger Kingdom.  She said the tigers were drugged and one of her friends got clawed and had to get 60+ stitches.

If the chance of getting mauled by a 500+ pound feline beast isn’t reason enough to avoid an attraction I don’t know what is.  I actually went to Tiger Kingdom because my driver recommended the buffet which I guess was actually 1/2 of the attraction.  The buffet was actually really good and hit the spot after the hill tribe visit.  Some tables actually were aligned right next to the tiger cage in which the workers played with the tigers like house cats (video below).

Accommodations in Chiang Mai

This was my first trip I have taken with TourismPicks.com at the top of my mind so I planned to stay in a different places with different costs each night I stayed in Chiang Mai.  Searching online for a hotel was like trying to find a piece of hay in a haystack so I turned to the Thaivisa.com forum which I made a thread asking for recommendations.

The first person who responded on the forum within 10 minutes recommended the Montri hotel so I booked it for a single night to make life easier.  I had arranged a pick-up from the airport to my booked hotel which cost 150 baht ($4.50USD) and had a guy waiting for me with a sign with my name on it.  I had a whole 15 seat tourist van to myself.  There are many hotels in Chiang Mai to accommodate for the bustling tourist industry and I had a chance to sample 3 of them for my 3 night stay.

Places to Stay in Chiang Mai:  Montri Hotel

Places to Stay in Chiang Mai:  Studio 99 Serviced Apartments

Places to Stay in Chiang Mai:  Royal Guest House