12 Things to do in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Monk Chats, Doi Inthanon, Cham Cha Market, Visit Temples, Saturday and Sunday Walking Streets, Mueang Mai Market and Fresh Fruits Market (nearby/connected). Read our separate posts about elephant encounters in Chiang Mai and the Loi Krathong Festival.
1. Doi Inthanon
Doi Inthanon is one of the most popular national parks in Thailand. The main park entrance is about 70 km southwest from Chiang Mai city center. The park covers an area of 482 km² and, interestingly, is part of the Himalayan mountain range with elevations ranging between 800 and 2,565 meters asl. The highest peak in the park is Doi Inthanon Mountain which is also the highest mountain in Thailand.
At Doi Inthanon, we first hiked the Kew Mae Pan trail, a nature trail that goes through several ecosystems. You start in thick rain forest, where every tree is laden with vines, orchids and other epiphytes. You climb a lot of stairs, seeing several waterfalls on the way, until you break through to grassland near the summit (The summit is at about 2200 meters above sea level). Interestingly the grasslands are not a natural ecosystem – fires started by lightning about 100 years ago cleared the trees in this region. Much different plant and animal life here than in forest, including the goral, a small antelope-like deer, that climbs like a mountain goat. The goral are quite rare, so unfortunately we didn’t see one. We did however, appreciate the views of the valley below, huge rock formations and the fog rolling in. When the fog rolled in, most of Thais around us slipped on winter jackets, while we enjoyed temperatures in the 16-20 oC range.
From there, we took a short drive to the King and Queen pagodas (aka the Twin pagodas or in Thai, Naphamethinidon and Naphaphonphumisiri). These pagodas were constructed by the Royal Thai Air Force to honor the 60th birthday of King Bhumipol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit in 1987 and 1992, respectively.
Next we hiked to the highest point in Thailand, located within Doi Inthanon and saw some local shrines. On our way back to Chiang Mai, we stopped in a Keren village to learn about coffee production and sample their coffees. Until about 40 years ago, much of the region around Doi Inthanon (and north in the Golden Triangle), focused on opium farming. With the help of the government, though not without various land conflicts between the government and the ethnic minorities, many villages transitioned to crops such as coffee, rice and corn, with an emphasis on tourism.
Wats and Monk Chats
“Wat” means “enclosure” and references a temple complex. There are many wats in Thailand–like sometimes one every block. Some (like Wat Chedi) are visited by more people because they contain important landmarks within them, or have larger complexes, or both.
We have mentioned 2 wats below, but visited many more and think you should too. The first 2 days, we kept saying, “Thai architecture is not subtle.” There are so many fanciful animals, intricate carvings, lights, lamps, gold, mirrors–and that’s just what you see before entering the actual temple and all its gold Buddha-ness. There are over 200 wats in the Old City of Chiang Mai alone.
Be prepared to remove your shoes, and cover legs and shoulders.
Another great thing about the wats is THEY ALL HAVE PUBLIC BATHROOMS.
2. Wat Chedi Luang and Monk Chats
Monk Chats: a teacher at one of the largest wats (temples) in Chiang Mai started the “monk chat” to help his students learn English. In addition to helping the young scholars, it spreads knowledge of Buddhism and increases cross-cultural understanding.
When we arrived there were about 8 young monks (novices–not full-fledged monks yet. They are in middle and high school) looking at their phones and talking to each other, and one older man (the teacher who started the whole program) talking to a few foreigners. There was a Western couple clearly waiting to chat with monks and they, and we, stood there for a bit wondering how to initiate.
Go ahead and sit down at a table. Eventually a monk will come along and sit with you. Many of the monks are very shy about practicing their English because they don’t know much (or would like to be on their phones instead?)
We enjoyed our first conversation with an 18 year old, final year student. We learned about his family and his hope to be a pilot in the future. We taught him the word “brother-in-law” and at the end of our chat he asked us to fill out a homework paper and to take a picture. Here’s our picture together.
We walked toward the entrance and there were more monks engaged in chats. This time the monks looked older and, indeed, these were college students. We sat down at an empty table and eventually a novice monk joined us. We learned about his family as well, and that after 7 years of monk school he knew he would not continue to become a full-fledged monk. He dreamed of going to the USA one day because Americans are “punctual” and understand LGBTQ issues. We told him about the SFZen Center, indicating that perhaps they would be a way to get free housing, help with the teaching and maintenance of the center and practice his English. He seemed enthusiastic about the information.
When we first read about monk chats, I dreamed of asking for guidance (because I think I’ve entered a midlife crisis). So I told this monk in simple English why I was sad (through some tears), and asked what guidance Buddhism had for me. He started crying too, consulted his phone and finally typed, “I understand how you feel. I was sad for two years and cried almost every day.” He pantomimed finding love within oneself, and said “meditation will help. It helped me. I am sure it will help you. I am sure.”
The Wat (temple complex) as a whole is very large. This is the Wat best set up to host tourists. They have 2 separate entrances, shunting tourists through a gate where a ticket is purchased and your clothing checked. (Free rental of clothes if you need it is provided. Shorts and bare shoulders are not permitted.). There is a temple significant to the city’s founding and luck located here. Only men can enter it. There is also a HUGE old structure visible from many locations in the old city. When we visited they were working on refurbishing the Buddha inside. There are giant stone elephants on each corner and it’s generally just very impressive.
3. Wat Inthakhin Sadue Muang
(13 Intrawarorot Rd, Tambon Si Phum, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200)
We had an impromptu monk chat here. We admired the architecture, used the bathroom, and then a novice monk named Sun engaged us in conversation. He invited us to sit. We learned he was in his final year of college and had been in monk training since age 11. His major in college is English! He was very good at English and eager to share information about Buddhism, and because his English was very good he was able to provide more concrete answers to my “problem”. Yes, meditation was still the answer. It was also that in focusing on the present moment I would realize that what made me happy before (or now or in the future) is transient. It is impermanent; that makes it easier to let it go. As a teacher, I got joy from helping students. This was about me being kind, in his definition. It was not something within my control. I can still do kind things of various sorts, including teaching myself, which is indeed in my control.
The main building is a fabulous example of traditional Lanna architecture in black and gold. As with all Wats, there are opportunities to give donations. This Wat had “trees” with metal prayer tablets bearing zodiac signs; you buy your zodiac sign, write a prayer on it, hang it on the tree (and pay your donation). We instead bought some as souvenirs, one for each of our birth years and for our kids’ birth years. If you’d like to do the same, the blank leaves are inside the black and gold temple. (Also there are candles if you like.)
Novice monk Sun with Sarah
The main building–has nice leaf-shaped prayer tags to buy.
When you are done with this Wat, walk down the street to the right of the black and gold temple and there is about a block of good food vendors: snacks, sweets, chicken and rice, soups, satay. Check out our food page for more information and photos.
The Cham Cha Market (Instagram) was a totally enjoyable morning activity! It’s located a little outside Chiang Mai; we used Grab both ways with no trouble. We highly recommend this if you like artsy clothing, antiques, handmade items, cute towns, and hands-on activities (including for the kids). The prices here are not cheap, but the clothing is small batch and a notch above what you will find in town. If you are looking for Hmong-inspired clothing, there is a seller here with dresses, jackets, pants and skirts in designs I’d not seen anywhere else, AND with larger sizes in some things. We also liked an antique dealer who had many items from Myanmar and Thailand, including baskets, fabrics, silver and more. They are normally open on Saturday and Sundays, though I suspect some shops are open during the week and the pop-ups are mostly the weekend. Craft projects the weekend we went involved making floats and candles for the lantern festival that started the following day. If you are traveling with kids, this is a calm place with activities and space for children.
There was plenty of street food available but we opted for the restaurant, Meena Rice Based Cuisine, that our hotelier recommended. At $10 for the two of us, it was the most expensive meal we’d had in Thailand. The food was good and the atmosphere on the river is lovely. Service was slow, bathroom clean, and there is a play space for kids that’s like sandbox-meets-Ikea Kitchen.
Also known as Kad Luang (Big Market). This market is open every day and is located east of the Old City near the Ping River. If you want to buy clothing, souvenirs, or really anything while in Chaing Mai, it’s all at this market. What you find at the night markets is all here, and the night market vendors buy in bulk from Warorot sellers.
We came to Warorot specifically for the Chiang Mai Plastics store (note the site is only in Thai, but you can Google Translate it). Imagine if a hardware store, Michaels, Party City, a 99-Cent store and a restaurant supply store merged. They really have almost anything you need. We needed an extra checked bag, and when such things happen we look for a type of plastic bag (with zipper) that is readily available in pretty much every country we’ve been to for a low price. I took a photo of a bag in use at a night market and showed this to an employee at Chiang Mai Plastics (which you can now do with the photo from our blog). We were led through a maze of aisles to exactly what we needed in 4 different sizes. 225 THB ($6) later, we had our extra suitcase. Next door to Chiang Mai Plastics is a large store with restaurant supply products. If you want souvenirs like wooden spoons, silver-colored Thai-style bowls or large glasses that look like pineapples, this is your spot.
The market covers a very large area. There is a 4 story building, plus all the shops that surround it. The building has foods on the first floor and this is a great place to come for dried fruits, dried fish, spices, incense, or noodles if you want those to take home. In the basement are food stalls. Upstairs has mostly clothing but also backpacks, shoes, some luggage.
Prices: we found a lovely Thai silk shirt at two stalls. The first asked for 450 THB, which we knew was too high. They didn’t have the color we wanted in our size. The second asked for 250 THB. They didn’t have our size (but there were a ton of XXL!) so we can’t tell you price after bargaining. We also bought a pair of cotton drawstring indigo-dyed pants with button pockets on each side. Opening offer was 280 THB. I’m guessing these go for 100-150THB for locals. We bought for 200 THB ($5).
Of note: within the main market buildings, there are ramps in addition to stairs so more wheelchair accessible than many markets, though many aisles are narrow. Big produce and dry goods market.
6. Mueang Mai Market/Fresh Fruits Market
This market is located a few blocks north of the Warorot market and is mostly an outdoor market. It has lots of produce, meat, and seafood. There is more produce here than at Warorot, and clearly some vendors at Warorot have purchased wholesale from Mueang Mai market. We loved seeing the massive amounts of cabbage and other produce here.
7. Saturday and Sunday Walking Street Night Markets
The Saturday night market is located on Wua Lai Road just south of the Old City.
The Sunday night market located on Rachadamnoen and Prapokkloa roads in the middle of the Old City.
Of the two markets, we liked the Saturday one better. It seemed to have more diverse food and maybe better selection of articles for sale, and was a little easier to move through. This surprised us because others had said the Sunday market has wider streets and would thus feel less crowded. It did not. At any rate, if what you want is fried food and consumer goods targeted to tourists then one of these markets is the right place to be. If you want the same consumer goods for less money, go to the Warorot Market. We think the folks at the night markets buy their goods wholesale from Warorot and resell at the night market.
Museums
We visited in the following order: Architecture, Folklife, City Arts and Culture, Chiang Mai National Museum. We recommend quite a different order for others. The Chiang Mai City Arts and Culture Museum was by far the best, in part because it had the best context for exhibits. This should be the first stop and, if you only see one museum, it should be this one. We would follow with the Folklife and/or Architecture museums, both of which are quite close to the Arts and Culture Museum. More information on each museum follows.
8. Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center
If you see only one museum, make it this one. The City Arts and Cultural Center is located behind the 3 Kings Monument. We learned the most about the Lanna kingdom here. Exhibits are arranged in chronological order throughout a series of rooms. (The air conditioning was good in each room.) We learned about the Lanna Kingdom and how and when (and sometimes why) Burmese and British control occurred. There are also cultural exhibits that did a good job of displaying how people lived during various ages and the major art forms of the area (like lacquerware, silver designs, painting and similar). One room explained the canal system of old. When we first arrived, we asked a local about the original uses for the canal which encloses the Chiang Mai Old City. They did not seem to know, but this exhibit taught us about the very sophisticated agricultural plan the original canals served.
This museum also has a GREAT gift shop. The prices were either comparable to what is asked on the street or more expensive but for better quality. For example, they had a traditional metal belt for 180 THB. One can find versions for 100 THB but they look cheaper. The metal hair ornaments for sale here (350 THB for large and 180 THB for small) were the nicest ones we saw on the trip with the exception of antique real silver ones in the Cham Cha Artists’ Market.
9. Lanna Folklife Museum
The Folklife Museum has some lovely exhibits. The curation is ok; there is information in English but the context isn’t as rich as we wished. It is located across the street from the 3 Kings Monument. Though it shares a website with the City Arts and Cultural Center, the admission fees are separate.
10. Lanna Architecture Center
The Lanna Architecture Center is a traditional house built for wealthy owners during the early 20th century. It is special in part because it shows Lanna architecture married with Western architecture. Visits to the main floor are free, and access to the upper floor requires a small fee. With our fee they gave us some postcards which were otherwise for sale. One can complete a tour in 30 min or so. There are some exhibits about architecture in general and this building specifically, but what we liked best was just seeing the physical building and the 2 small rooms which are decorated with period items. We enjoy architecture, so are glad we went.
11. National Museum
The National Museum of Chiang Mai is located outside the old city, so we took a Grab for a few dollars each way. The curation here did not offer the context we hoped for. However, the exhibits were interesting, so if you like museums, this is a worthwhile stop.
12. Visit more Temples (Wat)
While we listed 2 specific temples above, there are temples everywhere in the old city–like 200. We saw Wat Fon Soi, Wat Muen Tum (where we hung a lantern plus saw anatomically correct dragons at the entrance) and Wat Chang Taem. The architecture is never subtle. During the lantern festival, each Wat had special decorations for the holiday.