These next two (this one and the next one) are in the wrong order - but anyway they are notes I made while travelling (driving my car) up to Chiang Rai and back to Bangkok.
New thoughts on Chiang Mai.
I have often been unhappy coming to Chiang Mai. The traffic is terrible, it is busy and people seem rushed and less patient and polite than much of Thailand. There is less smiling. The smog is sometimes quite bad. There is too much prostitution and bars here. It is loud.
Today I started to change my attitude. Those things mentioned above are still true, but I am recognizing Chiang Mai is a big city and one that is popular with tourists, and many of those things are characteristics of any big city and any touristy place. I suppose before I had always been thinking of Chiang Mai as a regional town, not as a large city .If you accept that of Chiang Mai and expect some of those city characteristics, then actually things aren't too bad here. In fact compared to most big cities Chiang Mai is great. There are waterfalls nearby, gardens and plenty of natural areas of beauty. Despite the noise there are many quiet, peaceful, serene areas. In the same way, despite the many rushed, busy, stressed people, there are also many good, happy, helpful, cheerful and polite people.
For tourists Chiang Mai is a good base. It has everything you could want and is central to much of Northern Thailand. My only bit of advice would be to use Chiang Mai as a base to explore Northern Thailand, but don't use it as your experience of Northern Thailand; as there is much more to see and much more culture than is available here. But used as a convenient base, it is a great spot and interesting city.
Accommodation tips.
There are lots of places to stay in Chiang Mai, here are some I know of:
Lanna Thai guesthouse. Basic and getting a little old, but great location and really nice staff. About 350-450B per night.
Mountain View Guesthouse.Out the way a bit, but quiet and peaceful setting. Under 500B per night.
? Another out the way one. But staff were great, rooms were good and bed was huge. Normally a little over 1000B per night
Top North Hotel. Good position and has a pool. 700 B per night for fan rooms. 41 Moon Muang Rd. Tel.053279623-25,Fax.053279626.
Lanna House. Really new and clean and really nice rooms. In a great spot and with WiFi. 700B per night. On Thapae Rd not far from Thapae gate. Tel.053270348-50,Fax.053270200
River Ping Palace. Beautiful old teak building over 100 years old. Next to the river it has great staff and a great friendly but relaxed atmosphere. 2000B per day. Close to the airport.
While mentioning places to stay:
During this trip away I also stayed at Prince's guesthouse in Mae Hong Son - cost 300B. Good and great location. Free internet.
Normally in Mae Hong Son I stay at Friends Guesthouse - 150B, nice staff, basic but everything you need and good location.
In Chiang Rai I stayed at Starbright hotel which was by far the best place during the trip. Near the night bazaar, great service, excellent food, very good massage, beautiful and large rooms. 1800B per night.
Oh and driving between MHS and Chiang Mai (on the Northern road) we stopped for lunch at a mushroom research place. Food was great and really nice scenery and quiet place. Fascinating. Had rooms. I will stay there in future. Not sure of the name of the village it was in.
More. Now driving back to Bangkok we have stopped in Lampang. Driving into Lampang from the North on Highway 1 is impressive as you pass large areas of jungle and also mainly limestone cliffs and outcrops. As we were entering Lampang we passed and cart drawn by 2 bullocks and once into the town we saw many of the local taxis which are carriages drawn by small horses. Lampang town is much bigger than I expected. It seems interesting and not overly touristy. We stayed at Hotel Kim City which was good and cost 700 Baht. (274/1 Chatchai Road, tel. 054310238-40, fax 054226635). We walked 5 minutes up the road and had dinner at a place that is obviously a uni student hangout. The food was good and not too expensive - less than 200 Baht for a fish, 2 plates of prawn fried rice and some drinks. But the scenery was the most amazing thing. There seemed to be a large supply of the most stunningly attractive young ladies walking around in short skirts and tight singlet tops. Kanchana wasn't impressed and although it was amazing that so many very beautiful girls exist, I have to agree that the recent change in Thai dress standards (amongst certain people in certain areas - not all) seems to signal a less calm society and one where women are seen less as humans and more as objects.
More thumbnails ...
Send a message
146 votes 
This is a top pick!
