new Thailand - The North (Chiang Mai)

Arriving in Chiang Mai by air

Check out "The North" page too for details on getting to Chiang Mai by air, train and bus.

At CM airport, there are taxis charging a fixed price of 90 Bht to bring you to the center (3/99).

Going to the airport you can be cheaper off taking a Tuk-Tuk for 50 Bht (3/99).

Getting around

Tuk Tuk
It's easy to get a Tuk-Tuk to get around, but it's difficult to know the right price and not to get ripped off. The minimum fare is 20 Bht for short rides, but it'll be usually 30 to 50 Bht. Some drivers can be very stubborn and not take you, even if they go in your direction anyway. Once we had asked to be driven first to the TAT office, and then to the old city. One driver had found us another driver, but this one thought we only wanted to go to the old city straight away for 40 Bht. When he eventually found out we had to go to TAT first, he simply drove us back to our starting point and dropped us there (without fee) and started complaining to his fellow driver.

Renting a motorbike
A cheaper option in the long run is to rent a motorbike. The price seems to be 150 Bht everywhere for 24 hours (3/99), you might bargain a bit when you rent from noon onwards. We rented at CVA Suzuki, not far from the Night bazaar at 85/1-4 Kamphangdin road, A. Muang, tel 273-515, because this is a motorbike dealer, so I guessed the bikes would be in good condition. They close at 6 pm, but you can drop the motorbike a the shop next to it. If you intend to do some serious motorbiking, then there are some excellent opportunities in this area of the country. for more info on this, check out David Unkovic's website The Golden Triangle Rider with excellent info on possible trips.

Renting a car

At the airport
Avis has an office at all airports in Thailand (except Ko Samui) and charge pretty high prices (3/99).

AVIS	1 day	1 week
Honda 1,3	1.500	9.000
Vitara 1,6	2.500	15.000
Toyota Hiace	3.000	18.000

Insurance is 200 Bht per day and CDW is 125 Bht per day, VAT 10% is extra.

Drop off charge for Mae Hong Son is 4.500 Bht extra and Chiang Rai 2.500 Bht with a minimum of 3 days rent.

In the city
"North Wheels" in town has much better prices then AVIS. Their prices INCLUDE full coverage insurance and unlimited kilometres (3/99). They also have a 24 hour technical assistance team. Check their new website for more details and reservations.

NORTH WHEELS	1 day	1 week
Honda 1,3	1.300	8.100
Vitara 1,6 *	2.000	14.000
Toyota Hiace **	1.500	9.000

* Automatic transmission
** Includes driver

Drop off charge for Mae Hong Son is 1.500 Bht extra and Chiang Rai 1.000 Bht.

Accommodation

How to book

Internet
I found there's a very good website with good deals called Chiang Mai Online. I hereby give you some examples of prices they offered compared to what you could get at the airport, at a broker in town and at the hotel. I must say that I compared only their so-called "special offers". All prices are for double rooms including taxes as valid in 3/99:

Hotel name	Price	Airport	Broker	Internet
Empress	2650	2500	1200	1300
Orchid	1850	NA	1600	1200
Downtown Inn	800	NA	750	750

At the airport
Prices at the airport are usually a bit better then at the hotel itself, but you can find better deals at the brokers. There's also a counter at the railway station, but I didn't check that one.

Broker
Mau Tour Service has good hotel rates, not only for CM, but for all other places in Thailand.

They have 2 offices in CM:
- 62/1 Charoenprathed Rd., Changklan Chiang Mai, tel 053/821022, or e-mail mautour@loxinfo.co.th
- 88/8 Sridornchai Rd, Changklan CM, tel 053/271184.

Hotels
Hotels in CM will usually (in March) give you a discount of 50% of the rack rate, but even this will not be as good as the broker's prices.

Which Hotels

Regent Chiang Mai

The best place in and around Chiang Mai is undoubtedly the Regent. The resort consists of 16 houses built in U-shape around a marvellous rice field (you can see farmers and buffaloes working there every day). Each house has 4 spacious rooms with every luxury you can imagine: safe, fridge, hifi rack, TV, AC, fan etc... Each room has a big terrace, most of them with view on the rice terraces. They also have rooms with several bedrooms and private swimming pool. Facilities include swimming pool, 2 restaurants, health club and complimentary mountain biking. Expensive. Check out their website.

Empress Hotel

The Empress Hotel is a good 4-star hotel. Rooms are OK and have TV, fridge, safe and a decent bathroom. A small disadvantage is that it's not right in the center, it's about a 500 m. walk to the beginning of the night bazaar. They have a swimming pool but not much shade there. This is

the hotel where the Belgian tour operator Best Tours puts its clients. When booked through a broker, you'll pay 1200 Bht which is a good price for this hotel. Their buffet breakfast is excellent.

Royal Lanna hotel

This is a new hotel (not to be mistaken for "Lanna view" or "Lanna Palace"), situated right in the center of the night bazaar and costs only 900 Bht (even at the hotel desk itself). This looks like an incredibly good deal for this hotel with big rooms, AC, fridge and swimming pool, but once you stay there you'll see that it's not that good. They try to be a 4-star, but in a lot of details you'll see they aren't. Especially the breakfast was poor, but also the walls are thin, nothing on the walls, and the hotel gives you an impersonal impression. It was also the only hotel where they checked the minibar before we left (can be unhandy if you've got a plane to catch).

Downtown Inn

This hotel is well situated in the Night Bazaar, has an excellent buffet breakfast and costs 800 Bht. The rooms are big and have AC, fridge and TV, safe at the reception. However, there's no swimming pool, and the bathroom could be better. Tel 251-0324.

Budget accomodation

For good info on budget hotels, check out the ITIS net website.

One of the best restaurants we went to was "The Whole Earth" at 88 Sridonchai Road, A. Muang (053) 282-463. It's situated right outside the night bazaar in a nice garden. You can sit outside on the verandah or in the garden, or inside if you prefer AC. The food is excellent, but count on 100 to 250 Bht for a main course. Their restaurant in BKK is equally good (3/99).

The Gallery

This restaurant is situated on the borders of the river next to other popular restaurants. The atmosphere there is good, but I wasn't impressed with the food and service (although Footprint says it's recommended). Also a bit more expensive at 100 to 200 Bht (3/99).

Ban Purn Restaurant

This is a restaurant around the corner of the Whole Earth, between the Empress hotel and the night bazaar. The food is good and cheap, but not much atmosphere in the restaurant. Fast food Several possibilities with Mc Donalds, OK Pizza, Pizzahut, KFC etc...

What to do

Trekking

Introduction
A lot of people do some kind of trekking here depending on what kind of comfort you're prepared to live with. I'll give here some examples of what's possible, but of course we only did 1 of this.

A rough trekking

We did what can be considered as a "rough trekking". We booked it with Panda Tours on Moon Muang Road. I think they can be recommended for the following things:

- they have fixed prices, no bargaining
- they did what they told they would do: small group (8 people), no other tourists in the villages, the food was OK given the limitations and the guide was experienced.

We did a 3 day tour to the Pai region which costed 1800 Bht pp everything included. They provide small backpacks, but these are poor quality, actually it's just a bag with 2 straps. They also rent sleeping bags for 100 Bht pp, but these are also not such good quality, and take a lot of space and weight.

First day was a lot of bus riding. First to a local market outside CM to buy food, then to a waterfall for a swim, and then further to the start of the trekking (about 3 hours drive from CM). Then a very steep climb which knocked us all out, but then luckily a nice 2 hour walk to the village where we spent the night. The food was good.

Second day we walked for 2 hours to a first village were we rested, then 2 hours to a second village where we had lunch and could cool off in a river nearby. Then again about 2 hours walk, and then an elephant ride of 1 hour where we passed the river several times. 1 hour elephant riding is enough, as it's not so comfortable for your back. We spent the night at a house next to the river where we swam and could wash.

Third day was completely devoted to bamboo rafting, hard work in dry season since the water is low.

Some comments

This trekking is not to be taken lightly, especially the second day was quite tough since we walked for about 6 hours.

The walks itself were mainly in the forest, but this will depend upon the region. The landscape was not as impressive as f.i. Sulawesi with its marvellous rice fields and typical houses, so don't expect too much of it.

The villages we passed through were mostly quite small, and it was very difficult to get in touch with the local people. However remote the village, we always saw a motorbike or even a car in these villages.

You can buy basic things like water or even beer and coke in all the villages we passed. Don't drink water from the river, 2 of 3 people in our group who did so became ill the same night.

The trekkings differ according to the season:

- In dry season the walks are easier, and you will thus do more walking and less rafting.

- In wet season, the rafting will be much faster and the walks more muddy, so the walk will be shortened, and the rafting will be longer.

It can be cold at night, especially around 4 or 5 am (we went in March). Blankets are provided, but this might not always be enough so take at least a good sweater. You will sleep on a floor, no mattresses are provided.

We had good trekking shoes, but during dry season this is not absolutely necessary, although it will be better.

During the rafting, your stuff will not get wet, but you will.

For those who want something more comfortable

If you prefer the comfort of a hotel, you might just do a 1 day trekking, and return to your hotel the same evening. This means of course that you will have to stay around CM, so the village will be much more touristic, and you will do walking, elephant riding and some rafting in 1 day. This will also cost about 1200 Bht pp.

If you still want a multiple day trekking but with a bit more comfort, there are possibilities to stay in "lodges" in some villages. There is f.i. the "Lisu lodge" and the "Hmong village lodge". These are lodges with mattresses, electricity and western style bathrooms. These trekkings are much more expensive, but they also include transport with 4WD car, mountain biking, white water rafting, elephant riding and the meals will be better including BBQ's.

An example of such a trekking is offered by INTCO (301/8 Soi Sabun-Nga, Nimmanhaeminda Road, CM 50200, tel/fax 053/211910 or 211913. Price depends on the number of people, but count on 14.000 Bht for a 4 day trekking from CM to Mae Hong Son including flight back. I did not do this myself.

Mountain biking

There are some agents offering mountain bike tours around CM, but I didn't do this myself. Here are some addresses:

- The Wild Planet Adventure Center, 73/7 Charoenprathet Road, tel 277-178, e-mail info@activethailand.com. They also have their own website.

- CM Green Tour and Trekking, 29-31 Lamphun road, tel 247-374, e-mail cmgreent@hotmail.com

Did you do a trekking ?

If you've done a trekking and you wish to share your experiences with others, mail me and I'll put your story on this site.

White water rafting

It's important to know that the bamboo rafting offered during a trekking has nothing to do with white water rafting. In fact, white water rafting cannot be done during dry season. Best time is august - september, but tours are usually run from july to mid-jauary (depending on water levels of course). The Pai river is known for white water rafting.

The city

We didn't visit much of the city itself. In fact, I expected a bit more of it thinking it would be an old city surrounded by walls, but the walls are barely there. Also it's quite hot in the afternoon, and you'll see plenty of more spectacular wat's in Thailand, so we skipped that.

Doi Suthep

We went to Doi Suthep with our rented motorbike which is a nice 30 to 40 minutes trip with nice views over the city. I advise to go there around 4 to 5 pm as the light will be very nice (especially the stairs leading up there are nice then), and the monks start singing around 5 pm. Night Bazaar The night bazaar is very busy but nice to have a walk and shop around a bit. You'll find fake T-shirts (Tintin, CK, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren etc...around 100 Bht for a T-shirt), fake watches, handicrafts etc... All the things you find here can also be found in BKK.

Go to Mae Hong Son