Top 5 Things to Do in Chiang Mai: Inside the City
While Bangkok sometimes seems like an endless sprawl that stretches to the end of the earth, Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand offers refreshingly easy access to the beautiful countryside, river and mountains surrounding the city. In fact, one of the main tourist draws of Chiang Mai is the fact that there are so many things to do outside of the city that you couldn’t possibly cover it all in less than a few weeks.
I recently posted an article about the top 5 things to do in Chiang Mai: outside the city, in which I recommended a few great activities and attractions in the surrounding countryside. Now I’d like to focus a little on the top 5 things to do in Chiang Mai city itself.
The Top 5 Things to Do in Chiang Mai
#5 Chiang Mai Prison Spa
Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai
Thailand is famous for its massage parlours, but few are as memorable as the Chiang Mai women’s prison spa. You wouldn’t know it was there unless someone pointed it out, but in the heart of the Chiang Mai old town is a women’s correctional institution, and within its walls (and beyond the gift shop, bizarrely) you can get a massage from a hardened criminal.
Actually, you can get a massage from a convict with a record of good behaviour who is scheduled for release within six months (so you won’t have to worry about getting stabbed). The massage parlour is part of the prison’s rehabilitation program, and it allows convicts to learn a skill and earn a little money to support them when they are released. It’s a little odd, but I think it’s a great novelty and a fantastic way to help the prisoners start their freedom on a good footing.
#4 Muay Thai Boxing
Like most cities around Thailand, Chiang Mai has its very own Thai boxing venue at Gawila Boxing Stadium. On several nights each week you can watch Thai and foreign Muay Thai boxers duke it out in the ring in front of a mass of baying fans. Perhaps even more interesting than the fights themselves are the way the evenings are advertised. Every morning I’m woken up at 11AM (I’m a night owl) by a songthaew driving slowly through the old town with an attached megaphone, through which a Thai man who sounds like a cartoon villain yelss ‘TOOOOONIGHT! THAAAIIIIIII BOXING FIIIIIIGHT! AT! THEEEE NIGHT BAZAAAAAAR!’ If that doesn’t make you want to watch some boxing, nothing will.
#3 Thai Cooking School
If there’s one thing visitors remember about Chiang Mai it’s the incredible array of delicious food available throughout the city, be it from upmarket restaurants or simple street stalls. For a chance to learn a few secrets of Thai cooking you can attend any one of a few dozen Thai cookery classes open to the public. Some are better than others (at least one is taught by a TV celebrity chef), but every class is guaranteed to teach you something new about Thai cooking.
#2 Wat Phra Singh
Miniature Busker at Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street
Chiang Mai is a city of temples, and with over 300 dotted around the city it would be almost impossible to see them all without staying permanently. Perhaps the most popular, though, is Wat Phra Singh in the old town.
Wat Phra Singh was founded in 1345, and this Lanna style temple is one of the most memorable sights in Chiang Mai. Legend has it that the Buddha statue housed in the temple is the Phra Buddha Sihing, an important statue in the Buddhist faith – though at least two other temples in Thailand make the same claim, so who knows?
#1 Sunday Walking Street
Every Sunday evening a large portion of the old town, from Thapae Gate in the east all the way to the centre of the city, is closed to traffic to become an enormous street market. Local handicrafts, textiles and every type of food imaginable are sold to locals and tourists alike, and local artists use the market as a venue for showing off their work. Street musicians, pavement artists, living statues and puppet shows all vie for the attention of the thronged masses, and the whole thing feels like a street party.
The Chiang Mai Sunday walking street is a great place to pick up gifts to take home, and a fantastic place to practice your bartering.
Before you book your trip to the Land of Smiles you should discover the best time to visit Thailand.
Further Reading
This is just a small taste of the many sights and attractions of Chiang Mai. Much more can be found here.
Before any trip to Asia it’s important to brush up on local information: customs, culture, food, drink and every little thing that makes your destination unique. Lonely Planet guides are the most trusted source of information for travellers in Asia.
