24. Ode To Chiangmai
11.11.2023
People have asked me: “Why do you stay in Chiangmai for so long? What are you doing there? What’s so great about that location?”
This post contains all the answers to those questions and goes a lot deeper. I thought a long time about how I could structure my points but didn't find a satisfactory answer, so I will start somewhere and swing myself vine-like from one point to the next.
Since Chiangmai is also a province I like to clarify that when I talk about Chiangmai I refer only to the Old Town and the close vicinity of a few hundred metres around it.
First and most importantly, I like the vibe and variety Chiangmai has to offer. There is so much packed into that rather almost perfectly square-shaped Old Town that stretches 1.6km x 1.6km, wall remains in each corner, 1-2 gates (or gate ruins) on each side and a tree-lined moat around it.
The small size means that even by foot you can reach every location within 20min. Most of the time you don't have to walk far, though, because unless you are looking for a very specific shop or business you will will find everything you need just around the corner: convenience stores such as 7Elevens, a money exchange shop, a fruit and veggie market and last but not least more cafes, restaurants, street foot stalls and massage shops you could ever visit in the span of a few weeks. If you stay longer like me what happens is that you pick your favourite spots, return to them frequently and only occasionally branch out to discover something new.
What makes Chiangmai very special is its ridiculous high number of temples and stupas – of which 97% are open for the public during daytime, totally free of charge (donations are of course always welcome). I read that an astonishing 30% of Chiangmai's Old Town is classified as temple area – not sure if that is true but I can confirm that you come across temples everywhere you go. Many of them are tucked away and more private while a two handful of them are of impressive size, impossible to miss and therefore tourist hotspots with souvenir booth and traffic control guards. Most temples feature support buildings and living quarters for the monks, at times a garden or a pond as well so when I say temple, I actually mean temple complex.
There are over 300! temples and stupas scattered within the Old Town of Chiangmai and the surrounding countryside – more than in any other province in Thailand. Despite hoards of tourists flocking to them all year round most of these religious sites still feel like sanctuaries radiating peace and calmness. Trees and greenery planted on the premises creating a pleasant micro climate. Many temples are hundreds of years old and protected, not only physically by walls around them but also legally to prevent them from demolition or investors striving to build a lucrative luxuries resort on the precious land instead. I also suspect it isn't permitted to build new structures next to temples that are higher or negatively impacting them in any other way for example by emitting lots of noise or air pollution.
The many preserved temples within the Old Town that boasts almost 750 years of history (Chiangmai was founded in 1296) facilitate a medieval romantic flair combined with contemporary Thai lifestyle.
The difference to other well preserved medieval cities, e.g Bruges in Belgium, is the inclusion of new buildings that don't blend into the existing architecture. Let me tell you, many of those structures are plain ugly and/or in very bad shape. However, this leads me to another feature of Chiangmai that fascinates me: Even though you encounter ancient, tiny wooden houses right next to monstrous three story high parking garages made of raw, withered concrete, luxury mansions and fancy boutiques next to run down residential blocks, official buildings with prestigious sculptures and ample of empty space around them, adjacent to ultra-low budget make-shift booths... in my likely controversial opinion it all merges together perfectly into a homogeneous urban organism displaying its evolving DNA of century-long development. Despite stark contrasts in architectural styles - somehow everything coexists in visual harmony by either embracing diversity or most likely not giving a hoot and simply prioritising functional requirements and budgetary constraints over aesthetics and sensible urban planning. As a German and former architect I should feel offended by such an approach but surprisingly I have learned to embrace it as the easy-going, practicality first Thai way of doing things.
There are three major roads crossing the Old Town from North to South and three to four larger roads cutting through from East to West but if you want to reach the opposite side of the town fast, you better go around rather than trying to wiggle your way through. The road that encircles (more precisely:“ensquares”) the Old Town on both sides of the moat sees the most influx of traffic by far. There is almost always a constant flow of cars, motorbikes and scooters. Still, the driving of most traffic participants is mainly respectful. However, respectful does not equal following road rules. Green lights for pedestrians are often ignored by impatient drivers that don’t care to wait for people crossing the road not quick enough and especially scooters (and bicyclists like me) tend to disregard one-way street directions as well as do-not-turn left/right/go straight signs. I know: nasty, nasty, but frankly this kind of disobedience is a level of anarchy I fully support as long as it is bundled with common-sense and situational awareness that ensures nobody's life is put at risk.
Back to why I love Chiangmai: Thousands of tourists and over 127,000 citizens inhabit the city municipality (the inner city and close surroundings) and still you can make a single turn off a major road and quickly find yourself in a picturesque back street you would expect in a rural village. You may walk past empty and overgrown properties, suddenly spot a little cafe with organic food, pass a tiny, shriveled up women looking 175 years old sitting on the curb in front of her house entrance, then turn into dead end alley and miraculously find yourself standing in front of a lovely villa that claims to be an art gallery. You turn around, reach a crossroads with a run down tailor shop selling jeans, dresses and T-shirts for a handful of dollars and on the opposite side you are confronted by a very modern museum... - it is mind boggling that all of it is nestled within the city centre of Thailand's second largest cities in spitting distance to a main road. It feels like entering a different world. It is exactly this mix of buzzing city life and village serenity that I appreciate so much about Chiangmai.
Speaking of main roads...Rachadamnoen Road running from the famous Phra Singh Temple in the West through the center to the even more famous Tha Pae Gate in the very East is commonly known as Walking Street. Every Sunday the street transforms from an important A-B connection into the Old Town's biggest night market. Hundreds of stalls are assembled in the afternoon and dissassembled again at around 22:30. Similar transformations happen all over the city on a daily basis on a smaller scale. The only other Night Market of similar proportions is the Wua Lai Walking Street Saturday Market on the outside the city near the Chiangmai Gate. The area around said Chiangmai Gate (the biggest gate on the south side) sports a little plaza with trees and a sizeable market building on the other side of the street. In the morning, market vendors are selling mainly fruit, veggies and meat as well as already processed food for immediate consumption. Outside, clothes and souvenirs are on display. Around noon, people start packing and clean up. The plaza is empty until the afternoon when stalls of local artists and food carts pop up. People dine and shop until midnight and in the early morning hours everything starts all over again.
I like that a lot of locations in and around the Old Town are repurposed several times during a full day. It changes fundamentally how you perceive those areas. A tranquil quarter at daytime can turn into a blinking and flashing urban pocket of nightlife with pubs and clubs awakening after dark – and vice versa a super busy road with lots of vendors and businesses might shift into graveyard mode in the after hours.
Chiangmai feels very safe and I rarely witnessed any acts of aggression including road rage. Of course it might good advice to not walk through dark alleys alone at night, but to be honest, I have done that dozen of times and I have never been harassed or robbed. I have walked through the shadiest looking passages at night time either with my camera or dragging my suitcase along and not once I had an encounter that remotely caused fear or unease. I would deem drunk or drugged tourists walking back to their accommodation as the biggest potential safety risk. Anyway, using common sense and hightened awareness of your surroundings is always a good thing in order to prevent precarious situations from occuring in the first place.
Summed up, the high quality of life I experience in Chiangmai is rooted in the enormous amount of variety packed into a small space that doesn't feel overcrowded. Pair that with the convenience of having everything needed for every day life close by and then add to that excellent food choices, massages and markets available until late hours, very affordable prices and not to forget the famous Thai friendliness. Furthermore, Chiangmai is a great spring board for trips to nearby National Parks, an abundance of other places worth visiting. There are beautiful mountains to the West and the lovely Ping River (okay, it could be cleaner) outside of the Old Town to the East. The airport located only 3km away from the city centre. Despite that, I can't recall to have ever noticed annoying airplane noise while in town. My very positive image of the city is probably helped by residing in a spacious, clean hotel room offered at a great monthly rate and situated just perfectly less than 100m from the market. All those factors present Chiangmai as an almost complete package when looking for a holiday destination or a place to settle down.
Below: No shortage of vegan food options:
However, it can't be all roses, right? What is the catch? What is bad about Chiangmai? What do I miss and what would I change if I could?
I. TRAFFIC! It's not as crazy as Bangkok or Saigon but still intense with the unwelcome side effect of air pollution. With a move towards electric vehicles that negative might become a mute point eventually, hopefully. I have to say, though, that I like the busy traffic – it is part of the city that shows it is alive and thriving. At the moment there are lots of construction sites that primarily seem to deal with fixing/renewing the sewer system. That leads to a lot of traffic congestion but in all fairness, that this is not so different from many other cities. Brisbane and Berlin for example, my two home towns have been in a state of roadworks insanity for years and decades. It almost has become part of their identity to be under permanent construction.
II. WEED AND CANNABIS SHOPS! There are 50+ shops in and around the Old Town that have popped up like mushrooms (Pun intended :-p ) after rain. Getting the smell of weed in my nose whenever I am passing one of those shops is something I can happily live without and I wouldn't shed a tear if 98% of them disappeared with one or two staying open for people who are benefitting from cannabis medically for pain relief.
III. On the topic of smoke and unpleasant smell: apparently there is the SMOKY SEASON lasting from February to April in which the air quality drops noticeably because of field burning that releases toxic fumes. Many expats evade the issue at that time of the year by visiting family and friends outside the country.
IV. What do I miss? 1.THE OCEAN! The sound and sight of the ocean would be the cherry on the top. What else? 2. A RIVER/STREAM flowing through the city centre. I loved that feature in Berlin (with dozens of canals as a bonus), recently during my stay in Siem Reap and last but not least in Brisbane, my Australian home town. Oh wait, here is another one: 3. More public PARKS! The only public park of decent size in the Old Town of Chiangmai is the Nong Buak Haad Public Park in the South-West corner featuring a little pond. Just 50m beeline outside of the moat you find the more secluded and less frequented Kanchanphisek Park. Having said that, there are a lot of temples and bigger properties that have park-like areas incorporated and Chiangmai in general has a lot of green so I haven't missed parks all that much. A close by FOREST for jogging, hiking and cycling would be nice, though. The nearest large tree-filled area is the Doi Suthep National Park 7km away.
Below: Natural and deliberate green pockets in the Old Town of Chiang Mai
Below: Premises of the restaurant The Faces, currently still under construction. In the past the property was an outdoor gallery full of terracotta statues and ornaments. The garden was a hidden oasis and one of my favourite spots near the Chiang Mai Gate. However, the transformation done by the new owners including the retrostyle buildings look amazing.
Below: Nong Buak Haad Public Park
Below: Kanchanphisek Park
As someone who always finds plenty to criticise and has a myriad of suggestions how to improve things I am astonished that there isn’t more I wished to be different. Maybe the absence of more significant downsides are the reason why I can esee myself living in Chiangmai permanently.
The final rating: Chris gives Chiangmai 9.3/10 stars as a tourist destination. :-)
Hotel Room View from The Noble House
