Looking for the best places to visit in Thailand’s ancient Province Chiang Mai? This travel guide is all about local and responsible experiences over a generic temple tour.

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Orderly, mismatched, traditional, and irregular – Chiang Mai’s urban cacophony enshrouds its Thai temple-history and busy anecdotes of repression and former war headlines. Sprawling but centered, Thailand’s Northern Province retains a balance between its contemporary envelopes, ever-amusing Southeast Asian night markets, and century-old Buddhist temples.

In this article, I have penned down the best places to visit in Chiang Mai, shifting from a conventional temple tour, arching more towards local and immersive travel experiences that impel you to Lanna Art, ground-up Thai culture, experiential cooking methods, volunteering and living with those heart-warming smiles from local thresholds.

Best Places to Visit in Chiang Mai Thailand

This is not about ‘the best places’; it is about conscious and sustainable choices and experiences. Let this be your corridor to Thailand’s Sawadikha-a-a-a… (‘Hello’ in Thai). Let these penchants for articulation transform your itinerary into an intimate and informative journey to a new land. Here are some of the best things to do in Chiang Mai Thailand.

1. Volunteer at An English Camp in Chiang Mai

Nothing sourced our curious spirits than playing ‘Water Pong’ with flashcards, with tiny Thai faces queuing up in two! We, the volunteers, would brainstorm fun learning ideas around dinnertime and craft a time-stamped lesson plan with a fair share of ice-breakers, core learning games, mild yoga, and painting activities; Lily from Taiwan, Emma from England, Andrea from France, and me, from India.

Mae Nai and Pantila, two childhood friends from primary school-days, set the conjugated mood of ‘Kad Sala English Camp’, which is simultaneously supported by Mae Nai’s son Buddy. With their vision of bringing the global citizens to the doorsteps of these Thai kids, this English Camp built a cultural camaraderie between the exposed and the unexposed. This Camp is also their only source of income, now that Covid had vacuumed up a vacuum in tourism-livelihoods. Mae Nai’s family has hosted over 900 volunteer-travellers from every corner of the globe for several years, pre and post-pandemic.

Their volunteering programme requires a commitment of a minimum of 2 weeks in Chiang Mai. For four days a week, 3-4 hours a day, the volunteers engage in the English Camp decorum; the other two days are for maintaining the space and optionally, garnering ideas around digital promotion on Instagram. Mondays are free. Three dormitories with four beds in each, with attached washrooms and a community kitchen. Mae Nai’s husband cooks Thai lunch on the English Camp days for the volunteers, and you can cook the rest of your meals or simply eat out at the local restaurants around.

Point of Contact – Connect with Pantila through Workaway. I would advise you to connect with them at least two months prior to your Chiang Mai travels. They can take a maximum of 6-7 volunteers, and due to increasing growth on their part, the spots get filled pretty fast!

2. Join A Lanna Woodcarving Class & Learn from the Masters

‘We are promoting Lanna Woodcarving, because there are only 5 masters left who know how to do it really well in this area. If they stop carving, or leave, there won’t be anyone else to carry on this special art.’ Mae Nai’s grandmother weaved an artisan’s village with 100 ‘Masters’, as they are called, over 100 years ago. The name ‘Kad Sala’ translates to ‘marketplace’ or ‘gathering place’ for these woodcarvers. Northern Thailand’s woodcarving traditions punctuate Kad Sala Village’s exceptional initiatives to explore this craft in greater depth.

The art of Lanna Woodcarving trickled down from the source-heads likely to be attuned to skilled monks creating devotional works for temples. Teak, known for its strength and durability, is the favoured wood, other than rosewood and jackfruit, for its beautiful grain and ability to withstand the tropical climate. Carvers often use simple chisels and gouges with unique bevels on both faces, focusing on three-dimensionality.

In San Patong, just 20 km away from Chiang Mai, the last 5 woodcarving ‘masters’ have set up their handicraft shops at Kad Sala Village. You can buy or order the artwork directly from the artisans (they will deliver to your address, both domestically and internationally), or you can attend the woodcarving class for 3 hours, and carve your own Thai centerpiece, while chatting away about their ways of living.

Point of Contact – Kad Sala Village. Cost per person – 380 baht for 3 hours of woodcarving class, and you bag your own carving; the much refined version, perfected by the masters.

3. Thai Cooking Class to Participate in Local Culinary Activities

What better way of knowing Thailand than salvaging its distinct Thai dishes? In Chiang Mai, you can even take it up a notch, and learn cooking these delicious recipes from the locals themselves. Pad Thai, Pad Kaphrao, Pad See Ew, Som Tum… Thailand has a way in with its fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce, and no salt! Vegetarians, be slightly cautious of fish sauce. It goes into every Thai preparation.

After four different informal cooking classes across Thailand, mostly by Thai families (perks of volunteering), I can say that it is more than learning a recipe. Unless you are truly passionate about cooking, and let’s say, some of the ingredients may not even available in your region, country or continent; to me, cooking with someone is always about participation, and knowing a cultural craft hands-on, rather than the wholesome act of cooking itself. You learn the source of spices, sauces, inspiration, more so a new person from an unknown country… It is about interactions in actions.

Here are some of the local places from where to learn the Thai cooking secrets:

• Tom Yum Thai Cooking Class
• The Farm
• Organic Farm at Mama Noi

I cooked Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) at an organic farm near Chiang Mai, then Pad See Ew at Kad Sala Village, and another batch of Som Tum and Pad Kaphrao at BBVC College in Koh Samui; all while volunteering for three months across Thailand.

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Demand has buttered up that fluff, with Instagram charade-reels of ‘amorous couples feeding elephants from the balcony wearing flimsy clothes’. That image takes a cut on Thailand’s tourism intensity.

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Also read – Roadtrippin’ around Chaiyaphum with Four Thai Grandmas

4. Visit This Buffalo Market in San Patong on A Saturday

San Patong Buffalo Market, called Thung Fha Bod or Kad Wua in the Northern Thai dialect, is the biggest open-air market in Northern Thailand. With a scattered anomaly of fresh fruits, vegetables, farming hardware, Siamese fighting fish, straw hats and mosquito nets, traders and farmers tether their livestock to wooden posts every Saturday morning at 6 am.

Water buffaloes have been used for centuries by Thai farmers for ploughing the soil and harvesting the sticky mud of rice and paddy fields. Started 60 years ago, this ground of agricultural barter exchange of buffaloes has a preconceived notion. 25000 baht for a buffalo, and the prices only fly higher than a racket. The traditional role of ploughing by the fully-grown buffaloes weighing up to 600 kilos makes a sale a sale. Most of these beasts, being slung down from wide pick-up trucks in bulk, bolted in ropes, are cattle, some are sold individually and some with a calf or two. ‘Traders barter for younger animals for fattening and future re-sale or older ones for meat’, I read in an article, but my local host Mae Nai was consistent about its agricultural barter functionality, and not meat consumption. San Patong Buffalo Market is definitely one of the best places to visit in Chiang Mai.

Thailand’s animalistic approach towards animals rings up questions of duality. That ‘mostly’ slips with the indication that an ‘older’ and small percentage of buffaloes is, in fact, quintessentially sold for meat. As someone who doesn’t support killing animals for meat, it was still quite a meticulous and curious observatory; cattle stock for barter.

5. Buy Thai Clothes And Learn about Indigo Dyeing from This Local Woman

‘This pattern comes from my father’s side. We control (the process) with our feet in four steps. You see the little squares? Different shapes come from different movements. And this green colour emerges from a mix of Light Indigo and yellow from Mango Bar. And this darker colour comes from Ebony Bar. Most of my work is cotton with hand printing.’ Atittaya Pimpad, a Thai woman living in a traditional wooden house, has always felt impassioned about Indigo dyeing and handweaving, and runs a clothing store ‘Atittaya Natural Indigo House’. Trickled down from her grandmother’s generation to the last bud, this 42-year-old woman conducts day-workshops where not only do you frolic with natural colours you also spend the daylight learning about her brewing transformation towards a life of Indigo. 

A resilient storyteller, Atittaya may take you for a mini waterfall hike just a few kilometers ahead of her Indigo House. You can either attend the workshop, or buy Thai clothes directly from her. There’s no better way of supporting this small business that has prompted her not to wallow in crowds. She chose the intimacy of her home in the hills; not the vendor-ship of Chiang Mai.

Point of Contact – Atittaya Pimpad from ‘Atittaya Natural Indigo’. The workshops are selective, so it’s better to ring her up before knocking. 087-303 9085/064-737 7321, Also find her on Facebook. Location: 148/1 Boon Mae, San Pa Tong, Chiang Mai.

6. Avoid Elephant Sanctuaries But Only the Unethical Ones

How do you distinguish the ethical from unethical? The same question has buzzed its bells by my window as well. A facade can very well portray the unsaid and present itself in plain sight. I still have my hesitancy around discerning ‘unethical’; a little research can always help, true. I personally find discomfort in the idea of ‘seeing animals’ or ‘going to visit some animals’, but as long as the petition of ethicality exists, exploring sanctuaries shouldn’t be a barrier. But then the definition of a ‘sanctuary’ itself is quite concerning.

But around Chiang Mai, even in Thailand as a whole, the notion of ‘elephant tourism’ has become as fluffed-up as pancakes and the fluff isn’t always a considerate heave. Demand has buttered up that fluff, with Instagram charade-reels of ‘amorous couples feeding elephants from the balcony wearing flimsy clothes’. That image takes a cut on Thailand’s tourism intensity, which is anyways exponentially upscaled than ever before. Elephant Sanctuaries in Thailand foster questions of ethicality.

As part of the day-tour my hosts from Kad Sala Village arranged for all the volunteers, one elephant sanctuary certainly made way, not that I was particularly joyful about it. Unless it’s a large ethical preservation forest or a hiking trail, ‘animal visit’ feels blocky, like buying souvenirs. Anyhow I won’t list down ethical elephant sanctuaries around Chiang Mai simply because I don’t trust online conversations. And the one I ended up in was small (and that to me means confined), with three elephants in greenery without any rope or chain. Mae Nai vouched for its ‘ethical’ status, but I don’t know. It was a tourist aisle; bathing, feeding and playing with the elephants every hour. Sanctuaries make me feel queasy. I know the elephants won’t choose that. This unwanted human interaction can only be abuse.

So all I would say is, do your research before choosing an elephant sanctuary. I leave it up to you. For more understanding on this topic, you can read my absolute favourite publication Adventure.com’s eye-opening article.

Also read – The Sounds And Taste of Thailand’s Ban Khwao

7. Kad Sala Will Give You A Unique Tour in Chiang Mai

Bringing Kad Sala back to the conversation for its relevant attachment to Mae Nai and Pantila’s collaborative energy to curate local tours in Chiang Mai that transcend temples and night markets. Support these two women and know Thailand in its land-of-smiles hospitality, the Northern mountain villages and Thai artistic boulevards. How else can you possibly channelize your money to a local enterprise! Plus, you will meet two smiling Thai faces.

What to expect from a customised tour with Kad Sala:

• Woodcarving lessons with Lanna Masters
• Local markets and guided Thai cooking sessions
• One-day stay with an indigo-dyeing artist
• One-night stay at a Buddhist temple with nuns
• Wang Tha Kan, the forgotten Ancient City, Rong Bom Cafe, Tobacco drying barn museum
• Buffalo Market – the biggest farmers’ market in Northern Thailand
• Learn about mudhouse building
• Now in progress – a unique volunteering opportunity to teach children on a mountaintop village

Point of Contact: Mae Nai stays away from digital communication. Pantila manages the connections and the marketing part. Connect with her directly – (+66) 61 815 4662. Here is their instagram and website as well.

8. The Pulse of Chiang Mai is Also in Its Temples

King Mangrai, a visionary leaderhead, unified various Tai principalities in the late 13th century, establishing Chiang Mai as the Capital of the Lanna kingdom, meaning ‘Land of A Million Rice Fields’. Tucked between powerful empires, Lanna mastered the art of diplomacy, forging alliances and becoming a crucial trade connector between China, Southeast Asia and India. Theravada Buddhism found the rocky grounds, inspiring magnificent temples like Wat Chiang Man, Wat Pra That Doi Suthep and others, under King Mangrai’s Buddhist ideologies. He even built a moat and city walls for obliging raids protection from Myanmar.

Here are some of the temples in Chiang Mai.

• Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in Chiang Mai
• Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep from the 14th century
• Wat Phra Singh with a gigantic gold stupa
• Wat Chedi Luang, the tallest building in the old city
• Wat Inthakin Sadeu Muang with the ashes of King Mangrai interred in one of the two stupas
• Wat Suan Dok, the reliquaries of the Royal Family of North Thailand
• Wat Sri Suphan, the ‘silver temple’
• Wat Chet Yot, the temple with seven spires

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‘We are promoting Lanna Woodcarving, because there are only 5 masters left who know how to do it really well in this area. If they stop carving, or leave, there won’t be anyone else to carry on this special art.’ Mae Nai’s grandmother weaved an artisan’s village with 100 ‘Masters’, as they are called, over 100 years ago.

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What Else to Know About Travelling to Chiang Mai?

• Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, The Pae Sunday Walking Street, Wua Lai Walking Street, Warorot Market (Kad Luang) and the riverside Ton Lam Yai Market are some of the best local markets in the main town.
• Food here is unbelievably cheap, let it be the roadside stalls or restaurants. The price can get as low as 50 baht for a delectable plate of Pad Thai.
• Bunk supermarkets and head to the fresh farmers’ morning markets to hoard your fresh produce.
• Nothing like renting a bicycle or a motorbike and exploring the Province. If you are not in the mood, book a bike or a cab on Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading supercab app.
• You can book your stay at booking.com or Hostelworld.
• Booking a flight to Thailand can easily be done through Skyscanner.

How to Reach Chiang Mai

How to reach Chiang Mai? Tourists can easily reach this ancient city in Thailand by air, bus or train.

By Train

Imagine those long-distance and romantic train journeys across Thailand. It’s not the same as taking a flight and falling right onto your destination. The train journeys are slower and more mindful, with longer attention spans; and I would say, take the train at least once!

Bangkok to Chiang Mai Train

There’re direct trains from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, which may take around 13 hours. Here is the train schedule: (Both Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Thailand Station and Don Mueang are two different railway stations in Bangkok)

• Train no. 109 from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Thailand Station at 2:15 pm and from Don Mueang at 2:32 pm.
• Train no. 13 from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Thailand Station at 8:05 am.
• Train no. 51 from Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Thailand Station at 10:30 pm.

By Bus

Thailand’s road connectivity gets quite comfortable with well-equipped air-conditioned sleeper buses, sometimes with personal mini-televisions and meal services. A bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai costs around 600-700 baht ($18-$19).

Book all the trains and buses in advance at 12GoAsia or Easybook.

By Air

You can directly fly to its international airport called CNX (Chiang Mai International Airport).

Also read – Tokens of Wind, Water And Collectivity in Koh Samui

When is the Best Time to Visit Chiang Mai

I have broken the seasonal patterns into three categories.

• Dry & Peak Season: November to February. On paper, this is the most ideal time to visit Chiang Mai, with its lucid sky, pleasant temperatures, and minimal rainfall; but then of course more crowded and higher accommodation prices. The famous Loi Krathong and Yi Peng Lantern Festivals also fall in this seasonal bracket.
• Wet & Low Season: May to October; the off-peak tourist season for its occasional showers (sometimes heavy bursts). You know how the Northern Thailand hits the headlines with its unannounced flood-alerts! But this lower season also brings fewer crowds, lower prices and the overgrown rain-fresh greenery in forests and countryside.
• Hot, Hot, Hot from February to April. And possibly not the best time to visit Chiang Mai.

How to Get Around (Public Transport)

Songthaew is the cheapest way of getting around Chiang Mai (no local bus services). Songthaew literally means ‘two rows’; it’s a converted pick-up truck with a head-roof and two rows of benches. Songthaews take six different routes, recognized by six different colours; red, white, yellow, green, blue, and orange. No worries if you don’t know the colour-and-route combination codes. You can ask anyone, and they will tell you which colour of songthaew would go your way.

Where to Stay for Authentic Experiences with the Locals

Couchsurfing is a wonderful platform that connects travellers with the locals. But even without it, here are some homestays that are directly run by the locals.

• Saeng Panya Home
• Chanaplace Lanna
• Boutique House Nipha

And it goes without saying, here are some budget-friendly hostels for backpackers.

• Take Time House
• I-Smile & U2 Hostel
• Me U Hostel

A Map of the Temples around Chiang Mai

I have pinned all the temples around Chiang Mai on Google Maps; and also added Kad Sala and the night markets to the list for your convenience. Find the map here.

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This is the grand ending of the travel guide to all the best places to visit in Chiang Mai. I hope you divert your travel plans from tourist places and bend more towards ‘experiences’ over ‘tick boxes’.

What are some of the other things to do in Chiang Mai? Do you have more insights as a local?

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