Mr.Mac’s Hotel Blog : The Pattaya Blog

Chang Mai is the largest city in the north of Thailand and well worth a trip. In many ways, Chang Mai is similar to Bangkok, but without the mass of people.

Chang Mai

Chang Mai is perhaps the most serene big city I have ever had the privilege of visiting. Located at the foot of a large mountain, the city nicely meshes older areas with modern conveniences. Serene Buddhist temples stand only a few blocks from bustling universities. Much of the city can be walked, but moped rentals are cheap and plentiful. Street markets are common, but the hustle and bustle of Bangkok is not.

The night market is perhaps the most noted thing about Chang Mai. Located in the eastern side of the city, the night market runs about a mile down the length of street dwarfed by malls, restaurants, stores selling art and spas. The stalls on the side of the road tend to sell cheap touristy products, but you should check them out anyway to sample some of the food items. Thais seem to take great humor from cooking anything they can get their hands on so long as they can gross out the tourist. Yep, you can munch on fried roaches, spiders, crickets and so on. For a good laugh, one can hang out around the stalls and watch tourist try the delicacies. It’s like the show Fear Factor without the washboard stomachs and breast implants.

To find the “good stuff” at the night market, you should head off the street and up into the open air malls. As you move towards the back of the malls, the quality of the products goes up dramatically. You’ll find artist not only hocking their wares, but also creating them before your eyes. There is some serious talent in the back of those malls.

If silk is your material of choice, Chang Mai is a good place to purchase it in bulk. Do not buy it at the night market. Instead, ask your hotel for a recommendation to a shop. Prices are low, but quality is high.

Traveler’s Tip

Guidebooks will tell you the best way to get to Chang Mai is to take an overnight train from Bangkok. Liars! Flying domestically in Thailand is very cheap. A one-way flight from Bangkok to Chang Mai will run you about $40US. There is no need to book ahead. Just walk into the airport in Bangkok and buy a ticket on the spot.

If you prefer to spend the night in a bunk on a train, knock yourself out. Just keep in mind Thais tend to have smaller body masses than Westerners. Much smaller.

Of all the cities in Thailand, Chang Mai is my favorite. Yes, even more so than Bangkok.

Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of travel journals. Visit NomadJournalTrips.com to read more articles about Thailand travel and Adventure Travel.

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My holiday to Thailand was truly an amazing experience. Among the many countless other joys and wonders, Thailand was a great place to shop and Bangkok in particular, where the variety of retail outlets and goods is surprising. I could find genuine name-brand products on sale in department stores for half as much as back home. Even more there are bargains in more down-to-earth places in form of open market stalls that leave you awestruck.

With the excellent exchange rates, and amazing discounts, I could find everything that I wanted and that too at exceptional prices. From sophisticated air-conditioned shopping malls to sweaty markets under canvas, to roadside vendors. There’s so much, that one can literally shop till one drops. Thailand is recognized as one of the world’s leading gems and jewelry centers and I shopped for some great collection of jewelry. Bangkok’s Chinatown or the nearby Ban Mo Jewelry Street should be checked out for exquisite jewelry.

Bangkok is the capital of shopping malls, open - air markets, road - side vendors, charming side street antique shops and art galleries. And best of all, Thai handicrafts, the most famous of which is Thai silk. Markets sprawl the streets, even the rivers, of every town in Thailand, so I was never far away from a good buy. A visit to the floating market at Damnoen Saduak, just outside of Bangkok was an unusual experience and I returned with designer clothes, jewelry, pirated DVDs and CDs to tacky, but essential, souvenirs.

It was really obvious now why Thailand is famous as being a great destination for the serious shopper. Whatever you are looking for, there’s bound to be an outlet in Thailand.
For more information on this pls. visit: http://www.stayresthailand.com/shopping.html

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Probably the most common question any foreigner living in Thailand will hear from people planning to visit the Kingdom is “When is the best time to come to Thailand“…not an easy question to answer without knowing “why” a person wants to come to Thailand.

There are basically three seasons in Thailand (though of late the cold season seems to have gone missing), the seasons are, The Hot, The Wet and The Cold. Cold being a rather subjective description though, the shots of emergency blankets being handed out in the northern provinces when it drops to a chilly 10 degrees…that’s 10 degrees Celsius. So what does each season offer.

The Hot
March to June : The hottest month is April when even the geckos stay inside and most expats look outside at lunch time and decide to not eat rather than melt on the walk to a food stall. The Hot season is beach season, if that’s your thing then this is the time to come to Thailand, guaranteed sun sun sun all day long day after day. For Trekkers you might find this to be a tad hot to go trudging up hills unless mounted on an elephant, sun stroke and dehydration are high up on the list of things to beware of. Bangkok turns into a molten vat of pollution as the winds die and the smog just hangs around choking up the oxygen. Hotels are at their most expensive during the hot season and weekends will see many of the mid range ones fully booked.

The Wet
July to November : The change over from hot to wet is the worst time to be in Thailand regardless of what you’re into. It’s Hot, it’s wet and the humidity is ruthless. You’ll be desperate to take three showers a day at a minimum…living in a shower for a month might not be a bad plan. If you can imagine living in a sauna for a month then you get the right picture of Thailand at the start of the wet season…unless you’re in Bangkok, then get in a sauna and pipe your car exhaust into the sauna to get the right idea…hmmm yummy. Then thankfully the skies really open up, the wind blows and things freshen up . Rain is pretty much a guaranteed feature on a daily basis and usually kicks off in the afternoon, sometimes lasting all night, Floods are common along with power cuts. So why come to Thailand now…the cost…. hotels are empty, tourists are away, it’s a great time to see Thailand with fewer tourists than usual and get the best prices as even the Thai people stay home at the weekends.

The Cold
December to February : Thailand freezes over, snow falls from the sky and ice-skating is the nations most popular sport…well if you watched the TV or the Thai people running around dressed in winter jackets, boots, gloves and scarves you may start to think it’s true.. in Bangkok it can drop to a bone chilling 15 degrees Celsius at night, and up north it has on occasions dropped down to 2 degrees, the south gets off much lighter and you can escape with a body warmer and a bobble hat. Thailand again is swarming with tourists who have come to take advantage of the cool weather to do see Thailand without burning up. This is the best time of the year to actually “see” Thailand, you’ll enjoy seeing the sights and touring the cities and trekking will be at its best. Again prices will be up and hotels fairly full.

So in a nutshell the best time to come to Thailand is the time that suits what you want to do, Trekkers and Tanners will have different needs, those looking for bargains will have different needs. Just add that there are occasional down pours even in the hottest parts of the year and even the wet season can be dry for a week or more…..but leave your skis at home…there will be no snow…..guaranteed.

Article can be used with permission of Chris Sanderson as long as the signature and in place links are left unchanged. Chris Sanderson is an Affiliate Marketing Manager based in Bangkok Thailand with AMWSO.com and the owner of Xaap.com.

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