Sights in Chiang Mai
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Night Bazaar
This extensive market sprawls along several blocks. Roofed concession areas, regular shops and street vendors offer a huge variety of Thai goods at bargain prices. Designer goods - real and fake - are also on offer. The Night Bazaar attracts foreign importers, impressed by the discounts given to bulk purchases.
Good buys include Phrae-style sêua mâw hâwm (blue cotton farmer's shirt), northern- and northeastern-Thai hand-woven fabrics, yâam (shoulder bags), hill-tribe crafts (many tribespeople set up their own stalls here; the Akha wander around on foot), opium scales, hats, silver jewellery, lacquerware, woodcarvings, iron and bronze Buddhas, as well as many other item…
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Studio Naenna
If you liked what you saw at Adorn with Studio Naenna, then head out of town to the main gallery of this textile cooperative.
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Wat Phan Tao
Near Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phan Tao contains a beautiful old teak wí·hăhn that was once a royal residence and is today one of the unsung treasures of Chiang Mai. Constructed entirely of moulded teak panels fitted together and supported by 28 gargantuan teak pillars, the wí·hăhn features naga bargeboards inset with coloured mirror mosaic. On display inside are old temple bells, some ceramics, a few old northern-style gilded wooden Buddhas, and antique cabinets stacked with old palm-leaf manuscripts. The front panel of the building displays a mirrored mosaic of a peacock standing over a dog, representing the astrological year of the former royal resident’s birth, makin…
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Tribal Museum
Overlooking a lake in Suan Ratchamangkhala on the northern outskirts of the city, this octagonal museum houses a collection of handicrafts, costumes, jewellery, ornaments, household utensils, agricultural tools, musical instruments and ceremonial paraphernalia. There are also informative displays showing the cultural features and background of each of the major hill tribes in Thailand; an exhibition on activities carried out by the Thai royal family on behalf of the hill tribes; and various bits of research and development sponsored by governmental and non-governmental agencies. Video shows run from 10am to 2pm (20B to 50B). The museum is closed on public holidays.
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Phra Tamnak Phu Phing
About 4km beyond the Wat Suthep temple is Phra Tamnak Phu Phing, a winter palace for the royal family surrounded by gardens that are open to the public. It closes if the royal family is visiting, but these days the royals don’t visit often. The gardens specialise in cool-weather flowers, like roses, which are exotic to Thais but a little anaemic for Westerners. More interesting is the water reservoir brought to life by dancing fountains moving in sync to musical compositions by the king. The nearby fern garden is also a pleasant stroll. Though not a must, the gardens are good for ‘nature sightseers’ who like their forests to have paved footpaths.
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Chiang Mai University
The city’s principal public university was established in 1964, making it the first Thai university to be set up outside of Bangkok. Today the university is considered the most well-respected centre for higher education in the north and boasts 107 departments, 26,800 students and 2165 lecturers. Scholastically CMU doesn’t compare overall to such notable Bangkok universities as Silpakorn, Chulalongkorn or Thammasat, but it has earned special respect for its faculties of engineering and medical technology; the education was good enough for one-term Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayothin, one of the university’s notable graduates.
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Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre
This Arts & Cultural Centre offers a fine primer on Chiang Mai history. The 1st floor is comfortably air-conditioned and has engaging displays on religious and cultural elements of northern Thailand. The 2nd floor is not air-conditioned but the rooms have been converted into historic settings: there’s an early Lanna village, a temple and a train display. From the 2nd floor you can see more of the beauty of this post-colonial building, Chiang Mai’s former Provincial Hall, originally built in 1924. It was awarded a Royal Society of Siamese Architects award in 1999 for its faithful architectural restoration.
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Chiang Mai National Museum
Operated by the Fine Arts Department and established in 1973, the Chiang Mai National Museum functions as the primary caretaker of Lanna artefacts and as the curator of northern Thailand’s history. This museum is a nice complement to the municipally run Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre because you’ll find more art and artefacts here and the scope of the exhibits reaches beyond the city limits. Other national museums that display important artefacts from the north are located in Lamphun, Chiang Saen and Nan – all operate under the auspices of the Chiang Mai National Museum.
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Anusawari Sam Kasat (Three Kings Monument)
Proudly wearing 14th-century royal garb, the bronze Three Kings Monument commemorates the alliance forged between the three northern Thai-Lao kings (Phaya Ngam Meuang of Phayao, Phaya Mengrai of Chiang Mai and Phaya Khun Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai) in the founding of Chiang Mai. The statues mark one of the city’s spiritual centres and have become a shrine to local residents, who regularly leave offerings of flowers, incense and candles at the bronze feet in return for blessings from the powerful spirits of the three kings.
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Wat Chiang Yeun
A unique local temple is 16th-century Wat Chiang Yeun, just north-east of Pratu Chang Pheuak. Besides the large northern-style chedi here, the main attraction is an old Burmese colonial-style gate and pavilion on the eastern side of a school ground attached to the wát. This area of Chiang Mai was historically settled by Shan people and the shops still maintain that ethnic identity, catering to Shan and Burmese temple-goers with such products as pickled tea leaves (mêe·ang in Thai) and Shan-style noodles.
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Wat Jet Yot
Dedicated temple-spotters are the prime candidates for Wat Jet Yot. It was built to host the eighth World Buddhist Council in 1477, a momentous occasion for the Lanna capital. To the back of the temple compound are the ruins of the old wí·hăhn, which was supposed to be a replica of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, but the proportions don’t match up. Some scholars assume that the blueprint for the temple must have come from a small votive tablet depicting the Mahabodhi in distorted perspective.
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Huay Teung Thao Reservoir
Thais love lounging by the water and this sizeable reservoir, at the north-western foot of Doi Suthep-Pui park, has become more than just a piece of infrastructure. The banks are dotted with floating bamboo huts (10B per person) where Thais come to snack on fried bugs (another reservoir pastime), share a bottle of whisky and perfect the art of relaxation. Should the day get hot, you can have a dip from your personal dock. Fishing is permitted if you’d like to try your luck at hooking lunch.
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Matsayit Chiang Mai
A remnant from the days when Chiang Mai was a detour on the Silk Road is the Thai-Muslim community along Soi 1 off Th Chang Khlan, near Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. The 100-year-old Matsayit Chiang Mai, also known as Ban Haw Mosque, was founded by jeen hor (‘galloping Chinese’), the Thai expression for Yunnanese caravan traders. Within the past two centuries, the city’s Muslim community has also grown to include ethnic Yunnanese Muslims escaping unrest in neighbouring Laos and Burma.
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Wiang Kum Kam (Excavated Ruins)
These excavated ruins offer an easy trip into the country. You can climb aboard one of the horse-drawn carriages (200B) and relax into the mellow pace of an old-fashioned conveyance. The driver typically passes pleasantries with the locals who live among the old ruins, which are mainly half-buried brick foundations spread out over 3 sq km. The actual ruins are of more historical importance than spectacle but it is the peaceful surrounding village that completes the attraction.
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Doi Suthep-Pui National Park
Portions of the Doi Suthep and Doi Pui mountains form a 265 sq km national park that contains a mix of wilderness, hill-tribe villages and tourist attractions, including Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Despite human encroachment, the park is still an excellent forest playground for city dwellers. Most people stick to the main road, visiting the temple, the winter palace and one of the touristy Hmong villages, altogether bypassing the forested interior.
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Wat Suan Dok
Built on a former flower garden in 1373, this temple is not as architecturally interesting as the temples in the old city but it does have a very powerful photographic attribute: the temple’s collection of whitewashed chedi sit in the foreground while the blue peaks of Doi Suthep and Doi Pui loom in the background. Photographers often arrive in the early morning to capture the juxtaposition when the mountains are still wrapped in mist.
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Anusawari Sam Kasat Bronze Sculptures
These three Anusawari Sam Kasat bronze sculptures portray men standing in 14th-century royal costume. They represent Phaya Ngam Meuang, Phaya Mengrai and Phaya Khun Ramkhamhaeng, the three northern Thai-Lao kings most associated with Lanna history. The statuary has become a shrine to local residents, who regularly leave offerings of flowers, incense and candles at the bronze feet in return for (hoped for) blessings from the powerful spirits of the three kings.
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Sbun-Nga Textile Museum
A surprisingly wonderful museum, Sbun-Nga Textile Museum displays northern Thai textiles along with ethno-cultural information about the different tribes that are categorised as Lanna: Tai Lue, Tai Kaun, Tai Yai and Tai Yuan. The different patterns and colours used by each group is an evocative way to tell the story of the people who populated Chiang Mai and northern Thailand. There are also some displays of Tai Lao fabrics.
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Namdhari Sikh Temple
West of the Talat Tonlamyai market, along Th Chang Moi is the city’s small Chinatown, most obviously marked by a flamboyant Chinese-style arch and the typical two-storey shophouses of Southeast Asia’s mercantile districts. A small population of Sikhs also live in this area and specialise in selling bolts of fabric. They worship at the nearby Namdhari Sikh Temple, catering to the Namdhari sect of Sikhism.
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Wat Phuak Hong
This neighbourhood wát, located behind Suan Buak Hat (Buak Hat Park), contains the locally revered Chedi Si Pheuak. The chedi is more than 100 years old and features the ‘stacked spheres’ style seen only here and at Wat Ku Tao, and most likely influenced by Thai Lü chedi in China’s Xishuangbanna (also spelled Sipsongpanna) district, Yunnan.
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Wat Suthep
One of the north’s most sacred temples, Wat Suthep sits majestically atop Doi Suthep’s summit. Thai pilgrims flock here to make merit to the Buddhist relic enshrined in the picturesque golden chedi. The temple also offers an interesting collection of Lanna art and architecture, and has fine city views if the clouds cooperate.
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Wat Ketkaram
A community of Chinese traders and Western missionaries populated the eastern riverbank of Mae Ping directly across from Talat Warorot. Today the neighbourhood is called Wat Ket, the nickname of the nearby temple, Wat Ketkaram. The temple was built in the 15th century and houses an eclectic museum of attic-like treasures.
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Chiang Mai University Art Museum
One way to savour the academic atmosphere is at Chiang Mai University Art Museum, near the intersection of Th Suthep and Th Klorng Chonprathan. The museum displays temporary exhibitions of contemporary Thai and international art. There’s no permanent collection and the visiting shows can be of uneven quality.
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Wat U Mong
If you’ve never visited a forest wát, you should make the trek to this temple. Not only does it offer a secluded sylvan setting, considered an important component for meditation in the forest wát tradition, it is also famous for its interconnecting tunnels built underneath the main chedi terrace.
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Wat Ku Tao
Wat Ku Tao dates from 1613 and has a unique chedi that looks like a pile of diminishing spheres, a Tai Lü design common in Yunnan, China. The chedi is said to contain the ashes of Tharawadi Min, a son of the Burmese king Bayinnaung, ruler of Lanna from 1578 to 1607.
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