Thailand / Practical city guide

Chiang Mai

Get oriented, plan your arrival, and find practical answers for your trip.

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Chiang Mai, Thailand — 0020-วัดพระสิงห์วรมหาวิหาร

18.79° N
98.98° E

Country / area: Thailand
Time zone identifier: Asia/Bangkok
Currency reference: THB
Geographic source: GeoNames ↗

Geographic data is source-imported. Transport, payment, and entry details need current verification. Read our source notes ↗

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Your Chiang Mai guidebook

Chiang Mai / Airports

Chiang Mai airport to the Old City: taxi, bus or Grab

The airport sits close to Chiang Mai's Old City. Compare the airport taxi counter, the 30 baht city bus and the app pickup point at Gate 14.

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Chiang Mai / Day trips

How to check an elephant camp near Chiang Mai before booking

Sanctuary marketing is unregulated language. The questions to ask an elephant venue in northern Thailand, and what an honest answer sounds like.

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Chiang Mai / Transportation

Thailand Traffic Fines: Police Tickets in Chiang Mai

Thai traffic fines since the 2022 law change, the drink-drive limits, what happens at a Chiang Mai checkpoint, and how to pay a ticket properly in a rental car.

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Chiang Mai / First-time visitor

First time in Chiang Mai: how the city is actually laid out

The Old City, Nimmanhaemin and the river explained, plus what to sort out on day one and which season you have arrived in.

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Chiang Mai / Practical information

Chiang Mai's old city walls, moat and Lanna sites: what still stands

Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 and is on UNESCO's Tentative List, not the World Heritage List. The gates, corner bastions, moat and Lanna sites you can still see.

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Chiang Mai / Transportation

Leaving Chiang Mai: the roads to Pai, Chiang Rai and beyond

Minivans, buses and the overnight train out of Chiang Mai, plus what the mountain road to Pai does to people who get travel sick.

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Chiang Mai / Money & payments

Money in Chiang Mai: why you need more cash than in Bangkok

Markets, songthaews and small kitchens run on cash in Chiang Mai. How much to carry, what ATMs cost, and where cards are fine.

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Chiang Mai / Transportation

Getting around Chiang Mai: red trucks, apps and scooters

How the shared red songthaew works, when a ride-hailing app is better, and what the law actually requires before you rent a scooter.

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Chiang Mai / Shopping

How Chiang Mai's Sunday Walking Street and Wualai Saturday Market Work

Chiang Mai's Sunday market runs on Ratchadamnoen Road, not Tha Phae Road, and Wualai hosts Saturdays. Route, hours, who runs them, getting there, what is unpublished.

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Chiang Mai / Weather & what to wear