Hi Randy,

I will be in Chiang Mai with my parents and hubby, staying at Central Duangtawan Hotel. Very excited and waiting patiently. I am now trying to work out the best itinerary to cover for all of us. My main purpose there is to search for wedding favors and also have fun with my family. Please advise me on my itinerary below:

Day 1
After check around 3.30pm, go straight to Saturday Market.
6.30pm go for Khantoke Dinner (dont think enough time for me to shop) Khun Khantoke ok?

Day 2
1/2day tour around city
4.30pm go for Sunday Market


Day 3
Full day tour to Chiang Rai
(need advise where worth going as there are so many places to visit NORTH, crossing which border?)

Day 4
No Idea yet (Need suggestion on where to visit and visit shopping malls for IT stuff)

Day 5
Need to visit local market early before our flight home at 11.05am (What time does the market open)


Please help me plan. I dont want to going the wrong way. I wish to visit the hot spring, elephant santuary and hilltribe)
Hope it is not too complicated.

Thank you

Randy:

How much is Loi Krathong celebrated within the city of Chiang Mai? Can we still see the launching of Khome Loi in Chiang Mai, or is it unique to Mae Jo?

Your video is amazing and this is something I'd love to see, but am wondering if it's really necessary to travel outside of Chiang Mai to enjoy it? What do you think?

Thanks.

Hi and greetings from Chiang Mai,

Lets first talk about the weekend markets.

If you get there at 4 PM most of the stalls are not open yet as they are just setting up. 7 to 10 PM is best. Second is most of the vendors do not have a large quantity so if you are looking for one kind of wedding favor you might not be able to purchase enough. Most of the vendors work at their regular jobs during the day or go to university, make handicrafts in the evenings and sell their handicrafts at the markets to make a little extra money.

For large purchases I would suggest the wholesale handicraft factories that have loads of small items.

If you still want to make purchases of wedding favors at the weekend markets Ning and I can help you here if you like an item and there is not enough. We will help get them shipped to you when the artist has made enough to fill your order. We do this for our friends all the time, no worries.

A full day tour of Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai is a lot of waisted time as it is 6 to 7 hours round trip by vehicle if you don't stop along the way.

Khun Khantoke has the best show. The video I took with my wife and friends is at Khum Khantoke.

For IT stuff I would check the 4th floor at Central Airport Plaza Shopping Mall. Lots of good stuff here. You could do that straight from the airport on day 1 before the Khantoke dinner as it is only 2 minutes from the airport while everyone else is checking into your hotel. Metered taxi is available from the mall with the cost being around 80 Thai Baht to the Duangtawan hotel. You can't do it on your last day as the Mall doesn't open until 10:30 AM.

If you want to see and experience real north Thailand what I would do on day 3 and 4 is; Start the morning of day 3 visiting visiting Wat Prathat Doi Suthep temple then the hill tribe museum, do a 1hour elephant ride at Chiang Dao then lunch, visit Chiang Dao Cave Shrine, then the rice mills in the Fang Valley. End the day visiting Wat Thaton Temple high on top of the mountain with a spectacular view of the Mae Kok river valley surrounded by mountains and Burma. Spend the evening in very nice (not expensive), large, clean and comfortable bungalows in Thaton located on the banks of the Mae Kok River.

Day 4
This morning visit a Karen hill tribe village, a Shan Chinese village famous for it's cotton weaving then to a Lahu hill tribe village. Here you board a private long tail boat and travel through the mountain canyons to CHiang Rai stopping at a hot springs and Akha hill tribe village along the way. The vehicle will meet you in Chiang Rai and return to Chiang Mai.

I think the problem is you already booked you hotel in Chiang Mai for the evening of Day 3.

I always suggest to friends and others to have an itinerary first before booking hotels so you don't miss out on experiencing the real culture and nature of Thailand. Seeing the best Thailand has to offer is just not possible if visitors spend every night in one city hotel.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions you can always contact me here at my FT email address. If you like you can send me an email I will let you know how to contact us once you arrive in Thailand.

Have fun,
Randy and Ning

The Loi krathong Fesitval is free and most activities take place in temples and along the Ping River in the city.

Khome Lois are not allowed in the city any more. One landed on a shop at Warorot Market and burned down 3 shops two years ago so no more. However they are everwhere just outside the city but nothing like at Mae Jo locate 15 kilometers from town. You will see people along the road and highways selling khome loi every hundred meters or so.

The khome Loi release is around 8 PM this year on friday night Nov. 3. Get there early as it is very crowded. They do this at a large temple grounds there. Get a bunch of people together and hire a "Songtheaw" to take you there and back to town, They will know where to take you. You can purchase Khome Loi at the temple and join in. Lots of food and drink available there also.

Have fun,
Randy and Ning

Thanks Randy,


I understand the Central store is near the airport, but how about our luggage. Do they have a place where we can keep our luggages?.
For both the Saturday and Sunday markets which 1 do you consider worth going?

As for the CHiang Rai trip, unfortunately I am not planning to spend a night there. Any other suggestion for places to cover on the way there and return. Please include hot sprint and night safari.

Thank you.
P.S Could I have your email address?I need to check out phone accessories also.

Eelin



QUOTE=allthai]Hi and greetings from Chiang Mai,

Lets first talk about the weekend markets.

If you get there at 4 PM most of the stalls are not open yet as they are just setting up. 7 to 10 PM is best. Second is most of the vendors do not have a large quantity so if you are looking for one kind of wedding favor you might not be able to purchase enough. Most of the vendors work at their regular jobs during the day or go to university, make handicrafts in the evenings and sell their handicrafts at the markets to make a little extra money.

For large purchases I would suggest the wholesale handicraft factories that have loads of small items.

If you still want to make purchases of wedding favors at the weekend markets Ning and I can help you here if you like an item and there is not enough. We will help get them shipped to you when the artist has made enough to fill your order. We do this for our friends all the time, no worries.

A full day tour of Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai is a lot of waisted time as it is 6 to 7 hours round trip by vehicle if you don't stop along the way.

Khun Khantoke has the best show. The video I took with my wife and friends is at Khum Khantoke.

For IT stuff I would check the 4th floor at Central Airport Plaza Shopping Mall. Lots of good stuff here. You could do that straight from the airport on day 1 before the Khantoke dinner as it is only 2 minutes from the airport while everyone else is checking into your hotel. Metered taxi is available from the mall with the cost being around 80 Thai Baht to the Duangtawan hotel. You can't do it on your last day as the Mall doesn't open until 10:30 AM.

If you want to see and experience real north Thailand what I would do on day 3 and 4 is; Start the morning of day 3 visiting visiting Wat Prathat Doi Suthep temple then the hill tribe museum, do a 1hour elephant ride at Chiang Dao then lunch, visit Chiang Dao Cave Shrine, then the rice mills in the Fang Valley. End the day visiting Wat Thaton Temple high on top of the mountain with a spectacular view of the Mae Kok river valley surrounded by mountains and Burma. Spend the evening in very nice (not expensive), large, clean and comfortable bungalows in Thaton located on the banks of the Mae Kok River.

Day 4
This morning visit a Karen hill tribe village, a Shan Chinese village famous for it's cotton weaving then to a Lahu hill tribe village. Here you board a private long tail boat and travel through the mountain canyons to CHiang Rai stopping at a hot springs and Akha hill tribe village along the way. The vehicle will meet you in Chiang Rai and return to Chiang Mai.

I think the problem is you already booked you hotel in Chiang Mai for the evening of Day 3.

I always suggest to friends and others to have an itinerary first before booking hotels so you don't miss out on experiencing the real culture and nature of Thailand. Seeing the best Thailand has to offer is just not possible if visitors spend every night in one city hotel.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions you can always contact me here at my FT email address. If you like you can send me an email I will let you know how to contact us once you arrive in Thailand.

Have fun,
Randy and Ning[/QUOTE]

Thailand is a fairly large country with many different cultures, scenery and attractions. If you plan your schedule carefully you can cover most of these on your first visit to the Kingdom. The main question is how?

Although a lot of this depends on how much time you have there are many mistakes people make on planning their visit so they miss out on experiencing the real culture and natural beauty of Thailand.

With the Internet you can find loads of information on Thailand but learning how to use this information is critical. It is easy to be overwhelmed with facts, suggestions, tour itineraries, hotel decisions, and ideas from others on where to go and what to do. All this information is great and of immense value if you can just sort it all out. I will try to help you do that here.

I have written many Thailand travel Blogs, journals and posted on several travel forums. I receive lots of email from visitors to these web sites asking about the Kingdom, culture, history, what to see, when, where and how. In almost every case it is impossible for them to enjoy the rich culture and natural beauty of Thailand away from the normal tourist crowds. Most have contacted me too late.

They have made several errors when planning their holiday/vacation so now they are limited to doing the normal canned tour offered by most tour operators. They could have enjoyed a wonderful experience that will be remembered for a lifetime if they made the correct decisions in the proper order during their planning, here�s how.

DO NOT book your hotels or transportation inside Thailand until you have decided what you want to see, do and enjoy!!!

This is the biggest mistake you can make. Lets start with visiting north Thailand first.

Most of the email I receive is like this; �We have booked our flights Bangkok � Chiang Mai - Bangkok and 5 nights in a hotel in Chiang Mai. We want to go elephant riding, visit hill tribe villages, take a long tail boat ride, visit the Golden Triangle, Night Bazaar and Doi Inthanon National Park, is this possible in the time I have?�

Because they already have their flights and hotels booked they are limited to day trips from Chiang Mai. They will spend more time riding in a vehicle than enjoying the attractions.

Just to get to the Golden Triangle and return it will take 7 hours or more just riding in a vehicle. For Doi Inthanon they have just enough time to ride to the summit of the mountain, take a 20-minute trail walk, have lunch at a touristy restaurant, visit a few waterfalls and return to Chiang Mai.

For the long tail boat ride they will be limited to riding on the Ping River in town. If they choose to ride through the mountains it will be a 3 and 1/2 hour journey by vehicle, 3 hours in the boat and another 3 to 4 hours in a vehicle to return to Chiang Mai. Again, too much time in a vehicle. The elephant riding and hill tribe villages they visit will be close to town filled with tourists with not much real culture or natural beauty if any.

There is a much better way.

Decide on what you would like to see and do along with how much time you have first before booking your flights and hotel.

Now if the same person asked me; �I will be visiting Chiang Mai from Bangkok for 5 days, I want to go elephant riding, visit hill tribe villages, take a long tail boat ride, visit the Golden Triangle, Night Bazaar and Doi Inthanon National Park, is this possible in the time I have? We have not booked our hotels or flights inside Thailand yet�

Wow are they going to have a good time.

First thing is deciding how you are going to get to Chiang Mai. There are many options for traveling inside Thailand. Your travel agent or airline Internet booking sites are limited in their knowledge on what is available or they just don�t offer all possibilities.

Most will point you to Thai Airways however there are now a few excellent budget airlines where you can book directly over the Internet and save loads of cash. Nok Air for example has excellent service and cheaper, Air Asia is the cheapest but no assigned seating on their 737 aircraft. You can save as much as 70% when flying Air Asia if you book on their web site a few months in advance.

Another option is the train. The great thing about the overnight train that it is cheaper than flying (except with Air Asia at times) and you won�t need to spend money on overnight accommodations. The 2nd class berths are fine but 1st class is the way to go. In 1st class you will have your own private cabin with 2 berths in each cabin. There are two bathrooms to share with only 20 people. In 2nd class you will need to share the small toilet space and sink area with more than 40 persons. Also you will need to keep an eye on your baggage as everyone in the 2nd class car has their luggage exposed to others. Not much room for your bags either.

The 1st class cabins are connecting so if you are a family you have a door you can open to the joining cabin. The porter is always cleaning the bathrooms and available during the complete trip to meet you needs. There is plenty of room to put your baggage in your cabin where it is not exposed to others. The 1st class car is locked at night securing it from the other train cars.

Food from the dining car will be brought to your room. A waiter or waitress will come to your berth for you to order. You can even request what time you would like to eat dinner and breakfast. The porter will have hot water, coffee or tea ready for you when you wake up in his service area of the 1st class car.

The train is clean, safe, comfortable and fun. For 1st class there are two trains. The first one departs Bangkok at 6 PM arriving in Chiang Mai around 7:10 AM. The second train is for those who want to enjoy the beautiful north Thailand mountain countryside in the morning. That train departs Bangkok at 7:20 PM arriving in Chiang Mai around 9:40 AM.

Now lets talk about accommodations.

Most people do not know that there are excellent places to stay in the smallest towns and villages in North Thailand. These include everything from beautiful 5 star garden resorts in the forested mountains to clean bamboo bungalows in hill tribe villages with toilets and cold showers for guests only. To stay at anyone of these will enhance your Thailand Experience.

Spending an evening in a hill tribe village is an excellent way to learn about the culture of the people in the village. A good hill tribe village to spend your evening in should have a separate bamboo home, toilets and showers for their guests. Excellent Thai meals will be prepared by your guide or delivered fresh from a clean nearby restaurant.

Spending an evening with a family in a hill tribe village has many problems. Here is why.

First if there is a toilet and shower it is shared with everyone in the village if there is one at all. You will then have to wait your turn to go to the bathroom what ever your need. Most are very dirty and some with no running water. Second the cooking utensils; plates, spoon etc. are not at all clean. Many who spend an evening with a hill tribe family in a village become ill because of poor hygiene by the villages that handle and prepare the food, dirty dishes and eating utensils. Third is you are constantly bothered by the family trying to sell you something or to pay for a massage. They will invite neighbors into the home to do the same.

When you stay in your own bamboo home or bungalow in a hill tribe village they know that is your space. They will not bother you or burst into your home. You can visit them at your leisure and enjoy your privacy at the same time. The villagers are much happier as you are respecting their privacy also. The village headman or someone in the village will probably invite you into their home for a cup of tea. If you would like to see the inside of a hill tribe home always ask your guide first. The tour guide usually arranges visiting a hill tribe home in advance. The folks in the village know you are coming and a designated home is planned for your visit.

This type of hill tribe village stay promotes harmony in the village. The culture is not disrupted, everyone�s privacy is respected and you are treated like a friend rather than a source of income as a tourist. The building of the home is paid for by the tour operator to the villagers and a fee is charged for the overnight stay to be shared by all the villagers.

For those looking for comfort and scenic beauty, visiting hill tribe villages but not wishing to stay in one, there are many options. Excellent fully furnished bungalows with air conditioning in a small town on the banks of a beautiful river surround with mountains in a fruit orchard is just one of the choices. For bird lovers there are wonderful resorts that cater to the birds along with the guests in total comfort. Many of these hotel/bungalow resorts are on large garden laden grounds with hike and bike trails. Bikes are available to take a leisurely ride through forest and small villages. They all have excellent restaurants serving Thai and Western food and yes a Jacuzzi and/or swimming pool.

What ever your inside Thailand travel or accommodations needs there is the transport and place for you. Check around and find a good flexible tour operator that will give you many choices of transport, accommodations and tours to meet your needs and expectations. No need to reserve your hotel or resort for every night in one place. Many operators will say you can�t do this or that, take this package tour, stay at this hotel, take this flight, etc. If you do, you might miss out on a wonderful experience to remember for a lifetime.

If you would to see photos of the train, hill tribe village bungalows, river front bungalows and mountain resort accommodations near Chiang Mai go here.

Have fun,
Randyand Ning

The exposition will be from 1st of November 2006 until the 31st of January 2007 from 9 AM to 8 PM in celebration of H.M King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th anniversary or the "Diamond Jubilee of Accession to the Throne" together with His Majesty's 80th birthday in January of 2007.. New attractions announced include a "Flora Fantasy Electric parade" and a light and sound water show.

Special public transportation (air conditioned buses) will be provided to pick up visitors to the expo from several locations in the city. You will need a tickets to the expo to board the buses. Vehicle parking will be a big problem as the Thai people from all over the Kingdom are expected to drive to the Expo.

A limited number of tickets will be available per day to avoid overcrowding. The Exposition people suggest that visitors should book tickets in advance but they did not say when or how to purchase the tickets or the price.

More information to come as we get it.

Randy and Ning

It is now learned that you will not be able to purchase tickets for the Exposition unless you do so in advance. The first batch of tickets are already gone. My wife and I have purchased tickets for the whole 3 months for 400 Thai Baht each. We can go anytime we like. Anyone interested in tickets please let us know and the dates you plan to visit.

Randy and Ning

Hello Randy (or Anyone...)

I'm still trying to arrange a trip back to Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong. It seems like I might not be able to arrive in CM until Nov. 4. Will I miss everything? Is it only for one night - Nov. 3?

Thanks so much for all your help.

The only thing you will miss is the launching of the Khome Loi in Mae Jo that I did the video of .

Randy and Ning.

THANK YOU Randy, for your unending "facts" of Chiang Mai. My wife and I visited there for the first time last Feb for a week before continuing on to Siem Reap. The best advice that I followed is the Khum Khantoke Dinner/Show. That was very very good. I would rate that the dinner we had there was one of the best in CM (as we didn't find the taste of the local food very tasty in comparison to the southern part of Thailand). Don't get me wrong, northern Thailand food is good; however, I think that my taste buds like the spicier type of food offered in southern Thailand. Some of you may say that the food here in CM is the better one. Sorry, it is just an individual preference and not a criticism.

The second best thing we did is the "weekend market" on a Sunday evening.
It is huge. My wife picked up some souvenirs there. The night market is nothing in comparison. Since we stayed at the Central Duanthawan Hotel, we were exposed to the "Pat Pong" type of vendors (without the sleaze) every night. The prices at the Night Market was only slightly higher than the Weekend Market. As far as the Night Market, it was fun the 2nd and even the 3rd time we went there. However, as our hotel is right next to the night market, it gets really monotonous when you are exposed to it every night.
We did do a whole bunch of extra tours out of the city to experience it all. All of them were good.

BTW, don't go for the Central Duangthawan's massages. Not very professional at all. We love "Let's Relax" branches so much that we went there 5 times.

Do go across the river in the evening to some of the riverside restaurants for some live music and fun. We stumbled across them while walking one day in the afternoon heat. I think it was the River Side Bar and Restaurant. We sat there for 3 hours cooling off and listening to a local band practicing for that night's show. It was very memorable actually.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some of our moments there in CM and to thank Randy for some of the pointers.

Ciao.

Hope all is well, Randy and Ning. I would guess things are, but I'm sure the situation is tense. Best Wishes, Tom and Carolyn.

Thank you Tom and Carolyn for your concern.

If I didn't watch the news I would have no idea about all this. Everything is normal in Chiang Mai except the banks and schools were closed Wednesday just like a normal holiday.

Randy and Ning

Hi Randy and Ning,

I hope everything is well in Chiang Mai. I heard about the coup and also the flood. My parents are caution and wondering to proceed with the holidays in Chiang Mai early October. Please give us a good update on the current situation there.

I need your advise on my plan. I
1) Plan to go to Sam Kampheng area after I checked in but dont know which is to go 1st. I plan to have lunch at the floating restaurant, visit the hot spring and the factories then back to hotel before 6.15pm.
2) Another is the travel time to the area..
3) Which type of transport do you advise to use. (tuk tuk?)

I am searching for a private van with driver(english speaking). I've heard from a lot of people to book there cheaper than from the net. Could you provide me with their contact and roughly how much it cost per day with gas.

Thank you.

Regards,
M'sia

Everything is fine here in Chiang Mai. Ning went to work as normal. If I didn't read or watch the news I would have never know about the coup. The banks and schools were closed wednesday just like a normal holiday.

There are a lot of problems when using tuk tuk or songteaws and most vans going to Sankhampang. They want to take you to places that pay the most commission and will lie and say all kinds of thing to get you to go where they want to take you.

Let me know what you are most interested in and I will find a van and driver for you. Or my wife Ning loves shopping and knows the best shops with good value for your money. She can take you in our SUV, no worries. Plenty of time to do all you have requested.

We will be at Doi Inthanon Oct. 8 through 10 bird watching and again 13 and 14. If you could make the trip on a Sunday it would be great as she can also take you to the Sunday walking market in the evening. I might even come along.

Randy and Ning