Does Chiang Mai Direct Have More Than One Location?

[NancyL]

I just love Chiang Mai Direct and visit about once a month to stock up on grooming supplies like shampoo, conditioner, soap, body lotion and powder, deodorant, cosmetics, Hubby's shaving supplies and, yes, hair color in lighter shades. They have name brands at very reasonable prices. The best part is I can fill up my tote bag with a month's supply of grooming supplies and never pay more than 1000 baht.

The store is located just to the west of Tanin Market and is deceptively small from the outside. All the guys waiting outside should be a clue, though, that the place is packed with women buying all the stuff that guys don't think about. The store is well-lit, airconditioned, has shopping carts and takes credit cards where you never have to lose sight of the card.

We've moved and the Tanin/Chotana location isn't convenient now. I did an internet search for the company and didn't find anything. Are there other locations for Chiang Mai Direct?

[Mapguy]

Just west of Tanin Market is kinda vague.

Can you nail that down a bit, like how far from the market beginning where the exit road begins at the market? Which exit road? There is one with a traffic bollard at the east end of a narrow two-way east-west road. Or are you talking about Vingbua Road (the one with the Lotus Hotel and Vingbua Mansions on it)? Or what? And how far down that road do you go in meters traveled from the market boundary lane on the west?

Hope you like your new digs.

[NancyL]

Chiang Mai Direct is located on Tanin Road at the corner where Tanin Rd branches into two parts, turning into the road that runs around the food court and the small shops located north, west and south of the food court. It's on the NW corner of that intersection.

I thought they might have more than one branch since the store is large and obviously well-managed. They have their own custom shopping bags, another sign that they may have more than one location.

The place is always packed with Thai Uni gals and I rarely see any westerners in the store. Hey guys -- I just had a thought on how you can meet young, educated Thai women. Just go into the store, hang around the hair care section and ask someone if they can recommend a hair styling product from the dizzing array of offerings!

[Ulysses G.]

The place is always packed with Thai Uni gals and I rarely see any westerners in the store. Hey guys -- I just had a thought on how you can meet young, educated Thai women. Just go into the store, hang around the hair care section and ask someone if they can recommend a hair styling product from the dizzing array of offerings!

Most of us don't have any hair on top. Do they carry clippers for nose and ear hair?

Edited November 26, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[elektrified]

There is a similar shop at Warrarot Market that sells all of the supplies you mentioned (and is also packed with those cute Uni gals that you refer to). They also sell at discount prices and have every brand you could think of. I think the shop is actually two shops side by side, one for cosmetics and the other for everything else. They are on the 1st soi before the road that runs along the river. Just look for the cute girls carrying the little bags of goodies.

[Mahseer]

You didn't say where you moved to but there is a shop next to Warorot market that sells the things you mention and whenever I walk by it's always packed out. I've only been in there once and I believe it's on 3 levels. From the bottom of Chiang Moi Road with your back to the river start walking up Chiang Moi road and it's the second on the left about 20 yards in on your right hand side. (On the corner of the soi before you turn in is a shop selling rolls of fabric).

I'll be over that way later today so will take a look at the name.

[Mahseer]

Elektrified obviously types quicker than I as his post wasn't there when I started but it's probably the same shop.

[NancyL]

Thanks! We're much closer to Warorot now. While I'm there, I'll look for nose and ear hair trimmers, too, Ulysses. Some of our grooming implements got lost in the move.

[Thaihog]

Chiang Mai Direct is located on Tanin Road at the corner where Tanin Rd branches into two parts, turning into the road that runs around the food court and the small shops located north, west and south of the food court. It's on the NW corner of that intersection.

I thought they might have more than one branch since the store is large and obviously well-managed. They have their own custom shopping bags, another sign that they may have more than one location.

The place is always packed with Thai Uni gals and I rarely see any westerners in the store. Hey guys -- I just had a thought on how you can meet young, educated Thai women. Just go into the store, hang around the hair care section and ask someone if they can recommend a hair styling product from the dizzing array of offerings!

Just curious, do all you Americans walk about with a compass in your hand. Every time directions are posted they are always given as a compass bearing....

[Mahseer]

You didn't say where you moved to but there is a shop next to Warorot market that sells the things you mention and whenever I walk by it's always packed out. I've only been in there once and I believe it's on 3 levels. From the bottom of Chiang Moi Road with your back to the river start walking up Chiang Moi road and it's the second on the left about 20 yards in on your right hand side. (On the corner of the soi before you turn in is a shop selling rolls of fabric).

I'll be over that way later today so will take a look at the name.

This place is called Win cosmetics and was busy at 0930.

Happy shopping.

[Mapguy]

Chiang Mai Direct is located on Tanin Road at the corner where Tanin Rd branches into two parts, turning into the road that runs around the food court and the small shops located north, west and south of the food court. It's on the NW corner of that intersection.

I thought they might have more than one branch since the store is large and obviously well-managed. They have their own custom shopping bags, another sign that they may have more than one location.

The place is always packed with Thai Uni gals and I rarely see any westerners in the store. Hey guys -- I just had a thought on how you can meet young, educated Thai women. Just go into the store, hang around the hair care section and ask someone if they can recommend a hair styling product from the dizzing array of offerings!

Just curious, do all you Americans walk about with a compass in your hand. Every time directions are posted they are always given as a compass bearing....

Sun rises in the East, even in Thailand! Pointing out that Doi Suthep is on your left has certain limitations!

[NancyL]

Checked it out yesterday, but was in a hurry, so didn't get to shop for my entire list, just the high priority item -- hair color.

As described, it is located in the second soi on the south side of Chang Moi as you proceed west along Chang Moi from the river. It's on the west side of the soi, about 20 - 30 yards from Chang Moi. It is in two multistory shops that aren't contigous.

I began in the shop primarily devoted to cosmetics, although it did have some grooming products. No hair color anywhere. I asked a staffer "sii phom thiinai?" (oh those Thai lessons are paying off!) and she replied in rapid-fire Thai where all I got was "song" so I thought she was sending me to the second floor of Warorot. No, she couldn't get it across so she took my hand and led me to their second store, which is two or three shops away from the first.

The shop has more types of haircolor than I've ever seen before in CM. This shop is the northern one of the two, the one closest to Chang Moi.

This shop wasn't nearly as packed as the cosmetics shop, so the shop ladies swarmed me and I soon ended up with a product that I wouldn't have selected on my own, but it worked very, very well and was a fraction of the cost of Loreal. Plus it was a lighter color despite being a product for the Thai market. They have a huge selection, with products like Loreal, Revlon, etc for the timid who want to use something familiar plus local professional products like I bought.

As to Americans having compasses -- we don't have to carry a compass, we have them in our heads. Americans are descended from Europeans who somehow had to get themselves across an ocean and then, maybe a few generations later, across a continent in a covered wagon, and then onto the moon. You need to develop a sense of direction to do this. I lived on a farm and I can't imagine not knowing directions. It's easy in CM -- river on the east, Doi Suthep on the west, the old city is 1-mile square and laid out on compasses directions. And the sun follows the same path globally!

What drives me nuts is when someone describes something as being "near that corner of the moat that looks like a wedding cake" or says something is "on the left side of Huey Kaew". How can people be so clueless about their surroundings?

[LadyHeather]

I visited Win cosmetics today, the directions in this thread were superb and it was easy enough to find. The salon supply store is two shops down from the cosmetics shop. The cosmetics store was incredibly packed, I assumed it was a post New Years sale, but perhaps not. The prices were quite good and the selection huge.

The hair salon supply was much less busy but no less of a selection. If one is looking for hair dryers, straightening irons, curling irons, hair colour, perming solutions and everything hair related, this store has an astonishing selection.

Edited January 4, 2010 by LadyHeather

[NancyL]

LadyHeather, I think some of why there were so busy at Win is because they were closed for several days with the New Years holiday. I tried to shop on 2 January (Saturday) and found them closed with a sign in Thai about how they will reopen on 3 January. I went at 10:30 am on 3 Jan and the place was packed. Fortunately, one of the staffers took pity on the older western woman (I refuse to use the F-word to describe myself) and literally led me around the place by the hand to get everything on my list. I thought they were impressed that I showed up with a list. Hubby thought they just wanted to get my big western body out of the aisles.

Anyway, I still think that Chiang Mai Direct at Tanin Market is a better place for grooming products. Win at Warorot (the locals call it Kad Luang) has them beat for hair care products, especially hair color.

[eek]

OOOoooh! Im going to have to go check this place out! Thanks.

Nancy..if you are who i think you are..then "BIG" western body isnt something id associate at all with you!!