Giving Visitors An Experience To Remember

[JimShortz]

I have visitors coming next week and began thinking of all of the different things that we might do while they are here. Previously I had jotted down some lists, simply because in the spur of the moment I can never think what to do, and I want them to have some options. This time I have got a bit carried away (some friends have the cheek to call me anal... oh well... ) and created a mini-guide that I have attached here (I hope). Please feel free to share the ideas with your visitors, and also please add to this thread with other ideas that you might have. If we get enough contributions I'll update the document...

Don't be lazy - post what you know! You must know at least one good idea that I've left out...

Chiang Mai - things to do.pdf

[jarhead50200]

just an idea, but on july 4 you and your visitors are invited to the vfw/us consulate 4th of July Celebration being held at Chang Puak Stadium, for a 300 baht ticket you will receive from 2-8pm all you can eat DUKES, live entertainment, dancing, a disney style theme park for the kids, raffle prizes to include airline tickets, and fireworks, we even deliver tickets, get the information at www.4julychiangmai.com, enjoy

[nikster]

Don't know the visitors I know want to see something Thai... they have the farang stuff at home. For example, I know my visitors would not want to go to Duke's of all places. I love Duke's of course, and it's delicious, but that's because I have been here 5 years. New arrivals need to be shown the best Thai food in town, things they'll never get in the Thai restaurant back home.

I'd take them to that restaurant on doi suthep, the one surrounded by rivers, and with view on the city. Not sure what it's called, but it's huge and fantastic, and a bit hard to find if you're not from here. And Riverside - good authentic thai food that's not too scary for the newly arrived.

No need to mention that but clearly night bazaar. Sunday market is a must, not just for the shopping, also for the street food and atmosphere.

Lots of other stuff....

[sarahsbloke]

You missed the night club Hotshots at the Pornping Tower Hotel, live show male and female singers/dancers with a good live band 10:30-11:30 and 12:15-1:30

Most arrive at about 11:15 to get a good table for the show.

PS the cheap all evening drink is Ben More Whiskey set + 4 mixers and ice for 480bht, lasts a table of 4 all evening, cheap night out!

(forgot to say this is a respectable venue for Thai and foreigner)

In the road parallel to the night Bazaar but 1 road nearer the river.

Edited June 16, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[carnac]

I've never been to Chiang Mai but if they have a library you can take them there or the birthplace of Thaksin the Great.

[Lizard2010]

You missed the night club Hotshots at the Pornping Tower Hotel, live show male and female singers/dancers with a good live band 10:30-11:30 and 12:15-1:30

Most arrive at about 11:15 to get a good table for the show.

PS the cheap all evening drink is Ben More Whiskey set + 4 mixers and ice for 480bht, lasts a table of 4 all evening, cheap night out!

(forgot to say this is a respectable venue for Thai and foreigner)

In the road parallel to the night Bazaar but 1 road nearer the river.

You jogged my memorie on this one

[JimShortz]

You missed the night club Hotshots at the Pornping Tower Hotel, live show male and female singers/dancers with a good live band 10:30-11:30 and 12:15-1:30

Most arrive at about 11:15 to get a good table for the show.

PS the cheap all evening drink is Ben More Whiskey set + 4 mixers and ice for 480bht, lasts a table of 4 all evening, cheap night out!

(forgot to say this is a respectable venue for Thai and foreigner)

In the road parallel to the night Bazaar but 1 road nearer the river.

Sarahsbloke, thanks for the detail on Hotshots; it is in the PDF under nightclubs, but not with that level of detail. Thanks I'll add that for sure - it's somewhere I like to go to occasionally too...

[JimShortz]

Don't know the visitors I know want to see something Thai... they have the farang stuff at home. For example, I know my visitors would not want to go to Duke's of all places. I love Duke's of course, and it's delicious, but that's because I have been here 5 years. New arrivals need to be shown the best Thai food in town, things they'll never get in the Thai restaurant back home.

I'd take them to that restaurant on doi suthep, the one surrounded by rivers, and with view on the city. Not sure what it's called, but it's huge and fantastic, and a bit hard to find if you're not from here. And Riverside - good authentic thai food that's not too scary for the newly arrived.

No need to mention that but clearly night bazaar. Sunday market is a must, not just for the shopping, also for the street food and atmosphere.

Lots of other stuff....

Thanks for that. Most of what you mentioned is already in the PDF, and a lot more besides, but I didn't include details of all of the interesting Thai restaurants (because there are so many). This might have to be stage two!

[ianf]

Don't know the visitors I know want to see something Thai... they have the farang stuff at home. For example, I know my visitors would not want to go to Duke's of all places. I love Duke's of course, and it's delicious, but that's because I have been here 5 years. New arrivals need to be shown the best Thai food in town, things they'll never get in the Thai restaurant back home.

I'd take them to that restaurant on doi suthep, the one surrounded by rivers, and with view on the city. Not sure what it's called, but it's huge and fantastic, and a bit hard to find if you're not from here. And Riverside - good authentic thai food that's not too scary for the newly arrived.

No need to mention that but clearly night bazaar. Sunday market is a must, not just for the shopping, also for the street food and atmosphere.

Lots of other stuff....

Personally I have found Dukes very very disappointing ..........................

But the purpose of this post is to say to Jim how good the list of activities are. It's come at the right time because I have a summer of visitors (unfortunately taking me away from daily cycling) and its the kind of information I can happily use.

Add to the list:

Doi Kham: Just off the Canal Road and behind the Night Safari. Nice little temple with a great viewing platform overlooking Chiang Mai from a different perspective than that of Doi Suthep. Also go right up Doi Suthep, past the temple towards the coffee plantation and taste the local coffee. Great project. Beyond this point the road terminates in a village above the lake. Nice and authentic (not the one with all the gift shops) with a school at the end and another nice view.

Behind Doi Kham is a little set of local roads and a local village. This area has only just received electricity so it is quite quaint and surprisingly close to the city. If people want a short bike ride without doing too much strain, or a nice walk, then this is the place to try.

If any cyclists visit tell them that a group of cyclists, mainly expats, leave each morning (7:30am)from Bugs, the new coffee shop on the right side of Canal Road just before the Samoeng Road junction. Road bikes, average distance 60km, speed about 32kmph.

Further afield the road to Mae Wang ( where you will find some small elephant camps) is fantastic. Carry on over the mountains beyond Samoeng, tracing the roads (some of them quite broken, you need a 4-wheel drive) back to Samoeng, then left at the police box and over to Mae Rim. Its about 175km. A great drive!

[Fishenough]

That's a comprehensive list!

There are the floating cabins, and rooms, on the Mae Ngut (Ngat) Reservoir. Nice place to have a drink, a swim and a fish; there's always a local guide available to take you out for a half day fishing for 500 baht a day.

It's not every bodies cup of joe, but the northwest has a tremendous amount of caves to explore and the Chiang Dao cave is pretty nifty. Since you mentioned the Mae Hong Song loop, the Cave Lodge can set you up with some super caving without the danger.

Mae Chaem, as the rumor goes, is a like the Pai of years ago, and the drive there is wonderful. Good spot to spend a night after exploring Doh Inthanon, a person can easily use up a day puttering around the sights up there. Even in the busy season you can detour to the valley overlooking the Siri Phum waterfall and not see a single mini bus.

Bamboo river rafting, Pai, Mae Win and up Chiang Dao. Also, being I was born in raised in waterfall country but we had nothing like the mineral falls that can be found close to Chiang Mai; Bua Tong to the north is a nice spot, and if traveling by bike you can take the ferry part-way back home.

A quick side trip when visiting the Lampaan Elephant reserve is to visit the Kun Tan tunnel and national park, good for train buffs and to learn the number of tunnel builders eaten by Tigers during the construction.

[highonthai]

I always take friends for a couple of hours to Wat Wiang Kum Kam. Horse driven carts leave the visitor center tour all old ruins of the old Lanna period capital.

Great way to burn a couple of hours and close to town.

Map

[sarahsbloke]

Monthathal falls, nice series of waterfalls half way up to Wat Doi Suthep.

Entrance fee 20bht Thai resident, 80bht non-resident, 20bht m/c

Big waterfall at bottom, steep 2 km hiking trail passes 5 other waterfalls with Sai Yoi falls at the top, only for the fit.

Very quiet, very peaceful, water still running even in the dry.

[karTER]

Marvellous. We're making our first visit to CM with my mother-in-law later this month and have nine days to cram in as much as possible. This will help immensely and I appreciate the time and effort you've taken in preparing this.

Many thanks- and to Gladiator who tipped me off to this. Cheers, guys.

[JimShortz]

Thank you all for the great feedback, and especially the suggestions for things to add. I've now added pretty much everything people have mentioned in the thread and also some huge omissions pointed out to me by Lizard2010 via personal messages (monk chat, the zoo, the pandas, the snow dome, aquarium...). Thank you! :D

Don't be shy folks - what else is missing?

Here's the new, updated version:

Chiang Mai - things to do.pdf

[sarahsbloke]

Couple of corrections

Bubbles closed down some months ago

Star 6 has a live show at 11pm every night, quite tasteful, entrance fee (100 or 150bht ??) includes 1 drink

[Drew Aitch]

There's always a local guide available to take you out for a half day fishing for 500 baht a day.

[kjhbigv]

That's a really good list, I have a friend coming over next week and will just hand him the list and ask him what he wants to do....job done...cheers.

Re Mugata barbecue....surely for the experience, the one next to Hillside is the one to go too, especially at weekends when there are about 1000+ diners in there....139 bht at last visit.

Also, I did not see Tiger Kingdom in there? Whether you agree with the concept or not....where in the world can you sit with and touch a large Tiger....always one for the photo album!

[Fishenough]

There's always a local guide available to take you out for a half day fishing for 500 baht a day.

Just the other week hit a cat doing 90 km/h; didn't know they run that fast...................................

Thanks for the tip about Wiang Kum Kam, pass right by they every day and didn't know about it. Cool.

[annabel]

Thank you all for the great feedback, and especially the suggestions for things to add. I've now added pretty much everything people have mentioned in the thread and also some huge omissions pointed out to me by Lizard2010 via personal messages (monk chat, the zoo, the pandas, the snow dome, aquarium...). Thank you! :D

Don't be shy folks - what else is missing?

Here's the new, updated version:

You may want to cancel out the Thai Boxing at Gawila Stadium thing cause I had guests here whi wanted to go yesterday and when we called they informed us that the place burnt down a couple of months ago and that they were looking for a new place to have the boxing but would take some more time to do this and start again.... So left are the only other 2 boxing places which one is on Loi Khro...(Not so great) and the other one along the moat near Thapae Gate somewheres around Mad Dog or John's Place

[annabel]

Couple of corrections

Bubbles closed down some months ago

Star 6 has a live show at 11pm every night, quite tasteful, entrance fee (100 or 150bht ??) includes 1 drink

Interesting ... wow ... Bubbles closed down ...ummm/// went there only a couple of times but am still a bit shocked as it seemed like such a popular place especially for thos who didn't fancy their neighbor Hot Shots or is Spots ..?? Anyway , is Star 6 where Bubbles used to be ?? If not , then where is it ???

Thanks

[JimShortz]

Interesting ... wow ... Bubbles closed down ...ummm/// went there only a couple of times but am still a bit shocked as it seemed like such a popular place especially for thos who didn't fancy their neighbor Hot Shots or is Spots ..?? Anyway , is Star 6 where Bubbles used to be ?? If not , then where is it ???

Thanks

i'm also really shocked that Bubbles has closed down! Where are people going instead then? Certainly not Star Six.... but if you want to find it, go down Loi Kroh from the moat and soon after Chiang Mai Saloon turn right at the Bar Beer Centre turning. Once you make this turn the Bar Beer Centre will be on your left, and Star 6 on your right. Enjoy! Thanks for the extra info sarahsbloke; I'd love to know if your missus thinks the show is tasteful, lol....

Also, kjhbigv thanks for the muguta tip - I will add that for sure. Tiger Kingdom is mentioned briefly under "Tourist trap" where I mention all that Mae Rim stuff, but I think you are right here too - I will give drugged tigers a bigger mention, it is unusual as you say!

[JimShortz]

You may want to cancel out the Thai Boxing at Gawila Stadium thing cause I had guests here whi wanted to go yesterday and when we called they informed us that the place burnt down a couple of months ago and that they were looking for a new place to have the boxing but would take some more time to do this and start again.... So left are the only other 2 boxing places which one is on Loi Khro...(Not so great) and the other one along the moat near Thapae Gate somewheres around Mad Dog or John's Place

Now that is disappointing! There is now basically nowhere to go to watch proper Thai boxing in Chiang Mai... The bar beer "show" on Loi Kroh is just that - a show; not real fighting, and the other place you allude to is run down and empty. I wouldn't go there even if dragged by a team of ladyboys on steroids! That's a real shame... I hope they sort this out soon...

[Sansai Sam]

What about the Playhouse Theater in Chang Pueak. They have a great Broadway style dance review with alot of talented Thai dancers. They also have a dinner show on Saturdays that's very nice. The show is every night except Sunday at 8 pm.

[Sparkles]

The hot springs at Sankampaeng are a pleasant drive out of town. Nice gardens and a hot pool avaialable.Best to go week days as it can get a bit busy on weekends. Driving back, a km or 2, La Bu Salah on the left hand side is a nice spot for lunch. Interesting concept with restaurant/gallery where people can learn to make handcrafts. Interesting accom if you want to stay a night or 2.Its relatively new so not sure how they are faring.

[JimShortz]

Final revision... for now... At the end of my friends (a family) week long visit.

Removed Bubbles and the Thai Boxing - since they no longer exist!

Added in Taweechol Botanical Gardens (great family day out) and changed the entry for Queen Sirikit's Botanical Gardens, including the dual pricing policy introduced earlier this year (40 Baht Thai, 100 Baht for visitors). We didn't enjoy the place very much and didn't feel it was worth the visitors entry fee. Go to Taweechol instead!

Added in the Monk Chat at Wat Chedi Luang - a nice easy option since it is available every day throughout the day. We thoroughly enjoyed this. The monk we spoke to spoke great English and was a lot of fun to chat to - really relaxed and open; even funny.

Anyway, here is the new updated file:

Chiang Mai - things to do.pdf

[TKO123]

You may want to cancel out the Thai Boxing at Gawila Stadium thing cause I had guests here whi wanted to go yesterday and when we called they informed us that the place burnt down a couple of months ago and that they were looking for a new place to have the boxing but would take some more time to do this and start again.... So left are the only other 2 boxing places which one is on Loi Khro...(Not so great) and the other one along the moat near Thapae Gate somewheres around Mad Dog or John's Place

Now that is disappointing! There is now basically nowhere to go to watch proper Thai boxing in Chiang Mai... The bar beer "show" on Loi Kroh is just that - a show; not real fighting, and the other place you allude to is run down and empty. I wouldn't go there even if dragged by a team of ladyboys on steroids! That's a real shame... I hope they sort this out soon...

That's not really accurate, Loi Kroh has real boxing 2 times a week (wednesdays and saturdays I think) as does Thapae Stadium (mondays and thursdays).

Out of the two I would say that Thapae is the place to go for watching muay thai in CM, but both venues can put on decent fights sometimes.

Tomorrow, for exemple, there is a big fight in Thapae between two highly skilled thai nak muays. Should be a good one.

[ollylama]

wat umong is the most entertaining i think - a pond with fish, caves to explore, trees with funny sayings on them, monk chat, a zoo, a field of broken off buddha heads, etc. etc.

the horse racing on saturday afternoons just north of the city off the canal road (close to city hall).

huay tung tao reservoir - to see how thais really let their hair down.

for extreme sports - the x centre, run by a cool kiwi and his thai wife. lotsafun

mae sa valley road - lots to do and see and a nice drive, especially on a motorbike - elephant camps, animal shows, firing ranges, the x centre (aforementioned), the four seasons (great for a meal and a wander around the lovely grounds).

doi pui - hill tribe villages, coffee plantations, all very close to the city, just past doi suthep.

ban tawai - good for shopping.

bike rides - get the chiang mai big map (www.cmfinder.com i think) and look for where it says "good biking" - great biking trails and roads.

live music - guitarman on saturday (open jam), northgate on tues (open jam), the riva, the brasserie, ana gracey at the gallery on friday.

okay, enough for now.

[IanForbes]

I hate to keep repeating myself, but for me the nicest and easiest walk/hike close to Chiang Mai is the trail that follows the creek coming down off Doi Suthep mountain. There are waterfalls and a forested glade that is much cooler than the city on a hot day. You can swim in the deeper pools... or at least cool down when the creek is low. Lots of butterflies in the forest and a variety of birds you don't see in the city. Drive about 2 km beyond the zoo on the way up Doi Suthep and stop on the corner where all the vehicles park. You can hike up hill or down from there. Or, you can start right at the bottom near the restaurant. After another 2 km up the hilll from the first access point there is a side road to National park (yah gotta pay) with more waterfalls and the steep trail to the top of the mountain.

[Fishenough]

(yah gotta pay)

Rarely!

Cheers Ian