Parking in chiang mai - most if not all big towns in thailand - is a dream relative to more affluent nations. In england it costs a fortune, and that's if you can find a parking spot, and if you can understand how to use the machine (i was puzzling over how to key in the first four digits of my numberplate, a chap walking by kindly suggested i'd need a degree to work it out, so i gave up and drove off). More often you simply won't be able to park except a long way from where you need to be. That is not a huge problem because one can walk or get a bus. But that walking can be done in relatively clean air where one does not need to choke on pollution.

I nearly always get to park where i need to park when going into town. I avoid certain roads which seem to have traffic jams like in bangkok.

But i do think the point about shop owners 'booking' spaces is wrong. However, if that's the only real problem, i'll take chiang mai over my home town in england any day.

Perhaps it's easier to just employ a driver? Only 8,000 baht a month and you will never ever have to worry about parking again ever!