A trip to Chiang Mai is incomplete if you don’t take a ride to where the splendor of nature meets spirituality. Take a ride up to the highest spot in Thailand (over 2,500 meters above sea level), Doi Inthanon. Visit the marvelous twin chedis at the king and queen, who were real champions of the hill tribes. Stand in awe on the edge of the dense jungle that cascades down to the once-icy river in a series of waterfalls that stretches for what looks like a millennium. Then, walk down the King’s trail and learn about the royalty that loved nature way before we all discovered it.
While you’re in Chiang Mai, check out the weekend markets: three of them – one at the north gate, another at the east gate, and the third at the south gate. They’re amazing and would probably offer the best artifacts in Thailand. Take home some fabulous artworks like telephone wire tiles, those kind of colorful leaves they make animal figures or other artistic designs, and customize your phone in these amazing pieces of art that wouldn’t burn a hole in your wallet, as they say.
The city has a rich history and an increasingly bohemian air. Even with its rich heritage, there is plenty more in this city that you would love to explore and indulge in. In this article, we would look at the cultural and ancient heritage Chiang Mai is known for, its natural beauty, what you can do in the city, where you can hang out and meet people, and a few points on accommodation.
Chiang Mai is one of the most culturally significant places in Thailand. It has become one of the top travel destinations for people visiting Thailand. It is quite different from other destinations you may have been to. It is not bustling with neon lights like Bangkok or islands teeming with tourists. Still, you will experience a fine blend of historical culture, urban touches, and exquisite natural beauty that would make your trip unforgettable.
Geography and Climate
During the cool Alpine Comfort intervals, the visitor can spend lunch regarding Development Support Org or also as Sleep in White Temps with Period Longhouse. Staff with these species obtain alcoholic beverages, whole foods, and soft tissues in the North, for regeneration. In the outlines of the walk, are at the good view of the natural scenery around Chiang Mai’s Reservoir. At the Dam site, guests could maybe take advantage of this photo op, they have the best way to capture this beautiful scenery at the job with the entire pillar on Chiang Mai with thin air climate.
It is the best time for visitors to take advantage of the weather and left together of conduct from the city. Local inhabitants also expected the rain to end and give gifts to the gods, so they might be an additional surprising beauty of the mountain. Those who worship the Port & Gods today use incense, prayer cards, peanuts, and consume various enchanting dies to purify the heaven, in asking rechargeable energy from the mouth for all different major events.
The Conventional Burnt Chiang Mai Festival, also known as Loy Krathong, should be the biggest event on the calendar, showing young people serving the heroine through training, and celebrating the throngs of Buddhist monks with entertaining music and dance series. Taen Kaen is a type of melody in the neighborhood of Lanna, and the municipality of Chiang Mai is prized for its singing cavity and serves as several occasions of shows.
To remain free from acts, invasions, and karma, the Kingdom of Lanna built mechanical defenses along its border to counter threats from Burma to the north, for a long time until the middle of the world.
Landlocked Chiang Mai is the northernmost province in the Thai kingdom, covering an area of 20,107 square kilometers. Though there is uncertainty about when the city was actually created with continuous habitats and permanent ties, it is estimated that sometime after 750 AD, the construction of its current possession, of which there are few remains.
Historical Significance
For this reason, a large city moat has been constructed for protective purposes, with more than 30 kilometers of fortifications around it. At some wall locations, whose remains still exist today, various offensives have failed to break through the enemy ranks. The stupa in the city center also holds the ashes of the first king of Chiang Mai, but the most important temples of the city were built in its surrounding landscape. Lanna artisans have done excellent jobs and their work is a mix of Lanna and Sri Lankan, Sinhalese and Burmese styles. No ruler has been able to establish authority in the vicinity of the Nepal-born Chaitas. These temples have evolved over the years, developing into skilled stones worked by the best craftsmen. In the countryside, the presence of the city, embassies, and stage entries was a base of significant power during all the military campaigns.
Once the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, Chiang Mai has a rich and storied past that lives on in the remnants of the ancient walls that protected the city and today’s visitors from the constant threats from its neighbors. As the stronghold of the Kingdom of Lan Na, Chiang Mai was an important place for the irrigation systems of the northern region. It was the capital of those who joined the 1775 Inthakin Festival. It was the administrative center of access to the Burmese jade empire. And it plays an important role in the control of the northern population of the Chiang Tung-Burma route, especially the civilizational expansion of the empire. Its location is also an extremely sensitive trade route with Myanmar as well as with the kingdoms of the remote northeast.
Cultural Traditions
The hospitality of the people of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai manifests when an essential manner of sprinkling or pouring water is performed to pay homage to and seek the blessings of their elders. After removing their footwear and putting it aside as a sign of respect, monks will bless the hosts, the houses, and objects by sprinkling the hosting water on them. The timing of the ritual, as most of the major local festivals do, states points to the air filled with pleasing warmth all year round. The hospitality extends to general offerings to the monks also, with people pressing the palms of their hands together, placing them in the monk’s receiving cloth, and offering their most sincere and utmost respect. These mannerisms form the core of the local Lanna Thai culture. There is a lot to see, feel, and experience in their local ways. And Chiang Mai has long been transformed into sophisticated cosmopolitanism, so it’s very easy to get around, mainly when you can find several ways of transportation to cherish and relax with all city attractions.
Walk into any of the city’s venues of interest, and it will not take you more than a few minutes to see the image of the teachings of Buddhism and get an insight into the culture and way of life of the Lanna people. There might be a set of ancient palm leaf Dhamma books kept in black ebony wood boxes, and the framework of a scripture document readers’ lectern may still be seen. The external and sometimes elaborate coating prevents the liquid from the inner force repeating a circular path again and again. In different popular festival periods, you might come across the Lanna tradition of holding a “Kram” ceremony by the host, taking the flower garland adorned with joyful-colored ribbons, or seeing the part that will later be used by someone else as a similar sign of reconciliation.
Obviously, almost everywhere you turn in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, you can come across the influence of the Lanna kingdom. The floral relief designs, the design of the vihan (sanctuary) and ho trai (library where Dhamma books are kept in the monastery), and especially the chedi bearing the distinctive shape of a bell, which some scholars argue may have originated from the shape of a Hmong hat. The Lanna culture is a mixture of cultures derived from Buddhism, Brahmanism, Animism, and Taoism, so nobody should be surprised at the religious ceremonies conducted by the people of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. That unique Lanna style can easily be seen in the beauties of the mural paintings or the buildings, not to mention the interesting construction of the chedi at Chiang Man in logic pillars which get more slender as they reach up to the upper chedi in a pagoda or shape up like a banana cake.
Buddhist Temples and Practices
Chiang Mai has hundreds of ancient and modern holy sites such as Wat Phra Singh and Wat Suan Dok. There are also several meditation centers offering visitors the opportunity to study Buddhism for longer periods. Chiang Mai people also make offerings of different sorts to the temple and give alms to monks every morning. One of Chiang Mai’s most revered traditions is the Yee Peng Lantern Ceremony, which is hosted by temples and takes place at several locations each year. These experiences sometimes require prior arrangement so contact your hotel or just ask. Also, remember to respect temple customs and dress conservatively when visiting holy sites.
Many people have come to Thailand as monks, as there is a rich tradition of Buddhist teaching in Chiang Mai. The iconic monks’ saffron robes and their lifestyle are a part of the cultural environment. I had the wonderful opportunity to interact and visit with monks, who were not only generous with their time, but also knowledgeable and, in many cases, spoke excellent English. This was, for me, an awe-inspiring experience. I participated in and enjoyed many meditation sessions and found their practice to be calming and grounding. I could actually feel the calmness that meditation and giving merit brought to me.
Traditional Arts and Crafts
The reason for the existence of different artworks is that Northern Thai people are culturally diverse. The forebears of today’s artisans were influenced over time by ideas and belief systems, such as Asian Indians with the introduction of Buddhism, Sinotibertans through trade and missionaries, and Khmers and Mons, who have also made their influence more through idea diffusion than through conquest or trade. Chiang Mai, as a religious center with over a thousand monasteries, was able to attract a wide mixture of craftspeople who were determined to cater to the religious needs of the populous. Therefore, today the descendants of these diverse ethnic groups and the descendants of the mixed inheritance are now practicing some of the Northern Thai artistic traditions.
Traditional arts and crafts of Chiang Mai can be examined from various angles. Studying crafts can clarify the needs and desires of different periods of time, particularly the sacred and religious needs where many of Chiang Mai crafts are used to serve temples and religious activities. Many are made in the folk tradition mode, using readily available materials and skilled craftsmanship. Traditional products also represent the mode and quality of life. Therefore, the examination of Chiang Mai arts and crafts will lead to a deeper understanding of other aspects of culture in the Lanna community, past and present. Today, many types of crafts have changed in function and form. Many of them have different materials, new techniques, and designs. Some are popular enough to become manufactured goods, while others remain handmade.
Natural Beauty
Inspired thoughts of a city? It was easy to recall historic Chiang Mai – “new city, 1296” dictated the Thai script on its coat of arms – when I visited the secluded Sanctuary, lodged in the middle of hallowed green. Monumental yellow pines dominated a little lotus flower pool, zigzagged by 1,000 tiny frogs. The trill of the masks transformed in seconds to the tittering of the animals, but then both blends into a grateful chorus: it had almost been a zoo in these surrounding jungle! It is believed that the multitude of frogs brought me back to the real world with grace.
Only a ten and a half mile drive from the village, Doi Suthep crashed down on the horizon. The hill has been declared a national park, but an actual park, with hibiscus and picturesque gardens, is its lower reaches. The hibiscus was in tufted white, Frey over meadows, from 100 to 3,500 feet, and saturated by vines and mushrooms.
From the opulent ancestral home to the natural beauty of the national parks and the sacred mountain known as Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai is home to an abundance of cultural wonders. There are worldly enjoyments as well. Whether it is admired from the mountain or explored at street level, the beauty of the lushness provides much to the soul.
National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries
Called by Thais as the Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park, Doi Pha Hom Pok National Park has the mission of protecting ecology from various extreme activities such as hunting, gathering, and destroying natural forest products. The fauna and flora in the park include wild boar, red panda, bear, silver pheasant, emberiza cioides, big red carp, mountain coral, bluetit, and many other animal species. The park has its lookouts. The Kiw Mae Pan Trail is a circuit at an altitude of a little over 2000 meters and allows for the discovery of the fauna and flora, including several species of rhododendrons whose blossom is particularly beautiful in November. Warbler, barn swallow, and blue-winged paths are some of the birds that can be observed on this route. Tonoha, in the northwest of the park, is close to the high-rise buildings. It’s delightful, and when visiting Huai Ma Keaw, take the time to visit the Hermit Restaurant, which is the perfect stop off for a welcome delight on your way back down the mountain.
While Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Center is not the first place people have in mind when they think about Thai culture, this place holds one of the most important pieces of Chiang Mai’s history inside itself. With both old and new works, Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Center is the go-to place for travelers who are interested in arts, Lanna culture, or just a fan of beauty.
Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium is the first and only place in Asia that presents three different underwater environments: the Riverbank, the Tunnel, and the Deep Sea. Humboldt Penguins, Blue-finned Tuna, Manta Ray, Queensland Grouper, Leopard Shark, and Bull Shark are among the marine life to be seen at Chiang Mai Zoo.
Doi Inthanon National Park contains Thailand’s highest peak, Doi Inthanon, named after the last king of Chiang Mai, King Inthawichayanon. The park has a very spectacular flora and is an important refuge for many bird species. Previously, the mountains were covered in a rainforest climate. The natural and cultural wonders of the park include the two chedi near the summit, foggy, extensive, and steep cliffs, magnolia trees, shrubs, moss, and heaths. The park is well known for its hill tribes and a number of waterfalls, including the Vachiratharn waterfall.
Waterfalls and Scenic Landscapes
Besides the ancient temples, sacred relics, and historical ruins, you should not miss the natural beauty of Chiang Mai. It is dotted with beautiful waterfalls, the beauty of the mountains, the freshest and purest air you can have in the mountain areas, and lush mountainous terrain. Go to the further part of Chiang Mai, visit the waterfalls, the area, villages, and further villages hidden amidst the dense, beautiful jungle. Clear cascades of water falling from hundreds of feet, combined with lush beautiful jungle, invite adventurous journeys when you can explore the natural beauty and the marvelous mountainous lands of Chiang Mai. Discover the waterfalls and scenic landscapes of Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas for a truly refreshing and adventurous mountainous and jungle expedition.
Surrounded by mountains, northern Thailand boasts some of the country’s most idyllic natural landscapes. The tallest and best-known mountains, Doi Inthanon, Doi Suthep, and Doi Luang Chiang Dao, are all found in this area, and these 2,000 to 2,500 meters high peaks create dramatic landscapes. Deep valleys, forests, terraces, and waterfalls – there is a wide range of exciting natural sights to explore outside the city.
Modern Developments
Until the late 1980s, Chiang Mai seemed to be perfectly off-the-lane for modern corporate planners. It was left to itself to develop in an entirely natural way. The city’s ultra-laid-back style and the modest lifestyle it promoted attracted many would-be entrepreneurs and potential professionals from Bangkok, other parts of Thailand, as well as the world over. Many were accomplished in fields known to be unrelated to Chiang Mai. Yet, many more with grander horizons strive excessively hard to sell the local folk that over-investment in buying or building private homes and excessive upgrading of local lifestyle are the cornerstones of economic development. With few exceptions, the locals remained unpersuaded as they were very comfortable with living serenely within their means.
Even though Chiang Mai retains a uniquely provincial air, it has significant modern aspirations in both business and education. The Chiang Mai University only enhances the city’s “laid back” feel, and well-accomplished professors from around the world come here to raise families, except for long vacations, and contribute significantly to the local academic climate. Whatever the subject – serious or fluky – Chiang Mai seems to attract thorough, curious, often well-heeled, and well-travelled students genuinely interested in learning, enriching their lives and enhancing their social capital.
Sustainable Tourism Initiatives
These approaches have a common emphasis on maintaining the social, environmental, and cultural integrity of Chiang Mai and its environs, and involve collaboration between a range of agencies and individuals, utilizing the skills and knowledge of all involved. Most of the sustainable tourism initiatives mentioned above are self-initiated and managed by local residents or small groups, predominantly women. They are based upon relationships and reciprocal social interactions with tourists and other actors including the environment, as opposed to being economically driven. These are essential in allowing both community members and other stakeholders to derive a broad range of positive benefits. In addition to collaborating toward alleviating poverty, fostering cultural exchange amongst Thai citizens and a wide variety of different ethnic minority groups is a significant goal.
Recognizing the potential negative effects of a thriving tourism industry, a number of organizations have been working to promote more sustainable initiatives in and around Chiang Mai. For example, the Burmese Migrant Assistance Association, in conjunction with the Region 5 Department of Local Administration, Chiang Mai Region, launched an eco-tourism project called Healthy Farmers Healthy Mountains. The project is designed to promote locally produced food from 70 villages to attract tourists to visit the area and buy directly from local people. Other initiatives focus on the conservation of natural and cultural resources, local livelihoods, and foster respect between tourists and residents of Chiang Mai. Such projects include work undertaken by the Foundation for the Better Life of Children, which aims to lift children and young adults from difficult situations to a better quality of life. Since 1983, the Milk and Honey Social Enterprise Café has employed at-risk girls to learn valuable skills in a supportive and nourishing environment.
Urbanization and Its Impact
Choosing Smaller Urban Cities – Advantages Recent studies have shown that many governmental interference and control problems are often easier to solve in smaller cities, cultural and other private institutions are often freer, and healthy amenities of a smaller urban life exist that are not present in larger urban settings. Although the number of people tends to increase with the growth of the community, high-density living in the traditional urban setting often do not require rules or regulations as complex as those in large, urban environments. Currently, consumers in densely populated cities tend to enjoy “excess living costs,” which are large and contain nearly all of real private goods. For the consumer, there are also costs of urban congestion and dilapidated infrastructure. These excess costs are products of market imperfections, such as the external diseconomies of scale associated with omitted urban value to the good’s cost and significant congestion on the streets and in public impose urban demands. Even though small cities contain a significant amount of amenity capital and may suffer from some cost scaling, the excess costs associated with housing as well as the other goods are lower in smaller urban areas. Smaller cities also tend to have a higher environmental amenity “price premium”. As a result, large urban cities have environmental costs that increase due to population and other increasing urban demands. Since the “excess” costs are lower in smaller towns in general, even an increase in city size results in small marginal changes in excess urban living costs. Small urban settlements frequently contain a lower consumption cost and permit greater choice even on environmental preferences at a given city size compared to urban settlements chosen from larger metropolitan populations. Because of high value costs of environmental amenities, smaller cities, in particular, offer greater environmental benefits of housing the urban population. It is also the case that smaller cities do not always show a high population density, and it is interesting to notice that none of the small cities in the actual research contains population density values that cause the inconveniences of congestion present in large cities. When the numbers increase, large cities often need to implement such congestion-reducing policies as congestion tolls for reducing parking facilities. While, in recent years, many large metropolitan cities have begun employing these types of pricing regulations in some of their busiest, overly dense districts, smaller cities have not needed to go to this extent.
Urbanization, driven by industrial expansion, requires that a great deal of nature be diverted to creating structures from which natural resources can be removed to build the industrial machinery and serve the rapidly expanding urban populations with what they need. At the same time, the changes in lifestyle and increases in income require additional structural development, often related to subdivision expansions and relatively expensive houses. Many of the newly urban residents own a fleet of expensive automobiles that require wider and faster highways, spacious parking lots that accommodate the constant comings and goings, and service facilities of a crowded city. The resulting artificial environment generates a relatively high level of per capita pollution, and better-paid city working individuals consume greater amounts of resources and services, generating a higher level of industrial and domestic ecological footprints. Because many of the resources for the residents of large cities are taken from other regions and do not cause local damages, in most cases, larger ecological and carbon footprints identify larger cities.
From 2010 until the early part of this year, the writer, as well as in subsequent investigation, explored Wiang Kum Kam, the first capital of Lanna, and the settlements on the floodplain lands of Mae Tha and surround. This study used a multiple-case study – case, record, and interview field research method, which increased the diversity of the information on both of these villages. With the general data, analysis, and synthesis then undertaken, the support of the tourists in Wiang Kum Kam gained insight into this field of research work. On their entirely free visit, they have an unforgettable experience with the highlights of presenting and packaging that lay between the small groups of four, under the guidance of the leaders. With an interesting ‘story’ about the sites they visit, tourist leaders add value to the visit as well. These visits add to the repertoire of Wiang Kum Kam life and could give to the sponsorship of the community.
Cultural and natural tourism resources together form the cultural landscapes that enrich many tourist destinations around the world, and Chiang Mai is no exception, particularly with regard to its ancient city of Wiang Kum Kam and the surrounding floodplain lands. Excavated remains have opened a window into the past and present the key elements of one of Thailand’s earliest Buddhist cultures, civilization, and states. The natural resources, such as mountains, rivers, and various species of trees, provide tourists with rich, cultural, natural, and ecological landscapes. They are at the heart of Chiang Mai’s income opportunities – cultural and eco-tourism. By studying the potential use of protected floodplain lands, it is expected that these destinations will become more accessible for tourists, thus better serving the community economy of this village.