Exploring Chiang Mai, February 2025

After having breakfast at a restaurant next to the Chiang Mai train station, I found my way to the moat-ringed central Chiang Mai and stopped at the east gate called Pratu Tha Phae and continued onto the Hillda Guesthouse which was in the far north Northwest corner of the moat area. 

To get these pictures, a fellow had tossed down a bunch of grain for the pigeons, and then he used a megaphone to yell at the pigeon so they flew as the photographers took the pictures. This is a favorite spot for Thais to wear their fancy outfits for photographs.

When I visited Chiang Mai in 2012 and 2018, I had stayed at the Gaps House that also featured a cooking school. It is now a vacant lot and was torn down during Covid. It’s just another reminder of the changes. I continue to see when I return to places I had enjoyed visiting before.

The night markets are some of the biggest in Thailand.  Some are open nightly while they have Saturday and Sunday night markets on different streets inside the Old City.  The Sunday market ran over a mile from the Pratu Tha Phae gate to the Wat Phra Singha. Even the nearby Wats opened up their courtyards for vendors including lots of food vendors and entertainers.

I had a dinner on top of the roof the restaurant that overlooked the Sunday night market with its bright lights, many people and vendors.

The nightly market along the Th Chang Khlan street included the Soi Anusan night market.  Within this market, I found the nightly Chiang Mai Cabaret Show. This 2 hour show was just 390 Baht including a drink for a fun-filled show with transgender —katoey—performers in dazzling outfits filled with feathers and sequins with an updated light show.  Lots of familiar show tunes—including a Taylor Swift ladyboy lookalike.

While in Chiang Mai, I visited the large Wat Phra Singha festooned with lots of gold colored stupas and buildings. Many worshippers were getting blessings from monks.

While I was flipping through TV channels in my hotel room, I noticed they had a live feed of Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo that had gone viral on several social media sites.

Rather than taking a tuk-tuk out to the Chiang Mai airport, the hotel called me a Grab car which was ฿175— about ฿25 less than the tuk-tuk ride and much more comfortable.

With my AirAsia flight to Hanoi, the only way to select a seat when checking in was to pay extra for a seat. Instead, I let them pick the seat and I ended up with 10 A—a window seat. On board they charge for everything—- even water and soft drinks.