Destinations worldwide have increasingly moved to lift visa requirements as part of their strategy to increase visitor numbers — visa processing delays are a major obstacle to the industry’s full recovery.
30.11.2023 - 14:17 / lonelyplanet.com
If your first experience of traveling in Thailand was fighting through the traffic in Bangkok, prepare to be pleasantly surprised by Chiang Mai. Thailand’s northern capital offers a calmer experience, as you’ll discover once you start exploring this charming city of stupas, monasteries, and markets.
The historic center of Chiang Mai – bound by a moat and the remains of the city’s medieval walls – is logically laid out and lightly trafficked, making for easy exploring. However, venturing out into the suburbs and beyond involves navigating a tangle of busy main roads and expressways. Plenty of travelers rent a motorcycle or moped and get around just fine, but it’s easier to let a chartered pickup truck do the heavy lifting.
One notable obstacle to easy road navigation is the city’s busy collection of markets. The Saturday walking street market closes Thanon Wualai to traffic on Saturday, and the Sunday walking street market does the same to Thanon Ratchadamnoen on Sunday. Things also get busy nightly around the Night Bazaar on Thanon Chang Khlan – most people get dropped off nearby and explore on foot.
Whether you plan to stick to the center or roam out to the waterfalls, hot springs, botanical gardens, palaces, and wildlife reserves in the surrounding hills, here are the best ways to get around Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is growing in popularity as the first port of arrival in Thailand, and airport transfers are easy and inexpensive. At Exit 9 from the Arrivals hall at Chiang Mai International Airport, a licensed airport taxi service runs to the old town; shuttle and minibus services are slightly cheaper, while rideshare transfers by Uber or Grab fall somewhere in the middle. When you’re leaving Chiang Mai, just ask your hotel or guesthouse to arrange a transfer, summon a rideshare, or flag down a pickup truck.
Spend more than a few minutes in Chiang Mai, and you’ll spot the hordes of red-covered pickup trucks buzzing up and down the city’s streets. These rót daang (literally “red trucks”) operate as shared taxis in the center, picking up passengers heading in the direction they are going. Routes aren’t fixed, so just flag one down and ask the driver if they’re going your way. A useful tip: for trips outside the historic center, hail a rót daang heading on one of the arterial roads leading out from the city walls.
That’s not all a rót daang can do for you. Drivers also rent out their vehicles on a charter basis for taxi-style trips in town and for longer trips out to the waterfalls, temples, elephant camps, and other sights in the jungle-cloaked hills around Chiang Mai. You’ll pay much more than for a shared ride, but split between a few people, a day trip by rót daang can be surprisingly affordable.
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Destinations worldwide have increasingly moved to lift visa requirements as part of their strategy to increase visitor numbers — visa processing delays are a major obstacle to the industry’s full recovery.
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