Here’s a quick run-down of my favorite places in Northern Thailand. Again, this was at the request of a friend of mine who will be visiting the area. Hope it helps!
I also really liked Northern Thailand so I hung out there for quite a while. When you get close to Northern Thailand, you’ll want to start looking at Pai (Laid-Back Hippy Town-eat at The Good Life and stay across the street at Baan Pai Village), Chiang Mai (Beautiful-100’s of Temples within inner city walls) and Mae Hong Song (visit Mae Awe on Thai/Myanmar border-magical little town-hit at sunset…not sure if they have places to stay-buy the best tea you’ll ever find anywhere-the ginseng is amazing!) to visit in Northern Thailand.
You’ll also want to go to Doi Inthanon (highest point in Thailand and amazing Stupas near the top-and I mean amazing…hit them right at sunset for best pictures) and Doi Suthep (on hill right by Chiang Mai, nice way to cool off from the heat of the city-rent motorbike at Smile Rentals from a female named Joe 1 block into inner cityfrom Thapae Gate which is right by the Sunday and Night markets). Whew!
That should be enough to keep you busy for a while.
A friend of mine asked if I could give her any tips for traveling in Asia so I decided to put it on my blog where the whole world can take advantage of my Worldly Traveling Knowledge.
These are general tips, please add yours in the comment section if you would like to share your experiences!
Tips for Thailand:
Thailand is a country of Buddhists. Buddhists do not show public affection between couples. Don’t do it, it will not be popular and is considered rude. This includes holding hands. You can do that in larger areas like Bangkok, but not in smaller towns-unless you see the Thais doing it and even then it may not really be OK.
Don’t point at anyone with your foot! Feet are considered dirty by Thais. This includes washing your shoes with the hotel towel. They were very nice about telling me that I had really committed a crime in their eyes.
Minibus is the way to go from point A to B. They’ll pick you up at your hotel and it’s cheap. In Northern Thailand, carry motion sickness pills. The roads are windy and they drive pretty fast. If the driving scares you, close your eyes! There are also larger VIP type buses but they are not available everywhere. VIP buses have larger seats and some lean back. Check how many seats are on the bus…the more seats the smaller they are.
You’ll need to get your Visa renewed every 30 days unless you get a Tourist Visa before you go into Thailand (60 days max). The ‘Visa Run’ is available from pretty much anywhere but is much more accessible from Southern Thailand (run to Malaysia) or Northern Thailand (run to Mynanmar/Burma). It costs a bit (US$10-20) and takes a whole day including the transport. The fine for overstay just went up to 500 Baht/day.
Don’t try to work without a permit. I personally witnessed the implementation of a crackdown on illegal workers in Phuket. The Thais aren’t out to hurt anyone, but they will try to make some money off you if you’re not following the rules.
Get a motor scooter and see the countryside! It’s very, very reasonably priced and it’s the ‘thing to do’. I rented a full-on motorcycle in Northern Thailand and toured around a bit. It was easy (although watch out for areas that don’t have any gas. Fill up often!) and a lot of fun and I saw areas that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
NOTE: The Thais drive on any side of the road they want to! This is called ‘driving by Buddha’ by one Thai seasoned Westerner. Please, please get comfortable with the traffic situation before you jump on bike. It is unnerving to the Western mind to see someone coming at you on your side of the road for the first 100 times. After that, it get’s easier.
When you’re in traffic, it is totally a flow with communication occuring on a nonverbal, nonhonking level…get in the flow and you’ll be fine. Don’t fight it grasshopper, just let go and go with it!
Get a Thai Pay-As-You-Go SIM for your unlocked GSM cell phone or a cheap GSM cell phone if you don’t have one (they can be had for around US$30 used at one of the electronic markets). It’s the easiest way to make reservations and keep up with and make plans with fellow travelers. You buy minutes at any grocery or convenience store.
There are a zillion 7-11 convenience stores in Thailand and much as I didn’t want to support a foreign giant, they had some things consistently that I needed and I shopped there if I couldn’t find what I wanted at a local haberdashery.
If you haven’t traveled much, the use of ATM cards is the way to go to get cash. They’re easy to find and are safe and the exchange rate is plenty fine. More expensive places take credit cards but the budget places do not. Don’t get caught without cash!
Smile at the Thais and they’ll smile back at you. They are gracious people and don’t have a mean bone in their bodies. While some might view you as their meal ticket, they will still treat you with respect as they would any human being. While they may not treat their pets as Westerners do (read lonely spinster in Ohio), they don’t eat them. That’s a myth.
The sex trade is not nearly as visible as everyone fears. If you’re a Western female, you will be invisible and might enjoy not getting hit on all the time. You will see a lot of Western men with Thai girlfriends. It’s a common thing there…don’t pay any attention to it if it bothers you. You won’t accidentally wander into a donkey show, don’t worry.
If things go wrong, don’t get mad or loud-this is considered weak and rude. Just stay calm and quietly work on a solution with the Thais. You’ll find that you will almost always be able to get what you want, although it may not look exactly like you thought or be within your exact timeframe. Traveling is all about surrendering your preconceptions about people, places and things. The sooner you do that, the better time you will have! If you can’t do that, go to an expensive hotel and they’ll meet your every desire, just like at home.
I’ve put a whole bunch of new photos of Northern Thailand out there on Flickr…just click on the Badgr Badge below or sit back and watch the slide show. I also have a great LightBox photo gallery interface on my site here. Enjoy!
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Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is on the Doi Suthep hill right next to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Some folks might call it a mountain-I, being from Colorado, call it a hill. There are very nice views of Chiang Mai from both the Wat itself and also from the viewpoint coming up the hill. The temple is very large and nicely kept. It has two huge dragons for handrails going up steep stairs to the temple itself.
I borrowed Jonn Serrie’s music for it, I hope he doesn’t mind. It fits so well. Sorry again about the jumpiness of the video…hand-held is tough at best and the monopod I brought is next to useless. I’ll have a tripod next time I’m guessing, but who wants to carry it?
I am still staying in the Inner City of Chiang Mai in one of the best bang-for-buck places that I stayed in Thailand, Pachkit House. I literally walked all over the inner city and this was the best deal that I found. They have AC and Internet (wired) for cheaper than the other places were with a fan. This is a hi-tech backpacker’s dream! Before moving here, I was staying at The Chiang Mai Thai House which I liked very much, as well. I was able to stay in a fan room there because they have a very nice pool to cool you off on those hot afternoons. They also have wireless Internet for a small extra fee. However, I wanted to be within the Walls. I have a friend who stays without fail on the Ping River which runs through Chiang Mai on the East side of town.
Also, you might notice the haziness that is in all of my long-range shots. This is because April is not only the hottest month, it is also the month that they burn all of the brush in the jungle to keep it thinned out. It was explained to me that they do this to avoid full-blown jungle fires that would kill everything. Northern Thailand is dry in the Summer and I could see how this would easily happen if they didn’t set these fires.
Basically, when you go to Northern Thailand in the Summer, everything is on fire. This is alarming at first but then I noticed that the fires couldn’t get out of control because the trees were totally immune. Since they burn every year, the fire isn’t big enough to cause much damage. Their strategy of jungle management seems to work quite well but my Tourist pictures suffered!
I hit the Phra Mahathat Stupas in the Doi Inthanon National Park around sunset…and it was eerie! When I left there was myself and two other photographers there. I’m not sure how to explain it, but it was quite magical. On first inspection they look like another set of Wats (Temples) that Thailand is quite famous for. However, these are Stupas, which means that some personal object of Buddha’s has been placed inside the structure to make it very special. I have to say that I was in awe, even before I knew that part.
To quote another site:
These two monuments to the king
and queen of Thailand were set up by the Thai Air Force and supported by the
general Thai population. The name for the king’s stupa “Napamethaneedon” means
“the stupa that houses the great Buddhist relics”. The name for the Queen’s
stupa “Napaponphumsiri” means “divine power from the high sky to the earth”. The
king’s stupa was built as a dedication to honour him, while the queen’s stupa
was built later to commemorate her birthday.
Doi Inthanon Mountain is the highest mountain in Thailand at 2,565 meters above sea level and is part of the Doi Inthanon National Park. It was very nice and cool up there and a real shock to come back down to the heat of the lower elevations! This is the ‘hot’ season of Thailand, but the nights are cool in Chiang Mai, so it’s very pleasant. Perfect, really!
From the jungles of Northern Thailand, here’s another video I’ve titled Motorcycle Diary I…
It’s a personal interest piece of me sitting on my Supercool Honda Phantom motorcycle (all 200cc’s of mean machine). It’s unedited to add to it’s charm. I took several motorcycle trips on the Phantom from Chiang Mai, Thailand. One up to Doi Inthanon (highest point in Thailand and site of some amazing Stupas), another East of Chiang Mai to Muang Pan and Lampang on the back roads. Another trip took me West of Chiang Mai to Ban Mai Viewpoint took me on some roads that aren’t really roads, they’re carriage tracks through the jungle.
It was all good fun but I discovered I’m not built to ride a motorcycle for a long ways…it’s tough on a old guy!
I’m currently geeking out in a place that if rented monthly is about US$150. It’s half as big as my apartment in Lakewood, CO and has A/C, CableTV and wired Internet in the room. It’s cheap to live here and yes, there are many, many Thai ladies to go out with. I was asked just today if I wanted a girl that was selling me an electronics item. I’m leaving in two days or I would have said ‘yes’. They’re very nice…and they’re not all shy!
Where’s Craig? I’m still in Chiang Mai. I really like this place, it really reminds me of home a lot.
I just got back from a quick trip up to the Golden Triangle where the Mekong and Mae Sai rivers converge. It’s really hard to believe that it was recently a very dangerous place to be. It was magnificent! Thailand has really done a great job of eradicating Opium. I’m very, very impressed.
Where’s Craig going? I’m going to Pai, Thailand to hang out with the hippies! Then it’s off to Cave Lodge for caving and rafting and Mae Hong Son for Karen Hill Tribes!
