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chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: June 16, 2010, 7:40 am
by biscuitz
a bit quiet LOL its DEAD, spot the tourist... no joke im living here & ive never seen it like this, bars are closing at 9pm or not even opening, the only people in them are staff & thats in the main centre.. you only have some hard core expats or the odd few backpackers, thats it LOL

Re: chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: June 16, 2010, 8:11 am
by Aardvark
Is it the smoky season up there at the moment with the Farmers burning off ??

Re: chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: June 16, 2010, 9:16 am
by rjb
For sure, my wife and I have made 3 trips to CM in recent months and if you are a shopper it is a buyers market. Both malls quiet, night bazar very quiet and the sellers, workers are hurtng.

Re: chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: June 16, 2010, 1:05 pm
by arjay
Moved from "Udon Thani General Topics" to Northern Thailand Forum.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 5:24 am
by dtammakhung
And why is it so quiet???Seemed very busy when I was there around August 20

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 5:44 am
by dtammakhung
O​ops 2010 post

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 11:31 am
by Barney
dtammakhung wrote:O​ops 2010 post
dtammakhung,

Is a post ever dead, not really?
I plan to drive there one day so would be always interested in info on a forum of what's happening and why.
Got a mate who wanted peace and quiet and ended up in Chang Rai, he now says it is to peaceful.
Never been to that area and assume Chang Mai is a larger city?

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 12:10 pm
by GT93
I'm the same Barney. Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are on my list of places to visit in the next couple of years. I like a bit of peace and quiet so Chiang Rai sounds good to me.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 12:25 pm
by Shado
We were there last week. In town, the traffic is horrible. Worse than Udon Thani I believe. We took our little niece to see the pandas at the zoo and had a hard time finding parking. San Kamphaeng hot springs and geysers was equally as crowded. I suspect that is due to the school-break holidays. If one can manage to stay outside of the downtown area, nice, quiet places can be found. Our hotel was very pleasant and away from the city center.

We enjoy going to the northern Thai restaurants and eating sai oua, khao soi, khanom jeen nam ngiao and other Lanna delights. The wife brought 7 kgs. of sai oua back to Udon.

Phu Ruea is another peaceful and quiet area to go for a relaxing get-away. Last Monday morning it was 22 degrees there.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 5:07 pm
by dtammakhung
I agree. CM extremely busy noisy polluted crap hole. Once others know this the tourists will go elsewhere. And the police demanding 500 baht of tourists 24 hours for alleged infringements. They wait until the early hours of the morning in bar area on one way road so you can't do a u turn to escape. A very nice trap. And they wonder why tourism is 50% down. Hotel prices also a real rip off. They've got tourists paying up to 200 baht for a songtao. Arguably worst city in Thailand,

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 5:29 pm
by ronan01
Heading to Chiang Rai tomorrow - then on to mountain resort - looking for quiet, then CM after that, will find out if it is dead - but the plan is to wander city and look at old city walls rather than bars etc, have been before. Return home via Phuket - told by friends there it also quiet - not a problem, travelling with wife.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 6:08 pm
by stattointhailand
Went to live in CM 6 yrs ago whilst the wife was pregnant (to get away from family) ..... rented a nice little place about 8km North of CM. Managed to last 3 weeks before neither of us (or the dog) could stand it any more. Constant traffic jams meant it took on ave 40 mins to get into town every visit (luckily the hospital was on the Northern section of the ringroad, but that then required a 2km detour to get 100 metres back from the junction. (didn't even notice many locals driving the wrong way round the ring road to avoid that one).
Nice area to go for a week holiday but could never live there

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 7:13 pm
by Laan Yaa Mo
I visited there for a few days in mid-July prior to flying to Luang Prabang, Laos. Previously, in the mid-80s, I attended Chiang Mai University for two years, and lived about 12 kms outside the city in a rice-farming village. I always enjoy Chiang Mai, and have never encountered any of the hassles mentioned by some posters. However, I know my way around the city and and how to get to places like Bo Sang cheaply and quickly.

It is much more bustling than when I first went here in the 1970s, and there are many, many more tourists flocking to Chiang Mai, and many, many more farangs living there now. Back in those days when I was at the university, there were only a handful of farangs living in Chiang Mai, and not many tourists either. But, those were the days of military rule and there were difficulties in travel, and frequent government visits to villages educating the people not to criticise the government or they would be branded communists.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 7:55 pm
by dtammakhung
6 years ago. You'd suffocate now. It resembles Disneyland now rather than an ancient town. About 12 police blocks in search of traffic offenders in city area. You can't escape them. The best thing about the place is you'll enjoy leaving. Needs to be renamed Uriah Heep 555

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 7:59 pm
by dtammakhung
Udon is much better. Traffic cops are even nice in Udon.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 10:05 pm
by parrot
dtammakhung wrote:I agree. CM extremely busy noisy polluted crap hole. Once others know this the tourists will go elsewhere. And the police demanding 500 baht of tourists 24 hours for alleged infringements. They wait until the early hours of the morning in bar area on one way road so you can't do a u turn to escape.
Imagine the gall! Trying to stop someone who might have had too much to drink late at night.......and then preventing them from driving the wrong way on a one way street.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 10:09 pm
by stattointhailand
And just to confuse the poor tourist, there is one road in the middle of CM where you have to drive on the right :lol:

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: October 23, 2014, 10:12 pm
by Laan Yaa Mo
dtammakhung wrote:6 years ago. You'd suffocate now. It resembles Disneyland now rather than an ancient town. About 12 police blocks in search of traffic offenders in city area. You can't escape them. The best thing about the place is you'll enjoy leaving. Needs to be renamed Uriah Heep 555
I was in Chiang Mai for a few days in mid-July this year. I did not notice any smog and I did not notice any hints of Disneyland. Wats Suan Dok, Jet Yot and Phra Sing were as they were in the 1970s and '80s. It is true that Bo Sang (the so-called umbrella village) has expanded, but I would not expect it to be as it was in 1978. I enjoyed my few days in Chiang Mai.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: November 11, 2014, 7:15 am
by ronan01
Chiang Mai is a bit quiet, and the traffic a bit congested - it does seem a bit difficult to get around the central area.

Enjoyable to walk around the central part, where the old city walls are, and some nice temples to see (again).

Lack of tourists obvious, and most are Chinese it seems to me (and I am told they are buying much of the local property). Also seemed to be a lot of Thai "company training sessions", and also a lot of Thai weddings.

It felt like a mini-Bangkok, without the advantages of Bangkok.

chiangmai is a bit quiet

Posted: November 11, 2014, 10:19 am
by wiking
there are no smog in Chiangmai in July, the rainingseason - no burning - this will be from now until April, but
normally first after new year - very surprise already now in lampang