Chiang Mai, 761 by rail, approximately 700 kilometers by road north of Bangkok, with an area of 20,107 square kilometers, is Thailand's second largest city and capital of the northern region. It is an entity unto itself. Chaing Mai counts among its attractions a famous night market, great hill tribe villages nearby and a host of world-class accommodation at less than Bangkok prices. It also has, alas, a reputation for world-class pollutions. The city, like Bangkok earlier is undergoing great strain as it strives to grow in both stature and size. That however does not seem to deter tourists and a veritable army of experts who prefer to call it home.
Chaing Mai, besides playing host to countless Wats and the world famous Ping river, is also a convenient jumping off point to other countries in the Mekong region, such as Laos and Southern China. Cheap and cheerful airlines with matching fares have made it much more affordable for folks to travel by air between the capitol, Bangkok, and Thailand's second city. For golfers Chaing Mai has plenty of variety www.thailandgolfmaps.com with courses designed to please most standards of golfers nearby.
Festivals
The Flower Carnival celebrates the period when Chiang Mai's temperate and tropical flowers are in full bloom and is characterised by colourful floral floats and parades.
Songkran celebrates the traditional Thai New Year. Chiang Mai celebrates Songkran with special elation in a 3-day carousal of religious merit-making, pilgrimages, beauty parades, dancing and uninhibited, good-natured water throwing.
Yi Peng is Thailand's loveliest festival when, under the full moon, people float away onto rivers, canals, lakes and streams banana-leaf boats bearing a lighted candle, incense, a flower and small coin to honour water spirits and float away the past year's sins.
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