Let’s tell you more details about some interesting places to visit

The ole city: Charming Chiang Mai

The three King Monument: The Three King Monument is situated in front of Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center, The Monument was built in commemoration of King Mengrai who established Chiang Mai in1296.For the establishment of the city, King Mengrai invited two Friends, PorKhun Ram Khamhaeng and PhayaNgumMuang,to work with him. KhaimukChutoh was the main sculptor of this monument.

The Chiang Mai City Arts and Culture Centre

The Chiang Mai City Arts and Culture Centre is located in an old building of elegant architectural design built in 1927.Standing on the location of a former royal hall, the building was used as the central administrative office of the Monthol Phayap administrative unit of Siam, and later as the Provincial Hall of Chiang Mai.

The site is on the former “naval of the city”, which was the original location of the Inthakhin city pillar before it was moved to Wat Chedi Luang. The site was an inheritance from Chao Kawilorot Suriyawong to Chao Thep Kraison, his daughter. She married Chao Intha-wichayanon, the seventh ruler of Chiang Mai.

The site was used for a royal hall from where the ruler administered Chiang Mai. When Inthawichayanon passed away it went into the possession of his daughter, Chao Dararatsmi, who granted the site to be used for a ‘government hall’ when the monthon was established. When the old building remained empty. At the end of 1997, the municipality requested permission to renovate the building in order to turn it into the Chiang Mai City Arts and Culture Centre. The renovation received an award in 1999 for preservation of a public building from the Royal Society of Siamese Architects (Society of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage) .This center is open for rotating exhibition and many other cultural displays. Ticket price: 90 baht and 40 baht for children. Open Tueaday-Sunday,from 8.30am-5pm. For more information, tel.0-5321-7793,0-5321-9833.

Phya Meng Rai Hall.

Believe it or not, King Meng Rai, the founder of Chiang Mai (B.E. 1839), was killed by lightning at the center of the city’s old walls. Many believe that he was killed in this way because he rode on the back of an elephant. For one, he was very high up, and two, his attire was made entirely of bronze, serving as a human lighting rod. Others believe that the gods saw him as a man of virtue and therefore belonged in heaven. It is up to you to decide which story is historically correct. The Phya Men Rai Hall is located in the center the city.

Wat Chiang Man

This temple was built in 1297 at the site of the camp King Mangrai used when he supervised the building of Chiang Mai. It was the first temple to be built in Chiang Mai and contains several very old artifacts. The oldest structure is the Chang Lom chedi, which is in a style that could have originated from Sri Lanka via Sukhothai, or from Pagan. Fifteen elephants represent a sea of unformed matter upon which the cosmos of the chedi floats.

Nearby are a lotus pond, a raised scripture repository and an ubosot. The stela in front of the ubosot was inscribed in 1581, and is one of the oldest known records that establishes the founding date of Chiang Mai.

The temple has two Lanna style viharn. The larger viharn was renovated by Khru Ba Srivichai in the 1920's. The standing Buddha image (front right of the altar) has an inscription on its slightly lopsided square base that dates it to 1465. This makes it the oldest dated Buddha image to be found so far in Chiang Mai. Close study shows new gilt veneer covers pits and cracks that indicate the image's real age.

The smaller viharn to the north (open 09:00-17:00) contains two small but very famous Buddha images. The Phra Sila image is a bas-relief that probably came from Ceylon in about the eighth century. The image is believed to have the power to bring rain and is the focus of a festival at the temple held from April 1-5.

The Phra Sae Tang Khamani crystal image belonged to Queen Chamadevi, who brought it from Lop Buri when she became the first ruler of Haripunchai. The image reputedly survived the burning of Haripunchai when it was razed by King Mangrai, and is honored for its powers to protect against disaster.

Wat Phra Sing (Monastery of the Lion Buddha) (built 1345 onward)

Wat Phra Sing was built in the 14th century by King Pha Yu of the Mengrai dynasty to enshrine the remains of his faher, King Kham Fu. It may have been the first monastery to house the Emerald Buddha, a cultural treasure that now resides at the royal palace in Bangkok. Wat Phra Sing currently houses Phra Chao Thong Tip, the most venerated Buddha statue in northern Thailand. Cast in 1477, it is made of an alloy of gold and copper.

Despite the monastery's cultural renown, it almost fell into ruin in the 18th century when Chiang Mai was largely depopulated. It was only during the reign of Chao Kawila in the early 1800s that the monastery began to be repaired, a process that continued during the reign of his successor, Chao Thammalangka, who sponsored the mural paintings now seen in Viharn Lai Kham.

Tapae Gate

Tapae Gate is Chiangmai's main entrance to the old walled city. In days gone by it was the gate through which traders, diplomats and visiting monks passed when they had business in the city proper. As the main entry route to Chiangmai was from the Mae Ping River and down Tapae Road to the gate, this was the main thoroughfare of Chiangmai. Today, the buildings and growth around the old moated wall have grown and Chiangmai is a much larger city with much more business conducted on the outside of the wall than on the inside, but Tapae Road is still the main thoroughfare and Tapae Gate is still the main entrance to the old walled city. And, it is still today the main center of Chiangmai's public city activities and festivals.

All year round from January to December, there are numerous events held at Tapae Gate. Often these are preceded by parades and floats down Tapae Road from the river itself. These hark back to the old days when all processions and important affairs approached the city at Tapae Gate. A few examples of events centered around Tapae Gate will give you a better idea of how important this center is to the city.

In February every year, there are two events held at Tapae Gate that grab the attention of the whole city. One of these is the Flower Carnival and while parades of flowered floats make their way down Tapae Road the square at Tapae Gate itself is filed with beautiful displays of flowers and blooming plants of the North. Also in February is the Buddhist Makha Bucha Day. For this event, long processions of Chiangmai residents drift down Tapae Road with lighted candles, joss sticks and flowers. This is the occasion of the walk around temple jedees with lighted candles, and in Chiangmai such occasions are city-wide events. Thus, Tapae Road, and Tapae Gate, are important city centers for the Buddhist festivities as well.

April is another good example of the role Tapae Gate plays in the festivals and events of Chiangmai. This is the time of Songkran, the Thai New Year. and Tapae Gate is the center of both the famous annual/ Songkran Festival and parade and the city's water- throwing fun, a most special event of the Songkran festival.

These and many other festivals are only the largest and most festive examples of how Tapae Gate serves Chiangmai and how important it still is today as the city's main entry point. There are many, many more, the most famous of which is the Loy Krathong Festival. Although this festival centers on the f'ing River, the beautiful parades that mark this occasion wind down Tapae Road through Tapae Gate, and on into the old walled city. A very special feature of the Tapae Gate area at Loy Krathong is that it breeches both sides of the city moat and it is in this moat that people set adrift the Loy Krathong boats, as they do also in the river. At Loy Krathong, all of the Tapae Gate area and the surrounding moat is lit up in sparkling lights and fountains rise from the moat through devices installed underwater at various points.

For all of this, however. Tapae Gate offers a great deal more on a regular basis and it provides the visitor with outdoor entertainment choices all year round. This gate and the square around it, especially today, serve as a meeting point for rural and city people alike. In the old days it was here that people met daily - for trade, for relaxation, on official business, or for merely entertainment. Today, it is here that people meet for relaxation,entertainment, and often for the meeting of friends

As Chiangmai continues to grow, we tend to forget the truly rural nature of the area and we forget that rural people all need a city center to meet. This is a function served by Tapae Gate. It was this way before, and it is this way today.

Visitors to Chiangmai can always find some type of entertainment at Tapae Gate on Saturday night. Every Saturday evening a local band performs on the permanent stage at one end of Tapae Gate Square; and on many other evenings entertainment may be a guest speaker on Buddhism, a social campaign against smoking or some of the festival entertainment we discussed above.

An interesting feature of Tapae Cate and the Square where the festivals and entertainment take place is that there are always vendors available to provide you with food and drink. Unusually, beer is not sold by these vendors (except on the really big festival occasions) but you can bring your own beer and whiskey. Most Thais do.

The various events held at Tapae Gate are so numerous that we can't possibly recount them here, but if you re in town at any time of the year, and if you see activity at Tapae Gate, stop and check it out. It s sure to be worth it.

The local markets

Somphet market

Somphet Market This smaller food market is regularly ‘discovered’ by tourists wandering the old town as it sits beside the eastern flank of the moat on Moon Muang road (soi/lane 6) and it’s a genuine and fascinating glimpse at live food for sale. The cookery schools like to bring students here to verse them in ingredients. It’s only a five minute walk from Tapae Gate, northwards.

Phrtoo chiangmai market

Chiang Mai, Thailand is a bustling city where you can feast on cheap food. There are many thai street foods that lurk the city of ChiangMai. You can buy different dishes on the streets. You are given the option to dine in or prefer food to go orders. At the Chiang Mai Gate Market (Pratu Chiang Mai Market ), you will be amazed with the number of vendors selling almost all kinds of dishes in the early hours of the morning. And if you are wondering where to go for breakfast when your favorite coffee shops are still closed, you can go to the Pratu Chiang Mai Market near the Chiang Mai gate.