A friend who owns a garage also has rooms to rent out at Thapae. They are air-con, go at 2500 a month, but the furnishings are falling apart. The buildings along Thapae are all aging. Most tourist facilities and banks are located here and just round the corner along Kotchasan Road and Moon Muang Road opposite it, there are numerous bars that cater to farangs along these two roads. The Top North Guesthouse at Moon Muang has a restaurant and a pool. It's a good place to meet other foreigners, but the rooms at Top North are over-priced. One secret. Just opposite the tourist police post along Kotchasan Road where the moat begins, there is a stall that sells the most delicious "kao soi" (egg noodles in curry soup). 20 baht a bowl. Most of the people I've recommended there ended up having 2 bowls. Eating out is popular and cheap. Don't bother to set up a kitchen. Like in the Northeast, glutinous rice is very popular here. Authentic Northern Thai dishes are not spicy, may taste pungent at first, but you'll get used to it.

For the majority of Thais, the most "in" place to stay now is Huay Kaew. The shopping centre, cinemas, shops and restaurants here are the newest in Chiangmai. The apartments and condos here are not cheap. They begin at about 4000 baht a month. There is just as much booze at Black Canyon inside Kad Suan Kaew, but the crowd here is almost exclusively Thai. You'll find almost every kind of restaurant inside Kad Suan Kaew, which is sometimes called Central (pronounced "sentran" in "Thai"). There is also a very clean food centre on the top floor. Try the Korean BBQ beef here. It's delicious. There used to be a place further down the road in the direction of Doi Suthep called Marble, but it's a pity it's closed now.

Chang Klan in the direction of Lamphun also has some apartments for rent. They are cheap but not popular because the area tends to flood during the rainy season. Not far from here, is the Pornping Hotel where you'll find Pornping Coffeeshop. This place is not a coffeeshop, but a lively pub and a restaurant rolled into one. The music is good and the lights are fantastic. The Thais get on their feet and dance once the music starts. You won't find too many farangs here, so do learn to speak the language. It's VERY important. When the singer says "kor siang poo ying bori soot (let's hear it from the female virgins)", you'd want see who is screaming, don't you? The problem with Chiangmai is that may have to learn 2 languages. You will be understood if you speak just Central Thai, but if you want to understand what the Northerners are saying among themselves, then, you may have to recognise that "horn" is "rorn", "ber jai" is "mai chai" and "ber muat" is "mai sanook".

Next to Pornping, is Bubbles Disco. Apparently, it's quite okay to get "physical" here. You'll see Thai men, farang women, Thai women, farang men or any one of those combinations hugging one another when it's closing time and they slow down the tempo.

However, there is now a new place in town and that's Gigi. You must see it. On weekends, this place is a riot of the latest fashions as well as the most beautiful faces. What economic crisis, you may ask. Don't feel shy if you are middle-aged like me. Many of the pretty girls are accompanied by sugar daddies who are also middle-aged. The band here is fantastic. They sing mainly English songs. Take no notice of the female students and their sugar daddies. Keep the disgust to yourself.

If you're a Buddhist or are interested in Buddhism, the two must-see temples are at Doi Suthep and Wat Phra Singh. Since the Lanna Kingdom was founded long before Bangkok, many of the temples in Chiangmai are older than those in Bangkok. Some of the temples show a distinctive Burmese style. Some even have Burmese signboards. That's because this city was once over-run by the Burmese and ruled for 200 years.

That notwithstanding, you'll see some typically Lanna wooden windows in some of the older temples here. There is also a Sukothai-styled walking Buddha at Wat Bupharam along Thapae Road.

There is a zoo on the way up to Doi Suthep. There is nothing much here, but I like to sit here and photograph the orang utans. It's a nice and quiet place to escape from the noise of the city. The gardening skills of the staff here are superb.

Another escape is Mae Rim. There is a lake here which is a very popular picnic spot for Thais. I come here with my friends very often. If you have time, you may want to go to Doi Tao. It's a little more scenic than Mae Rim, but I'm not sure if the journey is worth it.

If you take an excursion up to Doi Inthanon, you'll see the tombs of the former king and queen of this northern kingdom. It gets cold at Doi Inthanon at any time of the year. It was 4 deg C when I arrived here one January morning. During the hot season, it's pleasantly cool. Elsewhere in Chiangmai, it's cool and dry from November to February. It starts to get hot from March and the rainy season often starts after Songkran in April. September is the raniest month and things start to clear up in late October. I've never experienced anything lower than 10 deg C in Chiangmai. In Mae Hong Son, however, it can get near freezing. Overall, air quality has fallen a lot in recent years and traffic jams which I have not seen 5 or 6 years ago, are building up.

As for the traffic, most of my Thai friends who are on motorbikes for a few years have at least been involved in one minor accident. A couple of them have died. It's much safer to drive a car, but always give way to larger vehicles. Public transport is quite reliable, but tuk tuks will wait only at the more popular nightspots after dark. Unlike in Indonesia, they don't extort money from you because the Thais don't believe in sleeping early and waking everyone up at 4.00am with their prayers. You'll just need to pay a little more. 40 baht to anywhere within the city is normal. It may cost you 50 to 60 baht to go to the airport or to Arcade Bus Station. Both are very nearby compared to Morchit and Don Muang from Bangkok. Most buses out of Chiangmai depart from Arcade, but if you're going to Chiangdao, you should set off from Chang Puak bus station .... you'll get all that from the guide books. Once you're familiar with the roads, you can start renting or even buying a car.

The standard of medical care in Thailand is high compared to almost all the countries in the region, except Malaysia and Singapore. Doctors are generally competent, though I personally find that the problem is not with competence but ... something else. In Chiangmai, they may take a blood sample from you, say that they are testing for thyroid hormone and end up with report for HIV. Ram Hospital and Chang Puak Hospital charge reasonable fees (very cheap by Western standards) and provide reasonable to good standards of heathcare. They use disposable needles. I'm not sure about the other hospitals. I certainly hope so, in spite of the economic crisis.

There is also a dental hospital here. Clinical standards are acceptable, but there is a lack of skilled laboratory technicians. Patients who don't recover are normally those who don't follow their doctor's instructions - a phenomenon which I find to be relatively prevalent in Thailand.

I hope I've given a brief but balanced rundown of the various aspects of Chiangmai. Approach it with an open mind, but don't get sucked in. Thailand is like a fiery bowl of tom yam soup. Sip it slowly, cautiously and you'll love the taste. Taking it in gulps may cause you to choke and swear never to have it again. Counting the number of prawns may also lead to disappointment. As long as it tastes good, don't bother about what's inside. This is Thailand.

May 2001. Author: [email protected]