Chiang Mai, Thailand

City in Thailand

About Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second-largest city in Thailand by urban population. It is 700 km (435 mi) north of Bangkok in a mountainous region called the Thai highlands, and has a population of approximately 127,000 within the city municipality and an urban population of about 1.2 million as of 2023.

History

Mangrai founded Chiang Mai in 1294 or 1296 on a site that the Lawa people called Wiang Nopburi. The city succeeded Chiang Rai as the capital of Lan Na. Phayu enlarged and fortified it and built Wat Phra Singh in honor of his father, Khamfu. With the decline of Lan Na, Chiang Mai lost importance and was occupied by the Toungoo Empire in 1556. It formally became part of the Thonburi Kingdom in 1774, by an agreement with Kawila, after the Thonburi king Taksin helped drive out the Burmese. Subsequent Burmese counterattacks led to Chiang Mai's abandonment between 1776 and 1791; The modern municipality dates to a sanitary district (sukhaphiban) that was created in 1915; it was upgraded to a city municipality (thesaban nakhon) on 29 March 1935. First covering just 17.5 square kilometres (6.8 sq mi), the city was enlarged to 40.2 square kilometres (15.5 sq mi) on 5 April 1983. …

Geography

Chiang Mai Municipality covers an area of 40.2 square kilometres (15.52 sq mi), while the urban city covers an area of 405 square kilometres (156.371 sq mi). The city's sprawl reaches into six neighboring districts: Mae Rim, Doi Saket, San Kamphaeng, Hang Dong, Saraphi and Suthep. Chiang Mai is the only city outside Bangkok to reach into other districts. The city is situated in a broad basin in the Thai highlands and lies at an average elevation of 300 m (1,000 ft) elevation above sea level. Chiang Mai's city centre sits west of the Ping River, a tributary to the Chao Phraya River. The city's sprawl extends outward in all directions, especially north, south, and east. East of the city is the Khun Tan mountain range. …

Culture

Loi Krathong (along with Yi Peng), held on the full moon of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, being the full moon of the second month of the old Lanna calendar. In the Western calendar this usually falls in November. Every year thousands of people assemble floating banana-leaf containers (krathong) decorated with flowers and candles and deposit them on the waterways of the city in worship of the Goddess of Water. Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom fai or kom loi), which are hot-air balloons made of paper, are launched into the air. These sky lanterns are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also used to decorate houses and streets. Songkran is held in mid-April to celebrate the traditional Thai New Year. Chiang Mai has become one of the most popular locations to visit during this festival. …

Content from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA. Read the full article →

Economy

In February 2017, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) (under Thailand's Digital Economy and Society Ministry) announced that 36.5 million baht would be invested into developing Chiang Mai into an innovation-driven "smart city". Chiang Mai was the second city in Thailand, after Phuket and along with Khon Kaen, to be developed using the "smart city" model. The model aims to capture and populate multiple levels of information (including building, social, environmental, governmental, and economic data) from sources like sensors, real-time traffic information, and social forums for access by managers, governments, and citizens using mobile apps, tablets, and dashboards. …

Tourism

According to Thailand's Tourist Authority, in 2013 Chiang Mai had 14.1 million visitors: 4.6 million foreigners and 9.5 million Thais. In 2016, tourist arrivals were expected to grow by approximately 10 percent to 9.1 million, with Chinese tourists increasing by seven percent to 750,000 and international arrivals by 10 percent to 2.6 million. Tourism in Chiang Mai has been growing annually by 15 percent per year since 2011, mostly due to Chinese tourists who account for 30 percent of international arrivals. In 2015, 7.4 million tourists visited Chiang Mai. Out of these, 35 percent were foreign tourists. The number of tourists has increased with an average rate of 13.6 percent annually between 2009 and 2015. The major reasons that have made Chiang Mai a tourist attraction are its topography, climate, and cultural history. …

Transport

As population density continues to grow, greater pressure is placed upon the city's transportation system. During peak hours, the road traffic is often badly congested. The city officials as well as researchers and experts have been trying to find feasible solutions to tackle the city's traffic problems. Most of them agree that factors such as lack of public transport, increasing number of motor vehicles, inefficient land use plan and urban sprawl, have led to these problems. The locally preferred form of transport is personal motorbike and, increasingly, private car. Local public transport is via tuk-tuk, songthaew, bus, or rickshaw. New electric tuk-tuks were introduced into the city in June 2017. A number of bus stations link the city to central, southeast, and northern Thailand. …

Chiang Mai

Top travelers for this city

Scarcity