Chiang Mai, December, 2025

Usually, when we travel, I like to create a journal of our adventures to look back at and reflect on the wonderful experiences we’ve lived.
You’d think that traveling for thirty hours, halfway around the world, to Thailand, would warrant a daily journal entry. You’d think. However…..

Just as I don’t keep a journal of our trips to Montreal or Ottawa because they’re just us returning home for a visit, Chiang Mai has become almost a second home to us. In fact, this is our fifth visit here since 2014.
So, rather than run on about the “same-same” experiences on a daily basis, I thought I’d simply put together a “Best Of Chiang Mai 2025” compilation in one overly long and wordy post.

The last time we were in Thailand was December, 2021, four years ago. Like the rest of the world, many changes have occurred in that short time, some good, some not so good, but overall, this is still a fantastic place to visit.

Before we even got here, we realized that the Thai Baht had strengthened considerably. In 2021, we could get 26.5 ฿ for $1.00 CAD, now the rate is 22.8 ฿, almost 20% worse. Along with the strong baht, prices have all risen significantly, with the exception of the Soong Taos, which are still 30 ฿ per ride within the city.

On our first pilgrimage to the Muang Mai market, on this trip, the lack of the usual plethora of beautiful ripe, yellow mangoes was striking. In their place, several stalls are now selling durian, which we didn’t sample this year. Also available in several places are cherimoya, or custard apples, which were once almost non-existent here. As it turns out, the mangoes we ate in the past were not Thai, as Thai mangoes don’t come into season until May. We were buying mangoes from Cambodia, but because of the ongoing war, the mango supply chain has, very sadly, been disrupted.

The J.J. Market, which in the past only operated on Saturdays, is now open seven days a week. It has undergone vast renovation and expansion since our last visit, and now features many more local artisans than it does yummy fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s taken on a much more upscale feel and has lost much of the rural vibe that was so charming. Worst of all, the Thai singing cowboys have been replaced by traditional Thai music. We missed hearing their rendition of John Denver’s Country Road.

Our other go-to market, Siri Wattana, is exactly as we left it, and we picked up some of our favorites there, like fresh, made-to-order green papaya salad, prepared jackfruit from our jackfruit lady, and a chewy coconut cake that I used to go ga-ga for. I think they changed the recipe, since I never went back for seconds, or thirds.

Fortunately, my sweet tooth didn’t suffer for long, because we soon stumbled across an outdoor, evenings-only, bakery stall that sells donuts and mini-muffins for 5 ฿ each. Also fortunately, it was a 1 kilometer walk from our condo, so at least I got a little exercise before stuffing my face with carbs and sugar.

When we first started coming here in 2014, we discovered a little mom and pop Thai restaurant in the “upscale” Nimman district, that all the hippies at the time simply referred to as “Organic Vegetables”. The food there was always freshly made to order, dirt cheap, authentic and scrumptious. I’m happy to report that the food there is still delicious and still prepared by the same Thai woman as in 2014. For about 120 ฿, ($6.00 CAD), the two of us can have lunch and walk away stuffed. In fact, we ended up returning there on four occasions before we left (once they were closed by the time we got there). On our last visit, we ordered four dishes, a plate of rice, and a bottle of juice, all for 290 ฿, less than $12.00 CAD. We can’t even get a plate of Pad Thai in Vancouver for that price.

Northern Thailand is known for a spicy chicken curry noodle soup dish, known as Khao Soi. Most vegetarian and vegan restaurants here offer a meat free version. We fell in love with Khao Soi in 2014, and, in 2022, even did a Khao Soi crawl, where we sampled, and rated the dish from five different restaurants. Today, just about every restaurant offers a vegetarian version, and I cannot remember how many different bowls we consumed on this trip. (We were here for less than three weeks and had to do some cramming). Prices range anywhere from 50 ฿ to 200 ฿ per bowl, depending on the venue and the neighborhood. This time around, it was hard to pick a favorite. Every place has its own version, and each one is slightly different from the other. Brenda favours the less spicy, slightly heavier on the coconut milk version, while I prefer the spicy and more intense, thicker, curry broth. Vive la difference.

To permit all this eating, each morning we would get up and do some exercise. Our condo had a well-equipped gym, which I used on occasion, but my preference was to get out early and run/walk around the perimeter of the old city, about 6.5 kilometers. After that, all our travels around town were done on foot, and, over the sixteen days we were there, my Garmin registered 295,151 steps, an average of 18,447 per day.

My new-found love of visiting thrift shops in search of on-stage shirts has reached new heights here. In Vancouver, I’ve found some great rock and roll shirts at WildLife on Granville, for $8 to $10, which I wear once or twice and donate back as soon as I find replacements. At one thrift shop here, I found four MAGNIFICENT performance shirts priced from 20 ฿ to 170 ฿, about $0.80 to $6.80. I can’t wait for our next gigs! Brenda managed to find a pair of denim overalls for 100 ฿, something she’s been wanting for a long time. And, since we’re hosting Christmas dinner this year, we each bought an ugly Xmas sweater for the occasion!

Of course, no visit to Thailand would be complete without foot massages just about every other day. Our favourite spot, Pranom Health Massage charges 250 ฿ for a one-hour long, blissful foot massage, (about $10.00 CAD), and we literally visited just about every other day. We did, however, notice that some of the fine details, like the pre-massage foot soak and wash, have gone by the wayside, and, due to its popularity, it now feels a little like an assembly line. And then, one day, we wanted to try somewhere new and stumbled upon Terra Massage. For the same price, the soaking and washing AND exfoliation scrub was included, along with a massage that was better than those at Pranom. We know where we’re going next time we’re back in town.

The Sunday Night Market and walking street gets bigger and broader each time we visit. Here too, a lot of the junky trinkets and tourist souvenir stands have disappeared and been replaced with more polished wares. On our first visit this trip we had to go for our habitual 30 ฿ Pad Thai from the stand that’s always occupied the same spot in one of the Buddhist temples. The best $1.00 Pad Thai anywhere, and oddly, the portion seemed bigger this year. That’s not a complaint.

We also took advantage of Tuesday cheap movie night at the SFX Cinema in the Maya mall, where the seats are the most comfortable of ANY theater I’ve ever been in. We saw Wicked For Good on the big screen (with Thai subtitles) for 360 ฿ for the two of us. About $15.00 CAD.

Before I wrap up, there are a couple of other things of note that need mentioning. Drugs have always been frowned on in Thailand. In fact, the previous king created the Royal Project that provided resources and training to allow opium farmers to convert their crops to organic vegetables and fruit. In 2018, medical marijuana, with unlimited THC content was legalized, and recreational pot with THC content of less than 0.2% also became legal. As a result, there are now as many cannabis shops here as there are in Vancouver. The catch, however, is that most tourist accommodations forbid it’s use, and it is strictly forbidden to smoke in public.

The other business that seems to be thriving here is the sale of bubble tea. Stands are EVERYWHERE, with prices ranging from 19 ฿ to 150 ฿, depending on the quality of the brew. And there is a big difference in quality. The priciest one I sampled was at the upscale Maya Mall, which set me back 60 ฿. It was freshly brewed and had matcha flavoured pearls. The least expensive was 19 ฿, used a matcha concentrate and had mushy pearls. Still tasty, but less satisfying than the “expensive” one.

As we walked around the city, we noticed that there is much more traffic than there was in the past. There are still as many scooters as ever, but the biggest change is in the huge number of electric vehicles on the road. The most popular brand is BYD (Build Your Dream) from China, although that is only one of probably a dozen different makes of Chinese EVs we saw here. Yes, we saw a few Teslas, but only a handful. Some of the Chinese EVs are quite beautiful, and are the fraction of the price of a Muskmobile. Canada needs to eliminate the 100% tariff on them, allow their sale in Canada and put the Canadian auto industry out of it’s misery. Now that the USA, it’s biggest market, won’t be buying their cars anymore, where are they going to sell? Europe doesn't want them. Our auto industry is on life support, and it's time to pull the plug. Allowing into Canada the reasonably priced, and very highly rated, Chinese EVs would also be the quickest and most cost-effective way to work toward eliminating internal combustion driven vehicles in our country. At least until we can catch up to their technology.

When we first started coming to Chiang Mai, it was a bit of a Bohemian paradise. Modern day vegetarian and vegan hippies from the US, the UK, Canada and Australia were everywhere, and by simply exiting the country for a day or two, they could renew their visas for further ninety days periods. It was possible to live here indefinitely with no requirement to obtain resident status. In recent years, it’s become more difficult to renew visas, and, as a result, the Bohemian population has dwindled. Chiang Mai has made an effort to polish up the city and attract a more affluent class of tourist. If the value of the baht is any indication, it seems to be working, .Locally, the tourism focus has shifted toward China, if the numerous durian and bubble tea stands and Chinese signage all over town tell a tale. In Phuket, and Koh Samui, the target tourist dollar, or rather ruble, is Russian. There are signs in cyrillic script everywhere, and most restaurants offer a Russian menu.

In the end, change is rarely a bad thing, and this place has so much to offer, we can’t help but love it, despite the loss of some of the things we once enjoyed.

Truth be told, we’re already talking about yet another return visit.Read more