The north of Thailand contrasts greatly with the busy city of Bangkok and the high energy beach resorts of the south. The main destination is the ancient capital of the northern kingdom of "Lanna," Chiang Mai. The city recently celebrated the 700th anniversary of its founding. The original city is still defined by a square perimeter wall surrounded by a moat. Within and without are a number of temples, some of which date to the city's founding. Chiang Mai is home to many factories for the manufacture of silks, lacquerware, silver and other traditional crafts. The factories can be toured in the daytime, and a wide variety of goods may be purchased at the city's famous night bazaar. The best places to stay are, in fact, all within walking distance of the night bazaar.
Map of Northern Thailand
Other popular destinations in the north include the smaller cities of Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son. Chiang Rai is the gateway to the "Golden Triangle" region. Thai Airways flies to both destinations, though often through Chiang Mai.
Activities
Trekking
Its not quite the adventure it used to be, since everyone is doing it. You'll find companies offering trekking tours in all major cities in the north.
Major Attractions by Province
Here's a run-down of the major attractions of Northern Thailand. You will note from the map above that many of these sights lie along a line north from Bangkok. Its quite reasonable, if you have the time, to spend up to a day in each city before moving on to the next.
Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai has replaced Chiang Mai to some degree as a chill-out place. The two cities are almost the same age, but Chiang Rai's history is not as evident as Chiang Mai's. Still, there are several interesting places in the area, making Chiang Rai an excellent base for exploring the "golden triangle."
The northern-most town in Thailand, right on the Burmese border. A small stream separates the two countries at this point. As one of the few official crossing points, the town is a good place to browse for Burmese goods such as jade, lacquerware, etc.
About 20 miles from Chiang Rai on the banks of the Maekong, this fourteenth century town still has some ruins of interest. There's a national museum here as well.
Kamphaeng Phet
Old City
Kamphaeng Phet dates from the time of the thirteenth century kingdom of Sukhothai. The ruins of the walled city are interesting, but not spectacular. Kamphaeng Phet makes a good place to spend the night if driving to Chiang Mai.
Lamphun
Lamphun is only a short distance from Chiang Mai town. Its easily taken in during a day trip from Chiang Mai. There are also several craft villages between Chiang Mai and Lamphun, so you can squeeze in some shopping along with sightseeing.
This temple, dating from the twelfth century, has a beautiful large chedi in the "Hariphunchai" style. Its nearly 150 feet tall and covered in gold. Behind the temple is a national museum.
The main attraction to Mae Hong Son is its location. High up in the mountains on the Burmese border, surrounded by forests, the town is a cool retreat far away from the crowds. The province is a major jumping-off point for trekking.
Sukhothai
The rather small town of Sukhothai now has its own airport. If you're looking for someplace different to spend a few days, you could do worse than to establish yourself in one of the many new hotels and spend some time exploring Thailand's first capitol.
The thirteenth century kingdom of Sukhothai is considered the first Thai kingdom. This historical park houses the ruins of several temples as well as a national museum.
Chiang Mai, which in fact means "New City," celebrated its 725th anniversary just a few years ago, in 2021. The city was founded as the capital of the kingdom of Lanna ("A Million Rice Fields") in 1296. Under King Mengrai, the founder of Chiang Mai, Lanna unified several small kingdoms in the north, at about the same time that Sukhothai was established further south. King Mengrai founded many of the temples within the old city that are still important today.
Wat Phra Kaeo, the state temple of the old walled city The area around Kampaeng Phet has probably been settled for a few thousand years, at least. The location on the Ping River puts it on a strategic trading route between Lanna in the north and the ocean ports of the south. The first historical records date from the mid-fourteenth century and mention the settlement of Nakorn Chum on the west bank of the river.
About 100 kilometers south of Chiang Mai, Lampang is an ancient city founded in the seventh century, supposedly by the son of Lamphun's founder, Queen Chama Devi. In the nineteenth century the city was fortified with walls, and later became an important center of the teak industry. The city and its monuments has escaped much of the modernizations that have left many of the north's temples with little of their original decorations.
Lamphun often plays poor step-sister to Chiang Mai, just 26 kilometers away. Even though its older than Chiang Mai by about 500 years and is the capital of its own province, the town is generally only visited as a day trip from Chiang Mai. It is a small town, with some significant sights, but there really isn't much here to occupy you for more than a day.
Lamphun City Lamphun is one of Thailand's oldest continuously occupied towns.
Mae Hong Son used to be considered the furthest backwater of Thailand. When high-ranking Thai civil servants or military officers misbehave, they are generally transferred to the proverbial 'inactive post,' even to this day. Time was when Mae Hong Son was the most 'inactive' of postings possible, practically a place of exile. Read more on the history of Mae Hong Son…
Mae Hong Son town - all of it! It's hard to argue that any place you can fly to is remote or isolated, but as your small (72 seats) plane threads its way through the mountains and onto the equally small runway practically in the center of town, you get the definite feeling that you're well off the beaten path.
The famous Phra Chinnarat Buddha image at Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat Phitsanulok wouldn't be at the top of anyone's "must see" lists of Thai destinations. There really isn't enough to see in the small provincial capital to make it worthy of being a destination in itself. However, if you're visiting Sukhothai, a stop in Phitsanulok may be interesting, or even necessary, if you're traveling by train or budget airline.
The ancient city of Sukhothai holds a special place for Thais. It's here that Thai history says the first "Thai" kingdom was established in the 13th century. The city is much older than that. It served as a northern outpost for the Khmer empire for several centuries before the native Thais exerted their independence in the face of Angkor's waning power. It was a man who later became King Intradit who first threw off the control of the Khmer and established the kingdom of Sukhothai.
