THC Roof Top Bar

The THC Roof Top Bar just outside Tapae Gate has gone from cool obscurity to backpacker fame. For this reason many people come to the bar and feel disappointed as THC was billed as something amazing.

It isn’t really. But it is a great bar with club atmosphere. It is a great location on top of a tall building. You go up several flights of rickety stairs. The walls are decorated in glow art and weird decorations. You immerge to a large roof top bar. All the seating is on mats on the floor with low tables.

It is open top with girders above. The feel of the bar is quite unique, and very much enhanced with lovingly strange décor. It is partly acid party and partly reggae bar in Haad Rin. Indeed there is a Koh Phangan feel to the place. That feeling comes from the loud music. For many it feels like a jarring contradiction – a chilled roof top bar with a name that references weed with Bob Marley pictures but playing loud house music. It might be a perfect place for a reggae bar but the problem is that Chiang Mai isn’t a remote beach in Koh Phangan where they smoke weed. Reggae would be soporific in the urban context of Chiang Mai. Much more ‘Saturday night’ is a banging house soundtrack to the night.

Another Koh Phangan echo is the house music. The DJs are often really good at THC Roof Top Bar. They mix with care and verve and come up with plenty of surprising tunes. This reminds you of Koh Phangan were the quality of DJing is very high.

THC is one of those bars where on occasion people get in the mood and dance a bit. The views are great and it makes a good spot for a couple of drinks on a big night out. The only downer is that the drinks are a little pricey. For the same price you could go to a bigger club, but then you would lose the intimate and funky atmosphere.

Beware

If you aren’t keen on sitting on the floor where cockroaches and rats might be scurrying then this probably isn’t the bar for you. You just can’t stop nature in Thailand.

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Wat Lok Molee

Wat Lok Molee (also spelt Wat Lok Moli) is one of the first temples many visitors to Chiang Mai encounter because it is near several popular hotels. It is also near Chang Puak City Gate.

It is not known when the temple was built. It is first mentioned in 1367 AD. The temple was home to Burmese monks invited by the Siamese King to teach Theravada Buddhism.

It is a plain temple. The chedis have not received new stucco. Of note are the wooden façade and beautifully sculptured snakes or naga. The Vimarn, or hall, in front of the chedis is worth a look inside.

It won’t take you more than 30 minutes to take in this temple. If you are staying near the centre or in the old city it is easy to walk to the temple.

Wat Lok Molee is a working temple so you will see monks wandering about. As always it should be mentioned, to respect Thai culture and to dress modestly inside the temple compound. Entry is free.

Just outside the entrance to the temple there is a small shop selling drinks.

Many people comment on Trip Advisor and elsewhere that they liked Wat Lok Molee because it is a peaceful location not teaming with tourists. You can get in touch with the serenity which is at the heart of Buddhism, and which is in complete contrast to the hustle and bustle of Thailand’s second city.

Dudeism in Chiang Mai

One place you could visit in Chiang Mai is the Dudeist Church. It is located at Moon Mueang Road Mueang Chiang Mai 50200. It is nothing really to look at and it probably won’t be open. And yet it has to be one of the most intriguing places in Chiang Mai to visit for the fact that it is home to one of the newest and most harmless religious cults in the world. The religion is Dudeism. The Church is called the Church of the Latter-Day Dude. And its founder, the Dudely Lama, Oliver Benjamin live at this address.

You might think this is a joke, but it is not. Look it up on Wikipedia. The religion has over 250,000 adherents and 160,000 ordained priests. Although for those of scholarly and non-dude bent Dudeism may appear a mock religion, for many normal people the religion seems to have a certain persuasiveness.

To gasp the essence of the Dudeist message you just have to recall the character of Jeff ‘The Dude’ Lebowski in the Coen Brothers’ movie called ‘The Big Lebowski’. The central character ‘abides’. He likes taking naps, getting high and not working too hard or getting uptight. He is not into violence or messing with other people. He gets happiness from just being himself and doing the simple things in life such as bowling and hanging out with his friends. He loves his rug because it holds his room together.

Oliver Benjamin has made a credible case for connecting this portrayal of a world-view with the spiritual message of Taoism - ‘go with the flow’.

Anyway, if you can chat to Oliver Benjamin or hear him talk (probably wearing a brown bathrobe and holding a white Russian) you might find that that particular day in Chiang Mai turned out to be a memorable if not significant day in your life.

Baan Tong Luang

Baan Tong Luang is a hill tribes village located a few kilometres outside of Chiang Mai. It offers guests the chance to see several of the tribes that have settled in the north of Thailand over the last hundred and fifty years. They have kept their traditional clothes and customs. To supplement the proceeds from their agricultural activity they have opened this village area to visitors. It is the easiest place to see hill tribes if you opt not to do a trek while you visit Chiang Mai.

The park is described as an ‘eco-agricultral hill tribes village’. They are growing various crops using the traditional methods of their tribes. Naturally these methods don’t include using expensive pesticides and fertilizers. For those interested in seeing how food is grown without modern farming methods Baan Tong Luang is the best place to head.

The hill tribes represented in the village are:

1.    Karen – originally from Tibet
2.    Lahu Shi Bala – also from Tibet
3.    Palong – minority from Burma who migrated in the 1980s
4.    Hmong – originally from Tibet, fought against communists in Laos
5.    Kayaw  -from the Kayah state in Burma and a subgroup of the Karen tribe
6.    Akha / Ekhaw – from Yunnan in China
7.    Yao / Mien – trace their history back to the Song Dynasty of China; originally from the Chang Jiao River basin in China

You get to see the tribes in a real life setting. They are also wearing their traditional costumes. It is a chance to see some of the many minorities that inhabit China and South East Asia whose ways of life have become threatened by development and modernisation.

The only downside to the place is the focus on the Karen women who famously wear lots of golden hoops on their neck to make it look longer. This tradition has become famous and is the main crowd attraction it seems. Tourists gawping at these women put me off a bit.

There are often tribal people doing textile making. Naturally these items are available for sale.

Baan Tong Luang is on the Maerim-Samuang Road. The entrance is on the left, between Maesa Waterfall and Maesa Elephant Camp.

You can combine a trip to the Hill Tribes Village with a visit to Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden, Maesa Elephant Camp and Maesa Waterfall.

Infinity Nightclub

Chiang Mai is not just a place to visit temples and night markets: it is also a city with a thriving nightlife. It is Thailand’s second city and has everything (or nearly everything) that you can find in Bangkok. The nightlife might not be as seedy, as swank, as boutique, or as hi so as places in the capital but for many they actually prefer the more relaxed nightlife atmosphere of Chiang Mai.

One of the best nightclubs in Chiang Mai is aptly named Infinity. It is a large nightclub aimed at hip Thais. It is well furbished and stylish. Infinity looks like the type of nightclub many foreigners might avoid thinking it would be too expensive. However that is not the case: drinks are reasonably priced and cheaper than in many fashionable spots in Chiang Mai.

It gets packed at the weekend. Weeknights can be lively without getting too busy. A number of DJs play house music. They also have live bands. While the music is often geared towards a Thai crowd, they mix it up with plenty of tunes that will appeal to most people.

The club tends to fill up after the other bars and clubs shut at 1am or 2am. Infinity has a large outdoor seating area with lots of seating that attracts the late night drinking crowd.

Infinity has a great sound system and impressive lights and other effects. It is a high energy place. If you are up for having a big night this nightclub is a good option.

Details:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/infinity.chiangmai
Telephone 053 400 085
Address: Nimmana Haeminda Soi 6, Mueang Chiang Mai

137 Pillars House

137 Pillars House can be accurately classified as a boutique hotel in Chiang Mai. It is a marvelous building as well as a luxury hotel. For this reason it is worth visiting, and definitely worth staying at if you have the money.

The word ‘boutique’ is used a lot in the hotel business. It is a trendy designation that helps to increase prestige and revenue for an accommodation provider. The word comes from the French and originally referred to a small shop. Since then ‘boutique’ has become an adjective in English and has come to connote a number of meanings. The excellent www.bangkokboutiquehotel.info divides boutique hotels into several categories: colonial, modern, hip, historic, themed and micro. Boutique hotels although small can sometimes be big. They are normally one-offs but can be part of an exclusive chain. They are often converted historical buildings but can also be ultra new and modern. Boutique is an attitude, and a boutique hotel displays an attitude of originality, style and personalized service and facilities. It is easier to give examples of what a boutique hotel is than it is to define the phrase.

137 Pillars House (2 Soi 1, Na Wat Gate Road, Wat Gate) is the winner of 2013 Trip Advisors Travelers’ Choice awards for Chiang Mai. It is a small hotel with 30 rooms on the property. The aim, as the hotel website describes, is to create a ‘home style residence’ that ‘allows visitors to participate and share in the richness of a likeminded international community while creating plenty of space for sublime intimacy in sumptuous suites and throughout our tropical grounds’. This is a bit long winded but what the hotel is getting at is to create a small community of guests who can interact but also enjoy luxurious privacy.

As with many of the best boutique hotels, 137 Pillars House is a converted historical building. It was built in Chiang Mai and then moved from the west to the east side of the Ping River and served as a residence for workers of the East Borneo Company that was given royal dispensation to log the northern teak forests by King Chulalongkorn.

The house changed hands several times before being bought in 2002 by a Bangkok resident who lovingly restored it and opened a hotel.

137 Pillars retains many of the original architectural garden features. The house is made of old teak that has a rich patina from age. The grounds feature many unusual species of flora and make a delightful spot to relax and walk.

The hotel includes a library bar, a parlor lounge, a dining room, a more intimate dining area called ‘Palette’, a spa, a swimming pool and a gym. Guests are offered the highest levels of service and can arrange private dining on their own balcony.

The rooms feature all the mod cons as well as private balconies and period piece items such as free standing Victorian bath tubs.

Throughout the building the furniture has been hand-picked to reflect the history of the building and to add elegance and style to the interior.

The result is an oasis of calm and restrained style that serves as a welcome relief to the sometimes hectic sights and sounds of the city. If you like to escape the crowds and noise of Thailand after a day out, 137 Pillars House is the perfect solution. It is not only one of the best hotels in Chiang Mai, but also possibly in Thailand.

Maesa Elephant Camp

Maesa Elephant Camp is located 20 minutes north east of Chiang Mai. To get there either hire a taxi or self drive by hiring a moped or car. It’s an easy road to drive.

On arriving at the camp you get a good impression. This is created because the camp has a beautiful jungle setting with a river and small waterfall.

The actual camp is clean and well set up, with toilets and restaurant. It was established in 1976 and was the first elephant camp in Thailand to achieve International accreditation for safety and animal welfare (ISO 9001).

The camp has over 70 elephants each with its own keeper (called a mahout). The animals are well cared for. For those concerned about animal welfare please bear in mind that elephants have been domesticated in Thailand for centuries. They were involved in logging and transport when Thailand was largely jungle. The elephants have not been taken from the wild; they are the descendants of domesticated elephants left redundant by the mechanisation of logging and transport. These animals still work for a living except now it’s not logging, its entertaining tourists.

Activities include an elephant show, elephant rides, mahout courses, ox-cart rides and bamboo raft trips. Elephant shows happen daily at 8am, 9.40am and 1.30pm. They last about 45 minutes and cost 200 Thai Baht per person. Before the show you can feed the elephants with bananas and sugar cane and watch them bathe in the river.

The show involves the elephants performing tricks. They play football, basket ball and with a hola hoop. They also display traditional skills from the logging industry. The crescendo of the show is painting. The pictures go on sale after the show and fetch several hundred dollars each. Elephant rides last an hour and take you to a village where several hill tribes, including the famous long necks, live. These people are largely Cambodian and Burmese refugees displaced by war and persecution in their own countries. This village is one of several in Thailand where the Government has allowed them to settle legally.

 If you really want to get to find out more about elephants and help care for them we suggest booking a mahout course. 1, 2 and 3 day courses are available and they last from 8am to 4pm each day. You need to make reservation for this through their website (http://www.maesaelephantcamp.com/). Accommodation and food are provided for the 2 and 3 day courses.

Of course you don’t have to feel a commitment to animals’ welfare to visit Maesa Elephant Camp. It makes a fun day out: the elephants are entertaining and well cared for, and it’s a great chance to leave Chiang Mai and see some of the great countryside scenery.