Guide how to live in Chiang Mai

Department Stores

Makro Department Store		Lotus Department Store
Carrefour Department Store		Big C Department Store
Index Living Mall		Modern Form Showroom

Convenience Stores

Tesco Lotus		Local Stores
7 ELEVEN		Kasem Store at Nimmanhaemin Rd.

Supermarkets

Modern Chiang Mai supermarkets are organized much in the same way as their Western counterparts. They offer all kinds of goods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh seafood, meat, tofu, pickled, dried and canned food, bread, dairy products, snacks, ready-to-eat meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and household articles.

Rimping Supermarket

Tops Supermarket

Shopping Malls

Central Plaza Chiang Mai Airport

Kad Suan Keaw

Thai food is meant for sharing. Everybody gets their own plate of rice and tiny soup bowl, but all the other dishes are laid out in the center of the table and you're free to eat what you wish. Though some people believe that taking the last piece from a shared plate is considered slightly unlucky, and you may hear people make wishes for others to compensate for their own misfortune — a popular wish is that "may my girl/boyfriend be beautiful"!

Food is also generally brought out a dish at a time as it is prepared. It is not expected for diners to wait until all meals are brought out before they start eating as is polite in western culture. Instead they should tuck into the nearest meal as it arrives.

Thai cuisine is characterized by balance and strong flavors, especially lime juice, lemon grass and fresh coriander, the combination of which gives Thai food its distinctive taste. In addition, Thai food has a deserved reputation for being spicy, with hot little torpedo-shaped chillies called phrik khii nuu (พริกขี้หนู, lit. "mouse shit chillies") making their way into many a dish. Thais are well aware that these can be more than Westerners can handle and will often ask if you like it hot (เผ็ด phet); answer "yes" at your own risk!

(What to drink when you aer in Chiang Mai.?)

Rice

The Thai staple food is rice (ข้าว khao), so much so that in Thai eating a meal, kin khao, literally means "eat rice".

• Khao suai (ข้าวสวย) or "beautiful rice" is the plain white steamed rice that serves as the base of almost every meal.

• Khao phat (ข้าวผัด) is simple fried rice, usually with some pork (muu) or chicken (kai) mixed in.

• Khao tom (ข้าวต้ม) is a salty and watery rice porridge served with condiments, quite popular at breakfast.

• Khao nio (ข้าวเหนียว) or "sticky rice" is glutinous rice - usually eaten dry, traditionally by hand, with grilled/fried pork or chicken or beef.

Noodles

Thais are great noodle eaters. The most common kind is rice noodles, served angel-hair (เส้นหมี่ sen mii), small (เส้นเล็ก sen lek), large (เส้นใหญ่sen yai) and giant (ก๋วยเตี๋ยว kuay tio), but egg noodles (บะหมี่ ba mii), Chinese-style stuffed wonton ravioli (เกี๊ยว kio) and glass noodles made from mung beans (วุ้นเส้น wun sen) are also popular.

Unlike other Thai foods, noodles are usually eaten with chopsticks. They are also usually served with a rack of four condiments, namely dried red chillies , fish sauce, vinegar and sugar which diners can add to their own taste.

• Phat thai (ผัดไทย), literally "fried Thai", means thin rice noodles fried in a tamarind-based sauce. Ubiquitous, cheap and often excellent - and as an added bonus, it's usually chili-free!

• Ba mii muu daeng (บะหมี่หมูเเดง) is egg noodles with slices of Chinese-style barbecued pork.

• Kuai tio ruea (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ) is a rice noodle soup with a fiery pork blood stock and an assortment of offal. An acquired taste, but an addictive one.

Soups and curries

The line between soups (ต้ม tom, literally just "boiled") and curries (แกง kaeng) is a little fuzzy, and many dishes the Thais call curries would be soups to an Indian. A plate of rice with a ladleful of a curry or two on top, known as khao kaeng (ข้าวแกง), is a very popular quick meal if eating alone.

• Tom yam kung (ต้มยำกุ้ง) is the quintessential Thai dish, a sour soup with prawns, lemongrass and galangal. The real thing is quite spicy, but toned-down versions are often available on request.

• Tom kha kai (ต้มข่าไก่) is the Thai version of chicken soup in a rich galangal-flavored coconut stock, with mushrooms and not a few chillies.

• Kaeng daeng (แกงเเดง, "red curry") and kaeng phet (แกงเผ็ด, "hot curry") are the same dish and, as you might guess, this coconut-based dish can be spicy. Red curry with roast duck (kaeng phet pet yaang แกงเผ็ดเป็ดย่าง) is particularly popular.

• Kaeng khio-waan (แกงเขียวหวาน), sweet green curry, is a coconut-based curry with strong accents of lemongrass and kaffir lime. Usually milder than the red variety.

• Kaeng som (แกงส้ม), orange curry, is more like tamarind soup than curry, usually served with pieces of herb omelette in the soup.

Mains

Thais like their mains fried (ทอด thot or ผัด phat) or grilled (yaang ย่าง). Fish, in particular, is often deep-fried until the meat turns brown and crispy.

• Ka-phrao kai (กะเพราไก่), literally "basil chicken" is a simple but intensely fragrant stirfry made from peppery holy basil leaves, chillies and chicken.

Salads

About the only thing Thai salads (ยำ yam) have in common with the Western variety is that they are both based on raw vegetables. A uniquely Thai flavor is achieved by drowning the ingredients in fish sauce, lime juice and chillies - the end result can be very spicy indeed!

• Som tam (ส้มตำ), a salad made from shredded and pounded raw papaya is often considered a classic Thai dish, but it actually originates from neighboring Laos. However, the Thai version is less sour and more sweet than the original, with peanuts and dried shrimp mixed in.

• Yam ponlamai (ยำผลไม้) is Thai-style fruit salad, meaning that instead of canned maraschino cherries it has fresh fruit topped with oodles of fish sauce and chillies.

• Yam som-o (ยำส้มโอ) is an unusual salad made from pomelo (a mutant version of grapefruit) and anything else on hand, often including chicken or dried shrimp.

• Yam wunsen (ยำวุ้นเส้น) is perhaps the most common yam, with glass noodles and shrimp.

Dessert

Thais don't usually eat "dessert" in the Western after-meal sense, although you may get a few slices of fresh fruit (ผลไม้ ponlamai) for free at fancier places, but they certainly have a finely honed sweet tooth.

• Khanom (ขนม) covers a vast range of cookies, biscuits, chips and anything else snackable, and piles of the stuff can be found in any Thai office after lunch. One common variety called khanom khrok (ขนมครก) is worth a special mention: these are little lens-shaped pancakes of rice and coconut, freshly cooked and served by street vendors everywhere.

• Khao nio ma-muang (ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง) means "sticky rice with mango", and that's what you get, with some coconut milk drizzled on top. Filling and delicious and an excellent way to cool the palate after a spicey Thai dish! Alternatively, for the more adventurous type, an equally popular dish is Khao nio tu-rean in which you get durian instead of mango with your sticky rice.

• Waan yen (หวานเย็น), literally "sweet cold", consists of a pile of ingredients of your choice (including things like sweet corn and kidney beans) topped with syrup, coconut cream and a pile of ice, and is great for cooling down on a hot day or after a searing curry.

• MK and Coca are near-ubiquitous chains specializing in what the Thais call suki, perhaps better known as "hotpot" or "steamboat". A cauldron boils in the middle of your table, you buy ingredients (10-30 baht a pop) and brew your own soup. The longer you spend, the better it tastes, and the bigger the group you're with, the more fun this is!

• S&P outlets are a bakery, a café and a restaurant all rolled into one, but their menu's a lot larger than you'd expect: it has all the Thai mainstays you can think of and then some, and most all of it is good. Portions are generally rather small, with prices mostly in the 50-100 baht range.

• Mike's Hamburger Mike's Hamburger Stand, on the corner of Chaiyapoom Road and Chang Moi Road (along the east side of the moat) and on Nimmanhaemin Road (across from Soi 1) are brightly-lit, "old-school" joints - just stools and a counter in an open shop.

• Fuji  1st branch Central Airport Plaza, 2nd branch Panthip Plaza is a great and reasonably priced Japanese restaurant. While perhaps not a special restaurant in that it is not unique to Chiang Mai (it's actually a large chain) for those seeking reasonably priced Japanese food Fuji is a must. Expect to pay 120 baht and up for each dish (for instance a single sushi roll), however there are several spectacular sets that offer great "bang for you buck", for instance the Fuji Sashimi Set which can easily fill a sushi lover for 190 baht.

And yes, you can find the usual McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut,  etc if you insist. If you do end up at McD's, at least try the un-Maclike fried chicken with McSomTam (green papaya salad). For those craving American-style pizza, try the ubiquitous The Pizza Company, which is a less expensive and (arguably) tastier local chain.

Chiang Mai is the center of handicrafts with a variety of antiques, silver jewellery, and embroidery, Thai silks and cottons, basketry, celadon, silverware, furniture, lacquerware, woodcarvings and parasols. Major Chiang Mai products include:

• Cottons & Silks
• Umbrellas/ Parasols - These are inextricably associated with Bo Sang where villagers have been engaged in their manufacture for at least 200 years. All materials, silks, cottons, Sa paper (manufactured from the bark of the mulberry tree) and bamboo are produced or found locally.
  
• Silverware - Traditional skills and a guaranteed content of at least 92.5% pure silver invest bowls, receptacles and decorative items.
  
• Lacquerware - This decorative are enhanced items made of wood, bamboo, metal, paper and baked clay, in the form of receptacles, ornaments and various souvenirs.
  
• Furniture/ Woodcarving - Major woods and materials include teak, rosewood and rattan. Items may be unadorned or, especially with teak and rosewood, carved in traditional or modern designs. Woodcarving is a traditional northern Thai art featured in numerous temples. In recent years, woodcarving has increasingly embellished furniture, gracing screens, chairs, tables, beds, figurines, carved elephant indeed anything bearing a wooden surface large enough to be carved.
  
• Hilltribe Products - These include silver ornaments, such as bracelets, necklace, pendants and pipes of intricate design, and embroidered items including tunics, jackets, bags, purses, caps and dress lengths.
  
• Gold Plated Orchids & Butterflies - Orchids and butterflies are preserved and plated with 24-carat gold to create unusual gift items such as necklace pendants, hairpins and earrings.
  
• Pottery - Chiang Mai is the major centre of Thailand's pottery industry. Prized items include high-fired celadon which is produced in many forms, including dinner sets, lamp bases and decorative items.
  
• Sa (Mulberry) Paper Products: Chiang Mai is also famous for its Sa paper products a handmade, multi-purpose natural fiber. Sa products that come in different, distinctive designs include cards, notebooks, stationery, boxes, bags, photo frames, lanterns, gift wrapping paper, etc.

Nationwide Television, cable TV and local cable TV channels are available in Chiang Mai. Local and nationwide English newspapers and magazines are usually found in book stores.

Landline telephone system, high-speed internet (ADSL), all mobile phone systems, post offices, parcel services are available in Chiang Mai.

Electricity
The voltage in Chiang Mai is 220 Volt, which is different from North America (110V),

Chiang Mai power outlets are identical to ungrounded (2-pin) North American outlets. While most Chiang Mai outlets these days are polarized (one slot is slightly wider than the other), it is possible to encounter non-polarized outlets in some places.

Some North American equipment will work fine in Chiang Mai without adapter and vice versa, however, some sensitive equipment may not work properly or even get damaged. If you intend to purchase electronic appliances in Chiang Mai for use outside of Chiang Mai, you are advised to look for equipment specifically made for oversea tourists.

Visitors to Chiang Mai have the opportunity to learn a variety of different Thai-style activities. These activities include Muay Thai (Thai Boxing), Thai cooking, Thai massage (TTC Spa School, ITM Training Massage School )and Vipassana Meditation.

• Main Post Office''' - Charoenmuang Road. Tel: 053 241070, 053 245376.
• Phra Sing Post Office - Singharat Road (a three-minute walk south of Wat Phra Singh)
• Airport 24 hr Post Office-60 Moo 3, Airport Road, T Suthep, A Muang, Chiang Mai 50200.
  Tel: 053 277382.
• Changphuak Post Office'-195/8-9, Changphuak Road, T Changphuak, A Muang, Chiang Mai 50300. Tel: 053 222483.
• Changklan Post Office- 186-186/1, Changklan Road, A Muang, Chiang Mai 50100. Tel: 053 273657.
• Maeping Post Office- 24 Praisanee Road, A Muang, Chiang Mai 50100. Tel: 053 252036-7.

Directory enquiry service: 183/1133

Overseas dial-out code: 001

AT&T International operator for collect calls: 001 999 11111

• Police - emergencies: 191
• Police - Tourist: 1155, 053-278559
• Fire: 053-241777
• Rescue Team: 053-218888

For those who love nothing more than a decent night on the town, then Chiang Mai has one of the land's funkiest nightlife. Types of nightlife available include: Related Clips Video: Entertainment
▪ Discos are popular with the younger trendier crowd.
▪ Live music pubs/restaurants playing either Thai folk music and/or international pop classics.
▪ Karaoke clubs can be found all around.
▪ Barbecues are large open-air restaurants which play music and serve alcohol.
▪ Bar Beers are popular with foreign male tourists.
▪ Thai Pubs are not like Western ones, they are usually huge.
▪ Western pubs serving draft beer.