Chiang Mai, Then and Now

Maybe you have heard of Chiang Mai, the unofficial northern capital of Thailand. Although it isn't cooler than anywhere else on the Thai plains during the hot season, it is along a ridge of cool high mountains, cool enough to actually grow beets, apples, and strawberries.

The king has a hot season home here, about halfway up Doi Shutep, overlooking this once beautiful city. I have had the fortune, and disappointment of visiting this legendary city of the north twice in my travels in Thailand. Once about twenty years ago and the other just recently.

It would be unfair to say that Chaing Mai has been ruined, although that will happen if it continues developing at the pace it is. And that is the key word, development. It seems to have ruined so many of my favorite places in the world. It's not just the buildings that change with development; it's the people. The world has more and more people but we're running out of spirit.

Incidentally, there is a higher concentration of temples in Chiang Mai than in anywhere else in Thailand. Twenty years ago, that was very striking, as there were few tall buildings to obstruct them.

So was the wall (Chiang Mai is a true walled city- fortified against invasion during ancient times), which now is overwhelmed by the big, Bangkok style avenues outside of it. The other things that made this city beautiful were all the teak structures. Much of those have been replaced by concrete. What happened?

Twenty years ago Chiang Mai was a semi-rural, sleepy city of 100,000 souls. Outside its walls was countryside. The people were friendly, laid back, and inquisitive. Chiang Mai is still a lot of fun and very interesting, but the past is gone. It retains some of those rustic roots, but Chiang Mai is now an unmistakably a hustling and bustling Asian metropolis.

By : Dinah_Jackson