Chiang Mai News
Chiang Mai news, politics, business, culture, and tourism—stay updated with breaking stories, local events, and expat insights from Thailand’s northern hub. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Chiang Mai news source.
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Downhill cycling banned in Doi Inthanon National Park
Fearing a string of preventable injuries and deaths, authorities have banned all downhill cycling in the mountainous Doi Inthanon National Park. The park, located in the Chom Thong district of Chiang Mai province, is popular for its scenic nature and picturesque mountains. But slippery roads and dangerous driving conditions have the potential for deadly accidents for those riding their bicycles…
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90% of hotels in Chiang Mai fully booked during New Year
If you’re planning on visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand this New Year, then you had better be quick, because 90% of hotel rooms in the province are already booked up, according to the Thai Hotels Association (Northern Region). Hotels in the province are expected to generate one billion baht in revenue during the high season, which runs from November…
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Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi Hotel goes on sale again
The ill-starred Dhara Dhevi Hotel Chiang Mai will be auctioned yet again this January, with the starting price dropping to 2 billion baht (US$60 million) from the 2.1-billion-baht initial price in the 2021 auction. The first round of the auction will take place at the Chiang Mai Legal Execution Office on January 27. If there is no interest during the…
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Chiang Mai officials steal Thai Identity for Chinese woman
A district chief, village chief, community leader and a resident in the Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai province have been charged with stealing a Thai identity to create a Thai ID card for a Chinese woman. Each member of the fraudulent group received 800,000 baht for processing the ID card. Police stumbled on the stolen identity case while investigating…
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Thailand’s top cheesemaker toasts his own success
When Thailand’s top cheesemaker Jarutat Snidwongse Na Ayuthaya decided to make cheese for a living, he didn’t find much support. His family and friends doubted that was a market for Chiang Mai cheese. Thailand’s unique cuisine doesn’t find much space for dairy. Sixteen years on, and things could hardly be better in the small but perfectly formed Thai cheese cottage…
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Chiang Mai farmers ordered not to move pigs to prevent African Swine Fever spread
Livestock officials ordered farmers in a district of Chiang Mai to not move their pigs off farms. This measure in the Doi Saket district is meant to prevent the possible spread of African Swine Fever (ASF). The order comes after a pig in the district died on November 21. Livestock officials visited the farm to test another pig that was…
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VIDEO: Billowing fire spoils Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai
Thousands of glistening paper lanterns lighting up the night sky in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, disappeared into a thick plume of smoke after a foam pagoda went up in flames in the middle of the Yi Peng Lantern Festival celebrations last night. Billowing smoke rose into the sky after a lantern fell on top of the flammable replica pagoda, made…
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Tourists flood to Chiang Mai for Yi Peng and Loy Krathong festivities
Chiang Mai in northern Thailand is teeming with foreign and domestic tourists looking to experience the magical Loy Krathong and Yi Peng festivities from November 7-9. The fusion of Loy Krathong traditions with a night sky glittering with Yi Peng lanterns creates an unmissable atmosphere that draws people to the city year in and year out. During October, Chiang Mai…
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Danish man crashes car into Chiang Mai moat, killing 1
A Danish man crashed a white sedan into Chiang Mai moat in northern Thailand in the early hours of this morning. He survived but his female Thai passenger could not escape the vehicle in time and drowned. A 30 year old Danish man was driving through Chiang Mai’s Mueang district “at a high speed” when he lost control, crashed into…
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69 flights rescheduled due to Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai International Airport has rescheduled 69 flights to avoid danger from flying objects during the Lantern Festival between November 8 and 9. The airport has cancelled 55 flights, rescheduled 14, and is offering six special flights to support passengers. The Lantern Festival or Yi Peng Festival in Chaing Mai is a Thai northern cultural activity involving locals flying lanterns…
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Tourism officials plan big campaigns for Chiang Mai
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has several big campaigns planned to draw visitors to the world-renowned province of Chiang Mai during the High Season from November to March. One campaign is titled, “Northern Charm of the Past.” This campaign is centred around the culture of the historic Lanna Kingdom, which Chiang Mai used to be part of. The campaign…
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Chiang Mai to have rubber-tyred tram in 2028
The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) revealed its plans to finish a rubber-tyred tram project in Chiang Mai by 2028. Construction is expected to start in 2025 with a budget of 9.3 billion baht. The Chiang Mai Mass Rapid Transit project was started in 1994 but the MRTA suspended the project to focus on transport in Bangkok. The…
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‘Until the pots are dry’ – where 10 baht dishes rule the menu
In Chiang Mai, a tiny eatery specialising in 10 baht dishes is attracting shuffling lines of rumbling stomachs in the Chang Pueak area. “And it’s delicious,” said a regular who seemed very happy to stand in a long queue of hungry patrons. Open for just a fortnight, Khao Gang Khun Yai on Photharam-Jet Yod Road, is cooking up quite a…
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3,500 police officers in Chiang Mai take drug tests
Chiang Mai plans to ask 3,500 officers from every police station in the province to take a drug test to build confidence and trust in the community after the daycare centre massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu. The Commander of the Chiang Mai Provincial Police, Thawatchai Pongwiwattanachai, reported to Thairath today that the police are to kick off a project called “Clean…
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Father & 2 year old son shot in Chiang Mai
A father and his two year old son were shot while riding a motorcycle in Chiang Mai in the early hours of this morning. The man died at the scene while his son is in critical condition. Officers from Chai Prakarn Police Station were notified of the incident on Mae Khi Road in the Si Dong Yen sub-district, Chai Prakan…
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Chiang Mai wakes up to a flooded city district
After Chiang Mai’s Ping River overflowed last night, residents woke up to a flooded city district this morning. The river’s water level this morning was 4.51 metres. This was 0.81 metres above the critical level. Residents were using sandbags to stop water from getting into their shops and houses. Small vehicles couldn’t pass through several roads. This included Loi Kroh…
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Foreigners anger Chiang Mai locals for kissing in temple
A foreign couple enraged Chiang Mai locals after a picture emerged of them kissing beside the famous Wat Si Suphan temple. Wat Si Suphan in the northern province of Chiang Mai became even more popular this week after its 500 year old stupa, or chedi, collapsed. The Thai media reported locals and foreigners swarmed to the historic building this week to…
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Chiang Mai’s famous giant panda turns 21 years old
Chiang Mai’s famous giant panda, Lin Hui, has turned 21 years old. The panda is well-known as being Chiang Mai Zoo’s most popular attraction, with birthday festivities drawing crowds from all around the country. The Chinese Consulate-General in Chiang Mai wrote a special card for the zoo, saying it was grateful for the zoo’s efforts in caring for the panda…
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Popular Chiang Mai waterfall closed due to flooding
A popular waterfall for tourists in Chiang Mai has closed due to flooding, the National News Bureau of Thailand reported on Monday. The waterfall is located in Doi Inthanon National Park. Floodwaters have also strongly damaged several stores in the Chom Thong district, according to park officials. Locals from the nearby Khun Khun Klang village were seen moving their belongings…
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American told to stop riding go-kart in Chiang Mai
Police and residents in Chiang Mai urged an American man to stop riding his yellow single-seat go-kart on a public road after highlighting the danger he poses to himself and others. A dash cam video of the yellow single-seat go-kart was uploaded to Thai social media on September 21. The kart is seen dashing down the left lane of the…
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Foreigner allegedly using dogs to scam Chiang Mai locals
Residents in Chiang Mai alerted Thai media to a foreigner who abandoned and starved his two pet dogs to scam money from people in the community. Thai residents from the Nam Pueng Village in the Saraphi district of Chiang Mai reported to the media that a foreigner renting a house in their village cruelly left two dogs outside his home…
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Heavy rains collapse part of Chiang Mai’s ancient city wall
With continued heavy rainfall, part of the ancient city wall of Chiang Mai collapsed. A section of the wall near the Chang Phuak Gate partially crumbled in last night’s storm. The ancient wall stood in Chiang Mai for about 750 years before collapsing in the rain. The Chiang Mai municipality was joined by authorities from the Fine Arts Department who…
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Superstitious Thais queue for days to see famous fortune teller
Dozens of superstitious Thai people come from all over the kingdom and queue for several days just to get their fortune told at a temple in Chiang Mai. They all seek the wisdom of 52 year old Tui, or Sattaphat, a monk at the Tung Yu Temple in Chiang Mai. Tui became famous on Thai social media after hundreds of…
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Monopoly: Chiang Mai Edition being planned for next year
Coming off the success of the Phuket Edition that was released in March, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced the launch of Monopoly: Chiang Mai Edition. The new edition celebrating the northern city is scheduled to be released sometime next year. The perennial board game favourite has launched over 300 versions and thousands of custom editions ranging from…
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UK student conquers mountain in Thailand blindfolded
A Cambridge philosophy student conquered a Thai mountain blindfolded in tribute to his blind sister and to raise money for charity. The 21 year old scholar climbed the treacherous Doi Suthep, near Chiang Mai, with his girlfriend, as he embarked on a three-day journey on July 11 blindfolded to fundraise for a charity that supports his sister Harriet, who was…
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Mahout asks media to help find elephant tail hair thieves
The managing director of the Maesa Elephant Camp in the northern province of Chaing Mai has appealed to the media to help track down thieves who broke into the camp to steal elephant hair to craft talismans. Anchalee Kanlamapijit, the managing director of the camp, contacted Thai media yesterday and asked them to spread the news about the elephant story,…
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British man injured in assault by Thai taxi driver, or was it a fence?
What looked to be another blight on Thailand’s treatment of foreigners ended up instead as a blight on foreigners in Thailand as a British man who claimed to have been attacked by a taxi driver in Chiang Mai confessed that he had actually injured himself on a fence. The man suffered cuts in the palm of his hand and on…
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Body of missing Thai – Belgian tourist found in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand
Rescue teams have found the body of a Thai – Belgian tourist who went missing after a white water rafting accident in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Friday. The body of 30 year old Nicholas Hinckxt was found in the Mae Taeng River in Mae Taeng district at around 2pm yesterday, some 10 kilometres away from where his boat capsized.…
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Chiang Mai’s 1-month pledge to clear dead power cables
Chiang Mai Municipality promises to remove all of the city’s dead wires and cables within a month. When they finish burying the new cables underground is another matter. Following residents’ complaints, the municipality began tidying power and communication lines around the Wang Sing Kham community yesterday while another project to transfer cables underground continued near Chiang Mai University. Since the…
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Nok Air to make Chiang Mai a new global destination hub
Nok Air announced it is turning Chaing Mai International Airport, in the northern province of Chaing Mai, into a new hub of domestic and global routes. The airline yesterday invited Chaing Mai Governor, Wuttiphum Julangkun, and the media to a press conference at Chiang Mai City Hall, at the Chang Phueak in the Mueng Chiang Mai District, to discuss the…
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