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Bargain Hunting in Chiang Mai Thailand

Karen spent some time experiencing Chiang Mai’s excellent shopping options!

“Chiang Mai is one of my favourite parts of Thailand – I love the mix of modern and ancient, with beautiful temples next to buzzing street markets and funky bars. The shopping here is fabulous – there’s everything from modern department stores and glitzy shopping centres to night markets and the renowned night bazaar – it’s a shoppers paradise!
I was staying close to the night bazaar in Chang Klan Road – each evening this area of Chiang Mai comes to life as the street is lined with shops and stalls selling everything from souvenirs to clothes – there’s a huge range of goods with what I can only presume are less-than authentic credentials, including CD’s and DVD’s, t-shirts, handbags, sunglasses and watches. Prices here seem cheaper than Bangkok – even though Bangkok itself seems remarkably low when you first arrive! This is a good location to stay in if you visit Chiang Mai – it’s a short taxi ride to the old city, and a 10 minute walk to the river, where there are some excellent restaurants and bars – I even did a dinner cruise along the river, which was great fun!
A friend I was visiting in Chiang Mai told me about a new street market that’s recently opened, located in the old city close to the Phra Singh temple, a local landmark. The market only operates once a week, whereas the night bazaar is daily, but the quality of goods here seemed really high, and there were some imaginative souvenirs for sale. There’s also an excellent food area serving cheap and tasty meals and snacks – I had a superb plate of mee grob, Thai crispy fried noodles, with a cold bottle of Singha beer (a personal favourite of mine!) all for £ 1.50!

Next day I headed off to one of Chiang Mai’s glitzy new shopping centres, for some air-con retail therapy. The Central Airport Plaza is only a 10 minute tuk-tuk ride from the night market, but is a world away in terms of style. There’s a branch of Central department store, plus dozens of other shops, an aquarium and a cinema. There’s excellent local food in the basement, although after a little while window shopping I headed back over to the more local – and to my mind more Thai – street markets. Fun, cheap and easy – my idea of perfect shopping!”

For holidays to Chiang Mai visit http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk/thai/destin/cnx.shtml

For all the holidays we offer go to: http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk

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