Every year the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand, hosts several huge festivals. Visitors come by the tens of thousands from Thailand and abroad. The performances are truly spectacular. While wandering around the festival site I came across a group of  students who were showcasing martial arts, dancing and drumming.

Chiang Mai, Thailand, Flower Festival, Parade Float

Chiang Mai, Thailand, is the undisputed festival capital of Thailand. Between November and April Chiang Mai puts on several huge festivals that draw crowds of tens of thousands, visitors from all over Thailand and from all over the world. A major festival is not just a one day event. Normally they last three days and in one case, Sonkran, even seven days.  During those times Chiang Mai turns into a giant party, a traffic nightmare, and a major holiday destination for Thais. Train tickets in and out of the city are sold out weeks in advance, and it seems that half of the population of Bangkok converges upon Chiang Mai. Read the rest of this entry

Doi Suthep Temple, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Is Thailand a third world country? I will let you decide. I live in Chiang Mai which is the second most important city in Thailand after Bangkok.

 My home is:

•  5 minutes from one of the biggest universities of the country
• 5 minutes from an olympic size swimming pool
• 10 minutes from a gigantic super modern mall
• 10 minutes from a health food store
• 5 minutes from an organic produce market
• 15 minutes from a national park
• 10 minutes from 3 big computer and electronics centers
• 10 minutes from a modern international airport
• 10 minutes from several  major hospitals
• 10 minutes from a western style supermarket
• 5 minutes from a zoo Read the rest of this entry

Float in the Loi Krathong Festival

Chiang Mai is famous for big, colorful, extravagant festivals. They can last several days and attract huge crowds from abroad and from all over Thailand. Hotels fill to capacity, traffic slows to a crawl, train tickets to and from Chiang Mai sell out weeks in advance. Thousands of people get involved in decorating the city, putting up stages, setting up competitions, float parades and lots of entertainment. Read the rest of this entry