Our last, full day in Thailand was spent exploring some of the shopping available in Chiang Mai (CM). When I was in Singapore everybody was so happy when I said we were going to Thailand. They would always say it was their favorite place to shop or they would say they couldn’t afford to shop in Singapore but loved to go to Thailand to shop. So I was curious about what we would find. We had already explored some areas but this day we decided to get a driver and visit a couple of the craft factories. There are factories for silver, celadon ceramic, silk, woodworking, enameling and much more.
Before doing our craft shopping though we went to an area called Warorot Market along the Ping River front (the locals call it Kad Luang). This seemed to be where the locals shopped for flowers and food as well as everything else (including honey bee larvae which you can see in the photo to the right). This is another area of town I would revisit and explore more. 
I love markets anywhere and this one was just bustling with activity. There were many stands selling food cooked right there on the street. (This site has many more photos of Thai markets and food if you want to explore more of the culinary wealth of Thailand.) Plus there were many unusual things to see!
The flower stalls in this market were beautiful. The Thais seem to have a different philosophy when arranging flowers. The goal doesn’t seem to be to create a natural-looking arrangement. Rather their arrangements are beautiful but as far from nature as you can get. I've read that the choice of flowers adds symbolic meaning. I wish I had taken more photos so I could explain better. One arrangement 
I saw had little hand-rolled cigarettes or cigars incorporated into the arrangement and I think this was meant as an offering for a spirit house. There are garlands called phuang mala also used for offering at spirit houses.
We then went to a silver factory recommended by a woman who teaches at CM University. In all the factories you can see a person making the items that are for sale in a store close by. Here there were women pounding out sterling medallions for the university. This shop had a lot of old silver pieces that were fun to look at. Many of the silver items available in the past are no longer made so having an opportunity to see antiques is great. 
There was a large selection of old sterling box sets used to store the ingredients for preparing betel nut and some new boxes which look very similar those in the old sets. Near the silver factory along Wualai Road, the road which leads southwest from the Chiang Mai Gate, we found Wat Srisuphan which is being restored using 92% silver.
Then we took the road to the factory stores. For the most part this wasn’t that great but there were shops that stood out. The road leads to the east out of town along Than Charoen Muang road to Sankampaeng and Bo Sang villages. This is only a 15-minute drive, at most. We visited two silk factories where you can see silkworms eating, growing and ready for spinning, then being spun into thread.
This was interesting since my boys used to raise silkworms when they were in nursery school. I love to see silk being woven and to listen to the clacking sound of the shuttle going back and forth on the loom. I’m not certain that they do much of the weaving by hand these days but there were several women weaving at both factories. It was an odd experience when we visited the first silk factory because it was the same factory I had visited 18 years before and it was the one thing in Thailand which looked exactly as it had looked when I was there last. Even the mannequins and wares looked exactly as I had seen them so long ago! I didn’t buy anything here. The other silk factory was the Shinawatra silk factory and there the showroom was much more up to date and the offerings were quite nice. I often wish I could have had some suits made for fancy college events. Silk absorbs dye beautifully and the fabric feels wonderful. My favorite Thai silk manufacturer, Jim Thompson, isn’t in CM but we got to visit the store in the Bangkok airport.
We visited a celadon factory, Siam Celadon, which had really nice, light green ceramics, but this is something that is hard to carry home so I only got a few items.
We visited another silver factory that had an enormous offering along this street and the we ate lunch in a large open courtyard at a place perhaps better reserved for tour buses. They had a buffet and the food was fresh and well prepared. I think it is funny that whenever you hire a driver they think they need to bring you to this sort of place. It wasn’t until it had happened twice and the driver said he would eat someplace else that I began to understand that perhaps they get a percentage or a free meal. And they don’t want to eat tourist food so they either eat in the kitchen or at another place entirely. These are not bad restaurants but they don’t make food the way locals would prepare it, meaning it isn’t at all spicy.
Another silk shop not in this area which we visited twice was named Vila Cini on Charoenrat Road very near to the Good View Restaurant. They have beautiful silks, pillows and gifts and when wandered upstairs we found many antiques. There were several shops along this stretch of road. We had to go back to this shop because I inadvertently purchased a shawl which was too expensive but this store does not give refunds. During this transaction I realized how much the Thai's avoid confrontation when I became a little irritated over their policy. In the end everything went well though and a conflict was avoided.
We shopped at a Hilltribe shop that is sponsored by the government and the sales ladies really tried to do a good job teaching us about each tribe but also followed us around the store constantly. I’ve read that it is best to try to buy directly in the villages so that the people benefit but it is nice that the government is making an effort to help these people.
Apparently you cannot become a Thai citizen unless you speak Thai so many of the Hilltribes do not have the privileges of citizenship. But, also, they tend to move sporadically so educating them may be difficult I guess.
We did not have enough time to visit Baan Tawai Village and that was a disappointment to me. I think this is where many of the nicer craft shops are located and many of the galleries are located here too. But that leaves me something to explore when I return. It is hard to know exactly what to visit and what to pass when you travel.
We had the driver then let us off at the shops I had seen on my first day along Thanon Loi Khro where we explored the many clothing, antique and bead stores. It was on this street that we finally found a great Hilltribe silver bead store, Sherry Silverware at 59/2 Lio Kroh Road. The man here offered to send prices via email and ship. So I had finally found beads for my friend on the very last day in CM!
We asked the man at Sherry Silverware to recommend a good restaurant and he sent us to Aroon (Rai) Restaurant. As we walked there we noticed that one end of the street we were exploring seemed to have a lot of bars and many of them appeared to have "hostesses" sitting in front waiting for some man to come along and sit with them. We just continued to walk through this area until we got to the moat around the old part of the city then turned right for a block. The restaurant was really good and very cheap. I realize now that it had also been reviewed in the New York Times. Apparently a lot of people, both Thai and foreigners, buy packaged curry mixes made here to take home because they miss the food at this place so much! I got a package for Nick to try. It is located in a clean, open space just outside the old part of town and on the canal, very close to the Tha Pae Gate.
Then it was time to head back to the hotel and pack up. I’ve got the packing thing pretty organized though. I never unpack my suitcase, instead I keep my clothes folded and I try to keep ahead of the dirty cloths. Washing clothes in Singapore and Thailand wasn’t easy though because clothes don’t dry but the cleaning service at the hotels was affordable and quick. So all I had to do was to make sure I had written down all my purchases and add them up. Fortunately I didn’t go over the amount allowed without duty! But I did have to add an additional suitcase.
The next morning I was dressed and ready before we needed to leave so I walked in another direction from the hotel to explore. When I was returning one of the workers at the hotel drove by on a Vespa-like bike and asked if I wanted a ride. I was too sad to leave CM and needed the time to soak in as much as possible so I choose to walk. Besides a woman seems to ride as a passenger of a motorcyle in Thailand by riding sideways and I don't think the cling to the driver either.
I felt safer walking. Saying, “Goodbye,” to our hotel was awful for me. I'm not prone to crying when I leave a hotel normally but started to cry as the entire staff walked us to the car. I can’t say enough about the wonderful people who run Yaang Come Village and I will really miss being with them.
Our flight back to Singapore was uneventful except for the fact that Swiss Air lost our luggage for a time. But Swiss Air gave us the equivalent of $100 US plus a kit with deodorant, soap, toothbrush, tee shirts and underwear. The only problem was that all my supplies were for men while Shay got the proper female products. But this wasn’t a problem because our luggage showed up before our early morning flight home. Our hotel, Chengi Village Hotel, was clean, modern and had lots of glass art so it was a hit with me. Apparently it is near the beach but since we arrived late and left early sadly I didn't get to explore the area.
Have I already said that Singapore's Changi Airport rocks? There are showers, spas, massage services, nature trails, orchid gardens, shopping galore and food just as great as in town. They even provide free Singapore tours if your stop over in Singapore is longer than 5 hours. They guarantee that the prices at the airport are the lowest of any Asian airport with a double the difference refund. A little tidbit I felt silly discovering is that everybody goes through immigration at this airport because there is no other airports in Singapore so all flights are international.
It is great to be home, but I miss the constant high of travel and another negative aspect about coming home is the horrible jet lag which results from traveling in a country 16 hours ahead of Pacific Time! For Carl the worst part about me being home is that he must listen to me constantly saying I need to go back but he doesn’t complain too much because he is such a supportive guy. Next time I’ll just take him with me.
