Chiang Mai

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Chiang Mai sits 700 kilometres north of Bangkok, cradled in the Thai highlands at roughly 300 metres above sea level. Two mountain peaks loom above its western edge: Doi Pui and Doi Suthep, both climbing above 1,600 metres. Between those peaks and the Ping River, which flows through the city on its way south to the Chao Phraya, a place came into existence in 1296 that would outlast kingdoms, survive occupations, and eventually draw more than 14 million visitors in a single year.

  What made this particular river basin the site of a capital? Why did a city abandoned for fifteen years in the 18th century come back to become northern Thailand's undisputed centre? And how did a place whose official municipal boundary was last expanded in 1983 end up holding well over a million residents? Those are the threads this documentary follows.

• 2. A City Forged by Kingdoms

  ›

  King Mangrai founded Chiang Mai in 1294 or 1296 on a site the Lawa people already knew as Wiang Nopburi. The name he gave it translates simply as "new city" in Thai, a declaration of ambition from the ruler who was moving the capital of Lan Na away from Chiang Rai. The Ping River and nearby trading routes made the basin an obvious choice: connectivity was power.

  Phayu, a successor, enlarged and fortified the city and built Wat Phra Singh to honour his father, Khamfu. Wat Chet Yot followed in 1455, and in 1477 it hosted the Eighth World Buddhist Council. The sacred and the political reinforced each other across these centuries.

  Lan Na's decline opened the door to outside powers. The Toungoo Empire occupied Chiang Mai in 1556, beginning a period of Burmese dominance that stretched for generations. Formal incorporation into the Thonburi Kingdom came in 1774 through an agreement with Kawila, after the Thonburi king Taksin helped drive Burmese forces out. Subsequent Burmese counterattacks were severe enough that the city was abandoned entirely between 1776 and 1791. The ancient brick walls and moat that still define the city centre today are the physical survivors of those turbulent centuries. Wat Ku Tao in the Chang Phuak district, which dates from at least the 13th century, holds a stupa believed to contain the ashes of King Nawrahta Minsaw, Chiang Mai's first Bamar ruler.

• 3. The Temple City

  ›

  Wat Phra That Doi Suthep stands at 1,073 metres above sea level on the mountain that also bears its name, visible from much of the city below. Every year thousands of Buddhists make the ascent on foot after sunset to mark Vesak. It is the temple whose stupa appears at the centre of the city emblem, surrounded by clouds that represent the moderate mountain climate.

  The Mueang district alone contains 117 Buddhist temples. Wat Chiang Man, the oldest, dates from the 13th century. King Mengrai himself lived there during the city's construction. Inside, two revered Buddha figures remain: the marble Phra Sila and the crystal Phra Satang Man.

  Wat Sri Suphan stands apart. Its ordination hall was built using silver, aluminium, and nickel, giving it the popular name "Silver Temple." Wat Suan Dok, a 14th-century temple just west of the old city wall, was built for a revered monk visiting from Sukhothai and now hosts Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya Buddhist University. Beyond the currently active temples, 44 ruined structures are scattered across the city area, most reduced to their brick stupas while other buildings have long disappeared or been overtaken by vegetation.

• 4. Boundaries That Could Not Keep Up

  ›

  On the 5th of April 1983, Chiang Mai's municipal area was expanded from 17.5 square kilometres to 40.2 square kilometres. That expansion has never been repeated. Yet by 2022 the urban population had grown beyond one million, spilling into Mae Rim to the north, San Kamphaeng and Doi Saket to the east, Hang Dong and Saraphi to the south, and Suthep to the west.

  Official government documents from the Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative Organization, published in the Royal Thai Government Gazette, have tried to keep pace through successive revisions of the defined urban area. A first revision appeared in 1989, a second in 1999, and a third in 2012. That third revision extended the principal city border to 405 square kilometres, more than ten times the size of the official municipality.

  The urban population of 1,198,000 makes Chiang Mai the second largest city in Thailand after Bangkok, which holds 10.7 million, and more than twice the size of the third-largest city, Nakhon Ratchasima, estimated at 500,000. Population counts are complicated further by what they exclude: official figures from the Department of Local Administration and the National Statistics Office do not count expatriates, non-permanent residents, migrant workers, or Thai citizens from other provinces renting in the city. Estimates suggest the real figure could be as high as 1.5 million. As of 2022, a fourth revision of the urban area definition is under public debate, with proposals to extend boundaries into adjacent subdistricts and forest areas around Doi Suthep.

• 5. Smoke Season

  ›

  Between December and April, Chiang Mai's air routinely falls below recommended safety standards. Research conducted between 2005 and 2009 recorded average PM10 levels during February and March considerably above the country's safety level of 120 micrograms per cubic metre, peaking at 383 micrograms per cubic metre on the 14th of March 2007.

  The mechanism is geographic. Low-pressure systems from China trap smoke from forest fires burning along the Thai-Myanmar border mountain ranges, holding pollutants over the basin where the city sits. PM2.5 fine particles, which the World Health Organization considers acceptable at no more than 25 micrograms per cubic metre, reached 183 micrograms per cubic metre in Chiang Mai in 2018.

  The problem was documented officially as early as 1994, when an increasing number of city residents were seeking hospital treatment for respiratory problems. Research also shows that cold effects from seasonal temperature variation last longer than heat effects, contributing to higher cold-related mortality risk among people aged more than 85.

  In response, city government has pushed non-motorised transport as one lever. The 2011 IBM Smarter Cities Challenge, a three-year program covering 100 cities worldwide, awarded Chiang Mai a grant of about US$400,000 to study urban issues including healthcare delivery. In January 2018, authorities announced "Mobike In," a bike-sharing project placing some 500 smart bikes at locations including the Three Kings monument and Tha Phae Gate, sponsored by Advanced Info Service in collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

• 6. Festivals, Crafts, and the Tourist Economy

  ›

  In 2013, Thailand's Tourist Authority recorded 14.1 million visitors to Chiang Mai: 4.6 million from abroad and 9.5 million domestic. Tourism had been growing at 15 percent annually since 2011, driven substantially by Chinese tourists who accounted for 30 percent of international arrivals. By 2016, Chinese visitor numbers alone were expected to reach 750,000.

  Loi Krathong, held on the full moon of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, typically falling in November, draws thousands to float banana-leaf containers decorated with flowers and candles on the city's waterways. Hot-air paper lanterns, called khom loi, are also released into the sky, a Lanna-style tradition that marks the festival visually. Songkran in mid-April, the traditional Thai New Year, has made Chiang Mai one of its most popular national locations, centred on a citywide water fight alongside religious observances.

  In August 2025, the municipality released a flock of 10 geese into the moat surrounding the old city gates to address duckweed and algae turning the water green. The geese became an attraction, drawing visitors to check-in at the moat, though municipal staff were periodically required to chase the birds back from the middle of the road.

  UNESCO designated Chiang Mai a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts in 2017. The city has an estimated 32,000-40,000 hotel rooms. Chiang Mai International Airport, coded CNX, is Thailand's fourth largest after Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, and Phuket, and handles an average of 50 flights a day from Bangkok alone. Plans are underway to expand its capacity from 8 million annual passengers to 20 million, and to build a second airport capable of serving 24 million passengers and handling 32,000 tonnes of cargo.

• 7. Universities, Medicine, and the Smart City Drive

  ›

  Chiang Mai University was the first government university established outside Bangkok, opened in 1964. As of 2024, it ranks third among Thai universities, behind Chulalongkorn and Mahidol. The city supports 16 international schools, the second highest count in the country after Bangkok.

  In February 2017, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency announced an investment of 36.5 million baht to develop Chiang Mai into a "smart city" under Thailand's "Thailand 4.0" policy framework. Chiang Mai was the second city selected for this model, after Phuket. The programme weaves together sensors, real-time traffic data, and social media monitoring into dashboards accessible to city managers and citizens. Prosoft Comtech, a Thai software company, independently invested 300 million baht in a complex called "Oon IT Valley" on a 90-rai plot, aimed at tech start-ups, Internet of Things developers, and business process outsourcing operations.

  Maejo University, funded by DEPA, is developing wireless sensor systems for farmland irrigation and agricultural drones that can spray fertilizers and detect fires. The IBM Smarter Cities grant in 2011 focused healthcare recommendations on linking patient databases and hospital asset information, building towards Chiang Mai's aspiration to become a medical tourism centre. The city already receives long-stay healthcare visitors, largely Japanese, drawn by lower costs of living compared to Bangkok. Specializations under development at Chiang Mai University's medical faculty include robotic surgery and geriatric medicine. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand has approved a draft decree for a light rail system, with construction originally set to begin in 2020 and completion targeted for 2027.