1. Chiang Mai

2. History
King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296 on the site of an older city of the Lawa people called Wiang Nopburi. Gordon Young, in his 1962 book The Hilltribes of Northern Thailand, mentions how a Wa chieftain in Burma told him that the Wa, a people who are closely related to the Lawa, once lived in the Chiang Mai valley in "sizeable cities". Chiang Mai succeeded Chiang Rai as the capital of the Lanna kingdom. The ruler was known as the "chao". The city was surrounded by a moat and a defensive wall, since nearby Burma was a constant threat, as well as the armies of the Mongol Empire which only decades earlier had conquered most of Yunnan, China, and in 1292 overran the bordering Thai Lü kingdom of Chiang Hung. With the decline of the Lanna Kingdom, the city lost importance and was occupied by the Burmese in 1556.

3. Climate
Chiang Mai has a tropical wet and dry climate , tempered by the low latitude and moderate elevation, with warm to hot weather year-round, though nighttime conditions during the dry season can be cool and much lower than daytime highs. The maximum temperature ever recorded is 42.4 °C (108.3 °F) in May 2005

4. Culture
Loi Krathong : Held on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar, being the full moon of the 2nd month of the old Lanna calendar. In the Western calendar this usually falls in November. Every year thousands of people assemble floating banana-leaf containers (krathong) decorated with flowers and candles onto the waterways of the city to worship the Goddess of Water. Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom fai or kom loi), which are hot-air balloons made of paper, are launched into the air. The sky lanterns are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also taken to decorate houses and streets.
Chiang Mai Flower Festival: A three-day festival held during the first weekend in February each year, this event occurs when Chiang Mai's temperate and tropical flowers are in full bloom.
Songkran: Held in mid-April to celebrate the traditional Thai new year. Chiang Mai has become one of the most popular locations to visit for this festival. A variety of religious and fun-related activities (notably the good-natured citywide water fight) take place each year, along with parades and a Miss Songkran beauty competition.

5. Language
The inhabitants speak Kham Muang (also known as Northern Thai or Lanna) among themselves, though Central Thai is used in education and is understood by almost everyone. English is used in hotels and travel-related businesses and many educated people speak English. The Kham Muang alphabet is now studied only by scholars, and Northern Thai is commonly written with the standard Thai alphabet
Museums
*Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center.
*Chiang Mai National Museum highlights the history of the region and the Kingdom of Lanna.
*Tribal Museum showcases the history of the local mountain tribes.
*Mint Bureau of Chiang Mai or Sala Thanarak, Treasury Department, Ministry of Finance, Rajdamnern Road (one block from AUA) has an old coin museum open to the public during business hours.
*The Lanna Kingdom used leaf (or line) money made of brass and silver bubbles, also called "pig-mouth" money.

6. Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
pronunciation:Northern Thai
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is a Theravada Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. The temple is often referred to as "Doi Suthep" although this is actually the name of the mountain it is located on. The temple is located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the city of Chiang Mai and is a sacred site to many Thai people. From the temple, impressive views of Chiang Mai can be seen and it remains a popular destination for tourists.

7. Chiang Mai Night Bazaar
In between are dedicated shopping buildings: the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar Building is filled mainly with antique and handicraft stores. Across the street is the Galare Night Bazaar selling upmarket clothes and home decor. Behind the collection of shops is the Galare Food Centre. The Anusan Market is less claustrophobic and filled with tables of vendors selling knitted caps, carved soaps and other cottage-industry goods. Deeper into the market is the Anusan Food Centre. The quality and bargains aren’t especially impressive, but the allure is the variety and concentration of stuff and the dexterity and patience it takes to trawl through it all.

8. Chiang Mai Night Safari
This attraction is open during the day, but the real action happens at night when an open-sided tram transports visitors through the park. The Predator Prowl and Savannah Safari are the two zones visited during these night safaris and English-language trams leave at 7.45pm and 9.30pm, and 8.30pm and 10.15pm, respectively.Non-human-eating animals – including wildebeest, giraffe, rhinoceros and zebra – come right up to the tram. In the Predator Prowl section, the tigers, lions, Asiatic black bears and crocodiles are kept at a safe distance by deep trenches.

9. THE END