
Chiang Mai is the principal northern city of Thailand. Chiang Mai is the
provincial capital of a largely mountain-out province, also called Chiang Mai, which is some 20,000 square kilometers
in area. Chiang Mai city is 700 kilometers north of Bangkok,
was founded in 1296, and is located in a fertile valley some 300 meters above sea level.
Chiang Mai was the capital of Lanna Thai (Kingdom of One Million Rice fields),
the first independent Thai kingdom within the fabled Golden Triangle.


The people of Chiang Mai enjoy one of the most distinctive cultural identities in the whole of Thailand. Largely farmers and artisans, they have their own lilting dialect, their own customs, their own festivals, their own architectural traditions, their own indigenous handicrafts, their own dances and their own distinctive cuisine. Hilltribes also lend a great deal of character and color to the crisply beautiful mountainous landscape. The Lanna architecture style is adopted by many hotels to give their guests the real northern Thai feeling.