Chiang Mai, in my opinion, is one of the most diverse shopping cities in Thailand. You have a variety of street markets including the weekend market and the night bazaar. The weekend market is on Thapae road; the road is closed off and full of diverse vendors. You can find anything from custom-made key chains, potato balls, and native crafts. While you shop, you are serenated by many native groups playing traditional Thai music. The night bazaar is always the place to be when you can’t figure out what to do. You can fill your itinerary with cabaret shows, muay Thai fighting, dead skin cell eating fish pedicures, and karaoke. All these events are in the center of lots of street vendors and shops.
If you are in the mood to shop in a cooler climate you can head down to Maya or Kad Suan Kaew, which are the local malls. Maya is one of the higher-end malls that I have seen; prices range from anywhere between 180 to 680 baht for clothing. It is really beautiful outside and fully equipped with a state of the art theatre inside. If you get hungry while shopping, Maya and Kad Suan Kaew have food markets and restaurant on their basement floor and I must say everything I have eaten at both places have been delicious.
Fresh food is easy to find if you head over to Muang Mai market, you can find interesting things like fresh fish, fried insects, tropical fruit, and Thai medicinal plants. Muang Mai market is the ideal place to shop if you are planning to cook or pick up medicinal plants for experiments, since you know that the ingredients will be fresh. If you are not dizzy yet with all the shopping, there are other places to shop here in Chiang Mai like the umbrella factory, Jade shop, silk factory, and the silver factory. The options here are endless and your empty wallet sets the limit.
~Jasmin