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Shopping
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Chiang Mai is a great place for
handicrafts shopping
. The road to San Kamphaeng, which extends due east for 13km from the end of Thanon Charoen Muang, is lined with craft shops and factories. The biggest concentrations are at Bo Sang, the "umbrella village", 9km from town, and at San Kamphaeng itself, dedicated chiefly to silk-weaving. White buses to San Kamphaeng leave Chiang Mai from Lamyai Market (every 30min; 30 min), going via the train station.
The other shopper's playground is the night bazaar , around the junction of Chang Klan and Loi Kroa roads, where bumper-to-bumper street stalls sell just about anything produced in Chiang Mai; they open at about 5pm. During the day, the riverside Warorot market , north of Thanon Tha Pae, has lots of cheap cotton, linen and ceramics; there's a late-night flower market here too. Chiang Mai has several non-profit-making shops, which ensure that proceeds go to the hilltribes. These include The Products Foundation, on Thanon Suthep in front of Wat Suan Dork, which sells cotton, silk and hilltribe gear; Thai Tribal Crafts, 204 Thanon Bamrungrat off Thanon Kaeo Nawarat, which has good embroidered shoulder bags; and Golden Triangle People's Art and Handicrafts, 137/3 Thanon Nantharam, which works mainly with Akha women.
For new
books and maps
, try Suriwong at 54/1 Thanon Sri Dornchai and DK Books at 79/1 Thanon Kotchasarn. Second-hand bookshops include The Library Service at 21/1 Soi 2, Thanon Ratchamanka (nearer Thanon Moonmuang) and Lost Bookshop, 34/3 Thanon Ratchamanka. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Thailand,
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