Whats On Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai has been listed as the number five best city in the world, 2009, by Travel and Leisure.

I agree Chiang Mai is a great city to live. The food is amazingly good. The weather is great. The people are quite friendly and fun to talk to. There are mountains, rivers, waterfalls and lots of nature to enjoy. The cost of living is very reasonable. There are so many good things about Chiang Mai, and I can see why it was listed in the top ten best cities in the world.

The down side of Chaing Mai is that driving in the city can be very stressful. Chiang Mai is an older, historic city. The streets are narrow and disorganized.  There are small motor scooters flying everywhere, lawless for the most part, some with an entire family (three and four on a scooter) and  a baby in the basket!  Drivers in both cars and motor scooters will pull out in front of you without looking or warning at any time, all the time. Bangkok is worse of course!

I am so happy to see that Chaing Mai was listed by Travel and Leisure magazine as a top city. It is also interesting that Bangkok (#3), Luang Prabang (#7, Laos), Siem Reap (#18, Angkor Wat, Cambodia) are on the same Travel and Leisure World’s Best List, and very close to Chaing Mai.

After our last review of Miguel’s Nong Hoi, we thought we would stop by and try some fajitas. According to Wikipedia, a fajita “is a generic term used in Tex-Mex cuisine, referring to grilled meat served on a flour or corn tortilla. Fajitas today include chicken, pork, shrimp and all cuts of beef. In restaurants, the meat is often cooked with onions and bell peppers. Popular condiments are shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, pico de gallo, cheese, and tomato.”

The most important part of a fajita is the tortilla. Unfortunately, the tortilla at Miguel’s is the worst tortilla we have ever eaten. Miguel’s tortillas were soggy, oily and brittle. These tortillas were so bad, they ruined the experience of eating Mexican food, and I could not finish the meal and left Miguels hungry vowing never to return.

After all, just a few blocks down the road you can eat delicious Thai food for 25 Baht a plate, cooked nearly to perfection with rice! Why pay 160 Baht for a soggy, oily, brittle tortilla???

It can be quite difficult for foreigners visiting or living in Chiang Mai to find a good auto body shop.    That is why we can recommend Number One.  We had a very good experience with Louis (the owner) and his team at #1.

• Number One Auto Body Shop
• 227 Mu 4 New Chiang Mai - Sankampang Road
• T. Tasala, A. Muang. J. Chiang Mai
• Telephone:  053-245-688
• Mobile: 081-595-5588

Number One provided great service and their paint matched very well.   Highly recommended.

Also, I want to thank the folks at AXA Insurance in Chiang Mai for recommending #1.  I have had a very good experience with AXA in Chiang Mai (but luckily, no claims yet!) AXA Branch Manager Khun Anothai Buranathai is a great guy!

On the advise of our hotel in Chiang Mai, we drove to Mae Jo Golf Club outside of Chiang Mai.  Even with a working GPS system, it was not easy to find Mae Jo.  There were few signs along the way, but after stopping a number of times, positioning with our GPS and looking at maps, we got there!

Unfortunately, getting their was a huge disappointment.   There was no staff outside to greet us or provide any service what-so-ever.   It was around 4:30 PM on a Sunday and the course seemed empty, the pro shop was closed, and only one table of beer drinkers were in the club house.

I ordered a “Thai Ice Tea” but instead, got a glass of Lipton, which is not what I asked for.  The menu was not interesting, and there was no service.  The Mae Joe Golf Club was like a ghost town!

There were no signs, no maps, and after asking a number of people, I found the driving range.  It was a barren field with no targets, no flags, no greens, no traps, nothing.   There was no service.   It was very disappointing.  In a nutshell, I do not recommend Mae Joe Golf Club and will not return anytime soon.  There are much better clubs in Chiang Mai.

In fact, we highly recommend Stardome in Chiang Mai.  Excellent service.  Great atmosphere.  You will be greeted when you drive up.  Caddies are there from early morning until 10pm to take care of your clubs.  This list goes on and on.  Great food and menu.  Nice coffee shop with super iced lattes.   Lots of very nice staff.  Top quality driving range.   Also, second to Stardome, we recommend Lanna Golf.  More on these great clubs later.  Avoid Mae Jo Golf Club.