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Photo by Stefan Fussan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Chiang Mai
Thailand · Southeast Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Chiang Mai
Tap a month for its page
- JanJChiang Mai in January: sweet spot, busy
- FebFChiang Mai in February: sweet spot, busy
- MarMChiang Mai in March: ok
- AprAChiang Mai in April: avoid
- MayMChiang Mai in May: avoid
- JunJChiang Mai in June: avoid
- JulJChiang Mai in July: avoid
- AugAChiang Mai in August: avoid
- SepSChiang Mai in September: avoid
- OctOChiang Mai in October: ok
- NovNChiang Mai in November: sweet spot, busy
- DecDChiang Mai in December: sweet spot, busy
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
Dry season: Nov–Apr, 6 or fewer rainy days a month.
Plan this trip
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Things to do
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Things to do in Chiang Mai
- Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep The quintessential image of Chiang Mai with its large gilded chedi, visible from the city on a clear day.
- Wat Chedi Luang Almost in the centre of Chiang Mai are the remains of a massive chedi that toppled in the great earthquake of 1545.
- Wat Phra Singh Probably Chiang Mai's best-known temple, housing the Phra Singh image, completed between 1385 and 1400.
- Doi Suthep A ride for the temples and sunset to Doi Suthep is a rewarding trip with great views of the city.
- Wat Chiang Man The oldest temple in the city.
- Wat Si Suphan The Ubosot building of the temple is completely covered with a layer of silver, particularly impressive when illuminated in the evening.
- Wat Umong The name means "tunnel temple".
Tours and tickets in Chiang Mai
Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank
Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Chiang Mai), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.
Month by month
No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27° | 2d | 71% | 10.4h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Feb | 30° | 1d | 61% | 10.8h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Mar | 34° | 1d | 53% | 10.8h | ok | 34C max, 1 rainy day |
| Apr | 35° | 3d | 57% | 10.9h | avoid | extreme heat: 17 days over 35C |
| May | 33° | 12d | 72% | 10.5h | avoid | 33C max, 12 rainy days |
| Jun | 31° | 11d* | 81% | 9.5h | avoid | 31C max, 11 rainy days |
| Jul | 30° | 15d* | 85% | 8.0h | avoid | 30C max, 15 rainy days |
| Aug | 29° | 25d | 87% | 7.6h | avoid | monsoon: 25 rainy days, 449mm |
| Sep | 30° | 17d | 86% | 9.1h | avoid | monsoon: 17 rainy days, 343mm |
| Oct | 29° | 11d | 83% | 9.7h | ok | 29C max, 11 rainy days |
| Nov | 29° | 4d | 79% | 10.1h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
| Dec | 27° | 2d | 75% | 10.3h | sweet spot busy | busier than usual |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the old city: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.* Rainy days in June and July are as the weather station at Chiang Mai (2 km away) counts them, where it and the model disagree on a wet month (WMO 48327, 2017–2026).
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Chiang Mai's November days now average 28.6°C, 1.2°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 4 of 12 months are clearly warmer, 3 clearly cooler.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | 28.0° | 31.9° | 35.3° | 36.7° | 33.1° | 30.2° | 30.1° | 29.7° | 29.2° | 28.5° | 27.5° | 26.3° |
| 2017–26 | 27.1° | 30.2° | 33.8° | 35.0° | 33.3° | 31.3° | 30.0° | 29.4° | 29.6° | 29.2° | 28.6° | 27.3° |
| Change | -0.8° | -1.7° | -1.5° | -1.6° | +0.2° | +1.0° | -0.1° | -0.2° | +0.4° | +0.7° | +1.2° | +1.0° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Chiang Mai is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Bangkok
- from Kolkata
- from Ho Chi Minh City
- from Hong Kong
- from Kuala Lumpur
- from Singapore
- from Chennai
- from Hyderabad
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Chiang Mai, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and B and C and F plugs at 220 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Baht. UK Foreign Office: avoid all but essential travel to parts. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions. Everything for Thailand: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Cards work in malls, hotels and tourist restaurants; carry 20 and 100 baht notes for street food, markets and taxis. Many small sellers use PromptPay QR, which mostly needs a Thai bank app.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not expected; Thais round taxi fares to an easy number and sometimes leave small change in restaurants. Do not tip on top of a service charge.
Getting around Chiang Mai
- Apps — Rides: Bolt, Grab. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: LINE, WhatsApp.
The RTC Chiang Mai City Bus follows just a few routes so far, but they quite fit the average traveler's needs, including from/to the airport, and are air-conditioned. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Chiang Mai, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — 191 (any emergency) · ambulance 1669 · fire 199 · tourist police 1155.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (14)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/getting-help
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Thailand
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Bangkok
- grab.com/th/en
- bolt.eu/en/cities/bangkok
- metro.bemplc.co.th/EMV-Contactless?lang=en
- nationthailand.com/news/policy/40063062
- huahin.localplus.city/2026/04/07/bts-skytrain-prepares-for-emv-contactless-ticketing-on-green-and-gold-lines
- phuketsmartbus.com/payment
- tagthai.com/explore/p/payment-for-foreign-tourist-in-thailand
- developers.google.com/maps/coverage
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- nipl.com/uploads/NPCI_International_Press_Release_LIQUID_GROUP_TO_POWER_UPI_QR_ACCEPTANCE_IN_10_ASIAN_MARKETS_bcb05ffeee.pdf
Chiang Mai in pictures
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Stefan Fussan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Stefan Fussan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Chiang Mai is like
Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่) is the hub of northern Thailand. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery, Chiang Mai-Lamphun Rd (about 800 m north of the Holiday Inn, east side of the Ping River). A place of history and remembrance. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Chiang Mai Flower Festival. It is a three day festival staged every year starting the first Friday in February (in 2026, due to elections one week later). More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX IATA). Handles both domestic and regional international flights. The airport is situated really close to the city, just 3 km southwest of the city centre, 10–15 minutes away by car. More on Wikivoyage
- Staying safe
- Fire: 053-241777 Police - emergencies: 191 Rescue Team: 053-218888 Tourist police: 1155, 053-278559 Chiang Mai, like most of Thailand, is quite safe, even at night. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Chiang Mai, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Chiang Mai
Also in Thailand
Nearby
- Luang Prabang Laos · 353 km
- Hanoi Vietnam · 760 km
- Angkor Wat Cambodia · 797 km
- Ha Long Bay Vietnam · 876 km
Kind of place
Chiang Mai is in Thailand, Southeast Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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