The slow and gently Lanna service is abundant and the relaxed pace of the city makes it a perfect place to leave time at the doorstep and escape into a world of luxurious massages, beautiful aromas and the odd crack of the neck.

Japanese restaurants are popping up across the city, and Chiang Mai is firmly established the best city for sashimi and sushi rolls north of Bangkok. Whether you’re looking for high end fancy slices served with all the toppings you can imagine, or cheap easy and delicious noodles and sashimi, we have you covered.

The sense of peace and welcome is accentuated by the clean design, in which the calming influence of natural wood is prominently featured.

You wander down to the ground floor, and next to the relaxing fountains, you discover the Nimman Bar and Grill.

A singer croons over the mic, singing soulfully. His fingers move nimbly across a shiny electric guitar. Bass notes bump smoothly in the background. The bassist nods his head to the music, glancing over at the drummer. The squealing lead guitar rises above the blend of sounds. It quickly builds to a crescendo, then wanes back down again.

For many, it will undoubtedly come as an immersion in not so often highlighted aspects of life in Thailand. In five enthralling novellas, this book delves deep into the true nature of this often-idealised country.

Our fresh-faced intern takes a morning jog around the moat and gets excited about his time here in Chiang Mai.

Don’t let the rain keep you stuck at home when there is so much going on!

While most after-school extracurricular activities focus on sports, fine arts, or other academic related fields such as Model United Nations or Homework Club, Unity Concord International School (UCIS) is making a difference with a newly formed club called Interact Club.

Jalae Jamuu, this video’s star-performer, resides in “Pumuen” village, a 58-household 300-person community of ethnic Black Lahu peoples. His quaint locale, comprised of bamboo constructed houses encompassed by villagers’ livelihood supporting cash crops (e.g., tea and fruit), was established in the 1970s. Around 1880 is when the earliest inhabitants of this highlands area immigrated from Myanmar to this location.

So, if you have money – and I know many of you do! – I would like to ask you to please consider digging into your pockets and kindly supporting Warm Heart Foundation’s biochar project.

The international schools all over Thailand are home to a plethora of confused third culture kids, or TCKs. If you don’t already know, the term “third culture kid” refers to individuals raised in a culture other than their own native country for a significant part of their early development years.

As a first step in my investigation into ‘Thai Theatre’, I decided to turn to a familiar setting to collect information: a university. Chiang Mai University proved to be the perfect place to start, with a thriving Fine Arts department and a brand new Music and Performing Arts programme. I was eager to see what Thai theatre students were learning while preparing for the professional world, and what exactly that professional world entailed.

Earlier this year I wrote an editorial promising you change. While I highly doubt you spend much time concerning yourself over Citylife’s imminent changes, some of you have commented to me that you have yet to see any.

Citylife sat down with Asst. Prof. Dr. Somporn Chatara, Head of Environmental Science Research Centre (ESRC), Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, to learn all about their projects which include working with a team of NASA scientists and Taiwanese academics on matters of air pollution.

In 2001, Ukrainian American linguist Aneta Pavlenko put out a survey asking one simple question: “Do you feel like a different person sometimes when you speak different languages?” She received responses from over one thousand multilingual speakers from around the world — nearly two-thirds of whom responded in the affirmative.

To the avid and even casual golfer nothing can be more enjoyable and relaxing than spending a few hours playing a beautifully designed and well maintained 18 or nine-hole course. These seven golf courses are among the finest in the province.

For many of us, bars are part of our lives: where we meet friends, where we hangout, where we call our second home. Here are a few places where everybody can – if you wish, and not worried about stalkers – know your name.

If you are in the mood to just go somewhere and hang out, then here are a few venues you may want to check out.

Having succeeded in being the go-to place for all players along the supply chain, Hillkoff has recently taken a step back to reexamining itself and has come to the conclusion that it must change its core business. The change is to become a responsible and sustainable business.

“We literally live in the house,” he explained to me. I was immediately intrigued. I had been planning to stop by for a while and was excited to finally have a Friday free to check out the place.

With humanity’s exponential growth on so many fronts, from science to technology, multiculturalism to progressive social leaps, it is imperative that we prepare our youth, equipping them with the right tools and pathways for learning, so that they can walk into that future with confidence and skills.

Because of your support, BNSCLC and its students now have access to an activity stage to organise activities that contribute to the student’s education, development and social life. And of course, for community events such as graduation ceremonies, presentations given by the students and welcoming events for sponsors and partners.

Inthakin Festival is an 8-day running festival which takes place according to the lunar calendar – usually between the months of May and June. This year, the festivities have started on Thursday, May 30th, and will end on the evening of June 6th.

Chang Moi was an old city street renowned for its rattan. Today, generations-old rattan shops have been replaced by trendy cafes and we decided to check them out.

Chiang Mai Foodies, add a notch to your belt, because you aren’t going to want to miss a bite of this feast.

As a journalist, you’re trained to observe as much as possible in life, and it certainly didn’t take this scribe very long to realise that Chiang Mai stands second to nowhere in the world as a city with a distinctively quirky side to it.

I recently visited Vietnam, the latter and a lot more all hit home. In early April, I found myself on a bus riding along a highway somewhere between Hanoi and Halong Bay. Suddenly the vehicle stopped and we were told we would be spending 45 minutes at what was described to us as the Hong Ngoc Humanity Centre.