With prices for food sky rocketing — rice, eggs, mama noodles, chicken…well just about everything — it is getting harder and harder to find a bargain. And a quality bargain? Forget about it.

I’m sure everyone is finally sobering up after this year’s Songkran celebration and looking forward to the peace and quiet that we enjoy so much here in Chiang Mai. However, all of that peace and quiet will have to be put on hold on May 7th when Chiang Mai receives yet another influential Thai DJ into our fair city at what could be one of the most unlikely of venues.

Whether it is your classic Thai, a barbeque straight from Korea or some interesting Japanese fusion, where better than to enjoy the flavours of Asia than in, well, Asia. Enjoy these three newly opened venues in Chiang Mai this month.

Your aircon is struggling in the heat? Got out of town guests visiting and need to put them up somewhere different? Want to get away from it all for a weekend? Look no further.

It’s no secret that the fashion industry has a dark side. As our world becomes more consumed by consumption, demand for products to be produced faster, en masse and cheaply, rises. In order to meet these demands, basic human rights are often lost in the process.

Design Ideas by Renee Pun, Owner of Evolve Boxing Studio

I find it is usually a good idea when writing about something one doesn’t know much about to kick off with a quote from someone who is a bit of an expert. So here goes. “Cricket needs brightening up a bit. My solution is to let the players drink at the beginning of the game, not after. It always works in our picnic matches.”

As a parent, it is always good to keep those little ones engaged and learning throughout their childhood, but finding the right place can be hard. Why not look into these three centres for child development and education and treat your little ones to some new forms of exciting enrichment!

Mix Restaurants & Bars are spreading all over not just Thailand, but South East Asia, making it one serious Chiang Mai success story. From Myanmar to Thailand, the restaurant with a thousand fusions is now opening its latest branch back in its hometown of Chiang Mai, in the North Hill Golf Club on the Hang Dong road.

Citylife has been hosting the northern chapter of the Junior Dublin Literary Awards for Thailand for 10 years. Each year we send letters out to as many schools as we can in the north asking Thai nationality students between the ages of 14-18 to send us an 800 word essay on a theme which changes annually. This year’s theme was World with No Boundaries. This month we are featuring the essay “A World with No Boundaries: Inferno or Paradise?” by 17-year-old Natanin Rachapradit from Naresuan University Secondary Demonstration School, who came second place in the northern regional finals.

I arrived at the Children’s Advocacy Center Thailand (ACT Center), Chiang Mai’s new strategy to address human trafficking, formally opened in February 2016, on a sunny Thursday afternoon. Despite the serious and urgent reasons for the centre’s existence, upon entering the back yard filled with luscious green plants, a basketball court, and a trampoline, then being greeted by friendly volunteers, I found myself instantly feeling welcomed and at ease. This emotional response is exactly what ACT Center wants for at-risk children with whom they interact.

Are you tired of the same old mass-produced clothing? Searching for something with a bit of character? Luckily, Chiang Mai has many places to find some pre-loved vintage gems. Check out these 7 great spots to score a second-hand steal!

One day thirty odd years ago my family’s old maid Pa Bud asked us to drive her to her village in Mae Taeng to visit her sister who was ill. On arrival we found that the sister was not only fully recovered but out working the paddy fields. With nothing left to do, we wandered around the charming but very poor Ping-side village, and eventually came to Pa Bud’s house, where she led us up steep wooden stairs into a dark room infused with the most rancid smell I’d ever encountered.