Valentine’s day is upon us again! Why not take your special boo to some of the coolest craft beer hangouts in town?

Escape the heat and send your visitors to check in to a hotel and take a nap after a long day exploring Chiang Mai. With so much to choose from, you’re spoilt for choice.

The smoky season will soon blanket Chiang Mai, causing serious health issues for residents and visitors. As we all know, the annual smoke that plagues Chiang Mai comes from several sources; forest fires are a major source, along with the smoke from farmers burning their crop residue in open fields.

The anachronistic term arranged marriage conjures up all sorts of, generally negative, images — terrified child brides, life-long servitude, and misogyny. So, when Citylife heard of a happily married couple who had entered into their wedded bliss via family arrangements, we couldn’t resist interviewing them for our Valentine’s issue.

Kengtung is the largest of the 33 Shan statelets and for centuries was ruled by Shan sawbwas, similar to Chiang Mai’s jaos, or royalty, who would pay tribute to various powerful kingdoms in the region. Members of its royal family have often intermarried with ours and the families through to today share many relatives with one another.

For students at Payap University, the old photocopy shop couple are well known. Every day they rock up on a black vintage Vespa, both kitted out in matching cowboy-style outfits; double denim one day, leather chaps the next. Chumpol ‘Uan’ Promchitmart, 62, and Saisunee ‘Tuk’ Khampunya, 56, have, for the last 30 years, been working at the university in their little shop. Some would say they are a match made in heaven, others would say the Wild West.

Our Citylife Garden Fair is going to be spectacular this year! As the event has grown and its ambitions expanded, we have found it to have outgrown our wee media company. Thankfully over the past two years a group of volunteers have stepped up and helped us turn our amateur little af(fair) into something which is going to be quite extraordinary this year.

I have just returned from an appointment with my tailor. It’s my first time. For any chap such a statement surely marks a pivotal point in his existence. I now know what all the fuss is about. I finally appreciate why James Bond would never consider ending one daring mission to save the world and starting another before first driving his Aston Martin to Savile Row to visit his tailor and why Michael Caine’s cheeky cockney Charlie Croker would not have considered embarking on The Italian Job without first updating his wardrobe with a bit of well-fitting Carnaby Street chic.

So many restaurants, so much fun to review! Continue your Chiang Mai food odyssey with these latest offerings…

“I cried for three straight months when he left,” said Monthathip ‘Mona’ Thukjai, 24, a pretty young medical technologist at Chiang Mai University, giggling self-consciously. “It was a personal matter and one we weren’t clear on, but I had just bought my ticket to go see him when he left. At first I thought I would cancel, but then I decided that I needed to show my support, so I went anyway.”