Full Chiang Mai guide coming soon!

Subscribe to my email list and you’ll be SURE to be notified when it’s ready!  (By the end of September 2018 for sure… sorry for the delay for this much overdue product! I’m working on finding a new intern to help me put this together!)

 

Where to Stay:

• Old City (inside the square moat)
• oe Nimman area (around Nimmanhaeman Road, around Maya Mall)

My Favorite Places I Eat:

• Wrap Master, in Maya Mall
• Khao Soi Mae Sai, the best khaosoi
• Salad Concept, 2 locations
• Jok Sompet, the best 24 hr Thai spot, best chicken
• Food4Thought, bomb wraps & organic food

My Favorite Gyms:

• CrossFit Chiang Mai, duh
• Go Gym is the other main one, cheap for a day pass or monthly

Nightlife:

• Zoe in Yellow, in old city. The main touristy party spot, a collection of outside bars.
• Maya Rooftop
• Warm Up Bar – local, Nimman Road
• After hours clubs
  • Spicy – most popular
  • Sound Up – more local

Getting Around:

• I personally rent a motorbike wherever I am in Southeast asia, so if you’re up for it, rent a scooter to get around
• Grab (download it – the Uber of SE Asia)
• Red Trucks! Aka Songtaews – like a hop on hop off bus / taxi fusion, just flag them down and say where you wanna go (use landmarks), and if they’re going in that direction, they say Okay and hop in, or if not they say No. When you wanna hop off, ring the red button on the ceiling and they will stop. Often they will drop you on the closest main road to your destination… its a bus-taxi fusion.

Things to Do:

• Ride a motorbike up to Doi Suthep Mountain to the Golden Temple. Great cruise!  Maybe not for first time riders although that was my first motorbike ride ever.
• Explore around Old City: bicycle, walk, or scooter
• Explore around Nimman: bicycle, walk, or scooter

Tips & Tricks:

 

How to handle SIM Cards & 4G Packages!

Here’s the best way to do it to get the most data for best price folks!

How fast is the 4G in Thailand? The 4G is fast. It’s 4G! Like 30/30 mbps or better most of the time.

 

*Update Jan 2019 – dial *700*972# to change language to English! ?

** Another plan I’m using – 30-day Unlimited data @6mbps which is fine for everything *777*7211# – been working good.

 

Step 1: Get your AIS SIM card on arrival at the airport

• Just get the cheapest package, or Traveler SIM 7 day unlimited is fine.  You just need the SIM.
• Your days or data will expire eventually, then…

Step 2: Top up’ aka get more data:

Option 1: Top up at any of the orange machines, outside most 7-11’s.

• Hit English > enter your Thai phone number like this: 092-123-4567 (use 0 instead of the +66 area code. Dial *545# to find your Thai number, or in settings>phone on iPhone )
• Select top-up amount. Always top-up at least 20-50 baht extra than your desired package cuz it will charge a fee.
• Enter cash (will not give you change, just extra balance)
• You should get an SMS confirmation. Done.

Option 2: OR top up ONLINE! At mobiletopup.com… it works! Can pay with Credit Card, Paypal, or Bitcoin!

 

Step 3: Activate a data package!

You must activate some package after topping up or internet won’t work. Sometimes it does but very slow.

This is the best plan I found to get the most data for the cheapest. They are 7-10 day plans, but because of this you get lots of data for low price. Good for high data users and instagrammers like me. If you know of any other 30-day plans that have 15Gb or more lmk!

Dial *501*3# to see the packages menu.

• > choose the amount of GB you want on the first screen. I choose the highest option, 5Gb.
• > then choose the days that you want it to last, they are different prices. I choose 10 days.
• > then reply 1 to confirm.

Or I just dial *501*3751# to automatically confirm the 5Gb 10-day for 175 baht.

You should get an SMS confirmation.

I repeat this every 10 days or when my data is up. If your data runs out, you will get an SMS message. If your 10 days runs out, I don’t get an SMS… my internet will just stop working and I’ll realize it

[On AIS you can dial *545# to find your phone number]

If you’re sticking around, or need SUPER fast speeds:

How to access the AIS SUPER WIFI (100/100mbps public Wifi)

This is the public wifi “AIS SUPER WIFI” that’s in every Starbucks, TomToms, Malls, and other places. It’s so fast for uploading videos! I use it every day!

• top up 100 baht
• Dial *388*2211# to activate 1 month access (99 baht)
• it will SMS you a PIN to login to the wifi network. Username is your phone number.
• It auto deducts 99 baht from your topup balance each month!

 

 

 

If you need to unlock your phone

Your phone DOES need to be ‘unlocked’ to use a foreign SIM. Aka you can’t be in a contract with Verizon or T-Mobile or something.  If you ARE, some small phone shops can do ‘manually unlock’ it.  It’s safe, it’s different than ‘jailbreaking’.

In Chiang Mai the shop at the basement floor of Kad Suan Kaew mall has a sign adversing ‘PHONE UNLOCK’.  You might see other small phone shops around advertising this, in touristy areas.

In Bangkok there’s signs advertising this on Khaosan Road.