Last Day in Chiang Mai

November 3, 2025

I know I have been talking a lot about my past relationship with Chiang Mai but I walk around the city and all kinds of stuff comes up so I'm not even going to apologize. We haven't started riding yet so what am I to do but walk around Chiang Mai and be reminded of something or other.

I can tell you about a couple of new developments in Chiang Mai, the first being a bit of a miracle; there are no street dogs! I never ever would have thought that this Buddhist country would ever do anything about the mangy, diseased, horrible looking, skinny and very unhappy dogs that wandered all over not just Chiang Mai but the entire country. Most of them were so far gone I always thought the most humane thing to do would be to put them to sleep. But I was always told that Buddhists don't do that. That was the dog's lot in life and that was that. But all the dogs are now gone and thank Buddha.

I have been bitten twice by street dogs and have gone through the rabies protocol twice. What a hassle that was. The temple dogs were always the most aggressive. It was as if they were protecting the monks who fed them a little bit. There were always large packs of dogs living at or near temples. It was terrifying at night walking anywhere because at night the dogs gained courage and would be more apt to not let you pass or try to attack. I hated the situation for decades and it never seemed to change until now. And it changed in a huge way. There are absolutely no street dogs anywhere. This is huge! I have not been able to find out where they all went. I have the feeling that as there were more and more expats and tourists in Chiang Mai they possibly complained loudly enough that the authorities finally listened. Or, maybe the Thais themselves, who now have dogs as pets (they never used to because dogs are considered the lowliest animal in incarnation terms), came to realize that dogs are very loveable creatures and they shouldn't be ignoring the state of health of the street dogs. It was probably a combination of both. They certainly didn't want to have the reputation of being the rabies capital of Thailand. Anyway, it's an astounding development for Chiang Mai and so nice to be able to walk down any tiny alley not being afraid or have the sadness of their lives overwhelm you.

Another pretty huge change is that they have been slowly and systematically cleaning up the water in the moat for years. The old city walls are a mile each side so it's a big job to clean up four miles of a big wide water ditch. There is no garbage in it anymore, the water level is higher and they have installed aerators here and there. In some places they've planted water lilies. The water is still a muddy brown but that's true of every river or body of water in Thailand unless you are way up in the mountains. It's from the clay in the soil. But the moat looks so much nicer.

The tree with all the visible roots is a Bodhi Tree, sacred because it is the kind of tree the Buddha attained enlightenment underneath. If one plants itself anywhere that is where it will grow because no one dares to get rid of it.

On the south side, near Chiang Mai Gate, there are ten geese that are donating their time to help clean the moat's water. I'm not sure how the geese are accomplishing that but there must be some reason there are geese. They have their own little floating thatch house and there are signs to not feed them or throw trash in the water because it may harm them. and also to not tease them. The geese seem very happy in the moat. It screams of some University student project on how to make the moat's water even cleaner.

Don't feed them, don't say bad things about them and don't drop litter into the moat. That is their cute little floating house.

It's still the rainy season which means we have been dodging downpours, another reason we aren't doing anything major again today. We walked around looking at all the flowers everywhere and exploring areas inside the old part which we had never been. One square mile is a lot of old part. We were told that the rainy season started two months early, sometime in mid April, and has continued with above average rainfall. It's made all the plants super happy and green. The rains normally end around November 15th and it can be nearly rain free after that until next June. But the old systems don't follow the same rules anymore and anything can now happen.

We walked up and down narrow sois new to us. We got caught in downpours and tested out our raingear: Andrea's $1.40 poncho and my old raincoat that is losing its lining which means it leaves a trail of tiny flecks of white everywhere it passes. We changed more money since we know from experience, the rate of exchange never gets better throughout the winter in Thailand. The Thai's don't peg their Baht to the Dollar but artificially raise its value every winter during high season for tourists. It's a smart move on their part but it's also irritating to me. And, the rate of exchange is always worse in the smaller towns we'll be heading to. We ate breakfast at my new favorite tray food restaurant and fully intended to eat our final Chiang Mai dinner at a restaurant that serves the northern Thai specialty of Gang Heng Lay - a complicated to make savory specialty including pork that is hard to find. But, we found the restaurant closed for no apparent reason. These things happen which is always one more lesson in letting go and then being able to turn on a dime. Instead, we went back to the Burmese restaurant we had discovered so we could support them a bit more. I don't know why there are never any tourists eating there. I guess most people don't know a lot about Burmese food and therefore don't know what they are missing.

Loy Krathong is basically a festival of light and the markets are full of bags of little clay candles. Cheap. 50 Baht = $1.55 for a whole bag!

Weed shops are everywhere in Thailand. This photo was taken through the front window of the store.

Which came first, the weed shops or the wire messes you see everywhere? Does one have anything to do with the other? These are the things I ponder as we walk around town.

Little paths abound in the old section of Chiang Mai.

It was one of those days when you do a bunch of wrapping up knowing that tomorrow is on-the-move day; onto our bikes for the first time. I don't want to tell you how out of shape we both are but our enthusiasm outweighs our shape. We know the route tomorrow to Lamphun, the road lined with massive tall trees. It's like following the yellow brick road except there won't be scary monkeys flying from tree to tree nor will we melt if it rains. We'll simply be gliding along happy to be once again riding in Thailand where there is delicious food every meter and a half. Seriously.

lovebruce

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Brent HirakIt feels like longing and being reunited, and just a little bit of bittersweet
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2 months ago

Michael RiceBack in 2014 there were dogs everywhere especially in the temples. Jocelyn and I frequently stayed in temples at time downright frightened of their aggressive behavior to us and other dogs. At time the monks would see how scared we were and would signal us to move our tent into a prayer room. It was so calming to wake up to the monks chanting at 4am. Occasional when we rode into a temple for the night an elder monk would have me follow him to a toilet closet. Inside would be a throne ontop of a squat toilet. Elder respect!
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2 months ago

Bruce LellmanTo Michael RiceYes, temples were always the worst for vicious dogs. It's just hard to believe that at least in Chiang Mai all the dogs are gone. Since that is the case it may spread slowly to the rest of the country. But I have the feeling the huge numbers of tourists that visit Chiang Mai is the main reason for the Thais doing something about the horrible dog situation. Anyway, it's a start.
Nice of the monks to take special care of you.
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2 months ago

Mark LellmanWait a minute. Weed Shops? When did that become legal? I thought weed possession was the death penalty.
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2 months ago

Bruce LellmanTo Mark LellmanSo many things like this are politically driven. It was the guy who took over in a military coup in 2012 who liked being Prime Minister and wanted to somehow become a legitimate Prime Minister. That meant that after a few years of being P.M. he had to run in an election. One of the things he did was make weed legal in order to get the young vote. Now weed shops are so common in Thailand that even though the current government would like to reverse the years old decision I really don't know how they can.
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2 months ago

Ron SuchanekSpeaking of weed, when I was in high school, every once I awhile someone would come up around something called Thai stick. I wouldn't have indulged of course, due to my high moral character, but my friends did. Bunch of miscreants.
Anyway, have you heard of it?
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2 months ago

Bruce LellmanTo Ron SuchanekNever heard of it.
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2 months ago