6 Best Shopping in Chiang Mai, Thailand

This is the biggest and best paper outlet in Chiang Mai. On its first floor is a gallery whose works include paintings done by elephants at the Elephant Conservation Center near Lampang.

The alternately handsome and crumbling colonial-, Burmese- and Chinese-style houses along Old Market Road date to the late 1860s, when British and Burmese teak companies and Chinese traders lived here. Today the street is again a hub of trade when a market sets up every Saturday and Sunday from 4 to 9 pm. The 1.2-mile area is lined with stalls selling tasty street food (noodles, summer rolls, satay, sweets, fresh fruit), textiles, contemporary and traditional clothing, artwork, jewelry, and assorted souvenirs. There's always live music, too, which adds to the atmosphere.

Unlike Chiang Mai markets, this market is not crowded, and you can make your way down the road at a more leisurely pace.

This collection of modern buildings constructed in Lanna-style and connected by walkways around an inner courtyard has the aesthetic of a small village and is part cafe-restaurant, part art gallery, part textile studio, and part retail shop. The clothing, accessories, and home decor items for sale are all handmade and local, with the Kalm brand. 

The justifiably famous Night Bazaar (also called the Night Market), on Chang Klan Road, is a kind of open-air department store filled with stalls selling everything from inexpensive souvenirs to pricey antiques. In the late afternoon and evening, traders set up tented stalls along Chang Klan Road and the adjoining streets. This is a market for tourists; you're expected to bargain, so don't be shy. But remain polite, and don't haggle over tiny sums.

Patricia Cheesman has been working with local textiles since 1988, though she first encountered them in the 1970s, when working for the UN in Laos. Today she and her daughter Lamorna run a collective of female weavers, designers, and embroiderers called Weavers for the Environment (WFE). There's another branch on Soi 1 Nimmanhaemin Road.

The celebrated Thai artist Wattana Wattanapun runs this gallery whose eclectic artworks—textiles and works on paper—represent the full range of Thailand's artistic expression. Gallery staff are welcoming and knowledgeable.