Quick questions - does anyone know how easy it would be to get a taxi from Chiang Mai to Wat Doi Suthep? Do we hire one to take us there, wait and return or are there available taxis there to take us back? Thanks in advance.

Any taxi in CM will take you there. The taxis have a posted price for this trip. The taxi will wait for you and bring you back.

Thanks for the response. Any idea of the cost for five (or whether we can even fit five in a taxi!!)? Thanks.

5 will be the problem as most taxis are only corollas seeting 4 at best...

get your hotel to order a van for you, or seek one out at the airport, just outside...

you need to specify that you want him to wait for you..

you might catch another taxi back from there but likely it will not hold 5

you might want to seek out poon or some other driver from this board to help you in advance or seek help from your hotel in advance...

CM is pretty large so you probably will want other transportation help during your visit

Curious to know what others pay a driver to take them around CM for a day. I pay Jit up to 2000 baht (and that includes a tip). He has been our driver for years. When we first hired him, he was 1000 baht per day, and that included the tip.

We usually hire Jit for the whole day, which can start at the airport at about 9am and end after a visit to the night market. It's a long day.

What do others pay?

Carol

As Bob says, no way will a taxi hold five of you. Expect to get two taxis. When I was last in CM a couple of years ago, the posted price for the trip to/from Doi Suthep was 250 baht. You can get your hotel to hire a van for you but it will likely cost more than two taxis.

The point about needing a car and driver in CM is a good one. CM is a huge, sprawling city with no public transportation system. You options are taxis, songthews (pick-up trucks with benches in the back), or tuk-tuks. While you can wander around the old city on foot, most places you'll want to visit or show will require wheels.

Carol. I wish I could remember for sure what we paid our driver two years ago for a full day... I think it was close to 2000 baht. Taxis have a per hour rate posted, and as I remember, the rate was about 250 baht per hour.

It's very easy. I just walked out the front door of my hotel and there were tons of taxis lined up. Happy Travels!

Actually we plan on heading up there after lunch. We will probably eat at Huen Phen near Wat Phra Singh. Anyone think there will be a problem finding 2 cabs at once there? Also should I have my hotel write directions in Thai? Thanks for all of the info!

The restaurant may need to call the cabs for you, as cabs aren't easy to hail in CM as they are in Bangkok.

No need to write Doi Suthep in Thai. Every taxi driver knows it. Do carry a hotel card with you, so you can shoe it to the taxi driver to take you back to your hotel.

excellent plan, eat and have rest. call taxis for you....they may even know a van