• Home
  • About Us
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • The Zoe Report
  • Haley’s Corner
facebook twitter instagram
Let's Just Travel
  • Home
  • About Us
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • The Zoe Report
  • Haley’s Corner
Home  >  Chiang Mai • Thailand  >  Scenes from the Street
Chiang MaiThailand

Scenes from the Street

Allison Sherman Posted onNovember 23, 2017 Comments are off 1720 Views

Chiang Mai is a really interesting place. I think it might be one of the “most different” places we’ve ever visited. Just driving around the town is so fascinating and you see so much that is new and unusual (to us anyway!). During our 4 months here I tried to capture some pictures of things that cause us to say “Kids, get off your phones and look around!”. Here’s a little taste of what we hope the kids saw…

Scooters. Everywhere. They squeeze in between the cars to get to the front of the line at intersections. Zoe compares them to bubbles that rise to the top in your soda. I am always sooo afraid we will hit one. Not sure why this guy felt like he needed a helmet but his son did not. Also, note the U-turn sign. The U-turn is a very common traffic pattern, but they leave very little room to wait until you have a space to make the turn, which backs up traffic in that lane.

 

By the end of the (very long) red light, there is be a huge group of scooters at the front. At least these guys were wearing helmets.

 

Three to a scooter is not uncommon. Helmets are fairly uncommon, however.

 

These flower things are sold at a lot of intersections. They are some arrangement you hang from your rear view mirror to bless your journey. I think these people had the right idea to bless their journey. We liked the guy who sold donuts at the intersection near our house.

 

Oh the wires! So. Many. Wires. They are everywhere. Interesting perspective, though… in some cases these wires are not considered an eyesore but instead, are evidence of progress, showing that telephones and electricity are prevalent in this area – which is something to be proud of.  It’s amazing what you can learn when you view things from another’s culture.

 

More wires. It was almost impossible to get a picture without wires in it.

 

Riding in the back of a pickup is very common. Although I hear it will be outlawed soon, which will be interesting to see if; 1) it’s actually enforced, and; 2) how will all those people get around!? Note the U-turn sign again. And the wires.

 

Ubers and taxis all have little amulets and charms to bless their vehicle. This is the amulet in our rental car.

 

In October, the country was in mourning for the king’s death. He died a year ago but they were having his official cremation and funeral while we were in Chiang Mai. The entire town – and people – were decked out in black and white in remembrance. It was very, very sweet.

 

I snapped this picture during the 2-week mourning period. Everyone was wearing black, or black and white. Stores all changed their employee uniforms to dark colors. We tried to dress in dark colors, too.

 

This is the owner of our house. She is demonstrating The Thai Squat. Thai people are typically so small, they can easily do this little squat where they fold up their legs when they sit. You see people sitting on the streets like this, seemingly very comfortable. I did not attempt it. It would be called the “Middle-Aged Mom Can’t Get Back Up Squat”.

 

This is Haley demonstrating the Modified Thai Squat. It’s not quite right, she needs to be more on her heels, not on the balls of her feet. Good try, though, Haley.

 

The parking garages are pretty tight so everyone usually parks “back-in” to make it easier to get out. There are a lot of white cars here too.

 

These shrines are everywhere, adorned with fresh flowers and usually some juice. We were told that many gods like red juice. Red is the color for financial blessings. And gods seem to like sugar. [Allison nods in reverance.]
You’ll be just walking around, minding your own business and BAM! a temple. They were so pretty, especially at night. Chiang Mai has 400 temples. FOUR HUNDRED!!

 

This is one way to secure your load. Nothing to see here, folks.

 

The ads, especially for women, were noticeably NOT Thai people. That made me sad.

 

Whitening products are everywhere. You almost could not find soap or lotion without the whitening. Likewise, whitening treatments at skin clinics were also prevalent. And when you do see an Asian in an ad anywhere, it’s obvious that they’ve lightened the skin of the models. This explains why Zoe gets so much attention wherever she goes, because she has such a light complexion. They love touching her, too.

 

These throat lozenges are everywhere. I didn’t understand it at first but I learned that during burning season, when the farmers around this area burn their fields to prepare for the new crops, the air quality is so poor and so irritating to the eyes and throat that everyone uses these.

 

These were the snack options at the movie theater. They do not want hacking patrons disturbing the movie, clearly!

 

Ads are in a mix of English and Thai, but with the Buddhist calendar. What, exactly, is a Sexy Car Wash?? And notice the complexion of all the models?

 

This is an example of a sidewalk. It has some space to walk for awhile, but then it has cars parked on it that you have to walk around. It’s VERY hard to walk down the street and look around. You have to constantly look in front of you for obstacles or barriers, and that’s if there is even a sidewalk to use.

 

During some festivals, they have rows and rows of food vendors, which make the almost non-existent sidewalk single-file. So people would walk on the street, right next to the cars. Zoe was bonding with the driver of this car, evidently.

 

This is one of the guards at our community gate. This one, in particular, is so cute with his salute every time we come through the gate. The others salute too, but his salute is the best. He’s our favorite. We caught him in mid salute here. We will probably need to donate to his early retirement fund due to carpel tunnel syndrome. Or heat stroke. It was probably 90 degrees when we took this picture.

 

 

To me, this is one of the best (most accurate) pictures of Chiang Mai. You have a modern building, the red truck (their bus/taxi system), a memorial of the king and, of course, wires. The only thing missing is a scooter! And if you look closely you can see the flag at half-mast. This was during the mourning period.

So there are some scenes from the “real” Chiang Mai. It is a nice town with all that you would need, but I don’t think anyone would call it picturesque. It’s interesting in its rawness and grit and unique character. And it was “home” for 4 months. Thanks for being an interesting host, Chiang Mai!

Previous Article The Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai
Next Article Thailand Happy and Crappy

Related Posts

  • Reporting From Home Base

    February 19, 2020
  • Worldschooling Happy and Crappy

    December 11, 2019
  • A Weekend At Coco’s

    December 3, 2019
  • Worldschooling Game Changers

    November 27, 2019
  • Halloween and Day of the Dead in Mexico

    November 10, 2019
  • Stories from PdC, Part 2

    October 13, 2019
  • Stories from PdC, Part 1

    September 29, 2019
  • Life in PdC

    August 25, 2019
  • Mexico 2.0

    August 7, 2019
  • Random Tours in Europe

    August 2, 2019

Social Media

Categories

  • Amsterdam4
  • Barcelona2
  • Belgium1
  • Bocas6
  • Boquete16
  • Cambodia3
  • Cape Town6
  • Cenote13
  • Chiang Mai12
  • Christmas7
  • Colombia42
  • Day Trips8
  • Dominican Republic10
  • Dubai3
  • Education70
  • FAQs13
  • Field Trips15
  • Florence1
  • Food5
  • France3
  • Germany2
  • Granada2
  • Guatemala4
  • Haley's Corner29
  • Health6
  • Iceland3
  • Italy6
  • Johannesburg8
  • Language8
  • London2
  • Malaysia5
  • Medellin41
  • Merida3
  • Mexico78
  • Mexico City3
  • Milan1
  • Money3
  • Naples3
  • Netherlands9
  • Packing5
  • Panama153
  • Panama City5
  • Pedasi98
  • Playa del Carmen6
  • Portugal5
  • Puebla3
  • Read First1
  • Recap3
  • Rome3
  • South Africa21
  • Spain19
  • Switzerland1
  • Thailand17
  • The Zoe Report10
  • USA2
  • Venice1
  • What's Next9
  • Zimbabwe2
facebook twitter

Categories

  • Amsterdam4
  • Barcelona2
  • Belgium1
  • Bocas6
  • Boquete16
  • Cambodia3
  • Cape Town6
  • Cenote13
  • Chiang Mai12
  • Christmas7
  • Colombia42
  • Day Trips8
  • Dominican Republic10
  • Dubai3
  • Education70
  • FAQs13
  • Field Trips15
  • Florence1
  • Food5
  • France3
  • Germany2
  • Granada2
  • Guatemala4
  • Haley's Corner29
  • Health6
  • Iceland3
  • Italy6
  • Johannesburg8
  • Language8
  • London2
  • Malaysia5
  • Medellin41
  • Merida3
  • Mexico78
  • Mexico City3
  • Milan1
  • Money3
  • Naples3
  • Netherlands9
  • Packing5
  • Panama153
  • Panama City5
  • Pedasi98
  • Playa del Carmen6
  • Portugal5
  • Puebla3
  • Read First1
  • Recap3
  • Rome3
  • South Africa21
  • Spain19
  • Switzerland1
  • Thailand17
  • The Zoe Report10
  • USA2
  • Venice1
  • What's Next9
  • Zimbabwe2

Archives

  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
Order Dept, LLC © Copyright 2015