๐น๐ญ Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand and the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is 700 km north of Bangkok in a mountainous region. Chiang Mai (meaning "New City" in Thai) was founded in 1296 as the new capital of Lan Na. The city's location on the Ping River (a major tributary of the Chao Phraya River) and its proximity to major trading routes contributed to its historic importance.
The city (thesaban nakhon, "city municipality") of Chiang Mai only officially covers most parts of the Mueang Chiang Mai District, the city's sprawl extends into several neighbouring districts. The Chiang Mai metropolitan area is more than half of the total population of Chiang Mai Province.
The city is subdivided into four khwaeng (electoral wards): Nakhon Ping, Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kawila. The first three are on the west bank of the Ping River, and Kawila is on the east bank. Nakhon Ping District includes the northern part of the city. Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kawila consist of the western, southern, and eastern parts, respectively. The city centreโwithin the city wallsโis mostly within Srivijaya ward.
The state railway operates 10 trains a day to Chiang Mai railway station from Bangkok. Most journeys run overnight and take approximately 12โ15 hours. Most trains offer first-class (private cabins) and second-class (seats fold out to make sleeping berths) service. Chiang Mai is the northern terminus of the Thai railway system.
Chiang Mai International Airport receives up to 28 flights a day from Bangkok (flight time about 1 hour 10 minutes) and also serves as a local hub for services to other northern cities such as Chiang Rai, Phrae, and Mae Hong Son. International services also connect Chiang Mai with other regional centres, including cities in other Asian countries.
In 2017, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) (under Thailand's Digital Economy and Society Ministry) announced that 36.5 million baht would be invested into developing Chiang Mai into an innovation-driven "smart city". The model aims to capture and populate multiple levels of information (including building, social, environmental, governmental, and economic data) from sources like sensors, real-time traffic information, and social forums for access by managers, governments, and citizens using mobile apps, tablets, and dashboards. The "Smart City" outlook (integrating Information and Communications Technology (ICT) with the Internet of Things (IOT)), is viewed to be critical both for secondary cities with burgeoning urban population like Chiang Mai, as well as part of Thailand's move to be digital hub of ASEAN.
The role of private sector investment, together with public sector partnership, is key to promote digital entrepreneurship. Prosoft Comtech, a Thai software company, has spent 300 million baht to build its own "Oon IT Valley" on a 90 rai plot of land as a community for tech start-ups, Internet of Things technology, software programmers and business process out sourcing services. It is aimed to both increase the size of Chiang Mai's digital workforce, as well as attract foreign digital talent to Chiang Mai.
1Chiang Mai has a population of over 127,200 people. Chiang Mai also forms the centre of the wider Chiang Mai metropolitan area which has a population of over 960,906 people. Chiang Mai is ranked #397 for startups with a score of 0.55.
To set up a UBI Lab for Chiang Mai see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Chiang Mai is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for Craft and Folk Art see: https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Chiang Mai has links with:
๐จ๐ณ Banan, China ๐จ๐ณ Changning, China ๐จ๐ณ Chengdu, China ๐จ๐ณ Chongqing, China ๐ป๐ณ Da Lat, Vietnam ๐จ๐ณ Harbin, China ๐จ๐ณ Kunming, China ๐ง๐ญ Manama, Bahrain ๐ฐ๐ต Pyongyang, North Korea ๐จ๐ณ Qingpu District, China ๐ฏ๐ต Saitama, Japan ๐บ๐ธ San Rafael, USA ๐จ๐ณ Shanghai, China ๐ฏ๐ต Uozu, JapanUNESCO Creative Cities for Craft and Folk Art include: ๐ธ๐ฆ Al-Ahsa ๐ต๐พ Areguรก ๐ช๐ฌ Aswan ๐ต๐ช Ayacucho ๐ต๐ญ Baguio ๐ฆ๐ซ Bamiyan ๐ฆ๐ซ Bamyan ๐ฎ๐ท Bandar Abbas ๐ต๐น Barcelos ๐ฎ๐น Biella ๐บ๐ฟ Bukhara ๐ช๐ฌ Cairo ๐ต๐น Caldas da Rainha ๐ฎ๐น Carrara ๐ต๐น Castelo Branco ๐น๐ญ Chiang Mai ๐ช๐จ Chordeleg ๐ช๐จ Durรกn ๐ฎ๐น Fabriano ๐ง๐ฌ Gabrovo ๐ป๐ณ Hoi An ๐ฟ๐ฆ Howick ๐ฐ๐ท Icheon ๐ฎ๐ท Isfahan ๐ญ๐น Jacmel ๐ฎ๐ณ Jaipur ๐ฐ๐ท Jinju ๐ง๐ท Joรฃo Pessoa ๐ฏ๐ต Kanazawa ๐ท๐บ Kargopol ๐น๐ท Kรผtahya ๐ซ๐ท Limoges ๐จ๐ฉ Lubumbashi ๐ฏ๐ด Madaba ๐ฉ๐ด Monte Cristi ๐ง๐ธ Nassau ๐ง๐ซ Ouagadougou ๐บ๐ธ Paducah ๐ฎ๐ฉ Pekalongan ๐ง๐ฏ Porto-Novo ๐ฒ๐ฝ San Cristรณbal de las Casas ๐บ๐ธ Santa Fe ๐ฆ๐ฟ Shaki ๐ฆ๐ช Sharjah ๐ฆ๐ฟ Sheki ๐น๐ฌ Sokodรฉ ๐น๐ญ Sukhothai ๐น๐ญ Sukhothai Thani ๐ฎ๐ฉ Surakarta ๐ฒ๐ฆ Tรฉtouan ๐จ๐บ Trinidad ๐น๐ณ Tunis ๐ฒ๐ณ Ulaanbaatar ๐ช๐ช Viljandi
๐ฒ๐ฝ Ixtaczoquitlรกn 18.85
๐ฒ๐ฝ Tecamachalco 18.867
๐ฎ๐ณ Ramagundam 18.75
๐น๐ญ San Kamphaeng 18.75
๐ฒ๐ฝ Ciudad Ayala 18.75
๐ญ๐น Grand'Anse 18.667
๐ฒ๐ฝ Ciudad del Carmen 18.65
๐น๐ญ San Kamphaeng 99.117
๐ฎ๐ฉ Padangsidempuan 99.266
๐น๐ญ Surat Thani 99.331
๐น๐ญ Kamphaeng Phet 99.526
Locations Near: Chiang Mai 99.0029,18.7903
๐น๐ญ San Kamphaeng 99.117,18.75 d: 12.8
๐น๐ญ Lamphun 99,18.583 d: 23
๐น๐ญ Lampang 99.5,18.3 d: 75.6
๐น๐ญ Mae Hong Son 97.95,19.283 d: 123.5
๐น๐ญ Chiang Rai 99.828,19.909 d: 151.6
๐น๐ญ Nan 100.783,18.783 d: 187.4
๐น๐ญ Sukhothai 99.817,17 d: 216.9
๐น๐ญ Sukhothai Thani 99.817,17 d: 216.9
๐ฑ๐ฆ Houayxay 100.433,20.25 d: 220.9
๐ฑ๐ฆ Ban Houayxay 100.423,20.267 d: 221.6
Antipodal to: Chiang Mai -80.997,-18.79
๐ต๐ช Pisco -76.2,-13.717 d: 19253.3
๐ต๐ช Ica -75.733,-14.067 d: 19246.4
๐ต๐ช Chincha Alta -76.133,-13.45 d: 19226.2
๐ต๐ช Santiago de Surco -77.017,-12.15 d: 19162.5
๐ต๐ช Callao -77.15,-12.067 d: 19161.4
๐ต๐ช Miraflores -77.033,-12.117 d: 19160.2
๐ต๐ช San Borja -77.017,-12.1 d: 19157.7
๐ต๐ช San Isidro -77.033,-12.083 d: 19156.9
๐ต๐ช Lima -77.033,-12.05 d: 19153.7
๐ต๐ช Villa El Salvador -77,-12.05 d: 19151.9