Baptiste Excelsia is a French holistic healer based in Chiang Mai since 2024. He lives with his wife in Chiang Mai. Certified in SD3 with Marie Imanence in 2023, he specializes in wellness, sound healing, and ethical elephant retreat experiences.
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The air hits you first - garlic oil, lemongrass, smoked pork, incense from a temple gate, and the faint sweetness of mango just before it meets sticky rice. Then the sounds: a folk singer testing her microphone, the gentle bargaining of a couple over a silk scarf, the sizzle of skewers
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The road closes around you. Lanterns string up over the tarmac. The smell of charcoal smoke and grilled sausage reaches you before the market comes fully into view - and then it does: hundreds of stalls, tuk-tuks retreating from the kerb, monks crossing a temple courtyard behind wooden gates, and
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The air cools after sunset. A tuk-tuk weaves past temple walls glowing amber under floodlights. Somewhere two streets over, a live band launches into a jazz standard that carries through open shutters and out onto the pavement. This is Chiang Mai after dark - layered, diverse, and nothing like what
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The lights haven't gone up yet, but you can already feel it: sequins catching the corridor light, the low thud of a bass line warming up behind the curtain, a performer sweeping past in a feathered headdress taller than the doorway. You're in Chiang Mai, and
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The warm evening air carries the smell of grilled skewers and frangipani. Somewhere behind a wooden gate, a guitar drifts into the street. Lanterns glow above the moat, and the city's pace slows, deliberately, into something you didn't expect from a place this alive. Chiang Mai
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The smell hits you first - lemongrass, charred chili, galangal rising from a clay pot somewhere behind a teak doorway. You're standing inside Chiang Mai's ancient moat-ringed square, temple spires catching the last of the afternoon gold, and your stomach just reminded you that northern Thai
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The river is lit amber. A breeze moves across the water. Your table is small, the candle steady, and the night feels like it belongs only to the two of you. That's what a great romantic restaurant in Chiang Mai can do - not just feed you, but place
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The heat from a clay pot of hang lay curry drifts across the table before you've even sat down. Somewhere behind you, a cold brew is being poured over ice in a glass that catches the afternoon light. And three sois away, a rooftop bar is setting up
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Key Takeaways * Chiang Mai's craft beer scene is small, curated, and genuinely good - centred around Old City, Nimman, and the Riverside area * Most Thai "craft" beers are contract-brewed outside Thailand due to local brewing laws, but the recipes and brands are Thai - and the flavour
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Key Takeaways * Chiang Mai's best live jazz venue is North Gate Jazz Co-Op near the Old City - intimate, musician-forward, and walking distance from most Old City hotels * Most venues start live music between 8 PM–10 PM; arriving by 9 PM gets you the best seats
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You've been eating beautifully for three days - fragrant khao soi, smoky satay, papaya salad that made your eyes water. And then, at some point, something shifts: your body quietly asks for a burger. Maybe a bowl of handmade pasta. A proper brunch with coffee that could hold a
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The sun dips toward Doi Suthep. The sky shifts from amber to deep rose. Below you, temple bells ring out across the Old City, and a cold drink sweats gently in your hand. This - right here - is why rooftop bars in Chiang Mai are worth seeking out. Chiang Mai'
Chiang Mai recommendations by Baptiste Excelsia and his wife Pawitchaya, two passionate locals living in Chiang Mai. Together, they explore the city's best wellness experiences, hidden cafés, authentic restaurants, temples, and nature spots, sharing places they personally love and trust, as well as carefully researched recommendations highly appreciated by locals and travelers alike.
Their goal is to share their love of Chiang Mai and help travelers discover the real atmosphere of the city, beyond the tourist path, through meaningful experiences, peaceful places, and authentic local culture.
Discover Chiang Mai's best activities for travelers who want to reconnect with themselves.
Located on Chang Phuang Road - Sri Phum - Suthep 50200 Mueang Chiang Mai