City transportation

There is no real public transportation through the city of Chiang Mai. Though, there are plenty of means to go around.

Tuk-tuk

Although tuk-tuk seems to mean ‘cheap-cheap’, they’re not really the cheapest way to go (check out the red busses information, below). But they can be pretty convenient if you’re in an hurry, or stuck after a night out.

You will have to bargain, and do it before entering the vehicle. It will end up being more expensive than any songtaew (the triple of the price, or more). But they’re fast and mostly reliable.

Oh! If there are a few of you inside, it may turn less expensive than spending 20bht/each on the songtaew. Check it out.

Red bus (or songtaew)

The cheapest way to go!

It works a little like the tuk-tuks: a driver will stop on customer’s demand anywhere in the city – the big difference is that you won’t be the only one inside (or you may be, at certain hours, but it’s quite rare).
Depending on where you’re heading, and on where all the other customers inside are heading, he will accept to take you or not. He will then drive everybody to the right place. A ride with songtaew will be often longer than with a tuk-tuk, due to the many people to take to different locations, of course.

If you stay inside the moat (city center), you will pay 20bht. Outside, the prices are at the discretion of the driver and/or you: up to you if you want to bargain. By night, it’s the same: prices will vary. If you’re all alone in the bus and you’re heading to some place that is not likely to bring any other customer to the driver, he’ll also probably charge more too. A ride to the airport, bus/train station usually costs 50bht.

At a certain time of the night, they may not be a lot of red busses around.

Taxi

Soon.

Renting a motorbike

The traffic jam in the city, at certain hours/days/spots could be a little bit daunting or scary at first, but believe me, you’ll get quickly used to it considering the ease and pleasure of having your own transportation mean.

You can rent a motorbike in Chiang Mai for a more than fair price (from 150bht/day for a semi-automatic 145cc, to 1’000+bht/day for a huge biker toy). There are few chances that they will ask you for a driver’s licence… but the police could, of course.

You will find plenty of rental shops in the center of Chiang Mai.