The Ada House journal

Stories from Chiang Mai

Local culture, hidden corners and practical tips — from the people who actually live here.

A warm Lanna-style illustration of an elegant candle-lit fine-dining table with refined Northern Thai dishes in a garden setting in Chiang Mai.

Food & coffee · June 28, 2026

Fine Dining in Chiang Mai: Where to Celebrate Something Special

Chiang Mai has quietly become a city worth dressing up for. Here's how to find a memorable special-occasion meal — and why it costs a fraction of what it would back home.

A warm Lanna-style illustration of a serene Chiang Mai spa courtyard with a teak salah, lotus pond, herbal compress balls and a therapist preparing oils.

Health & wellness · June 28, 2026

Day Spas in Chiang Mai: Where to Get a Great Massage at Any Budget

Chiang Mai might be the easiest place on earth to get a brilliant, affordable massage. Here is how to choose the right spot, whatever your mood and budget.

A warm Lanna-style illustration of people climbing the tiered limestone Sticky Waterfalls in a forest near Chiang Mai.

Things to do · June 28, 2026

Bua Tong Sticky Waterfalls: The Cascade You Can Climb

An hour north of the city sits a waterfall you climb up rather than admire from below. The limestone grips your bare feet, entry is free, and almost no one warns you how good it is.

A charming hand-painted Lanna-style illustration of a Chiang Mai street scene, with cheerful market signs and speech bubbles full of playful Thai-English phrases.

Local culture · June 27, 2026

Same Same But Different: A Love Letter to Tinglish

Three words on a market T-shirt explain an entire country: same same, but different. Come laugh with us — five five five.

A hand-painted Lanna-style illustration of a golden gecko, a sai sin string, a glowing number 9 and a wandering night spirit among frangipani blooms

Local culture · June 27, 2026

Thai Superstitions: A Newcomer's Friendly Field Guide to Luck, Ghosts and Good Timing

Why won't the barber cut your hair on a Wednesday, and what is that gecko trying to tell you? A fond, respectful guide to the beliefs you'll bump into in Chiang Mai.

Charming Lanna-style illustration of smiling friends exchanging warm introductions at a Chiang Mai market, with little paper name tags reading playful nicknames

Local culture · June 27, 2026

Why everyone in Thailand has a nickname (and it might be 'Benz')

Spoiler: the cheerful woman who pours your morning coffee probably isn't really called Apple. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Thai nickname.

Lanna-style night illustration of a moonlit Thai village with a glowing spirit house, drifting paper lanterns and soft mist among tamarind trees

Local culture · June 27, 2026

Thai ghosts and spirits: a friendly guide to the spookier side

Don't whistle at night, and never sleep with your feet to the window. In Thailand the spirit world isn't a horror trope — it's a neighbour worth meeting.

Lanna-style illustration of a seven-petalled lotus, each petal a different day-colour — red, yellow, pink, green, orange, blue and purple — ringed by gentle gold planetary symbols

Local culture · June 27, 2026

Thai day colours: why Monday is yellow — and what your birth day says

Born on a Tuesday? That makes you pink. Thailand quietly assigns every day of the week its own lucky colour — and once you notice it, you can't stop.

Soft Lanna-style illustration of a tidy wooden desk with neatly stacked papers, a teapot and a small calculator beside a window over Chiang Mai's hills

Move here · June 27, 2026

Taxes for expats and digital nomads in Thailand: a calm overview

Tax talk makes most of us tense up. Here is a calm, careful map of the landscape — not advice, but a place to start before you call a professional.

Lanna-style illustration of a Chiang Mai street food cart with grilled skewers, a steaming bowl of khao soi, sai ua sausage coils and mango sticky rice, framed by ornate northern Thai patterns and teak lanterns

Food & coffee · June 27, 2026

Chiang Mai Street Food: A Local's Guide to Eating Well for Pennies

Smoke curling off a charcoal grill, a queue of locals, a bowl handed over for the price of a coffee back home. This is how we eat in Chiang Mai, and we'd love to show you the ropes.

Lanna-style illustration of a foreign founder at a teak desk with company papers, a work-permit stamp and Doi Suthep beyond the window

Move here · June 27, 2026

Starting a business and getting a work permit in Thailand

Thinking of building something here? Here's the honest shape of work permits, companies and visas in Thailand — before you sign a single document.

Lanna-style illustration of a spirit medium in elaborate silk costume dancing in trance before offerings and candlelight, with a traditional northern orchestra

Local culture · June 27, 2026

Spirit Mediums of Northern Thailand: The Living Tradition of the Ma Khi

Beneath the gilded calm of Lanna's temples runs an older current: a tradition in which ancestral spirits are said to 'ride' the living. Meet the ma khi.