Cafe culture and craft beer in Chiang Mai: a guide to Thai city’s trendy Nimman Road
- The Nimman Road area is the northern Thai city’s growing centre of cool, where local and tourists alike flock for its modern, yet relaxing vibe
- This part of Chiang Mai is also close to nature and outdoor activity options, attracting those who want easy access to such escapes
It is late morning and much of the Nimmanhaemin neighbourhood in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, is still waking up. Many of the clothing shops and handicraft stores are still closed.
One, however, is open, and I’m standing in its air-conditioned interior. Happy Lazy Man is a hippie-chic vintage clothing shop off Nimman Road, in the heart of Chiang Mai’s “new city” area – quite the contrast to the ancient temples and boundless heritage of the nearby Old City. The funky storefront is a mishmash of old rock T-shirts, second-hand finds, retro Asian style and hipster kitsch.
The owners, Can and Fah, are a husband-and-wife who moved north from Bangkok. They are among many who have come to Thailand’s “second city” to ride the wave of trendy new openings in Nimmanhaemin. They have lived in Chiang Mai for the past year. Can enjoys lazing about in the nearby Thai highlands, something he could not do in the capital, a place they both found stifling.
“I like to chill out in the mountains. You drive 30 minutes and you’re there,” he says in halting English, dressed in an old pair of navy blue overalls. “[In Bangkok] there are many cars, too much pollution. Chiang Mai has good people, very friendly. More friendly than Bangkok.”
The few restaurants that open for breakfast are bustling. The go-to spot for cutting-edge fusion cuisine in the morning, or any time of day for that matter, is Rustic and Blue, on Nimman Road’s Soi 7 (“soi” is a side street).