Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center Museum

Located just southwest of Chiang Mai’s Old City on Wualai Road, the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center is best known for its evening cultural shows of traditional dancing accompanied by a khan toke dinner - a spread of half a dozen Northern Thai dishes served on a raised pedestal tray.

The dinner-and-dance evenings run from roughly 7:00 to 9:30 pm. Although the khan toke tradition was actually devised in the 20th century as a way of entertaining guests, it remains a fine chance to sample northern specialties such as gaeng hang lay (a ginger pork curry) and sai oua (a herb-and-spice sausage). This is the most polished set-up of its kind in town, and a hotel pick-up is usually included in the ticket price.

The dances are performed to a high standard in dazzling costumes, and a separate building stages performances by the region’s colorful hill tribes. At the end of the show visitors are typically invited on stage to join a ramwong circle dance.

It is also worth dropping by during the day to see Ruan Saw Hong, a 120-year-old stilted house furnished like a traditional northern home, with bedroom, ancestors’ altar, and living and cooking areas. The on-site restaurant Euang Kam Sai serves Northern Thai food in an atmospheric setting from late morning through the evening.

If you are attending the cultural show, transport from your hotel is normally arranged. During the day, take a tuk-tuk or songthaew, or drive southwest from Chiang Mai Gate along Wualai Road - the center is on your left after about a kilometer.

• What is it? A compound of traditional Lanna buildings with a museum, restaurant, and evening cultural show.
• Opening hours: 09:00 - 21:30 daily (show 19:00 - 21:30).
• Entrance fee: Cultural show - adults 520B, children under 135cm 260B.
• Address: 185/3 Wualai Road.
• Where: About a kilometer southwest of the Old City.