Nong Hoi

A lovely, layered, and historical pocket southeast of the Old City, out past the Superhighway. Its spine is Route 106, the old Chiang Mai–Lamphun Road — the heritage avenue lined with towering, century-old yang na trees (often miscalled rubber trees), now protected by the Culture Ministry. That gives Nong Hoi a lived-in, authentically commercial main drag with real history to it, and a warren of local suburbs threaded off behind it. Housing runs from apartments to houses. Anchors: the very local Nong Hoi Market (food stalls, almost no foreigners), Varee Chiangmai School, a generous spread of Western-style shopping and supermarkets, and the ancient ruined city of Wiang Kum Kam just down the tree-lined road.