Notes on Lamphun – Chiang Mai’s charming little neighbour

Lamphun is the capital of Lamphun province in northern Thailand. Lamphun province is next to Chiang Mai province, and their eponymously-titled capitals are only 19 km apart.

Despite Lamphun’s proximity to Chiang Mai, I had somehow spent years of my life in Chiang Mai but had never visited Lamphun. It was time for me to visit Chiang Mai’s charming little neighbour.

These are the notes of my trip to Lamphun in December 2025.

Lamphun by train

Not only is Lamphun ridiculously close to Chiang Mai, but there is a local train that leaves Chiang Mai at a sensible hour of the morning. Train number 408 departs Chiang Mai at 9.35 AM and arrives at Lamphun at 10.01.

There are more frequent services by bus and songthaew, but the train is the most pleasant experience.

I noticed a big tour group was dropped off at Chiang Mai, and then they were picked up at Lamphun. They could have just come here by the same bus, but the short train trip added some variety to their tour.

It turns out that this Chiang Mai – Lamphun train service has gone viral, which explains why the journey was like being on a photo shoot.

Lamphun Station is a typical small railway station with an old wooden building and immaculate gardens.

The station has a useful tourist map on display that other small provincial capitals could learn from. The map shows the main highlights of the old town, with QR codes to download the map of Lamphun. The map is also honest in saying that you could do the town in 4 hours.

I could have visited Lamphun as a day trip from Chiang Mai, but I wanted to stay to get a better feel for the place. I also have a personal quest to visit every province, which is validated by spending at least one night in the provincial capital.

Lamphun moat

Like Chiang Mai, Lamphun has an old city area surrounded by a moat. Lamphun Station is about 30 minutes walk to the closest gate of the old town moat.

The Lamphun moat is different to Chiang Mai in that it uses the river as one side of the fortified area.

And while the Chiang Mai moated area is almost a square (1550m x 1500m), the Lamphun moated area is a more organic rectangular/oval shape (rectangoval?)

There are only a few sections of wall that remain, which have been rebuilt.

Trees with lights are a good alternative to walls.

Inthayongyot Road

Inthayongyot Road is the main north-south road that passes through the old town, which then becomes the Chiang Mai-Lamphun Road.

The road includes Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, which is one of the most sacred temples in the north. It also happens to be on the rare 1-satang coin (value of 0.01 THB).

The Hariphunchai National Museum has the history of the Haripuñjaya Kingdom before it became part of Lanna.

The blue songthaews that go to Chiang Mai depart from the Hariphunchai National Museum, so you could get a train to Lamphun and a songthaew back to Chiang Mai.

The main street is lined with concrete shophouses that define most of urban Thailand.

Some of them just need a good paint job to accentuate the architectural highlights, such as the shophouse at Jim’s Ice Cream.

At the southern end of the road is the Three Soldiers Gas Station Museum, which is an old-fashioned petrol station kiosk.

Markets

A bonus of staying in Lamphun is experiencing the Friday night market (it was dumb luck that I stayed on the right day).

Thailand is great at night markets, and Lamphun sensibly has its night market on Friday so as not to clash with the big Saturday and Sunday night markets in Chiang Mai.

If you aren’t there for the Friday market, the Lamphun Night Market is open every night and is a good spot for street food.

War Elephant Memorial Shrine

Outside of the old town is the War Elephant Memorial Shrine.

This was a good target to walk towards, as it took me through some roads with big trees.

Near the War Elephant Memorial Shrine is a park with some vintage train engines and carriages.

Cafes, nomads, living in provincial cities

Lamphun is a small city (about 10,000 to 15,000 people according to different sources), so it is not overrun with chain stores. The only chain I saw was Amazon, which is practically everywhere in Thailand now.

There are some good cafes on the main street, and my favourite was Black to Basic near the river.

You know a latte is going to be good when it looks like this.

Lamphun is not a nomad destination (especially when Chiang Mai is so close), so I didn’t see anyone working in cafes.

I had a friend who was living in Lamphun for a while, who came here to learn Thai. He was a retired foreigner who has since passed away. He stayed in Lamphun as he was able to be fully immersed in language learning without running into a foreigner. My friend would come to Chiang Mai for shopping expeditions, and I would meet him for coffee. I thought he was exaggerating, especially as Lamphun is so close to Chiang Mai, but I hardly saw any foreigners here.

Future Lamphun Airport

I was constantly reminded of how close Lamphun is to Chiang Mai by the planes in the CNX flight path.

Chiang Mai International Airport is close to the city centre, and the Nimman area of Chiang Mai is right under its flight path. There is a plan to build a new airport outside the city centre, though no agreement has been made on whether it is a second airport or if the old airport should close down.

The location for Chiang Mai 2 Airport (or Lanna International Airport) is on land that straddles the Chiang Mai/Lamphun border.

[2nd Chiang Mai Airport in Chiang Mai and Lamphun.]

Accommodation

I was getting another train after my Lamphun visit, so I stayed halfway between the station and the old town at the Thaen Thong Hotel.

Northern Line

Lamphun is on the Northern Line that runs between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. This line passes through some of the most historic sites in Thailand, so it is a useful sightseeing line.

From Lamphun, I got the train to Lopburi.