Chiang Mai is where Bangkok dealers go when Bangkok has been picked over. It is smaller, cheaper, and considerably easier to work in a day.

Start on Ratchawong Road

Behind the Warorot market, on the Chang Moi side, there are three blocks with more serious vintage per metre than anywhere outside Bangkok.

Vintage Wings, 111 Ratchawong Rd — the serious one. Supreme, Jil Sander, Comme des Garçons. Prices that will surprise anyone who assumed Chiang Mai was the cheap option. Closed Tuesdays.

Lucgy Girl's House of Vintage, Ratchawong Lane 3 — Y2K. Tank tops, grunge coats, platform shoes, priced for students.

Famous Store, Darley Hotel, 94–96 Chang Moi — the best price-to-quality ratio on the street. Tees, handbags, sunglasses, Levi's, the occasional designer piece. Closed Sundays.

Aden Fed, 154/1 Charoen Rajd Rd — leather, suede, fedoras, military jackets. Open 13:00–17:00 only, which tells you what kind of shop it is.

Do Warorot Market itself in the morning first — fabrics, hill-tribe embroidery, and the general life of the old city — then work Ratchawong.

The cheapest morning in the north

Nong Ho Flea Market, off Route 1366 in Chang Phueak. Saturday and Sunday only, 07:00–14:00, and by a distance the cheapest secondhand in Chiang Mai. Clothing, shoes, furniture, accessories and a genuinely good record pile.

Get there before nine. This is where the Old City shops buy.

The monthly one to plan around

Jing Jai Market on Atsadathon Rd runs organic produce at weekends, which is pleasant but not the point. The Vintage Market runs on the first Friday of every month, 17:00–21:00 — a real secondhand and collectibles session. If your dates line up, build around it.

Inside the moat

The Area 51 Vintage Showroom, Pra Pok Klao Soi 1 — mid-century Americana, letterman sweaters, varsity. Semi-expensive and properly curated.

Love70s, 54 Singharat Rd — psychedelia, hippie tailoring, boho dresses, 70s through 90s. Open until nine.

Nimman

September Sunshine, 29C Nimman Soi 9 — menswear. Patterned shirts, varsity jackets, band tees, open 09:00–21:00.

Nostalgia Vintage, Nimman Soi 7 — Y2K accessories, baby tees, costume jewellery, denim skirts. Second branch in Chang Phuak.

Out of town, worth the scooter

Toro Clothing, on the Chiang Mai–Doi Saket road in San Sai — activewear, hiking shells, sportswear, denim and band tees, at prices well below the Old City. Closed Sundays. The cheapest curated shop in the north.

MediumRare Vintage, 45 Atsadathon Rd — Americana and varsity, but weekdays only and closed by 15:30, so it needs planning.

Near the Night Bazaar

Alterground Vintage, 23/1 Charoen Prathet Rd — several floors of eccentric unisex clothing, furniture and home décor. The most ambitious vintage space in the city.

If you are buying furniture

Ban Tawai in Hang Dong, fifteen kilometres south: 500+ workshops along a kilometre of covered street, and nearly all of them arrange container export at US$1,800–2,400 for a 20 ft to Europe or North America. That is a separate day and a separate article.

A realistic day

Warorot at nine. Ratchawong until one. Lunch. Old City in the afternoon — Area 51 and Love70s. Nimman in the early evening. If it is a weekend, start with Nong Ho at seven instead and do everything else after.

Two days if you want Toro, Ban Tawai or the Saturday and Sunday walking streets.