Chiang Mai: Honest but not Bright?
Chiang Mai fails to figure in 2 important surveys appearing in the current ‘Tourism Review’ magazine.
The bad news is that this fair city is not in the world’s Top Ten Intelligent Communities, a rating given mainly for IT innovation and networking. Swedish capital Stockholm beat the world to this accolade, by the way.
Good news: Chiang Mai also failed to make it into the world’s Top Ten Pick Pocketing Places! In fact, in all of SE Asia, only Hanoi, Vietnam, squeezes into this list of infamy in 10th place.
Keeping your wits (and your valuables) about you at festivals, in museums and any crowded place is an especially good idea in Barcelona,
Rome and Prague, the 3 top havens for casual thieves. ‘Tourism Review’ warns especially of distractions by smartly dressed natives, children, and ‘careless’ people who cause distractions by various ploys.
All over the world, carrying minimum cash on every occasion, and locking your passport up at the hotel, are wise moves. (In Chiang Mai, night-time bag snatching by thieves on motorcycles is the crime most likely to affect tourists, say our police).
