Chiang Mai or Tonsai?

So you decided to climb in Thailand for vacation! It’s a great country to get your travel feet wet. Great climbing, delicious food, and a fun community await you. But, if you’re like me you only get a measly two weeks to enjoy time abroad. This begs the question, “Where should I go?” While a lot will go into your decision, here are some things to think about when deciding between two popular climbing destinations, Chiang Mai and Tonsai.

Climbing a chimney at Crazy Horse

Getting there, advantage Chiang Mai. There’s no doubt, Chiang Mai is much more accessible than Tonsai Beach. Tonsai is on the Railay peninsula which is only accessible by boat. You can fly from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and be at your hostel/hotel quickly. However the trip to Tonsai is more involved. You can fly into Phuket, take a taxi to the harbor and then take an hour and a half ferry to Railay where you will have to switch onto a smaller Longtail boat which will bring you to shore. This is what I did to save some cash. You can also fly from Bangkok into Krabi, then take a short Longtail boat to the peninsula, however this might be a little more expensive. One thing I liked about the boat approach was that you pass limestone spires coming right out of the ocean, and as you approach the beach the view of the limestone cliffs are just amazing.

Markets in Chiang Mai

Accommodation, advantage Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is an actual city, so they have proper areas to stay. You can go dirt cheap and stay in a dirty hostel, or go cheap and stay in a wonderful family run guesthouse. Tonsai on the other hand is a dirtbag paradise. You can stay in one of the many bungalows offered around the beach. These bungalows have big slits between the floors, no hot water, no electricity during the daytime, a hard mattress, and you only ever feel safe when you are inside your hole ridden mosquito net. Or you can stay with the Russian tourists staying in the resorts on Railay East/West (but who wants to do that)! Despite the shortfalls of Tonsai, I LOVED it. It felt amazing to be sleeping in one of those dingy bungalows. Waking up and seeing a lizard on the wall was common and added to the experience. It felt primitive yet wonderful. I only give the advantage to Chiang Mai because sometimes I really wanted a warm shower.

Climbing, advantage Tonsai. Now we’re getting into the nitty gritty! What we really want to do during our vacation, CLIMB! Here I really think Tonsai wins by a long shot. It has way more climbing sectors, and therefore more routes. And the routes are insanely fun. I went to a different wall almost every day for two weeks and was never bored. “OO but Derek, Tonsai routes are so polished! It’s played out! Blah blah.” Yes I did experience some crazy polished routes, but the same can be said about Crazy Horse (Chiang Mai’s main climbing area). Both areas receive some heavy traffic from climbers and there were definitely areas at Crazy Horse that I went to once, and never returned because every route was a skating rink. The difference is that with so many more routes at Tonsai, less are polished.

Climbing on the beach in Tonsai

I met an Australian at Crazy Horse and he had stayed around the crag for a month, and he had almost sent every route graded 7a+ and lower. He almost literally climbed every route at the crag! And it’s not just that Tonsai has more routes, it’s also that the routes were more enjoyable. I climbed a double arête that lined the outside of the cave with a view of the ocean. Then an hour later I was chillin’ on the beach eating corn on the cob beside a monitor lizard. I don’t think anything has come close to beating the overall enjoyment of climbing routes like this. However I will say that you can climb multi-pitch routes on the inside of a cave at Crazy Horse and they were some of the most memorable routes I have every climbed. But, this is about more than just climbing a few routes, and for that the advantage goes to Tonsai.

Climbing at Crazy Horse (Chiang Mai)

Overall Vibe, Tie. There are good and bad things about both places. These places are so touristy now that it seems like the only Thai people who live in the areas are the ones serving you food. So if you’re looking for a cultural experience, I’d look elsewhere. Tonsai has more of a hippy crowd. They sell Psychedelic Mushroom Shakes at the bars and after downing that you can go watch a free fire dancing show or show off your sweet slacklining skills. The beach has changed in the last few years. With its increase of popularity among “normies” (people who don’t climb), they decided to tear down a bunch of buildings, move bars away from the beach, and build a massive resort. A lot of my friends stay away from Tonsai now because it has changed so much in the recent years. It used to be a climbers paradise, now it’s packed with hippies and Russians in speedos. When you walk down the beach you can see at least 4 people at the same time trying to get that silly photo where girls whip there long hair out of the water. Ya, I don’t get it either. But if you haven’t gone yet you should go soon before they decide to outlaw climbing or something. Last year a couple Chinese tourists went deep water soloing and they couldn’t swim so they drowned. DWS is now outlawed because of that. This angers me as DWS was a highlight of my trip. And if you can’t swim, don’t go deep water soloing.

Enjoying a cold one in Tonsai

BACK on track, Chiang Mai has a backpacker vibe. People stay for a couple weeks to “experience the culture,” Whatever the fuck that means. Let’s be honest for a second, they’re there to drink and party and eat Pad Thai. All the night bazaars sell the same crap, you walk down the street and see the same t shirt about 45 times. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, just be honest! The climbing scene here is pretty small and relaxed. There is a truck that drives you to the crag from the rock climbing store and this can be a great place to meet partners. At both places you will meet great people so this category is a tie.

Other things to do, advantage Chiang Mai. So it’s a rest day. What to do!? Well if you’re in Tonsai, enjoy the beach, watch the other climbers with a cold beer, read a book. I read 4 books while I drank cold beer on the beach. For me, this was perfect. When I was in Chiang Mai though, the amount of activities can overwhelm you. You can see tigers and elephants, (please don’t do this, but it is available if you’re a terrible person) you can ride an atv or a mountain bike through some mountains, bungee jump, do shots off a ladyboys stomach, it’s all here. The tours can really add up so be careful and choose carefully.

Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Final thoughts – If you’re a dedicated climber, and all you want to do is climb, I would go to Tonsai. If you want to climb and do some other things, maybe travel a little bit around Thailand, then go to Chiang Mai. If you have a couple months, go to both places!

#RockClimbing #Thailand