Once attracting only a trickle of foreign travellers and virtually no one else, the town's narrow lanes are now stacked with "boutique" hotels and souvenirs shops that overflow from the well-preserved heritage architecture. A native told us that most of the long-time residents have moved over to the main drag, renting out their riverfront houses to entrepreneurs from Bangkok and beyond.
This fairly new tourism market is tilted heavily towards an increasingly wealthy wave of Thais. Few Thai destinations have evolved so explicitly for the domestic trade, and none as tightly packed as Chiang Khan. The age-old tradition of saffron-robed monks on morning alms round is now a major draw for snap-happy tourists. Though it gets extremely busy on weekends and holidays, especially in the cooler months, the town remains bucolic on weekdays.