Ban Khoen Artisan Village

Ban Khoen is an artisan village east of Chiangmai. Most of the handicraft you see within Chiangmai city are made in these villages that dot the perimeter of the city. This particular village specialises in lacquer ware, such as boxes, bowls, shelves and more. It was relatively quiet when we got there as it was a weekday with few tourists or locals.

Smacked in the centre of the village was a coffee place. This ahbeng lookalike creature popped up and made us our lattes.

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in the huts between the stores, you can sit there and admire the serenity of the place, or have a massage. I love how in Thailand, there are as many massage places as there are POSB ATMs in Singapore. You can wander into one of these places for a good 30 minutes rub.

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I spotted a lacquer chest and I had to check it out. Bryan laughed out loud and said I was imagining pressing E as I opened the chest. You see in most RPG games when you want to interact with an inanimate object like pick it up or open it, you press the “E” key. Hours of playing on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim meant my brain automatically spotted a chest and I had to open it to check for loot.

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