ChiangmaiCotton

If you want cotton you'll still be wearing back home, this is the sort of shop worth twenty minutes of your afternoon. It's a small retail space on Rachadamnoen Road given over to Thai cotton clothing, accessories and textiles, and the emphasis sits on Northern Thai weaving traditions rather than the mass-printed stuff you'll see stacked on tables at every night market. Prices aren't posted publicly, so go in expecting shop pricing rather than market haggling.

The pace is the real selling point. You can pick things up, hold them against yourself, and put them back without anyone pressing you, which is more than can be said for the Sunday Walking Street crush that takes over this same road. Good for gifts, better if you're buying for yourself and want one decent piece instead of five cheap ones. If you're after bulk souvenirs or bargain-bin prices, the markets will serve you better.