Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand and the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is 700 km north of Bangkok near the highest mountains in the country. Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the new capital of Lan Na, succeeding the former capital, Chiang Rai; the city's strategic location on the Ping River and its proximity to major trading routes contributed to its historic importance. Although the city of Chiang Mai only covers most parts of the Mueang Chiang Mai District, with a population of 160,000, the city's sprawl extends into several neighboring districts; the Chiang Mai metropolitan area has a population of nearly one million people, more than half the total of Chiang Mai Province. The city is subdivided into four khwaeng: Nakhon Ping, Srivijaya and Kawila; the first three are on the west bank of the Ping River, Kawila is on the east bank. Nakhon Ping District includes the northern part of the city. Srivijaya and Kawila consist of the western and eastern parts, respectively.

The city center—within the city walls—is within Srivijaya ward. Mangrai founded Chiang Mai in 1294 or 1296 on the site of an older city of the Lawa people called Wiang Nopburi. Gordon Young, in his 1962 book The Hill tribes of Northern Thailand, mentions how a Wa chieftain in British Burma told him that the Wa, a people who are related to the Lawa, once lived in the Chiang Mai valley in "sizeable cities". Chiang Mai succeeded Chiang Rai as the capital of Lan Na. Pha Yu enlarged and fortified the city, built Wat Phra Singh in honor of his father Kham Fu; the ruler was known as the chao. The city was surrounded by a moat and a defensive wall since nearby Taungoo Dynasty of the Bamar people was a constant threat, as were the armies of the Mongol Empire, which only decades earlier had conquered most of Yunnan, in 1292 overran the bordering Dai kingdom of Chiang Hung. With the decline of Lan Na, the city lost importance and was occupied by the Taungoo in 1556. Chiang Mai formally became part of the Thonburi Kingdom in 1775 by an agreement with Chao Kavila, after the Thonburi king Taksin helped drive out the Taungoo Bamar.

Subsequent Taungoo counterattack led to Chiang Mai's abandonment between 1776 and 1791. Lampang served as the capital of what remained of Lan Na. Chiang Mai slowly grew in cultural and economic importance to its current status as the unofficial capital of Northern Thailand, second in importance only to Bangkok; the modern municipality dates to a sanitary district, created in 1915. It was upgraded to a municipality on 29 March 1935, as published in the Royal Gazette, Book No. 52 section 80. First covering just 17.5 km2, the city was enlarged to 40.2 km2 on 5 April 1983. In May 2006 Chiang Mai was the site of the Chiang Mai Initiative, concluded between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the "ASEAN+3" countries. Chiang Mai was one of three Thai cities contending for Thailand's bid to host the World Expo 2020. Ayutthaya was chosen by the Thai Parliament to register for the international competition. In early December 2017, Chiang Mai was awarded the UNESCO title of Creative City. In 2015, Chiang Mai was on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage inscription.

Chiang Mai was one of two tourist destinations in Thailand on TripAdvisor's 2014 list of "25 Best Destinations in the World", where it stands at number 24. "... Chiang Mai represents the prime diamond on the crown of Thailand, the crown cannot be sparkle and beauteous without the diamond..." The city emblem shows the stupa at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in its center. Below it are clouds representing the moderate climate in the mountains of northern Thailand. There is a nāga, the mythical snake said to be the source of the Ping River, rice stalks, which refer to the fertility of the land. Chiang Mai has a tropical savanna climate, tempered by the low latitude and moderate elevation, with warm to hot weather year-round, though nighttime conditions during the dry season can be cool and much lower than daytime highs; the maximum temperature recorded was 42.4 °C in May 2005. Cold and hot weather effects occur but cold effects last longer than hot effects and contribute to higher cold related motility risk among old people aged more than 85 years.

A continuing environmental issue in Chiang Mai is the incidence of air pollution that occurs every year between December and April. In 1996, speaking at the Fourth International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement conference—held in Chiang Mai that year—the Governor Virachai Naewboonien invited guest speaker Dr. Jakapan Wongburanawatt, Dean of the Social Science Faculty of Chiang Mai University, to discuss air pollution efforts in the region. Dr. Wongburanawatt stated that, in 1994, an increasing number of city residents attended hospitals suffering from respiratory problems associated with the city's air pollution. During the December–April period, air quality in Chiang Mai remains below recommended standards, with fine-particle dust levels reaching twice the standard limits, it has been said that smoke pollution has made March "the worst month to visit Chiang Mai". According to the Bangkok Post, corporations in the agricultural sector, not farmers, are the biggest contributors to smoke pollution.

The main source of the fires is forested area being cleared to make room for new crops. The new crops to be planted after the smoke clears are not ric

The 1958 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 11th tour of Australia and New Zealand and took place from May to November 1958. The Lions played 26 games on tour including the three test Ashes series against Australia and two tests against New Zealand; the Great Britain squad was coached by Jim Brough. The team captain was Alan Prescott from St Helens while Phil Jackson from Barrow was the tour vice-captain; the team managers were Mr B. Manson and Tom Mitchell; the tour saw a record AU£78,417 in gate receipts with the Lions taking home a profit in excess of £40,000. During the tour, players used numbers 1–26 in alphabetical order; the three Ashes series tests took place at the following venues. As per normal to maximise the gate, two tests were played at the 70,000 capacity Sydney Cricket Ground; the final match before the first Test was viewed by the home side as a chance to soften up the tourists and, the case in a violent clash which saw four players dismissed by referee Col Pearce – Vince Karalius.

The three Ashes series tests drew an aggregate attendance of 171,060. After going through the tour undefeated before the test, the Lions ran into a hungry Australian side who led 10–0 after just 10 minutes and led 18–0 at halftime in front of 68,777 fans at the SCG. Lions test fullback Eric Fraser kicked 15 goals from 18 attempts in the match. Dick Huddart crossed for 4 tries while Mick Martyn each scored 3 tries. Inspired by captain Alan Prescott who played on until the end despite breaking his right arm in just the 3rd minute of the game, Great Britain leveled the series at 1–all with a 25–18 win over Australia in Brisbane; the injury ended Prescott's tour as a player. At half time, Prescott was offered a pain killing injection but refused, telling team manager Tom Mitchell "I just can’t got off, Tom. We would be two men short. We have got to win, so I had better help the boys". Great Britain lost Dave Bolton with a broken collar bone after just 17 minutes. With Vince Karalius and Brian McTigue providing the muscle and teenage scrum-half Alex Murphy providing the class, the Lions had the measure of Australia this day.

Former Australian captain Ken Kearney played his 31st and last test. Great Britain wrapped up The Ashes with a comprehensive 40–17 win over Australia in front of another 68,000+ crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground; as he had done in the second test in Brisbane, 19 year old St Helens scrum-half Alex Murphy tormented the home side and was awarded the Man of the Match. Following the game, Lions players chaired injured captain Alan Prescott on a lap of honour of the ground; the following matches took place after the New Zealand leg of the tour. In this game against the NSWRFL's Representative Colts, future Australian captain Reg Gasnier played his first game against Great Britain. Just a week after their Ashes triumph over Australia, Great Britain were brought back down to earth by a committed New Zealand side 15–10 at Carlaw Park in Auckland. With Alex Murphy returning from injury, Great Britain outclassed New Zealand 32–15 in front of 25,000 at Carlaw Park

Certhia is the genus of birds containing the typical treecreepers, which together with the African and Indian spotted creepers make up the family Certhiidae. The typical treecreepers occur in many wooded parts of the North Temperate Zone, they do not migrate other than for local movements, such as altitudinal migrations in the Himalayan species. The treecreepers are small woodland birds similar in appearance, they are brown with streaks white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, they have stiff, pointed tail feathers, like woodpeckers and woodcreepers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees. All the tail feathers but the two central ones are molted in quick succession, they build cup nests on loose twig platforms wedged behind patches of bark on tree trunks. They lay 3 to 9 eggs, which are white with reddish-brown dots; the female incubates for 15 days. The young fledge 15 or 16 days later. A male may mate with a second female while the first is incubating, there are records of two females incubating their clutches side by side in a nest.

At least some species roost in small oblong cavities. They may roost individually or in groups. Following recent studies of cytochrome b mtDNA sequence and song structure, the following nine species are recognized: Eurasian treecreeper, Certhia familiaris Hodgson's treecreeper, Certhia hodgsoni Brown creeper, Certhia americana Short-toed treecreeper, Certhia brachydactyla Bar-tailed treecreeper, Certhia himalayana Rusty-flanked treecreeper, Certhia nipalensis Sikkim treecreeper, Certhia discolor Hume's treecreeper, Certhia manipurensis Sichuan treecreeper, Certhia tianquanensisThey form two evolutionary lineages: the former four species represent a Holarctic radiation, whereas the remaining five are distributed in the area south and east of the Himalaya. Hodgson's treecreeper realized to be a distinct species, is an offshoot of the common treecreeper's ancestor which has speciated south of the Himalaya; the former group has a more warbling song, always ending with a shrill sreeh. The Himalayan group, in contrast, has a faster-paced trill without the sreeh sound.

Certhia immensa Treecreeper videos on the Internet Bird Collection