Tha Phae Gate

Tha Phae Gate is the eastern gate of Chiang Mai’s walled Old City and the city’s best-known landmark. It’s a stretch of crenellated red-brick wall with a pair of heavy wooden doors, facing a wide paved square on Moon Muang Road. Entry is free at any hour, and it’s where the Sunday Walking Street, the Songkran processions and the Yi Peng parades begin.

History: a 1296 site, a 1980s gate

King Mangrai laid out Chiang Mai’s square of walls and moat when he founded the city in 1296, and this was its eastern entrance. It was first called Chiang Rueak Gate, after a village outside the walls. The present name means raft landing: the road out of the gate ran east to the Ping River, where goods arrived by raft. An outer Tha Phae Gate once stood further along the same road, near Wat Saen Fang, and was demolished as the town grew.

The brickwork in front of you is younger than it looks. Chiang Mai Municipality and the Fine Arts Department rebuilt the gate between 1985 and 1987, working from historical records, excavation and an old photograph of one of the city gates. In November 2023 the Fine Arts Department’s Chiang Mai office announced it had found a Lanna-script inscription inside the structure, one that had gone unseen since that rebuild. Tha Phae is the only gate of the inner wall that still has full wooden doors.

Watch out: If you’re expecting ancient ruins, adjust. This is a faithful 1980s replica on the original site, and you’ll see it in about ten minutes. For walls that are genuinely old, walk to the brick corner bastions, such as Jaeng Si Phum at the north-east corner of the moat.

What happens at the gate

Most days the square is an open space for pigeons, buskers and people queuing for a photo in front of the doors. The city uses it as its main stage, so check what’s on before you go: craft fairs, concerts and festival stages set up here through the year.

On Sunday, the Sunday Walking Street begins at the gate from 16:00 and runs about 1.1km west along Ratchadamnoen Road to Wat Phra Singh. By 18:00 the first few hundred metres inside the gate are shoulder to shoulder.

At Songkran in April, the moat roads around the gate become the centre of the city’s water fight. The main procession carrying the Phra Phuttha Sihing image comes up Tha Phae Road from Nawarat Bridge and passes into the Old City here.

During Yi Peng and Loy Krathong in November, the gate hosts the city’s free celebrations. In 2025 the governor opened the festival at the gate, a procession of more than 500 dancers set off from it, and the grand krathong parade left from here along Tha Phae Road. Thousands of clay lamps line the moat. The mass sky-lantern releases happen at ticketed venues out of town, not here.

Insider Tip: For a photo of the gate without crowds, come before 08:00. The outer wall faces east across the square, so the morning sun lights it head-on; by late afternoon it’s in its own shadow.

Around Tha Phae Gate

Ratchadamnoen Road runs straight through the doorway into the Old City. Wat Chedi Luang, with its ruined 15th-century chedi, is about 800 metres in, and the teak hall of Wat Phan Tao stands next door. To the north, Wat Chiang Man, the city’s oldest temple, is about a 15-minute walk.

Outside the gate, Tha Phae Road heads east to the river. Wat Buppharam sits about 500 metres along it, and Warorot Market and the Night Bazaar are each about 1km away. Thapae Boxing Stadium is a minute’s walk from the square for an evening of Muay Thai.

Red songthaews (shared pickup taxis) and Grab cars both drop off on Moon Muang Road beside the square, and most Old City guesthouses are within a 15-minute walk. The square has little shade, so midday in the hot season (March to May) is uncomfortable. View on Google Maps.