Steven and Pearl are running the Chiang Mai Marathon in December 2027. We'd love to turn it into the trip where the whole family finally ends up in the same place, flying in from Auckland, Sydney, Hawaii, California and Maryland. This page has the plan, what it costs, and a short survey at the bottom. Please fill it in.
Northern Thailand in December is cool, dry and lit up. Chiang Mai is relaxed, cheap to eat well in, and easy to move a big group around. Then Bangkok for Christmas on the river.
Everyone's welcome: partners, kids, whoever makes it your trip. Every adult gets their own say, so please each fill in the survey yourself. There's no pressure to decide now.
Northern Thailand in December: cool mornings, warm afternoons, and something lit up every night.
Photos load from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, credited to their photographers there.
Built around a Sunday 19 December race. Every day after race day is optional. Do as much or as little as you like.
Fly into Chiang Mai (CNX), usually via Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo or Seoul. Check in, swim, then a welcome khantoke dinner with the whole family.
Temples inside the old walls in the morning, then the gold temple on Doi Suthep mountain at sunset. Easy shake-out run for the runners.
Thai cooking class at a farm, or a day at Elephant Nature Park, an ethical elephant sanctuary. Runners collect race bibs and have an early night.
Marathon starts at 3am from Tha Phae Gate. Family cheer squad at the finish, then a big breakfast, massages all round, and a celebration dinner.
Recovery day at the resort. Nothing planned on purpose.
Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain, or the White Temple at Chiang Rai. Private vans for the group.
Shopping, coffee, the Night Bazaar. Last night in the north.
About 70 minutes on a domestic flight. Check in on the river, longtail boat through the canals at dusk.
Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun in the cooler morning. Christmas Eve dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya.
Long family lunch, pool time, then street food in Chinatown at night.
Head home, or add a few beach days in Hua Hin, Krabi or Phuket before New Year.
Dates aren't locked yet. The race is usually on a Sunday in mid to late December (it was 21 December in 2025), and the organisers haven't announced 2027 yet. If it lands on Sunday 12 December, the whole plan shifts a week earlier and Bangkok moves before Christmas. Please tell us in the survey how flexible you are.
Each option has a mid-range tier and a premium tier, capped at USD 300 per room per night. The only exception is a family villa with more than one bedroom. Prices are rough late-December rates per room or villa per night in USD. They'll move once we can book real dates.
Pick where you're flying from and how you'd like to stay. The figures are per person in USD, with NZD underneath. They're rough December estimates for economy return flights, rooms shared between two, plus food, activities, transfers and the Chiang Mai to Bangkok flight.
| Flying from | Return flight | Mid-range total | Premium total | Mid-range in NZD |
|---|
Totals use the middle of each range, with rooms shared between two. All figures in USD. Rate used: 1 USD = 1.72 NZD. Business class roughly triples the flight figure.
Everyone answers for themselves, because you'll each have your own ideas about where to stay and what to do. It takes two minutes, and you can come back and change it any time. Your first name pops up on the Who's coming board as soon as you save. Everything else goes only to Steven.