VacationSelector
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city
Hanok houses in Bukchon, Seoul
SeoulHanok houses in Bukchon

Photos: Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License; Seoul by 거열 박, Pexels License.

Chiang Mai or Seoul?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • prices
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Chiang Mai’s own page.

Choose Seoul for

  • getting around
  • nightlife
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Seoul’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Chiang Mai 6, Seoul 18: Seoul leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Chiang Mai 78, Seoul 84: Seoul leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Chiang Mai 65, Seoul 75: Seoul leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Chiang Mai 45, Seoul 84: Seoul leads by 39 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chiang Mai 73, Seoul 75: Seoul leads by 2 points.
Day trips. Chiang Mai 48, Seoul 77: Seoul leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Chiang Mai 55, Seoul 80: Seoul leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Chiang Mai 38, Seoul 87: Seoul leads by 49 points.
Shopping & style. Chiang Mai 62, Seoul 85: Seoul leads by 23 points.
Affordability. Chiang Mai 90, Seoul 50: Chiang Mai leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chiang Mai 30, Seoul 63: Seoul leads by 33 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chiang Mai 82, Seoul 75: Chiang Mai leads by 7 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chiang Mai and Seoul.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Seoul
Best match
71match

Wins on getting around and nightlife with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Seoul in July

29 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
422 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
Chiang MaiSeoul

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre). Seoul: 1991-2020 normals, Seoul (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChiang MaiSeoul
Official languageThaiKorean, Korean Sign Language
CurrencyBaht (THB)Won (KRW)
SocketsABCF220 V, 50 HzCF220 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199Police 112, ambulance 119, fire 119
Elevation310 m38 m
Main airportChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinationsIncheon International Airport (ICN)49 km from centre162 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-18 days

By the numbers

MeasureChiang MaiSeoul
City population1,198,0009,668,465
People per km²2,95815,973
Museums within 10 km681
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km05
Swim season, months above 21 °C-2 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chiang Mai or Seoul somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.