Lampang - is a quiet little provincial town, about 100km south-east of Chiang Mai.  It's off the standard tourist trail, with a selection of temples, a few hotels and guest houses, and one or two places to go in the evening for fans of country music and Thai folk/rock songs.  It's where my wife, Pong, is from, and it's quite pleasant to hang out there for a few days.  It's set either side of the river Wang, which runs east-west across town, and has a population of about 50,000.  

How to get there - You can fly from Bangkok via Phitsanulok in about an hour, I think twice a day.  It's also on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai railway line, and there are regular buses from Chiang Mai's Arcade bus station.  They take about 2 hours. 

Where to stay -  I usually head for the Asia Lampang Hotel on Thanon Boonyawat, south of the river.  The rooms are fairly basic, but they come with hot and cold showers, TV and air conditioning.  There's a decent little restaurant attached, and there's the "Sweety Room" bar in the basement, where you can listen to a band or two with a cold beer, after a hard night's entertainment elsewhere in town.  Other options, which I haven't tried, include the Riverside Lampang Guesthouse, No. 4 Guest House, and the more expensive Tipchang Hotel.

What to do in the day - Go for a wander around town.  If you head to the north bank of the river, there's a concentration of temples to the east, or you can take a trip out to the temple called Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang.  It's half an hour away in a hired song-tao, and you'll need to ask the driver to wait for you for an hour or so while you wander round and get a cold drink.  In July 2000, three of us paid the driver 300B in total for the round trip.  The guide books say it's one of the architectural highlights of northern Thailand.  Well, I wouldn't go that far, not knowing anything at all about it, but you can judge for yourself - there's some photos below.  You can also go for a clip-clop around town in one of Lampang's famous and brightly decorated horse-drawn carriages.  I have absolutely no idea why these are popular in this one Thai town, but they are.  

What to do at night - The food's generally good at the Riverside Restaurant, where you can sit on the candle-lit terrace, overlooking the river, and listen to the house band play (cringe) Country Roads and (double cringe) Hotel California.  There's a couple of little bars on the way there, where you can also get food, beer and live music, and there's the Santa Fe pub/restaurant on Thanon Booyawat west of the Asia Lampang.  For some reason, the Thais refer to this place as "Mot Yim", which I think translates as Smiling Ant, but the sign definitely says "Santa Fe".  Almost opposite Mot Yim on Thanon Boonyawat is a large barn of a pub/restaurant where the bands play Thai folk/rock songs and Pua Cheewit ("songs for life", or protest songs).  There are also a selection of foodstalls nearby in the night market.