Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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“Where do you go in the world? Where’s better?”

Text : BB
Images : Karin

“‘What’s the point of just working all your life and then you die?’ So I thought I’d have some fun.”

That was how Ian Rauner together with his wife, Sudarat, and with a hundred thousand baht in his pocket began the whole Extreme Activities Center, the X-Centre located in Mae Rim district, so as to give visitors some ‘fun’.

Growing up on a big farm north of Auckland, New Zealand, and spending a lot of time on horseback and riding a motorbike every day, seemed natural to him. Then Ian Rauner came to Thailand to do what he’s best at.

“The first time we (Ian and his wife) came up here (to Chiang Mai) in 2000 was to set up the bungy jump ourselves. Just the bungy jump only, cause we had no money so we just slowly developed. As we got more money we brought more things. Then once we’d bought this piece of land we slowly built up more activities as we could afford it. We started with no money. When I first met my wife I had a hundred thousand baht and that was all my life savings.”

“I was really just floating from one thing to another. We didn’t have any ideas as such. We had the bungy jump, then offroad buggies. We went on to paintball and then started with some Go Karts, and we made the indoor Go Karts. As soon as we got a little more money or borrowed from the bank, we did what we could afford to do. So we didn’t really have a plan as such.”

Living in Chiang Mai, you can find hardly anyone who’s not familiar with the name X-Centre and the bold red X that goes straight to your adrenaline. Tourists love it and so do the locals.

“We were the first, I think. We are the ones that do multiple things. Normally we try not to do activities that someone else has already been doing, but that’s turned out to be not such a good idea cause everyone else copies us. No matter what we do people copy. They must think we are making money so they do it too. But I don’t think success should be measured just by money.”

When asked what his favorite activity is, he said, “As one person, the bungy is a one person thing if you are just by yourself. But if it’s a group thing, the drift kart is very good and the (offroad) buggy is also very scenic.”

Ian and his wife first met in Phuket when he was working for a bungy jump company to set up the first bungy jump in the country, but Chiang Mai is the place where they’ve settled. “If we were by ourselves we may still have been in Phuket.” And what changed their minds? “We decided to come here when we had our first child, our daughter. Phuket was good in those days. It was very nice but not that great for children. Here it’s much nicer to bring up children, with much nicer people up here.”

The North also reminds him of where he grew up. “I was brought up on farmland so I wasn’t on the coast myself. I like going to the hills, it’s nice! Here it’s similar to where I grew up - with hills, jungle, and a lot of bush on the farm.”

The scenery is one thing, but what attracts him most is the climate. The temperature here does not reach 40 degrees C. every day like down south, plus Chiang Mai is a big city in a small town. “You’ve got big shopping centers, you’ve got good hospitals, good dentists. Everything is available here so that you don’t really need anything. Engineering shops… you can buy everything. With some places around Asia you might have a beautiful beach or you might have something else but there are no facilities, no decent hospitals, nothing. Here you’ve got everything.” Still everything comes with a consequence. “The last five years the traffic has been really extreme. When we first came up here it wasn’t that bad. There wasn’t that much traffic. So we try to stay here most of the time. We don’t get into town much at all.”

Compared to where he’s originally from he says “New Zealand is a beautiful place but everyone only works. No one is having fun. People think New Zealand is the greatest place on earth – yes, if you’re a visitor. But if you’re living there all people do is work. They just work and sleep. Too quiet. There’s not much to do. And the cost of living in Chiang Mai is cheap. It’s a lot less than other countries or even other cities in Thailand. Entertainment, drinks, everything is cheaper. The cost of living, the value of life and the quality of life is good here.”

Living in Chiang Mai he thought he is not too restricted by laws. No one is pushing him around or doing too much. He can live a peaceful life here.

“You still have freedom,” he ended.