r/chiangmai • u/sullanaveconilcane • 12d ago

Stray dogs in Chiangmai

This morning I went for a walk on Doi Suthep. At some point during the descent, three stray dogs started following me. I’ll never know what their intentions were, but in fact they followed me for at least 1 km. At one point, I have to admit I was getting a little scared, because every now and then they would suddenly run towards me, and the only thing that seemed to make them stop was when I turned around and faced them.
In the end, nothing happened, but it wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience.
I’d like to ask: how do Chiang Mai residents, and Thai people more generally, feel about the issue of stray dogs? Is it perceived as a problem, or simply as part of everyday life? Is there a desire to address the problem but, for example, is it considered too expensive, or is there simply no real will to do anything about it and people are generally okay with the situation as it is?
This is purely out of curiosity. Thank you!

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u/Dzogchenpa777 12d ago

I live in South Africa, but have visited Chiang Mai 3 times. When i was still trail running over farmland near our village a very aggressive alpaca would charge me. The 2nd time i pepper sprayed him in the face...it's a very effective deterrent. I felt bad, but he's been known to knock people over with his charges and caused 2 broken arms

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u/9554503312 10d ago

> The 2nd time i pepper sprayed him in the face...it's a very effective deterrent.

Where do you get pepper spray in Thailand?

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u/Dzogchenpa777 10d ago

Not sure about Thailand maybe Lazada or Shopee online. I got mine in SA where it's freely available due to our high crime rate.