About 2km east of Hang Dong, Ban Tawai is a sprawling, pedestrian-friendly tourist market, with hundreds of small shops selling handicrafts and knick-knacks to spruce up your interiors back home. This vast enterprise was kicked off by local woodcarvers, who are famous for their artistry and prodigious output.
Today, carvings are produced on an industrial scale by numerous workshops. It's all very commercial, but you'll find the same kinds of handicrafts and souvenirs that you see in Chiang Mai's Walking Street markets, spread out across covered 'zones'. Signs saying 'antiques made to order' should make you question the origins of anything purporting to be old.