ThLT

Thanks. I'll probably go to the DLT and give an update here. If it changed to 6 month on April 2022, that would be good news.

Yeah, I know. That's what I'm saying.

Thanks. What are the two sources? Are they from after April 2022?

Oh, so maybe that would mean with the 2y temporary license you can't get an IDP, but instead you need the 5y license.

Apparently, you need to be on a Non-Immigrant visa to go from the 2y temporary license to the 5y license. You'll get another 2y temporary license if on a tourist visa. I'm on a Non-Immigrant right now, but won't be when my license expires. Some say you can 6 months before the 2y license expires, some 3 months. I've read one person on the forum say that, if on a Non-Immigrant visa, you can change to the 5y license after 1y of having the temporary license. Is that true? How early can you change to a 5y license? What would you recommend to get the 5y license?

Sounds like you're genuinely enjoying it here (not just just trying to milk the place). Have a great time. Happy New Year.

Wow, you really have time to waste. You wrote a reply to my comment as long as my OP. With a picture on top of that. Didn't read past the first paragraph.

I'm not talking about tourists in general. lol I'm talking about tourists illegally renting a motorbike without a license. What does that account to Chiang Mai's tourist revenue, 0.00000000000000000000000000000001%? ???????? I'm talking about how motorbike deaths are reported and discussed abroad. Cause of the accident is always "Thai roads are dangerous," not "he barely rode a motorcycle before going to Thailand and crashed and killed a Thai local."

Beautiful view. Must be peaceful. Thanks for that.

The good ol' "just leave if you don't like it," from someone who is unwell with criticism. ???? So you're complaining about people complaining? Wouldn't that be complaining, but on top of that also being hypocritical?

What part of Chiang Mai do you live in?

Username checks out. ????

This is part rant/opinion-piece, part looking for advice. I moved here to Chiang Mai some years ago, when there were fewer tourists, so I'd say my reaction is likely more pronounced. However, I think these are things many probably go through after some years of living here. This will also probably be others' reaction, once millions more post-pandemic tourists arrive, so this discussion might benefit a number of members here. After nearly half a decade in Chiang Mai, the colorful veil of what I thought Chiang Mai to be has I believe partially been lifted. Not necessarily Chiang Mai in itself, but the many things surrounding it. I thought I was going to call Chiang Mai my home. However, in the past month, for example, with the influx of tourists, I've almost been in a head-on collision with a tourist on a rented motorbike turning into the wrong lane (my lane), and a bit after, having to turn into the grass because a tourist in front of me decided to suddenly brake and park in a curb of a highway exit (yes, actually park in a highway exit). I've seen others almost crash into locals, and another with his legs on the ground extensively shaking, probably because he barely ever rode a motorcycle before, and couldn't manage to keep the bike upright at slow speeds. Basically, a collision with someone else just waiting to happen. Seriously, f*** tourists without a license and experience on rented motorbikes. Thai people live and work here, university students go to school to study and earn a living. There is a large percentage of parents without the financial capacity to buy a car who take their children to and from school almost every single day on a motorbike. Many tourists want to have the basically fabricated "Thailand experience," that is sold by and to people abroad on social media and blogs, but then many come here without a motorcycle license, and for such people, putting the lives of others at risk is not even an afterthought. When a tourist dies on Thai roads, which also involves the death of a local, notice that almost never is it mentioned that a Thai person also died in the accident. The sole cause of the accident was not the tourist without a license/experience, no, it's always how dangerous Thai roads are. How self-centered can someone be, to cause another to die, yet simply blame the country the person was in? There are so many unwritten rules and ways about driving a motorbike that is specific to Thailand, that take months to know through actually driving. And even more, some don't even wear a helmet. Many here on Facebook have seen GoFundMe pages of tourists not having medical insurance, and then begging for money to pay for their hospital bill. Yeah, no, not giving a single cent. This is the worst part, mainly because in some cases it involves people actually dying. There are also tourists jaywalking everywhere, sometimes even diagonally, holding up their arm as if they are Robert Downey Jr. and that their hand will stop a car that hasn't seen them. That, or just slowly taking their time while twenty cars and motorbikes are waiting for them to casually cross the road. They think pedestrians have utmost priority here, exactly like in their home country, you know, because that's how every country is, or should be. It's also the attitude. It feels like Chiang Mai is an international tourist attraction to them. Smiling locals with tasty food and alcohol, having no significance past that, being part of that attraction. A jungle zoo, with cheap booze, coffee and now legal cannabis. Many tourists walk like they own the place, because they paid for a plane ticket and they have a few tourist dollars to hand out to locals. People live and have families here. People have lived here for almost a thousand years. I've now come to the realization that Chiang Mai, for multiple months per year, is basically a semi-tourist city. In some ways like Paris, but not all year-round, and everything is cheaper instead of being more expensive. Compared to Bangkok, where tourists are rather drowned by nearly 10 million locals, and barely noticed outside the BTS or MRT, Chiang Mai, on the other hand, is somewhat inundated by tourists in specific parts of the city (in many cases leading to gentrification). There is no going into these areas without seeing digital nomads in every coffee shop, drinking only one or two cups of coffee, and typing away at their laptop for almost the whole day. This is even the case with this supposedly Facebook expat groups, with half the posts being tourist-related, and probably 1/3 of the members being tourists. A great man once tried to pass on the way of thinking of "being a visitor of a country, and not a tourist" (rest in peace, Anthony Bourdain, your knowledge was heard by many, but sadly not by all). China has recently announced that it will be lifting its COVID-zero policy on January 8 (and actually just before the January 22 Chinese New Year), which barred Chinese citizens from travelling outside the country, for over three years. Having been shut in for such a long time, and subjugated to severe governmental pressures, hordes of Chinese tourists will likely be even larger and much worse than before the pandemic. I'm having a difficult time with the current numbers of tourists, but triple or even quadruple that, and I don't know how I'll be able to manage or still like living in Chiang Mai. I currently work here and signed a 1.5-year contract, so I'll be here for some time. For those who have lived in Chiang Mai for many years, how did you get through such a phase? How do you manage to get past these kinds of things?

If they can't even get the simple part of visa-on-arrival right, I'd change tour group company.

You can. I posted and explained it just a few post above yours. Obviously, you have to enter Malaysia if you leave and get stamped out of Thailand.