What is it like to live in Lamphun?

[Nick ZepTepi]

I was considering living there, probably a Thai mansion room to start with.

 

Not to far away from CM for the times i needed to go to the city.

 

Quieter, better air quality, has a big C & makro & local markets for my shopping needs.

 

I'd value your opinions.

 

 

 

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[JaseTheBass]

Not sure the air quality is noticeably better. Probably have to move further East to get out of the 'Brown Corridor'.

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[simoh1490]

The air quality is poorer as a result of the large coal-fired generator to the South.

[Nick ZepTepi]

The air quality is poorer as a result of the large coal-fired generator to the South.

Oh

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[simoh1490]

21 minutes ago, Nick ZepTepi said:

Oh

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In all fairness the generator is in Lampang which is about 45 mins to the South but the air quality in that area is usually very poor - a combination of the generator and smoke from burning in Myanmar to the West make it very unpleasant at times.

[Nick ZepTepi]

Maybe not so much better.

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[naboo]

The power station is in Mae Mo, Lampang. About 100km from Lamphun!

 

Nobody knows about Lamphun, and it's best kept that way. Stay in Chiang Mai.

[sfokevin]

The Lamphun mall has a Dukes!

[rumak]

9 hours ago, naboo said:

The power station is in Mae Mo, Lampang. About 100km from Lamphun!

 

Nobody knows about Lamphun, and it's best kept that way. Stay in Chiang Mai.

twenty years ago Chiangmai was heaven......then some jerk told people how great it was

nuff said !

[EzekielRage]

To the OP, I lived in Lamphun on my GF's mother's ranch/farm for several months. Air quality same as Chiang Mai and only a 35 minute drive (depending on traffic) into the city. If you are wanting to stay in central Lamphun there are so many hidden foreign food restaurants as well as great Thai food and large markets. That's in addition to Big C, Makro, KFC's etc. Also I noticed it gets far cooler over the night than Chiang Mai.

[simoh1490]

18 minutes ago, rumak said:

twenty years ago Chiangmai was heaven......then some jerk told people how great it was

nuff said !

 

Edited April 18, 2018 by simoh1490

[simoh1490]

19 minutes ago, rumak said:

twenty years ago Chiangmai was heaven......then some jerk told people how great it was

nuff said !

Twenty years ago Chiang Mai was pretty thin on the ground for many of the things most expats want, there were very few western restaurants, only one shopping mall, no DIY stores to speak of and only a single cinema - not that many people spoke English. That changed suddenly with the Bangkok floods in 2011 when Bangkokians invaded the place looking for a dry place to live, which one of those "jerks" caused the floods and then told everyone else about Chiang Mai is unclear!!!

[rumak]

3 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Twenty years ago Chiang Mai was pretty thin on the ground for many of the things most expats want, there were very few western restaurants, only one shopping mall, no DIY stores to speak of and only a single cinema - not that many people spoke English. That changed suddenly with the Bangkok floods in 2011 when Bangkokians invaded the place looking for a dry place to live, which one of those "jerks" caused the floods and then told everyone else about Chiang Mai is unclear!!!

sounds like you got it all figured out....thanks.   guess you and those expats will be staying in CM , fingers crossed

[simoh1490]

Lamphun's claim to fame is that it is home to a large volume of clean engineering "factories", many of them Japanese owned, electronics, lenses, etc. - the demand for labour is very high hence there are large numbers of inexpensive mansion blocks around the city. Most of the Japanese management of those factories live in Chiang Mai and commute daily, the trip used to be quite short but traffic volumes have driven up travel times - the road is now being widened to add extra lanes but won't be fully operational for many months. On the plus side, Lamphun does have micro climates and the temperatures there are lower than in Chiang Mai.

[phil2407]

The Royal Princess City hotel in Lamphun is brilliant- lived there for about 2 years - they do deals per month (or used to) you’re by the river nice and quiet- has a restaurant on site good food reasonable price, staff are great. Rooms very spacious and comfy. Not far 10-15 mins to Lamphun Centre, 30 minutes to CM on highway (on a scooter) - Air quality slightly better than CM 

hope that helps 

[NorthernRyland]

Just go rent a room for a week or so at a cheap hotel and see how you like it. A big benefit to living in Thailand is cheap rent so it's easy to check a place out for a while. The air quality will not be any better for the smoke season but the rest of the year air quality in CM is always degrading anyways so it may be better on average. Unless it's after a big rain CM is a smoke bowl if you observe it from a high point. It didn't used to be like that so it's troubling indeed.

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, EzekielRage said:

To the OP, I lived in Lamphun on my GF's mother's ranch/farm for several months. Air quality same as Chiang Mai and only a 35 minute drive (depending on traffic) into the city. If you are wanting to stay in central Lamphun there are so many hidden foreign food restaurants as well as great Thai food and large markets. That's in addition to Big C, Makro, KFC's etc. Also I noticed it gets far cooler over the night than Chiang Mai.

CM is getting hotter and hotter due to the sheer volume of cars. If you can get above ~450 meters after the sun goes down you can literally feel the point where you break through the heat blanket that consumes the entire city now. The whole city is trapped in smoke year round also which you don't notice unless viewed from far enough away.

[simoh1490]

8 minutes ago, genericptr said:

CM is getting hotter and hotter due to the sheer volume of cars. If you can get above ~450 meters after the sun goes down you can literally feel the point where you break through the heat blanket that consumes the entire city now. The whole city is trapped in smoke year round also which you don't notice unless viewed from far enough away.

I suggest you read up on the inversion layer.

[Formaleins]

I have heard from a couple of ex pats living over there that immigration is like an afternoon tea compared to Chiang Mai. Offices are almost empty everyday, no queueing etc. I am only 1km from the border and almost tempted to buy a place over there for that reason alone.

[NorthernRyland]

29 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

I suggest you read up on the inversion layer.

Yeah that that's technical term, thanks I never knew that. I rented a house in the mountains in Pong Yang for a while (way to Samoeng from Mae Rim) and it's just sick how hot and nasty the city is.

[rumak]

Simoh.....Lamphun is also a very large PROVINCE .   I live so far away from the town of Lamphun that I have no worries about thousands of expats coming to live near me .   The ones you make reference to would all die of hunger.   Just ain't no Dukes or great Italian restaurants around here .

Plenty of mango and lumyai orchards and the lifestyle that I came here for .  To each his own

[rumak]

1 hour ago, Formaleins said:

I have heard from a couple of ex pats living over there that immigration is like an afternoon tea compared to Chiang Mai. Offices are almost empty everyday, no queueing etc. I am only 1km from the border and almost tempted to buy a place over there for that reason alone.

They are misleading you.  The place is packed and they do strip body searches of all Farangs.  Anyone

protesting the immigration rules is sent off to do forced labor picking lumyai.  You have been warned. Chiangmai is MUCH better....and there is a Dukes just down the hall !

[DiDiChok]

Well, I think Lamphun's very nice indeed although as I don't like to be in the centre I prefer to live in one of the minor 'villages' nearby.  Yes, the Royal Princess City Hotel is wonderful and cheap too.  The Big C and shopping mall has most of what you need and the markets are useful for odds and ends plus there's a cinema.  I'm very impressed by the DoHome shop a little way to the north, and there you can get everything for your house.  There are discos, bars, nightclubs, ladyboys and everything but most of it is just not on show as is the Thai way of doing things.  Most things are simply tucked away.  Anyone who's spent any time in Thailand will know that you can be six feet away from something, not know it's there, never find it and never know what you've missed.

 

Really, you've got to go a bit native to enjoy it all.

[Nick ZepTepi]

Native is fine by me, better actually.

I'll go for a look around.

Thanks all

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