I will be returning to CM after 5 years. Interested in opinions on how the city has changed since then.

Everything that was great and good is now the opposite, and vice-versa.

 

~o:37;

1 hour ago, fhickson said:

I will be returning

can you tell us about yourself? single? married? young old? it makes a difference.

Traffic congestion during rush hours has greatly increased.  Numerous condos, mubans going up

rapidly and some costs too.  This year air pollution was in the dangerous readings for 4 months.  

Winter did not in fact take place.  Monitoring temps at my house in Sankamphaeng I noted 2 days

when the temp early morning dropped to 17 degrees, otherwise was around 20-24 degrees each

morning.  Daytime highs during polluted months was 35-41 degrees.  This year too, possibly due

to the "El Nino" effect, the rainy season has been anything but in C/M.  An occasional thunderstorm

but scattered with some areas not getting any rain at all.  Also noticed last couple of days burning

off fields in prep for rains so they can plant rice fields.  Some restaurants closed, some new ones

opened.  Lots of Chinese tourists.  Still better than Bangkok in my opinion.

 

More traffic, more hotels, more condos... more restaurants, more and varied shopping. Still the delightful small town feeling that it has always had, despite the big city luxuries available. Fewer backpack tourists, more Chinese tour groups. Better choice of imported foods and the same wonderful fresh markets for Thai foods.

All in all, the good and the bad. It all balances out nicely.

It's as boring as it ever was.

how about nightlife, is it still closing down at midnight?

 

there was always one bar with troublemakers and fights near the moat that remained open until the wee hours (not zoe in yellow). maybe its still there or some new ones popped up.

The larger question might be how much you have changed in 5 years? 

 

New places open, old places close, if you liked it 5 yrs ago you will probably like it now... not that much has changed from the essence. 

Someday I'll go home...maybe for a holiday, maybe to live...I'll just take it as I find it...not as if I can change it either way?

Most people would agree ... a steady change for the worse, and this seems set to continue. 

 

A reduced quality of life, coupled with noticeably rising supermarket prices for western products, less friendly locals (stressed!) and ever-more road construction - to serve a city where you need a car to go anywhere.  The city is growing steadily uglier, and any charm it once possessed has long disappeared behind the billboards and concrete.

 

City air pollution is already a problem and will get worse. During the Burning Season, anybody with means of relocating for 3-4 months should get out. If you stay, you risk serious cumulative health problems. It also seems hotter than previous years, and future climate change may affect the pleasures of cool season - already negated by the burning which can start now in January. You'd be left therefore with only 2-3 months of nice weather.

 

Younger folks and 'millennials' may still find it appealing, but as a choice for retirement or long stay, it is really no longer an option in my opinion. Many who chose to retire here 10 or more years ago now regret it, including myself, and are looking at other possibilities in Thailand and elsewhere.

 

Bottom line: best come and have a look before you make a move.

Sadly Elvis has left the building... 

After 5 years? We are all a little older. Pollution,  smoke and Baht, continues killing us slowly.

Boy that's an easy one to answer. More Noxious air and for longer, more cars, more Chinese, hotter than normal, less rain than normal other that those items it's the same IMO.

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Rents have dropped, the result of a glut of condo and moo baan developments. Food prices have edged up a bit. Traffic around school times is insane, I stay out of the 8 am and 4 pm tangles. Pollution this year in the smoke season of March was the worst I've experienced in ten years.

Plenty of women looking for a farang ATM.

45 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Plenty of women looking for a farang ATM.

55555...that may be the winning answer for the OP.  Nothing else matters. 

11 hours ago, fhickson said:

how about nightlife, is it still closing down at midnight?

 

there was always one bar with troublemakers and fights near the moat that remained open until the wee hours (not zoe in yellow). maybe its still there or some new ones popped up.

Most close just after midnight.  But there are a couple that bend the rules.  Example, last night I left a bar at about 5 in the morning.  The problem is, that most of bars are empty these days.  The bar you were talking about was probably Spicy.  Same issues as before.

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Rents have dropped, the result of a glut of condo and moo baan developments. Food prices have edged up a bit. Traffic around school times is insane, I stay out of the 8 am and 4 pm tangles. Pollution this year in the smoke season of March was the worst I've experienced in ten years.

Plenty of women looking for a farang ATM.

Yeah, but they're the same women that were looking 5 years ago, just a bit older and fatter now.

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Yeah, but they're the same women that were looking 5 years ago, just a bit older and fatter now.

Like the men they're targeting.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Yeah, but they're the same women that were looking 5 years ago, just a bit older and fatter now.

So am I.

It is different than Bangkok. There are some areas in Bangkok that you won’t see Chinese tourists. I did not see any in Fashion Island 2 months ago. You will see Chinese tourists all over the Chiang Mai, but lots of them around Maya and Festival. Beware of those who ride motorcycles. Too many young farang looking for jobs and opportunity to stay just like Chinese girls. Some Thai from other cities looking for business opportunity here as well. Nothing like 10 years ago that was a real peaceful city. It has become just a big city, a mini BKK (too many cars, motorbikes and diesel red cars). 

5 years ago I could get a large Heineken for 110b, 130b for a large Chang now at “Warm Up”. 

I’ll move soon, in less than a mount. The only thing I’ll miss is the cool nights in Dec and Jan.

Welcome back and good luck. 

 

 

32 minutes ago, The Theory said:

It is different than Bangkok. There are some areas in Bangkok that you won’t see Chinese tourists. I did not see any in Fashion Island 2 months ago. You will see Chinese tourists all over the Chiang Mai, but lots of them around Maya and Festival. Beware of those who ride motorcycles. Too many young farang looking for jobs and opportunity to stay just like Chinese girls. Some Thai from other cities looking for business opportunity here as well. Nothing like 10 years ago that was a real peaceful city. It has become just a big city, a mini BKK (too many cars, motorbikes and diesel red cars). 

5 years ago I could get a large Heineken for 110b, 130b for a large Chang now at “Warm Up”. 

I’ll move soon, in less than a mount. The only thing I’ll miss is the cool nights in Dec and Jan.

Welcome back and good luck. 

 

 

It depends on where one goes in Chiang Mai. My local restaurant sells large Heineken for 100 Baht, large Chang and Leo for 80 baht.

It's not rocket science. Drink at a clip joint, you will get clipped.

Chiang Mai, I think is a better city than when I arrived 2013. Many more restaurants, less tourists (good for expats, not locals) 

 

Good outer ring growth, new shops, bars etc. Vastly improved roads, the Twilight of the red bus, tuk-tuk, taxi mafia, thanks to Grab.

 

The political situation in the country as a whole, is to be blunt, a silent scream of a crisis. 

 

Immigration have increasingly petty requirements, like drawing maps to your house (no Google printouts!) Taking photographs at your gate, and new money seasoning rules, they laughably claim change nothing!

 

Prices for quality imported goods are high.

 

Welcome home!

9 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

Most close just after midnight.  But there are a couple that bend the rules.  Example, last night I left a bar at about 5 in the morning.  The problem is, that most of bars are empty these days.  The bar you were talking about was probably Spicy.  Same issues as before.

why are the bars empty if there are more people around?

On 7/9/2019 at 4:43 PM, orang37 said:

Everything that was great and good is now the opposite, and vice-versa.

 

~o:37;

Orange37 has nailed it right on.  CM is a hell hole.  Dirty, angry, crowded, polluted and polluted heavily in thick cancer causing smog 4-5 months guaranteed every year, etc...hope you like it enough to sacrifice your life.  Otherwise, its a great place to get some gas for a visit...

18 minutes ago, mike787 said:

Orange37 has nailed it right on.  CM is a hell hole.  Dirty, angry, crowded, polluted and polluted heavily in thick cancer causing smog 4-5 months guaranteed every year, etc...hope you like it enough to sacrifice your life.  Otherwise, its a great place to get some gas for a visit...

im sensing some real negativity here.

 

i will do a month rather then two and keep my options open. need to come in to visit my old dentist.

 

another red flag was the younger bloke i arranged housing with said he was returning to the uk because it was high season in cm. huh? thus, the question.

6 minutes ago, fhickson said:

im sensing some real negativity here.

 

i will do a month rather then two and keep my options open. need to come in to visit my old dentist.

 

another red flag was the younger bloke i arranged housing with said he was returning to the uk because it was high season in cm. huh? thus, the question.

Its not negativity.  Just blunt Truth.   However, there is an amazing dentist, husband/wife trained in UCLA there.

I must be living in a different Chiang Mai to some of the posters on this thread. I enjoy my life here. Good range of restaurants. Pick my times to be on the roads.

As for the air pollution, I button up my condo and turn on the air purifier and aircon. Wear a mask outdoors.

Chiang Rai is no different in the smoke season. It's an old problem driven by Thai farming practices.

26 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I must be living in a different Chiang Mai to some of the posters on this thread. I enjoy my life here. Good range of restaurants. Pick my times to be on the roads.

As for the air pollution, I button up my condo and turn on the air purifier and aircon. Wear a mask outdoors.

Chiang Rai is no different in the smoke season. It's an old problem driven by Thai farming practices.

im a windows open person and dont like wearing a gasmask, but its all comparable to what im used to i suppose.

 

im from chernobyl btw

On ‎7‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 7:12 AM, fhickson said:

how about nightlife, is it still closing down at midnight?

 

there was always one bar with troublemakers and fights near the moat that remained open until the wee hours (not zoe in yellow). maybe its still there or some new ones popped up.

555555555555555555

Nightlife, in C M!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thou jest assuredly.

The city fathers want everyone to eat well and expensively, then go home or to hotel nice and early, so they can go look at more temples in the morning.

Even the tours are <deleted> I had a river tour with 2 different companies and both were dire.

The best sightseeing is outside the city- Doi Inthanon was worthwhile, but there are only so many tours that one can do, before realising that there just isn't much to do in C M.

I watched a lot of tv and spent a lot of time on TVF when I was there.

 

I lived close to the main bar area, but it was so boring ( and expensive ) I didn't bother. DVDs were way more exciting.

12 hours ago, fhickson said:

why are the bars empty if there are more people around?

Expensive, boring, can't think of anything good to say about them. I guess most are like me and just can't be bothered with them as nothing positive about them that I can see.

I did visit one near the start of my time in C M and the mama san was incredibly rude, so I never went back.