Returning to CM - How has it changed?

[Mapguy]

Kudos to WinniTheKwai for the sober analyses above.

People are now generally more aware of the relative danger of PM2.5 particles and after a particularly bad 2019 season with better monitoring available perhaps will be more aggressive in solving air pollution problems where Chiang Mai happens to be the largest urban area. But it isn’t going to happen rapidly. There are general rural cultural and economic farming practices and also corporate (CP contracting for corn) interests to change.


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[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 3:41 AM, fhickson said:

not as bad as those guys who weld with a hankerchief. even inhaled smoke from weld?

I was in a business that did a lot of welding and never saw anyone use a gas mask when doing so. Did a lot myself and never used a gas mask. Still alive 40 years later.

[Sandy Freckle]

On 8/4/2019 at 8:22 AM, fellig said:

For those soured on Chiang Mai; any suggestions for other cities in Thailand or SE Asia, similar cost of living but better (whatever "better" means to you)?

I'm not 'soured' of CM..., I did not end up moving there...., I decided 'home' was way too good to leave. However, I had always believed that Dalat in south central Vietnam ticked a few boxes.

[Dcheech]

Just now, Sandy Freckle said:

However, I had always believed that Dalat in south central Vietnam ticked a few boxes.

Nice to know.

 

For CM; The good and the bad. I would recomend travel. Get yourself a sixty day Indonesian Travel Visa, buy an Air Asia ticket;  March 1 / return May 1. I have never understood why more people do not do that. Certainly Thais know about it as AAsia used to give promos on that BKK to Denpassar flight. That stopped over four years ago as it is packed with Thai people escaping the hot season and/or the smog season. 

[Ron jeremy]

22 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I was in a business that did a lot of welding and never saw anyone use a gas mask when doing so. Did a lot myself and never used a gas mask. Still alive 40 years later.

I work in the piping trades and can tell you that the younger generation is a lot more educated now. Many young people now wear proper masks when welding. The smoke- poison affects people differently, I am seeing countless welders dying at younger ages. Our welders are dropping like flys.

why would anyone want to breathe that shit? On another note, why would people want to move to Chang Mai and breathe that shit?

[totally thaied up]

5 hours ago, Sandy Freckle said:

I'm not 'soured' of CM..., I did not end up moving there...., I decided 'home' was way too good to leave. However, I had always believed that Dalat in south central Vietnam ticked a few boxes.

What was the too good to leave part or was it a cumulative part of things you did not like that kept you 'home'. Be interested to know as you spent a lot of time in CM. My visa agent this year told me she is 10% down on her clients as many have left quoting smoke and visa changes with seasoning as reasons why. 

[Sandy Freckle]

Ib

1 hour ago, totally thaied up said:

What was the too good to leave part or was it a cumulative part of things you did not like that kept you 'home'. Be interested to know as you spent a lot of time in CM.

Initially I came to Thailand to have a series of restorative dental treatments..., I'd tack a holiday trip onto each medical dental trip. I became interested in finding out if it was possible to buy a bit of land up near CM. I was interested in growing unusual tropical fruit. However, slowly and incrementally, I discovered that I couldn't really 'own' my own land in Thailand.., and I couldn't really build my own house or grow my food or work my own land in Thailand. At the very same time I was becoming aware of the ongoing annual smoke issue. I love the Thai people(and yes the women too), but why buy a book when you can join a library ?
I'm from a different reality and anyway, the powers that be in Thailand were progressively changing the rules and goalposts..., they do not seem to value the  people from foreign who want to live in Thailand and contribute to the community and the countries economy. They increasingly want to fleece and tax expats wanting to make a home in Thailand. Anyway, I woke up to myself and to the (sur)real situation up there. In short, I had an epiphany.

The facts were, I already owned a small coastal farm in S/W Australia..., I lived in a home that I was able to build myself, I was also able to grow my own food, including avocados, macadamia, stone fruit, nashi, custard apple etc etc..., and I was able to work from home. I was debt free, child free and guilt free..., plus I had some investments. I didn't need to buy into that LOS dream..., a dream that seemed to be souring with many of the expats that I had talked to who were already living in Thailand. I decided to stay where I was..., at home on the farm..., where it's relatively ordered, civilised, predictable and (comparatively) pristine clean. Yes, back then, I did entertain the dream of living in Thailand. Now I just visit Thailand..., for the 2 or 3 months of the very mild winter that we have in S/W Australia. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by Sandy Freckle

[totally thaied up]

27 minutes ago, Sandy Freckle said:

Ib

Initially I came to Thailand to have a series of restorative dental treatments..., I'd tack a holiday trip onto each medical dental trip. I became interested in finding out if it was possible to buy a bit of land up near CM. I was interested in growing unusual tropical fruit. However, slowly and incrementally, I discovered that I couldn't really 'own' my own land in Thailand.., and I couldn't really build my own house or grow my food or work my own land in Thailand. At the very same time I was becoming aware of the ongoing annual smoke issue. I love the Thai people(and yes the women too), but why buy a book when you can join a library ?
I'm from a different reality and anyway, the powers that be in Thailand were progressively changing the rules and goalposts..., they do not seem to value the  people from foreign who want to live in Thailand and contribute to the community and the countries economy. They increasingly want to fleece and tax expats wanting to make a home in Thailand. Anyway, I woke up to myself and to the (sur)real situation up there. In short, I had an epiphany.

The facts were, I already owned a small coastal farm in S/W Australia..., I lived in a home that I was able to build myself, I was also able to grow my own food, including avocados, macadamia, stone fruit, nashi, custard apple etc etc..., and I was able to work from home. I was debt free, child free and guilt free..., plus I had some investments. I didn't need to buy into that LOS dream..., a dream that seemed to be souring with many of the expats that I had talked to who were already living in Thailand. I decided to stay where I was..., at home on the farm..., where it's relatively ordered, civilised, predictable and (comparatively) pristine clean. Yes, back then, I did entertain the dream of living in Thailand. Now I just visit Thailand..., for the 2 or 3 months of the very mild winter that we have in S/W Australia. 

Thanks for that - very well written and explained. I myself are looking at different avenues, so reading others explanations helps a lot. 

[vagabond48]

My wife and I just finished our short trip down memory lane in CM. We lived here for 9 years before we left for the states 4+ years ago. Since we had no wheels, we walked a lot and used public transportation. Yes, CM has grown a lot which includes Chinese setting up businesses. My wife met a Chinese acquaintance who brought her to her rather large fancy boutique hotel on the river which caters to Chinese. The one thing that was apparent in the city as we walked around was the awful air qualify. We walked back towards the Old Town from Airport Plaza about 5PM on one of the main streets that was a S L O W moving parking lot reminding me a bit of BKK. We enjoyed our visit but would definitely not want to move back to CM.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎8‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 1:53 PM, Ron jeremy said:

I work in the piping trades and can tell you that the younger generation is a lot more educated now. Many young people now wear proper masks when welding. The smoke- poison affects people differently, I am seeing countless welders dying at younger ages. Our welders are dropping like flys.

why would anyone want to breathe that shit? On another note, why would people want to move to Chang Mai and breathe that shit?

Yes. We used to clean brake drums with an air hose, breathing all that lovely asbestos!

I lived in C M because it was cheaper than Pattaya ( the bars were rubbish so I didn't spend any money in them, which saved me megabaht ).

I'd rather have lived in Pattaya, but the traffic was the killer. Too many maniacs on motorbikes tried to kill me too often, so I moved to C M. Better pavements there. Bangkok wasn't even an option- who would want to live in that giant heatsink with permanently bad air? Beaches way too expensive now that they've destroyed them with horrid concrete hotels.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, totally thaied up said:

I discovered that I couldn't really 'own' my own land in Thailand.., and I couldn't really build my own house or grow my food or work my own land in Thailand. 

Sorry, but that's just not true. While farangs can't own land, and a very good thing too, nothing to stop me working on my wife's property. One just can't work for other people or for money, depending on extension. The only requirement is not to fall out with the neighbours.

 

BTW, building or owning a house in LOS is not a great idea at the best of times. Read some of the threads on TVF to understand why.

[thaibeachlovers]

19 hours ago, Sandy Freckle said:

he facts were, I already owned a small coastal farm in S/W Australia..., I lived in a home that I was able to build myself, I was also able to grow my own food, including avocados, macadamia, stone fruit, nashi, custard apple etc etc..., and I was able to work from home. I was debt free, child free and guilt free..., plus I had some investments. I didn't need to buy into that LOS dream..., a dream that seemed to be souring with many of the expats that I had talked to who were already living in Thailand.

You are one lucky guy. I'm very jealous. However I chuckled over the "child free" bit. Presumably also wife free, which explains your prosperity.

Best way to lose money is get married and have children. I don't have kids, but I did unfortunately live with a woman that had some, which is almost as bad as being married.

 

Re the expats being soured, I guess they are not prepared to try elsewhere, as there are many lovely places in LOS untainted by the Chinese plague.

[Sandy Freckle]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You are one lucky guy. I'm very jealous. However I chuckled over the "child free" bit. Presumably also wife free, which explains your prosperity.

Best way to lose money is get married and have children. I don't have kids, but I did unfortunately live with a woman that had some, which is almost as bad as being married.

Who needs a wife when the bloke next door has one ?
Oops, excuse me that should have been a wheel barrow.., how could I possibly mix them up ?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:54 AM, fhickson said:

nice one, george. pls explain more, routes, fares?

 

Although the short version is that the big blue RTC buses are best.  Specifically Route 3 that loops almost everywhere through town, and R1 between Huay Kaew and Central Festival.

 

On 8/4/2019 at 7:22 AM, fellig said:

For those soured on Chiang Mai; any suggestions for other cities in Thailand or SE Asia, similar cost of living but better (whatever "better" means to you)?

 

I can't think of any place better.  Nice for a holiday: sure.  But a good balance of things.. that's more difficult.

Edited August 8, 2019 by WinnieTheKhwai

[XBroker]

Lot of comments on the air quality. I simply ambled down a main drag in CM on google maps. There are cell towers on the roofs of a lot of buildings there. I'd imagine, 5 years later that's even more of a problem. Of course, since you can't smell it or see it, most ppl don't want to admit there is something there, that it's indeed pollution and it's much more dangerous than the air pollution you can see and smell.

 

Someone mentioned the people are more stressed & less friendly.  This is a large part of why; but, by all means,  keep on pretending it's a non issue.

Edited August 8, 2019 by XBroker

[LomSak27]

On 8/7/2019 at 10:08 AM, vagabond48 said:

The one thing that was apparent in the city as we walked around was the awful air qualify.

You have lived in Chiang Mai for 9 years and yet you come back to visit during the hot season; the smoke/burning/smog season.

 

What about this am I not understanding? ????

[vagabond48]

4 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

You have lived in Chiang Mai for 9 years and yet you come back to visit during the hot season; the smoke/burning/smog season.

 

What about this am I not understanding? ????

We were already in Southern China so we thought with the very cheap airfares, we'd make a short visit. Btw, unless the seasons have changed, we arrived during the rainy season and it was NOT very hot at all. We also thought that the rain would help clean up the air. The poor air quality I was referring to was from the motorized transportation. I hope that clarifies your understanding.

Edited August 10, 2019 by vagabond48

[VincentRJ]

On 8/7/2019 at 6:20 PM, Sandy Freckle said:

Who needs a wife when the bloke next door has one ?
Oops, excuse me that should have been a wheel barrow.., how could I possibly mix them up ?

Might I suggest that you visit a country area in Thailand, away from the big cities, and search for a young, strong, and beautiful Thai farm lady.

Invite her to Australia where she can help you push your wheelbarrow. ????

[fhickson]

On 8/4/2019 at 10:03 AM, Superoo said:

I was condo hunting in the Nimman area yesterday when I came upon a suitable looking condo.

 

I asked the staff to be shown a room. The room looked fine with a nice view of Dui Sutep.

 

I said thanks for showing me the room. I am looking around and may get back to you.

 

She then demanded that I give her 100 Baht for showing me the room!

 

Of course she received nothing...

 

Never seen that before.

was it a miscommunication and she was actually wanting 1000 for going to the room?