Chiang Mai vs the rest of Thailand

[CNX GUY]

Would the ex pats here in Chiang Mai agree that the attitude of the Thais in CM differs substantially from Thais in other parts of the country in terms of foreigners; and even other Thais?

 

Of course social mores everywhere are coarsened today but in all the time I've been here, and despite meeting many nice people, I still see a much more unfriendly attitude displayed by the locals and even other expats here.

 

This compared to other areas i've been like Phuket/Bkk or Pattaya. Hell, it's even hard to find a friendly dog here.

 

Of course this is all generally speaking stuff but when even other Thais - like Issan people - point this out it makes you wonder.

 

What do you think and, if you agree, why do you think that's the case?

Edited November 22, 2019 by CNX GUY

[tifino]

are you hoping that a little  bit of the Old City has rubbed off on to them, and turned CM folk into a 'they don't make them like that anymore'?

[Dante99]

 

OP how long have you been in Thailand?  In Chiang Mai?

 

In general what interactions with Thai people do you have?

[jackdd]

I've lived at different places in Thailand, and have travelled nearly everywhere, and i observed this as well.

This is not limited to Chiang Mai, but it's similar in all of the northern provinces.

Thais here are more reserved and not as welcoming as Thais in other parts of the country, especially when you comare them to Thais from Isaan.

I also think food in other parts of the country tastes better.

I knew this already before i moved here because i've been in Chiang Mai a few times before, but a few weeks after me and my girlfriend moved here my girlfriend (grown up in the middle of Thailand, before moving to CM we lived a while in Udon Thani) also said something like "the people here are strange", didn't take her too long to notice this as well.

Edited November 22, 2019 by jackdd

[Mavideol]

53 minutes ago, CNX GUY said:

I still see a much more unfriendly attitude displayed by the locals and even other expats here.

met some of CM people while traveling in the South, some run business, manager of one of my condo is from CM, unfortunately do have to agree with you, couldn't find any nice ones

[rumak]

well,  i guess this is where the saying " opinions are like a...holes,  everyone has one"  comes into play once again.   We have tenants that have been here a year ,  brit guy with his thai wife.  Both I find to be very nice people.   They moved here from Jomtien area,  he has a condo a bit south of there.   Just the other day he said to me that they find the people in CM to be a lot friendlier and more helpful than where they lived before.   So,  two votes there for CM

[FolkGuitar]

I've always felt that the people in Chiang Mai, especially local Thais, to be friendlier than those in the southern provinces. But then, I never found the southern Thais particularly UN-friendly!

 

I smile at people on the street. They smile back at me. I say hello. They say hello back.

I don't expect them to invite me in for dinner.

 

The only people I find to be stand-offish are the tourists. Never any eye contact. Rarely a smile in a restaurant. Too busy staring into their phones, I guess.

[impulse]

39 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

The only people I find to be stand-offish are the tourists. Never any eye contact. Rarely a smile in a restaurant. Too busy staring into their phones, I guess.

 

The majority of the times I'm approached by strangers abroad, it's been a favorable experience.  But I've had enough scammers approach me over the years that I cringe when someone makes an unsolicited approach, especially in tourist areas.  And my phone rarely leaves my pocket unless it's ringing.

 

[sunnyboy2018]

The OP is correct. The CM people suffer from the worst municipal governance.  CM has been reduced to a joyless, suppressed dump with the army boot on the necks of the CM people. Expats who live there are perceived as Junta supporters of the worst type. Also the expats tend to be old, crusty and broke. They are not there to party. Plus the elderly homosexuals cruising for lads does not engender cordial relations with the locals because it is exploitative. The CM people are depressed,  scared and oppressed. Of course they resent foreigners. I will never go there again.

[canthai55]

At least some good news in the last line

[Thainess]

People like you are very judgmental! I can tell just by looking at your face! ????

[sunnyboy2018]

29 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

At least some good news in the last line

555. Nice one! But I will go back when the city is free again. CM used to be a marvellous party town with the jungles, and mountains and forests and opium plantations and smokey, almond eyed girls all beckoning..but now its hell. Tourist trash, expat bores, pollution and sad Thais.

[jaffas21]

What I noticed about my recent visit to chiangmai was the lack of soi dogs in fact the lack of any dogs, apart from one nice dog who followed us about near kad suan kaew which is apparently owned by a farang and likes foreigners,

 

Contrast that with korat where every doorway has some rabid hellhound waiting to kill you and the soi dogs are waiting to give you rabies at every corner. I know loads of bite victims.

 

I can only presume the soi dogs are killed and owners are fined. Chiang Mai has something very positive there. Compared to the rest. The dogs round here are clearly being trained to attack anyone going past a gate as some of the dogs are a lot more chilled out.

 

That being said I found chiang mai to be not as interesting this last time round with my gf .. song thaews are expensive 30 baht compared to 8 baht here, red bus drivers still rip you off on excursions ... its like a northern pattaya now really

Edited November 23, 2019 by jaffas21

[sfokevin]

I have lived in Chiang Mai going on 10 years and think the local people are generally friendly... But I do find that when I take a holiday in Pattaya the locals seem to find irresistible!... They even frequently comment  I am hansone man... ????

[lordblackader]

Try living someone other than Nimman. 

[canthai55]

Thai people who lived in Chiang Mai area are Lanna or Lan Na people.

Since I first came here and rode up to CNX have always found them to be the most friendly of all the different Thai cultural backgrounds.

Have lived from Songkhla to Rayong to Udon Thani and now here.

Very few people are 'from' Pattaya and any other tourist hot spot. They come for work = $$$ = first and foremost.

The Lanna people live here - this is their home - big difference

[ThaiPauly]

I like the local people of CM.

 

When I retired to Thailand I could have lived anywhere but my wife and I decided on CM because we liked the people compared with other places we had considered and visited

 

Of course all that time ago we knew nothing about the pollution and would never have moved here if we knew then what we now know.

[moontang]

1 hour ago, canthai55 said:

Thai people who lived in Chiang Mai area are Lanna or Lan Na people.

Since I first came here and rode up to CNX have always found them to be the most friendly of all the different Thai cultural backgrounds.

Have lived from Songkhla to Rayong to Udon Thani and now here.

Very few people are 'from' Pattaya and any other tourist hot spot. They come for work = $$$ = first and foremost.

The Lanna people live here - this is their home - big difference

Agree with most of this.  The beaches and resorts attract about the worst kind of Thais, and not really a better class of expats.  So, that is a big positive for cm and even cr.  But, what cm had going for it has been tarnished by all the digital nomad losers, the sjw illegal teachers, the disproportionate number of expat paedophiles, and the worst municipal management one could imagine.  Always been a magnet for old broke expats, but things did indeed get worse.  I like Bangkok.  Even the lowest level busses are far better then the songthaews.  

 

A few days ago, I got an email from my brother saying he watched a House Hunters, Chiang Mai episode..he has never been to Asia.  Mentioned Santitham, Nimman, and the newish skyscraper.  Lots of people eating out of plastic bags and the guy seemed like a douche...summed it up pretty well.

[canthai55]

Hate living in cities. We live 25km from the centre. Close enuf to go get what we want, between rush hours.

Village life so much nicer. You can have a house, garden, lots of space. Had one Westerner living here, from NZ, boredom set in and he skedaddled.

Now - I am the token Farang

[moontang]

7 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Hate living in cities. We live 25km from the centre. Close enuf to go get what we want, between rush hours.

Village life so much nicer. You can have a house, garden, lots of space. Had one Westerner living here, from NZ, boredom set in and he skedaddled.

Now - I am the token Farang

I would rather hear cars on a busy street, than dogs howling 24-7...I bought in an upscale moobaan in Hang Dong and it was, is, and will be doggie hell.  Long commutes into town on a motorbike are a death sentence.  And add a few more problems, water problems, and internet (which has gotten much better).

Edited November 23, 2019 by moontang

[deej]

15 minutes ago, moontang said:

I would rather hear cars on a busy street, than dogs howling 24-7...I bought in an upscale moobaan in Hang Dong and it was, is, and will be doggie hell.  Long commutes into town on a motorbike are a death sentence.  And add a few more problems, water problems, and internet (which has gotten much better).

Oh My????

Exactly the opposite in Maerim District.

[seajae]

for me I find the thais in the south are great but there are good and bad all over Thailand. All my wifes friends and those she went to school/uni with or now works with  have been really good, only a couple of trips to CM and didnt  come across any unfriendly people on them. Where people chose to live can effect their attitudes too, if they are happy where they live  they will let others see that they are friendly,  if they are not happy then they will not be as friendly and tend to ignore others, just human nature

[moontang]

2 minutes ago, deej said:

Oh My????

Exactly the opposite in Maerim District.

The reviews of Maerim are good, but if you need a car, it really changes the budget.  Are you saying there are no dog problems there?

[rumak]

7 hours ago, canthai55 said:

At least some good news in the last line

damn,  you took the words right out of my mouth  !!   OK    I will just say  +1

[hobz]

I feel the opposite.

In Phuket, Krabi and Samui I feel like a scam target constantly. Fake smiles everywhere as they try to rip you off.

In Chiang Mai i feel like I'm treated decently by everyone. Almost never feel scammed or ripped off. 

[moontang]

1 minute ago, hobz said:

I feel the opposite.

In Phuket, Krabi and Samui I feel like a scam target constantly. Fake smiles everywhere as they try to rip you off.

In Chiang Mai i feel like I'm treated decently by everyone. Almost never feel scammed or ripped off. 

Phuket is commonly referred to as Pirate Island..

[deej]

23 minutes ago, moontang said:

The reviews of Maerim are good, but if you need a car, it really changes the budget.  Are you saying there are no dog problems there?

Can only speak for my neck of the woods.

in Maerim.

Yes.  certainly there are dogs around.

but not the 24/7 barking mongrels

Fingers crossed though????

[rumak]

Ok,  now that i think about it     CM   IS  so very different than what it used to be.  And sunnyboy does have a point about what the negatives are.   BUT it has become a large and very busy city and metropolis.   People racing around.   

However,  if one gets out 50 km or so they will find a similar experience to thirty years ago....

simple life,  friendly people.    The facts of modern day life,  however, is that almost nobody young wants to live in the country !   Even the Thai children all move to CM or some other large

populated place .

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, moontang said:

I would rather hear cars on a busy street, than dogs howling 24-7...I bought in an upscale moobaan in Hang Dong and it was, is, and will be doggie hell. 

Have a car - well, 2 cars. One for city one for hiway

Long commutes - away from rush hour takes 20 minutes to Superhiway. and that's with 118 construction snafu

Dogs - not a problem

3BB fibre optic internet

Hang Dong - never appealed to me. Like living in the 'burbs

[moontang]

12 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Have a car - well, 2 cars. One for city one for hiway

Long commutes - away from rush hour takes 20 minutes to Superhiway. and that's with 118 construction snafu

Dogs - not a problem

3BB fibre optic internet

Hang Dong - never appealed to me. Like living in the 'burbs

and of course the air is much cleaner there..bwahaha.