Chiang Mai vs the rest of Thailand

[mikey88]

My Thai partner thinks the people in the south are rude when we go there ...

So.

 

[khunpa]

Besides the pollution, I love living in CM and have quite a few Thai friends here.

 

I don’t find them any different from people elsewhere in Thailand. Overall I think most Thais are very friendly, if you just show them respect. One good thing about CM is that it is less tourist-focused.
 

No doubt that CM is boring if you are here to party. But for families with kids, it is a great place.

 

My only reason to ever leave here, would be the pollution.

Edited November 23, 2019 by khunpa

[canthai55]

2 hours ago, moontang said:

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

given the 99% less traffic I imagine so

[Ireland32]

22 hours ago, rumak said:

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

Y

they are talking about Jomtien, maybe they lived in lil Russia, I would a agree with them, not a hoood sampling 

[Ireland32]

2 hours ago, mikey88 said:

My Thai partner thinks the people in the south are rude when we go there ...

So.

 

South????? Phuket Krabi, Chumphon, hmmmm

[BritManToo]

On 11/22/2019 at 5:35 PM, CNX GUY said:

Would the ex pats here in Chiang Mai agree that the attitude of the Thais in CM differs substantially from Thais

Dunno, don't speak to Thais, not much conversation involved in a 7-11 purchase.

[SiSePuede419]

The Lana Thais built a wall in Chiang Mai to keep the foreigners out.

 

Anyone who has been to CM can tell you walls don't work. ????

[SiSePuede419]

2 hours ago, khunpa said:

I don’t find them any different from people elsewhere in Thailand. Overall I think most Thais are very friendly, if you just show them respect. One good thing about CM is that it is less tourist-focused...

CM isn't "focused" on Tourism?  Really?

 

The area inside of the old wall isn't... touristy?  Really?

 

If a city wasn't focused on Tourism, it would have other industries

 

Name one industry in CM other than tourism?!?!?

[rumak]

43 minutes ago, Ireland32 said:

Y

they are talking about Jomtien, maybe they lived in lil Russia, I would a agree with them, not a hoood sampling 

 i did say they lived further south a bit... so not in lil russia.  

[moontang]

35 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

CM isn't "focused" on Tourism?  Really?

 

The area inside of the old wall isn't... touristy?  Really?

 

If a city wasn't focused on Tourism, it would have other industries

 

Name one industry in CM other than tourism?!?!?

Agreed, take away tourism and the universities and other schools, and it is a skeleton city.  The vibe still beats the heck out of the beach areas, easy enough to avoid the hardcore tourist traps, but the nightlife is a D, at best.  I was at a neighborhood pub in Nonthaburi, and asked if they closed at midnight..they laughed and said we close whenever we want to.  Disgraceful KSR actually beats CM for nightlife.

[Boon Mee]

CM is just as much of a Farang ghetto as Sukhumvit. 

If one wants a quality lifestyle outside Patong, Pattaya and CM you need to take a look around you... 

[BritManToo]

26 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

CM is just as much of a Farang ghetto as Sukhumvit. 

If one wants a quality lifestyle outside Patong, Pattaya and CM you need to take a look around you... 

I live on a 250 house estate just out from Chiang Mai, one other white guy on the estate.

Let's say 4 to a house, so 1000 residents and 2 whiteys.

 

Does 0.2% white foreigners living here really make us a 'farang ghetto'? 

[Bassosa]

Don't you guys get it? Lack of nightlife is what makes Chiang Mai great. Keeps the idiots in Pattaya. Everyone benefits.

[mikey88]

16 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

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.

You must have had a bad experience.

The only expats I know own properties here and overseas usually and are well invested in the world economy. None I know are depressed, at least to my knowledge.

I couldn’t call them ‘crusty’. But then I don’t know what that means...many do earn a good crust so maybe they are.

The gay expats I know are in loving, long term relationships, they help their partners to a better life, they pay for grandma’s operation and are loved by their Thai adoptive families without prejudice...not all the time but quite often.

None of the Thais I know are scared at all. In fact they are brave and defiant, expressing their political displeasure openly on social media.

True though ...the wages are oppressive. And the local government does a poor job with maintenance.

[sanemax]

16 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

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.

Its even worse than you think, 6 months of terrible pollution .

Dont ever go to CM again , its even worse than you can imagine

[Bill97]

32 minutes ago, Victornoir said:

With the express way that runs through Mae Rim, soi-dogs are all dead.

What expressway?  There surely was not one there today.

[canthai55]

10 hours ago, sanemax said:

Dont ever go to CM again , its even worse than you can imagine

More good news

[BritManToo]

14 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Name one industry in CM other than tourism?!?!?

Rice farming.

Higher Education.

Edited November 24, 2019 by BritManToo

[3stan]

I find the opposite to be true. It depends what you mean by “friendly”. I would say that Lanna culture is a bit more conservative and reserved, but people here are more gentle and polite than most other areas in Thailand. No fake smiles, no pushiness and commercial chit chat. If find southern thais less friendly in general, but yes, they are more talkative, louder, and better hustlers.

Edited November 24, 2019 by 3stan

[roo860]

Very scenic motorbike rides, love it.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, roo860 said:

Very scenic motorbike rides, love it.

I'm convinced the hiking, cycling and scenery is among the best in the world.

(earlier this week, hiking on Doi Suthep)

 

[roo860]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

I'm convinced the hiking, cycling and scenery is among the best in the world.

(earlier this week, hiking on Doi Suthep)

 

My mates back home are green with envy when I send them vids of my rides out.

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Name one industry in CM other than tourism?!?!?

Well known for handicrafts which are exported elsewhere, and there are loads of furniture factories in the area.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 11/22/2019 at 11:35 PM, CNX GUY said:

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.

Not that I noticed and expats are unfriendly to other expats elsewhere too.

If one doesn't mind decrepitude, filthy streets, traffic jams, rip off transport, awful immigration, air pollution, it's no worse than most other Thai cities I've been to.

Thailand is only pleasant out of the cities.

Where C M does win, is the totty is far more delightful than in the south.

[fredob43]

On the few occasions I have been to C/M I have always found the locals to be very nice and respectful. They will stop to let you cross the road. Never seen that in any other parts of Thailand.

 

Saying that would I ever want to live there well a big NO. To much traffic, added to that the air quality is at best rubbish 5 months of the year. Not going down the road of the price of things there. Take their so called night market everything there is at least 10 times more expensive than where I live.   

[fredob43]

10 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Where C M does win, is the totty is far more delightful than in the south.

TBL. I would like to know where did you get your rose tinted glasses from. As I have always found the ladies in C/M to be at best rubbish. There's better to be found on beach road in Pattaya and that's saying something.  

[neeray]

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 6:38 AM, rumak said:

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

Here's another vote for CM.

A former Thai lady friend and I went to CM in 2016, her first time. She was raised and lived in Surat Thani City and had lived in various other places in the South.

Her observation after 24 hours in CM was something like "this is amazing, the people here are so much friendlier and helpful than in the south".

I can't compare like she can but I agree on "friendly". The only unfriendly one was an older shop keeper who wouldn't let this white guy come into his shop.

[jak2002003]

On 11/23/2019 at 3:23 AM, sunnyboy2018 said:

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.

Is this your personal experience?  How long have you lived / visited CM?  I am shocked about your views really, because I have lived here 14 years and I find it a very friendly, cultured and beautiful place.  

 

I also spend time in Bangkok and Phuket, and can say I much prefer CM to live.  I am not sure what kind of people you were hanging out with in CM, elderly expat homosexuals, but they are in the minority in the expat community. I know many lovely, expats here, both elderly and younger, male and female, gay and straight.  

 

I think OP, it depends on your personality and who you mix with as to what experience you get from anywhere you live.  Also, the 'friendly' Thai people in Phuket or other tourist places are often faking it, to get something out of you, usually money.

 

Sunnyboy, also, I have to ask you, how is younger straight people 'partying' and meeting young Thai ladies any less 'exploitative' than the gay people, unless you are just getting in a homophobic dig in you post.... the gay scene is far bigger in Phuket, Bangkok and elsewhere then CM, so I don't know where you draw your ideas about CM from.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by jak2002003

[Bill97]

2 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

....so I don't know where you draw your ideas about CM from.

 

 

Fantasy Land home of the dis people.

[BritManToo]

16 hours ago, mikey88 said:

None of the Thais I know are scared at all. In fact they are brave and defiant, expressing their political displeasure openly on social media.

I though Thais 'disappeared' for even liking the wrong 'Facebook' posts?

My family know to keep their mouths shut when out of the house.

Edited November 24, 2019 by BritManToo