Life In Chiang Mai

[Carrbhoy]

Hi all - hoping to travel to Chaing Mai in next few months and was wondering what life is like at the moment. Not a big drinker and too old for clubs so alcohol / bar / club restrictions are expected and not an issue.

 

Are gyms still open? Can the small gyms in condos still be used? I assume it will depend on each condo so will check in due course.

 

I assume some of the many bars have adapted and are now doing dine-in until 9PM (I think that is correct). Do some still show live sports? Can you play pool? I do enjoy watching live sport and a game of pool so was just wondering if this is still possible. Are actaul snooker / pool halls open?

 

I used Grab bike quite a bit getting around. Are these still an option or are there Grab cars only?

 

Re live music, how is this adapting? I appreciate live singing / large crowds (especially indoors) will not be allowed at the moment. Is outdoor live music with restricted numbers / social distancing / masks allowed? Is acoustic / jazz (non vocals) being allowed?

 

I'm monitong the situation closely re new infections / ICU / Deaths etc for Thailand and Chiang Mai - I appreciate they are increasing but in comparison to the prevalence in the community were I'm from, they are still very low (even if they doubled / tripled from current rates). I do hope the 'sandbox' for CM goes ahead - even if delayed to later in the year as the vaccine roll-out continues (albeit slowly). Re vaccines, are there any websites / Twitter which track the vaccine 1st & 2nd jabs for Chaing Mai specifically? I'm aware of the the overall numbers but not for Chaing Mai only. 

 

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

CB

 

[chalawaan]

I can only speak for myself, but CM "nightlife" for me happens with one other person, on my property with youtube premium at low volume.

I order take out from my fave restaurants, which (I think) are still open and serve alcohol during the permitted times.

 

I live near several nightspots, their music does not usually disturb me, but I have always been able to hear muted strains in better times until midnight. It has been over a year since any bass has wafted my way. Even NYE was dead except for 5 minutes of bangers at twelve. There were almost no sky lanterns which CM is famed for.

 

Grab car works, so far I have been able to get a car for my visitors going home after midnight, this is subject to curfews which can happen at any time. I imagine grab bike is ok, Grab would likely advise if the service was impacted. I have not seen any such advice.

 

I can't speak to gyms, I haven't used them for over a decade, I'm over the hill in that regard (gyms are a youthful vanity mostly, let's be honest few non-athletes would bother if it wasn't part of the mating games of 21st century youth) and I do grandpa workouts in the baan.

 

I used to go to the supermarket at 0800 to avoid "dirty" re-breathed air, but now Makro deliver.

 

Maybe a younger poster can give you a better prognosis, but for me, until the vaccine, I'm limiting my sorties, be they day or night.

 

I was in the "moat" area a month ago, Mad Dogs Bar & Resto, (a respectable older-expat favourite) at the time were strictly not serving alcohol and the rest of the city looked shuttered and forlorn.I have no idea if pool tables are open, I don't use any venues regularly that have one, but google and ask Sheryles Bar, they do pool and trivia etc.

[khunpa]

If me, I would not come here until most are vaccinated and things start to reopen.

 

We stay at home all day and have only been out for shopping food.

 

Was walking around the center area last week. It is like a ghost town.

 

[Tarteso]

1 hour ago, Carrbhoy said:

travel to Chaing Mai in next few months

You should wait until this province will be safe and free from Covid..Beware with smog session, start in February until April. Chiang Mai have the Honor to be the worst polluted City in the world.

Apart of this issue, Chiang Mai and his province is a nice place for visit and enjoy. Good luck.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Carrbhoy said:

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

CB

 

Nothing to do outside your home now.

And if you do something in your home with 5 people and alcohol the police will raid you.

I just sit at home and get a bit drunk every day and watch tv/movies/music and read a book.

[sqwakvfr]

In CM for now 5 years.  "Dead, Dead and the patient does not have a pulse".  At times the only thing missing are the zombies.  Cinemas closed, gyms are open but swimming pools are closed and when I go out to eat lunch most of the time I am the only customer.  Lately I have seen several 7-11's closed(I have never seen this before).  I live in a large apartment complex and the occupancy rate in my building is at best 10 to 20%.  Most of the time very quiet(too quiet).  I took walk on Loi Kroh Road and it was like a ghost town.  Rock Me Burger was really quiet and at lunch timeit was only me and another customer eating inside.  Doubt there will be a "high season" for 2021.  

[canthai55]

I ride one of my bikes every day. Off for an overnighter tomorrow.

Refuse to live like a hermit, or be afraid.

Much better chance of dying on the road than this Covid malarky

People going about their lives, much as normal. Just many more wearing masks.

[chalawaan]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nothing to do outside your home now.

And if you do something in your home with 5 people and alcohol the police will raid you.

I just sit at home and get a bit drunk every day and watch tv/movies/music and read a book.

Get very drunk, or high, or spun, but crucially, get laid while you're altered. As often as you can, without getting busted!

But have recovery days too.

Everything is f-bombed and we're all mortal.

Screw "the man" they're clueless unimaginative controlling miserable wonders, and be your best rockstar self, even if you have reached the stage you need to poop in a high-chair with wheels.

That's it, that's the secret of happiness in digital old-age.

Cash is <deleted> unless you spend it, especially over 60.

[chalawaan]

44 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

I ride one of my bikes every day. Off for an overnighter tomorrow.

Refuse to live like a hermit, or be afraid.

Much better chance of dying on the road than this Covid malarky

People going about their lives, much as normal. Just many more wearing masks.

True, but the place is still dead. You have to be in blind denial to not see the rows and rows of shutters around the moat. 

[Derek B]

11 hours ago, Tarteso said:

smog session, start in February until April.

Thais burn all year around in every province to some extent........................CM in and out of town can have poor air quality starting from December to May some days better than others.

[CharlieH]

Off topic posts removed.

 

Topic is not about Covid.

[Tarteso]

2 hours ago, Derek B said:

Thais burn all year around in every province to some extent........................CM in and out of town can have poor air quality starting from December to May some days better than others.

Living in North CM 10 years  surrounded by farmers with lighters in their pockets, Every years I must to travel with family to to the coasts for 3 months to avoid high levels of pollution.  I use air cons with epa filters,  purifiers in home and App of IQI, which tell me when to escape from Chiang Mai. AQI values at or below 100 are generally thought of as satisfactory (50 IMO), When AQI values are above 50, air quality is unhealthy. Usually those 3 dangers months that I wrote above because it becomes impossible to walk or exercise, impossible to breathe the air and nothing to do outdoor.

BTW… Winds from China don’t help these months.

[delboy]

The official daily and cumulative totals for Chiang Mai (and other regions) can be found at https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province .

 

It's all in Thai but easily understood.  The link will display the totals for Thailand as a whole, but if you click on the required province on the map on the right-hand side, it shows totals for that province.

 

Totals shown are Infections, deaths, infections for Thai nationals, infections for foreigners, Infections discovered by search, and walk-in, infections discovered in prisons, number of vaccinations (shown as 1 or 2) .

 

Also https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=scoreboard

shows the number of reported infections per province for the past 2 weeks, again only in Thai

[Harry Om]

If you're in a tourist area expect armageddon.

 

Re " the many bars have adapted and are now doing dine-in until 9PM" I would suggest to replace this expectation with "the many bars have now closed down".

 

In the old city MANY things have closed, i.e. nearly everything. Hotel doors chained shut, for rent signs everywhere, and near Thaepae gate maybe one shop in every ten still open.

 

The old city is pretty much the zombie apocalypse. If you walk the streets often there's not a person in sight, unless you go to Thaipae gate where all the homeless now live/spend their days. Malls are also pretty dead, you certainly don't have to worry about crowds. The only place I've been where there were lots of people packed in was immigration.

 

At Wat Chedi Luang I am usually the ONLY person there, except for the occasional monk.

 

As others mentioned, Grab cars still work, bikes I'm not sure.

 

I suppose it all depends on how safe you feel going out and which area you are staying in, but once you get past the shock of seeing everything shut there are still places to eat and drink, and the price of hotels is ridiculously cheap.

 

Although Chiang Mai is very quiet, you can still do things if you want to. I'm just passing through, so not a local/long termer (although I've been here many times), so this is the view of a visitor.

 

In the old city there are still a few restaurants and cafes open, so you can still find places to eat if you like eating out, as I do. The thai residential areas are still okay in this regard.

 

As an example, I'm staying in the old city, near the park. Yesterday I walked down to my local coffee shop, sat down and had a coffee. Later on I went to a restaurant and the place was pretty busy, but it's a thai frequented place so it does okay. If you go to a tourist type restaurant expect to be the only customer there, unless it's peak hour, then there might be two of you.

 

In the evening at the park it was actually pretty busy and  there was a big (30 people?) aerobics session. If you want a gym the basic outdoor gym at the park is open and still in use. I went for a wander around the moat and there was a kickboxing gym packed with young thais working out.

 

The night food market at Chiangmai gate is still pretty busy, although of course nothing like pre covid.

 

As far as I have seen the music scene is dead, but I'm not a drinker or late night person.

 

To keep up with daily covid info https://www.facebook.com/covid.int.cm

[Carrbhoy]

20 hours ago, chalawaan said:

I can only speak for myself, but CM "nightlife" for me happens with one other person, on my property with youtube premium at low volume.

I order take out from my fave restaurants, which (I think) are still open and serve alcohol during the permitted times.

 

I live near several nightspots, their music does not usually disturb me, but I have always been able to hear muted strains in better times until midnight. It has been over a year since any bass has wafted my way. Even NYE was dead except for 5 minutes of bangers at twelve. There were almost no sky lanterns which CM is famed for.

 

Grab car works, so far I have been able to get a car for my visitors going home after midnight, this is subject to curfews which can happen at any time. I imagine grab bike is ok, Grab would likely advise if the service was impacted. I have not seen any such advice.

 

I can't speak to gyms, I haven't used them for over a decade, I'm over the hill in that regard (gyms are a youthful vanity mostly, let's be honest few non-athletes would bother if it wasn't part of the mating games of 21st century youth) and I do grandpa workouts in the baan.

 

I used to go to the supermarket at 0800 to avoid "dirty" re-breathed air, but now Makro deliver.

 

Maybe a younger poster can give you a better prognosis, but for me, until the vaccine, I'm limiting my sorties, be they day or night.

 

I was in the "moat" area a month ago, Mad Dogs Bar & Resto, (a respectable older-expat favourite) at the time were strictly not serving alcohol and the rest of the city looked shuttered and forlorn.I have no idea if pool tables are open, I don't use any venues regularly that have one, but google and ask Sheryles Bar, they do pool and trivia etc.

Thanks for your response. Appreciate your input. Interesting times and good to hear that you are adapting / keeping yourself safe and still enjoying some female company and a few drinks. Those contact numbers in the black book are coming in handy by the sounds of it! I'll stick to Thai Friendly - plenty of fun to be had.......be interesting to see what it is like during this madness.

 

Going by the replies so far, CM is pretty dead and will take some time to recover. That said, I don't need much and will be happy with a nice coffee shop, a few restuarants to chose from (may need to get a Grab to them) and somewhere to watch live sport on occasion. I'll organise trekks, cycling and good company separately.

 

I'm not really a gym membership person either. I suppose I was just trying to get a feel for were CM was at. I'm happy to use the running machine in the condo complex a couple of times a week for my 5k runs and a few laps of the swimming pool will do me fine.

 

Thanks for the info re Mad Dog / Sherleys. I'll hopefully give Mad Dog a try - looks like a decent place, nice menu and a few TVs so potentially could be the live sport venue I'm looking for. Sherleys I've been to before (it's up near the Irish bar & book shop) - I've checked Google and according to Trip Advisor it is open and there are a couple of reviews from visits in March / May this year. Could be my pool place / alternative live sports venue! Food was decent too when I was there a couple of years ago. Things are looking up......

 

Hope you are able to get the vaccine soon. Take it easy in the meantime.

 

CB

 

 

 

[Carrbhoy]

20 hours ago, khunpa said:

If me, I would not come here until most are vaccinated and things start to reopen.

 

We stay at home all day and have only been out for shopping food.

 

Was walking around the center area last week. It is like a ghost town.

 

Thanks for your reply. How long do you wait? My plans have already been delayed by 18 months and I'm fortunate to have been vaccinated and live in a city which will always have a higher prevalance of the virus than CM. 

 

By Nov21, Thailand should be up at around 35-40% 1st Dose and potentially higher in CM, if the 'sandbox' roll out is expanded as planned.

 

I'm ready to travel and if that means a very quiet life for 6 months whilst the vaccine roll out progresses, so be it.

 

[Carrbhoy]

20 hours ago, Tarteso said:

You should wait until this province will be safe and free from Covid..Beware with smog session, start in February until April. Chiang Mai have the Honor to be the worst polluted City in the world.

Apart of this issue, Chiang Mai and his province is a nice place for visit and enjoy. Good luck.

 

Chiang Mai will not be free from Covid. The genie is out of the bottle in Thailand and people need to learn to live with that fact unless you do full lockdown properly (as per NZ) which won't / can't happen so Covid will always be here. Not having a go at Thai gov., it's just a simple fact - borders are too porous, 'cluster' management (virus loves this mad approach), vaccine roll out (type / pace), testing strategy (availablity / costs etc) just make it impossible to get back to zero.

 

[Carrbhoy]

20 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Nothing to do outside your home now.

And if you do something in your home with 5 people and alcohol the police will raid you.

I just sit at home and get a bit drunk every day and watch tv/movies/music and read a book.

 

Whatever floats your boat mate - not the choices I'll be making but each to their own. Going by the other replies, whilst choices are limited, there are other things you can do.

 

[Carrbhoy]

19 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

In CM for now 5 years.  "Dead, Dead and the patient does not have a pulse".  At times the only thing missing are the zombies.  Cinemas closed, gyms are open but swimming pools are closed and when I go out to eat lunch most of the time I am the only customer.  Lately I have seen several 7-11's closed(I have never seen this before).  I live in a large apartment complex and the occupancy rate in my building is at best 10 to 20%.  Most of the time very quiet(too quiet).  I took walk on Loi Kroh Road and it was like a ghost town.  Rock Me Burger was really quiet and at lunch timeit was only me and another customer eating inside.  Doubt there will be a "high season" for 2021.  

Thanks for your reply. Hopefully things will pick up next year.

 

Happy to get across and have a very quiet, healthy life for several months and see how things progress.

[Carrbhoy]

18 hours ago, canthai55 said:

I ride one of my bikes every day. Off for an overnighter tomorrow.

Refuse to live like a hermit, or be afraid.

Much better chance of dying on the road than this Covid malarky

People going about their lives, much as normal. Just many more wearing masks.

I'm looking forward to getting both a bicycle (possibly e-scooter) & a moped and doing the same every day. Hope you are enjoying your overnighter!

 

Got to get out there but do it sensibly and follow the basics (Masks / Distancing / Hygiene). The community prevalence of the virus is low per 100k.

 

[Carrbhoy]

18 hours ago, chalawaan said:

Get very drunk, or high, or spun, but crucially, get laid while you're altered. As often as you can, without getting busted!

But have recovery days too.

Everything is f-bombed and we're all mortal.

Screw "the man" they're clueless unimaginative controlling miserable wonders, and be your best rockstar self, even if you have reached the stage you need to poop in a high-chair with wheels.

That's it, that's the secret of happiness in digital old-age.

Cash is <deleted> unless you spend it, especially over 60.

What do you take to get 'spun'? I've never heard that phrase used.

[Carrbhoy]

6 hours ago, Tarteso said:

Living in North CM 10 years  surrounded by farmers with lighters in their pockets, Every years I must to travel with family to to the coasts for 3 months to avoid high levels of pollution.  I use air cons with epa filters,  purifiers in home and App of IQI, which tell me when to escape from Chiang Mai. AQI values at or below 100 are generally thought of as satisfactory (50 IMO), When AQI values are above 50, air quality is unhealthy. Usually those 3 dangers months that I wrote above because it becomes impossible to walk or exercise, impossible to breathe the air and nothing to do outdoor.

BTW… Winds from China don’t help these months.

Thanks for this info. I'm aware of the Air Quality issues and will be travelling during Feb - April / May to avoid it. Booked a condo for 3 months Nov-Jan initially and will plan my next moves nearer the time.

 

Any suggestions for places to visit during Feb-April / May would be appreciated?

 

[khunpa]

29 minutes ago, Carrbhoy said:

Thanks for your reply. How long do you wait? My plans have already been delayed by 18 months and I'm fortunate to have been vaccinated and live in a city which will always have a higher prevalance of the virus than CM. 

 

By Nov21, Thailand should be up at around 35-40% 1st Dose and potentially higher in CM, if the 'sandbox' roll out is expanded as planned.

 

I'm ready to travel and if that means a very quiet life for 6 months whilst the vaccine roll out progresses, so be it.

 

If you are okay with a quite life for some time, then you could just come now ????

[Carrbhoy]

6 hours ago, delboy said:

The official daily and cumulative totals for Chiang Mai (and other regions) can be found at https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province .

 

It's all in Thai but easily understood.  The link will display the totals for Thailand as a whole, but if you click on the required province on the map on the right-hand side, it shows totals for that province.

 

Totals shown are Infections, deaths, infections for Thai nationals, infections for foreigners, Infections discovered by search, and walk-in, infections discovered in prisons, number of vaccinations (shown as 1 or 2) .

 

Also https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=scoreboard

shows the number of reported infections per province for the past 2 weeks, again only in Thai

 

6 hours ago, delboy said:

The official daily and cumulative totals for Chiang Mai (and other regions) can be found at https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=province .

 

It's all in Thai but easily understood.  The link will display the totals for Thailand as a whole, but if you click on the required province on the map on the right-hand side, it shows totals for that province.

 

Totals shown are Infections, deaths, infections for Thai nationals, infections for foreigners, Infections discovered by search, and walk-in, infections discovered in prisons, number of vaccinations (shown as 1 or 2) .

 

Also https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/index.php?dashboard=scoreboard

shows the number of reported infections per province for the past 2 weeks, again only in Thai

Thanks Delboy - my Thai is very limited but I'll give them a try.

 

Are there any links re vaccine take up for Chiang Mai?

 

[Carrbhoy]

3 minutes ago, khunpa said:

If you are okay with a quite life for some time, then you could just come now ????

I am & that is the plan. Do ASQ end of Oct & hopefully be in CM early Nov, subject to Visa application, testing, getting through ASQ then finding a way to get from Bangkok to CM! It's a challenge!

 

[Tarteso]

5 minutes ago, Carrbhoy said:

Thanks for this info. I'm aware of the Air Quality issues and will be travelling during Feb - April / May to avoid it. Booked a condo for 3 months Nov-Jan initially and will plan my next moves nearer the time.

 

Any suggestions for places to visit during Feb-April / May would be appreciated?

 

My first long trip in LOS was been about 3 months driving from Chiang Mai to the East. Isaan; Nakhon Ratchasima.  Chanthaburi is genuine place not popular for tuists but for Thais. A few and nice Resorts with pools close to the sand of the long beach of Chao lao with delicious Fish food. In Trat; The great Koh Chang Island. And from Trat….Trip to Cambodia (Angkor wat).

[Carrbhoy]

3 minutes ago, Tarteso said:

My first long trip in LOS was been about 3 months driving from Chiang Mai to the East. Isaan; Nakhon Ratchasima.  Chanthaburi is genuine place not popular for tuists but for Thais. A few and nice Resorts with pools close to the sand of the long beach of Chao lao with delicious Fish food. In Trat; The great Koh Chang Island. And from Trat….Trip to Cambodia (Angkor wat).

 

Thanks for sharing. I'll see what the RAG status of CM / Other provinces is nearer the time and weigh up my travel options. Hopefully be able to explore by then. Heres hoping.

[Carrbhoy]

5 hours ago, Harry Om said:

If you're in a tourist area expect armageddon.

 

Re " the many bars have adapted and are now doing dine-in until 9PM" I would suggest to replace this expectation with "the many bars have now closed down".

 

In the old city MANY things have closed, i.e. nearly everything. Hotel doors chained shut, for rent signs everywhere, and near Thaepae gate maybe one shop in every ten still open.

 

The old city is pretty much the zombie apocalypse. If you walk the streets often there's not a person in sight, unless you go to Thaipae gate where all the homeless now live/spend their days. Malls are also pretty dead, you certainly don't have to worry about crowds. The only place I've been where there were lots of people packed in was immigration.

 

At Wat Chedi Luang I am usually the ONLY person there, except for the occasional monk.

 

As others mentioned, Grab cars still work, bikes I'm not sure.

 

I suppose it all depends on how safe you feel going out and which area you are staying in, but once you get past the shock of seeing everything shut there are still places to eat and drink, and the price of hotels is ridiculously cheap.

 

Although Chiang Mai is very quiet, you can still do things if you want to. I'm just passing through, so not a local/long termer (although I've been here many times), so this is the view of a visitor.

 

In the old city there are still a few restaurants and cafes open, so you can still find places to eat if you like eating out, as I do. The thai residential areas are still okay in this regard.

 

As an example, I'm staying in the old city, near the park. Yesterday I walked down to my local coffee shop, sat down and had a coffee. Later on I went to a restaurant and the place was pretty busy, but it's a thai frequented place so it does okay. If you go to a tourist type restaurant expect to be the only customer there, unless it's peak hour, then there might be two of you.

 

In the evening at the park it was actually pretty busy and  there was a big (30 people?) aerobics session. If you want a gym the basic outdoor gym at the park is open and still in use. I went for a wander around the moat and there was a kickboxing gym packed with young thais working out.

 

The night food market at Chiangmai gate is still pretty busy, although of course nothing like pre covid.

 

As far as I have seen the music scene is dead, but I'm not a drinker or late night person.

 

To keep up with daily covid info https://www.facebook.com/covid.int.cm

 

Really useful post - thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

I do like eating out and I think I'll enjoy finding the few places which are open to eat out. Hopefully have some nice company to enjoy a nice meal and a few drinks. Just a case of wandering around and seeing what I can find.

 

When did you arrive in CM? Did you do ASQ in Bangkok? I need to find out more about getting from Bangkok to CM - hopefully the flights are open again by Nov and there isn't a need to do local quarantine to enter CM having just completed ASQ in Bangkok. Could be painful.

 

Disappointed the music scene is dead. As I said in my original post, live music and singing indoors was expected but open air pubs / outdoors / no singing, I was expecting these live music venues or the music sacene to have adapted. I'm sure things will develop in the coming months.

 

 

 

 

[Harry Om]

2 hours ago, Carrbhoy said:

 

When did you arrive in CM? Did you do ASQ in Bangkok? I need to find out more about getting from Bangkok to CM - hopefully the flights are open again by Nov and there isn't a need to do local quarantine to enter CM having just completed ASQ in Bangkok. Could be painful.

I arrived in Thailand In January, did ASQ in Bangkok then came straight to CM, spent a month or so here, then a couple of months on Koh Phangan, a month or so In Bangkok, then headed back here just before all the entry requirements got difficult.

 

In terms of getting to CM if you're not coming until Nov then I wouldn't bother too much with travel details within Thailand before October. Everything is really fluid and changes every three days. The only thing I could guarantee is whatever the rules are now, they will be different then.

[Carrbhoy]

1 hour ago, Harry Om said:

I arrived in Thailand In January, did ASQ in Bangkok then came straight to CM, spent a month or so here, then a couple of months on Koh Phangan, a month or so In Bangkok, then headed back here just before all the entry requirements got difficult.

 

In terms of getting to CM if you're not coming until Nov then I wouldn't bother too much with travel details within Thailand before October. Everything is really fluid and changes every three days. The only thing I could guarantee is whatever the rules are now, they will be different then.

Appreciate the advice. I'm slowly getting mentally prepared for a rollercoaster ride & if some steps in the journey / prep run smoothly, take it as a bonus.

 

I'm on Step 5 - get my Tourist visa - WIP. Worry about Step 6+ later........