Why did you move here to CM instead of other cities in Thailand?....Are you still happy?

[bignok]

3 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

The city is very quiet and charming and has lovely mountains all around. It's more remote but still going to immigration would be much easier than Chiang Mai. Getting imported foods would be very difficult and airport travel a problem since CM is ~7 hour drive away.

And Nan? I'm tempted to go have a look.

[NorthernRyland]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

No problems at all on my scooter or m/c.

20 mins tops from my home in MaeJo to the moat (12km) any time of the day or night.

Yeah I live in Mae Jo also and dealing with that road is the worst part. I literally can't go anywhere from where I live without dealing with it. It's all subjective but I find getting stuck at all those red lights and fast traffic to very unpleasant and stressful on my motorbike. The 1001 is a major highway in CM and has heavy traffic like trailers which need to use to it for transportation. A real nightmare in my opinion.

[NorthernRyland]

Just now, bignok said:

And Nan? I'm tempted to go have a look.

Same story. ???? Scenic, chill, good northern Thailand vibes. I'm a cyclist by the way so what I want in my life is easy access to nice roads with little traffic. CM does have those but you're trapped now regardless of where you live in the city. If traffic was less congested I could ride up Doi Suthep still from Mae Jo because it's not THAT far really but due to the road conditions it's a non-starter now. Even getting to Mon Cham from Mae Jo has become a chore because of the ever worsening road conditions.

 

You can overcome these things but I'm just so burned out and I can't stop thinking about how nice it is when I visit smaller towns and how much easier I could live there.

 

i didn't mention it because it's so impractical but I do rent a little cabin in Samoeng and come up here over the weekends for cycling. It's honestly too small and very difficult to get food etc... but it's chill and nice weather. Getting very close to purchasing land and building little house so maybe I could stay here more while the wife still keeps her job in Mae Jo.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Even getting to Mon Cham from Mae Jo has become a chore because of the ever worsening road conditions.

Cycle from MaeJo to Wat Doi Tairn ......... no traffic apart from other cyclists!

I do it 2x mornings a week, 25Km round trip with a challenging hill climb for the last 1Km.

[NorthernRyland]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Cycle from MaeJo to Wat Doi Tairn ......... no traffic apart from other cyclists!

I do it 2x mornings a week, 25Km round trip with a challenging hill climb for the last 1Km.

Wat Doi Tairn? I'm sure i know where you mean the english doesn't look familiar. To not piss on Mae Jo for a while there are some good things places which make it ok:

 

1) 900 rai. 

2) Wat Taen Pra

3) Ride to wat Chom Kiti (or can loop up to the old Pai highway and back through Mae Rim too in 60'ish k)

4) You can make it to the Mae Kuang dam and Doi saket Temple in under 50k if you ride along the canal.

 

In theory you have access to Mae Rim but I find myself not wanting to do the 30min gauntlet before you reach the  mountain base and rides to Mon Cham, Samoeng etc...

 

[Bassosa]

27 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

No problems at all on my scooter or m/c.

20 mins tops from my home in MaeJo to the moat (12km) any time of the day or night.

Nah, that's not really a solution. Riding a motorcycle is extremely hazardous because of other people's terrible driving/riding standards. I would never consider it, even though I'm quite competent on a scooter.
 

[Lacessit]

On 6/24/2023 at 5:31 PM, bkk6060 said:

 

I personally prefer Bangkok over here just me, as many I know dislike Bangkok.

 

What is it you like about Bangkok that you can't get in other Thai cities?

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, Bassosa said:

Nah, that's not really a solution. Riding a motorcycle is extremely hazardous because of other people's terrible driving/riding standards. I would never consider it, even though I'm quite competent on a scooter.

That's not true at all. As bad a Chiang mai is there's still many areas you can ride a motorbike safely, you just can't go far and the range you can travel goes down every year due to congestion.

 

If OP wants I will personally do screencast over Google maps and show which areas are liveable for scooter riding along with routes you can go safely etc...

There's lots of small sois and such and if live in a good area a quick trip to 7-11 or the local market is very pleasant and safe (unless you're dangerous yourself). yeah don't go across the whole city on the motor bike but daily living on a motorbike is possible and preferred IMO.

[Bassosa]

8 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

That's not true at all. As bad a Chiang mai is there's still many areas you can ride a motorbike safely, you just can't go far and the range you can travel goes down every year due to congestion.

 

If OP wants I will personally do screencast over Google maps and show which areas are liveable for scooter riding along with routes you can go safely etc...

There's lots of small sois and such and if live in a good area a quick trip to 7-11 or the local market is very pleasant and safe (unless you're dangerous yourself). yeah don't go across the whole city on the motor bike but daily living on a motorbike is possible and preferred IMO.

Then you might as well grab a bicycle. In any case, your world will become rather small if you only travel on byroads

Edited July 1, 2023 by Bassosa

[NorthernRyland]

3 hours ago, Bassosa said:

Then you might as well grab a bicycle. In any case, your world will become rather small if you only travel on byroads

Yeah that's the problem, my world in CM has gotten very small because I want to avoid these horrid road conditions here. One thing I really love about Thailand is a taking a little motorbike ride along some winding roads and going to a little restaurant or market. If when I leave my house and I have trailers and pickups going past me at 90k an hour only to get stuck at some nasty intersection, this ruins the experience for me. 

 

The message to the OP is, don't move to CM and do a smaller town instead unless you can handle congestion, dangerous driving, no parking etc... There's so many better options if you can afford to go without some of the comforts CM has. 

[mania]

16 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

In theory you have access to Mae Rim but I find myself not wanting to do the 30min gauntlet before you reach the  mountain base and rides to Mon Cham, Samoeng etc...

 

I am not exactly sure but I think I know what you mean. Last Nov my wife & I were in CM staying up on Canal road. Wanted to do Samoeng from Mae Rim side.

 

The first 30 or so as you say was all on highway & kinda scary. We did get to Samoeng viewpoint & decided to go back same way. Made a slight error because return was worse. Went down some kind of chute/underpass seeing a no bikes sign of course when already in underpass.

 

Was a but scary for sure & as nice as Samoeng ride was it was not worth the danger of that section of highway

[NorthernRyland]

11 minutes ago, mania said:

The first 30 or so as you say was all on highway & kinda scary. We did get to Samoeng viewpoint & decided to go back same way. Made a slight error because return was worse. Went down some kind of chute/underpass seeing a no bikes sign of course when already in underpass.

 

Was a but scary for sure & as nice as Samoeng ride was it was not worth the danger of that section of highway

You were probably on the 107, which is not where I would be starting but that's a much worse road and not only dangerous but just miserable in general. It's not actually that far from the city and if they actually cared about not living on the sides of roads like dogs there would be good side roads for motorbikes which avoided the highway intended for heavy traffic. Instead what we get is a mixture of all traffic on one single road, the worst case scenario.

[piewarmer]

2 floods in CM since I came in 2006, not every year.

[NorthernRyland]

For reference here is my ride to Mae rim and access to the other side the valley, which is a very nice area and i used to live there actually but the loud noise from the Temple and villagers eventually caused me to move out.

 

this is not a terrible ride but it's getting worse every year.  It takes 25 mins for me by bike which is not terrible but also something I wish to avoid (not sure why google says 18 by car...). Just a couple years ago they doubled the road across the Ping river and while it's not that crowded yet it's turned into another high speed road and not very nice anymore at all. It's just bad enough and takes enough time it makes me want to avoid it.

 

The only single good thing to happen in CM for me has been the creation of a bypass road over the 107 which makes access to Mae Rim easier now. Before you had to ride on the 107 and even that little stretch was such a nightmare I stopped doing it.

 

So you can still do a few things in Mae Jo and it's not totally broken yet but it gets worse every year and the writing is on the wall.

 

[amexpat]

19 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

Never have I been remotely affected by the smog, that I acknowledge is there.

You don't remotely know how it is affecting you.  But you might. 

[Sticky Rice Balls]

15 yrs in CM--part time   6 months here..bail on the smoke and go back home to work

Used to work here and the visa--permits and culture clashes made me give it up

 

Easier to take a break when im burned out as others have clearly stated here..is when I know its time to take a break and leave...until going back home starts to drive me crazy as well ...

 

I ride my motorbike into city daily and bike the city and return home after dark finding my usual eats on the way back.....very routine days but keeps me active and interacting with society

 

I tried a month in Khon kaen and Nong khai...sure made visa runs easy in NK! but while i liked both it was very thai as far as engaging convos and food choices....so CM is a good balance for me with thai and western folks and tons of food choices ij CM......when I want to be thai style i stay around my apt area and when I want to have a deeper chat besides where I come from--where I go and did I eat rice i can do that......

 

There is no perfect place and when i realized im burned out I move to the other "side"....one foot here to hang out and one foot back to jump back into work..make the cash there..pop back and spend it here..more bang for my baht.....freedom is my jam and this has been working so far..

 

Always come one way---no visa.....just did my first return to Burma--mae sai after the troubles in Burma and Covid........was nice to get out of CM for 48 hrs....mae sai wa chill and the border hop was prob the easiest and quickest yet.....just remember they are open 630am-630pm as I found out google maps says 9pm and found out the hard way walking there 2 miles the other night..

 

Yep the traffic can be hell during rush hour..as i try to get into city BEFORE then and drive back AFTER.....can zip thru it pretty good on mbike and even better on bike...no way would i drive a car.....with the traffic......all in all CM offer the best of both worlds--thai or western for whichever mood im in that day..... 

 

The world will do what the world does...it is reality...HOW we react to it is the key..perspective...

[bignok]

On 6/25/2023 at 10:36 AM, JimTripper said:

I lived in cm about 5 years. I left because I got bored going to the same places and eateries each time. After years in one spot I need to get out for more stimulation and to see new things.

Where are you now?

[bignok]

23 hours ago, Lacessit said:

What is it you like about Bangkok that you can't get in other Thai cities?

Nightlife?

[LaosLover]

Moved from the states to Nimman Chiang Mai last July from very rural USA. We're from the mountains and get a lot of mental health benefit from looking out the window and seeing them.

 

Nimman was describes as the unapologetic bubble in a blog, and I must concur. It's like living on a cruise ship: great restaurants, low traffic (off of Nimman Road, anyway), blissed-out tourists, chill locals.

 

In a full year, we've still only eaten at half the restaurants we want to, and I'm talking about just Nimman, not the rest of CM, which we barely deal with. In fact, we've gotten worse; we only want to eat within 5 minutes walk of our condo.

 

My wife says, "don't make me go to Nimman1 mall to eat". It's 10 minutes instead of 5 minutes walk away. No problem, we still have 5 new restaurants on our block to try with more opening every day. 

 

Heavy Japanese/Korean vibe, which for us is a 2 for 1 dining and culture-wise. What they like, we like.

 

We have top floor huge 1 bedroom for the cost of what was formerly our electric bill. It's got a mix of long termers and transient air bNb-ers. Spiritual seekers, Nomads, and honeymoon couples. Always a good chat in the lobby.

 

I'm in Vientiane right now where I have some roots and Bangkok Hospital has just opened a branch. We're tempted and could get a visa here easily. But we're having a laugh; it will be hard to ever pry us away from our perch of Nimman by the university.

 

Smoke season was brutal; Hua Hin was a decent place to wait it out.

[LaosLover]

On 7/1/2023 at 3:10 PM, bignok said:

And Nan? I'm tempted to go have a look.

Been a few years, but Nan is my fave of all the Northern towns. Just barely big enough for an expat. Home of Thailand's most beloved painting. Famous for mushrooms.

 

Prob transiting via Pakbeng Laos to their via cab. One of the great rides of SEA. Gaughan-like old teak villages, folk art temples, even an elephant or 2.

 

Will report back.

[Pink Mist]

Off topic post removed 

[FolkGuitar]

On 7/1/2023 at 3:03 PM, BritManToo said:

No problems at all on my scooter or m/c.

20 mins tops from my home in MaeJo to the moat (12km) any time of the day or night.

While I'd hate to be forced by old age or fear to rely only on an automobile or taxi to get around town, being young I find no difficulty what so ever doing my chores using a motorbike. Hell, if one lives within the Superhighway, even a bicycle would do. 15-20 minutes from one edge of the city to its opposite side by bicycle, much faster with a small motorcycle.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

While I'd hate to be forced by old age or fear to rely only on an automobile or taxi to get around town, being young I find no difficulty what so ever doing my chores using a motorbike. Hell, if one lives within the Superhighway, even a bicycle would do. 15-20 minutes from one edge of the city to its opposite side by bicycle, much faster with a small motorcycle.

I used to race my pals from Maya to Central through town.

They had scooters and I had a road bicycle.

Most of the time I beat them.

[LaosLover]

Running a car in the states was at least $500 a month, and I didn't have a car payment.

 

I'm at well less than $100 a month for Grab cabs. We can go a week in Nimman without leaving it. Another reason never to go home.

 

I can only bear to live in a traffic-lite place from now on. I'm in downtown Vientiane and I was just killing a bottle or three of wine with some friends on a side street. Maybe 2 tuk tuks and 2 cars in 2 hours.

 

To have an urban feeling with good restaurants, but with very low traffic is a tricky combination. If anyone knows of a third one, let me know.

[GaiwanAddict]

On 7/1/2023 at 3:01 PM, bignok said:

Lanna food is great. Bland 555

As soon as you leave the city of Chiang Mai, I agree. In the more rural areas, the food is great.

[Harsh Jones]

I don't understand why CM is so popular. It seems like a more popular place for westerners than anywhere else in the country. I have no desire to be away from the water. I just dont get the popularity of it. 

[bignok]

6 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

I don't understand why CM is so popular. It seems like a more popular place for westerners than anywhere else in the country. I have no desire to be away from the water. I just dont get the popularity of it. 

Food, temples, mountains, airport, train, malls. River there.

 

Where do you live?

[clokwise]

9 minutes ago, Harsh Jones said:

I have no desire to be away from the water. I just dont get the popularity of it. 

That's just you. Not everyone wants to be nearby water all the time.

[sammieuk1]

I did a 10 year stretch in CM and only came back to life 2 years ago when I left its a hateful place and the tide never comes in follow the yellow brick road to Hua Hin Cha Am aera I say ????

[GammaGlobulin]

10 years in Chiang Mai, so far.

So far, so good.

I enjoy all seasons, including the Smoking Season...(I run two air purifiers and two ACs 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. I have sealed all windows, too.)

 

I am NOT bothered by the smoke outside, and have even come to enjoy it, in fact. (This is NOT a joke, by the way. For me, during the Smoking Season, it sort of reminds me of being "Snowed In" when I was a youth living in NE USA. I enjoyed that experience of having one meter of snow, new fallen, and being safe inside my home, and snug. I get the same basic experience, except for a solid 4 months, here in Chiang Mai. So, yes, I do enjoy the Smoking Season for this reason. And, I keep a big supply of 3M N98 masks/with vent, for when I want to go exercising in the smoky mountains. I enjoy this, too!  And, this also is NOT a facetious remark.)

 

I intend to stay in CM for another 10 years, that is, if I do not move to Chiang Rai, which I think is doubtful.

 

I have great internet at extremely low cost.

I have finally found a house with zero roosters.

The roads outside my house are quiet, and almost completely deserted after 12:00AM to 5:30AM.

This is the first place I have found where I can sleep without noise.

The only problem, these days, at least for me, is the noise of overhead aircraft.  This is not likely to go away, anytime soon, unless they decide to move the airport. However, it IS possible to do some soundproofing which actually CAN significantly reduce noise due to aircraft inside the home. And, you can download a helpful paper published, as I recall, by the airport authorities in London.

 

The reason I will NOT move unless something unforeseen occurs is that I do not want to risk moving to a neighborhood which turns out to be noisy. That would spell disaster for me.

 

I hate driving. So, I have a steady driver, and she is one of the kindest souls I have ever met in my life.  She's a farm girl with a big heart, and intelligent as heck, with a great sense of humor.

 

I have thought long and hard about this topic during the past three years on lockdown. There is no place that could top Chiang Mai, for me, given my interests and needs. I have a super good dentist.  I like the hospital here, too.  They gave me rabies shots with a smile last time I was bitten by a rat at one of the food stalls opposite the back gate of the universities, at about 1:00 AM.

 

I feel blessed to be living in Chiang Mai.

I love the culture here, the Lana culture I mean especially.

I like the fact that people in my community smile at me.

I once lived on shore front property in Naples, FL, and also on the East Coast of Taiwan. I have had enough of the sea and the salt air destroying my computer equipment, which gets costly after a while.  The beaches around the world are too crowded, at any rate for my taste.

 

I will live in CM as long as I can.

I figure, God Willing, I got another 10 years left in me.

Or, if I can live to be as old as my fellow-alumnus, Chomsky, is now, then I still gotta long row to hoe ahead of me. And, CM still sounds good for a 94-yo.

 

It's not as if I don't know what it's like to live in CM for a significant part of my life, either. 10 years is NOT "short-time".

 

I am happy to be here.

And, I am happy to know you, too.

 

NOTE:  Learn to read Thai script....My best advice to you who intend to follow in my footsteps.  CHOK-DI!!!