20 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Why go there when there are so many other places to choose from just in Thailand.

 

 

Isaan is fantastic....brilliant.....amazing.

Hhmmm, I personally think most of Isaan (95%+) couldn’t acutely be described as that, but there are a few decent cities, eg, Udon, Khon Kaen.  I guess it depends on needs and lifestyle preferences.  

20 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Chiang Mai is clearly one of the best place to live in Thailand, for a few months the air is poor, but you can easily head to the islands then.

 

No wonder the US press is reporting these stories, Chiang Mai never disappoints.

Air quality is cr@p for at least 6-8 months of the year; you can't see the mountains or go bicycling with that toxicity. Chiang Mai never disappoints? hahaaahhh

I have lived through 36 smoky seasons here and it's not 6 months as one

poster says , I am 79 now does that mean I could live to 120 if I lived that

time in clean air, just happy if I make it to 80 ,that will be enough for me.

 

regards worgeordie

4 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I have lived through 36 smoky seasons here and it's not 6 months as one

poster says , I am 79 now does that mean I could live to 120 if I lived that

time in clean air, just happy if I make it to 80 ,that will be enough for me.

 

regards worgeordie

I've managed 15, sometimes the pollution is 2 months, sometimes it stretches to 3 months.

I actually prefer smog to rain as the smog doesn't stop me cycling everyday.

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

the smog doesn't stop me cycling everyday

One day it might, mate.  Not healthy to be heading up some of those steep hills, breathing deeply all those toxic fumes!

4 minutes ago, Woke to Sounds of Horking said:

One day it might, mate.  Not healthy to be heading up some of those steep hills, breathing deeply all those toxic fumes!

You gotta die of something!

 

20 hours ago, Keeps said:

Was your Mrs looking over your shoulder and possibly holding some sort of weapon when you typed that last bit?

If you are talking about avoiding the pollution, you are years too late.  Our oceans are super polluted,   NASA has a satellite showing active "open" fires and during the CM burning season just look at the SEA part - is almost totally red as ASIANs from SEA, north to CHINA and west to INDIA plus to the south also, the red inidicative of forest fires or sugar cane field burning, or corn fieds b urning or rice fields burning and  of course the mushroom hunters and their forest fires.  There is no escape here.  Yeah I came from the US, but pollution is not on my list of why I am here  instead of there.  I don't  plan to change my mind about returning there...With weather changing around the world who really knows where any place is the best.  To each their own.

21 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I have lived through 36 smoky seasons here and it's not 6 months as one

poster says , I am 79 now does that mean I could live to 120 if I lived that

time in clean air, just happy if I make it to 80 ,that will be enough for me.

 

regards worgeordie

You beat me by a couple of years 🙂 34 years in Chiangmai and just turned 81, so by all accounts with all the crappy air I should be dead by now!

21 hours ago, motdaeng said:

many foreigners still consider chiang mai the best place to live in thailand. it's hard to believe, but true ...

who would willingly move to a city known for traffic jams and extremely unhealthy air during the burning season ...

 

you have to wonder what goes through people's minds when they move to a city known for its extreme air pollution ...

and then talk about having a good quality of life in chiang mai ... unbelievable ...

 

What goes through MY mind is....

 

a. Chiang Mai is the very best culture I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy.  And, maybe it's just the Lanna in me.

 

b. I enjoy the smoking season because:  When it's so smokey that the data goes off the charts....  THEN... I have no guilty regrets about remaining indoors, seated at my computer, instead of outdoors hiking in the mountains, and sweating like a pig.

 

c.  Everybody knows that the Farang in Chiang Mai are smarter than the Farang living  anywhere else in Thailand, on average.  Just check the data.  Or, just look at what the Farang are wearing in Pattaya compared to what the Farang are wearing in Chiang Mai.

 

c2.  Or, just read the Chiang Mai Sub-forum, and compare it to the Pattaya Sub-forum. The difference in intelligence is like....Night and Day.  No contest, even.

 

d.  Honestly, I have never loved living in Asia as much in my 45 years here, as I now do living in Chiang Mai.  I guess, maybe, judging from "Point d" that one must be way above average IQ to understand the many blessings we receive after moving to the best city in Thailand, which is Chiang Mai.

 

e.  I hate the way newcomers (Farang) can't even pronounce the "Chiang" in Chiang Mai.  Total morons, in my view.

 

 

On 10/21/2024 at 10:51 AM, Cameroni said:

 

Chiang Mai is clearly one of the best place to live in Thailand, for a few months the air is poor, but you can easily head to the islands then.

 

No wonder the US press is reporting these stories, Chiang Mai never disappoints.

 

 

 

Makes more sense to me to do it the other way round.

 

Even at the best of times fresh air is a rarity in CM. I remember coming down from 4 days in the mountains. Literally between one breath and the next the air went from fresh to burning/exhaust smell. It really showed me how bad it is there in that depression where the fumes collect even on a good day. That was December by the way.

 

Shame, 'cos it is a really lovely place. Probably the only other place in Thailand I'd want to live apart from the Petch/PKK coastal area.

11 hours ago, Unify said:

Air pollution is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and dementia, as well as the obvious lung cancer and emphysema. Just because someone isn't experiencing obvious symptoms now, or it doesn't bother them now, doesn't mean it's safe.

 

I gave up smoking 20 odd years ago and that's why I won't even consider doing Chiang Mai to my lungs on a steady permanent basis. Visits are fine.

For a second I thought this topic was about masturbation.

59 minutes ago, BusyB said:

 

Makes more sense to me to do it the other way round.

 

Even at the best of times fresh air is a rarity in CM. I remember coming down from 4 days in the mountains. Literally between one breath and the next the air went from fresh to burning/exhaust smell. It really showed me how bad it is there in that depression where the fumes collect even on a good day. That was December by the way.

 

Shame, 'cos it is a really lovely place. Probably the only other place in Thailand I'd want to live apart from the Petch/PKK coastal area.

 

Outside the burning season the air quality is actually very good. 

 

But I agree with you, it is a lovely place, it is a sweet spot. It has all the offerings of a big city, numerous great restaurants, malls, possibly the best massage in Thailand, cultural events, and ist still small enough not to have insane traffic a la Bangkok or Jakarata. It's realy the sweet spot for me.

 

 

15 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Outside the burning season the air quality is actually very good. 

 

you're absolutely wrong ... why do so many people give completely wrong information even when they know the true facts?

 

based on all the data, the air isn't great at all outside of the burning season.

the air quality in chiang mai is more or less good for only about 4 months of the year ...

 

 

 

 

On 10/21/2024 at 2:57 PM, KhunLA said:

You couldn't give me free housing & living expense to live at CM during smog season.

 

Who in their right mind would leave the USA, where the air is usually healthy, to live in CM, for ~6 months of unhealthy air breathing ?

 

PM2.5 levels 2-10+ times WHO's healthy guidelines.  No Yanks that I know are that stupid 

Yet the biggest embassy ever was build right in Chiang Mai 😄

On 10/21/2024 at 3:51 PM, Cameroni said:

 

Chiang Mai is clearly one of the best place to live in Thailand, for a few months the air is poor, but you can easily head to the islands then.

 

No wonder the US press is reporting these stories, Chiang Mai never disappoints.

 

 

If it was written in 2016 it would be true, those days are long gone.

1 minute ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Yet the biggest embassy ever was build right in Chiang Mai 😄

Not sure what that is suppose to mean.   Budweiser is/was ? best selling beer in USA ...

 

... nuff said

4 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Not sure what that is suppose to mean.   Budweiser is/was ? best selling beer in USA ...

 

... nuff said

Typical american answer i guess, what do you not understand about it? You think they build this huge building for the visa appointments? Obviously it's a S load of americans who need to work in there. And who will be living there, all the time.

1 hour ago, motdaeng said:

 

you're absolutely wrong ... why do so many people give completely wrong information even when they know the true facts?

 

based on all the data, the air isn't great at all outside of the burning season.

the air quality in chiang mai is more or less good for only about 4 months of the year ...

 

 

 

 

THANKS ... I'm not a fan of moving/living somewhere, only to have to leave for at least 6 months of the year, for healthy are to breath.

 

When living in Udon Thani, I didn't have much choice, but as soon as daughter was done High School, we were gone.  Actually bought land at PKK, before she graduated.

 

Same if wanting a 'beach' holiday, playing in the surf, so don't go to a beach resort town, and then take a boat to a swimmable beach.   

14 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Typical american answer i guess, what do you not understand about it? You think they build this huge building for the visa appointments? Obviously it's a S load of americans who need to work in there. And who will be living there, all the time.

Don't know what the size of an embassy has to do with the air in CM.  There's an US embassy in Iraq, I wouldn't live their either, or plenty of other places.

 

Almost like saying ... 'A lot of ignorant people live/work there, so it must be nice'.

 

I worked at EWR & DTW airports (Newark & Detroit), a couple of the busiest airports in the USA, that doesn't mean I'd enjoy living there.

 

Besides, most of the staff at US embassy, are not US citizens.  Correct when stating 'need to work' there, as I needed to work at EWR & DTW, but not my 1st or 50th choice, if better options were available, and left both ASAP.

 

Typical non America reply, and I'm be kind 

On 10/21/2024 at 3:08 PM, motdaeng said:

many foreigners still consider chiang mai the best place to live in thailand. it's hard to believe, but true ...

who would willingly move to a city known for traffic jams and extremely unhealthy air during the burning season ...

 

you have to wonder what goes through people's minds when they move to a city known for its extreme air pollution ...

and then talk about having a good quality of life in chiang mai ... unbelievable ...

I moved here unwillingly 14 years ago and it's never been a great place to live in my experience. It was dull and boring when I arrived and it still is. The expat population was (and probably still is) significantly older than it is in Bangkok. Walking around Airport Plaza when I first arrived was like walking around an old people's home. Every single Westerner I saw was well over 60. There's nothing wrong with being older of course but if you're under 50 and still active, I don't think Chiang Mai is a good place to live.

 

I mentioned some of my concerns on this very forum back then, which included food, and was met with hostility from posters, one of whom went so far as to claim the choice of restaurants in Chiang Mai is every bit as good as the choice in Bangkok. I gave up trying to have serious conversations on here after that. The city is dirty, unattractive, congested and attracts the type of visitors I could cheerfully strangle: posers, hipsters, digital nomads and neo-hippies who wander around SEA in search of authentic experiences, man. It also attracts the type of expats I dislike: older Westerners on a fixed income who are unable to see the irony of their bigoted attitudes, having chosen to emigrate here. Most of them pair up with a native girl whose history is better left undiscussed and slowly drink themselves to death.

4 minutes ago, Mark1066 said:

I moved here unwillingly 14 years ago and it's h.

 

   How did you get to unwillingly move there and why did you stay ?

   I also moved there 14 years ago and had a great time , relived my teenage years , often going out and staying out till sunrise .

   

37 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

THANKS ... I'm not a fan of moving/living somewhere, only to have to leave for at least 6 months of the year, for healthy are to breath.

 

 

   Its terrible, stay away 

15 minutes ago, Mark1066 said:

I moved here unwillingly 14 years ago and it's never been a great place to live in my experience. It was dull and boring when I arrived and it still is. The expat population was (and probably still is) significantly older than it is in Bangkok. Walking around Airport Plaza when I first arrived was like walking around an old people's home. Every single Westerner I saw was well over 60. There's nothing wrong with being older of course but if you're under 50 and still active, I don't think Chiang Mai is a good place to live.

 

I mentioned some of my concerns on this very forum back then, which included food, and was met with hostility from posters, one of whom went so far as to claim the choice of restaurants in Chiang Mai is every bit as good as the choice in Bangkok. I gave up trying to have serious conversations on here after that. The city is dirty, unattractive, congested and attracts the type of visitors I could cheerfully strangle: posers, hipsters, digital nomads and neo-hippies who wander around SEA in search of authentic experiences, man. It also attracts the type of expats I dislike: older Westerners on a fixed income who are unable to see the irony of their bigoted attitudes, having chosen to emigrate here. Most of them pair up with a native girl whose history is better left undiscussed and slowly drink themselves to death.

I agree entirely, having basically been in between Bangkok and Chiang Mai for the past decade aside of everywhere else in TH. There was a short momentum with hope when digital nomads was a new thing and it was super vibrant and cool ('14 - '15). Ever since it has been down, ever since covid trash. It's starts to be like Chiang Rai or Vientiene in terms of nightlife too. Boring.

There is actually barely any people to be found inside any areas of places, yet there is always traffic jams due to people driving like absolute idiots stopping in the middle of the road, double lane driving, driving 20-30 where 50-80 is allowed. Then burning season.

 

But I guess it can be good for a 'old' person who is mainly at home with AC and air purifiers, on a budget. Then again, in that scenario one could live anywhere else too on the same budget.

7 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

 Ever since it has been down, ever since covid trash. It's starts to be like Chiang Rai or Vientiene in terms of nightlife too. Boring.

 

   What kind of nightlife do you like ?

Its cheap and has a nice vibe. Id say if it werent for the smog it would be the perfect place

22 hours ago, Woke to Sounds of Horking said:

Air quality is cr@p for at least 6-8 months of the year;

4 months 

On 10/21/2024 at 2:19 PM, JimGant said:

This is a 'feel good' news story about moving from the US to Chiang Mai. Probably similar for most of us reading this, especially Yanks, who, for most of us, will have no new tax hit with the recent Thai proposals. And who get by just fine in the smoky season.

https://www.businessinsider.com/retired-florida-cop-moved-to-chiang-mai-thailand-cheaper-safer-2024-10

Don't forget your Oxygen Mask when moving to the north.

8 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   What kind of nightlife do you like ?

Sleep 

28 minutes ago, Mark1066 said:

I moved here unwillingly 14 years ago and it's never been a great place to live in my experience. It was dull and boring when I arrived and it still is. The expat population was (and probably still is) significantly older than it is in Bangkok. Walking around Airport Plaza when I first arrived was like walking around an old people's home. Every single Westerner I saw was well over 60. There's nothing wrong with being older of course but if you're under 50 and still active, I don't think Chiang Mai is a good place to live.

 

I mentioned some of my concerns on this very forum back then, which included food, and was met with hostility from posters, one of whom went so far as to claim the choice of restaurants in Chiang Mai is every bit as good as the choice in Bangkok. I gave up trying to have serious conversations on here after that. The city is dirty, unattractive, congested and attracts the type of visitors I could cheerfully strangle: posers, hipsters, digital nomads and neo-hippies who wander around SEA in search of authentic experiences, man. It also attracts the type of expats I dislike: older Westerners on a fixed income who are unable to see the irony of their bigoted attitudes, having chosen to emigrate here. Most of them pair up with a native girl whose history is better left undiscussed and slowly drink themselves to death.

Agree, the city never did anything for me.  Visited a couple times, abet, 20 yrs ago, but thought the same.   

 

The countryside on the other hand, is lovely, and actually only have a deeper appreciation for it, the last 4 years, as got to see a lot of it, with clear skies, during rainy season & cusp of, along with no tourist.