Maybe a post on average age of the expats in chiangmai? Most seem either backpackers or 60+...

A rather broard assumption, and a quick search whould have given you the ANSWER and if you have difficulty clicking on the link, the results are below.....

<18 years old [ 0 ] [0.00%]

18-29 [ 12 ] [9.16%]

30-39 [ 31 ] [23.66%]

40-49 [ 34 ] [25.95%]

50-59 [ 30 ] [22.90%]

60-69 [ 17 ] [12.98%]

70-79 [ 5 ] [3.82%]

80-89 [ 0 ] [0.00%]

90+ [ 2 ] [1.53%]

According to the Immigration Police, less than 5000 foreigners are living in CM

What is this number based on ?? The number of extensions obtained at the Chiang Mai immigration office ?

US have 2000 registered, though apparently the number of US citizens who registered to vote for the last election in US was over 10,000 (north of Thailand, but this included tourists too)

Why would a true tourist register to vote at a consulate in Chiang Mai? They would fill out an absentee ballot before they left the USA.

I am not registered at the consulate nor did i vote form the consulate. I got my absentee ballot from the Americans Abroad website. Maybe some one has a contact there that they could get some numbers from.

According to the Immigration Police, less than 5000 foreigners are living in CM

What is this number based on ?? The number of extensions obtained at the Chiang Mai immigration office ?

US have 2000 registered, though apparently the number of US citizens who registered to vote for the last election in US was over 10,000 (north of Thailand, but this included tourists too)

Why would a true tourist register to vote at a consulate in Chiang Mai? They would fill out an absentee ballot before they left the USA.

I am not registered at the consulate nor did i vote form the consulate. I got my absentee ballot from the Americans Abroad website. Maybe some one has a contact there that they could get some numbers from.

Before the changes to Immigration or perhaps more accurately before the existing laws were enforced the estimate of expats living long term ie more than one year was 20,000. This was from Immigration who submittted the information to the then Taksin government based on people with Non Imm visas but also the number of people on transit stamps using the Mai Sai routine. They also took into account people who used their office for residency certificates etc. If the number is accurate and I think it is and your number is also accurate it shows the decrease in "semi permanent" and long term residents in Chiang Mai. It would be very interesting to see the actual figures across the whole of Thailand and then extrapolate the amount of money that has left the country.

CB