You must ask yourself if CM is a safe place to live? Air pollution, death by automobile, on a 1st world basis, poor medical care. On has a duty to dependent children they may disregard for themselves.

I would say that Chiang Mai is a pretty safe place to live with a lot of significant benefits for children.

The pollution is bad for three months a year but compare that with any modern Western city. I would also contest the claim of poor medical care, in my experience there are very good hospitals and doctors in Thailand and most definitely in CM.

Add in the experience for children to learn a new language, become immersed in a different culture and gain major experiences that could never be had "back home" and I would say that living in CM has to be a good choice for many families IF they can make the cultural and social shift.

CB

This inforation is great, it is very intresting to get such varied views.

Regarding availability and costs of books - why not try the AUA library. 400 Baht per year. Many books and even a children's section

Pros:

- Depending on lifestyle, not much of a rat race here

- Close to natural environment, national parks

- Children see a different way of living

- Extended family help with childcare

- Affordable housing, domestic help, etc

- Chance to grow up bilingual

Cons:

- Few choices for good education

- Poor public safety: traffic, pollution, food cleanliness etc

- Almost no green space like public parks

- No kid-oriented public libraries

- Books are expensive

- Very little feeling of neighborhood-- friends tend to be dispersed, so you rely on a car

Agreed with most of this except;

Almost no green space like public parks

I'm one of those lucky Doi Saket residents who lives pretty close to Taweechol

Very little feeling of neighborhood-- friends tend to be dispersed, so you rely on a car

The Moo ban as with other posters is great for the wife and kids, I tend to go into town and meet up with friends anyway.

Books are expensive

True, but we are lucky to have such a huge number of second hand bookshops in CM so there is a wide range of books out there and they all seem to give you a 50% return on your books when you take them back, so it negates the costs a bit.

Otherwise pretty much agree with Puwa, especially about the safety of my children regarding transport etc and a decent library would be nice for the kids.

I've though long and hard about my family living in the UK and quality of life would dramatically decrease if I took that option.

Good luck

The talk of the few months when pollution is bad, is that confined to town ?

The talk of the few months when pollution is bad, is that confined to town ?

No. It affects the entire Northern region. In fact, it's much worse in the (very rural) areas near Mae Hong Son and Mae Sai. It's not city pollution, it comes from forest fires and agricultural burning, mostly in Burma and possibly further afield.

It lasts a couple weeks, in March. A good time to find a beach.

No - it's all over the north.

No, way to many hookers and sex tourists here. You should go to pattaya instead.

I cannot fully agree with the last post as it relates only to relatively few and specific areas of town - though it may well be a joke: Pattaya is not entirely heaven-like.

I'm new in Chiang Mai myself, but if you consult threads about smoke, you may find that this year the problem extended a bit beyond 3 weeks. But "old hands" here have suggested to me that 3 months is the maximum as well.

Also, kids adapt quickly, but you will find the Thai "hot" season HOT. This one is a blister.

Chiang Mai has much to recommend it, but it cannot be classed with a major metropolis. Schools and their prices - as suggested many times - may well require your primary attention, though I'm one who agrees that the family environment is much more important yet (happy=happy), and home schooling can sensibly be added on top of school, if it is fun to do all over the place.