Biggest poll I've ever done.. Bound to be missing options or overlapping options, so I'm issuing a mea culpa in advance.. If you don't find the right option for your situation then pick the closest one, or post in the topic below.

#EDIT: Feel free to include the general Thapae area (or close to other gates and sois close to the outside moat) as Inner City. So feel free to include places like Smith Residence, Veerachai Court, the Life In Town building and so in there.

Edited January 24, 201214 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Tempted to say, "NOYFB", but I wont

That's why I made it an anonymous poll. Not really interested in anyone's personal stuff.

But housing and rents come up every so often, and usually there's some debate on what rents to expect, what rents are fair, and if rents are on the increase for specific types of houses or condo's.. So now there's a poll.

And... thanks!!

Edited January 24, 201214 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Another question not mentioned in the poll.

How many of you actually own your land and property legally in Thailand?

I did vote in the poll. My Thai girlfriend, now wife, owned the land and house we now live in before we met, that she inherited from her grandfather. So we are 100% legal as I did not put not even 1 baht towards it`s purchase.

It has now been passed into the name of our children, all Thai citizens and all above board.

Edited January 24, 201214 yr by Beetlejuice

For me, I don't own anything. My wife (or rather, the bank) owns it legally and she pays the mortgage out of her salary. (which doesn't leave her with much, but it's not against the law for me to pay for everything else.)

I have a feeling though that most people rent, or legally own condominiums; we may see this in the poll one way or the other.

Edited January 24, 201214 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

How interesting. We did a poll over 2010/11 with 225 respondents and got similar answers:

What type of residence are you currently living in?

1. Rent an apartment / flat 14.35%

2. Rent a condominium / service apartment 6.70%

3. Rent a house 31.10%

4. Own an apartment / condominium 12.92%

5. Own a condominium / service apartment 9.09%

6. Own a house 30.14%

Which area are you living in?

1. Nimmanhaemin area: Nimmanhaemin Rd. / Suthep Rd.

Chiang Mai University 30.77%

2. Ping River area: Changklan, Charoenprated, PRC 13.85%

3. Outlying districts (Samoeng, Mae Rim, Doi Saket, Sansai, et.c) 34.36%

That's why I made it an anonymous poll. Not really interested in anyone's personal stuff.

But housing and rents come up every so often, and usually there's some debate on what rents to expect, what rents are fair, and if rents are on the increase for specific types of houses or condo's.. So now there's a poll.

And... thanks!!

I think it is a good idea to keep updated.

Is it possible to add a section querying age ranges?(e.g. 20-35, 35-50, over 50).

I'd be more interested to see where people who are likely to look for a similar lifestyle choose to live.

If you're 25 and recently moved to Chiang Mai looking for a place to stay, the results showing 50% of people living in Hang Dong and Mae Farang will not be informative.

Similarly if you're 65, most of the replies coming from 20-year-olds will have very little relevance when searching for a (new) place.

Is it possible to add a section querying age ranges?(e.g. 20-35, 35-50, over 50)

Actually, not easily, no. You see the different questions aren't linked in any way. So if you add a question 'how old are you' (a topic that has been done before) and you get that 28% of people are aged 50-60 then you don't know how that relates to the answer they filled in on their housing.

The only way is to link it all which results in more than the 20 options allowed per question, i.e. :

I am < 30 and live Inner City

I am <30 and live Nimmanhaemin/CMU

I am <30 and live elsewhere within the Superhighway

I am <30 and live outside the superhighway but in Muang district

I am <30 and live in Doi Nowhere

I am 30-40 and live Inner City

I am 30-40 and live Nimmanhaemin/CMU

... and so on; that gets lengthy depending on how narrow you want to pin ages and places down.

EDIT: Perhaps just about feasible though, maybe I (or someone else) can take stab at it tonight or tomorrow.

If you're 25 and recently moved to Chiang Mai looking for a place to stay, the results showing 50% of people living in Hang Dong and Mae Farang will not be informative.

True. My personal assumption is that younger people are more likely to live in or close to town. But also that more recent arrivals to Thailand are more likely to want to live in town regardless of age. After a while they might move outside of town to the surrounding districts, usually after getting a car and knowing their way around, wanting somewhat of a garden, kitchen, etc.

The above is entirely my own assumption and will not be correct for everyone. (If it's even correct for a majority.. who knows.)

Similarly if you're 65, most of the replies coming from 20-year-olds will have very little relevance when searching for a (new) place.

Yes.. but even then you essentially have an ageist statistic; just because most 65 year olds want to live in Doi Saket doesn't mean that any particular one can't prefer the CMU area, or Veerachai court downtown. So your own likes and dislikes heavily weigh into it.

<On Soapbox>

I wouldn't dare to ask you for your age, and then when you reply that you're 25, do some rapid profiling and say "ok, go live at Nimmanhaemin or around the corner from the Reggae bars." In the larger scheme of things, within a minority population of Westerners, I'd say that age is less of a factor then it would be back home. I know there are people my age that I have nothing in common with; and I also know old geezers AND people half my age that enjoy the same things I do..

I'd say just explore, talk to people, see what you prefer yourself, and then make a choice. Go your own way.

<Off Soapbox>

That said I am in the (very lengthy) process of finding, obtaining and then renting out a property as downtown as possible because it seems to me that this would be in higher demand, especially by newer arrivals who don't mind to pay a bit higher if only for the first year or two until they get settled, buy a car and move to Doi Saket. And then there's just less places available downtown compared to the huge ring that is Mae Rim - Doi Saket etc etc all the way to Hang Dong. Which possibly means that prices would go up most slower out there. I'm hoping that being able to walk to a market or a choice of restaurants and bars counts for something, as opposed to schlepping into town from Mae Nowhere. Would be even better if police got more serious about checking for drunk driving.. then being able to walk home or grab a tuk tuk for a non-extortionate fee would be good for everyone.

Edited January 25, 201214 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Is it possible to add a section querying age ranges?(e.g. 20-35, 35-50, over 50).

I'd be more interested to see where people who are likely to look for a similar lifestyle choose to live.

If you're 25 and recently moved to Chiang Mai looking for a place to stay, the results showing 50% of people living in Hang Dong and Mae Farang will not be informative.

Similarly if you're 65, most of the replies coming from 20-year-olds will have very little relevance when searching for a (new) place.

Can 25 year olds and 65 year olds not live near to each other? Mai kow jai

Edited January 25, 201214 yr by expatmakmak

Can 25 year olds and 65 year olds not live near to each other? Mai kow jai

Of course they can - my neighbour is 67 and we get along great. But this is a statistical thread and - statistically speaking- age is a good indicator of which lifestyle you prefer.

If I like a place and then I find out the area is populated mostly by 18-year-olds, I might regret the decision. Sure maybe they're a quiet bunch or permanently on Ritalin or adventist - but I don't have time to find out so I have to use age profiling when making a quick choice about where I buy or rent for the next 3 years.

Wouldn't it be nice to know what lifestyle you can expect in certain areas of the city before you actually move in?

All we got right now is MoonMuang+Nimman+CMU=party and HangDong+Doi Saket+Mae ___ = relax.

Everything else is a blur.

I'm sure that there are a lot of other areas where you can have a comfortable lifestyle without being in the middle of nowhere - and enjoying a mix of both worlds.

I voted, but it may be misleading because you don't have an option for those living in a wooden hut

Responded 1st day to poll, but you didn't offer "Large Italianate-style palace", so I just ticked off one room condo......

pointless excercise,be more interesting finding out how many people eat hamburgers in chiang mai.

pointless excercise,be more interesting finding out how many people eat hamburgers in chiang mai.

But, by golly, interesting enough to post! Super sweet!

Responded 1st day to poll, but you didn't offer "Large Italianate-style palace", so I just ticked off one room condo......

That's a:

> Detached house - 2 or more floors, more than 5 bedrooms

Really nice by the way.. Maybe one day. Already have the land, so I'm already half way.

Edited January 27, 201214 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

I was kidding, Winnie.

I live in Lanna 3 in a postage stamp-sized corner unit, with a million dollar view, and a kitchenette.

45 sq m is the extent of my fiefdom....

"True. My personal assumption is that younger people are more likely to live in or close to town. But also that more recent arrivals to Thailand are more likely to want to live in town regardless of age. After a while they might move outside of town to the surrounding districts, usually after getting a car and knowing their way around, wanting somewhat of a garden, kitchen, etc."

After a while I moved to Sansai, after a year or so there moved back into town! Too quiet for me!

After a while I moved to Sansai, after a year or so there moved back into town! Too quiet for me!

Out of curiosity, did you still get an actual house when moving back into town, or apartment? I'm guessing you still value some more space, a kitchen and so on?

Sorry, WTK, your "epic" survey (I posted my particulars to do my bit.) has only attracted a tad more than 100 respondents. That is too bad. You kept it simple, a good choice, but the results do not, unfortunately, mean anything for a variety of reasons. It is pub talk. Just ask Priceless. Good try,however. Not at all easy creating a survey. Not at all.

Epic referred to the size, not the expected number of voters or quality/accurace.

I think 100 is quite a lot actually.. How many regular posters are there in the CM forum anyway. I think 100 is really a lot, lots more than just the saddos who feel they must reply to absolutely every topic.

(Yes, I say that with some irony. )

Yes, ironic!! Cheers, anyway !!

Go to sleep! I am.

It might have been informative if the poll has asked why people chose their place of residence.

While my wife and I are retirees, we chose to live in a condo 'in town' for convenient access to shops, markets, services, etc., for minimal time cleaning (compared with a house) and no building or grounds maintenance hassles. We think this is also a better option than a house when we travel overseas for extended periods.

It might have been informative if the poll has asked why people chose their place of residence.

While my wife and I are retirees, we chose to live in a condo 'in town' for convenient access to shops, markets, services, etc., for minimal time cleaning (compared with a house) and no building or grounds maintenance hassles. We think this is also a better option than a house when we travel overseas for extended periods.

Wake up WTK you just got a great idea for another poll. Should give you lots to do making up the proper questions.

Yeah; there may just be as many reasons as there are people..

After a while I moved to Sansai, after a year or so there moved back into town! Too quiet for me!

Out of curiosity, did you still get an actual house when moving back into town, or apartment? I'm guessing you still value some more space, a kitchen and so on?

Better late than never.....no, a LOT less space, a 1 bedroom room at 4500bht a month for the both of us, gets a little stir crazy sometimes, but no worries! Now the place in Sansai has sold looking for a 3 storey town/work type building....the normal thing, accommodation above, shop unit on ground floor.

Yeah; there may just be as many reasons as there are people..

Epic

Let's say that all research is divided into two types:

Quantitative research is easy to collate, but forces truth into categories that may not be exact - almost certainly isn't nuanced, in my view, either in the questions or the answers.

Qualitative research admits of a closer representation of the truth. In allowing open ended responses, it rarely easily adds up. Results take a long time to correlate and generally lead to more questions (as does truth).

Still, Pim suggests that their modest study had similar results, which should say something.

Alas, the method of data-gathering calls into question the validity of both fun info-searching events - what about the non-responders, where do they live? (In Obliviou-city? )

Edited May 11, 201214 yr by CMX

156 votes. That's a lot more people than I see posting in the Chiang Mai forum on a weekly basis. So I'm happy, while realizing this is mostly a sample of Thaivisa members, not necessarily of everyone out there.

There's a lot of detail in the poll questions, but if you group particular categories together then you can say things like:

* Around 25% of respondents live in condo/apartment style accommodation. The rest live in houses of various kind.

* The rent amount distribution makes sense, with the sweet spot probably in the 5000-15,000 range. I do wonder why there is a decline in the 15k-25K range, but then more people paying 25K and up. Of course 'and up' makes it a big range. My wife's theory was that this 25K+ range could be people who have their rent paid for them, for example by a company, NGO, missionary organization or other. Once you have for example a $1,000(+) housing budget, chances are people will find a way to spend it, and get a place full of Western amenities, a pool, etc.

* 38% live in town, within the superhighway or CMU area, and 45% living in the suburbs and villages around. That's a higher percentage of people living in town than I expected, also given the huge area all the surrounding districts cover. I'm grouping 'outside the superhighway but still Muang district here with the out of town districts, as Muang district extends quite far in certain directions, but you hit San Sai or Sarapee much quicker. So I'm sticking with 'downtown' as roughly the area within the superhighway, plus CMU area.

Edited May 11, 201214 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Responded 1st day to poll, but you didn't offer "Large Italianate-style palace", so I just ticked off one room condo......

McGriff ..... love your one room condo........ I have visions of the inside all gutted and very much like a basketball court.....

Happy dribbling

How about the same poll with each question also asking the age for the people in the category they respond to?