Best Areas To Live In Chiang Mai

[pwllgrgn]

Hi

We are considering moving to Chaing Mai from UK in 2007. Our other choices are Chiang Rai or Phuket. We will be bringing our German Shepherd with us, have no option cannot possibly leave him in UK. We will need to rent a house before we arrive. Can anyone reccommend where to find pet friendly rentals? Also which are the best areas to live in? We would like somewhere nice and quiet.

Thanks

[Rinrada]

San Kampheang...but I recon that you will get a different answer from almost everyone on the C.M forum.

Its such a personal choice but assuming you dont want to be in town but still be close enough to access the nightlife-tesco-shops etc.then as said we went for S.K.P @ 35 kms out on the highway.

There is also the new airport to consider (15k out) plus all of the major infrastracture/upgrades in the pipeline as well and as far as we know it(SKP) becoming a Hub...of something ...prob golf clubs and Health Spas .....seems a good location.

[Guest endure]

Is there going to be a new airport in CM?

[Ricardo]

Is there going to be a new airport in CM?

Hush, it's a secret, and not to be spoken about until after 'dark influences' have finished buying all the land in the propsed area, purely in the national interest, of course !

From a logical farang point-of-view, seeing the existing runway being extended, and the terminal-buildings being doubled in size, there is no way this will happen.

But hey - This is Thailand

[p1p]

The "Best Place to Live"? This really is a case of horses for courses. However I would recommend looking at the area around Wat Umong. It is fairly central, quiet and nicely wooded, so cooler than many other places. From there you can take your time and explore before deciding the best place for you.

[chanchao]

Yeah, I like the Wat Umong area a lot too. Problem is, everyone else does too so land/rent prices are among the highest in Chiang Mai.

[polecat]

Another vote for Wat Umong

[mobile69]

Hi

We are considering moving to Chaing Mai from UK in 2007. Our other choices are Chiang Rai or Phuket. We will be bringing our German Shepherd with us, have no option cannot possibly leave him in UK. We will need to rent a house before we arrive. Can anyone reccommend where to find pet friendly rentals? Also which are the best areas to live in? We would like somewhere nice and quiet.

Thanks

As it may be difficult to get a reasonably priced rental house before you arrive, you might consider temporary accomodation such as an appartment or hotel until you find your feet, putting your GS in kennels for a while. There is a place nr San Kampaeng run by a foreign lady. Email [email protected]. Our GS was there for a while before we took him on from previous owner.

Yeah, I like the Wat Umong area a lot too. Problem is, everyone else does too so land/rent prices are among the highest in Chiang Mai.

Or Chang Kian, the other side of Huay Keaw Rd. Prices again very high - who wouldn't want to live at the foot of the mountain? & then you settle for a couple of rai out in the sticks for a fraction of the price...

[pwllgrgn]

Hello

Thank you for all the replies. I have at least 5 areas which have been recommended to me now. On the replies I see the word expensive, looking on the websites of real estate agents in Chiang Mai for sales and rentals looks quite inexpensive to me, but then I am going by UK prices and also we were considering moving to Phuket until we compared prices to CM. I don't really want to put my GS in kennels as he did not enjoy the experience in December when we came to Thailand for 2 months, so we were going to rent house untill we spotted a house for sale we really liked. Is it difficult to get house rentals which allow pets?

[wincen]

Is it difficult to get house rentals which allow pets?

I just rented a house near Huay Keaw Rd and the super highway. Its on a quite street with many dogs walking around. I have a big yard walled in but the land lord said no dogs since people have been getting bit lately.

I just inquired about geting a dog after the lease was signed. I believe if I had a dog she would never turn me away from signing a lease. I bet anything is negotiable.

[adjan jb]

Maybe by 2007, I'll have a house for rent in Saraphi, about 15 km south of CM. Pets welcome.

[rrose070]

Don't you have to quarantine your dog for months? I would love to bring mine too but heard quarantine is like 2 or 6 months?

[cmsally]

If you have all the right paperwork and vaccinations etc

you can bring your dog straight in.

[p1p]

But 6 months quarantine if you want to take the pooch back to Blighty.

[daleyboy]

so we were going to rent house untill we spotted a house for sale we really liked.

Got to ask the question, how are you going to buy a house? Are one of you Thai? If not are you going to set up some sort of business? If your answer to these 2 questions is no then i am afraid you wont be able to buy a house

[pwllgrgn]

The "Best Place to Live"? This really is a case of horses for courses. However I would recommend looking at the area around Wat Umong. It is fairly central, quiet and nicely wooded, so cooler than many other places. From there you can take your time and explore before deciding the best place for you.

Hi

Is Wat Umong not at the end of the runway?

so we were going to rent house untill we spotted a house for sale we really liked.

Got to ask the question, how are you going to buy a house? Are one of you Thai? If not are you going to set up some sort of business? If your answer to these 2 questions is no then i am afraid you wont be able to buy a house

Hi

No neither of us is Thai and I wasn't really thinking of setting up a business but I was under the impression that Thai law forbids foreigners from owning land but that Thai law does not stop foreigners from owning buildings. Also Thai law allows foreigners to lease land for up to 30 years (with 2 successive renewals making 90 years). Is this not so?

The "Best Place to Live"? This really is a case of horses for courses. However I would recommend looking at the area around Wat Umong. It is fairly central, quiet and nicely wooded, so cooler than many other places. From there you can take your time and explore before deciding the best place for you.

Hi

Is Wat Umong not at the end of the runway?

[daleyboy]

It is indeed so, but who do you have in Thailand that you can trust to lease the land from?

I have to say most situations involve a Thai and farang marriage, so normally the Thai will buy the land and the farang will own the house and lease the wife off of their spouse. What you are proposing to do is lease the land off someone you dont know and then spend your hard earned money on eiter buying or building a house.

I dont mean to put a damper on things, and i am sure there are others out there that have gone throught hte smae experience, but persoanlly i wouldnt trust someone i didnt know to lease a plot of land and then build a house on it or indeed to buy a house on land owned by soemone else.

I know the lease will offer some protection BUT this is Thailand and it could be made difficult for you if the owner of the land decideds they want you out.

Also what sort of visa will you be applying for?

I am sorry to sound so negative about things but there are a lot of questions that you need to get answered. I do hope it works out for you, CM is a beautiful place to be

[daleyboy]

I have to say most situations involve a Thai and farang marriage, so normally the Thai will buy the land and the farang will own the house and lease the wife off of their spouse. What you are proposing to do is lease the land off someone you dont know and then spend your hard earned money on eiter buying or building a house.

Apologies, i meant land not wife as much as i would like to lease my wife and then change her every 3 years, i dont think she would like the idea of that.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Don't you have to quarantine your dog for months? I would love to bring mine too but heard quarantine is like 2 or 6 months?

I've heard of people getting stung for big import tax on dags - cos they know that people have no choice!

[cdnvic]

I've heard of people getting stung for big import tax on dags

I'm sure you meant dogs, but it's a good idea nonetheless...Thailand would make billions

cv

[Norman d'Plume]

We were never charged a single satang.

[pwllgrgn]

It is indeed so, but who do you have in Thailand that you can trust to lease the land from?

I have to say most situations involve a Thai and farang marriage, so normally the Thai will buy the land and the farang will own the house and lease the wife off of their spouse. What you are proposing to do is lease the land off someone you dont know and then spend your hard earned money on eiter buying or building a house.

I dont mean to put a damper on things, and i am sure there are others out there that have gone throught hte smae experience, but persoanlly i wouldnt trust someone i didnt know to lease a plot of land and then build a house on it or indeed to buy a house on land owned by soemone else.

I know the lease will offer some protection BUT this is Thailand and it could be made difficult for you if the owner of the land decideds they want you out.

Also what sort of visa will you be applying for?

I am sorry to sound so negative about things but there are a lot of questions that you need to get answered. I do hope it works out for you, CM is a beautiful place to be

Hi

I am sure that their are enough foreigners who have bought the house and leased the land who do not have any problems. I would have thought that if you get professional advice when doing this then it would be ok. I cannot see that if you bought a house on say an estate that the owner would want you out, it seems that quite a few posts that I have read on different forums make it sound that they are queing up to rip you off. I found the following information which sounds reasonable to me:

Most foreigners who 'own' land and houses (as opposed to condos, which can be owned outright) go for a leasehold agreement of typically 30 years, with two prepaid 30-year renewals. The lease will include clauses that automatically allow freehold ownership if the laws of foreign ownership change in future, and the right to sell and/ or transfer the property. This gives you 90 years with strong backup, making it effectively ownership.

Just to complicate things a little, while you can only lease land, all the buildings (either on the land when it was purchased, or improved or built by you after purchasing the land) are your freehold. Technically this means that once the lease expires, the owner of the land must purchase the building(s) at an independently and legally valued price, or negotiate another lease period.

The structure of a lease agreement needs to be watertight. But because this has become the preferred way of holding land in Thailand for foreigners, this type of lease agreement has become more or less a template, with add-ons to suit individual buyer's needs.

As for sounding negative, I'm getting used to it as quite a few people on these forums are negative about everything. I will be applying for a Non Immigration Visa type O 'Retirement'. I am sure that everything will work out a I am determined that it will.

[daleyboy]

It is indeed so, but who do you have in Thailand that you can trust to lease the land from?

I have to say most situations involve a Thai and farang marriage, so normally the Thai will buy the land and the farang will own the house and lease the wife off of their spouse. What you are proposing to do is lease the land off someone you dont know and then spend your hard earned money on eiter buying or building a house.

I dont mean to put a damper on things, and i am sure there are others out there that have gone throught hte smae experience, but persoanlly i wouldnt trust someone i didnt know to lease a plot of land and then build a house on it or indeed to buy a house on land owned by soemone else.

I know the lease will offer some protection BUT this is Thailand and it could be made difficult for you if the owner of the land decideds they want you out.

Also what sort of visa will you be applying for?

I am sorry to sound so negative about things but there are a lot of questions that you need to get answered. I do hope it works out for you, CM is a beautiful place to be

Hi

I am sure that their are enough foreigners who have bought the house and leased the land who do not have any problems. I would have thought that if you get professional advice when doing this then it would be ok. I cannot see that if you bought a house on say an estate that the owner would want you out, it seems that quite a few posts that I have read on different forums make it sound that they are queing up to rip you off. I found the following information which sounds reasonable to me:

Most foreigners who 'own' land and houses (as opposed to condos, which can be owned outright) go for a leasehold agreement of typically 30 years, with two prepaid 30-year renewals. The lease will include clauses that automatically allow freehold ownership if the laws of foreign ownership change in future, and the right to sell and/ or transfer the property. This gives you 90 years with strong backup, making it effectively ownership.

Just to complicate things a little, while you can only lease land, all the buildings (either on the land when it was purchased, or improved or built by you after purchasing the land) are your freehold. Technically this means that once the lease expires, the owner of the land must purchase the building(s) at an independently and legally valued price, or negotiate another lease period.

The structure of a lease agreement needs to be watertight. But because this has become the preferred way of holding land in Thailand for foreigners, this type of lease agreement has become more or less a template, with add-ons to suit individual buyer's needs.

As for sounding negative, I'm getting used to it as quite a few people on these forums are negative about everything. I will be applying for a Non Immigration Visa type O 'Retirement'. I am sure that everything will work out a I am determined that it will.

Well it is nice to see that you are well informed.

I am glad that you are not just going into this blind, my mistake prejudging from your first post

It is just i have had a couple of friends that have had less than favourable experiences by rushing into things, and i hate to see anyone do that. It certainly sounds that you have everything sorted, i wish you all the best with your life in Thailand.

[earlofwindermere]

Hi pwllgrgn

We wish you the best in your decision-making. Here are my two cents:

1. It is not very difficult at all for foreigners to own land/buildings. I know quite a few who do (these include a lot who are not Thais). Besides starting up your own business, there are several "holding companies" that will hold the deed for you in trust (for a fee of course). Based on what I have heard from people who use this service, they have had no problems. (But it does come down to a trust factor).

2. If you are a family, I have noticed that there are quite a few families in the Hang Dong area (and send their kids to Grace or American Pacific) and also around Mae Joe Road (and send their kids to Chiang Mai International or Prem). I live in the Mae Joe area and quite like it.

All the best.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

We were never charged a single satang.

But you know how inconsistent Thai customs can be, right?

There was a story on here about a guy that was charged heaps to import his dog. What are you going to do - leave it in customs?

[Steve2UK]

Most foreigners who 'own' land and houses (as opposed to condos, which can be owned outright) go for a leasehold agreement of typically 30 years, with two prepaid 30-year renewals. The lease will include clauses that automatically allow freehold ownership if the laws of foreign ownership change in future, and the right to sell and/ or transfer the property. This gives you 90 years with strong backup, making it effectively ownership.

30-year extensions have been discussed in considerable detail on several threads in the Real Estate forum e.g.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...&hl=extend&st=0

(but do your own search for "extend" in that forum for many more)

Key points:

1) Thai law only recognises (and protects) a lease of 30 years at a time - the overwheming consensus is that the enforceability of a mutual and private agreement to extend/renew for one further period (i.e. a total of 60 years) is at best still a grey area and therefore not watertight. For two further periods (i.e. a total of 90 years), it's even more uncertain and very much not watertight.

2) While the terms of a current 30-year lease must be honoured by anyone inheriting or buying the land from the lessor during the run of that lease, any pre-existing agreement to extend for a further period is certainly not binding on the new landowner.

As is often pointed out, 30 years is a long time - and a lot can happen (fall out with original landowner, land rises in value, land is transferred to new owner etc etc).

Yes, that sounds negative........... Up to you.

[Misplaced]

I have to say most situations involve a Thai and farang marriage, so normally the Thai will buy the land and the farang will own the house and lease the wife off of their spouse. What you are proposing to do is lease the land off someone you dont know and then spend your hard earned money on eiter buying or building a house.

Apologies, i meant land not wife as much as i would like to lease my wife and then change her every 3 years, i dont think she would like the idea of that.

Nice "Freudian slip" DB

[jasperblubber2005]

chang mai expats

i too am moving to thailand and am wondering where to live until recently this was a no brainer, pattaya, but there is a lot of negative to that choice my second choice would be chang mai, this choice based on what i hear from people, my biggest challenges between now and july is to find out as much about chang mai as i can, if any of you could suggest something i would appreciate it much, what i want to know has already been asked ( best place to live).

i like to live close to the activities and i enjoy working out, so my choice of living area would be close to fitness center as well as night life and of coarse i will have a dog, also i notice in pattaya that they have an expats club that meets every sunday at this one restuarant, city officials are brought in to talk to the expats and explain thing about thailand, pattaya in particular, people like the chief of police, hospital officials, these people were very helpful for newcomers in that city, doe's chang mai have such a club and if so what day of the week do they meet.

thanks in advance

joe p

[p1p]

chang mai expats

i too am moving to thailand and am wondering where to live until recently this was a no brainer, pattaya, but there is a lot of negative to that choice

joe p

Should we list them here. Possibly not - don't want to destroy the server!

chang mai expats

my second choice would be chang mai, this choice based on what i hear from people, my biggest challenges between now and july is to find out as much about chang mai as i can, if any of you could suggest something i would appreciate it much, what i want to know has already been asked (best place to live).

i like to live close to the activities and i enjoy working out, so my choice of living area would be close to fitness center as well as night life and of coarse i will have a dog.

thanks in advance

joe p

Firstly, read the Chiang Mai section of the Thai Visa forum. from beginning to end. Post questions on the forum when you have a knowledge base from which to ask.

If you want to live close to "activities" you will invariably be close to places to work out. CM is not a large city.

If you decide you are still interested in coming here. Do not jump in immediately with long term leases or property purchases. Rent a short term guest house room or a condo hire a bike or a car and take time to get to know the area. Such time is well worth the investment if you want years of happiness to follow.

Chiang Mai is a great place to live.

i notice in pattaya that they have an expats club that meets every sunday at this one restuarant, city officials are brought in to talk to the expats and explain thing about thailand, pattaya in particular, people like the chief of police, hospital officials, these people were very helpful for newcomers in that city, doe's chang mai have such a club and if so what day of the week do they meet.

thanks in advance

joe p

Chiang Mai has a recently started expats club, which I hesitate to recommend. It seems to be mainly a for-profit organisation organised by recent arrivals here. I know of no long-term expat who is involved, although I may be wrong.

[groo]

I would vote for San Kampheng. The least traffic, still affordable land, very near to city!. Trust me, some villages/moo baans there are so much nearer to CM compared to Maejo/Doi Saket/ and other areas. A lot of development is planned there. Its a goldmine. New developments there start from Koolphunt 10(almost sold out & over priced w/electrical problems), Regent 3(just started out and overpriced IMO but nice looking houses), then comes Chiangmai Perfect Home (very nice entry, slightly overpriced, not so good finishings/materials, but big houses). Go a little further down the highway pass the traffic lights and there comes Baan Karnkanok (quickly selling off, not so good finishing as well, & potential for floods from last years experience). Just after Karnkanok is Sivalai 3. Now this mooban is developed by some small developer who has been very successful with Sivalai 1 & Sivalai 2 in Mae Rim. What I like about this mooban is that since they don't have much name to compete with the big timers, they try to deliver quality houses at a reasonable price. Check that place out in case you guys are looking out for a house. Compare their finishings to other developers there and compare the prices. After that a further 5 km or so comes Mooban Nai Fun. I heard a lot of farangs live there. But never been there.

Don't know much about doggy stuff and customs on em though.