Hi All,

After months of preparation, selling possessions etc finally in Thailand.

Arrive in Chiang Mai this morning, have booked into hotel for 4 days while I search for Condo to lease.

Now to enjoy retirement.

Welcome to Chiang Mai! Best of luck to you in the coming weeks. New beginnings are always an adventure!

If you have questions, the search function here in ThaiVisa can be a goldmine of information, and is always a good place to start, as are the 'pinned' threads at the top of the page.. If that doesn't produce the answers you need, post your questions here and someone will usually be able to help.

re

Arrive in Chiang Mai this morning

doi suthep is looking good for your arrival

welcome ... dave2

A bit of unasked for advice. Give your self more than 4 days to find a condo. I may be wrong in presuming you are not set on what area of the city you want to live in. If so I apologize.

At any rate welcome to the city and Thai Visa.

Welcome, Astroid!

I'm not sure how familiar you are with things here in Chiang Mai and Thailand in general, but I'd say it's pretty good advice to give things time. You'll go thru stages of adapting to this place and learning your way around and how things work. You'll likely see that 6 mo's and 1 yr in, that your perspective of many things will change - especially with money and how to use it. Many of us were too quick with the cash n committing to things in our first days/weeks/months here. Take your time, enjoy the city. Check out the Expats Club, join a reading group, find a favorite diner to have a coffee and read the paper and chat up the owners and regulars. Patience and making a few friends will yield some great results when it comes time to consider what to do and how to do it.

Perhaps finding a decent long-stay condo for just a 1-3 mo contract would be ideal, as you search for a best-match location and building to really rent from in the long term. Use that upper-rt-hand search function FolkGuitar was talking about and you'll be able to read all about various condos n areas of the city. Just make sure the box for "this forum" is selected, otherwise the default "all" will give you a bunch of unwanted material to sift thru.

And did I mention checking out the jazz and arts scene yet? So much good stuff to check out and great folks to meet.

Stay smart ! Have fun !

Take your time. I live in a nice condo close to everything thus I do not need a vehicle (I think owning one is a pain) I have made every mistake that it is possible to make over the last 4 years. Feel free to contact me. I can give you my opinion then make up your own mind. If you like the ladies be careful this is one area where money can disappear fast and the ladies can disappear faster. Stay in Chiang Mai do not let your heart lead you to the hinterland(Many here will disagree as they like living in the boonies but they are in the minority and at 76 I do not wish to be a pioneer). I did this and it failed miserably. Good luck welcome to Chiang Mai

Take your time. I live in a nice condo close to everything thus I do not need a vehicle (I think owning one is a pain) I have made every mistake that it is possible to make over the last 4 years. Feel free to contact me. I can give you my opinion then make up your own mind. If you like the ladies be careful this is one area where money can disappear fast and the ladies can disappear faster. Stay in Chiang Mai do not let your heart lead you to the hinterland(Many here will disagree as they like living in the boonies but they are in the minority and at 76 I do not wish to be a pioneer). I did this and it failed miserably. Good luck welcome to Chiang Mai

What I can tell you is after 37 years here in Chiang Mai. first try and find a guest house to live in for a few months, Get your money in a local bank and use ATM's for your withdrawals. Moving into a a Guest House and you will get to know the owners but remember they have their own interests My suggestion is to be friendly but skeptical, you are a prime target and everyone will know it. A few expats will look at you as a sap if you fall into the numerous traps set for you, by the ladies, Condo owners, car and bike rentals, bar girls, and the ever pervasive one; Oh he is my cousin you can trust him.

Think as if you are a hillbilly and just arrived in NYC. That's how much you will stand out.

And if you insist on the motobike, please wear a stout 'brain bucket'. The newbie bike riders find lots of freedom and fun till the old retired body hits the dirt.

Welcome, dude. Like everywhere, merit and demerit can be found in CM. But it\'s cheap enuf here.

Five years and I'm still looking for the perfect place to live.

Give yourself time. Walk around a bit.

The others are correct. What's actually happening here is slow to learn, but pleasant enough to make it worthwhile.

re

numerous traps set for you, by the ladies

they wouldnt

sometime in the last few years i told a 55 ish year old new man i talked to in a bar never to trust anyone here

i was sat having a banana shake this afternoon in a coffee shop and a man walked past me , then stopped and looked at me for a long time and decided i was the one

he then came back into the garden and said i wished i had listend to you a few years ago

hes built a house in nakon nowhere for 2 million baht . bought her a fortuna and her son and daughter a motorbike and a week after he did all that she wouldnt even kiss him anymore and said sex is a no no from now on

he didnt seem like a broken man but he wasnt happy about loosing three odd million baht

dave2

555 - good one dave2!

hes built a house in nakon nowhere for 2 million baht . bought her a fortuna and her son and daughter a motorbike and a week after he did all that she wouldnt even kiss him anymore and said sex is a no no from now on

Living in NN is hard, even if you do have a cooperative partner and nice family!

But nOObs never listen, that's why they are so popular with the ladies.

hes built a house in nakon nowhere for 2 million baht . bought her a fortuna and her son and daughter a motorbike and a week after he did all that she wouldnt even kiss him anymore and said sex is a no no from now on

dave2

And, along these lines (because I'm hearing about this these days), a foreigner CAN own a car, motorcycle, motorbike, and of course condo in HIS OWN name. Do not let anyone tell you the car and bike must be in a Thai lady's name. There are some very good topics here on Thaivisa about this subject.

Life can be very pleasant here for those who have some basic common sense.

Kansas is behind you now. You've just walked into a mirror maze where very little is what it appears to be.

Your education is about to begin.

Charles Darwin put forward the notion of "survival of the fittest", a concept that implies the removal from the gene pool [usually by death] of its weaker members, thereby strengthening the survival chances of the remainder. However here among the expat community in Chiang Mai, we do not encourage the extermination of the less able, the feeble, the intellectually challenged. Rather, we encourage them to become active Thai Visa members where their moronic misdeeds can be chronicled in pursuit of that noblest of pastimes, namely having cheap laughs at other people's expense.