What hobbies did you continue to pursue while you were here?

Which hobbies did you start here, and find great support for?

Looking to try something new.

Try your hand at writing for Wikivoyage or Wikipedia. As you live and travel around Thailand you learn a lot and it's rewarding to share it with others.

Check out Chiang Mai Expats. http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/

Activities group have a few things going.

See also 'about us', if you're new to Chiang Mai.

There's a general meeting on tomorrow morning at Le Meridien. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/14ea9728fe1c5ab2

Not for everyone but tropical fish keeping keeps me happy. Not a pond but a medium sized aquarium. I am currently raising some betta babies.

Stereo omphaloskepsis works for us.

cheers, ~o:37;

The Chiang Mai Photographic Group meets every two weeks at River Market. It's open to anyone who would like to improve their photographic skills and has some very talented members who generously share their experience. Visit cmphotogroup.com for details of their activities.

Stereo omphaloskepsis works for us.

cheers, ~o:37;

Had to google.

Chiang Mai is very sports oriented. You can swim, work out with a personal trainer, get yoga stretching instruction, and ride horseback. Then, for the more athletic there are cycling, rugby, tennis and other sports. Kayaking on the Ping River is really nice. There is a kayak club on the river located inside a wat. Good luck.

I forgot. There is a Writer's Workshop that meets on Thursday evenings at the Why Not? restaurant. Dinner then read and critique.

Be glad to teach you some wood turning if that interest you.

Be glad to teach you some wood turning if that interest you.

I have a woodshop myself where I spend a good deal of time making and repairing things.

Life here is much more enjoyable if you are settled down.

Golf is the greatest. Bike riding also OK. If sitting around is your mode, stamp collecting can be fascinating, i hear. Musical instruments are satisfying, once learned. Various forms of 'art', like water colors, nature sketching travel well, can do inside during the rainy season.

Frankly, day-dreaming comes easiest for me.

I build guitars & violins etc. Just the research on line is a full time job. Research on the finishing aspect of the craft is about 2 full time jobs.

( I know less now than I did when I started) Building moulds, Jigs, Benches, more jigs, & keeping the gouges & chistles in top order is another full time job.

I had a good deal of wood shipped in from suppliers But why not use the local wood for backs Sides & necks?????

(I have heard the wood from the jackfruit tree works for soundboards but haven't tried it yet. untill then It will be Canadian spruce)

keeps ME out of the bars .... ... ...

Bad Tony

I forgot Book Bub. You sign up for Book Bub online (free) and every day a half dozen books are offered in your inbox. Lots of free ones, 99 cent ones and a few more expensive. I'm reading now Song of Achilles and I read a book by Osama bin Laden's son and his mother (first wife) yesterday. The book helped me understand militant Islam.There is something for everyone. If you have children, there are children's books also. When you sign up for Book Bub, if you have an iPad then download to your iPad or Kindle. I read one book every day. I like biographies and fictionalized history plus history.Something that helps me understand the weird world we live in. Also I swim two hours and work out with a trainer for two hours so I'm tired. Reading is about all I can do. Writing also.

I guess you're a guy, aren't you Larry? Many women I know have gotten into having regular manicures, pedicures, massages and spa treatments. I've actually seen a few straight guys around here with color on their nails. After all, it is one of the few beauty treatments where you get to admire the results yourself. There are many good and reasonably priced spas and nail salons in Chiang Mai. Many women (anyway) find they kick up their grooming standards a notch once they move to Chiang Mai.

Wow, NancyL, that's all you've got?

Wow, NancyL, that's all you've got?

Not Nancy`s fault, because that`s about all there is in Chiang Mai.

If you enjoy dining out, there are numerous nondescript little restaurants scattered across and around the city, or there are various shopping malls for hanging out, where many people go having not much else to do, no real nightlife or adult entertainments worth mentioning, loads of old granny massage parlours and expensive spas if you like that sort of thing, otherwise can`t think of much else.

There is Nancy`s Expats club that is the main and probably the only social club in Chiang Mai, and a few other regular events on the Chiang Mai Meetup and facebook pages that mostly include specialist activities such as Yoga, meditation and strange dance rituals.

Much depends on your age. Many elderly nearing the end of their lives like Chiang Mai for it`s tranquillity and perhaps feel the city is their last grazing ground before fading away peacefully into oblivion.

The point being, it depends on age and what you enjoy doing?

Is spending money a 'hobby'? Shopping is all some women do, at every possible opportunity. I thought hobbies were activities which occupied your mind, took time to learn, offered satisfaction when accomplished, may need motor skills, etc. Getting a pedicure does not fit my image of a 'hobby' any more than beer sampling every night.

And IMO, reading novels or other books without a true goal, is little more than time burning. Yes, better than the telly.

I guess you're a guy, aren't you Larry? Many women I know have gotten into having regular manicures, pedicures, massages and spa treatments. I've actually seen a few straight guys around here with color on their nails. After all, it is one of the few beauty treatments where you get to admire the results yourself. There are many good and reasonably priced spas and nail salons in Chiang Mai. Many women (anyway) find they kick up their grooming standards a notch once they move to Chiang Mai.

A lot of us guys have regular massage "treatments" as well.

What a really great and very useful post. I moved in from Bang Saray to Jomtien because I was bored and felt isolated (about 4 Kilometers from the village itself) in a Thai Moban. I don't drink and am not interested in socialising in bars. Since moving here, myself and "she who must be obeyed" no longer needs to be obeyed as we have split up, so now feel just as isolated in Jomtien. The topic the OP has started would be more than useful if one covered many more areas, particularly where a bunch of foreigners might be lightly to live permanently, or long stayers.

I remember a good while back. before I met my one time beloved, and looking for "my true love" saying to a friend...wouldn't it be nice if there was a good old fashioned "singles club" or "dance" where a person looking to meet a companion might go to meet members of the opposite sex (or same, whatever tickles your fancy) not the short time relationships that can easily be found in Pattaya. I, like the OP, would be interested in any ideas out there. When I was with the "other half" (8 years together) this problem didn't arise, we would travel around Thailand every 5 or six weeks and life was pretty full. We also had a house and that can keep you pretty busy too.

Feel free to PM me if you wish. Not to worry though, I consider these "luxury problems" compared to the problems many others have in today's sad world for those less fortunate than ourselves.

Wow, NancyL, that's all you've got?

Larry, if you knew me, you'd know "that's" not all I've got. I spend a lot of time organizing social activities that others enjoy and helping other expats who find themselves in trouble -- usually medical problems.

Here's another idea for a hobby activity. Getting involved in a service organization like Rotary Club.

Edited July 23, 201511 yr by NancyL

I'm surprised no one has mentioned studying the Thai language and really learning it. Some people do commit themselves to doing this, you know and find it very rewarding.

I think there are a lot of activities in Chiang Mai. I know a retired, single lady who has a condo on the beach in Hua Hin. Each year, she rents it out from early Nov thru Feb and comes up here to Chiang Mai, living in a guest house and throwing herself into all the many social activities. She says she makes enough income from the few months of rental to pay her expenses for the entire year and finds the few months of socializing here to be about right. She says the rest of the year that she's in Hua Hin, there's nothing to do. She says all that there is to do in Hua Hin is sit around on the beach and read. She also does some writing, so it gives her time to do that, I guess.

Each year, she rents it out from early Nov thru Feb and comes up here to Chiang Mai, living in a guest house and throwing herself into all the many social activities. She says she makes enough income from the few months of rental to pay her expenses for the entire year and finds the few months of socializing here to be about right.

Does she own the whole building, or live in a monastery during the other 9 months?

Anyway, for Chiang Mai hobbies I think it would be good if they are specifically Chiang Mai related; clearly you can do just about any generic hobby as well here as anywhere else in the world.

So with that in mind:

* Songthaew Surfing.

* Identifying stuff at 10 meters distance in March.

* Moat rat hunting.

* Competitive road crossing at Thapae

* Chinese tourist dodging

etc.

Edited July 23, 201511 yr by WinnieTheKhwai

Each year, she rents it out from early Nov thru Feb and comes up here to Chiang Mai, living in a guest house and throwing herself into all the many social activities. She says she makes enough income from the few months of rental to pay her expenses for the entire year and finds the few months of socializing here to be about right.

Does she own the whole building, or live in a monastery during the other 9 months?

No just one unit. Apparently, people are willing to pay crazy high rental fees during high season.

A troll post has been removed.

So with that in mind:

* Songthaew Surfing.

* Identifying stuff at 10 meters distance in March.

* Moat rat hunting.

* Competitive road crossing at Thapae

* Chinese tourist dodging

etc.

Now, you're onto something, Winnie!

When we first moved here, I missed our dog, a terrier. We'd found a good home for her before we left. She was a farm dog, a good ratter. I must admit, after I saw the moat rats I wondered if we'd made the right decision. Perhaps we could have brought her over and started doing urban ratting with her. Strictly as a community service project, of course.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned studying the Thai language and really learning it. Some people do commit themselves to doing this, you know and find it very rewarding.

Excellent idea for a hobby... and one that will change your life here if you can make some progress at it.

Anyway, for Chiang Mai hobbies I think it would be good if they are specifically Chiang Mai related; clearly you can do just about any generic hobby as well here as anywhere else in the world.

So with that in mind:

* Songthaew Surfing.

* Identifying stuff at 10 meters distance in March.

* Moat rat hunting.

* Competitive road crossing at Thapae

* Chinese tourist dodging etc.

Winnie you left out filing your 90 Day Report in person...

Anyway, for Chiang Mai hobbies I think it would be good if they are specifically Chiang Mai related; clearly you can do just about any generic hobby as well here as anywhere else in the world.

So with that in mind:

* Songthaew Surfing.

* Identifying stuff at 10 meters distance in March.

* Moat rat hunting.

* Competitive road crossing at Thapae

* Chinese tourist dodging etc.

Winnie you left out filing your 90 Day Report in person...

*competing to have the largest number of posts on Thai Visa in the shortest period of time