Chiang Mai Recon

[Ivancho]

Hello folks, I've been following this forum a while and I'd appreciate your feedback. I know there's a lot of info already published but here goes anyways: my wife and I are planning our first recon trip to CM next January. We're in our fifties and not quite ready for retirement but planning ahead. We've lived in Florida for 25 years but were born and lived in other countries so we speak multiple languages and are culturally open minded. What's the best way to meet local expats during our one-week stay as we have tons of questions about living in CM? Also, what's the absolute not-to-miss thing we should do or place to visit? We'll be staying at the Le Meridien hotel. I realize one week is a short time to get a feel for the place but there will more trips if our first look is a positive experience. Thanks!

[taotoo]

Chiang Mai Expats Club maybe (not been myself).

[ChristianBlessing]

Check the Chiang Mai Expat Club website. They have a breakfast buffet once a month to which 50-70 expats attend. Very informal, and easy to connect with others. I went twice and it was fun.

[Mousehound]

Depends on your interests. I would list these then search TV to find others that share those interests.

[northernjohn]

Check the Chiang Mai Expat Club website. They have a breakfast buffet once a month to which 50-70 expats attend. Very informal, and easy to connect with others. I went twice and it was fun.

Actually it is on the first and the third Friday of the month. 9:30 to about 11:00 It has no schedule you just sit down and start talking to people. It is held at the River Market a short walk down Loi Kroh to the river. As has been said they have a club . It meets on the fourth Saturday of the month and has a program with a speaker. The speaker can vary from an engineer to a comic. It is held in the LA Meridian. Go to the Chiang Mai ex pats clubs website. It has a whole list of clubs that are affiliated with them. All the way from gardening to computer and chess clubs. After you are here a while I am sure you will find other things of interest to you also.

Edit

It is speaker not spacer. Need a spell check that can read my mind.

Edited September 27, 2015 by northernjohn

[NancyL]

Yes, please try to schedule your visit during one of the times when CM Expats Club (CEC) will have a meeting. As mentioned, the Breakfast Club gatherings are 1st and 3rd Friday mornings. The monthly General Meetings are usually the 4th Saturday morning of the month, but sometimes those get moved around depend on speaker availability.

You might want to sign up for the CEC e-newsletter -- you can do that on the CEC website -- and start to read it to get an idea of what's going on within the club and the community.

Really a week isn't long enough to get a feel for what retirement living is like in Chiang Mai Hubby and I came for a month in 2006 for our recon visit when we were in our fifties. That was a much better length of time. We threw ourselves into all the CEC activities, talked to insurance agents, banks, had some "work done" at CM Ram hospital, went to shopping malls to check out appliances, looked at condos with real estate agents, etc. We made many friends through CEC. Then we went back home and spent two years getting ready for retirement and were able to email the friends we made thru CEC when we had questions getting ready for our return. Some of those people are still are best friends today.

[Ivancho]

Thanks for the info, I'll contact the CEC and try to schedule accordingly.

What about my question regarding what to do and place to visit during our brief first stay?

Thanks again.

[mesquite]

I have to disagree with a week not being enough time. After 24 hours in Chiang Mai, I knew I wanted to retire here.