Chiang Mai #1 city for Digital Nomads

[Berkshire]

Interesting....although it appears CM is perpetually tops in this category....

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/26/travel/travel-popular-cities-digital-nomad/index.html

1. Chiang Mai, Thailand

This mountainous city perpetually ranks at the top for digital nomads as a calm place to work and play.

"It's the perfect combination of low costs of living, stable Wi-Fi, friendly people and community," says Johnny Jen, who left his corporate job in California to move to Chiang Mai.

"There's also a ton of culture, great food, warm weather, a great coffee scene and all of the comforts of a big city while having a laid back, easygoing vibe."

Depending on how well you budget, you can live on $600 to $1,500 a month, says Jen, who blogs about Chiang Mai living.

According to users, the city is very safe and boasts a number of co-working spaces.

As for downsides, it ranks poorly for nightlife -- it's a quiet city.

[chiang mai]

Yes, and I wish it didn't - one of them hanging out at Meechok Plaza this morning (again), panhandling/scrounging from farangs, one clearly upset older farang complaining about it all to the resident policeman outside Bangkok Bank.

[daoyai]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

What a pantload of non-sense. It's still just a backpacker hub, except now most aren't needed as teachers. It's less visa friendly than ever. Late tot he party much?

[mesquite]

Allow me to be the first: "Do they have work permits?"

[chiang mai]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

[KhonKaenKowboy]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

You should have at least posted his photo, so that we could take turns shaming him, his peers, and his country of origin.

[daoyai]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

Was the article about CM as a great place to panhandle? No, it is about working online.. why bring up begging when that is not what digi noms do?

[chiang mai]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

Was the article about CM as a great place to panhandle? No, it is about working online.. why bring up begging when that is not what digi noms do?

Rubbish, the article extract is mostly about how cheap it can be to live in Chiang Mai, people can work online almost anywhere in the world. CM now attracts these types en masse and they are frequently seen on social networks such as this, asking where they can find a room with internet for 3,000 baht a month. Panhanlding may not have been the main focus of the article but it's certainly an active extention and/or part of the subject.

[chiang mai]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

You should have at least posted his photo, so that we could take turns shaming him, his peers, and his country of origin.

My dad's camera shy.

[Berkshire]

What a pantload of non-sense. It's still just a backpacker hub, except now most aren't needed as teachers. It's less visa friendly than ever. Late tot he party much?

The article is dated 27 Jun, 2016, so it seems pretty current to me. I'm totally not into the Digital Nomad scene (or backpacker scene for that matter), so I have no idea the veracity of the claims. But if these dudes see CM as #1, maybe it actually is...or all the other places in the world sucks worse.

[Oscar2]

Allow me to be the first: "Do they have work permits?"

not needed says the government. but how do they get visas for longer than 6 months?

[daoyai]

^^^ i think that is where the "nomad" part comes in, they move around.

[TheSiemReaper]

Lol. If you notice the king of Chiang Mai's illegal immigrants (no he doesn't have a work permit) Johnny Jen (often known as Johnny FD, Johnny Wolf and Johnny the PoS PUA) put this piece of crap together. Of course, he put Chiang Mai as number one. He needs a constant supply of fresh victims for his crappy drop shipping courses....

[searcher22]

Yet another one of those notorious "top ten" lists of no value that the media keeps churning out. This is one of the worst I've seen. A compilation of random cities with descriptions like "Bangkok...it can get hot" and Hong Kong "ranked highly for its abundance of air conditioning." !

[Throatwobbler]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

Was the article about CM as a great place to panhandle? No, it is about working online.. why bring up begging when that is not what digi noms do?

Rubbish, the article extract is mostly about how cheap it can be to live in Chiang Mai, people can work online almost anywhere in the world. CM now attracts these types en masse and they are frequently seen on social networks such as this, asking where they can find a room with internet for 3,000 baht a month. Panhanlding may not have been the main focus of the article but it's certainly an active extention and/or part of the subject.

Haters got to hate.

[chiang mai]

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

Was the article about CM as a great place to panhandle? No, it is about working online.. why bring up begging when that is not what digi noms do?

Rubbish, the article extract is mostly about how cheap it can be to live in Chiang Mai, people can work online almost anywhere in the world. CM now attracts these types en masse and they are frequently seen on social networks such as this, asking where they can find a room with internet for 3,000 baht a month. Panhanlding may not have been the main focus of the article but it's certainly an active extention and/or part of the subject.

Haters got to hate.

Whilst asses have to assume!

[abhaya]

I think most of these old gits complaining about digital nomads are just plain jealous, because they have an easier life than them.

[abhaya]

I think most of these old gits complaining about digital nomads are just plain jealous, because they have an easier life than them.

[DLang]

you can live on $600 to $1,500 a month

That must be quite the life!

[DLang]

What a pantload of non-sense. It's still just a backpacker hub, except now most aren't needed as teachers. It's less visa friendly than ever. Late tot he party much?

"It's less visa friendly than ever."

Eh?

You don't get (Thai) visas in Chiang Mai. You get them outside of Thailand.

Funny how some people that have never been in a place are internet experts on it!

[seancbk]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

If he was panhandling then he doesn't fall into the category of Digital Nomad.

[seancbk]

Allow me to be the first: "Do they have work permits?"

not needed says the government. but how do they get visas for longer than 6 months?

Easy. You go to a Thai embassy every 90 day and apply for a new tourist visa. They give you a 60 day stay (used to be 2 x 60 which was even easier). When the 60 days is up you apply for a 30 day extension.

When that is up you fly out to another country and get another 60 day tourist visa.

You can do that for as long as you like.

[kennypowers]

It is the #1 city for digital nomads, and the tax man is watching...and waiting...

[KhonKaenKowboy]

Allow me to be the first: "Do they have work permits?"

not needed says the government. but how do they get visas for longer than 6 months?

Easy. You go to a Thai embassy every 90 day and apply for a new tourist visa. They give you a 60 day stay (used to be 2 x 60 which was even easier). When the 60 days is up you apply for a 30 day extension.

When that is up you fly out to another country and get another 60 day tourist visa.

You can do that for as long as you like.

more and more, they are counting your stays, want to see onward tickets, hotel bookings, etc..nothing has ever been automatic in Vientiane. Singapore is way strict, and Phnom Penh can make it tough too. A TV is not intended to be used for long stay.

[chiang mai]

I knew this topic was hater bait but 6 minutes in, well done.

What is it you dislike? Is it that I dislike westerners panhandling in the area where I live and do my shopping, do you, is that OK for you? Or is that I have the nerve to say I dislike such thing on a mainly western forum where we should only ever complain about Thai's?

If he was panhandling then he doesn't fall into the category of Digital Nomad.

Then they must start wearing signs or colour coded sashes so that we know which they are, perhaps Immigration could manage this along with the visa..

[JLCrab]

Maybe the guy IS a digital nomad but just couldn't find enough people this month needing to have their website search engine optimized so he is short on the rent money.

[chiang mai]

Maybe the guy IS a digital nomad but just couldn't find enough people this month needing to have their website search engine optimized so he is short on the rent money.

In which case he must be made to change his sash, just so that the public knows.

[balo]

I'm pretty sure you'll find 10 times more digital nomads living in Bangkok .

[JLCrab]

Maybe the guy IS a digital nomad but just couldn't find enough people this month needing to have their website search engine optimized so he is short on the rent money.

In which case he must be made to change his sash, just so that the public knows.

Once I built a website, I made it run

Made it race against time

Once I built a website, now it's done

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Edited June 28, 2016 by JLCrab