Chiang Mai Remote Work Forum

Can anyone recommend a good accommodation website for Chiang Mai?

I’m curious to know how many people learned some Thai before going there. Learning languages is a hobby of mine but I’m very put off by how complex the writing system is, and if I decide not to learn it I’ll probably cross Chiang Mai off my bucket list. I prefer to be at least conversational in a language before I do an extended stay in a country. I’m curious how people who learned no Thai did getting by. And I’m curious, from people who did learn some, if it’s any easier than it seems? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in Chiang Mai and will be here for Christmas. Maybe for NYE too. Planning to go out and meet people and enjoy the holiday season. Any events or places to recommend?

I’d love to meet new friends too. Leave me a message if you are interested in hanging out.

Cheers!

Hi experienced nomads!

I’ve been nomading around SE Asia, HK and China for the last 4 to 5 months. I’ve been moving a lot and now I need to settle down for 3 months to finish some work. So the idea is to be in a stimulating city where I can find nomads, start-ups, self growth, self improvement, spirituality environments.
I already been for one month in Chiang mai, and liked it a lot in this respect, but wanted to try somewhere new, so was thinking to go to Ho Chi Minh or Bali. As I will be working mainly most of the time, the idea is not to spend much this three months, so my idea is to spend around 1200usd per month.

Would appreciate any opinions on this.

Best place to sit down and work for three months on a 1200usd budget a month?

Thnx

Hello,

I am moving to Chiang Man for two months and am looking for a good Muy Thai gym. I have some previous training experience but am at the novice/intermediate level.

Can anyone who has trained Muy Thai in Chiang Mai recommend a school?

We’re headed to Chiang Mai in July looking at our options for visas and came across this: http://www.cmlocals.com/1-year-ed-visa-hand-to-hand-combat/

Has anyone done it?

It looks amazing and beneficial for many reasons, but I’m a little skeptical without being able to read external reviews or hear of experiences from people who’ve successfully done it.

Thoughts and other options are appreciated!

p.s. right now we have a one-way ticket and are wanting to keep our options open to stay longer if we love it (which we’re anticipating)

My girlfriend and I started our DN life this March and went straight to Chiang Mai because of it’s ease of living. We love it. CM is great – we got a scooter for 2700 THB, a nice apartment for 8000 THB all in, we get our laundry done for 50 THB, eat out at nice places every day for less than 100 THB etc. Arriving here needed nearly no preparation – it just worked out all by itself.

We are still on tight budget and don’t want to give up much of CM’s quality of life but we want to see other places and we are now thinking about what could be our next destination. We are not really willing and able to spend more than what we spend now. Bali seems to be a good place according to what you all wrote.

How does it compare to Chiang Mai or Thailand in general?
CM can get very hot and we often acknowledge that we should have chosen an apartment with a pool here. Can I rent something in Bali for a few months with a pool for less than 250 USD?

Are there any Nomad-houses or similar projects at the moment that make it easy to connect to other people?

We don’t really hang out in co-working spaces, more in cafés. We source products in China and sell them to customers in Europe through e-commerce.

Any tips or experiences are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Any recommendations? Looking for temporary crown.

The apartment manager suggested kaidee.com, but nothing there. Any suggestions anyone?

Hello everyone!
I’m currently touring South East Asia and I’m now in Koh Lanta (Thailand). I was planning to visit Chiang Mai on friday, but I’ve read the air quality in this period is so bad due to fires that are using as a method of cultivating crops there in the north. Is it something to take in consideration or just nothing to care about?
Thanks in advance!
And by the way, if anybody is in Chiang Mai and would like to grab a coffee would also be cool!

I have been tempted by the digital nomad lifestyle for quite some time now.

I purposefully built a business that allowed me to work anywhere that has my PC and an internet connection, but then ended up renting an office and just going about life business as usual in the town I grew up in.

I finally booked tickets for a few months in Asia, and will be landing in Chiang Mai on the 17th of March

(which someone pointed out to me is actually the smokey season, which i’m reading about now)

For a first time digital nomad, what would you recommend as the first point of call when landing in a new city?

thanks for any shared wisdom all

Joshua

I’m planning on 6 weeks in Chiang Mai soon and most of the stuff I’ve read about finding a place there says the best thing to do is to look in person. Considering the short time I’m there, I would prefer to prebook to say a couple of days of apartment hunting.

I was wondering about the options for short(ish) term accommodation and if pre-booking is worthwhile or if I’ll just get fobbed off with the worst room/apartment available.

I’m just looking for something basic - so long as it has air conditioning. Having a work space would be a definite advantage as would closeness to coffee. Other than that, things like a pool, gym, kitchen aren’t that important to me.

Hi guys, my wife and I are planning on spending 2-3 months in Chiang Mai in February and wanted to know from experienced people if there is anything we can learn or do beforehand to make it a productive and exciting trip?

We’ve traveled together before so that’s all good, we know what to pack and have been spending time reading these forums and related blogs for ideas on living costs etc.

Also, Chiang Mai seems like the place to go if you want cheap living but we’re totally open to other suggestions in the area, for example looking at Saigon or other places.

Any suggestions or pointers would be most appreciated!

Hi,
we’re having trouble deciding where to go in the fall (September, October, November) or over the winter for that matter. We loved Chiang Mai, Ubud, Vienna, Prague, Lisbon and we’re looking for a similar place to stay for 1-2 months. We’ll be in Germany and have a car. We wanted to go to Italy, but we’re not getting excited about any place in particular - or we just don’t know where to go. Any ideas?

What do we like? Pleasant weather, open minded people (whose eyes don’t fall out when they see a black girl), healthy food (in restaurants and supermarkets) with vegetarian options, a chill vibe. Nice rentals (we use Airbnb a lot). A nice compromise between nature and not feeling like you’re in the middle of nowhere. Oh, and no bugs or mosquitos please (they love us, but our bodies hate them. We get huge welts that stay for weeks).

Thanks!
Rich & Chinny

As simple as that. I’m going to start working on my startup as a digital nomad in January, and Chiang Mai is one of the places where I am going to stay. At present, what are the best coworking spaces here? Any suggestions?

Where in Chiang Mai can you go purchase tech equipment for english speakers. Equipment such as laptops, tablets, smartphones and etc.?

I’ve realized that if I really want to be a DN entrepreneur, I need to get my ass to a DN hub.

My income (around $1000 USD/month) and some research I’ve done point to Saigon, Chiang Mai, and Medellin as 3 great choices to start out with.

I know some people who could “plug me in” to the DN scene in Medellin and Saigon, but not Chiang Mai.

The primary goal of me moving is to build relationships with DN entrepreneurs, and get great work done. Quality of life for $1000 USD a month is very important too, as I know how much a lack of money can degrade one’s quality of life.

Any advice from people who have lived in 2 or more of these cities? Any particular ways I should be thinking about this?

Right now my initial, probably wrong impressions are:

Medellin -
Pros: Culture and language are more interesting to me than Vietnamese or Thai culture.

Cons: More dangerous than SE Asia, not sure how much more. Higher cost of living than SE Asia. Thriving community, but not as much as SE Asia.

Chiang Mai -
Pros: Lowest cost of living. Very friendly, safe. Probably the easiest to integrate into, and least stressful.

Cons: Harder to connect with locals than in other locations (I know a decent amount of Italian, so Spanish seems easier, and apparently a decent amount of Vietnamese living in Saigon speak English.)

Saigon:

Pros: Seems to have the best community for what I am looking for. Very exciting entrepreneurial atmosphere. Cheaper than Medellin.

Cons: Pollution, could get old living in super urbanized area (stressful perhaps)

Right now I am leaning towards Saigon haha, but I am hoping for others’ experience based perspectives as I am just spouting theory right now

Also, it seems like maybe I should be just thinking about Medellin vs either of the other two cities, since I could literally just fly between Saigon and Chiang Mai for cheap and see how I like either of them.

When looking for places in Chiang Mai to stay, what are good districts that I should target? I don’t want to find myself either too far from everything or somewhere that is super shady.

Hey all, I know I should probably be asking this on a travel forum but I figure there are plenty of you in Chiang Mai that would have the answer for me… I’m coming for two months Dec/Jan (yay!) and looking at tickets for a side trip by plane to Krabi… round trip is ~$76 right now (probably not including checked back). I’m always anxious and book things too far in advance, but was wondering if I can expect to get a price like this (i.e. at least under $100 return, nonstop) closer to last minute. Especially since January is busy travel season for Thailand… thanks for your input !!! Can’t wait to meet some of you in Chiang Mai.

On the front page of nomadlist.com, the first photo of Chiangmai says “$722/m” and when I click it, it says “chiang mai costs $511 per month to live and work remotely”. what is the real cost? I don’t understand. I want to live there in an apartment and work remotely, use wifi, and eat out everyday. I’m thinking of relocating there. thank you

Has anyone stayed through the burning season in Chiang Mai before? I’ve been here for a few days (I wasn’t aware of burning season before I got here) and saw some reports about air quality that are a bit alarming. Does anyone have firsthand experience?

If you’ve stayed through it before, did you notice any health effects? I know it’s supposed to clear up soon-ish, so I’m mostly looking to find out if my concerns are paranoid or if I should be legitimately worried.

Thanks!

Hello!

I’m planning on staying in Chiang Mai for a month-ish in May. So far I’ve been using Airbnb to book places but was wondering if there are any other options that might be a bit cheaper.

Looking for a two bedroom.

Thanks