Why Chiang Mai Is A Great Place To Live

We lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for about a month in January 2019. It didn’t take long for this city to win us over. From its relaxed vibe, incredible cuisine, and awesome coffee culture, we wish we could have spent more time exploring this quaint city. Below are our reasons why Chiang Mai is a great place to live!

The Food is Amazing

Northern Thai food is delicious and Chiang Mai is packed with amazing restaurants and food stalls! We never got tired of trying new dishes and taking our taste buds for a ride! We loved sampling Khao Soi (a northern Thai dish) in as many places as possible. See “Our Top 5 Best Places for Khao Soi in Chiang Mai” for some recommendations.

We also loved visiting our neighbourhood market (Thanin Market) every day to pick up fresh produce, snacks, coffee or to eat at one of the many food stalls.

Be sure to have a delicious vegan mango sticky rice ice cream treat at Mango Paradise in the old town at least once before you leave Chiang Mai.

Also, if you are a fan of vegetarian food, you must try “Home J Vegan & Tea w J” restaurant in Santitham. The owner is very sweet and is an excellent cook. She turned us into regular customers.

Curry Puffs

These delicious, flaky treats are worthy of their own category. Although they are technically a snack originating in Malaysia, that did not stop us from developing a rather unhealthy addiction to them! As we discovered, they are much easier to find in Chiang Mai than other cities in Thailand.

The best way to describe a curry puff is a flaky croissant stuffed with ingredients such as potato, red bean or taro with a taste resembling a samosa. We sampled curry puffs at various locations throughout Chiang Mai and other cities in Thailand.

Our hands-down favourite were found in Thanin market, appropriately located near the Curry Puff coffee stall. Priced at just 7 baht each ($0.29 CAD), it’s easy to develop an addiction! If you can’t make it to Thanin Market, the next best option in Chiang Mai is Puff Pie in the Walled City near the west gate, where curry puffs cost 5 baht each!

On a side note, if you end up visiting Bangkok, we did find some curry puffs in Chinatown that were a very close second to the tasty curry puffs found in Thanin Market.

The Vibe is Relaxed

Chiang Mai is much tamer than the bustling Bangkok. It has many similar amenities, such as great restaurants and shopping malls, without the craziness of big city life. The city is fairly walkable (despite an obvious lack of proper sidewalks), and easy to get around by bicycle.

The Coffee Scene

There are literally hundreds of cafés all over Chiang Mai serving amazing coffee at decent prices. As coffee lovers ourselves, we visited a lot of them during our time living there. Check out our “Top 15 Best Cafés In Chiang Mai” for some great coffee places to check out when you’re visiting.

The Weather is Awesome

The weather never gets too hot or too cold in Chiang Mai. We felt very comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt on most days, but we were still able to go for an afternoon swim in our condo’s pool! When burning season begins in February, the air quality gets worse, but thankfully, we planned to leave the city at that time.

It is Super Affordable

Prices in Chiang Mai were very reasonable for housing, food, clothing, coffee, you name it! It was certainly much more affordable than Bangkok or the touristy beach areas in southern Thailand.

Tip: if staying for a longer period in time, we would recommend getting a hostel or hotel for a few nights to start, then looking for an apartment in person. You will be able to negotiate a much lower price than the rates offered on AirBnB, for instance.

Great Internet

Whether it was at our apartment, cafés, malls or the airport, we were thrilled to have excellent wifi speeds in Chiang Mai! It helped us keep a good frame of mind knowing we could get work done no matter where we were!

The Airport is Close

In many big cities, the airport is located far from the city. In Chiang Mai, the airport is super close, which is both good and bad! Being situated very close to the city makes it convenient to get to and from the airport efficiently and cheaply. However, keep in mind that because of this, some neighbourhoods such as Nimman and Jed Yod are located in the flight path, so if you’re staying there, you’ll regularly hear airplanes flying overhead.

The Neighbourhoods

It is fun to visit the many neighbourhoods of Chiang Mai, as each of them have a unique flavour to them. Whether you are visiting the trendy Nimman, the relaxed Jed Yod, the local Santitham or any of the other neighbourhoods around town, you’ll have a different experience in each place.

Currency Exchange

After travelling all over Thailand, we found that Chiang Mai had some of the best foreign exchange rates in the country. Because withdrawing money from a bank machine in Thailand has a charge of at least 220 baht (plus your bank charges), it is more economical to exchange cash instead. Super Rich in the old city was our go-to place for good rates and honest brokers. The exchange rates they gave were basically on par with the official rates!

The Nightlife is Fun

Although we did not spend too many nights out on the town, we did have a lot of fun dancing under the disco lights in the northeast corner of the walled city. Zoe In Yellow is a great spot, and there are a bunch of other bars and clubs all in the same area. To get your night started, be sure to try some local drinks, like Chang beer or Sangsom. Sometimes Thai people call it whiskey, but it is actually a rum. Remember to drink it responsibly, as it can hit you pretty hard.

Lots to See and Do

There are many attractions to see in and around the Chiang Mai area to keep you busy. There are waterfalls outside the city, mountain hikes, tons of temples (our favourite was Wat Chedi Luang in the centre of old town), markets galore (the super busy Sunday night market in old town is worth visiting), cooking classes and awesome food everywhere.

You can even check out a Cabaret Show (drag show) for a fun night out.

Chiang Rai can be reached by bus in a few short hours to see White Temple (a modern temple/art exhibit) and Blue Temple (another modern temple). Long story short, it is pretty difficult to be bored in Chiang Mai.

NOTE: There are lots of so-called “elephant sanctuaries” advertised all over town. Please read our related post “Are Elephant Sanctuaries Actually Ethical?” before making a decision to go to one.

The Expat Community is Strong

Because of all the reasons listed above, many expats and/or digital nomads like to settle there for extended periods of time. With that said, there are a lot of meetups and events taking place. Shaleen enjoyed meeting other women during a weekly female nomad lunch. Facebook is a great place to find groups dedicated to expat/digital nomad life in Chiang Mai and to learn about upcoming events.

So there you have it. Our reasons why Chiang Mai is a great place to live. Even if this article hasn’t completely sold you, we highly recommend giving the city a chance. It is one of our favourite places in Thailand and can’t wait to return again soon!