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You are here: Home / Destinations / Long Term Travel | Here Is What Living In Chiang Mai Thailand Is Like

Long Term Travel | Here Is What Living In Chiang Mai Thailand Is Like

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21 Apr
living in chiang mai thailand - temple hopping while living in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Living in Chiang Mai Thailand (part 1 of Chiang Mai!)

After over a month of travelling in Thailand and visiting smaller cities like Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, we were ready for a break. And for that reason, we planned to rest up in Chiang Mai for three weeks before continuing our year of travelling outside of Thailand.

Spoiler alert: We loved Chiang Mai so much that we ended up spending almost four months there during our year of travelling! This blog post is about the first time we visited Chiang Mai, where our plans were to spend only three weeks in the city.

Chiang Mai has a population of over 170,000 people and is Thailand’s fifth-largest city. Indeed, this place has a small town feel, but with so much more thanks to the temples, scenery, and history. I mean, this city was founded in 1296 CE, so you can imagine there’s quite a bit of history!

Because we treated Chiang Mai as our home away from home, we booked three nights in Smith Residence and planned to look for a cheap apartment for the remaining three weeks in Chiang Mai.

The first few days in Chiang Mai were spent apartment hunting

As I wanted to be in the Ninman area, we spent quite a bit of time visiting different apartments. We saw way too many places, to the point where they all started to look the same. While we did quite a bit of research in finding the right place, we realized how important it is to see the unit physically. Pictures are so deceiving – it doesn’t reflect the condition of the room, the noise level, or potential mould growing behind the walls. Gross, I know.

living in chiang mai thailand - apartment hunting

Hunting for a place to live in Ninman area. This condo was one of many that we saw during those few days

In the end, we decided to stay put at Smith Residence. It wasn’t the greatest, but it wasn’t the worst either. And for the price we were paying, we really couldn’t complain.

living in chiang mai thailand - bed in serviced apartment at smith residence

Smith Residence, a no-frills place that is under $25 CAD a night

Our days living in Chiang Mai Thailand were pretty simple

living in chiang mai thailand - laptop at starbucks in chiang mai

At the Starbucks where we spent most of our days catching up and re-planning the rest of our trip

We used this opportunity to relax and catch up on things that needed our attention in Chiang Mai. Because we didn’t have a kitchen or a desk in our hotel room, we spent our days working at Starbucks before having dinner at Cooking Love. Our walks to the Starbucks near Tha Phae Gate were always scenic thanks to the many beautiful temples we’d pass by along the way. Every street we turned on was a new discovery.

living in chiang mai thailand - mailbox

I took photos of everything and noted all the things that changed and the things that stayed the same since our last visit. Like the day I saw a mailbox and spent a good minute examining it. I didn’t realize locals were watching me until I heard them laugh at me when I was sticking my hand in the mailbox (don’t ask why I did that I’m just weird curious)

living in chiang mai thailand - Cooking Love restaurant

We ate at Cooking Love almost every day!

We spent so much time at Starbucks that the staff all knew my name. Whenever I walked in, they’d excitedly say “Sa bay di mai Nancy kaa?”, which means “How are you, Nancy?”

living in chiang mai thailand - starbucks asian girl drink

Lay is the sweetest, she knows that I only like a little bit of ice in my drink. They even wrote my name in Thai on my drinks!

Some of them are really funny. When I asked one guy what his name is, he said BOSS. I asked him how to spell it (I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not) and he showed me his name tag, which indeed said BOSS.

living in chiang mai thailand - buying sandwich at 7 Eleven

Gary would buy the same coffee and sandwich every day from the 7-eleven. Gary clearly needed a haircut at this point in our trip

Life in Chiang Mai Thailand is so different as a slow traveller versus a vacationer

living in chiang mai thailand - wat Pra Singh

Back at Wat Pra Singh, one of my favourite temples in the city

My first visit to Chiang Mai was about fitting as many temple visits as possible and eating Chiang Mai’s street food. And to be honest, I felt like Chiang Mai was a bit boring to spend a week in the first time around.

living in chiang mai thailand - Wat Pra Singh

Oh Wat Pra Singh, you are so beautiful

But now that we are back as long-term travellers, there’s so much I appreciate about Chiang Mai. The city is so easy to live in and makes it very comfortable for foreigners to integrate into the day-to-day life.

living in chiang mai thailand - grocery shopping in tesco

Grocery shopping for the first time in months since our travels! I really really missed running this simple errand. Can you tell I am a happy camper?

I must admit, I had many happy memories here the first time I was in Chiang Mai. For example, Chiang Mai was the place where I found myself again and started to think long and hard about how I want to shape my life.

living in chiang mai thailand - temple with buddha

I feel very spiritual when I am in this city. Totally lost in the moment, without any clue that I have a creeper taking photos of me

living in chiang mai thailand - wat pra singh

Gary has also become more spiritual

We discovered an amazing night market outside of Maya mall one random night

We stumbled upon a fantastic night market by accident just outside of Maya mall. The music was terrific, and the vibe was lively.

The market felt like a traditional night market, but with a modern twist. Almost all the vendors looked like young entrepreneurs who were serving delicious meals

living in chiang mai thailand - maya mall

There was a DJ there as well who played EDM/trance music

This market was by far the hippest night market I’ve been to so far in Chiang Mai. That’s the cool thing about living in Chiang Mai – we had the time to go and explore events around the city.

And Chiang Mai fed me well

Very well.

I LOVE Thai food in Toronto and LOVE Khao soi. But Chiang Mai made that love for Khao soi deepen in ways I didn’t know possible.

Funny enough, it was Khao Soi Islam that brought us back to Chiang Mai. We loved that restaurant so much that we vowed to always visit Chiang Mai so that we can eat at this restaurant.

living in chiang mai thailand - eating khao soi at khao soi islam

At Khao Soi Islam, one of our favourite places to eat khao soi! Our craving for this noodle dish was what brought us back to Chiang Mai (side note: we have since found better places for khao soi, but this place is still pretty good)

living in chiang mai thailand - maya mall

Roasted chicken with garlic rice, another favourite place we go to eat

It is such a surreal feeling to be back in a city that is halfway across the world

Living in North America means it’s not easy to just jump on a plane to fly to Asia. Possible, but not practical, especially considering how flights are at a minimum 15 hours direct, not including layovers or stopovers.

Swapping three months of Taiwan to live in Chiang Mai instead

We initially planned to spend three weeks in Chiang Mai during our year of travelling. But as you may recall during our second-month highlights, we met an incredible entrepreneur who unknowingly convinced us to stay in Chiang Mai. So we’ve decided to come back for another three months!

Our new plans looked something like this:

Our initial plan (decided before we left for the trip) was as follows:

  • Three weeks in Chiang Mai
  • One week in Bangkok
  • Three weeks in Cambodia
  • One month in Myanmar
  • One month in Vietnam
  • Three months in Taiwan

But when we decided to cut out Myanmar and come back to Chiang Mai, we changed our itinerary:

  • One week in Bangkok
  • Three weeks in Cambodia
  • One month in Myanmar (changed to Penang and then Chiang Mai)
  • One month in Vietnam (shortened to two weeks in Vietnam)
  • Three months in Taiwan (replaced with two months in Chiang Mai)

We’ve also decided not to go Myanmar as originally planned. This decision means a lot of itinerary tweaking and losing the money we spent on non-refundable flights and hotels. Boo.

Note to readers: We decided not to go to Myanmar during this time. But as you may remember during my monthly highlights in month four, we changed our minds at the last minute and eventually did go to Myanmar.

I know people must be imagining me on a beach, sipping margaritas all the time but the reality is far from that

Every task/errand takes 10x longer than usual. For example, we spent a reasonable amount of time hunting for apartments for our next stay. Then, we would go home and research everything we needed to know about the deposit, including what it’s like to pay for electricity and water. I was also very nervous about signing a contract in a foreign country, so that was another thing to learn.

living in chiang mai thailand - apartment hunting in Ninman, Chiang Mai

We almost signed a contract for this apartment in Ninman. We changed our mind at the last minute and went with another place

I also had serious issues with my debit card and time is spent calling them to rectify the issue. That took (A LOT OF) time too. I’m also in the race to complete a course for my PD credits, so some of my time is spent STUDYING. BOO.

After a few days of searching for a home, we found our place, we found our home in Chiang Mai

living in chiang mai thailand - smith suites

Our home away from home!

After days of searching for a place to live for November, we finally found our home! We were so happy, although the timing is a bit bad because it’s happening during high season in Chiang Mai and it’s in a building where you have to book a year in advance!

Read Next: A Visit To Bangkok Before Heading To Cambodia

PIN FOR LATER

living in Chiang Mai, Thailand

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Archive Filed Under: Destinations, Travel Tagged With: Chiang Mai, Thailand

About Nancy

Hi, I’m Nancy! I am obsessed with self-awareness, food, semi-minimalism, stories, budgets, & adventures around the world. Read more here.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ryan Biddulph says

    April 24, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    Fun times Nancy! 7-11 in Thailand my fave place LOL. And Chiang Mai is my fave place on earth! So glad you and Gary had a blast there. We usually stay in a little village by Doi Suthep National Park. getting a cool feel for life in a quiet Thai village but close to town. Thanks for the rocking share!

    Ryan

    Reply
    • Nancy says

      May 6, 2018 at 3:00 am

      LOL 7-11 is pretty impressive in Thailand, isn’t it? Magnum red velvet ice cream was my guilty indulgence at 7-11 (for only 50 baht too!). The little village sounds interesting, what’s it called? Chiang Mai is my favourite place also and I miss it like crazy! Do you go back often?

      Reply
  2. Marco says

    April 27, 2018 at 12:48 pm

    Good info. Thanks for sharing. Packing my bags!

    Reply
    • Nancy says

      May 6, 2018 at 3:01 am

      You will LOVE CHIANG MAI… with a capital L… LOL

      Reply
  3. Colleen says

    April 27, 2018 at 1:05 pm

    You make me want to visit Thailand right now!!

    Reply
  4. Nancy says

    May 6, 2018 at 3:10 am

    haha, you will LOVE Thailand! And Chiang Mai is incredibly safe and comfortable for a solo female traveller 🙂

    Reply
  5. Jessica says

    October 10, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Wow, your home away from home is lovely. I’d be tempted to make it my plain ol’ “home” if I were you 🙂 Both times I’ve been to Thailand I didn’t want to leave!

    Reply
    • Nancy says

      October 28, 2018 at 1:55 pm

      haha, planning it as my home is in the works for the future 😉 Thailand is indeed incredible, especially now that I know it’s a very livable country!

      Reply

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Thailand Travel - Chiang Mai Temples - 28 - Wat RajamonteanThailand Travel | Temple hopping in Chiang Mai Why Elephant Nature Park Will Touch Your Heart | Are you visiting Thailand and you're interested in interacting with elephants in an ethical manner? Read more about Elephant Nature Park, an elephant sanctuary where elephants are treated with dignity and care. Think retirement home for elephants who have suffered over the years!Elephant Nature Park | Best Place For Ethical Thailand Elephant Interaction You Will Love Zabb E Lee’s Terrific Chiang Mai Cooking Class | Are you visiting Chiang Mai in Thailand are you're interested in joining a cooking school? Try Zabb E Lee's cooking class, where you'll learn new cooking skills that you can take home with youYou Will Love Zabb E Lee’s Terrific Chiang Mai Cooking Class Why Cooking Love Chiang Mai Is So Popular | flatlay of Thai foodWhy Cooking Love In Chiang Mai Is So Popular the creations at makerspace chiang maiWhat Happened When I Met The Founder Of Makerspace second class sleeper seats on chiang mai to bangkok trainHow To Get From Chiang Mai To Bangkok By Train Loy Krathong Chiang Mai lantern festival - Sky filled with lanternsUltimate Guide To The Loy Krathong Chiang Mai Lantern Festival new year chiang mai - crowds and lanternsEverything You Need To Know About Chiang Mai New Year’s Eve Celebrations

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