We’ve spent this last full day in Chiang Mai preparing for our flight home late Wednesday evening. We’ve been thinking about our time here and wanted to give a balanced view of our stay as our photos mostly show the more attractive aspects of the city. We have been very happy spending one month here but we hesitate to recommend it to everyone. It’s a city that we’ve spent more time in than anywhere else in the world except for home but, we realize that it might not appeal to everyone.
Here are some of the challenges…
Traffic: The traffic is busy – cars, motorcycles, buses, and pickup trucks.
Poor Air Quality: Typically in February, farmers burn the fields to prepare for planting crops and that leaves the air quality poor. The burning happens across national borders. It appears to come from Laos, Myanmar/Burma, and Northern Thailand. Forest fires are also a contributor.
Lack of Sidewalks: We walk most places and it’s easy to get around on foot but many streets don’t have a sidewalk and it feels somewhat dangerous to walk on the side of the road, with traffic coming from unexpected directions. Like in the U.K., drivers drive on the opposite side of the road compared to the U.S., so we have to be constantly aware of traffic patterns.
Water Safety: We can’t drink the water so we have to either boil or buy water for drinking, washing dishes, making coffee, and brushing our teeth. We are careful about ice in drinks – even in restaurants. Clean tap water is something we take for granted at home! Also, the plumbing in buildings is old and we can’t flush toilet paper. A waste basket is kept nearby for disposing of tissue.
Food Safety: We try to be careful. When we eat street food, we try to find busy stalls where the turnover of food is frequent and things are freshly prepared. At least one of us had some digestive discomfort during this trip.
Grit: Much of the city is gritty, smelly and dilapidated…but we like the funkiness of it all. There are other Asian cities that have been heavily modernized, but they are largely soulless.
Now, here is a list of the reasons we keep returning to Chiang Mai:
Kind, friendly people! Thai people are wonderful. They are graceful, calm, and tolerant. Also, tourist numbers haven’t returned to pre-COVID numbers so everyone is making an extra effort to make tourists feel welcomed.
Charm: The city has a funky, laid back charm.
Creative, inspired food. Now, in addition to Thai food there are a variety of cuisines – Japanese, Indian, Burmese, Italian, and Middle Eastern. The new trend here is gourmet coffee and pastry shops.
Inexpensive costs for everything – food, accommodations, activities and all!
Walkability – we walk a lot! Transportation options include tuk-tuk motorcycles, but as we age, tuk-tuk transport feels more risky so we are sticking to walking or local car-share services (similar to Uber), for longer distances. When we were here 4 years ago, a new bus service was just starting up, but unfortunately, that has been discontinued.
Lots to do: Chiang Mai is sometimes dismissively described as M.E.A.T.: Markets, Elephants, Artisans, and Temples, but when you have an extended stay here, you discover that it’s much more than that – we’ve also enjoyed yoga classes, art classes, Monk Chats, and more. There are over 300 Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai and each one is different, beautiful and fascinating to explore.
Warm Temperatures: – while it’s chilly, even in Atlanta, the temps range from 60’s in the mornings and evenings, to upper 80’s to low 90’s during the day.
Safety: Low crime rate – we feel safe here. You can walk the streets here at any time of the day or night without fear for your safety (other than watching out for uncontrolled dogs). The American Consulate is just down the street and Westerners we’ve met who had a medical emergency received excellent care.
Availability of Western Comforts: Groceries, toiletries, and restaurants. We can find almost anything we need here including name brand foods and toiletries – even a cheeseburger!
Acceptance: While as tourists, we don’t know the full story but it seems that there is a level of acceptance here that isn’t present everywhere. In the neighborhood where we stay, there is a Buddhist temple next to a Sikh temple. Just around the corner is a Muslim neighborhood, right next to the Christian area where missionaries live. We can walk by the Christian enclave and hear hymns being sung over a loudspeaker; down the street, people rush to the Mosque as the call to prayer sounds; and while walking through the temple grounds we hear monks chanting. It’s nice to feel that people with different ideas and beliefs can live peacefully side by side.
Surprises: Around every corner!
In spite of the inconveniences and sometimes chaos, we find the city welcoming, safe, easy to navigate and very affordable.
When we try to come up with other warm winter destinations, Chiang Mai is still at the top of our list!
We’re happy here and we’ll be happy to be home soon!
