Digital Nomad City Ratings: Chiang Mai

In the Digital Nomad City Ratings series, I review the cities where I was working as a digital nomad. The possible ratings are 0 (awful) to 10 (exceptionally wow). The ratings are of course exclusively based on my personal experience and preferences. These may be different for other people, but besides the ratings, I will share my experiences and a detailed description, so this will hopefully be helpful for you too.

A few notes on the not necessarily self-evident categories and their ratings:
Internet: I don’t need very fast internet, but I need continuous connection.
Prices: I am a budget traveller. People who earn higher salaries may have a very different perspective on costs.
Walkability (a standard point in almost all digital nomad listings – you will understand why when you start your digital nomad life) How easy/comfortable/safe/interesting is it to walk about/stroll in the city
Infrastructure: Are there sufficient and good quality services like hospitals, malls, possibilities to arrange official matters, pharmacies, trains, buses etc?
Sights & Surroundings: Options to visit places of interest nearby, especially if staying for a longer time in the city.
Visa: Can you stay in the country without a visa? If so, how long? If not, how easy is it to get a visa and/or extend it? Can you arrange this in the given city?
Overall Impression: I needed this extra category because even if everything is fine in a given city, you may feel something is not right, and you wouldn’t like to stay very long. Or the other way round: it may lack famous sights and infrastructure, but you still love the place.

Overall rating for Chiang Mai:

92%

Time spent in Chiang Mai: 1 month

1. Introduction

This is a rating of Chiang Mai as a digital nomad destination. If you want to see a travel guide instead, see this other post on what to do and see in Chiang Mai.

For some reason, Chiang Mai in Thailand has long become THE digital nomad destination for most young people who are present online with their blogs and vlogs on Youtube and elsewhere. It seems to me that some of these people have very strange ideas of being a digital nomad – but that will be a topic of a new post of mine, check back later. But is Chiang Mai really so special, and is it so much better/does it offer so much more to digital nomads than other possible cities in the world?

The short answer is no.

The longer answer is: yes, it is a very nice city. Yes, it is much cheaper than anywhere in the western world – which strangely includes of course Australia and New Zealand here. Yes, I myself felt immediately at home in Chiang Mai, and the people were kind and helpful. But.

There are so many other cities even in this part of the world (Southeast Asia), where the same is true, and which in some aspects, are even better. So after all this, let me tell you what I think of Chiang Mai as a digital nomad destination.

2. Internet: 10

I had absolutely no problem with internet access in Chiang Mai. I was staying in a hotel Hoh Guesthouse (see below at the Accommodation section), which provided free Wifi, and which was working just fine. It was fast enough not only for me, but I suppose, it would be OK for people who do a lot of up- and downloading too.

I also had my mobile data, as always when I am staying in a country for more than a week or so. It was also working fine, although I didn’t use it an awful lot.

In Chiang Mai, there are several coworking spaces, which I never use. I think they are too expensive on the one hand, and they are useless for me on the other hand. But if you want to meet other digital nomads and socialize with them, then I suppose these places will be useful for you.

However, I used some of the open air cafés for doing some work, of which there are a few, but not an awful lot. You will find some in the historical centre, I think it is best to just walk around and see which one you like. And before you sit down, ask them if they have free Wifi for the guests.

3. Prices: 9

Prices in Thailand are very reasonable. For a meal (without drinks), you can expect to pay 50-60 baht in a simple restaurant, or a little more if it is something special. Double that for western food like pizza or French fries, and of course you will pay much more if you eat in an elegant restaurant.

Clothes shopping for me is rarely more than buying a new T-shirt, because I accidentally look into the mirror every now and then, and realize that my old T-shirt just doesn’t look civilized any more 😁. If this happens, I wear it some more, and then eventually go to the local night market and buy one for a hundred or so baht or less.

Entrance fees to museums and other sights are also reasonable, unlike in some other places like Bali or anywhere in Sri Lanka.

4. People & communication: 10

People in Chiang Mai are as kind or perhaps even nicer than in other parts of Thailand. During my stay, I never met anyone who was not helpful, and yes, you will indeed see smiling people very often. they are also helpful, should you need to ask them for directions, for information or need their help in anything. Of course there are the people who want to sell you some overpriced cheap shit, but then that is an entirely different story and a different kind. You need to learn to handle them appropriately (see my post about the most typical scams for a few tips.)

I ever had a problem with communicating in English in Chiang Mai. I suppose that local people in the city centre are very well prepared for tourists there, and so all of them will speak excellent English.

5. Sights and things to do: 8

Chiang Mai itself has quit a few sights that will keep you busy for some time, even without the 300 or so temples that you can find only in the historical centre of the city. There are free programmes every now and then, there are festivals, there are celebrations, which you can see and take part in. When there are no festivals, you can simply enjoy a walk in the beautiful centre (the walled historical centre), sit in nice little homey cafés or restaurants. There are a few museums too, but of course you see them once and that is more than enough for some people. You can visit the famous Doi Suthep, a buddhist temple just outside Chiang Mai.

You can also do day trips outside of Chiang Mai, as far as the Golden Triangle at the border of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand – see my post about how to do that.

For a complete guide to what to do and see in Chiang Mai, see this post of mine.

6. Walkability: 9

Chiang Mai is an easily walkable city, especially in the historical centre within the city walls. There are pavements, which are normally not blocked by parking motorbikes or stalls or rubbish heaps like in some other countries in Southeast Asia.

Another important and positive thing is that you can easily feel like walking: there are nice streets where a stroll can be enjoyable, there are either shop windows or nice buildings to look at, and on the way, you will find quite a few cafés where you can have a rest over a cup of coffee or a drink.

There are also some benches to sit at some places, for example at the square of the Three Kings monument, but not enough and not everywhere. This subtracts one point from the maximum.

7. Safety: 10

Chiang Mai is very safe for both digital nomads who spend a longer time there, and tourists who only visit for a few days. I never felt in danger even when I was walking at night, and I haven’t heard of terrible stories of people being attacked or mugged. There are, of course, a lot of bad guys out there, like everywhere, so common sense should be used at all times, whether in Chiang Mai or in other big cities.

8. Food, self-catering: 10

Thailand in general is the number one destination when it comes to food. I actually wrote a separate post about food in Thailand, read more about it there. Here, I will only highlight very briefly that there are a lot of options both for restaurants and for different food, and the prices are very reasonable. I am saying this even if I had a stomach problem in Chiang Mai for a few days, but I still don’t know what actually caused it. It may have been some food, or may have been something else, too. Maybe it was a virus that was not connected to food at all – like the one when I contracted something in Yogyakarta, in Indonesia, although not even half that serious.

9. Infrastructure and services: 9

Chiang Mai is a larger city, with more than 130k inhabitants. This means that it has a lot of services that a big city normally offers, from hospitals and clinics to an immigration office, from large malls to an international airport an a major railway station. I never used health services, but I read some reviews about them, and they seem fine. Some people recommend though, that if you need medical help with a more serious problem, you should travel to Bangkok, which offers highly developed, global level services – with of course prices that will reflect this. But the general rule applies: never, repeat: never travel without health insurance (One of the most popular among digital nomads is World Nomads – to check out their offers, click here).

The local bus service is good and cheap, so it is worth learning about the various routes. You can also use the songthaews, but then again, you will need to discover which one goes which way.

For shopping, there are wet markets and weekend markets, plus a whole range of shops everywhere in the city centre. I saw a lot of bike rental shops too near the northern gate. Tour agencies tend to be in the historical centre, but there, you will find one almost in every street. Pharmacies are also everywhere, but when I needed them (to buy telmisartan for my high blood pressure), I had to look for a long time before I could find a pharmacy that had it – for a fortune. If you also use medication, read more about travelling with medication in this post.

I only spent one month in Chiang Mai, so that means that I didn’t need to use an awful lot of services, but I am sure you will find everything you want.

10. Visa: 6

Thailand is not the best country for digital nomads when it comes to visa matters. It used to be, but that is already the past. Some people used to spend years and years in Thailand with a simple visa run: they crossed a land border somewhere on foot, and sometimes they came back after a few minutes only, and they got a new stamp in their passports allowing them to stay in Thailand for another month. Now the Thai authorities had had enough of this.

So since about 2016, there are very strict rules for tourist visas. The rules may be different depending on your nationality, so please always check the latest updates at the official websites. The general rules is that if you arrive without a visa, most nationalities will get a stamp which allows you to stay in the country for one month only (and some for two weeks only). Doing a visa run is almost impossible now, especially if you enter through a land border. You can, however, apply for a Thai visa abroad, which will be good for two months, and you can extend it in Thailand for another month. So staying for three months is possible, but you need to obtain a visa outside of Thailand.

I, however, don’t normally plan so much ahead. I like to make quick decisions sometimes, and then pre arranging a visa is always very difficult for me.

11. Overall impression: 10 + 1

Chiang Mai is one of my favourite cities. The city has a homely atmosphere. You don’t see rushing people, you meet smiling locals who are helpful and nice. The prices are good, and the city is very well linked to other major destinations, so it is very easy to get there. Food is excellent, the weather was nice, and the internet connection was also very good – and what else do you need as a digital nomad?

12. Practical info

12.1 Getting there and away

Getting to Chiang Mai is very easy from wherever you are. The city has an international airport, and there are plenty of cheap flights to and from Chiang Mai, including Airasia from Bangkok and other major cities. I flew to Chiang Mai from Luang Prabang in Laos, which is also possible and cheap.

There is also a direct train from Bangkok, but it takes forever. Although there is also a night train, so you can sleep all the way if you want to. Buses run frequently to other major cities like Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand.

12.2 Accommodation in Chiang Mai

Before I went there, I’d read that there are plenty of condos in Chiang Mai, which are available for short term for foreigners, too. I wrote to some of them, and the ones that cared to reply said they were fully booked. I didn’t look any further though, because by that time I had decided that I wanted to stay in the hotel which I booked for only a few days while I can find an apartment in a condo.

Anyway, you can certainly find a condo apartment too, just don’t give up after a too short time. Prepare for apartment rental though, which is sometimes tricky – read some tips about finding digital nomad accommodation in this other post of mine.

Whether you choose to stay in an apartment or not, you will have to book accommodation for a few nights at least, while you are looking and checking the apartments personally before actually renting it out. I found Hoh Guesthouse on Booking.com, and as I said earlier, I started to like it so much that I gave up looking for a condo altogether, and stayed there for a month instead. I can recommend it to you too. It is in the centre, but also walking distance to Nimman, the fashionable modern district with the malls. It had very good and reliable internet connection, and they provide you with drinking water and all day snacks for free including fruits, biscuits, tea, coffee and even eggs that you can fry yourself for breakfast.

If it is fully booked, or if you want to find something else or somewhere else, have a look at these options:

Check out my other Digital Nomad City Ratings. Some of the latest posts:

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Da Nang

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Chiang Mai

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Yogyakarta

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Kandy and Colombo

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Bukittinggi

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Padang

Digital Nomad City Ratings: Kuching