Popular Post Jeff_G Posted February 18 Popular Post Posted February 18 I will spare you some of our traveling snafu's. This trips intent was to look at Chiang Mai thru the eyes of a family that may want to live there, vs being tourists. All in all it was a successful trip, we both are 99 percent certain it is the right decision, with a couple of obstacles. Although it is much cheaper in Thailand the initial move over there would not be, and that would cost us quite a bit. The only other potential speed bump is the air quality 2 months each year. Can we mitigate the risks enough to avoid long term damage to our lungs etc. (I am mostly concerned with my wife and son). Probably went overboard but trust me, there are hundreds of photos.... holy crap I did not know we had so many. One of the photos, in a market, was a guy selling "pour over" coffee, it was without a doubt one of the smoothest cups of coffee I have ever had. It was so good, I am now looking into adding that to my coffee arsenal. Another pic is traditional peking duck, which we had to order the day before and yes it was Succulent!! I think one photo was some street food which we bought quite a bit, it was plentiful, tasty and cheap. Fed all 3 of us, with leftovers, for the equivalent of 180 pesos. A used book store we took our son to, left with 8 books!! Think I included meat selection in one of the grocery stores, beer selection, and some random photos of our Chiang Mai adventures. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_G Posted March 28 Author Posted March 28 Looks like we are not moving to Thailand, and it is 100 percent due to the air quality. We befriended a couple with two kids during our last two visits and have been in contact with them. They have lived there for 4 years now (Nicole's parents moved there as well). They are sending me comments like "My mom and dad are wondering why they live here, this is horrible".... Nicole sent, "My son is coughing just going from the car to an indoor play area, I am really questioning why we are living here etc etc etc... Right now in Chiang Mai there are areas with an AQI of over 400 HOLY HOLY S^%$ Breathing air that bad even for a day or two poses very serious health risks, both immediate and long term. Sucks, we really loved it there, we have already completed 99 percent of all the requirements for the agency, had our son set up for school etc. On a positive note, I dont have to ship my 3000 albums to the US I made it this long, I guess I can tough it out; The land of dried fish and toothless smiles has always been kind to me Mabuhay!!! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted March 28 Posted March 28 1 hour ago, craftbeerlover said: Looks like we are not moving to Thailand, and it is 100 percent due to the air quality. We befriended a couple with two kids during our last two visits and have been in contact with them. They have lived there for 4 years now (Nicole's parents moved there as well). They are sending me comments like "My mom and dad are wondering why they live here, this is horrible".... Nicole sent, "My son is coughing just going from the car to an indoor play area, I am really questioning why we are living here etc etc etc... Right now in Chiang Mai there are areas with an AQI of over 400 HOLY HOLY S^%$ Breathing air that bad even for a day or two poses very serious health risks, both immediate and long term. Sucks, we really loved it there, we have already completed 99 percent of all the requirements for the agency, had our son set up for school etc. On a positive note, I dont have to ship my 3000 albums to the US I made it this long, I guess I can tough it out; The land of dried fish and toothless smiles has always been kind to me Mabuhay!!! No other cities possible that meets your needs without the bad air quality? Our ex neighbors are selling out and moving to Penang. He is Malaysian/Chinese and she is Filipina, with two mixed daughters. Anybody interested in a Porsche Panorama or big BMW SUV? The wife keeps calling my wife about things they are selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_G Posted March 28 Author Posted March 28 26 minutes ago, OnMyWay said: No other cities possible that meets your needs without the bad air quality? One of the big hurdles for us are affordable schools. We would have to put our son in an international school and for the most part they are all out of reach, as far as cost. Chiang Mai had one or two we could afford. Even areas I expected to have more reasonably priced schools were far from that, and much more expensive than what we found in Chiang Mai. I will look around again though. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hk blues Posted March 28 Posted March 28 4 hours ago, craftbeerlover said: One of the big hurdles for us are affordable schools. We would have to put our son in an international school and for the most part they are all out of reach, as far as cost. Chiang Mai had one or two we could afford. Even areas I expected to have more reasonably priced schools were far from that, and much more expensive than what we found in Chiang Mai. I will look around again though. The relative affordability and poor ait quality may not be unrelated. The expat market is very competitive and undiscovered gems may be thin on the ground. If you look at OMW's post about his neighbors off to Penang and the cars they are selling it might be a clue as to Penang's status. Maybe not but I'd guess it is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted March 28 Posted March 28 14 minutes ago, hk blues said: If you look at OMW's post about his neighbors off to Penang and the cars they are selling it might be a clue as to Penang's status. Maybe not but I'd guess it is. Not exactly. You might recall I wrote about them before. They were trying to get us to join them in Penang. The reason we were interested is because we liked it there when we visited, and they have good Int'l schools for a reasonable cost. Much cleaner than the Philippines, great groceries, etc. Condo housing is cheaper than here. In general, I think that Penang is cheaper than where I am living here and much nicer. For their family, only the wife needed a visa, and the one she is getting initially is as a joiner for the student kids. The kids are dual and dad is Malaysian. The reason he has money is apparently because he worked for quite a few years as an exec for a mining company up North. She is from that area and I think she worked for the company too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hk blues Posted March 28 Posted March 28 27 minutes ago, OnMyWay said: Not exactly. You might recall I wrote about them before. They were trying to get us to join them in Penang. The reason we were interested is because we liked it there when we visited, and they have good Int'l schools for a reasonable cost. Much cleaner than the Philippines, great groceries, etc. Condo housing is cheaper than here. In general, I think that Penang is cheaper than where I am living here and much nicer. For their family, only the wife needed a visa, and the one she is getting initially is as a joiner for the student kids. The kids are dual and dad is Malaysian. The reason he has money is apparently because he worked for quite a few years as an exec for a mining company up North. She is from that area and I think she worked for the company too. Ah, gotcha. I've been to Penang albeit a few years back - seemed much too much of a tourist spot than a place to settle down. Georgetown, the main city, seemed a bit of a dump. I can only guess it's developed a lot since then due to it becoming a retirement hotspot for various reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted March 28 Posted March 28 27 minutes ago, hk blues said: Georgetown, the main city, seemed a bit of a dump. I think a lot has changed. I don't recall seeing any place that was very bad. Nice and clean most places. Also, a lot of the new condo communities are outside of Georgetown. Sometimes a fun thing to do is zoom into street view on Google maps and see the neighborhood. I usually do that with hotels. Do that with Georgetown to see what it looks like now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support Mike J Posted March 28 Forum Support Posted March 28 18 hours ago, craftbeerlover said: Right now in Chiang Mai there are areas with an AQI of over 400 HOLY HOLY S^%$ This is from burning residual crops? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted April 1 Posted April 1 On 3/29/2026 at 6:56 AM, Mike J said: This is from burning residual crops? Wildfires have been reported across multiple mountain areas of Chiang Mai, with blazes likened to “volcanoes erupting” on mountain ridges, as communities across the province grapple with heavy smoke and worsening air quality. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LeuPiqbcs/ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.