Written by Catherine
If you’re starting as a digital nomad, you’ve likely been trying to figure out where you should start your journey. You might be thinking, “I want to be where the people are.” Little Mermaid reference, anyone? Maybe you’re really into health and wellness. Or maybe you want to meet people who are also business-minded. Chiang Mai offers all of these things and more. Chiang Mai is a digital nomad hub for a reason.
During our first week, I was wondering why people loved it so much. The city isn’t particularly beautiful, big, or exciting. The weather is pretty hot most of the year (which is a perk for some people, but not for me). Chiang Mai isn’t next to the beach or any body of water. It even gets the worst smog in the world from February to March due to the burning season. So what’s the hype about?
Despite all these things, Chiang Mai is still one of the top digital nomad hubs year after year. It’s kind of a nomad mecca. There is a magic to Chiang Mai that I can’t describe.
Why We Started Our Journey in Chiang Mai
Some people are new to their digital nomad journeys, starting in Chiang Mai because they also heard that it was a cool and affordable place to be. Some people are teachers who are taking advantage of a lower cost of living and the community in the city. Others are business owners or entrepreneurs who have found a way to make their business work in Asia. Wherever you are on your journey, you are welcome.
Similar to other nomads, we wanted to know what continued to draw so many digital nomads to Chiang Mai each year, making it the largest consistent digital nomad hub. We also wanted to see if we could make the digital nomad life work for us.
Learn more about why we started our digital nomad journey here.
At the weekly women’s brunch held at Free Bird Cafe, I met someone who told me that coming to Chiang Mai was a mistake. “Oh no,” I thought. “I’ve made a bad decision.” She told me the mistake was coming to Chiang Mai at the beginning of my travels. She should know, as she had been there for 8 years. “After coming here, you’re not going to want to go anywhere else,” she said.
This fellow nomad was right, in a sense. At least it was a good mistake to make. But I only felt like we were scratching the surface of what life could be when we left.
There are many reasons why Chiang Mai is a digital nomad hub.
The Cost of Living is Low
Thailand is known for having cheap prices compared to many other countries globally. While most travelers go to Bangkok, Chiang Mai is even cheaper!
Here is an example of what we spent in a week when we were there. Keep in mind, we could have been a LOT more frugal with eating only local food, but we chose to eat Western food sometimes. This budget is for two people. Divide it in two if you’re a solo traveler.
What We Spent In A Week in Thailand (November 2023):
- Food: ฿6,639 = $180.73
- Alcohol: ฿3,149 = $85.76
- Entertainment: ฿300= $8.17
- Transportation: ฿770 = $20.96
- Coffee: ฿1096 = $29.84
- Household/Toiletries: ฿128 = $3.48
We spent about $328.44 for both of us in a week, which was more or less what we averaged each week during our time in Chiang Mai. Again, this is a mid-range budget for expats/digital nomads when we were going out and getting coffee, but not just sticking to Western food.
I didn’t include rent in the weekly budget, but rent is affordable! We paid $600/month for a decent-sized one-bedroom apartment in the city center. DON’T BE LIKE US! WE OVERPAID! We overpaid and we knew it. But, we were dead set on being in the area where most nomads lived (Nimman). This is something we would do differently if we came back, but that’s a story for another time.
If you are planning on staying in the Nimman area, do your research in advance. If you are renting for longer than a month, you can get a monthly rental at a significantly cheaper rate.
There’s So Much Going On
There are events and meetups for multiple interests – whether that’s yoga, board games nights, breathwork workshops, or salsa dancing. I was shocked to learn that there were meetups to discuss the Enneagram (a personality test about your fears and desires). I’m an Enneagram fanatic myself, but I’ve never found casual meetups like this in the US, let alone in a non-English-speaking country. Plus, the event was free!
As a former drama teacher and theater kid, I like to dapple in improv or perform whenever I can. I was pleased to discover that there is a bi-weekly improv meetup (in English) with mostly expats who attend. I only attended twice but it was such a great way to meet new people and have fun together.
Sam met a great group of friends at a weekly games night. After a fun meetup, they decided to keep meeting up regularly. The majority of the people we met in Chiang Mai were digital nomads, teachers, or retirees.
This is just scratching the surface of all the events going on. I attended a weekly women’s brunch and there were lots of events or meetups for more entrepreneurial-minded people that I never attended. Not to mention – we didn’t go to any “digital nomad” specific events because we found so many other meetups through Facebook.
Chiang Mai Isn’t Too Big
Even though Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second biggest city, it feels completely different than being in Bangkok. The population is anywhere from 130,000 to 1.7 million according to how it is counted. Even though the traffic can get congested during rush hour, the overall pace of life is also slower. There isn’t the hustle and bustle that you would find in Bangkok or other big cities. It’s easy to get to the other side of the city in 20 minutes by motorbike or car.
Aside from getting to know people from the expat community more intimately, Chiang Mai also provides an opportunity to be near nature. One of our favorite aspects of living in Chiang Mai was how close the mountains are to the city. Sam and I frequently hiked trails that we found on the AllTrails app. All of the hikes we did passed by at least one waterfall each, which was amazing, considering that no one else was nearby. We even managed to swim in multiple waterfalls during our time in Northern Thailand which was a truly freeing experience.
The Land of 7/11
Okay, so this one applies to all of Thailand, not just Chiang Mai. If you follow any Thailand or travel pages on social media, you may have seen the memes about 7/11. What’s the hype all about? Yes, 7/11 is overhyped. BUT. It is also awesome. You can get breakfast, snacks, toiletries, or SIM cards at 7/11. This very kind woman helped me to top up my SIM card in the 7/11 even though she didn’t speak much English. Also, on those hot days where you can’t get any relief, 7/11 is your relief (the store blasts the A/C).
Please don’t go to Thailand because of 7/11. But if you do, don’t tell me it wasn’t worth it. Every country I’ve been to since has left me longing for that 7/11 experience. The corner shops and convenience stores are fine elsewhere, but nothing close to the sweet nostalgia that 7/11 brings.
I don’t know about you, but easily accessible food at a decent price is a huge factor in making somewhere more comfortable and convenient for living. Could 7/11 be one reason that Chiang Mai is a digital nomad hub?
**I’m joking about 7/11 being a reason Chiang Mai is a digital nomad hub, but I still stand by my love of 7/11.
You Won’t Want to Leave
After just under 6 weeks in Chiang Mai, Sam and I didn’t want to leave. We felt that we had only just started to get involved in the community and friendships were blossoming. Chiang Mai was our first stop in our digital nomad journey. Adjusting to digital nomading took a lot of trial and error. Balancing work and play was not easy, especially when we were constantly being tempted by events that were going on. But we still needed to make money, so we found jobs teaching English online to Chinese kids and only began to build up more work for ourselves as our time in Chiang Mai ended.
We’re grateful that we chose Chiang Mai as our first destination as digital nomads.
We hope to go back to Chiang Mai again, with more experience and knowledge behind us.
Where is a digital nomad hub that you would highly recommend?
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