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Taste and personal preferences can't be disputed, but Chiang Mai is definitely one of the nicest places in Thailand to live in. Unless you can't live without the sight of the sea and beaches, or you crave the cosmopolitan feeling of a big city like Bangkok, you can find almost anything in Chiang Mai that can give you a great quality of life.

What makes Chiang Mai such an attractive and even magical city?

Ideal size

Officially the country's second largest city with more than 1 million inhabitants (official figures are not consistent), Chiang Mai is the type of city that is not too small not too big (although some people who have known Chiang Mai for a long time regret that it is currently expanding so rapidly). You can reach all interesting areas in town on a scooter within 20min and they are all cyclable on a pushbike. Compare that with Bangkok, where you'll be stuck in traffic for 45 min to get one block further.

Chiang Mai used to be the center of a regional Kingdom called Lanna, with a distinct culture and separate from the great Siamese powers in the south. As a consequence, the density of local culture is much higher than in Bangkok: there are about as many temples in Chiang Mai as in entire Bangkok.

Conquered and influenced by Myanmar in the past, and nowadays a magnet for all kinds of minorities, Chiang Mai hosts a multitude of different cultures, sometimes living in their own neighbourhood but harmoniously with each other: hilltribes, Chinese, moslims, Indians, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and many more.

Chiang Mai is, after Bangkok, the best connected city in Thailand when it comes to flights, making it a convenient homebase or travel hub in Southeast Asia. Most major cities in Asia can be reached in maximum 2 stops. Check flight connections from Chiang Mai (coming soon).

Summarized and in all fairness, the only thing that Chiang Mai really lacks are sea and beaches, and that's why a lot of visitors and residents of Chiang Mai make trips to the South now and then to get a bit of a sea breeze. However, located in the middle of several mountain ranges, you can enjoy so much nature and different landscapes within a 1 hour drive that for most people this more than compensates to make Chiang Mai their homebase.