So, you’re researching how much your life will cost elsewhere in the world and you’re considering living in Thailand. There’s a lot of information to sort through now. When I moved to Chiang Mai a decade ago, the city was a very different place for expats (digital nomads were scarce but retirees aplenty), and information …
Last week I was complacent. I like my brief expat life here in Chiang Mai. It’s been comfortable, a good social life with the other expats, and it’s been easy more than anything else. I know where I’m going to sleep every night. I know enough Thai that the my vegetarian foodie worries in new …
Last month’s Chinese New Year celebrations embraced Chiang Mai’s small Chinatown section with wholehearted enthusiasm. The signature red Chinese lanterns adorned every doorway. Every shop entrance strung crimson bulbs from end to end. And the effect, as evening settled over Little China, was faintly magical. The tinted light tinkling out of the lanterns warred with …
A routine forms when you hunker down in one place, when you pick a spot and decide “hey, I’m going to live here; not just travel through, but live here.” Is it safe to admit I thought the routine and normalcy would still elude me? Coming to Chiang Mai was the next leg in my …
If you’ve ever wondered what Chiang Mai, Thailand will feel like during the zombie apocalypse then hit the streets of the old city, inside the moat, around 9:00am on the Saturday of the city’s Flower Festival Parade. The parade starts at 8:00am just outside of the moat, near Warorot Market, and the rapid exodus of …
So, I’ve started taking Thai lessons—just one class so far, and yet I’ve come to this ripe conclusion: I may have been a little crazy in thinking I could learn Thai. Thai is hard. (And I swear, I wasn’t saying that in a whiny voice …) I’m living in Thailand for four months and that …
Hot mid-day sunshine baked the streets and cast a white glare over everything. With the sun high overhead, the umbrellas popped in full color. A riot of rich reds and lush purples spilled into the streets. Unlike some Thai festivals, where the crush of bodies becomes unbearable, Bo Sang’s annual Umbrella Festival is an intimate, …