Chiang Mai is simply the best retirement choice for expats!
If you you're looking for a low cost place for your retirement Chiang Mai might actually be the best option in the whole world. The reason why we are willing to call it the best choice is a perfect combination of low prices, weather, development and of course the peoples friendliness. Chiang Mai also have a lot to offers of entertainment and culture so you should never need to get bored. Of course you can find some places with even lower price levels, better wetter etc. But we dare you will find a better total combination that suits retirement expats better for a long stay.
The Lanna culture.
Chiang Mai is one of the largest city in Thailand after Bangkok with over 200 'inhabitants in the city centre and over a million people in the metropolitan area. Chiang Mai is located in the north of Thailand in the province of the same name, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a popular tourist targets much because of Lanna culture which has a background in Lanna Kingdom which ruled from year 1296- 1768 any city cultural structures and craft is still strongly influenced by. Today Chiang Mai is also a modern city with quite good infrastructure and modern entertainment to offer.
Cheap housing and food.
In Chiang Mai you can get very cheap housing for longer stay. For the lowest standard you can get an reasonable place to stay as low as down to 100 USD per month. For the cost 200-300 USD per month you will get a very nice place to stay for a long term. For shorter stay you can a low cost hotel room for 10-15 USD per night. If you choose to buy street food from the simple food carts you can get a good meal for 1-2 USD. Many tourist are afraid of getting sick by buying food from these places but is really not a bigger problem than other places. That said, it is quite possible to live a life of expensive luxury too in Chiang Mai if you wish. There are a number of luxury hotels and restaurants in the upper price segment that an alternative to the many low-cost options in Chiang Mai.
Wide range of tourist attractions in Chiang Mai!
Chiang Mai can offer a wide range of different culture, festivals, nature and foods experience for tourist to name some of the popular categories of attractions in Chiang Mai. There are a lot of amazing Buddhist temples (over 300) to watch and several impressive museums. Festivals are another important happening in Chiang Mai. Songkran (Thai new year in mid of April with the popular water fight in the streets), Loi Krathong (with the floating candles in water and thousands of hot air balloons launched at the same time in the air) in November and Chiang Mai flower festival in February is probably the most famous festivals. Chiang Mai has several large national parks around the city that are popular for hiking and biking some places.
The nightlife in Chiang Mai is also huge with all kind of bars, discothèques and places with live music. Most kinds of music genres are well represented and with a price range for low cost to expensive. The typical Thai beer bars with the "Bar girls" that really are prostitutes are also well represented in the Chiang Mai nightlife.