# Relocating to Chiang Rai



## siamiam

My family is relocating to Chiang rai in a few months.Is there anyone who can help answering some questions I have about Chiang rai.
Best places to live?
A good school for my 9 year old kid?
Aspects of the city to avoid?
Places where expats gather?

My wife is thai,my daughter has dual citizenship.I'm 52,so I'll have to obtain a retirement visa. This is a big move for us.At this juncture,I'm trying to gather as much information as possible. Thanks siamiam


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## siamiam

*Chiang Rai expats?*

We would like to know more about Chiang Rai.Is there an ex-pat out there willing to answer a few questions for us? Thank You siamiam


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## stednick

siamiam said:


> My family is relocating to Chiang rai in a few months.Is there anyone who can help answering some questions I have about Chiang rai.
> Best places to live?
> A good school for my 9 year old kid?
> Aspects of the city to avoid?
> Places where expats gather?
> 
> My wife is thai,my daughter has dual citizenship.I'm 52,so I'll have to obtain a retirement visa. This is a big move for us.At this juncture,I'm trying to gather as much information as possible. Thanks siamiam


siamiam: I've visited Chiang Rai but cannot answer your specific questions concerning Chiang Rai. The reason I'm posting; you can and probably should, get a non-immigrant "O" visa to visit family. This will allow you to work (permit required). If you get a non-immigrant "O" retirement visa - work is prohibited. Talk to your local Thai Embassy to clarify the details of your relocation.


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## cnx_bruce

You should google search for online expats forums that focus on chiang rai or which have sub-forums that do ... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention specific names .... but there is a wealth of info avail out there for you. 

My general advice to anyone in your position (i.e. have never lived in thailand before) is to just commit to 12 months initially and view this as a trial period. Don't sell your home in the usa, don't buy a home in thailand (during this trial), and don't burn any bridges. You may well get good value from reading my e-book (click on link below left)

Good luck with it all


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## Song_Si

there is a local newspaper online Chiang Rai Times you may find useful (from thread Getting Your News Online)

one article here I thought was interesting The Mysterious Charm of Chiangrai


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## siamiam

stednick said:


> siamiam: I've visited Chiang Rai but cannot answer your specific questions concerning Chiang Rai. The reason I'm posting; you can and probably should, get a non-immigrant "O" visa to visit family. This will allow you to work (permit required). If you get a non-immigrant "O" retirement visa - work is prohibited. Talk to your local Thai Embassy to clarify the details of your relocation.


s


Thanks stednick,solid advice.For the past 7 years weve spent the winter months in Loei and NongKhai.Since my wife is thai.I obtain a Non-Imm O Visa.Im semi retired,still doing the share of my work from home.I'll get in touch with the proper Visa folks to get the full skinny. At this point we all live in the states.Freezing our ____ off.Im getting to old for this type of weather.Need some major heat. Thanks again siamiam


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## siamiam

cnx_bruce said:


> You should google search for online expats forums that focus on chiang rai or which have sub-forums that do ... I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention specific names .... but there is a wealth of info avail out there for you.
> 
> My general advice to anyone in your position (i.e. have never lived in thailand before) is to just commit to 12 months initially and view this as a trial period. Don't sell your home in the usa, don't buy a home in thailand (during this trial), and don't burn any bridges. You may well get good value from reading my e-book (click on link below left)
> 
> Good luck with it all


Thank you for the reply and info.Very good advice.I'll dig into more forums.I have lived in Thailand before.Off and on for about 8 years.However,I always return to the states for work.Im going to check out your book...sounds good Thanks again Siamiam


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## playtone

Hi Siamiam,

I was born and has lived in Chiang Rai for 20 years. Because work obligation I have to work in Bangkok. I go back to my home town once every 2 weeks. My ultimate goal is to get back and live in Chiang rai again permanently. 

I think I have something that I can share with you. So I can give you some advice from Thai person's perceptive. Also this is my first post. Hope it helps you in some ways.

Chiang rai is a good place to live. It is a beautiful, cheap, safe and peaceful place. Even though more and more development is coming to the province, you may feel a little bored sometimes because there is not much of activities to do as in Bangkok. It is good to do to preparation what to do in Chiang rai.

I don't know much about type of visa. If you have something to do here like job and doing business, Chiang rai is really a perfect place to live. 

I know a few guys from Europe who planned to retire in Chiang Rai but at the end had to move back to Bangkok because it was to boring to them. I also know a few retired persons from Australia and Japanese who manage to have small business (like teaching English, Yoga, or making hand-made potteries) and have a very happy life here. 

In general, not many locals speak English in Chiang Rai but you won't find much of problem with communication. Thai people will find the way to communicate to foreigners. I see a lot of Tuk-tuk drive in the city speak English very well. Most of shop keepers in modern supermarkets and department stores, restaurant owners, sellers can communicate in English quite well. 

One of the best thing about people in Chiang Rai and northern part of Thailand is they are very polite. They just don't talk to strangers first. It is nature of Thai people. We are not encourage to express feeling to strangers.

If you start conversation or ask for help to locals, you will find that 9 out of 10 times you will get very good response and you will see that they will try to help. 

If you don't already have location to settle yet, try to find somewhere close to the city because you need to access to good quality services such as medical, school for your kid, entertainment, etc. Try to find the place to stay that is not more than 30 minutes drive to the city. The expats normally gather in the city. The trade off is the price of land/house for buying or resting is a lot more expensive than remote area.

There are many foreigners living in Chiang rai today. Totally agree with cnx_bruce, to join the expat gathering, I have to say that these days you have to get online and join specific expat forums. The expats normally set meetings through forums, and have some activities like bike rally, coffee gathering, or holiday beer meetings. 

I don't know if I am allowed to put names or links here as I may be considered to be a spammer. But if you go online, you will not miss it.

For casual gathering, there are a few bars especially for foreigners near Chiang Rai Night Bazaar (night market). Mostly I see people are tourist who stay in Wang Kam and Wieng Inn hotel a few blocks way, but that area can Westerner atmosphere. 

Transportation. I don't know what to say about Chiang Rai, only a few words that Chiang Rai doesn't have good transportation system. Forget about public transportation. It almost never works here. You need to have your own vehicle. A car is great, a truck or pick-up is good, motorcycle is ok, but public transportation... wooo forget about it. It will be very difficult to leave in Chiang rai without your own mean of transportation. So you need to prepare part of budget for owning vehicle in Chiang rai.

One great advantage you might not know while living in Thailand is Thai people, especially local people who in country area like foreigners. It might not be 100% correct, but sometimes you might have noticed that you received more respect and locals tend to listen and trust you more than local people. The same as in Chiang rai, local tend to give more respect to foreigners who decide to live here. To live with more joy in Chiang rai, it's good to make friend with a few locals/neighborhood. 

Safety. Chiang rai is very safe. You can walk alone at night in the city and almost all part of the province with problem. But there are 2 things to be aware. Road accidents and getting involved in "amphetamine" drug, so-called "Ya Ba". Almost all crimes occur in Chiang rai and most part of Thailand are related to drug. To be safe Chiang rao, first don't put your trust in anybody on the road, and second drug. Beyond these two things, there is nothing much to worry.


Cheers,
playtone


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## stednick

Playtone:

Excellent post with valuable information. 

Thank you for posting.


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## KevinKK

Good place for retirement


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## siamiam

Thank You Playtone.All good informaton. Ive lived in thailand with my family off and on,for the past 10 years.My family has nice farmland in Loei.We also used to live in Nong Khai.My 9 year old daughter went to school there.She is now in school here in the U.S.,Just finishing the 3rd grade. We all want to move back to Thailand full time.Finding the right school for my child is 1st on the list.I'll be in Chiang Rai in april for 2 weeks to get a feel for the city,and,check things out.If it feels like the right city.We'll proceed with finding housing. Housing??? At this point I'll know more after my journey to Chiang rai. Thank you for your response playtone.Very kind of you! siamiam


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## Sanndune

siamiam said:


> My family is relocating to Chiang rai in a few months.Is there anyone who can help answering some questions I have about Chiang rai.
> Best places to live?
> A good school for my 9 year old kid?
> Aspects of the city to avoid?
> Places where expats gather?
> 
> My wife is thai,my daughter has dual citizenship.I'm 52,so I'll have to obtain a retirement visa. This is a big move for us.At this juncture,I'm trying to gather as much information as possible. Thanks siamiam


Hello, I am also relocating to CR in a couple of months. I am from the USA originally but have been living in Thailand for 12 years now. I don't know much about CR but can help with your retirement VISA. The most economical way. But I can only help with advise or from here in BKK and if you aren't planning on working in Thailand. I think working from the Internet would not matter, however. Once you obtain a retirement VISA you only need to report your residence every 3 months and renew the VISA yearly.


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## siamiam

Did not,and,will not move now.We are staying in the good old U.S.A. where we can Pee for Free.


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## Newforestcat

I used to share the same sentiment; I wanted to never move back to Thailand as my life in the UK had been blissfully idylic. I hate corruption with everything that I am. But you know what, things change, people change and it is the people that make a stand to change things preventing them from having a life and freedom that they so deserve. 

Having said all that, maybe our political viewpoints regarding Thailand are totally different. But no worries. I am not suicidal enough to discuss politics or religions outside my own house as everyone is right in their own mind and everyone has a right to believe in anything they want, laws permitting. 

Good luck!


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## fitzrite

I spent a few weeks in Chiang Mai before coming here. I fell in love with this place instantly. Chiang Mai is too hectic for me; the traffic is some of the worst I have ever seen, and in some areas you literally cannot cross the street. The pace here is nice, but there are some disadvantages too. For example, the nearest mall and supermarket are a pretty good trek from town. You can get anything you want in Chiang Mai within 10 minutes. But that place will fray your nerves fast. Also, as pointed out in a post above, the people here are very friendly--except the farangs. They seem not friendly at all.


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## pijo

*Smoke in Chiang Rai in 2014*

Hi everyone,
I just discovered this post and would like some more infos about Chiang rai.
I am 53, farang, maried with a thai woman and we have a daughter who is 10 year old. 
We are living in Phuket but we are planning to go very soon to Chiang Rai to escape the crowd and the pollution & dangers on the roads since the huge development of Phuket after the Tsunami.
We just worry about the smokes in Chiang Rai (the "smog") from february to april when they burn the forests everywhere. My "girls" are sensitive to smoke. Is it that bad, really ?
Our plan is to find a "farm" for rent with good soil to grow our vegetables (mostly chili) and have also a few chicken and goats.
Just the smoke stops us to go there.
Does someone has recent infos ?
Thanks for help and Happy New Year 2015 to all !!


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