Settling in to Chiang Mai

YouTube and uh in today's video I thought I'd just go over some of the things that I've noticed since I've been settling into Chiang Mai um definitely try to get this one solid as far as Internet connection goes

I'm using my phone as a hot spot instead of trying to use the building Wi-Fi so let's go ahead and get into it I'm just going to share some of the things that I've noticed that in no particular

order have been the biggest surprises so far in Thailand and in some cases they're not even really surprises like in the sense that I knew about them going in but they are at least surprises in the sense that

some of these factors I underestimated uh prior to coming here and now that I'm actually staying here long term that I'm noticing some of these things this is the longest amount of time I've ever spent in Thailand in

one go so this is actually my I think my fourth visit or something like that I've been here since late June so we're coming up on like two and a half months now and it's really just been a

a wonderful time overall there's been a lot of learning experiences some challenges some times where because I was trying to see different places it could be a little bit more difficult right like for me Chiang Mai is easy

mode because I've spent about a month here in the past in the same building I'm living in now so I'm familiar with the basic layout how to get to the mall how to change money all these things like

how to you know find new clothing or how to get data all these things I had done about five years prior in the same city so when I went to Bangkok especially Bangkok at full capacity right and also

patio there was a lot of new things so let's let's go ahead and get into the first surprise here uh good to see you by the way feel free to introduce yourself I see we have a viewer so

I would say you know the first thing that's been really surprising is you know people do seem happier on average um then back home I'm not going to say that's across the board and that there's no challenges here

but uh certainly you know the trade-off we have for the efficiency of life in the west is definitely like you know having to work demanding jobs or having to really be present for extended hours for like a business

role or something like that and the trade-off of you know one of the trade-offs of perhaps not having quite the same standard of living is that people do seem a little bit more Carefree here I notice people smiling

and laughing a bit more um I don't think that's the case for everybody right like every American is unique uh people's satisfaction like is different from person to person uh but I think there's definitely like everybody that's a

working person could admit that at times you know the demands of their job whatever that job may be you know can really uh can really be frustrating of course there is a trade-off right like you know if you

live below your means in the west you can really really get ahead uh very easily and so that's um you know that's something that I think a lot of people appreciate and admire but I think it's interesting to

think about the trade-offs the uh the next thing is that you know things are not always as efficient as the US I mentioned this just a a few minutes ago but there are times where I'm like wow I

wish you know not I wish it was America or like I wish I was in America but rather man I miss that efficiency in America an example of this would be getting things mailed like sometimes It's Tricky for

and some of this is a language very of course sometimes tricky for me to communicate my address effectively or properly sometimes I purchase the wrong item if I'm shopping on like shopping or Lazada because I misread the the

odd or the item description and then also just like making sure that I'm here you know sometimes some items they want you to sign for it and if I'm out doing something that could be a little bit tricky

to coordinate so there are certain things that in the U.S you know the lack of the language barrier and the striving for efficiency factors uh you know there are some benefits there I would say like alongside that one

thing that it's an efficient experience it's not necessarily the best overall but like going to Walmart for example here if I need to go shopping typically I'm hitting up a few different stores I may reduce some of that

by going to a shopping mall but it's hard to find that One-Stop shop kind of a place if not impossible to find that kind of One-Stop shop place like you have at like a Walmart in America I imagine

countries like Canada and Australia probably have something similar and that big box store where you can just get everything handled in one place it's just so convenient and here that is a challenge right like sometimes I have to

budget extra time because I'm going to have to go to multiple places that might not be in the same building thank you of course there's trade-offs right like everything else I certainly love Thailand I'm so happy to be

here but um living here is definitely different than taking a vacation here I'm already noticing that it's quite a bit different to actually be staying here long term and I think that there's greatest some people saying like some

people really should just visit Thailand but shouldn't live there because it's it's very very much oriented to our tourism and visiting and I think for living here it's you're going to have certain challenges that a Thai person wouldn't

have right like a Thai person typically they're going to have some family here they probably have a solid friend Circle they built up over the course of many years they have a nine to five career most likely that

has them kind of structured around a certain schedule there's of course many advantages to being a Thai person in Thailand and I think that if you're not that's going to be part of the learning curve for sure I

think that you know some things like culturally like one thing that can be a bit challenging is in the US we're used to things instantaneously right we're used to convenience culture anytime we want something we can get it

really quick well here you might find certain things are a bit slower or people walk a bit slower that's been a big one for me where I'm used to San Francisco where everybody is in a hurry at all

hours like uh at all working hours anyway and then I feel like people are really tired and go and crash out in the evenings but yeah that's something that you have to think about is like if you're coming

from New York City to Chiang Mai probably like I think if you're not going from a big city to Bangkok in Thailand if you're going from like a big city like New York London La Etc to like a

Chiang Mai or a Padia or even like um you know I think a Chiang Rai which is even smaller than Chiang Mai you're gonna have to understand that the pace of life is slower and I'm really not necessariling

that mode you know of retirement at my age so it is still a bit I have to be mindful of that right I have to be mindful that even though I've got a limited amount of time to be

here I need to get certain things done while I'm here that everybody else is living their normal day-to-day lives and they're not necessarily in a rush to eat so they can go back and work on something or they're

not having to do like a Visa run right where every three months I have to go to immigration services and make sure I'm handling all of the responsibilities in line with that not a problem with that it's just

something that does take some time and I have to um I have to be mindful to complete that in an efficient manner and sometimes you do feel like in a rush right like I better get there on time

I better have everything in order for them I want to make sure I follow all the rules and that that's something that can definitely add to it and I think also just like you do feel I think until

you've been here for a long time you do feel a bit tumultuous right like I imagine I could be here for about a year but I've got to start planning that exit right like I can't just say oh

well you know whatever happens like I'm just gonna extend it without having prepared I think financially and also just like tying up Loose Ends back in the U.S so that's where I'm at I underestimated planning the rest of

the the trip so if you're a long-term Traveler and you're thinking I'm going to go to Thailand for like a month and then Vietnam for a month Etc putting all that extra out ahead of time does reduce that

sense of ambiguity where now I'm like okay so next summer when my Beast is up then I'll start to be heading toward Vietnam or another country right like Vietnam is high on my list I still haven't been to

Vietnam but it's really really close to Thailand the flight is around 2500 baht so that's around that's like 70 dollars roughly uh let me check it out actually 2500 Thai baht USD yeah seventy dollars and fifteen cents so

that's a really reasonable price Vietnam from what I've heard has an even lower cost of living than Thailand which of course makes it intriguing as I don't have a role right now and I've got to be mindful of

of costs and budget hey we got a viewer good to see you I thought I'd just do a live stream and share a bit about Chiang Mai and some of the surprises of Chiang Mai um but yeah that's

that's been a surprise is like I think I expected to feel more settled like when I'm moving the U.S I feel settled pretty quickly because everybody speaks English I've been to most of the cities in the U.S I

know my way basically around town I know some of the General Dynamics of being in that specific City where here there's just this huge learning curve of a language barrier and also understanding things like traffic and understanding things

like how to uh handle the rain like the rain is definitely more than what I've been accustomed to living in California and so that's been a lot to learn right these are not criticisms by the way just observations

I'm grateful that Thailand has opportunities for people to come and live here for a while it's certainly really a nice break from the grind and from the hustle and bustle and all that I do wish I I had

more time here um I know that sounds a little bit strange thinking about like a year but it's just such a pleasant place in so many ways people are really Pleasant really friendly it's easy to um sort of

you know even in spite of the language barrier kind of do hand motions where you can somewhat communicate with people that way right like typically they have pictures or they have perhaps English uh version of something like a

menu and um you can also use a translate app I found the translate app to be super helpful and something else you might find helpful if you do come here to Thailand or really this tip applies to anywhere

but you'll want to uh get Google translate and it can actually Translate like through the camera so if you hold the camera up it will attempt to show you a rough translation of whatever it is that you're looking

at in whatever language of course you'll want to know what language you're recording and what language you're trying to get but that's certainly something that could be a tip or it can be helpful for you if you are

traveling and dealing with a strong language barrier I think it's a little bit less bad if the language is closer to your home language but in the case of Thai English and Thai don't really have much in common

as far as a background goes so that's something that uh speaking that's that should be the next surprises I found Thai to be a little bit more challenging than I would have thought to learn I'm taking some Thai

classes as part of my long-term Visa here and it's really um it's really challenging in some ways I mean today I'm learning about I've been learning about colors and I've been learning about like pen and paper and things

like that basic words and with the tones it can really be challenging where English we I think we assume tone when we speak it and you can gather things from that but with Thai like the tone communicates the

meaning and so you're really having to think about that and saying something with a different tone I can really switch things up and and the language is also uh what's the word like I said it's just very very

different from English and you have to be cautious about that I think when you are trying to to say things and I think with a good teacher they'll help you to like improve your pronunciation and make sure that

you're communicating effectively I think getting something even rough out is a good start on trying to understand a language I think you know there is kind of that debate where some people are like oh you can only use

Thai in Thailand but somebody else made the point and this is why I'm glad I'm studying ties most people like Thailand a lot like there's something that is in Thailand that they like even if they don't do every

single thing that's here they like the culture right for me that's a big one I love the culture I love studying the culture understanding it but two they like the uh the weather right some people really like hot

warm weather some people they like the Muay Thai scene right if you want to study Muay Thai it is of course a Thai martial art and if you want to be totally wrapped up in that scene which a

lot of people that are into that lifestyle purely professional athletes they want to be surrounded by that you know this is a place that you can come here and have that and so there's all these different reasons to

come here to Thailand and to spend a long time here and I can imagine even if I don't live here again I'm undecided I feel like at a couple months I know I want to say more than a

year but the timelines are different right like a year is not the same as committing to here for like five years or ten years or like being a lifer right but uh you have so many different things to

come you know come here for so like I feel like well I'm probably going to come back here again in the future let's say a couple years from now three or four years from now at some point eventually

I I plan to hit Financial Independence especially when I'm financially independent having Investments cover my expenses this is a great option I mean I'm able to live here at a very reasonable price and enjoy a lot of the

things that I enjoy back in the US I would say the you know the main drawback is not having friends here and that really sucks um but you know aside from that one really big thing there's a lot

that I like about being here it's just a chill place the coffee is really good it's once you get set up it is easy to get things done it does take some time and effort to get set up

getting an apartment getting phone service buying you know whatever little things you need for your apartment that may not come with making sure that you've got a you've got a rough plan of what you're going to be doing

for your time but once you get set up it's an easy place to be productive it's a college town so for those of you who have been to or lived in a college town you're somewhat familiar with the

dynamic there's a lot of you know young people here to pursue their education but it's also a historical Capital it used to be a the capital of Thailand and so it has a lot of history and tradition it's

really a unique place and I totally love it I think some people if they're coming here and expecting like a Bangkok or a Padilla or a Phuket like a party scene they're not going to find that to the

same extent it's pretty small here compared to those cities if you're looking to come for like I don't know I would say like a week or something like that to Thailand or two weeks you may want to do

a day trip up here I think it's a better City for a living as opposed to a city for visiting and I think that's where I struggled some in Bangkok and then Padia is I felt like these are

more of like vacation cities and more so I feel that way more so about Patty than Bangkok but like you don't have to stay here right like if you're coming here for a good time these are the best

places to have a good time if you're coming here to stay for a while and work on stuff I think Chiang Mai is a great option they have different strengths and weaknesses but that's that's uh definitely one that

you'll want to note about Chiang Mai another one and we talked about cost I think cost is always on the mind of people coming to Thailand just because it is a very economical travel destination when you compare it

to going to say like Florida or you're talking about going to like Hawaii or um the Caribbean or the California coast any of these places that Americans might think of those are all much more expensive now you have

to set aside the cost of the flight but if you're coming here for a while you stretch that cost the flight out over many months it's not so quite it's not quite so intimidating right but when you come

here like you'll notice Thailand has some of the lowest inflation rates in the entire world I've noticed some things have gone up in price a bit particularly imported goods everything imported has gone up but anything locally produced is

like really not that much more um you know than it used to be and I think that while it is getting more expensive it's not at the level of a country like the United States or Canada or Australia

it's really very reasonable when I think about what I would pay for basic necessities like that's a good example well rent right I rented a really tiny apartment in the Bay Area for like 1100 a month U.S and

it had like a shared showers and uh a shared bathrooms and you know it was above a pretty noisy establishment where here my rent is 260 dollars a month so roughly a fourth of that and I have really

nice floors I have a nice chair here a nice bed it's got you know kitchen table it's got a desk it's got a balcony and I'm a really convenient area I can walk to everything I need to do

which to be fair is the same as my bigger apartment I was in a really convenient location there as well but you know I'm paying roughly a fourth there of what I was paying and for much more space

and a much more nicer and newer building and just a much quieter area it's easy for me to get sleep here I that's one of my favorite Parts is I just feel well rested living here compared to being

in the Bay Area and some of that to be fair Chiang Mai is like a million people versus San Francisco being like eight million people in the metro area another point and this is going to be kind of

an obvious one for a lot of you I think but I underestimated how hot it would be and that sounds strange right but in the past I've come to Thailand for a month or two you can kind of

this sounds weird and reverse because some people say they get used to it I found I still haven't totally gotten used to the Heat and it's been kind of surprising to me where um you know because you spend

more time Outdoors here I find myself getting hotter a lot more frequently and it's it's interesting to me because it's like a year-round thing I think from especially from like March until October it's hot you have to get

used to that like if you're going to leave your condo apartment and you're used to running the air conditioning a lot you're used to running fans a lot you're going to notice the heat for sure it's uh it's

definitely a big change from what I'm used to where San Francisco is like cool or cold year round it's the coldest place in the summer in the United States and well really North America it's the coldest place in

North America for like June through July even like parts of May and August can be pretty chilly in San Francisco and that's different than here where it is hot I mean it is really really hot and I run

the air conditioner a lot I've already gotten slapped with some really big electric bills but uh one of the tips I have for you is to find a apartment if you're going to stay here for a while with

a Government rate electricity I was paying much higher than that in patio and paid like two and a half times what I would be paying up here in Chiang Mai for the same amount of consumption at my building

right there's certainly some buildings in Chiang Mai that charge a Primo rate for electricity that's part of how to get additional profit but I found one that's charging government rates and that's you know that's what you should be

paying if you're staying here long term I get it like you know if in a short-term accommodation they need to build that cost into the rental but if you're staying here for a while you shouldn't be getting like

nickel and dimed on the electricity that's just it's a necessity right like for those of us who work online for those of us who have friends and family back home that need to you know you need to be

online for whatever reason like you know electricity and internet are interconnected and I think that yeah I think you know paying the the more normal rate the Government rate is what you should be looking to do you know

I wouldn't call it a total total deal breaker if they're charging more but if you're staying here long term you've got to really uh you know consider that as part of your budget so how's everybody doing I would

say another surprise has been how busy things seem again I think that when I was here the last time it was during the pandemic and Bangkok was empty even like the city center of Bangkok had very very few

people toward the end of that stay especially in March of 2020 I remember walking all over the city and not seeing very many people at all and I was so confused because I thought oh this is how Bangkok

always is right and then I came back of course I was there my first month here in Thailand and I was shocked at how busy it is and I was talking to my friends that lived in Bangkok and

they said oh yeah this is how Bangkok normally is you just saw a really a special version to some extent in that you could explore the city and it was really not crowded there was very few people uh

during the pandemic and so yeah I just really really is surprised to see it is a city of like 18 million people in the metropolitan area and more and more people moved to Bangkok from the rest of the

country every year for work because uh most of the best work opportunities are in the capital and that definitely can give you that feeling of congestion I found it to do to be a bit too busy for my

preferences I found that you know it's very crowded it can be very noisy because there's a lot of construction and investment there that's taking place where here in Chiang Mai it's a lot more chill I don't hear nearly

as much noise even being under the flight path of the airplanes there's not nearly as many planes flying right now as there were five years ago and even then even when I hear them they're really not that bad

and so that's really a difference that you'll experience if you come here to Chiang Mai versus Bangkok which is definitely a major city it has all the vibrancy The Nightlife the different neighborhoods the different scenes the the markets

the all the different Transportation options that's something that's fascinating to me in Bangkok is like you have boats and buses you have air-conditioned buses non-air-conditioned buses you have shuttles you have different size shuttles um I've taken probably like

eight or ten different you have Tuk Tuks eight or ten motorbikes cars probably eight or different kind ten different kinds of Transportation in Bangkok and it just never ceases to shock me where okay so how am I gonna

get there so I'm gonna get on a boat and I'm gonna ride the boat to the end of the line this pier and then I'm gonna get off this pier and I'm going to walk to the BTS station

I'm going to take a BTS up to this other BTS station then I'm going to get on a bus right up here to this road get off the bus get on another and ride close to my hotel and

then get out of my hotel and walk and it's just really really wild to have that experience I mean to go to Patia I would take a uh well to go let's say to go to Bangkok from Padia

I would take a bot bus a 10 bot bus and I'd ride it to uh across patio then I'd walk about a kilometer maybe a kilometer and a half maybe two kilometers to the bus station I'd get on

the bus take the bus about two two and a half hours to Savannah boom Airport then I get off uh you know I get off the bus the airport I'd walk downstairs to the basement get on the MRT

train I'd take the MRT uh all the way to uh fire Thai and then I'd get on a bus if I uh yeah if I tie all the way up uh North and then I and I get off

that bus and then so like five five different modes of transportation to go from Padia uh to where I needed to be to renew my Visa really really always a surprise to have that kind of experience and even

here in Chiang Mai you've got motorbikes you've got tuk-tuks people ride regular bicycles you've got taxis of course it's a good taxi to get to my condo from the airport um what else you can walk Mo it depends

on where you are you can walk in them on but other parts of the city are just not as pedestrian friendly that is perhaps a challenge or a drawback is if you're a big blogger you'll have to really

be choosy about where you live and you'll probably want to be around like Chiang Mai University or you want to be around an Iman or parts of the Old City to really be able to walk around and enjoy

the city and yeah I think that's that's definitely worth your consideration uh when it comes to picking up a place to live another surprise hmm I'm surprised at how much Maya mall has changed Maya ball is here in

Chiang Mai and it's partly the basement right I don't know if any of you have been here to Chiang Mai but it used to be that the basement had this like more old school style tie like uh food

court and you had different vendors serving up their unique thing and now it's gone to like a card system and they've also gone to more what I would call default options and so it's not quite as interesting as

as it used to be if that's something you noticed let me know but I think they swapped to that earlier this year and that was disappointing because the old style was just super awesome and then same with the

fourth floor the fourth floor had it used to have a similar style and they swapped it to a key card system so I guess it you know I guess it just makes more sense from a business perspective but

it is unfortunate that they did that they also took a lot of the seats out so that's something I miss about the old way uh that mayamal used to be in the past but you know you can't have

it stay the same forever I guess so yeah definitely something that you'll want to think about and that's more in the style of Bangkok anyway like all the Bangkok malls many of the food courts almost all of them

I do have that key card system where you pre-load a card and you use that card to swipe it uh to pay for your food any other surprises I'm surprised you know I can order from Amazon that's always

a surprise for me when I'm abroad there's certain things that I want to be able to purchase here but I can't exactly find very easily here and being able to get those on Amazon is just super convenient right

you do pay a little bit value added tax and you in some cases you can pay extra for shipping and that sort of thing but it's nice to have that I would also recommend if you are here and

you need to get something to look at shoppie or Lazada both of those are local options and they're really effective as far as finding certain things but if you can't find it on choppy or Lazada I'd recommend checking

out Amazon potentially check out Alibaba I've never ordered from Alibaba to here in Thailand but that's definitely something to consider I would say look at more of the small to medium items I wouldn't necessarily be looking to replace

like a laptop or you know a iPhone or something like that but if you're looking to like buy a t-shirt or you're looking to buy some deodorant or that kind of thing then it's worth considering and always compare

the price as well because some things like I mentioned deodorant my favorite deodorant is like twenty dollars for a stick twenty dollars equivalent about 700 Baht for a stick on Lazada so I'm going to be taking a look

at Amazon to see are they offering It For Less because I don't want to pay twenty dollars for that and I like the brand that I like and so yeah it's certain products like you would think oh man

they've got to have that they may not have and then other products you'll be surprised that you can have that like everywhere I go I can get Gatorade I can get Coca-Cola products I can get you know uh

what else can I get here really Nike you know Nike products Nike Nike's popular here Adidas is popular here they do have Apple Stores here main reason I say you know have caution about purchasing is I know you

know I don't know how like things like warranties work and all that I don't know if you know if you buy it here and then you go back home your warranty may not apply but the Small Things yeah

go for it but um yeah definitely throw some comments in the chat if uh you know if there's a question you had or thoughts you had on Thailand always happy to answer and help I think you know another

thing I'm surprised about is the gems like the gyms are just pretty nice here it's not perfect but I think for the value that you get it's just really really good to be able to go and work out

there the thing that I think is interesting at my gym is they actually will serve you protein shake I think it's like 70 Baht about two dollars you can also uh you know you could also have personal training

services there I like it a lot uh because of the variety of equipment they have and it rarely seems to get crowded I think that if I mix up my times I'm finding more and more what it is

and isn't crowded and you can definitely go at certain off-peak hours and have a little bit more space to yourself but even during peak hours people seem pretty respectful and they're willing to let you you know use the

equipment for however long you need and then they'll they'll swap in after uh you need a break or you're wanting to move on to your next exercise I would say two I like that they have a space to

do yoga and stretch out because I find that as I get older stretching really just like helps a lot with me uh having flexibility and feeling good it's it's a nice way to cool off from a workout as

well any other surprises I've been surprised at the late night Vibe you know I think that that's something that's different than the US especially in San Francisco toward the end of my time there it began to become uh

more and more a little like dangerous feeling especially at night you know sometimes you see some unsavory characters running around the city and I've had a lot of people in Bay area anyway work a lot because it's expensive

so you have to produce a lot and so at night there was not really tons going on you know there's some bars that are open and some concerts but a lot of that stuff seemed to wrap up by

like midnight where here there's even in Chiang Mai you know there's options to go get food at like one o'clock in the morning there's uh people some people out walking around people riding motorbikes it's not quite as Lively

as what you'd have in like a a busy part of uh sukumva in Bangkok or in patio where you know there's plenty of 24-hour businesses but even up here there's still a decent amount going on you can always

go to 7-Eleven late at night like it's interesting that the 7-Elevens here are 24 7 where if you can't sleep and I found I couldn't because of the heat because I Googled it I was like why am I

having insomnia and they explained well a lot of people if they're not used to the extreme heat in Thailand they definitely struggle to sleep after a while and that can keep them up until really really late at night

so that's where I think exercise can help a lot of them recommended exercise as soon as I got back to my workout habit or workout routine that definitely helped me to having more sleeping more normal sleeping schedule but

even that being said I am awake until like usually like 2 A.M and I get up around 10 a.m and that's you know that's not ideal right like especially when I go back to the west of course the

weather will go back to more of what I'm used to but I'll want to be going to bed by like 11 30 you know midnight ish and getting up at 7 30 8 A.M to to start my day

and that's just you know that's something to think about if you are coming to stay here for a while is the heat you know especially if you have a situation like where your aircon is broken or um you

know for whatever reason you're you're not able to sleep while that some exercise to definitely help you feel a bit more rested and able to sleep any other you know I would say it's been a little bit surprising

like for my kind of being reminded that a motorbike does make things more convenient here of course I've talked a lot about the dangers of riding a motorbike but I think that it's it's definitely it can be like

you know a little bit not frustrating but uh disappointing sometimes when you're like I really want to go explore but I'm just not willing to take the risk of getting hurt on a motorbike a lot of foreigners run

into issues with motorbikes I don't want to run as issues so I choose to operate without one but it definitely sometimes you feel that it comes to your detriment but um always they're on the side of caution especially

in a place that you know I'm just not as familiar with his back home but yeah I think I'm gonna I'm gonna wind this stream down um definitely throw questions or thoughts or comments uh down below I think

I'm I'm ready to go get some dinner it's about it's getting close to 5 30 p.m here thanks so much for watching I always appreciate everyone watching and giving thumbs up and all that and I look forward to

seeing you soon I'll be trying to throw a video together sometime the next week it's just been kind of hectic schedule wise but uh thanks so much and I'll talk to you all soon