Jump to content

Why Are There So Many Americans In Chiang Mai?


BookMan

Recommended Posts

Spent 6 nights in Chiang Mai the other week. My first visit to the city. Loved the place, just didn't get to see enough of it.

One thing i noticed, was the amount of American accents. Whether in the hotel, at a bar, walking the markets, I would hear American accents. (Some might have been Canadian). Seemed to be a lot of ex pats and also a lot of younger backpackers.

In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners.

Does Chiang Mai hold a special place in American hearts? Just a popular place for Americans to retire?

Interested in peoples thoughts on the matter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 468
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

It has gotten lots of publicity for decades now on a number of popular retirement abroad media organs in the U.S. Mostly categorized as a desirable budget option, but in a good way. They seem to never mention the air pollution issues. Also, keep in mind American retirees are now largely "baby boomers" meaning many ex-hippies and Chiang Mai (and Thailand) has a definite counterculture appeal to people with this background. We grew up with Thai stick and later got into pad Thai ...

Well traveled baby boomer Americans of a certain class usually know of Chiang Mai even if they haven't actually been there.

You can find similar types of Americans in places like Oaxaca Mexico, San Miguel de Allende Mexico (but richer), and Cuenca Ecuador. These are a good class of open minded Americans. Enjoy!

Edited by Jingthing
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

Edited by uptheos
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

Not to mention that Chiang Mai offers things that none of those places has. Why would an American move to Hua Hin when he can move to Florida or Mexico for the same, and likely better beaches? Not to mention for the same or better prices.

Thailand has a retirement visa at age 50 with no pension. Mexico ... doesn't.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

Not to mention that Chiang Mai offers things that none of those places has. Why would an American move to Hua Hin when he can move to Florida or Mexico for the same, and likely better beaches? Not to mention for the same or better prices.

Thailand has a retirement visa at age 50 with no pension. Mexico ... doesn't.

Yeah, but the girls in Mexico have bigger boobs, not that you care. Plus we all had at least 4 years of Spanish in school. It's not that hard.

You did ? Hmmmmm, to talk to the illegals ? angry.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

But then they seem to be very frivolous with tips, so I'm not sure the prices have much to do with this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

Not to mention that Chiang Mai offers things that none of those places has. Why would an American move to Hua Hin when he can move to Florida or Mexico for the same, and likely better beaches? Not to mention for the same or better prices.

Thailand has a retirement visa at age 50 with no pension. Mexico ... doesn't.

Yeah, but the girls in Mexico have bigger boobs, not that you care. Plus we all had at least 4 years of Spanish in school. It's not that hard.

Excusez-moi, I studied ... French.cowboy.gif Edited by Jingthing
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

But then they seem to be very frivolous with tips, so I'm not sure the prices have much to do with this.

I think that's right. By far the wealthiest people I know here in Chiang Mai are Americans. They're pretty low key for the most part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"In other tourist places, Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Samui, Phuket, Bangkok I heard nowhere near this number as a percentage of foreigners".

Haven't you compared the prices?

The answer is pretty obvious.

But then they seem to be very frivolous with tips, so I'm not sure the prices have much to do with this.

Yanks don't tip that's why in the states they add on 15%. mfr_closed1.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I played golf with an Australian last week, and he happened to comment that whilst there were a lot of Americans in Chiang Mai, most western golfers seemed to be Australian, European or Canadian.

On discussion we all agreed that whilst we might know 50 odd golfers here, only one or two were American. So why do they not play golf?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Americans tip well because they're exporting the tipping culture. Its seen as required and for many, that is very hard to shake.

It all depends. I think people should tip their servers for good service but I think somewhere between 7% and 10% makes more sense. That said, I have certainly tipped nothing before, given to incredibly terrible service. OTOH, I once tipped a waitress 100% because I found her particularly enchanting.

Not this one BTW:

http://videos.sapo.pt/hLPL7uI3k7SbcEnUochU

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Americans tip well because they're exporting the tipping culture. Its seen as required and for many, that is very hard to shake.

Yes. And the Thais (in tourist/expays areas) have noticed this phenomenon, and are requesting tips from everyone. whistling.gif

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I played golf with an Australian last week, and he happened to comment that whilst there were a lot of Americans in Chiang Mai, most western golfers seemed to be Australian, European or Canadian.

On discussion we all agreed that whilst we might know 50 odd golfers here, only one or two were American. So why do they not play golf?

I think they do. Check golfers in residence at clubs like Green Vally CC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thailand has a LOT going for it, on many different levels... more modern (which i personally consider a plus) than Cambodia and Laos, less restricted than Vietnam, miles ahead of Burma and for those that care, Buddhism vs Muslim as a core value.

And Chiang Mai has a LOT more going for it than other parts of Thailand (that I've seen), on many different levels. It's definitely more modern than Samui, where I'm living - and I've only been here three days so far!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thailand has a LOT going for it, on many different levels... more modern (which i personally consider a plus) than Cambodia and Laos, less restricted than Vietnam, miles ahead of Burma and for those that care, Buddhism vs Muslim as a core value.

And Chiang Mai has a LOT more going for it than other parts of Thailand (that I've seen), on many different levels. It's definitely more modern than Samui, where I'm living - and I've only been here three days so far!

Yes, indeed it does. Key for me was a good international school and decent medical care...along with some (not all) of falang necessities... BKK was my only other real possibility, and while i have lived in big cities (Rio, London, Sydney, Bogota, LA), at this stage in my life, big city life is not really appealing... CM is just big enuf, but still some small city feeling...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Being American, I never really felt there were all that many of us here in comparison to others. I always feel like there are more Aussies and Kiwis. Never checked the real numbers though.

Being Australian myself, i certainly noticed a lot of Australian accents in CM also... But you hear these all over Thailand, Australian dollar being so strong, travelling in record numbers..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Being American, I never really felt there were all that many of us here in comparison to others. I always feel like there are more Aussies and Kiwis. Never checked the real numbers though.

I agree. I meet a lot of Aussies but meet a whole lot more Europeans. In fact I would say that I mostly meet Europeans here. I too, have never checked the numbers but I'm guessing there are a lot of Americans here but I rarely run into them.

Not that it matters, but since someone raised the issue, I've met a lot more wealthy Europeans than Americans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yanks don't tip that's why in the states they add on 15%. mfr_closed1.gif

I don't know where you're getting your info from...

But speaking as a "yank," most restaurants in the U.S. don't add on any automatic service charge, so it's up to the customer to voluntarily add a tip of their choosing... 15-20% these days is considered normal...but again, it's strictly voluntary in most cases.

So in fact in Thailand, American tourists probably over-tip as a general rule. Because they're not used to or familiar with the notion of an automatic 10% service charge being added on Thai style (even if the service is crappy). But they are used to adding 15% more or less onto the total bill as is the custom back home.

So until they catch onto the 10% service charge scam, a lot of American tourists probably end up double-tipping here.

Speaking personally, I'd rather have the choice of tipping American style... There were relatively few occasions where I've ever left less than 10 or 15% -- unless the service was really bad and I wanted to send a message. But there were lots of times when I left more than 15% to reward good service.

Here, because the Thais add on 10% automatically, I rarely add on any extra of my own... But then again, at regular restaurants here in Bangkok, the service is rarely deserving of any extra tip anyway.

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.





×
×
  • Create New...