Thailand's Chiang Mai receives five million visitors annually

The 700-year old city of Chiang Mai, the major centre of the Lanna kingdom, is Thailand’s second largest city. The population of Chiang Mai is about a million in the metropolitan area, with about 160,000 in the Old City. Recently tourist numbers to this northern city have reached five million annually.

Visitors enjoy the milder tropical climate, low cost of living, good roads, and green spaces in favour of the country’s capital, Bangkok. The average day time temperatures range from 28-36 degrees Celsius with night time temperatures of 14-24 degrees. This compares with Bangkok which can have temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius during the hot season. The population is less dense and there is magnificent scenery—such as mountains and rivers. Chiang Mai is said to have all the benefits of Bangkok without the challenges, such as traffic, heat, and higher prices. Property prices too are cheaper in Chiang Mai than Bangkok—by half.

The city also has 100,000 students attending the city’s 10 universities. And unemployment is currently just 1%, with many employed in the city’s shopping malls. The city has a high-speed rail link to Bangkok and three ring roads with a fourth planned. By 2015 Chiang Mai proposes to have an ASEAN Economic Community which will be a commercial hub serving Lao PDR, Myanmar, and southeast China. ASEAN is the Association of South East Asian Nations, comprising the countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In addition, about 40,000 expatriates live permanently in Chiang Mai—mainly American, Australian, British, Dutch, French, and German. Increasinlgy Chinese, Japanese and Korean expatriates are moving to Chiang Mai, particularly in retirement as they look to the city for good medical care and a better quality of life.

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