Khob Kun Krub, Chiang Mai

Let's get this out of the way first. I love Thailand. I loved it last time I was there in 2015 and I was pretty positive I was going to love it again in 2019. Spoiler alert: I did.

Our Remote Year basecamp in Thailand was Chiang Mai. Interestingly enough, Chiang Mai was pretty low on my "favorite parts of Thailand" meter from my first go around. I have a new appreciation for Chiang Mai after spending a few weeks there this time. Alongside Medellin, Chiang Mai is probably the other city we've been to that I could envision settling down into for an extended period (3-6 months). It's a digital nomad, remote life epicenter. There are tons of ex-pats and fellow digital nomads interspersed with the locals. Also, let's not kid ourselves, Thai food is delicious. I also just love the Thai culture and the Thai language. I like the melodic singsongy "Sawasdee Ka/Krub" greeting. I love the "Wai", the traditional Thai greeting of pressing your hands together and bowing while saying hello. I really just love everything about Thailand.

My detractions with Chiang Mai last time was that it was more jungley and mountainous then the other areas of Thailand. I was on vacation last time and I wanted beaches and water and excitement. Chiang Mai was too laid back for that. I did do some awesome zip lining there in 2015 and went to an elephant sanctuary which were highlights but it just wasn't what I was looking for at the time. But as a remote? Chiang Mai is great for all those reasons. It's a lot less chaotic than Bangkok. Unlike some others, I actually really enjoy Bangkok. It is 100% a city and has all that city vibe and it's also known as the "City of Angels" which makes sense because Bangkok sort of makes me think if the city of Los Angeles (the American City of Angels) and New York City had sex and had a baby, it'd be Bangkok. There's some seediness, there's some upscale, there's life 24/7. But I digress. I have a Google Drive doc of Thailand recommendations if anyone ever needs my full list of recommendations for the places I've visited. Chiang Mai isn't Bangkok. Nor does it have the party and chill vibes of the Thailand beach towns of Koh Samui, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Phangan, Phuket etc. What I am saying is that Chiang Mai is CHILL. The people are super friendly. There is tons to do. It's beautiful and lush. It's pretty easy to get around. It's very inexpensive. It has pretty good internet everywhere. In short, I could definitely see myself returning to Chiang Mai to work remotely and to LIVE for several months. That's the biggest compliment. Plus flights are relatively cheap. If I wanted to get away for a weekend and go to the beaches, it's a quick trip to the islands. I spent 10 days in Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Tao this trip which was a perfect amount of beach time. I saw epic sunsets, I got sandy, and I got scuba certified!! I never thought I'd be a scuba diver, but here we are.

Because I had been to Chiang Mai before, I actually didn't do as much exploring within the city as the rest of my crew. I spent most of my time hanging with Polaris except when I was in Koh Samui on a solo trip reliving my 2015 Samui adventures and favorite spots. We also went to the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan. I didn't think I'd ever have the opportunity to do another Full Moon Party and here I was 4 years after my first one doing it again. I missed Pai last time I was in Thailand but I made up for it on this stop. I didn't have high expectations for Pai as I just thought it was a cool backpacker destination but I had a great time in Pai. It was way more of a party town then I had realized but it also was a cool place to just chill and zen out a little. It's not very big but it's beautiful and it basically feels like you're secluded from the world. It's almost entirely backpackers and ex-pats but I really loved it. It reminded me a lot of Hoi An in Vietnam. Every bar seemingly had a band in it that covered American hits and that made for a really comfortable environment in which to sit down and have some beers or some of those infamous Thai buckets. The funny thing about Pai is that almost everywhere closes at midnight except one bar called Don't Cry. That's where everyone winds up afterwards which is kind of funny. Turns out, Pai was an unexpected highlight of our Thailand stop.

We also celebrated our 6-month anniversary while in Chiang Mai. I have so many thoughts about this Remote Year journey. I'm constantly reminding myself and pinching myself about how lucky I am to be doing this and how incredibly happy I am that I decided to take the dive and actually do it. I've even more happy that I went with my gut and threw caution to the wind to do the 12 month program versus the 4-month. It would have been a much different experience.

Overall, Chiang Mai was an awesome town to be a remote worker and Thailand remains one of my favorite countries. I have no doubts that I'll be back for a third time at some point. On the -5 to 5 scale, I give Chiang Mai and Thailand a very rare 5 star review.

Here are my recs and some photos:

For Chiang Mai:

Go to Rustic and Blue for some Americanish breakfast food. I worked out of this cafe several times. Since I've been traveling for so long, I was craving some sort of American breakfast food. The grilled cheese they have here is basically a breakfast sandwich and it's amazing. They also have bulletproof coffee which is one of my favorite things.

Go to the Riverside Bar and Cafe alongside the river at night for some really good local Thai bands that cover an array of American songs. They do these very well and a ton of Thais actually attend. Get there early so you can get a table and order bottles of the local whisky and have a great night out. No, it's not a club and it's not bottle service. It's super casual but it gets packed. The food isn't bad either!

If you are looking for a club, you can go to Las Vegas or Spicy. They're pretty stereotypical clubs but if that's your jam, you could do worse. I'd recommend Spicy over Las Vegas.

I don't have a ton of food recs or experience recs for Chiang Mai because I spent a lot of time away on the islands and in Pai and when I WAS in Chiang Mai, I just would walk around and stumble on things. I would recommend doing the same!

A sample of Lam's work at Hakuna Matata

For Pai:

I really enjoyed the Why Not Bar in Pai. Great live music acts and a chill place to hang, eat, and drink.

Obviously Don't Cry for after hours partying.

Hakuna Matata is a great place to get face and body painted by local artist Lam, who did all the graffiti art in the joint. He's also a very cool down to earth guy. His girlfriend Amy is an ex-pat and also super cool. Go here to get some face paint/body paint and to grab a beer or, if you're lucky, a whisky shot and a cheers with Lam. Check to see if my "Joe Mac" tag is still on the wall.

The Pedlar is a spot I went to every morning for breakfast. Again, because it had great American breakfast offerings and the best bagel I've had since I left the States. It also had amazing coffee. So much so that I bought some to make at home.

Also go to the I Love You, Pai coffeeshop. Great views of the mountains and very chill. Of course there's Instagram opps in front of the giant I Love You Pai sign as well.

Basically, if you are in Chiang Mai, take the trip to Pai for a weekend. It's well worth it. There is so much to do and I could go on and on but I'll stop here with the above recs. You can find all the backpacker to-dos once you get into town like the canyon, the waterfalls, etc. Or just hit me up!

A sunset at Social Samui

For the Islands:

I went to Pasta House on Koh Samui last time I was there and I went there 3-4 times this trip. The food is delicious and the chocolate fondant is one of my favorite desserts ever. I don't eat a ton of Italian pasta foods, but go here if you are craving a good meal.

I got scuba certified by Easy Divers in Koh Samui. I highly recommend. The process was simple. They contain groups to 1-4 people so you get the attention you need. My instructor Dirk was awesome. If you're looking to get scuba certified while vacationing on the islands, there's worst places to do so!

Noori India had great Indian food on Koh Samui.

The Social Samui may have been of my favorite spots to catch a Thailand island sunset. On top of that, the food is amazing. Seriously. Go here as the sunsets and then get amazing food and drinks. I was partial to the drink that tasted like Tom Kha soup. Might sound disgusting. It was delicious. Get it.

And of course, I went back to the OZO Chaweng hotel in Samui. I loved it here and upgraded to a beachside room. It's not cheap but it's not costly for what it is. I highly recommend as I loved both my stops here.

The Coconut Monkey on Koh Tao had the best (only?) breakfast burrito I've had since I left the States. They have a lot of really good breakfast/brunch items and a lot of organic stuff. They also are located right along the beach and have epic views for the nightly sunsets. I highly recommend.

The Cocohut (no relation to Coconut Monkey) on Koh Phangan was also a very cool place alongside the beach where I spent a day working. Great views of the water and they had beach volleyball and a floating island to go out and watch the sunset.

Some pics. I took a literal ton of photos in Thailand so here are some highlights: