My Lightweight Experience as a Digital Nomad in Chiang Mai, Thailand

15 min readDec 11, 2019

I was always curious about the life of a digital nomad. During my two-week trip to Thailand, I decided to work from Chiang Mai for one week as a digital nomad. Chiang Mai is famous for being one of the best cities for digital nomads and it is rightfully so with 1) relatively fast and stable Wifi, 2) plenty of cafes and co-working spaces and 3) cheap living expenses (reasonably priced food and accommodations).

In this post, I would like to share what I felt about my lightweight experience of being a digital nomad in Chiang Mai and some cool things to do while you are in Chiang Mai.

Agenda:

What I liked and did not like about Chiang Mai as a digital nomad
Good cafes and co-working spaces to get some work done in Chiang Mai
Cool cafes and dessert places to hang out in Chiang Mai
Some of my favorite restaurants in Chiang Mai
Where I stayed at Chiang Mai and what I liked/ disliked about the hotel
Some fun things to do in Chiang Mai
Other tips

Please note that I was only working in Chiang Mai for one week, so this is neither a comprehensive nor in-depth analysis of what it’s like to be a digital nomad in Chiang Mai for a longer period. I found this post to be very insightful if you are thinking about becoming a digital nomad in Chiang Mai for a longer time.

What I liked about Chiang Mai as a digital nomad:

1. Plenty of cafes and co-working spaces in Chiang Mai

If you are thinking about being a digital nomad in Chiang Mai for some time, Nimman is a great place to be. Nimman is where I stayed in Chiang Mai. Nimman area has a lot of cafes and co-working spaces in the neighborhood that are conveniently located in 5 to 10 minutes walking distance. You can easily spot many students and digital nomads working or studying with a laptop in Nimman neighborhood.
The coffee industry in Chiang Mai is huge (about 500 tons of Arabica coffee grown in northern Thailand). So you can expect to have fresh local coffees in Chiang Mai at a reasonable price. There are a lot of specialty coffee shops with cool latte arts that are Instagrammable too! (Please see below for some cool cafes to visit in Chiang Mai.)

2. Reasonably priced coffee, food, and accommodations

I heard that the living expenses in Chiang Mai have been increasing steadily with its growing popularity among digital nomads and tourists. However, as I come from the San Francisco Bay area, which is known for being one of the most expensive cities in the world, the price for food and drinks here was still very reasonable.
The price range of food, drinks, and accommodations could vary on where you stay and what you eat. Please note that the price of accommodation would drop significantly if you find a monthly rental place outside of Nimman (i.e. the Old Town or other nearby communities). Below I listed the general price range from my experience.
Price of food, drinks, accommodations:
Street vendor local food (i.e. Pad Thai or Khao Soi): 40–65 Baht ($1.5–2 USD)
Western food (i.e. salad or pizza) : 150–300 Baht ($5 — $10 USD)
Coffee (i.e. Americano or Latte): 50–150 Baht ($1.65 — $5 USD)
Accommodations:

a) Two-star hotel — BED Nimman: $58 USD/day

b) Weekly rental: $3000 — $5000 Baht/ week ($100 — $164 USD)

What I did not like about Chiang Mai as a digital nomad:

1. Not good for walking as a pedestrian

There are not many pedestrian roads and you often have to jaywalk to get to your destination. The roads are jumbled up with scooters and cars and I felt not very safe to walk around as there were no good pedestrian roads.

2. Are you a city person? Beware that Chiang Mai is not a city!

If you expect Chiang Mai to be clean and urban, you might be disappointed. Although Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second biggest city, there’s no subway system and roads are unpaved. You can easily find a lot of insects (i.e. ants and mosquitoes) in Chiang Mai. I often found insects in food and Thai people do not seem to care much about finding insects in food. If you care a lot about sanitation, Chiang Mai might not be the best place for you.

Cafes and co-working spaces I visited in Chiang Mai:

As I was working remotely for one week in Chiang Mai, I wanted to find cafes that I knew I could work for a few hours. Below are the things I considered:

Must-haves:

Good and stable wifi
Power outlet availability

Good-to-haves:

Reasonable price
Good coffee and food

* Price as of Dec 2019

I listed these cafes in the order of my favorites:

Jang Kub Coffee

Jang Kub coffee had very good WiFi and plenty of spaces to work. It has a few power outlets and the price was very reasonable too (60–70 Baht for coffee). The staff was friendly, and the restroom was reasonably clean too. It’s a nice place to get some work done!

Wake Up Coffee

This place is a 24-hour cafe. There are plenty of seating areas on the 3rd floor and you are provided with your id and password to access the fast and stable WiFi. Price is quite reasonable (69 Baht for Iced Americano and 99 Baht for hot tea), and there were a lot of students and digital nomads studying and working at night. Several power outlets can be found here.

Roastniyom Coffee

Roastniyom had pretty good Wifi and some power outlets. I could see some digital nomads or students with a laptop in this cafe. The price is reasonable (60–70 Baht for a coffee). What’s unique about this place is that there’s a big tree inside the cafe.

Hub53 Co-working and Co-living Space

There are several co-working spaces in Chiang Mai and this was the one I visited. I paid 189 Baht for one day (opening hours: 8 am — 8 pm) and you are provided with WiFi id and password that are valid for one day. There are conference rooms with shared desks and a few one-person meeting rooms for Video Conference. The staff here was friendly and this place seems to host some meetup opportunities for digital nomads as well. I was able to meet some digital nomads who have been living in Chiang Mai for a few months.
Hub 53 has a coffee machine in which you can make your coffee but I did not know how to use the coffee machine nor I was able to find a mug I could use. The price seems reasonable, but I feel that there are better co-working spaces in Chiang Mai for its price. For example, M-A-N-A co-working space in the Nimman area costs 150 baht/day with unlimited coffee and tea.

Brown Cafe

This place did not neither a good WiFi nor any power outlet on the 2nd floor. Tables are not suitable for working with a laptop as they are relatively small. Brown cafe is famous for its Taiwanese bubble tea. It has a minimalistic interior that resembles a Japanese or Taiwanese cafe.

Rustic and Blue The Farm Shop

I had to use my hotspot because the WiFi here was not great. I paid 145 baht for my cold brew latte which was very expensive as compared to other cafes. The coffee tasted okay and there are a few power outlets as well as plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. The restroom here felt very old and unsanitary.
I did like the atmosphere here, and Google reviews say they have good food options which I did not try.

Cool cafes and dessert places to hang out:

If you are looking for cafes to chill (not necessarily working), these are some places I enjoyed!

Ristr8to Lab/ Ristr8to — Specialty Coffee

There are two cafes in the vicinity that are ‘Ristr8to Lab’ and ‘Ristr8to — Specialty Coffee’. I visited both places and they have the exact same menu. These cafes are famous for winning the world latte art championship. I tried their signature ‘Satan Latte’ the first time I visited (98 Baht for Satan Latte), and it indeed had the most beautiful latte art I’ve seen! The coffee tasted excellent too.
I went there the second time and tried their other specialty coffees like Godmother Mocha and the iced butterscotch coffee! Everything tasted delicious and unique! The price is a bit high , but it’s a must-try if you are in town.

Thor Phan Coffee

It’s a small cafe in the old town. I tried the flat white and watermelon soda (60–70 Baht/ each drink). It is a small place with a lot of Instagram-worthy spots. I liked their minimalistic interior and the drinks we ordered all tasted great!

SARUDA Finest pastry

This place has many beautiful dessert options to choose from. We tried the coconut-shaped dessert and the pear-shaped dessert and they were the most beautiful desserts we’ve ever tried! We liked our experience the first time so much that we ended up visiting here a few times afterward. I think it will cost at least $15–20 in the States, so it’s worth trying some of these desserts when you are in Chiang Mai (165 baht for the coconut dessert and 190 baht for the pear-shaped dessert). This place is very clean and has a comfortable atmosphere. (I did find an insect in the plate one time and they changed the plate right away.)

Janie Scoop

This place has various dessert options including ice cream, brownies, and cakes. We tried the chocolate lava cake with one ice cream scoop (100 baht). The molten chocolate cake is warm and the chocolate filling flows when you cut it. The chocolate lava cake with a vanilla ice cream — how can anyone say no to this…

Where I ate in Chiang Mai and some of my favorites:

Local Thai food:

Khao Soi Mae Sai

This place is often called the b best Khao Soi in town. I visited during lunchtime, and it had a long line of people waiting to get their food (both local people and foreigners). The price is extremely cheap (110 Baht for two beef and pork Khao Soi and one iced tea — $1.5–2 USD), and it tasted awesome! It was my first time trying Khao Soi and I’ve been craving for Khao Soi ever since.

Khao Soi Khun Yai

This Khao Soi place in the old town is one of the most famous Khao Soi restaurants in Chiang Mai (40–60 baht for one bowl of Khao Soi depending on the meat and size you choose). We tried the chicken and beef Khao Soi and they were a bit spicy for us but still really delicious.

Kat’s kitchen

Located in the Old Town, this place is also filled with many foreigners and local Thai people. I tried a Massaman curry with shrimps for the first time and it was very peanut-y and delicious! In addition to the curry, we also ordered the fried chicken wings and iced Thai milk tea and paid 240 baht. Would recommend this place if you are in the Old Town.

Collina Restaurant

I visited the Rustic Market that opens only on Sunday from 8 am — 2 pm and Collina Restaurant was nearby the market. Kuey Teow and fried fish were delicious! Also, try their cantaloupe and pineapple frappes too! My favorite was the Cantaloupe frappe and it costs only 35 baht (about $1)! We only paid 260 baht for the whole meal (Kuey Teow, fried fish and two frappes).

Western food:

If you crave for some Western food after having many Thai meals in a row, check out these places.

The Salad Concept

This place offers a variety of salad options and has several stores within Chiang Mai. We tried the Salad Concept two times — once in the Old Town and another in Nimman. Both times I tried the beef salad and I was satisfied both times. It comes with delicious beef and lots of fresh vegetables with Japanese soy dressing.

Food 4 thought

Food 4 thought offers many vegan and vegetarian options. We tried the ‘deconstructed’ spring roll salad, the duck burger and the coffee lemonade (661 baht in total). The spring roll salad had lots of fresh vegetables with big chunks of crispy tofu. The coffee lemonade tasted very refreshing too.
The price is on the high-end, and there were a lot of foreigners in the restaurant. What I did not like about this place was lack of sanitation considering the price we paid. There were a lot of insects within the restaurant although we sat inside, and I saw one employee using a spoon he put in his mouth to stir a jar that contained cold brew a few times.

Others:

Sushi Umai

This little Japanese restaurant in Nimman was pretty good. The price is on the high-end but the quality of sashimi was really good. I tried the salmon donburi (around 450 baht) and it came with a generous quantity of salmon sashimi and salmon roe with delicious sushi rice. The server was not able to speak any English, so that was a little bit of a downside for me. When you are craving sushi, this place is quite decent!

Where I stayed in Chiang Mai:

I stayed in BED Nimman ($58/day). This is a franchise hotel that has a few other locations within Chiang Mai.

Likes:

The location of the hotel was great:

I stayed at the Nimman neighborhood. Nimman has a lot of cafes and co-working spaces in the neighborhood that are in 5 to 10 minutes walking distance. Nimman is also very near to Chiang Mai University (CMU), so you can easily spot many college students and digital nomads studying and working in cafes with a laptop.

2. Friendly staff:

The staff in BED Nimman was very friendly and accommodating of our needs. The staff speaks decent English and they provided recommendations for cafes for work and the best massage shop in town which were very helpful.

3. Decent breakfast:

They provide a pretty good breakfast (7–10 am). It comes with several different options to choose from Thai food to Western breakfast (i.e. croissants, sandwiches, yogurt with granola, etc.) that changes slightly every day.

Dislikes:

The soundproofing is pretty bad:

I could hear a lot of noises day and night. I had to hear some noises that I did not want to hear at night next door (privacy please…!). It is an adults-only hotel in which they do not accept any kids, and also has a quiet time from 9 pm to 8 am.

2. Some minor inconveniences:

It is not a smoke-free hotel, so every morning I opened the balcony door, I could smell cigarette smoke next door. The pillow in the hotel was too high for my liking. I also spotted some ants in the bed and there were some insects within the room. There’s no warm water from the faucet in the sink and the room is pretty small.

Some fun places to visit and activities to do in Chiang Mai:

Temples!

There are some cool temples to visit when you are in Chiang Mai. Below are some of the popular temples in Chiang Mai.
Wat Chedi Luang
Wat Phra Sing (gold temple)

Doi Suthep: This temple is about 40 minutes to a 1-hour drive from the Chiang Mai downtown. The road could be very curvy. You can ride a red truck that goes around the downtown to get to Doi Suthep for about 60–80 Baht for a one-way trip. It is worth visiting since you can have the whole outlook of Chiang Mai in Doi Suthep, since it’s located in the mountaintop. The weather is colder in Doi Suthep so bring a light jacket with you.

Thai Massage (Varalee Massage)

I tried the one-hour Thai massage (head, shoulder, leg, and foot) for 250 Baht and 2 hours massage with Thai Massage and Thai herbal ball massage for 700 Baht. Both massages were great. The facility is a bit outdated, but I had the best Thai massage in Varalee Massage in Nimman neighborhood.

Markets (Rustic Market, Think Park Market)

Rustic Market (Sunday 8 am — 2 pm)

The rustic market only opens on Sunday mornings. The market has many vendors that sell unique handmade products. It was very crowded and I would recommend going to this place early in the morning as some goods can be sold out fast. JingJai market is also nearby, so you can visit Jing Jai market afterwards.

The market was crowded with many tourists, so the price seems to be a bit higher than what you could expect at a local market. There are some food vendors in the market as well.

Think Park Night Market (Wed, Thu and Fri 4–10 pm)

This is the market right in front of the Maya Mall. It is not very big but has various options for food as well as some other street vendors selling a variety of stuff you’d expect at a night market.

Cooking Class (Basil Cookery School)

I took the morning class at Basil Cookery School in the Nimman neighborhood from 9 am to 2:30 pm. They picked us up at our hotel at 8:30 am and we went to the local market to purchase ingredients that will be used for cooking together. The teacher went over local Thai ingredients and species that are commonly used in authentic Thai food. In a class of seven people, we chose six different foods we wanted to make for the day from appetizers, main dish (i.e. stir fry, noodles, curry, salad) as well as desserts. Everything tasted so good and the whole process is very hands-on, so even my husband who is not very used to cooking ended up making some of the really good Thai dishes!
It was a unique experience and I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Chiang Mai. We paid 1000 baht per person.

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Visit (half-day tour)

You get to interact with an elephant family for a few hours by feeding them bananas, sugar cane, and leaves and you can also take lots of photos with the elephants. We paid 1350/person for the half-day tour.
You can also play with elephants in the mud pool as well. It was my first time seeing elephants so close and overall it was a great experience!

Other Tips:

Download Grab when you are in Thailand

Grab is a ride-sharing service that you will be using quite often during your stay in Chiang Mai. It’s the Asian version of Uber or Lyft (Uber owns 27.5% stake in Grab). Download the app when you arrive in Thailand.

Try Khao Soi, an authentic Northern Thailand dish

Khao Soi(can be spelled Khao Soy or Kao Soi) can be found pretty easily throughout Chiang Mai. Some of the popular Khao Soi places include Khao Soi Mae Sai in Nimman or Khao Soi Khun Yai in Old Town (refer above for my review of both places). Make sure you try the delicious Kao Soi when you are in Chiang Mai.