Best Place to Stay in Chiang Mai as a Nomad | The Mirror

If you ask the best Thailand bloggers Bangkok beats Chiang Mai hands down for long term living, stuff to do (nightlife especially) and overall lifestyle.

best-place-to-stay-in-chiang-mai-the-mirror

The Mirror serviced apartment – western quality Chiang Mai accommodation monthly

That said NomadList ranks it in #1 given the amount of hipsters digital nomads there, and I still like it for short trips. Chiang Mai accommodation is sick value for a reasonably large city.

On a recent trip up there I found a good serviced apartment for monthly stays.

Best Place to Stay in Chiang Mai

I was in town to visit a mixed Thai-American buddy who likes to work online from Thailand, setting up small functional websites like this css button generator.

lifestyle-chiang-mai-digital-nomad

Check out naterexw on Instagram

He enjoys Chiang Mai for the nature, fruit festivals and crossfit gyms (lot of hippies there).

He was staying at The Mirror serviced apartment and let me in to take a gander:

the-mirror-chiang-mai-bedroom

A soft bed (can be hard to find in Asia) and 6th floor balcony view

He was paying around 14,000 Baht (~$400) per month for a one bedroom unit (separate living room, sometimes there’s a language barrier here and they really mean ‘studio’).

Relatively expensive by Chiang Mai standards but well worth it for the quality. They have rolling weekly, monthly and long stay contracts.

The Mirror is right in the middle of the trendy Nimman area – the Thonglor of Chiang Mai – with restaurants and ‘pubs’ (Thai for nightclub) within walking distance.

the-mirror-chiang-mai-living-room

Living room with LCD TV (bro tip – doubles as an external monitor if you only have a laptop)

He said the free internet there was decent. Was able to get on Redtube fine with a VPN. The deposit being only 10,000 was another plus – usually Thailand apartments want 2 months rent’s worth.

Maid service is complimentary 2x / week. Downstairs had fingerprint scan locks, 24 hour security and parking. Fridge, microwave, hot water and ‘air’ (air con) in all rooms.

the-mirror-chiang-mai-bathroom

Nice bathroom for the PSE (porn star experience) with a girl

By contrast before that he was staying just down the road at MP Place which is only 6,000 Baht (under $200) month to month, but an older building and only 24sqm.
He decided to upgrade, but there’s that place too for a lower budget alternative.

This is my pick for best place to live in Chiang Mai if you need flexibility and comfort working online in Thailand. More pics on their Facebook.

Also check out Airbnb for other options, use the links on this site for $35 off your first booking. There are lots of digital nomads in Chiang Mai so it should be easy to find an apartment to sublet month to month.

21 Responses

  1. kick2dante says:

    who approved of this guest post?

  2. jspill says:

    someone has to get intel on upmarket places

  3. james says:

    The Chedi in Chiang Mai is one of my favourite hotels in the world. Those of you thinking of going to Cebu, don’t bother. Head north to Chiang Mai.

  4. Skins says:

    I had a blast in Chiang Mai and I’d live there over Bangkok if I had to choose right now. Easy to get around, lots of cute girls, close to nature, dirt cheap apartments. There’s a lot to like about Chiang Mai.

    Jspill are you still in Bangkok? How’s the visa runs? Any issues so far?

    • jspill says:

      Yeah still in BKK. Waiting to see exactly how this new multi entry visa thing coming out on Nov 13 is going to work, i.e. if you can get it back to back.

      • Skins says:

        I read you can only get the six month in your home country? Not in Laos or anywhere around here. Fuck that noise. Maybe it’s time you marry a nice young lady from Nana Plaza? 😉 ED visa or sham marriage is the way to go!

        Or splash out the $15K for the elite visa… Nah I’ll stay in ‘Nam. Good luck over there.

  5. kick2dante says:

    lol thai visa runs

  6. FloppedAMonsta says:

    Does anyone know if PokerStars will accept 3 to 6 month leases (or contracts?) as documentation/proof of relocation as an American grinder? Planning the move to Chiang Mai in February next year and trying to figure out everything ahead of time to get setup as quickly as possible. Any insight into this would be helpful, thanks. Enjoying the articles/content.

    • FloppedAMonsta says:

      Meant to specify for the serviced apartments 😛

    • jspill says:

      Yeah, anything that looks official (with a letterhead/logo), with your name and Thai address on it should be fine for PS support. Doesn’t matter about it being a short term serviced apartment. People have even faked these things before, and utility bills. The name/address parts need to English, or translated on a separate document by a translation company (that part easily faked too).

      • Normal Nomad says:

        They really only care about covering their own asses.

        If the Government comes and asks about it, they’ll blame you (assuming you’re still in the USA) and you’ll get the trouble.

  7. kick2dante says:

    i had to answer a phone call to a landline, but they can call the front desk of the apartment complex, it doesnt have to be to your room if you dont have a landline

  8. Carl says:

    Nomad Phillipines,
    What do you spend on living/month in SEA?

    I want to go to a place that has plenty of gorgeous beaches with big waves and clear water for water sports-which cities have this?

  9. kick2dante says:

    I pay about $900 a month in most places I’ve lived but I don’t party and live quite cheaply, I would say $1200 a month would be a good realistic budget, and you can easily go under that if you want

    honestly nice beaches are kind of hard to find in Asia, for the Philippines try Palawan, Boracay and Bohol, or Phuket/Ko Samui in Thailand

  10. Carl says:

    Nice beaches hard to find in Asia? Is the water dirty or something?

    Im just not a fan of Latin America-I find a good amount fo people have a nervous/high strung energy. I like a chilled, relaxed vibe. For America, Southern California’s beaches are King. Key West isnt too shabby either.

  11. kick2dante says:

    Ya Asia definitely has a lot of laid back beach towns, personally I have only been to beaches Sihanoukville, Pattaya, and Subic, but from what I can tell any major city won’t have beaches, its really weird that Manila and Cebu City don’t have any, there are some on Mactan near Cebu but they are at resorts, to get to a nice one you gotta travel a couple hours

    All of the beaches I have been to have been really dirty, have lots of touts walking up and down trying to sell you things you dont need, beggars because there are tourists

    I enjoyed walking the beach in Snooky, but I definitely wouldn’t call it a nice beach, though I do think there are some just out of town that might be nicer

    Jspill can probably answer better about Thai beaches but I know he doesnt think very fondly of them as he had me write a “lol Thailand’ blog post for them using pictures of Boracay on the thai tourism website

    from what I hear Palawan is beautiful not just the beach but also all of the nature, I know Jspill is a big fan of the butterfly gardens, but limited nightlife in Palawan and girls there might be a bit conservative

    Bohol and Boracay have more partying

  12. Carl says:

    Thanks for the informative response man-the Phillipines sound like the best. Have you done Indonesia yet? Ive heard people on RooshV say good things about it.

    Whats your story-were you a burned out cubicle worker from the UK or an American who got tired of the USAs hollow ass mindless consumer lifestyle (that’s me)?

  13. kick2dante says:

    i have not done indonesia but i am very much looking forward to going there next year when i travel around, sounds like you can only stay there 2 months at a time and then have to fly out… makes living there quite hard

    american who used online poker being shut down as an excuse to come over here and it has ended up being a great decision 🙂

  14. jspill says:

    Beaches are ok for a while with a girl, but yeah Asians leave a lot of trash everywhere, then there’s the deckchair mafia and guys trying to sell you a ride on some pony that looks like it’s about to die. Once you finally find a nice spot, like Maya Bay or Koh Tup, it’s overrun with Chinese tourists. Not much waves in Thailand either, the only sports are parasailing, being tugged along on a bananaboat, or being scammed at a jetski rental.

    Our mate blogged about Indonesia a bit http://afarangabroad.com/?submit=Search&s=jakarta

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *