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Community story

Why I moved to Chiang Mai

By Dan

  • My story
  • Work
  • What to do
  • DTV
Dan working on a laptop at a table in a Chiang Mai coworking space

By Dan

I had been travelling and working remotely for about 4 years, moving country roughly every month or whenever the tourist visa ended. I wasn’t at the point, but I could tell I was going to get burnt out.

I decided I needed to semi settle somewhere, and with the new DTV that had just been released, I thought it would make sense to try somewhere in Thailand.

As I work in SEO, Chiang Mai seemed a good fit. I booked an Airbnb for 6 weeks to see if I would like it.

Spoiler: I loved it!

I met a great group of people straight away, I met people that worked in SEO, I joined a gym. With meeting so many new people and so many events going on, it was the most social I had been since my days at university!

Dan with a group of friends holding water guns on a Chiang Mai street

Before those 6 weeks were up, I signed a contract on an apartment for a year as I knew it was the place I wanted to be.

After being in Chiang Mai for over a year, I’ve realised that the smoky season wasn’t great but wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. The rainy season wasn’t as bad either. I’ve learned so much and grown as a person.

A temple hall at Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai under a cloudy sky, with colourful lanterns hanging between the columns

If anyone is thinking about coming to Chiang Mai to work as a digital nomad, the answer is definitely a yes!

About Dan

Hey! I’m Dan from England. I’ve been in Chiang Mai since September 2025. I moved here because I work in SEO and run a travel blog, and it makes a great place to work on both of those at the same time.

Find out more about me here.