Chiang Mai – Living and Working Remotely. Key word: charming.

At the end of 2025 we took a leap, well figuratively by making important career decisions but also physically, across continents. This blog is about the first location we lived in Southeast Asia which captured us with its charm – Chiang Mai, Thailand. I’ll explore it from the lens of a remote worker but also traveller.

We lived in Chiang Mai from December to mid-February and we knew we had to leave it around springtime, as unfortunately the burning season and pollution reach peak levels around that time every year, and as I saw after we left, 2026 was no exception, and it’s heartbreaking to see the environmental damage brought by it. If you’ve not heard of this phenomenon much, it basically happens due to agricultural burning of the fields in the country but also neighbouring countries as well as temperatures increasing and the potential for wildfires being out of control, of course add to it the other usual emissions such as transport, it all creates incredibly high AQI levels very damaging to the population and surrounding environment.

Reasons why you will love Chiang Mai – whether as a digital nomad or holiday-goer

Honestly, there are so many, I will try to mention key ones in no particular order.

• Arts & crafts – where do I start…the entire city has an incredible artistic vibe. Every single market you go to, you will find handcrafted objects from decorations, to clothing, to homeware, jewellery and everything under the sun. It’s so lovely to watch the artists as well creating whilst selling at the markets and talking or presenting with such enthusiasm their art. It’s a great place to get involved in workshops too! We did an acrylic painting class and honestly I don’t want to speak too soon as I struggle to keep a potential hobby for more than two weeks, but it has inspired me to buy some supplies for home too!

• The markets – I mention them above but they deserve a bit more on them. If you’re in town only for the weekend, though I definitely recommend more time here, you can go to the weekend night markets in the Old Town. Now be warned, they can be super busy, they are 1 km long and can be a bit of a sensory overwhelm. We only went to each of them once – Saturday Night Market and Sunday Night Market, they start and go across different streets. I personally preferred the Sunday Night Market, they are both similar in terms of vendors of course, but just because of the location of the Sunday one.

• The food – the summary: tasty, cheap, varied. Definitely try the food stalls at One Nimman both inside the building and keep an eye out on the outdoors food market area too, as they organise lots of cultural, musical and food events there.

• The mountains – botanical gardens, hiking, temples. The mountains surround Chiang Mai like a lush green protective hug, which means you are never too far away from a nice day outdoors. I do recommend the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, there are lots to see and it’s set beautifully nestled in the mountains. On the way there we also stopped at Huay Tueng Thao Reservoir and you can find small cafés around it with a scenic view.

• The temples – a must see is the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, it is busy and crowded so do be prepared, but it’s worth it. We chose to hike to it, but be mindful it can be a bit steep in some areas so it’s better to tackle in the morning before the mid-day sun. We then took a red cab (shared open red truck style of cab) to the bottom and from there you can get a Grab into town.

• The cafés - There’s a big coffee culture so you will find award-winning baristas who care about their craft more than anything and are overly happy to teach you everything from the types of coffee bean roasts, origins, flavours. I think Nimman is the best area if you are a mega coffee enthusiast and I will mention a few places below.

Where to stay – neighbourhoods

Summary of each area in this section and names of cafés and restaurants in the following sections.

Nimman – best of everything really. Cafés, restaurants, small shops, markets, co-working spaces, two bigger shopping malls within walking distance of each other.

Highlights: One Nimman Shopping Centre and Food Court, Maya Lifestyle Centre

💎Hidden gem: OUR space Nimman (Ice Bath, Pool, Mindfulness) – no, I do not do ice baths, just wanted to clarify, the most I got in one was up to my ankles. Now, this is a welcome space when it gets hot with a nice pool, loungers, ice bath, big steam room and you can get an hourly pass too if you don’t want to spend the entire day there, so flexible options and we loved it for a Sunday afternoon.

Old Town – best if you’re on holiday

Highlights: temples, restaurants, cafés

💎Hidden gem: Khum Café is a small cute café placed in the garden in front of the Lanna Architecture Center. We had the best iced teas here (I had a lovely rose lemonade tea), and one of the best coconut cakes, and yes we came back to it.

Santitham – best for a little bit of a more authentic living experience and if you prefer an area less touristy but still close to Nimman and Old Town.

Highlights:

- Epilogue: great to work from and also get cute handmade souvenirs,

- Café de Sot: it will catch your eye immediately looking like a little tropical oasis, and in the morning the combination of mist and sunshine looks just magical.

💎Hidden gem: Flips & Flips Homemade Donuts. I mean the name says it all, right? Softest, nicest donuts around, set in a small garden and of course also serving coffee. I cannot recommend one specific donut – try them all.

Co-working spaces

Life Space – This is the place we used the most as it’s quite good value for money and quiet, focused environment. You can also rent a meeting room which we did when we needed to film content. They have bunk beds with chicken plushies, yes I felt that’s worth mentioning, to bring a bit of whimsy.

Others: Yellow – only went for a walkaround, it’s a cool space, very green, it’s was just a bit out of budget at the time and we were there for the first time so wanted to explore working from different places and cafés as well.

Pai Yan Yai – not technically a co-working space as such, as it’s more of a café and restaurant, however they allow and encourage people to work from there, and upstairs is dedicated as a working space. We actually spent a lot of time here, everyone is super friendly and it’s nice to be able to setup and also order coffee and food throughout your stay there.

Camp in Maya Lifestyle Centre – you will find lots of students here and it definitely has that vibe, lots of let’s say more quirky seating areas so if comfortable plush seating is a priority maybe this is not the place, but it’s pretty cool to sit on the wooden steps where there are also individual tables. You need to order at least one item to be able to get the Wi-fi code which changes every 2 hours but everything is affordable and they do food as well as drinks.

💎 Hidden gem: The Coco Club – you will need a lot of self-discipline to actually do your work here as it all looks like it belongs on a tropical island, with a lovely big pool, lots of palm trees, a sauna so you can have some proper downtime too. For the work part, there are spaces upstairs with AC and comfortable seating and well the lovely view I just mentioned.

Where to eat or have too much coffee

This one is hard – there are so many nice food places, you’d never run out of options, and so these are only a few highlights.

In Nimman

• One Nimman – inside food court and the outside courtyard food market (there are times when there are no events or food stalls but I think it is very rare, if you are visiting in the peak times there will most definitely be something happening there). Portions are small so try different things and make up your own dream combo of foods, think one night we had 8-9 dishes.

• Jeab – lots of options and decent portions – anything from curries, soups (try: Tom Yum soup and be warned, it is spicy; Tom Kha, the coconut galangal soup for a sour and non-spicy option).

• Pai Yan Yai – mentioned before, breakfast sets and lunch options.

• Roast8ry Coffee Flagship Store and Roast8ry Coffee Lab – really cool space, not comfortable seating though in case you are looking for that to work there, but can still spend some time and enjoy the coffees. Which brings me to the fact that the coffee is incredible, genuinely really good quality, amazing coffee art too and you can also buy some coffee bags for home.

• Ombra Caffe – there are 2 Ombra cafés in town, both have nice coffee and good brunch foods if you are in need of some sourdough.

• KLAY café – also good brunch options and nice outdoor seating, in the heart of Nimman.

• FOHHIDE – the best view! And super tasty coffees.

In The Old Town

• Garden to Table – healthy, clean food, as the name suggests their produce is super fresh – recommend the gyozas as a side and Khao Soi as main.

• Kati Breakfast and Brunch – some of the best brunch food we’ve had in Chiang Mai, seriously tasty, and interesting combinations of flavours, really nice, genuine highlight.

• Krua Dabb Lob – good for varied curries, affordable. Think we had our first Khao Soi and Tom Kha here.

• Fern Forest Café, a lush garden, serving lots of delicious cakes and drinks.

Day Trips

• Chiang Rai - for a tour of impressive temples - Wat Rong Khun: The White Temple, Wat Rong Suea Ten: The Blue Temple, Wat Huay Pla Kang: a complex with a 9-tier pagoda and Guan Yin statue which you can visit and take an elevator to the top.

• Doi Inthanon National Park - beautiful scenery, waterfalls, highest point in Thailand.

Looking back at all the photos I realise how many experiences we had and how vibrant everything was. The culture, the people, the food – there are hundreds of reasons why you should spend some time in Chiang Mai if you get the opportunity.

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