Chiang Mai - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
Most expats live in condos in mid-rise apartment buildings near or right outside the small downtown area of Chiang Mai or in western-style housing in gated communities called "moo baans" further outside the city. Our house is smaller than a typical American house, but very comfortable for a family with 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, an office, large fenced yard, and safe gated neighborhood. Commute times are not at all bad compared to larger Southeast Asian cities as Chiang Mai is a smaller city. It can take 20-45 minutes to get to or from the downtown from the housing communities depending on traffic. - Mar 2019
Houses are big and cheap. Most are rented furnished. It can be hard to find a house in the center of town, and they tend to be less modern (including some old traditional, wooden, Thai-style homes) and more expensive. A suburban housing boom in the past five years has resulted in a tremendous number of new neighborhoods (gated communities) featuring modern, western style (but not western quality) homes with yards. It is possible to find a nice house for less than US$500 per month, a very nice house for less than US$1,000, and an extremely nice house for less than US$1,500.A commute of 30 minutes is considered long. - May 2007
