I HAVE WRITTEN THIS ANONYMOUSLY BUT WE ARE HAPPY TO TALK TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO MEET US.  

……There are so many benefits to retirement in Chiangmai, I think the best way to answer this is to set them all out:

A.  The most important:   The delightful Thai people, always happy, caring and friendly.  Most Thais are very well disposed towards farang - foreigners, and wherever we go we are greeted with smiles and tokens of respect, totally unknown to us in the UK.    
We have gained so much from this country by accepting the Thais as equals and making the effort always to be friendly towards them.  They in turn appreciate us for responding to their happy and relaxed attitude to life.   If you make eye-contact with any Thai, anywhere, they will always smile and nod their heads in greeting, even if they are driving a motorcycle.  - This is so delightful. 

B.  Having grey hair is a major advantage in this part of the world as the elderly are revered.  My husband is known as Khun Dta - honoured grandfather, and I am Khun Yai - honoured grandmother!    Many times I have been trying to cross a busy road alone when someone slips their hand into mine and helps me negotiate the traffic. Other times, despite the fact that I am perfectly capable, someone will take my arm when I am walking up or down a flight of stairs.  It is all so caring.   I was recently caught in a downpour and as I stood soaking wet under an awning, a young lass came up and gave me a plastic poncho she had just bought from a nearby trader.  After thanking her profusely, I then struggled to put on the poncho as it was windy when two other young girls came up and held it open for me.  They only left once they were sure I was okay.  It is the frequent experiences like these that make life here so very special here.
    
C.  Crime is at a very low level in this city and we feel completely safe wherever we go, day or night.  The thought that one of us might be taken ill or have an accident in the street far from home gives us no cause for concern.  The caring nature of everyone here will ensure that we get the appropriate attention. 

D.  Medical care:  The Ram1 hospital not far from our condominium, is one of the best medical canters in the country and I have already experienced surgery there.  The care I received could not be bettered anywhere and the total cost for the operation, the attending specialist and two days in a private suite was minimal by comparison to medical charges in the West.   The hospital has one floor devoted entirely to farang patients and all the medical staff can speak English.  My husband has a full annual checkup there and the thoroughness of the report he receives following a formidable bank of tests, is amazing and, all-important, extremely inexpensive.

D. Climate:  The surrounding mountains create a much cooler environment in Chiangmai.  The weather is warm to hot (tolerable) for ten months of the year.   April and May are the two worst months as it is stiflingly hot and dry, so it is advisable to take an overseas holiday at this time.  

E.  Social environment:  There are about 20,000 expats in this city, mostly Americans, and there is a very active Expats Club which meets every fortnight.  We also socialize with fellow residents in our condominium of all nationalities, but we prefer our Thai friends as they are so happy, generous-spirited and warm.   We enjoy sharing meals with them at various Thai restaurants as we are now completely hooked on the local cuisine. 

F.  The cost of living here is only 30% of what it is in Western Europe!!    We eat out at a different restaurant every night from a full range of cuisines, all within easy walking distance or a short song taew or tuktuk (public transport) ride from our condo.  The meals cost so little it's uneconomic to cook at home.     We take a daily walk to the local bookshop where we pick up the Asian edition of The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and the national newspaper in English, The Nation. 

G.  Domestic help:   We have a beautiful Thai lady who comes for 3 hours twice a week to clean the apartment.  She takes away with her our freshly-laundered clothes and brings them back all beautifully ironed.   All this for TBT 6,000 per month.   She also looks after our balcony garden which is full of exotic plants in pots. 

Downsides:  Strange as it may seem, as retirees we have not come across anything that impacts negatively on our daily lives here.   We maintain a happy, positive attitude to life and avoid the rude and discourteous expats who grumble noisily whilst negatively comparing this country to the one they left.  We don't know why they don't return to their countries of origin if the life here irritates them so much.   
The Thais have a saying that we repeat whenever we are asked how we are 'mee kwaam suuk tuuk wun' = I am happy every day.  So much depends upon your own attitude as happiness seems to beget happiness. 
Having always loved South East Asia, we are not bothered by the odd bits of rubbish, broken and uneven pavements, daredevil young bikers and the birds nest-type electrical wiring everywhere.    The fact that Thais in general have little sense of time or urgency, we have learned to live with delays in getting things done.   After all we too are living at a more leisurely pace.   We keep focused on the positive aspects of this city that make life here so happy.

Language:  Thais are not good linguists, and therefore communication can sometimes be a problem.  However, more and more young people speak some English.  We are learning to speak Thai and even our poor efforts create so much goodwill, we are rarely ever unable to communicate.   We always keep a Thai/English dictionary with us so we can point to the written Thai if we hit a problem.    If we have a technical query or a difficult subject to interpret, we ask a young Thai who can speak English to translate it for us or to write it down in their beautiful script.    We have picked up enough of the language now to get around without difficulty.

We are both incredibly fit since coming here to live.  The warm climate definitely helps old bodies.   My husband now looks younger than his contemporaries in the UK and he leads a busy life and is very happy. I really think that is the key to good health.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF CHIANG MAI

“Air Asia” touched down right on schedule in the fore-noon at Chiang Mai airport, having departed three hours earlier from Kuala Lumpur.
It could very well have been any small size airport in any other country that I had previously landed during my several world trips.   However, it really did not take me long to realize that Chiang Mai was in fact and indeed different.  It appeared to offer me plenty, in the way of personal welcome, especially to a stressed out new comer who had absolutely no concept as to what to expect in a foreign land  which I had chosen to settle for several months..  
Firstly, I was struck by the ease and calm with which the passengers disembarked moving towards the exit through immigration and customs.  In spite my being a seasoned world traveller, landing in Chiang Mai felt somewhat strange.  The ever familiar scenes of rush and stress associated with air travel anywhere else, appeared to be almost non-existent in Chiang Mai.
Passengers disembarked to form parallel lines behind the counters of immigration officials with ease and leisure. Lines with persons holding foreign passports moved slower than those of Thai citizens.
When my turn arrived, a smartly uniformed young immigration official looked over my passport carefully examining the contents and taking special note of the endorsement for long term non-immigrant visa to Thailand.   He made his own endorsement, before waving me with a polite smile.  No questions and no hassles.
The conveyor was already rolling out baggage and passengers picked them up with ease.         My baggage was conspicuously noticeable among the rest, in that my two cases were not only large, but quite heavy. In addition, I had to contend with my hand luggage which contained laptop and some personal files.
One look at my huge cases sent shivers down my spine, that in spite of my feeble physical condition and aching back I had no choice but to lift them off the conveyor quickly.    
 Almost as if it was pre-arranged, a young Thai lady with a small frame and a flashing graceful smile, moved quickly towards me motioning me to stand aside. She pulled the two large cases with all her strength to set them neatly on my cart.   She disappeared long before I could regain myself and recollect the only Thai word I had carefully memorized…”khob khun krup”.
A customs officer who was standing at his post further away was observing this episode with interest.  Quite obviously, his eyes caught the unusual size of my luggage.                                     I proceeded with my heavy cart heading towards the gate with “nothing to declare” sign, trying to avoid eye contact with the officer.                                                                                                     No, I could not slip through. The officer waved me towards him, pointing to the conveyor leading to X-Ray inspection. That really presented a problem where my heavy suite cases had to be lifted once again for inspection.   I looked around to see if I could catch a glimpse of the kind young lady to ask for her help again…. She was long gone…
The customs official, who had been observing me all this while, sensed my hesitation to lifting the heavy baggage.  With a pleasing smile, he motioned to me to stand aside.  He used all his might to lift the cases off the cart, set them on the conveyor to run them through X-Ray and at the other end he picked them up again to place on the cart for me…..                                       With a broad smile on his face, he said………”welcome” both in Thai and English.
In all the years I had travelled and in all the airports I had landed, no where did I ever experience such courtesy, kindness and help from fellow passengers or officials, other than of course, in my own country, Canada.
It was just at that moment and for the very first time that I felt the warmth of Thai welcome and pleasing kindness of Chiang Mai. …………………..A pleasant surprise indeed.                                                                               A tremendous difference it made to lift my ego when local Thais  extended such kindness to offer personal attention towards me who, for all intents and purposes appeared awkward and even looked different ……..?           
 Is it the first hint of life yet to be revealed in a land unknown to me…?                                      Or is it something to do with what I had read earlier, where I understood that of the advantage and even a bonus for one to have grey hair in Chiang Mai, and that Thai people paid much respect to their elderly…..?                                                                                                            Oh well, it suits me fine…..I’ll even grow a grey beard.
My first impression of Chiang Mai was sweet indeed with the incidents at the airport, because I could sense just then and there, the stage was set for my happy transition in the land of smiles.
Mr. Jing’s ( from Chiang Mai Friends Group) presence outside the customs gate to welcome me with a mini garland of flowers was indeed the crowning moment of my arriving home on a early day of December 2008.
“Chiang Mai friends group” is a home style association of local Thais and established expatriates, whose one goal appears to be helping newcomers with smooth transition and assist them to settle in the local community among Thais. 
The team of “Chiang Mai Friends Group” is headed by a very skilful, energetic young lady, Duenpen Chaladlam ( Boong), a local entrepreneur and business person with international expertise. She appears to be person of tremendous influence in the local community, an activist in promoting cause of green Chiang Mai etc. among other interesting pursuits..                         Her team’s specific focus is to help settle and integrate expatriates into the local scene and helping them all the way in various stages of procedures and needs.
Prior into coming to Thailand, my specific need was to locate a suitable accommodation in Chiang Mai.  Just by chance I happened to contact Ms. Chaladlam (Boong) through the internet.  I was so glad that I did, because Ms. Boong and her associate Mr. Jing delivered my ideal accommodation so very promptly and professionally, as though it was custom prepared just to suit my specific needs.     
 They ventured further to make certain that all my immediate needs were met and to help me ease into the Chiang Mai family.
Prior to venturing into the idea of Chiang Mai, I had read and researched plenty from my home country Canada……….        
It has been only a short stay, but thus far Chiang Mai has exceeded my expectations.
My stay has been short, but I feel I have come home, thanks to assistance from “Chiang Mai Friends group”.
My first impressions of Chiang Mai are indeed sweet and memories are good enough to carry with me for a long time and especially to relate interesting stories to my grand kids…………..