It is for those who like it a little calmer, for those who appreciate listening to the sound of silence. If you love living in the countryside this is the place to be. Townfolks most probably won’t be too happy out here in the foothills between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Everything here is pretty basic. We don’t have ocean view, nor do we have a rooftop pool and there is no tenniscourt behind the house if you know what I mean. We don’t have television, we don’t have air-co and we don’t have WiFi. We use the Hotspot function of our smart for our daily internet work on the computer. 4G connectivity is rock solid as one of our visitors once put it.
What we have here may be best described as sort of isolated operation mode. We are not off grid. We do have 220V / 50 Hz electrical power. Water supply however is from our own bore-well and therefore maybe susceptible to seasonal fluctuations. Sanitary sewage and waste water are fed into a soakage pit on the premises. For irrigation we use an electric pump on the riverbank.
Our house will be three years old in 2018 and most of the initial errors and malfunctions should have been detected and mended by now. It is built using autoclaved aerated concrete and it has a 6” roof insulation i.e. it is “cool” per definition provided you let the cold air in at night and close the doors and windows when temperatures rise during the day. As we live at an altitude of 500 m a gentle breeze from the mountains usually does warrant the cool of our evenings. Visitors describe our place as “secluded” even though it’s only 400 m across the paddies to the hot springs in the village. The only access to our house is a forest track which can be quite muddy during the rainy season.
General technical knowledge and understanding as well as mechanical and electrical skills are very helpful here. I mean it helps if you can prime the water pump down at the riverbank and it helps if you know how to back-wash the water filters. You must not have green thumbs but it helps if you can work with an electric lawn mower or a hedge trimmer.
Early in the year it can be very hot and humid here. Be sure you can stand the occasional 40°C (100+ °F). Do not apply if the inevitable power outage during a thunderstorm puts your life in jeopardy. And please don’t apply if you are afraid of tokay gecko, mosquito, scolopendra, spider, scorpion, snake and alike or roaming packs of dogs.
If however all that doesn’t scare you off you are very welcome to stay and enjoy the simplicity of real country life.
There are no dogs or cats to be looked after. There is no staff to be looked after. The only things that require attention are house, garden, the pond with the fish and the yard and naturally there is some administrative burden you will have to take care of.
We are planing to be off for a year or two. Dates are flexible and needed to be mutually agreed upon. We do have some business in Europe but can’t determine the exact duration as we depend on local authorities. Best estimate from their web sites is between 9 and 15 months. So make sure you have an open return ticket should you come from abroad and make sure you have the necessary paperwork to extend your visa.
We ask you to pay your electricity bill during your stay.
Feel free to use our mountain bikes, the motorbike and the car if you want to. If you do we ask you to pay service and maintenance at scheduled intervals and/or as required as well as tax and insurance on a pro rata basis.
You find your everyday commodities in the village. You have a hand full of noodle stalls there, some coffee shops and small restaurants. And may be you will be one of the first to relax in the brand new Japanese style Onsen Village and enjoy its recreational and therapeutic offerings. It is under construction right now and will open for the public early in 2018.
Doi Saket is the nearest town. It is about 15 min by car. You have the major banks there, ATMs, the post office, a hospital, 7/11, farmer’s market on a Tuesday afternoon and every day market for fish, meat, vegetables, fruit etc.
For Chiang Mai city or CNX intl. airport you count roughly ¾ hr by car all depending the traffic. Should you prefer to go by bus count 40.- THB for a one way ticket to Chiang Mai.
Chiang Rai city is about 150 km to the north. Count between THB and THB for a bus ticket depending on the comfort range they offer.
Many of Thailand’s major cities are less than two jet hours from CNX and off-season air fares usually are cheap.
So there is a lot to discover if you want to.