⭐️ Total score | 2.34/5 (Rank #540) |
👍 Quality of life score | Okay |
👶 Family score | Bad |
🎒 Community score | Okay |
💵 Cost | 😙 Affordable: $1,037 / mo |
📡 Internet | 🏎 Fast: 32Mbps (avg) |
😝 Fun | Bad |
⛅️ Temperature (now) | 🥵 Too hot: 37°C99°F (feels 40°C104°F) |
💦 Humidity (now) | 😊 Comfy: 32% |
💨 Air quality (annual) | 🌱 Good: 57 US AQI |
👌 Safety | Good |
🤮 Food safety* | Bad |
👮♀️ Lack of crime* | Good |
🤝 Lack of racism* | Okay |
🎓 Education level* | Mediocre |
⚡️ Power grid | Great |
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | Okay |
💰 Income level* | Very low: $493 / mo |
🙊 English speaking* | Bad |
🚶 Walkability | Bad |
✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | Okay |
🚦 Traffic safety* | Bad |
😄 Happiness* | Good |
🍸 Nightlife | Good |
📶 Free WiFi in city | Okay |
🖥 Places to work from | Great |
❄️ A/C or heating | Okay |
😁 Friendly to foreigners | Great |
🗯 Freedom of speech* | Okay |
👩 Female friendly | Okay |
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | Bad |
🎅 Startup Score | Bad |
🌍 Continent | Asia |
🚩 Country | Thailand |
🗓️ Average trip length | 3 days |
📡 Internet speed (avg) | 32 Mbps |
⛅️ Weather (now) | ☀️ 37°C 99°F + 😊 Comfy (32%) = feels 40°C 104°F |
💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎😷 57 US AQI |
🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
🚕 Best taxi app* | Grab |
🚑 Travel medical insurance | Safetywing |
💸 100 THB in USD | USD 2.71 |
🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | THB 10,000 = USD 271 |
💸 Tipping | Yes, 5% |
💳 Cashless | 💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere |
☕️ Best coffee place | True Coffee |
🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
♻️ Return rate | 👎2% of visitors return |
👨👩👧👦 Population | 70,000 people |
👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $5,911 / year |
👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 80% 👱♀️ 20% |
⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
💻 Online electronics shop | Lazada |
🏠 Apartment listings | 9 Apartment |
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Air Asia |
✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Air Asia |
💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,037 / month |
💵 Cost of living for expat | $554 / month |
💵 Cost of living for family | $1,125 / month |
💵 Cost of living for local | $321 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $630 / month |
🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,008 / month |
🏠 1br studio rent in center | $200 / month |
🏨 Hotel (median price) | $30 / night |
🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $33 / night |
🏢 Coworking hot desk | $241 / month |
🍛 Dinner | $1 |
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $0 |
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L) | $2 |
☕️ Coffee in cafe | $1 |
👩🏫 International school | $6,764 / year |
📱 Mobile data (~10GB) | $4 / month |
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi) | $4 / trip |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Pretty safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Warm now
✅ Warm all year round
✅ Perfect humidity now
✅ Good air quality on average
✅ Many Nomad List members have been
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Easy to make friends
✅ Very easy to do business
✅ Safe for women
✅ Not many people smoke tobacco
❌ Freedom of speech is weak
❌ Not very democratic
❌ Not much to do
❌ Quality of education is low
❌ Hospitals are bad
❌ Roads are very dangerous
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Not family friendly
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
Feels | 7926° warm | 8127° warm | 8630° warm | 8429° warm | 8630° warm | 8429° warm | 8429° warm | 8228° warm | 8630° warm | 8228° warm | 8127° warm | 7725° warm |
Real | 7926° warm | 8228° very warm | 9032° hot | 8630° very warm | 8731° hot | 8429° very warm | 8429° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8530° very warm | 8228° very warm | 8127° warm | 7725° warm |
Humidity | nice 36% | nice 32% | too dry 21% | nice 34% | nice 37% | nice 43% | nice 46% | nice 47% | nice 45% | nice 45% | nice 45% | nice 39% |
Most common | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☀️ Clear | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☔️ Rain | ☀️ Clear |
Rain | dry 15mm | dry 17mm | dry 20mm | rainy 129mm | rainy 165mm | rainy 304mm | rainy 389mm | rainy 392mm | rainy 340mm | rainy 147mm | rainy 52mm | dry 4mm |
Cloud | pockets 27% | pockets 20% | pockets 19% | pockets 46% | pockets 48% | cloudy 61% | cloudy 62% | cloudy 61% | cloudy 53% | cloudy 53% | pockets 42% | pockets 23% |
Air quality | okay 93 US AQI | bad 134 US AQI | bad 168 US AQI | bad 182 US AQI | okay 94 US AQI | clean 33 US AQI | clean 32 US AQI | clean 31 US AQI | okay 57 US AQI | bad 255 US AQI | okay 57* US AQI | okay 57* US AQI |
Sun | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 10 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 8 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI |
Remote workers | 511 people | 350 people | 320 people | 250 people | 360 people | 275 people | 200 people | 400 people | 200 people | 333 people | 500 people | 400 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Chiang Rai's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 41° 106° 38° 101°🥵AQI 151😷✈️12min$951 / mo60Mbps×avoid going to the waterfalls with weed (or buying any on the way there) It's a very old trick the cops stop & search bikes on their way back. (while the locals try to sell you stuff on the way there)
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 37° 99° 34° 93°🥵✈️12min$1,088 / mo27Mbps×I'd skip Vientiane if I was you. It's mostly for Chinese business people. But there's not much to see or do there. We visited the unexploded bomb museum, which was interesting but tiny. There's some French cafes and massage places. But everything is quite basic. I'd just go straight to Laung Prabang if you want to see more of Laos. Or Vang Vieng if you want to party. Vientiane wasn't very remote worker suitable either, just like entire Laos. Internet is slow and if it's not slow it's unstable
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 47° 117° 41° 106°🥵AQI 129😷✈️29min$841 / mo7Mbps×This is where humans shouldn't stay or visit after the 2021 Feb Coup. Until now it's a dictatorship country, so expect everything that can happen in a dictatorship country.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 50° 122° 38° 100°🥵AQI 89😷✈️41min$1,099 / mo10Mbps×People - People are generally friendly - Not too many scams like BKK - Scams are low here because the city doesn't have the same attractions like BKK - Never ran in to a Digital Nomad here like Chiang Mai Language - English level is very low - If they can speak a little bit of English the people are shy to use it - Languages that you can use to get by are Thai, Cambodian and Lao Health - Hospitals have long line ups throughout the day. - Locals go in the morning to take a number, when their t
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 45° 113° 39° 103°🥵AQI 75😷✈️48min$1,049 / mo112Mbps×Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 41° 106° 38° 101°🥵AQI 151😷✈️12min$951 / mo60Mbps×This city is not for everyone, if you like shopping malls and big crowded cities it is for you. It may be cheap but if you want to live in a good location with swimming pool, go to nice rooftops and restaurants, use taxis then it is similar cost to western countries. In many areas there are no sidewalks, big and dangerous traffic all the time, pollution, taxis do not want to go with meter, it can get really hot. Definitely try to live by the metro. Many foreigners, mostly friendly people, cheap
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 45° 113° 36° 97°🥵AQI 62😷✈️55min$1,345 / mo86Mbps×avoid going to the waterfalls with weed (or buying any on the way there) It's a very old trick the cops stop & search bikes on their way back. (while the locals try to sell you stuff on the way there)
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 37° 99° 34° 93°🥵✈️12min$1,088 / mo27Mbps×Penang is really, really hot and humid. It's pretty affordable but it's relatively small. Personally, I think traveling Penang is great because you have a mix of cultures but I couldn't stay here for a longer time because it is so unbelievable hot.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 35° 95° 30° 86°🥵✈️2h$952 / mo32Mbps×Hong Kong is a great city with dense urban areas but also nature and hiking routes only 15 minutes away. There are restaurants for every taste and budget, from the best US fast casual chains to high end Michelin star restaurants. It's also extremely safe, despite recent political instability.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 32° 90° 27° 80°🥵✈️2h$3,002 / mo87Mbps×I would be a bit careful with Pattaya, because the Police are cracking down on foreign illegal workers, Expessialy from Russia, and that can accidentally put a remote worker like me in the crossfire. That means that a digital nomad can be deported on a misunderstanding, because the police in Pattaya is not so used to deal with a digital nomads like they are in Phuket, Koh Samui and Chiang Mai, they put you in the same basket as illegally working Russians and out with you. Apart from that i would
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 42° 108° 34° 93°🥵✈️1h$1,266 / mo60Mbps×I'm staying in BGC as I write this, and so far PH most aggressively mediocre place I've travelled to in Asia. While I'm used to free/cheap wifi, friendly people, and great food living in place like Thailand, even staying in the most modern area in the country lacks all of those (no free Wifi even at Starbucks, and I've seen "cooked fresh" restaurant food taken out of the freezer before cooking). Social culture is very uncanny valley, people are "polite" but it's extremely fake, which you'll noti
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked very bad👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 43° 109° 34° 93°🥵AQI 46✈️3h$1,538 / mo41Mbps×Lived in Phuket for a year now. Amazing place, especially the Bang Tao area. The further you go up north, the more beautiful it gets. Amazing beaches, beach clubs, restaurants and people. Patong is nice for a few days, but if you're not into partying just stay away. A lot of police check on the roads around Patong (and accidents), so always bring your international license. You can make it as expensive (or cheap) as you want, if you eat local like I do a meal is around 60 - 120 baht. Stay away
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 42° 108° 32° 89°🥵✈️2h$1,623 / mo66Mbps×The most vietnamese city in Vietnam. The Old Quarter and West Lake are the highlights. If you come, try the egg coffee. Be mindful Vietnam has cracked down on visas, and it is not as friendly to foreigners. I was able to relax after I received a 5-year spousal visa.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 49° 120° 34° 93°🥵AQI 167😷✈️52min$1,092 / mo48Mbps×Chiang Mai has had a deep Buddhist influence running over the last 1,000 years and this can be felt in the helpfulness, patience and generosity of the Thai and long-term transplants you come across. The city has an active community scene (nomads, spiritual seekers, hikers, creatives), several mountains with hiking spots and waterfalls surrounding the city, over 20 water bodies inside the city -- many have cafes and walks around, several public parks, and over 13 national parks with campgrounds w
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😝 Cheap📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 41° 106° 38° 101°🥵AQI 151😷✈️12min$951 / mo🌇 Also went here102 people×The most vietnamese city in Vietnam. The Old Quarter and West Lake are the highlights. If you come, try the egg coffee. Be mindful Vietnam has cracked down on visas, and it is not as friendly to foreigners. I was able to relax after I received a 5-year spousal visa.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open☀️ Feels 49° 120° 34° 93°🥵AQI 167😷✈️52min$1,092 / mo🌇 Also went here56 people×This city is not for everyone, if you like shopping malls and big crowded cities it is for you. It may be cheap but if you want to live in a good location with swimming pool, go to nice rooftops and restaurants, use taxis then it is similar cost to western countries. In many areas there are no sidewalks, big and dangerous traffic all the time, pollution, taxis do not want to go with meter, it can get really hot. Definitely try to live by the metro. Many foreigners, mostly friendly people, cheap
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 45° 113° 36° 97°🥵AQI 62😷✈️55min$1,345 / mo🌇 Also went here98 people×The worst place that I've been to in Asia (& I've been to quite a few). Every interaction with a local is a sales pitch for something. Tuk tuk, massage, weed, food, prostitution, you name it. People look at you as a customer and nothing else. This is very different in other countries in South East Asia. I've had plenty of authentic, non-sales-pitchy interactions with locals in Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines or Thailand. None of that here. It feels like this place only exists to extract as much
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 46° 115° 36° 97°🥵✈️1h$1,202 / mo🌇 Also went here48 people×Saigon has things going for it—great food, beautiful French architecture, interesting history, steady development, and nice enough people. But overall, the vibes are mediocre. Again, the locals are nice enough, though, as a Westerner, you're not going to feel as welcomed as you are in surrounding countries (I don't mean to sound entitled, that's an honest assessment). You just sort of exist; people stare at you and will be amused by you, but don't expect the celebrity treatment you get in othe
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌥 Feels 49° 120° 36° 97°🥵✈️2h$1,042 / mo🌇 Also went here49 people×Lived in Phuket for a year now. Amazing place, especially the Bang Tao area. The further you go up north, the more beautiful it gets. Amazing beaches, beach clubs, restaurants and people. Patong is nice for a few days, but if you're not into partying just stay away. A lot of police check on the roads around Patong (and accidents), so always bring your international license. You can make it as expensive (or cheap) as you want, if you eat local like I do a meal is around 60 - 120 baht. Stay away
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 42° 108° 32° 89°🥵✈️2h$1,623 / mo🌇 Also went here52 people×The other reviews are right—it's a good city with excellent value for money. The people are nice enough. The infrastructure is good. You *should* like it, but you don't—it's incredibly, incomprehensibly boring. The vibe is aggressively lukewarm. You will find more excitement in a rural Japanese village than here—I'm not joking.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety mediocreTap to open🌧 Feels 45° 113° 32° 90°🥵AQI 76😷✈️2h$1,221 / mo🌇 Also went here73 people×So… amazing food. Great public transportation. Very clean. But very conformist. Self expression limited. The irony of seeing an exhibit on graffiti, yet no actual graffiti in the streets. And the causal racism especially if you’re brown. You could be British born but still expect to be sat far away from everyone else at cocktail bars, experience comments and have weird assumptions made.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety greatTap to open🌧 Feels 36° 97° 30° 86°🥵✈️3h$4,315 / mo🌇 Also went here61 people×Can’t recommend Ubud. It’s just the same overdeveloped and overpriced mentally isolated tourist trap that is Canggu, just a bit worse. If you have never been anywhere else, it might be okay for 2 weeks, but to any seasoned traveller it’s a the type of place you dread.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 36° 97° 29° 84°🥵AQI 50✈️5h$1,823 / mo🌇 Also went here48 people×2nd time to Tokyo in 2 years. So much to see and do and great value in the past few years due to a declining yen against the USD & Euro. Wework (not open past 6pm & only iceberg open on weekends), Airalo Esim, and Wise Visa are your friend. Check out my Youtube for some nomad guides (Chicvoyage, @digitalnomadworld). I like Roppongi area. Stay in a hotel
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🙂 Okay📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked great👮 Safety greatTap to open🌥 Feels 24° 75° 24° 75°AQI 20✈️6h$2,748 / mo🌇 Also went here45 people×Budapest was on my list about cities for living. I stayed for 7 days and was a little disappointed People are not very friendly, lots os places very dirty, people smoke a lot and the costs isn't affordable as people indicated here. Its a beautiful place, walkable, people have a good level of education, lots of things to do, but not as i imagined. Even so its a nice place.
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😙 Affordable📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked good👮 Safety goodTap to open☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 57😷✈️10h$2,356 / mo🌇 Also went here44 people×Berlin used to be nomad base in Europe... but it's not the same anymore. The 'pandemic' changed many things -- the cost of course, but also the culture -- the freedom and liberty have been contained. The police presence and size of the state have grown -- definitely doesn't feel so relaxed anymore. It's also important to note here -- there is limited ambition. Most are looking for an easy, fun and peaceful life -- which is great, but if you are building something or running a business it can fee
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 7° 45° 8° 46°AQI 78😷✈️11h$3,943 / mo🌇 Also went here42 people×I recently visited Amsterdam for the third time (and the first time since 2018). I personally think it's a little overrated, but a cool place to visit nonetheless. The architecture is beautiful, and there are lots of good places to eat. I don't like the main area of the canals in the city centre; it smells of weed and is often packed. However, the outer edges - such as the Jordaan district - are less busy and more interesting in my opinion. One thing that surprised me is how much trash was o
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 7° 45° 9° 48°AQI 31✈️11h$6,099 / mo🌇 Also went here44 people×I don't understand why London has so high safety rating. Your phone could be stolen and your bicycle WILL be stolen here (or a part of it). I live here 8.5 years and I experienced the above multiple times. Police seems only cares about crime against person by whatever reason. Insure everything expensive that you own. I would also add that antisocial behaviour is quite common here and teenagers are heavily involved in crimes as police don't do anything with them because of their age. Basically th
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked bad👮 Safety goodTap to open🌧 Feels 11° 52° 11° 51°AQI 27✈️12h$5,534 / mo🌇 Also went here45 people×I don't know exactly how Barcelona is still considered safe but it's far from it. It's probably the most dangerous city to live in Madrid and one of the most dangerous in europe, with constant pick-pocketing and even violent crimes to get your wallet and phone in certain areas. If you like a peaceful life, Barcelona is not the place anymore!!
⭐️ OverallAll 💵 Cost 😳 Way too expensive📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast👍 Liked mediocre👮 Safety goodTap to open🌥 Feels 12° 54° 13° 55°AQI 46✈️12h$5,046 / mo🌇 Also went here39 people×Can't login? See the FAQ
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