Are you wondering what’s so special about Chiang Mai, Thailand for digital nomads? In this video, you’ll learn why this city is the SEO capital of the world and what it’s like to live here.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:39 Layout
07:32 Lifestyle
10:23 Community Questions
Resources:
Chiang Mai SEO Community FB Group:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Subscribe here
►►
Download the SEO Business Scaling Guide FREE
►►
For more Lifestyle Design tips, check out this Playlist:
►►
In this video I'm going to answer the Question what's so special about Chiang Mai Thailand for digital Nomads Especially search engine optimization Professionals plus I'm going to answer a Ton of questions that you the community Has asked about living here as well the Chiang Mai SEO Community Facebook group Has nearly 2 000 members Chiang Mai is Or has been the home of many faces in The SEO industry including Kyle roof of Pop Glenn allsup of detailed Francois Grante of Hunter IO Brendan Tooley of WP Speed fix Charles float Dale Rosser Kevin mang and myself how did I end up Here back before I was an entrepreneur I Was working as an electrical engineer Which sucked I took a three-week Vacation to Thailand and I immediately Fell in love with the country for Reasons I'll explain soon I love Thailand as a whole but Chiang Mai in Particular felt like home and when I Returned back to my cubicle job in California I couldn't stop thinking About what life would be like in Chiang Mai and not only living in a foreign Country but pursuing my dreams as an Entrepreneur eventually I snapped I quit My job sold everything I owned and made The move that was eight years ago and It's been the best decision I've ever Made my life what is so special about This place that has attracted people
From all over the world to pack up and Move here so in this video I'll give you My perspective on why this is the place To be as an SEO professional and I'm Going to be extremely unbiased as well Bear in mind I'm not permanently Attached to Chiang Mai I'm constantly Scouting and exploring different Countries to potentially relocate to but So far I just haven't found anywhere Better for myself personally and Professionally and in this video I'll be Telling you why now if you like content Like this let me know by Smashing the Like button and normally when I do Off-topic videos like this they don't Perform as well as my typical SEO fair So any help you can offer to the YouTube Algorithm would be greatly appreciated Chiang Mai is located in the north of Thailand where the climate is a bit Cooler but let's be frank it's still Thailand and it's still freaking hot Generally people in the north are more Laid back or as the ties like to say Sabai Sabai which is a definite draw Their kindness is infectious they don't Call it the land of Smiles For Nothing The layout of Chiang Mai is nice and Compact anywhere you'd want to go you Can get to in 10 to 15 minutes or faster Especially on a motorbike traffic is Mostly okay aside from the rush hour From 5 to 6 PM in this middle square
Area we have the old city which is Primarily a tourist area with tons of Temples guest houses and the infamous Zoe and yellow Backpacker bar which no Respectful person would find themselves At I was there last weekend over to the West we have Neiman Hayman which is Where most of the entrepreneurs live It's considered the hot spot for City Living and it's near all the best cafes Restaurants clubs and most of the SEO Meetup events renting a condo on Niemann Will set you back about nine to thirty Thousand Baht per month that's about 300 To 1 000 U.S and you can find something Damn nice as well I used to rent a Three-bedroom penthouse for about forty Thousand Baht per month down to the South is Hong dong which is where you Typically end up if you have a family This is where I live along with Kyle Roof will try up and others you get more Bang for your buck out here and you can Easily find a standalone house with Three bedrooms an office and a pool for Anywhere between fifteen thousand to Forty thousand Baht that's 500 to 1 300 USD one of the major perks of living in Chiang Mai is easy access to Nature it's Surrounded by Lush rainforested Mountains including deutsutep to the West and beautiful waterfalls in any Direction you travel one of the most Pleasurable things I like to do is take
A motorbike ride through the mountains Just soaking up the scenery with the Kick-Ass Spotify playlist on internet is Blazing fast in Thailand the digital Infrastructure is set up damn good so You wouldn't think twice about having Enough bandwidth to do Zoom meetings or Download porn yeah why if you'd like to Co-work Chiang Mai has that on lockdown My favorite places include yellow Incubator day passes are 239 Bots and Memberships are 3920 per month and all Co-living which is 250 Baht per day or 2790 per month one important thing to Point out about an unseen benefit of low Rents and low cost if you're gonna Bootstrap a new business it's ideal to Place yourself in a situation where you Have a low burn rate when I lived in San Diego it took six thousand dollars per Month just for me to survive you can get By in Chiang Mai for a small fraction of That allowing you to focus on your Business and not be financially and Psychologically distracted by your burn Rate the ideal scenario which is what Most people do is to make dollars but Spend Thai bot this is called Geo Arbitrage it allows you to Leverage The Buying power of a strong currency and Live in asymmetrical lifestyle here's a Breakdown of earnings versus lifestyle For one thousand dollars per month you Can survive you'll be eating local Thai
Food for most of your meals and every Now and then you can go out on the town For some beers take a girl on a date or Whatever floats your boat for three Thousand dollars per month you can do an Anything you want you can eat at fancy Restaurant stay at the nicest condos and Travel every weekend you can live like a King or a queen for five thousand Dollars per month you'll seriously need To brainstorm on how to spend that You're gonna need a team to spend that Money you're going to be living your Best life I want to switch gears to talk About the community here in Chiang Mai Which in my opinion is hands down the Best part of it we have weekly meetups Every Thursday with presentations Website audits mini masterminds and SEO Pub quizzes shits and giggles all the Weekly events are coordinated in The Chiang Mai Co Community Facebook group Every now and then we have Mastermind Events where we take a weekend trip to a Nice resort and break off into small Groups to Workshop each other's Businesses and Mastermind is hands down The most transformative thing you can do For your business I've seen people 10 Extra income from the advice given at These which is exactly what happened to Matt Little's business after Chiang Mai Mastermind unfortunately it didn't do Much for his wardrobe oh my God
Let's also not forget we have the Chiang Mai SEO conference where 800 successful And batshit crazy entrepreneurs Basically take over Chiang Mai for a Week you straight up can't go anywhere Without hearing the word backlink Mentioned over your shoulder one Important thing to point out all of These events wouldn't be nearly as good If it weren't for the quality of the People attending one criticism I find With SEO is online is that people can be Quite secretive people don't want to Share their tactics their niches or Anything for that matter with other People but things are different in Chiang Mai instead of a scarce City Mindset there's an abundance mindset and Everyone helps each other hell people Share their actual website so we can do Website audits on them in the weekly Meetup it's a win-win for the community If you want a constant stream of Knowledge bombs this is where you want To be why do I think it got this way That's a good question my theory is that For someone to leave their country pack Up and relocate to Thailand it takes a Different mindset people are Pre-filtered before they even get here That's my guess another observation I've Had about SEO professionals is that on The whole they're introverted and shy if You should decide to visit don't let
That bother you the community is super Open and friendly you don't need to be a Six-figure earner with a 10 website Portfolio in order to fit in everyone is Welcome another unique perk about the Community is because everyone is in SEO There are optimizers by Nature people Are optimizing everything time Management and Outsourcing which is Killer and Chiang Mai and I'll get to That soon Health dating these guys in Their Tinder are ridiculous and of Course earnings since covet I'd have to Say that the community has gotten even Much stronger When travel restrictions and lockdowns Were in effect that caused people to Tone down on the travel for a year and Instead focus on the community and the Community has been all the better for it Now before I start getting into the Lifestyle benefits of Chiang Mai I got One more thing to say about the people And I'm not just talking about the Expats when I say this everyone and I Mean everyone is an entrepreneur the Lady selling pork stew on the street is An entrepreneur by the way this lady Probably pulls in five thousand dollars A day being surrounded by Entrepreneurship has an interesting Effect the general energy and tone to The conversations around you takes on a Different color the conversations are
About possibility and taking Responsibility for your actions now let Me be straight I love the states it's my Home but I'd be lying if I said it Wasn't completely jarring for me the Second I get off the plane at LAX and Hear people blaming the president or Covid or whatever it is today that is Holding them back from being happy at This point in my life I thrive in an Environment of high density Entrepreneurship okay let's move on to Lifestyle and I want to preface with Something first money cannot buy Happiness we all know that but what Money can can do is alleviate the pain Felt by not having enough I don't Consider myself Mega Rich by any Standard but living in Thailand I'm at The stage where I don't look at bills Anymore I just don't bother looking Because I know that no matter what I'll Be able to afford it here and that Doesn't just apply to restaurants but All experiences there's a substantial Amount of psychological fatigue attached To worrying about finances and when you Can let go of all that a huge weight is Lifted off your shoulders to me my Moment of becoming rich happened when I Didn't need to worry about prices Anymore and that can be achieved a lot Faster in a country like Thailand Something to keep in mind now one thing
You can do to optimize your life is Outsource all aspects of it made service Costs between 200 and 300 Baht per visit That's about eight dollars laundry Service costs about 40 Baht or a buck 50 Per load you can get meals delivered for Anywhere between 90 to 200 Baht which Comes out to three to seven dollars a Meal or you can go beast mode and get a Personal assistant for about two hundred Dollars six thousand Baht per month who Will take care of anything you need Grocery shopping Visa stuff driving Literally anything you can think of Speaking of driving grab which is the Uber of Thailand can take you anywhere You want the city for three dollars Everything I just mentioned adds up to Huge Time Savings which you can use to Apply to your business or just living an Easier life now I want to take a moment To talk about Thai people some of the Loveliest kindest people in the world as I said before Thailand is called the Land of smiles people are just straight Up genuinely friendly even to a D-Back American like me people speak enough English to the point where you wouldn't Need to learn a word of Thai to survive That said doing so is a significant Enhancer of your experience I studied For a year and it's definitely paid Itself back in spades now I know dating Is a huge topic so of course I'll
Address it as well yes Tinder is Available yes Thai women and men are Beautiful kind and into people from Overseas I'll leave it at that as you Likely already know Thai food is world Renowned for its bold flavors and Incredible taste it's quite a treat to Be able to eat Thai Cuisine every day if You should like for pennies on the Dollar compared to its prices in your Home country but what many people don't Know is that Chiang Mai is a gold mine For high-end dining experiences and you Can expect experience these Chef tables On mccases and Michelin stars for what You would pay at a TGI Fridays back home Everything I'm about to list is under a Hundred dollars per experience Aquila Restaurant which has a wagyu truffle Risotto that I you not is actually Too good to eat bad boys Valley is an Exclusive dinner experience at a huge Art Gallery in freaking Zoo the food is Equally artistic modern Thai with local Ingredients Anja canvila a private Chef Table at the chef's home the oyster soup And steak are Next Level office of fish The best Omakase Sushi I've had outside Japan and black itch my favorite tasting Menu in Chiang Mai it's pure heaven and You know what goes hand in hand with Eating weed is now legal in Thailand so Don't be surprised that the country ends Up morphing into the Amsterdam of Asia
Now I want to start getting into some of The important questions that you the Community has asked first we have the Question about visas what kind of Visa Is required for Thailand if you're just Coming for a quick stay then you can get A 30-day visa on arrival if you want a Longer trip you can pre-apply for a 60-day tourist visa in your home country Before you depart for longer days you Have a few options you can get a student Visa studying Thai language for about Thirty thousand Baht per year roughly One thousand dollars there's also Self-defense visas where you learn Self-defense and that covers you for a Year for about the same price Thailand Has been flirting with the idea of a Digital Nomad visa for people that work Online but that's still a work in Progress and lastly you can plug into a Board of investment boy certified Company like igloo which will get you a Legit work visa for about seven hundred Dollars per month how about taxes unless You have a registered business in Thailand you don't need to pay tax in Thailand put in other words if you're Not working in Thailand and making Thai Baht you don't need to pay taxes Personally I don't know anyone who pays Tax this year health care how does it Stack up against the West Thailand is One of the top countries in the world
For medical tourism the reasons for this Are quality of service and affordability Your typical care is so cheap that most People don't bother with insurance Unless it's a safeguard against major Diseases like cancer this is what I do To put things into perspective you can Get a dental cleaning for about eight Dollars and yes it's good very recently Had to spend two nights in Bangkok Hospital recently for a hardcore case of The flu it was like staying in a Five-star hotel and only set me back a Few hundred dollars and you don't need An appointment you just walk right in You'll be talking to a doctor in 20 Minutes or less which brings us to a Major health concern of Chiang Mai and That's a smoky season for two to three Months of the year the farmers in Chiang Mai dispose of their crop waste shitty Way by just straight up burning it this Causes the pollution levels to Skyrocket To unhealthy levels and it's by far the Worst thing about Chiang Mai while each Year they have been making improvements It's still not a place you want to be in The months of March and April the Community makes the best of the Situation and uses it as an excuse to Travel down to the islands each year Koh Samui and Phuket are both great Islands To call a second home for a couple Months of the year first world solution
To a third world problem is Thailand Safe do I feel safe in this country in The eight years I've lived in this Country I've never had a single thing Stolen from me the only violence I've Ever seen has been when drunk tourists Start with each other or Muay Thai Boxing match which shouldn't be missed Despite Thailand being a poor country it Is indeed a very Buddhist country the Concept of Karma keeps people in check More effectively than the law does which In my opinion is a huge Boon to the Feeling of safety you get here what's The deal with covet in Thailand at the Time of this recording most ties still Wear masks in public it's not required But they do it anyways it's an Asian Thing and probably goes back to Karma And people being okay with Inconveniencing their own comfort for The sake of others so at this point you Have a pretty clear understanding of What to expect in Chiang Mai but Experiencing a place is much different Than watching a YouTube video about one If you want to come out I have some Advice for you first off you don't need To have a business that is crushing it Before you get here Chiang Mai is a Great place to start a new business in a Low-cost environment with tons of Entrepreneurial resources second Consider the timing of your trip avoid
The Smoky season in March and April as Mentioned before the high season months Of November through January have the Best weather and the most action third Once you decide to come join the Chiang Mai SEO Community Facebook group and Start to pre-network and make some Connections before you even get here and Fourth smash that subscribe button for More videos just like this one