The everyday side of living in Chiang Mai — the things you only find out after you arrive. Connectivity, what is worth buying, and what we got wrong first.
Start with these
The eSIM plan I was sold, and the one I actually use
What data-only really means, why one of my plans did not connect on arrival, and what I pay each month across two countries.
What Karen Hill Tribe silver actually is
A day in the village where it is made, and why “hill tribe silver” is a description rather than a guarantee.
An eSIM for China: what happened when I landed with two
I bought it a week early and still could not finish the setup at Shanghai. What the plan cost, and the step I skipped.
The village in Lamphun that turned down the power line
What I saw there on 1 August 2026, what the public record says, and an assumption inside my own cost-of-living numbers.
Yi Peng and Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai
The dates, the districts where lanterns are banned, and the flights that do not take off.