Wild about Austin: Thai times

In Chiang Mai they have a club for all the expats who reside here, of which there are many. One person told me there were ten thousand expats living here, but even for a city with a quarter million people, that seems high to me. The club has about 600 members according to the guy I was talking to. A new friend we met here at our guesthouse invited us to come to their meeting which is held once a month(? I think) at a nice hotel not too far from our place. So we went of course! It was held at this beautiful hotel.

It was very interesting to meet people who have made the decision to live here long term. They have lots of interest groups, charity benefits, and meet ups so the expats here seem to have lots to do. I think many people come here because the cost of living is very inexpensive and because the quality of the health care is supposed to be so good. That's all fine and good, but I did not meet too many grandmothers. It would be hard to be so far from your kids. The downside is that you don't see much of your family because it isn't cheap or convenient to fly here. Also, some of the expats don't have the funds to travel to see their family. That would be a huge negative to me. I would not retire here for that reason. Also the heat and the air pollution are awful. Just not worth it to live here long term.
Another problem is that there are mosquitos here which carry dengue fever. Overall however, aside from the random cockroach, there doesn't seem to be an excessive bug problem. I did spot this cool green moth that had a head resembling a snake and was about 3 to 4 inches long. I wish I had gotten a better photo as he was cool!

Here is an interesting succulent I saw on the street.

Now back to the expats! We met a German woman staying at our guest house who has been coming here for the winters for a few years. She invited us to meet for dinner with another expat lady who has been here three years and is a retired school librarian from Minnesota ? We had a lovely time with Christa and Jennifer at the Thai food buffet pictured below. The first pot is rice and all the rest are different Thai mixtures you put over the rice. It was so good and cheap ($3) we came here twice! The restaurant was in a quaint wooden building that had lots of character too.

I spotted this sign which gives you an idea about the prices for dental work here. The prices are in Thai baht. It takes about 30 baht to equal one dollar so $3,000 baht is about $100 USD. So, a root canal is $200 or less and a gold crown can be had for $500. Our friend has had some fairly intensive dental work done here and was very happy with it. I would have to work up my nerve and have a good recommendation before letting someone drill on me I think.