What Is the Best City to Live in Thailand?

The best city to live in Thailand depends on your desires and lifestyle, but Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and Hua Hin are top choices, no matter if you’re staying long-term on business or planning to make The Land of Smiles your new home.

Whether you’re looking for a short or long stay, having your own vehicle can make any trip more pleasant. Easy car rental in Khon Kaen and elsewhere across the country are part of what makes Thailand so easy to visit. Not being bound by tour bus schedules or having to constantly pay for taxis means you can soak up each city and think about what it would be like to live there!

Why Thailand?

Thailand has long enjoyed a status as a favorite of expats and digital nomads. While there is a rainy season and Thailand can get quite hot in the summer, most of the country has a tropical climate. Furthermore, while Thailand is famous for its ancient Buddhist temples and slow beach life, it’s also a state-of-the-art hub of modernity. The allure of access to these amenities in the same place you can visit farms and unplug by a beautiful waterfall is powerful.

Unsurprisingly, the best places to live in Thailand overlap significantly with the top cities to visit in Thailand. Let’s take a look:

Chiang Mai

Just as many expats and tourists are trying to split the difference between the modern world and off-the-map slowness, those who choose to live in Chiang Mai often want the benefits of Bangkok without the size and bluster.

Chiang Mai has large swathes of restaurants, co-working spaces, cafes, and bars. It also has a large enough number of expats, so when newcomers want to tap into a more familiar community, they can. Chiang Mai is also favored specifically for its weather. Because it’s in the north of the country, it’s slightly cooler than other popular locations, making for an enjoyable climate year round.

Finally, though this can fluctuate, Chiang Mai can be a cheaper city to live in than some others in Thailand. Because it’s not a beach destination and is slightly off the beaten path from Bangkok, it’s still often possible to find an affordable place to stay long-term.

Bangkok

The beating heart of the country, Bangkok is unlike any city in the world. It’s filled with all the modern conveniences a person could want: high-end restaurants, world-famous bars, luxury shopping, and state-of-the-art business centres, hospitals, and schools. 

Bangkok also has a unique history that is preserved across the city. Temples that are hundreds of years old stand next to couture brand outlets, and it’s a short trip to get out of the city into the rural part of the country.

The food in Bangkok is also an incredible array of choices. There are Michelin-starred restaurants and grandmothers cooking noodles on the same street, and people will debate which one is better! If you choose to live in Bangkok, you will truly never be at a loss for options.

Hua Hin

If you want to go one more step off the beaten path, consider Hua Hin. It’s favored for its small size, clean beaches, and social life that’s strong without being dominated by nightlife culture. The train ride from Hua Hin to Bangkok is about three and a half hours, and it’s a two and a half hour drive, meaning it’s not difficult to pop into the city when you want something you can’t get in town. 

While it has one of the hotter climates in the country, it’s right on the ocean and sits directly on road, train, and boat routes, meaning that you can easily escape to find whatever you’re craving. If you want pristine quiet with only occasional crowding from tourists, Hua Hin might be the place for you.

Going the Distance

Something to remember about Thailand is that, despite its broad diversity of people and places, it’s an easy country to get around. If you have your own vehicle, traveling between cities or going to the beach for a weekend is as simple as can be. 

Check out Drive Car Rental’s inventory today to see our range of rental options, from standard sedans to SUVs to electric vehicles. With your own car, you can really see the country and decide which city is the right one for you!