For several months each year, smoke from agricultural fires blankets Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand. But when Arinjay Jain moved there in 2024, he was too excited about his new life to worry about the haze.
“I landed here in the worst possible time, but I still loved it,” Jain told Business Insider.
A few years ago, he was running a small IT services startup he cofounded in Singapore. At 50, he was done with the grind and retired early to Chiang Mai, where he rents a one-bedroom apartment for about $425 a month.
Over months of reporting, I’ve spoken to retirees who have moved to Chiang Mai. For many of them, the city offered something they felt was increasingly hard to find back home: safety, affordability, and a slower pace of life.
Thailand’s long-stay visa options have long attracted overseas retirees. In 2025, Thai civil registration data recorded just under a million registered foreign residents, though the true number is likely higher.
Exact figures for retirees in Thailand are hard to pin down. However, at least 7,178 Americans in Thailand were receiving Social Security benefits as of December 2024, according to the most recent US government data.
Chiang Mai, which has an international airport, accounts for a sizable share of that population, with about 161,000 registered foreign residents in the province in 2025, out of 1.8 million residents.
There, a bowl of noodles from a street food stall or a latte from a café can cost around 75 Thai baht, or about $2.50.
The city also has a robust healthcare system, including English-speaking private hospitals and senior facilities that cater to international residents for much less than they would spend in the West.
Perhaps the biggest draw of living in Chiang Mai is the freedom retirees say they have gained over how they spend their time.
The Thai concept of “sabai sabai” — living in a relaxed, unhurried way — is something many told me they’ve come to embrace.
Below, you’ll find interviews with people who chose to retire in northern Thailand, from a couple who moved into a care home in their 70s to former Disney Imagineers who set out to build a more creative life abroad.
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