> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://easythailandvisa.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Long-Term Rentals in Chiang Mai, by Area and by Budget - URL: https://easythailandvisa.com/chiang-mai-long-term-rent-by-area/ - Published: 2026-09-12T13:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-09T05:37:41.000Z - Description: The difference between a 6,000 baht month in Nimman and a 25,000 baht month in the old city is not the room, it is the air conditioning, the water pressure and whether the street is quiet at midnight. - Author: Somchai Jaidee - Tags: Slow Travel, Money & Costs Nobody is going to be in a Chiang Mai long-term rental for two weeks, so this is only useful if you are thinking three months or more. The prices below are real for a [lease](https://easythailandvisa.com/buying-property-in-thailand-foreigner-lease-rules/) of a month or more, and the differences between areas are larger than the differences between rooms in the same area. Last verified 15 September 2026. ## The areas, honestly **The old city.** A square kilometre inside the moat, full of Lanna shophouses, guesthouses, cafés and temples. The most walkable area in the city and the most expensive in the city. A decent one-bedroom in a good shophouse is 12,000 to 20,000 baht a month; a beautiful large one with a courtyard is 20,000 to 35,000. Strengths: everything inside the moat is walkable, the food is the best in the city, the night market is at the gate. Weaknesses: the noise in high season, the fact that it is genuinely a tourist district, and the air quality in April when the surrounding valley is burning. **Nimman.** North-east of the moat, the younger, trendier area. Cafés, co-working, a lot of new-build apartments. A good one-bedroom in a serviced apartment is 9,000 to 18,000; a studio in a new tower can be 7,000. Strengths: the best coffee, the best restaurants, the best supermarket, a younger crowd, the best internet in the city. Weaknesses: pricier, less local, more noise from the bars along the main road. **Chang Phueak and the north-west edge.** Immediately north of the moat. A mix of local neighbourhoods, good market, and cheaper than the old city. 6,000 to 12,000 for a decent one-bedroom. **Santitham and the south-west.** The local area, away from the tourist core, with a genuine market, genuine local food, and apartments at 5,000 to 9,000\. The best value in the city and the reason most long-stay residents end up here eventually. **Hang Dong, south along the river.** Quieter, greener, a longer stay town, and cheaper again. 5,000 to 10,000, with some larger places at a real discount for a three-month stay. Thirty minutes from the old city, which is the trade. **Doi Saket and the hills.** Genuinely different, quiet, cooler at altitude, and not convenient at all. 5,000 to 9,000 and you need a [scooter](https://easythailandvisa.com/renting-a-scooter-in-thailand-what-they-dont-tell-you/). ## What the price actually buys **Under 6,000: a small studio or a room in a shophouse with a shared bathroom.** This is a real option and it is what a lot of people start with. It is fine for a month and poor for three, because you are living out of a suitcase. **8,000 to 14,000: a proper one-bedroom with a kitchen, in a decent building.** This is the sweet spot and where most people should look. **15,000 to 25,000: a serviced apartment, a shophouse with a courtyard, or a well-located one-bedroom in a new build.** Serviced apartments include cleaning, often internet, sometimes water and electricity, and they are the easiest option for a [long stay](https://easythailandvisa.com/thailand-90-day-report-long-stay-immigration/) because there is no landlord to negotiate with. **What is NOT in the price: electricity.** In the older shophouses it is a sub-meter at roughly 7 baht a unit and a one-bedroom uses 200 to 400 units a month with [air conditioning](https://easythailandvisa.com/thailand-hotel-basics-ac-hot-water-wifi/), so 1,400 to 2,800 baht, which is a real number. Water is usually 30 to 50\. Internet is often included in a serviced apartment and 300 to 500 in a private rental. ## Monthly, or year, and the difference that matters **Monthly rentals are 20 to 40 per cent more than the same room on a yearly lease, and they are cash.** The landlord's risk is the reason. A yearly lease at 8,000 might be 12,000 monthly, and you have now committed before you know whether you like the area. **Do not sign a year before you have lived there.** This is the one piece of advice I would put at the top. Chiang Mai neighbourhoods are different at night than they look on a viewing, and the December and January version of an area is not the March version. **The right sequence is: arrive, spend three weeks in a guesthouse, then look.** A good guesthouse is 300 to 600 baht a night, so three weeks costs 6,000 to 12,000 and it is the cheapest insurance available. It is also how you find out that the area you picked from a map is on the wrong side of a six-lane road. ## What to check before you sign **The water pressure, at 7am, from the shower.** This is the single most common disappointment in the city and it is not visible on a viewing. **The air conditioning, on at the hottest part of the afternoon.** Rooms in converted shophouses have external compressors, older units, and some genuinely bad cooling. Ask what the machine is, and run it. **The noise at midnight on a Friday.** A room over a bar is a different proposition in March than in a January viewing. **Whether the building is landlord-registered and bills are issued properly.** The Thai rental market is not well regulated and a foreigner without a lease in their own name has very little recourse. A lease in your name with a tax number on it is the minimum. **Deposit terms, in writing, and what is deducted.** The standard is one month, it is normal to ask for two for a long lease, and the deductions for damage are the argument that happens at the end of every long stay. ## The air quality thing, which is not a small detail **Chiang Mai in the last two weeks of February and all of March and April is the worst air quality in the world on a regular basis.** PM2.5 regularly exceeds anything most major cities see, and it is not a subjective complaint, it is an air quality monitoring number. The practical consequences: anyone with asthma or a respiratory condition should not be in the city in that window, and long-stay residents who are there for the winter should consider leaving. The coast, the mountains at altitude, or simply being out of the basin are the responses people use. This is the main reason to check the dates before committing to a lease, and the reason a February-arrival lease is a different proposition from a November one. ## A realistic monthly budget For a decent one-bedroom in Santitham or Chang Phueak on a three-month lease, 9,000 in rent plus 2,000 in utilities and internet, add 8,000 to 12,000 for food if you eat out every day and 4,000 if you do not. Around 19,000 to 25,000 a month all in, for a good standard of living, cooking at home half the time. The same standard in the old city is roughly 30,000\. That difference is the entire argument for not staying in the moat. **More on this** - [I Moved to Chiang Mai in the Rainy Season](https://easythailandvisa.com/moved-to-chiang-mai-rainy-season/) - [Seven Days in Chiang Mai on 300 Baht a Day](https://easythailandvisa.com/seven-days-chiang-mai-300-baht-a-day/) - [What Thailand Actually Costs in 2026](https://easythailandvisa.com/what-thailand-costs-2026/) - [How to Move Money Without Losing a Fifth of It](https://easythailandvisa.com/moving-money-in-and-out-of-thailand/) - [Your First Muay Thai Class Will Be Mostly Kicks, and That](https://easythailandvisa.com/muay-thai-first-time-fighter/)