• Eat/Sleep/Play/Repeat in Chiang Mai

    At the cheapest cost per hour in the World. The most financially responsible way to play

    WHERE you play is important

    Playing video games usually cost more time than money. On average if you quit your job to stay at home and play video games it would cost you $600-3000+ a month in rent/mortgage to do so.

     

    In other parts of the world $600 is average or the top end. Either way playing games largely involves sitting in front of a computer and often on an internet connection. The 40-200 hr+ open world RPG doesnt care where it’s played. One can do the math, nowadays with the advent of actually decent desktop replacement gaming laptops with the Geforce 10 series that can play 4K (RTX series are a lot smaller and lighter if you can afford it). Geoarbitraging in a different part of the world is the most financially responsible way to 100% games like Skyrim

     

    There are tradeoffs of course when one lives cheaply, factors like quality of life, safety, internet connectivity and so on. Africa would not make for a very fun experience. Fortunately because of digital nomads (nomadlist.com) we already know what the best option is - Chiang Mai, Thailand which offers both cheap and good quality of life for as little as $300/mnth while $600/mnth total costs is fairly comfortable living. The same factors that have made Chiang Mai the #1 nomad hub when considering costs are also what make it gaming time nirvana. We are talking the most min/maxed best bang for buck in terms of eat, sleep, play and internet quality, safety, quality of life and convenience.


    PS buy your gaming laptop ESPECIALLY and other gear in the US before coming to Thailand or going overseas in general if you're an American. All things tech, gaming etc are ironically a lot more expensive in Thailand than the US. Most of the world is like this and through economies of scale the US tends to have the best gear AND the best prices.

  • Backlog clearing rental costs per 40 hr work week compared

    via howlongtobeat.com (main + extra) . And also.. you might be wondering what's the best laptop to get?

    See this article - www.balancegaming.network/best-laptop

    Red Dead Redemption 2 (75 hrs)

    Chiang Mai - $50-75 /mid tier city - $300 / SF - $1500  

    Grand Theft Auto 5 (80 hrs)

    Chiang Mai - $50-75 /mid tier city - $300 / SF - $1500

    Fallout 4 GOTY Edition (109 hours)

    Chiang Mai - $75-100 / mid tier city - $450 / SF -$2250

    Skyrim (125 hours)

    Chiang Mai - $100 /mid tier city- $600 / SF - $3000 

  • Rent

    Can start at around $100/mnth before utilities but to be on the safe side, budget for around $130. Going up to $400 may not tax some people’s savings much but if you’re talking about gaming time, the difference is being able to pay for 4 months without working vs one.

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    No Frills "good enough" for gaming. A/C and fridge usually included

    A nofrills $100/mnth place looks like this and would typically be student or retiree housing. However the real bargains are the ones with fiber!

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    $300-600 month Luxury condo

     

     

    Once you get into this price range, fiber is usually accessible and pool and gym becomes standard. Here's an example

     

    Gigabit internet is generally only available to houses... which leads us to....

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    $200-300 /mnth (per room)

    If you are travelling with a group or better yet, with guildmates.. getting a house together is usually the best mix of price / comfort + gigabit internet availability. Not all houses are necessarily this new and splitting a house can often take you further out of the city which is why when you creep closer to the $300 mark this way anyway, a condo makes more sense. It takes more work to both find and coordinate but this method can end up being the best value + comfort for money if willing to share.

    Life in Chiang Mai in General

    There are a million videos on Chiang Mai's cost of living, life etc on Youtube but if you only watch one video it should be this one. It covers a good spread of both quality of life in condos and around the city as well as what can be found further out in the rural outskirts. And yes most of the time the videos are about the amazing value people are getting for the price

  • Food

    The further you get away from city and mall areas, the more difficult it is to find food with English translated menus but there are often pictures unlike in other parts of SE Asia such as Vietnam. Its not all street food. It is very posssible to be able to eat at restaurants for $1-2 USD although the portion sizes are small enough compared to western standards that you may order 2 or 3 to be filling.

    What About Bangkok?

    Bangkok is wonderful and a true gamer city if you can afford it. The cost of living is closer to flyover/red state America (budget for around $2k/mnth) but it is truly a 24/7 city. After a long night’s gaming binge you can still walk out at 4 AM to 24 hr Mcdonalds, Starbucks, Pizza and even some street food sellers still working. It truly feels like a gamer’s city. but its not really a place to save money. For maximum backlog clearing, Chiang Mai is the way to go.

    Sounds like paradise, what if I want to stay? What about visas?

    Should you want to make the life more permanent and sustainable, Chiang Mai is also full of digital nomads doing all kinds of online work to make a living and stick around or for a travel income to learn from. Thailand is starting to become a booming tech hub as of this year and as a gamer, many of you guys may have useful tech skills.

     

    Thailand offers a 30 day visa on arrival for most first world countries which can be extended another 30 days for an additional fee (around $75). All the various tourist visas have this option available. This is the best option to check things out and then apply for a longer visa in a neighboring country. A single entry visa is available for 60 days but what we recommend is the multiple entry visa which is 6 months but can allow you to to stay up to 9 months if you use it like this . There is also potentially a digital nomad visa coming soon which may finally be a one year visa that most long stay tourists are looking for that would work for gaming tourism as well

    But...Farang Pricing (dual pricing for foreigners)

     

    The general rule is, if they can advertise in English you’re already getting ripped off. Prebooking on English websites ahead of time is usually the fastest and easiest way the locals rip off foreigners at double the local rates. The best places are the ones that can’t advertise in English but still offer the quality + internet you need. Those are hard to find and we offer a service and database and a service to set you up.

  • What We Offer

    $300 service for longer stay and this is what we recommend. It’s generally expensive to fly from Europe or the US and to really get your money’s worth in savings, you should plan to stay 6-9 months. A month is a bit of a waste of the travel expense, $100 if you are going to live in style and still save some money.

     

    For $300 we will scour for the non English speaking bargains to ensure you get the best combination of price / essentials to optimise for happy, cheap and safe backlog clearing. We prearrange your internet and router before you arrive and offer support and a gaming community to plug directly into. We may be able to do banking as well. $300 is roughly the monthly amount the average person gets dual priced and ripped off for rental-wise until they realize what the local prices actually are.

     

    $100 is for people who are willing to get a nicer place which are easier to find and are just looking to avoid getting dual priced. We will sort out your accommodations and internet only.

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    $300

    Chiang Mai Concierge Service

    - The best combination of price / essentials to optimise for happy, cheap and safe backlog clearing.

    - Prearranged internet and router before you arrive and

    - Thai bank account a possibility (higher possibility if the digital nomad visa is introduced)

    We will also offer local support to help you get acclimatised and a gaming community to plug directly into.

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    $100

    Chiang Mai Basic Service

    - Luxury accommodation search with dual pricing check
    - Internet prearranged
    - Plug into the local gaming community

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