Coworking Spaces in Chiang Mai

Most of you know that while we are away, I am working on a side project (see www.wearablebi.com).

One of the reasons we started in Chiang Mai, Thailand is that they have one of the best coworking scenes in the world - where travellers will come to live cheaply and work on their businesses.

The funny thing is I only met one other Australian in these coworking spaces. Americans/Canadians will literally travel to the other side of the world to work here but Aussies don’t do it for some reason. Honestly, I have no idea why people would choose to start up in Sydney when they can do it at a fraction of the cost in a similar timezone…

So here are the places I have been hanging out at over the past month.  The main factors I considered were how good the chairs are, how well I can focus and options to get lunch.

M.A.N.A Space

This place is awesome and where I spent most of my time. The young couple that own this place are so nice and regularly bring out hot tea and cold water. The coffee is fantastic - probably the best I had in Chiang Mai. The decor is really nice and the chairs are very comfortable. Also, the “Burmese Library” down the road sells amazing food for around $2 a meal (never saw a book there though). Wifi is quick and you can use as many devices as you like.

Cost: $3.85 per day ($4.60 if you get a coffee but tea is free).

Kaweh Coffee

Kinda a cafe, but it is good for coworking. Most people in here are working on something. This place is okay, the coffee is expensive and crap (like Sydney). I did not get comfortable here but I would drop in here occasionally.

Cost: free if you buy coffee but its not very good and expensive.

Coffee Monster

I really liked this place. It is pretty far out of town but it had an excellent environment for working in. Also the coffee here was really good. Also had different areas where some were better for focusing and other were better for chatting and meeting your fellow workers (even has a pool table). I would have definitely spent more time here except it is rainy season and Mosquitos.

Cost: free with coffee

CAMP at Maya

This place intrigues me. It is sponsored by one of their big local ISPs called AIS. If you are an AIS customer you can work here for free but otherwise you get 2 hours per $2 you spend there (per device). Many different workspaces to choose from including a treehouse and meeting rooms. What I find most interesting about CAMP is that it would make so much sense back home if Telstra set up a string of coworking spaces in their Telstra stores for their customers and to promote Telstra products for remote working. However… I did not spend much time here since it was very busy with high school study groups and maybe I’m just a gumpy old man but it was noisy and I could not find a chair that my back agreed with…

Cost: 2 hours per device for every $2 spent. Free for AIS Telco customers.

Bibie

Pretty meh. Can’t put my finger on it but I just could not get into the zone here.

Cost: $7.60 per day

Punspace Nimman

Ahh, the original coworking space. Everybody, myself included, rolls into Chiang Mai and checks in at Punspace. Many people don’t venture beyond here which is a real shame. I didn’t really like it. The aircon was always set to freezing and its expensive (by Thailand standards). Also, the internet here was annoying since they have device limits.

Cost: $9.60 per day if you want 2 devices. It’s a little bit cheaper if you pay by the month but I just didn’t like it that much.

Punspace Thapae

The second branch of Punspace. I only looked in here to take a photo.

Makerspace

Now, this place is cool! I only wish I had a hardware project to work on. Everything you could ever want to make things, tools, lasers, 3d printers, photo booths. This place is awesome. I only wish I was here long enough to find something to make.

Cost: cheaper than Punspace and you can use the 3D printer