Huge billboards advertise international schools and apartments in Chinese characters. Almost all cafes, restaurants, and weed shops in the old town offer Chinese menus. We have Chinese-speaking doctors, delivery drivers, and police officers. Chinese-made digital payment apps are available at night market stalls.
Because many of these Chinese arrivals are not just passing through. They came to stay the night.
“In their homeland in China, many people feel exploited and restricted, as if they were cash crops on a plantation,” said the author, who studies immigration and gender and has lived here since 2018. says Gloria Yafan Niu, a researcher at Chiang Mai University. Chiang Mai, be yourself, be a tree, a reed, a flower and find a balanced life of high quality and relatively low cost. ”
Freedom of expression, thought and association has been steadily eroded in China since Xi Jinping took over just a decade ago, leaving freethinking Chinese seeking intellectual asylum. For a time, that location was Dali, a town in southwestern China. The city became known as “Dalifornia” for its stunning landscape, burgeoning technology scene, and relatively tolerant traditions.
These days, however, even Dali is becoming less hospitable to digital nomads and burnt-out city dwellers, whose techno-anarchic tendencies have drawn suspicion and unwanted scrutiny. That means many people are continuing to travel further south to Chiang Mai.
Here, they explore new ideas, embrace various countercultures, and embrace communities considered undesirable in China under the powerful leader Mr. Xi, who has asserted the Chinese Communist Party's control over society as a whole. is building.
“When I turned on the TV, opened a newspaper, or browsed social media in China, all I could hear was one person talking,” said Pu Jianchuan, 50, a stockbroker and Bitcoin investor. talked about Mr. “It was cold.”
Mr. Phu, who moved here early last year and now lives in a villa on the outskirts of Chiang Mai, cited Shanghai's strict “zero-corona” lockdown and tough crackdown on tech giants, saying Mr. It's closed,” he said. And cryptocurrencies.
Thailand's warm climate, easy-going charm and relaxed visa regime have long appealed to Chinese tourists. But as China enters its third year of coronavirus lockdown in 2022, the tropical country has taken on a new appeal for people looking to escape the country's difficult circumstances.
According to an analysis of Thai immigration data, 110,000 Chinese people applied for long-term Thai visas that year. This was double the number from the previous year.
This amount has skyrocketed since Thailand granted visa-free entry to Chinese nationals in September.
Some wealthy elites have decided to migrate away from China's coronavirus restrictions. However, many are young, middle class and educated. There are digital nomads, artists, chefs, and other people who have come here with money on a whim.
They cite all sorts of reasons for moving, but there is usually a swarm of concerns about their home situation combined with the lure of a free, easy, and relatively inexpensive life. Many people don't even know when or if they're leaving.
On the last night of 2023, the alleys just outside Chiang Mai's old city with its red brick walls and moat were buzzing with the singing and dancing of young Chinese people welcoming the new year.
A Chinese DJ played techno to the audience while drinking Chinese craft beer. The smell of marijuana hung in the air as tech workers in Shanghai and Shenzhen tried their hand at a TikTok dance.
The New Year's Eve party, like many of its participants, was held to mark the end of Wamotopia, a half-technology conference, half-carnival that moved from Dali to Chiang Mai. Over 500 engineers, entrepreneurs, designers, etc. Blockchain developers, digital marketers, and spiritual masters gathered for two weeks of intense discussions in Chinese and fun-filled parties.
They came to hang out, of course, but they also came to have a panel discussion about how we imagine and create a better future. This was something often dominated by the tech-centric crowd, who believed it was best achieved using next-generation decentralized technology.
Wamotopia is “not political,” said organizer Lin, in his mid-20s, who spoke on the condition that only his last name be used to avoid retaliation from Chinese authorities. “We're not against anyone.”
But China's stifling political environment was the undercurrent of the debate, during which Mr. Xi and his policies were rarely far from people's minds. One of the invitation-only sessions was billed as group therapy for people traumatized by China's lockdown and persecution of protesters.
Mr. Lin quoted Mr. Xi while joking about the challenge of bringing together a decentralized group without a leader. “I am ready to ‘put aside my own well-being for the good of the people,’” he said with a grin.
Events like Wamo and the recently opened Chinese bookstore suggest that this migration is not a temporary phenomenon and may have staying power.
Bookstore — Ambiguously called “Nowhere” in English and “feidi” in English.,” The company, also known as “Enclave” in Chinese, was founded by Zhang Jieping, a Chinese journalist known for his role in creating independent Chinese writing outlets such as the online magazine Initium.
The store is intended to be an inclusive space that can “accommodate a wide variety of books and political opinions” to offer “something for everyone,” Zhang said. It quickly became a hub for deep intellectual conversations and forging bonds with locals and the broader Chinese-speaking community.
Participants like Pooh praised Wamotopia as a great way to meet other budding Chinese in Chiang Mai, but the community's increased visibility also comes with risks.
Chinese state is watching
Even 1,000 miles from the Chinese border, unidentified Chinese speakers sometimes appear to take photos and ask questions of attendees, raising fears that events are being watched. Ta.
The attention of the Chinese authorities is particularly worrying for those who chose Thailand not out of any concept of political opposition, but purely to try out a life outside the Communist Party-sanctioned mainstream.
In China, politics is basically prohibited from making public life public, so people are focusing on how they define themselves and what kind of life they want to lead. Niu, a researcher at Chiang Mai University, says:
Niu moved here in 2018 to pursue her Ph.D., staying to send her daughter Cynthia, now 7, to an international school and away from China's harsh education system.
After the pandemic, more families are seeking a better quality of life and affordable international education, Niu said.
Many were similarly wary of China's school system, which claims that children thrive on “harsh pruning” and intense competition. “What if my child was grass instead of a tree?” she asked.
Some people have less idealistic motivations. A design student in his late 20s was expelled from a university in China for smoking marijuana and went to study abroad in Thailand. (China has some of the world's toughest drug laws, including the possibility of the death penalty for dealers.)
Marijuana being legal in Thailand means he can now get stoned as much as he wants. “I don't have to worry about people taking that joy away from me,” said student Guagua. He spoke on condition that he use his nickname to avoid attention from Chinese authorities.
Some came because they did not fit in with the family in other ways.
In 2019, Eddie Lee left Hong Kong as large-scale protests engulfed the city. In Hong Kong, the Chinese government is becoming increasingly assertive in all aspects of life. The violent clashes and constant tear gas gave her a “selfish” urge to flee somewhere peaceful.
So the 38-year-old chef opened a restaurant here selling traditional Cantonese dumplings and other dim sum. “Chiang Mai is definitely a good place to enjoy her later years,” she said, noting how tolerant Thailand is toward members of the gay community like her and her partner.
Some view the influx with mixed views, fearing that the Chinese government will use its influence to establish a stronger presence in Thailand. But Lee believes Chiang Mai's community will be able to withstand further surveillance and “what the Chinese government wants.”
“We will still find a way to live,” she said.
Shepard reported from Taipei, Taiwan.
