Alt_Newsletter #0004

March 19, 2025

Many consider this time of year to be a quiet one in Chiang Mai, but we beg to differ!

If it’s not planning for new projects (see Alt_Projects below!), it’s running as many events as usual, but next Thursday 27th we’re also hosting a fully-booked dinner for SKÅL International Chiang Mai.

The dinner has been organized to help connect tourism businesses in Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand with digital nomads and remote workers and understand their needs, and explore how local businesses can adapt to meet them.

John’s going to speaking as host, and we think you’ll agree he’s got his finger on the pulse on both sides of the fence! You can find out more here.

Here’s a little mid-month update on what’s been going on, and coming up, at Alt_.

Don’t forget that if you book in at Alt_PingRiver and your stay starts before or on 30th March, you can get 20% off using code MARCH20 when you checkout on our website.

The biggest party is sooo close!

Songkran is so close we can smell it (and more obviously, see a lot more waterguns on sale in the stores!). Our neighbors are already gearing up for it and you can feel the excitement building - it is such an important time of the year for Thais.

Here’s a gentle reminder that you can get 10% off your stay from now until the end of April using the code WATERFIGHT10 and booking through our website.

Come and experience the unique Songkran festivities with us!

What you can join in with at Alt_

There is plenty to get involved in over the coming weeks with Alt_. Earlier this month we pitched up at Sangpakoi Market, just around the corner from Alt_PingRiver and ran a thrift stall for a day. We’re back on 6th April, so come along and donate and thrift with us!

Zach Price is back next week - after yet another sell-out talk last weekend - with Around the World in a Cup, so sign up here to get a seat and learn about - and try - some incredible coffees from nearby and across the globe.

Alt_Community Stories

We were very grateful for Maria during her visit

You all have so many interesting stories and paths you’re treading. There really is no uniform way you all make your lifestyles work. Maria Hansen stayed at Alt_Chiang Mai last year during her two months in Chiang Mai (we’re convinced we were why she stayed longer than planned!), and she really is forging her own path.

And it’s one that could be very helpful for a lot of you…

Halloween fun during Maria’s stay at Alt_

How did you come across Alt_?
I’m in the coliving community already so it was word of mouth. Two friends I met on the road recommended Alt_, but I also spotted it on MapMelon - a reliable source for colivings.

You’re an experienced coliver then. How did we measure up?
Not many colivings have such dedicated community managers. That really helps get you involved and make connections. Also that you can join a digital community too - I loved knowing who is coming or going.

Community is important to you it seems. How do you connect on the road?
This was a challenge when I started in 2022, so I started an online community that centres around something that has worked for me - gratitude. I actually held an in-person workshop while in Chiang Mai, but most of the community meetups are online.

Is gratitude a fairly new concept? Is it catching on?
There are preconceptions, for sure. It’s not the woo-woo thing it can be labelled, it’s actually a practical tool. You can use it as a daily journal thing, but the deeper meaning behind it is where it can really help map your journey out and create joy in your life.

If someone has never really used gratitude, what’s a good way to start?
Well, join my community! But for something to use today, avoid anything broad or generic. Start with showing gratitude for something recent, and also small like a plant on your balcony, or a morning coffee. Then use the 5 why’s - ask why it brings you joy 5 times and go deeper. It is likely to lead to a more meaningful and impactful practice of gratitude.

How does this help in your day-to-day?
For me it gives me some direction as it helps me navigate the highs and lows, and the confidence to know that I will be able to in future. It’s not about being happy all the time, but being able to meet the challenges that come along.

Maria’s community - Seeds of Gratitude - offers a guided way to connect with your journey, but also others on a similar journey to yours. Visit her and connect on the Seeds of Gratitude IG.

If you have an Alt_ story to tell, or want to appear in Alt_Newsletter and share your thing with the community, fill in this form.

Alt_Adventures Report

Earlier this month we took some residents out bamboo rafting in the wilds of Northern Thailand. It wasn’t all just floating down the river and watching the countryside idle by…they had to build them first. All in all a successful day out in the very friendly Chiang Mai March weather.

Alt_Projects

Cosmo Local CNX

If you know John, then you know there is always a project in the pipeline. Nothing stays still for long.

You will also know that community in whatever form it comes in is core to Alt_ and everything John does. So, we have a “watch-this-space” teaser for you on a project that is going to so a merging of communities on a broader scale.

Cosmo Local CNX is going to be a gathering in September that is going to be different from any other that people have organized in Chiang Mai, involving the participation of both Thais and non-Thais.

There will be intentional themes centring on coliving experiences and merging two perspectives together: the local, and the cosmo - the wider world.

You’ll be the first to know when there is news to tell, but pencil in September to be in Chiang Mai for a first-of-its-kind gathering.

Alt_Facts

Did you know that BOTH Alt_Chiang Mai and Alt_PingRiver were hotels or guesthouses before we gave them a new lease of life? This might not be so surprising, but they both came with some interesting alterations and journeys to adapt them.

Take Alt_PingRiver. It was an abandoned building for a long time and owned by a khun - an important person in the area, a bit like a Lord. It was converted into a hotel just before Covid, but like many businesses in the city it didn’t survive.

There was one big elephant in the room to deal with though!

Less splish-splash, more chit-chat!

While some of you might like the idea of a swimming pool in your coworking and coliving space, John wanted to focus on productivity, so the hotel’s pool had to go. If you’ve been to Alt_PingRiver, you might have spotted the downstairs of the coworking has a swimming pool feel - and you’d be right!

The architect turned it into a quiet area, and installed the call booths as it is naturally sound-insulated. Then built the coworking on top!

We’ll be back at the start of April…and it’ll be Songkran month!

John and the Alt_ team