You don’t want to live in a tourist town, but you want to be a tourist.

Chiang Mai is a city of contrasts.
Many of us came here as visitors, fell in love with the mountains, temples, and charm—and stayed. Yet, living in a tourist town comes with an unavoidable paradox:
👉 You may not want to live in a tourist town, but you still want to be a tourist.
In this Socrates Café, we’ll explore the tensions of two worlds colliding:

• Tourism as a lifeline of Chiang Mai’s economy vs. the burden it places on local life.
• Is modern tourism a form of soft colonialism—bringing in money while reshaping culture and priorities?
• Digital nomads often claim they want to “contribute to the local economy”—but how real is this contribution, and who truly benefits?
• Can locals, expats, and visitors find a sustainable way to coexist without eroding the city’s identity?

This is not a debate, but a philosophical circle of questioning in the spirit of Socrates Café: we’ll sit together, raise deep questions, and reflect on what this paradox means for each of us.

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Why Join?

• To engage in thoughtful, open discussion.
• To share your perspective as a local, expat, tourist, or digital nomad.
• To rethink the role of tourism and economic dependence in Chiang Mai’s future.

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👥 Format:

• Circle introductions.
• Moderator-guided philosophical questioning.
• Open reflections and shared insights.

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Tagline:
✨ “You don’t want to live in a tourist town, but you want to be a tourist. How do we live within this paradox?” ✨