Visitors who walk through a new housing development in Hang Dong, a district of Chiang Mai, might think they’ve stumbled into a slice of China because Chinese letters dominate storefront signs. This isn’t isolated to Hang Dong. Across Chiang Mai, Thailand’s northern cultural capital, Chinese investment is rapidly reshaping entire neighborhoods – and raising alarm about the city’s future identity and economic independence.
“If Chinese investors seriously enter the dormitory business and buy up properties to rent at higher prices exclusively to Chinese tenants, people living paycheck to paycheck who rent cheap accommodations will definitely struggle,” Naret Puntasrivichai, 43, who runs a monthly apartment rental business in Hang Dong, told BenarNews.