Take Chinese entrepreneurs like Cherry and Zong Dan, for example. Having fallen for Chiang Mai’s charms, they opted to start their first overseas business in the province.

Cherry, 35, an entrepreneur from Chengdu, decided to invest in a guesthouse in Chiang Mai’s Muang district a few months ago, after finding her previous job as a writer on property issues was no longer satisfying.

She chose Chiang Mai after the city left a deep impression on her when she first visited five years ago.

“Chiang Mai is not far from my hometown, has nice weather, and the people are warm and friendly,” Cherry said. She rented an eight-room guesthouse on Sirimangkalajarn Road, and partnered with the owner of the building, since Thai laws do not allow her to fully own a business here.

Cherry is currently staying in Thailand on a 60-day tourist visa while she applies for a work permit. It’s a complicated process and expensive, she admits; she even had to return briefly to China to retrieve some required documents.

As a Chinese national, Cherry knows her compatriots prefer to stay in a hotel where staff speak their language, and so she hired Thai staff who can speak some Mandarin.

Her guesthouse boasts many return customers. To boost her sales, she turned to the largest online travel agency in China, Ctrip.

Cherry’s initial investment was around 1.5 million baht ($45,600) and she expects to make it back in the next two years despite strong competition from an abundance of tourist accommodation in Chiang Mai these days.

Anti-Chinese sentiments

Asked her advice for other Chinese entrepreneurs considering investing in Thailand, Cherry said people could invest in property to live in or rent out – but she wouldn’t advise anyone to run a guesthouse as she does.

Cherry thinks the number of Chinese tourists coming to Thailand will continue to rise because prices are low and a high-speed train will soon be connecting the two countries. Asked about anti-Chinese investment sentiment in Thailand, Cherry said, “I hired four Thai staff. They now have jobs and can help to grow the Thai economy.”

Last year, Chinese topped the list of foreign tourists to Thailand, reaching almost 9.8 million visitors and spending around 524.4 billion baht. Authorities expected the number of arrivals this year to reach 12 million.

Chinese were also the only nationality to increase their numbers in Chiang Mai from 2014 to 2016 – with an almost 43 per cent increase – while other nationalities decreased, according to the Intelligence Centre of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

“When the market grows, demand grows, as does investment. Chinese people feel happier talking with Chinese speakers,” a TAT official who asked not to be named said.

Chinese people are investing in every country in the world, noted Yos Santasombat, a professor of Anthropology at Chiang Mai University. China’s official “going out” policy is spurring investment, and not just in Thailand, he said.