Chiang Mai tops 2026 Southeast Asia safety index at 77.9 points

Chiang Mai has ranked first among Southeast Asian cities in Numbeo’s 2026 safety table, scoring 77.9 points against Singapore’s 77.5. The result draws attention to personal safety in the northern Thai destination, although the index reflects survey responses rather than official police crime statistics.

In the safety table within Numbeo’s 2026 quality-of-life rankings, Chiang Mai places 19th worldwide. Qingdao in China leads with 89.2 points, while Abu Dhabi and Doha also feature among the highest-scoring cities.

Chiang Mai’s distinction is therefore regional, not a ranking as the world’s safest city. For travellers considering a visit, the survey offers one perspective on personal safety, alongside separate questions about air quality and access to healthcare.

Walking alone receives high safety scores in Chiang Mai

Numbeo’s Crime in Chiang Mai figures published on February 22, 2026, put perceived safety when walking alone at 92.82 points during the day and 80.95 at night. Both fall within the website’s “very high” category.

Respondents’ concerns about being attacked in Chiang Mai scored 13.52 points, while worries about being mugged or robbed stood at 14.83, indicating low levels of concern about these incidents.

Numbeo’s Chiang Mai city profile gives an overall Crime Index of approximately 22 and a Safety Index of around 78. The figures are calculated from contributors’ responses about their perceptions and experiences.

Scores on Numbeo’s live pages can change with the collection period and number of respondents, making the date of each dataset important when comparing or citing the results.

Assessing actual safety conditions in Chiang Mai would also require recorded crime cases, incident totals, information about high-risk locations and the performance of relevant authorities.

Chiang Mai’s pollution score presents a separate concern

Chiang Mai’s strong safety performance sits alongside a less favourable environmental assessment. Numbeo’s quality-of-life data published in May 2026 gave the city a Pollution Index of 77.82, classified as high, and a Climate Index of 75.93.

Numbeo’s Pollution Index captures respondents’ perceptions of pollution overall. It does not measure the concentration of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, and should not be used in place of readings from air-quality monitoring stations.

For travellers assessing Chiang Mai, the distinction matters: a positive safety ranking does not remove the need to consider environmental conditions, while a pollution survey score is not a reading of the air on any particular day.

The Chiang Mai Provincial Office has also published daily PM2.5 data covering January to May 2026 through the government data catalogue. Those records provide a separate source for examining pollution conditions at local level.

Chiang Mai’s healthcare rating does not establish equal access

Chiang Mai received 84.69 points in Numbeo’s Health Care Index in the quality-of-life data published in May 2026. The website classifies that result as very high, reflecting favourable assessments of local healthcare among survey respondents.

Chiang Mai’s healthcare score offers a starting point for examining the availability and quality of services. However, it does not establish that every population group can obtain treatment equally or that the standard of care is consistent throughout the city.

A fuller assessment of healthcare access in Chiang Mai would need to consider travel times to hospitals, emergency services, medical staffing and the geographical distribution of facilities. Capacity to serve older residents and people in remote communities would also be important.

Numbeo, established in 2009, is an online database covering living costs, quality of life, crime, safety and socioeconomic conditions in cities and countries worldwide. The website is operated by Numbeo doo, a private company headquartered in Serbia.