Roavi · Chiang Mai
Become a Local Friend in Chiang Mai
Create your Local Friend profile, share the places and experiences you enjoy, and connect with travelers visiting your city.
Free to create. You choose when and who you meet.
Roavi · Chiang Mai
Become a Local Friend in Chiang Mai
Create your Local Friend profile, share the places and experiences you enjoy, and connect with travelers visiting your city.
Free to create. You choose when and who you meet.
No commission · keep 100%
You set your rate
Free to publish
Locals are already sharing these cities with travelers. Yours can be next.
Bangkok, Medellín, Mexico City, São Paulo, Bali, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Santo Domingo, Tokyo, Lisbon, Ho Chi Minh City
Not a tour
This is not about memorizing a tour.
It is about sharing the version of your city that only you know.
Morning
Coffee, markets, your neighborhood.
The stop you make without thinking, the market that isn’t in any guide.
Afternoon
Food, culture, the hidden places.
The alley with no sign. The place you’d only find if someone showed you.
Evening
Music, nightlife, conversation.
By night, you’re not a guide — you’re just a friend showing someone around.
Your rate × your schedule
What locals actually charge.
You set your own rate. Payment happens directly between you and the traveler — Roavi never touches it. Here's what real Local Friends are asking on the platform today.
Your hourly rate
Hours a week
A month, roughly
$1,386
yours to keep · 0% commission
An example, not a promise. You're paid directly by the traveller; Roavi never touches the money.
You already know more than you think.
You know where to eat, where to walk, what to avoid, when to arrive, and where the city feels most alive. That local knowledge is what travelers are looking for.
Share what you love, on your own terms.
Roavi helps people discover and message one another. It does not create a booking or force either person to meet.
- Choose your availability
- Set your own rate
- Decide who you respond to
- Choose where to meet
- Say no to anyone, anytime
- Pause or edit your profile anytime
A few minutes
Four steps. A few minutes.
Set up your profile today. Start hearing from travelers.
- 1
Create your profile
Add your name, photo, city, and a short introduction.
- 2
Add your local interests and availability
Choose the food, culture, nightlife, or experiences you enjoy — and when you’re free.
- 3
Publish your profile in the Roavi directory
Your profile becomes visible to travelers — free, right away.
- 4
Receive and respond to traveler messages
Interested travelers message you directly. You decide who to respond to.
Build more trust with optional identity verification
Verification is completed through Stripe Identity. Once approved, a verified status appears on your profile — addable anytime from your dashboard.
Your profile, directory visibility, and messaging remain free without verification.
Verified identity status
A trust signal on your profile that helps travelers feel confident reaching out.
Profile performance insights
See how your profile views trend over time from your dashboard.
The Chiang Mai visitors can't find on their own
Most visitors spend their whole stay inside the old-city square, on Nimman and at the Sunday Walking Street. They don't know which red truck goes where or what it should cost, which khao soi people in Chiang Mai actually eat, or what time to go up Doi Suthep to miss the crowds. Someone who lives here can tell them in a sentence.
What you can show
- 1
The khao soi, khanom jeen nam ngiao and sai ua your neighbourhood actually eats, not the shop on every list.
- 2
How to flag a red truck (songthaew) and agree the fare, and when Grab is simpler.
- 3
The Saturday market at Wua Lai and the Sunday one from Tha Phae Gate, how they differ and when to go.
- 4
The quieter temples in the old city, how to dress for them, and what to know before visiting an elephant camp.
This page is written for Thai nationals who live in Chiang Mai. Tour guiding in Thailand is a licensed profession under the Tourism Business and Guide Act and is reserved for Thai nationals, and any foreigner earning income in Thailand needs a work permit. Local Friends sell no tours, drive no one and lead no groups.
Travelers are looking for locals in Chiang Mai
Be one of the first Local Friends they meet. Build your profile today and get discovered by travelers heading to Chiang Mai.
See the Chiang Mai pageWorth reading first
Good to know before you begin
A few honest answers, so there are no surprises.
The cool season, roughly November to February, and the Yi Peng and Loy Krathong festival nights. The smoky end of the dry season is usually quieter.
No. Enough to agree a time, give directions and explain the food. Visitors to Chiang Mai come from many countries, and many don't speak English as a first language either.
Yes. Creating and publishing your Local Friend profile is completely free — there’s no cost to appear in the directory or receive messages.
No — and that is the point. A Local Friend is not a tour guide: you spend time with someone as yourself, you do not run a tour. Professional guiding is a licensed profession in a number of countries; spending an afternoon with someone is not. And if you do hold a guiding licence, put it on your profile — travellers look for it.
Yes. You set your own hourly rate, and you can change it anytime from your profile.
No. Roavi doesn’t process payments or take a commission on what you arrange with a traveler.
No. You decide who you respond to, and you can say no to anyone, for any reason.
No. Verification is optional. It’s completed through Stripe Identity and adds a verified status to your profile, but your profile, visibility, and messaging stay free either way.
Travelers message you directly through Roavi once they find your profile in the directory. You choose whether and how to reply.
Yes. You can pause your visibility or delete your profile at any time from your account settings.
Your city is already part of your story. Share it.
Travelers are already looking for someone like you.
No commission. No required schedule. You stay in control.