There has been several mass exodus of expats over the years. For instance, when the tobacco industry expats left. Gloom and doom. Things would never be the same. All the foreigners who left were replaced by the next bunch. So what.
That said, Chiang Mai isn’t the charming little town it once was but my Thai friends are as charming as they ever were.
I reckon I’m in for another ten years until the cost of health insurance starts getting stupidly high. Then it’s up for reconsideration. Or perhaps the rules will be changed by then.