we don't know what your income is so that's impossible to answer. Some people live here on $500 a month - you wouldn't want to but it's doable. $2,000 a month will give you a fairly comfortable lifestyle in most parts of Thailand. Put it this way, it's a hell of a lot cheaper to live here than Aus.
nothing in terms of health policy - it just means they're abolishing the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration and replacing it with something else.
The touristy parts sure - the moat, Night Bazaar and Nimman but most of the rest of the Chiang Mai you wouldn't even know COVID was a thing. Chiang Mai is bigger than the moat and Nimman.