5 ms·

Surprised more people on here aren't saying nice, relaxed, sunny places like SE Asia. I'm a white american citizen and I've been living in SE Asia for 3 years

Surprised more people on here aren't saying nice, relaxed, sunny places like SE Asia. I'm a white american citizen and I've been living in SE Asia for 3 years having the time of my life while working remotely. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Looking back at the US, I don't miss the jerks everywhere, the value system of work, work, work and more money. Here in SE Asia, they value quality of life, being happy, family, and friends over money and "success" which is what Americans value.

martinesko36 6y ago
Just curious, which countries in SE Asia would you recommend?
- unavida 6y ago
  definitely Thailand. Vietnam is nice on the coastal cities.
  - ShorsHammer 6y ago
    How do you work remotely from Thailand for any reasonable amount of time? They are incredibly strict about these things. Sounds like an extended holiday and no stable way to live. Apart from applying for an education visa and learning Thai (unsure that actually grants work rights?) or an actual work visa with associated FT job, you'd be on 1 month tourist visas with repeated border crossings and in legal grey zone at the whim of regulators. Vietnam you can apply for extensions up to 1 year and everyone leaves you alone if employed remotely or running your own business abroad. Central Vietnam is a beautiful place.
    - companyhen 6y ago
      The elite visa is $15k for 5 years if you have the money that's the way to go. It's possible to stay in Thailand about 6 months max per year without risking getting into trouble on a tourist visa. I've been living there 6 months out of the year the past 3 years and plan to get the elite visa once the pandemic settles down. Vietnam is another favorite spot of mine but Thailand has always been my #1.
      - stephenr 6y ago
        Foreigners paying 15K for a glorified tourist visa is why the myths about all foreigners being “rich” continue in this country.
    - tluyben2 6y ago
      There are also special rules/visa (I do not know details but I have a few friends who did it and are still doing it) where you can create a company and hire Thai people, you can stay + pay (almost) no tax. If I remember correctly, the tax incentives expire after 6 or so years, but you can stay there as long as the company exists. One of the friends is there 13 years now and had no issues (besides the paperwork, but he paid someone to do that). But I guess you do need some money; just going there on a shoestring is not great anyway; I would want to be able to leave at any time when I want to (that's emergencies, not leaving for fun!).
- Mengkudulangsat 6y ago
  KL (my hometown) is great. There's reliable gigabit internet, which is important to remote workers I reckon. Dying to convince tech folks to come here instead of Singapore.
  - kenneth 6y ago
    Having spent the last few months stuck in Singapore's awful lockdown, I'm pretty convinced it's not the place for me. Can't wait to get back home to HK. I'm starting to miss the smell of teargas. That said, wasn't the biggest fan of KL when I visited. It gave me "trying too hard to be Singapore and failing" vibes. Was much happier chilling in Langkawi. For a big SE Asia mega-city, BKK or Saigon are far more livable than KL, Manila, or Jakarta (and the associated crime, traffic, etc.)
    - Mengkudulangsat 6y ago
      Langkawi is currently reeling from the virus. They are dependent on the Chinese cruise crowd and that have dried up completely. I expect real estate prices will see a hit. On the bright side, they're likely to be the first spot in Malaysia to get 5G, so that will bode well for an emerging tech scene. Expats love it because sin items (tabacco and alcohol) are not only tolerated, but duty free. People buy a house right next to the airport and fly to KL / Singapore for their once a fortnight big-city fix.
      - dwd 6y ago
        Try Labuan, not as touristy and good Internet due to the offshore finance centre. Large number of expats as well as the oil crew from Brunei who come for the tax free alcohol. Regular flights to KL or take the ferry/fly to KK or Brunei.
    - st1ck 6y ago
      KL isn't much of a mega-city compared to Bangkok, which is IMO an upside.
  - ShorsHammer 6y ago
ryannevius 6y ago
Most (not all) places in SE Asia have air quality that will have health ramifications that aren't worth the upsides of living there. I unfortunately recently had to move my family out of there because of it. Air quality aside, it can be a great place to live.
- antigirl 6y ago
  This. I've been in Bangkok for the past year and the air quality has been really bad. Not as fatal as china but almost there. other factors -Food is cheap but novelty wears off eventually and you will want to cook. Apartments are mostly expensive and small [in BKK] so kitchen is small. Western style groceries are expensive. -Its too hot. Traffic is really bad. Public transport is air conditioned but walking to skytrain etc is tiring because of the traffic, pollution, heat around you. -Wework or similar remote coworking spaces are not cheap -Language barriers -Time difference with clients back home [major one] I did one month in Hanoi, Vietnam and hated it. Places with infastructure worse than Thailand make it awkward if you have to work everyday 9-5 I think it can be fun if you move around and do it in episodes. I'd like to do some time in SKorea and Japan Perhaps Taiwan too https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23297378 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23297378 (but then also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIndXSfawA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIndXSfawA)
  - jimhi 6y ago
    All of these points are easily resolved by not living in the biggest city in your country. Bangkok is the New York City of Thailand. You could have all the same delicious food, but great air, no traffic, and more if you went to say Chiang Mai
    - ryannevius 6y ago
      Nope. I moved from Chiang Mai. It has some of the worst air quality in the world for a quarter of the year, and almost consistently worse than in Bangkok.
      - 6y ago

martinesko36 6y ago

Just curious, which countries in SE Asia would you recommend?

unavida 6y ago
definitely Thailand. Vietnam is nice on the coastal cities.
- ShorsHammer 6y ago
  How do you work remotely from Thailand for any reasonable amount of time? They are incredibly strict about these things. Sounds like an extended holiday and no stable way to live. Apart from applying for an education visa and learning Thai (unsure that actually grants work rights?) or an actual work visa with associated FT job, you'd be on 1 month tourist visas with repeated border crossings and in legal grey zone at the whim of regulators. Vietnam you can apply for extensions up to 1 year and everyone leaves you alone if employed remotely or running your own business abroad. Central Vietnam is a beautiful place.
  - companyhen 6y ago
    The elite visa is $15k for 5 years if you have the money that's the way to go. It's possible to stay in Thailand about 6 months max per year without risking getting into trouble on a tourist visa. I've been living there 6 months out of the year the past 3 years and plan to get the elite visa once the pandemic settles down. Vietnam is another favorite spot of mine but Thailand has always been my #1.
    - stephenr 6y ago
      Foreigners paying 15K for a glorified tourist visa is why the myths about all foreigners being “rich” continue in this country.
  - tluyben2 6y ago
    There are also special rules/visa (I do not know details but I have a few friends who did it and are still doing it) where you can create a company and hire Thai people, you can stay + pay (almost) no tax. If I remember correctly, the tax incentives expire after 6 or so years, but you can stay there as long as the company exists. One of the friends is there 13 years now and had no issues (besides the paperwork, but he paid someone to do that). But I guess you do need some money; just going there on a shoestring is not great anyway; I would want to be able to leave at any time when I want to (that's emergencies, not leaving for fun!).
Mengkudulangsat 6y ago
KL (my hometown) is great. There's reliable gigabit internet, which is important to remote workers I reckon. Dying to convince tech folks to come here instead of Singapore.
- kenneth 6y ago
  Having spent the last few months stuck in Singapore's awful lockdown, I'm pretty convinced it's not the place for me. Can't wait to get back home to HK. I'm starting to miss the smell of teargas. That said, wasn't the biggest fan of KL when I visited. It gave me "trying too hard to be Singapore and failing" vibes. Was much happier chilling in Langkawi. For a big SE Asia mega-city, BKK or Saigon are far more livable than KL, Manila, or Jakarta (and the associated crime, traffic, etc.)
  - Mengkudulangsat 6y ago
    Langkawi is currently reeling from the virus. They are dependent on the Chinese cruise crowd and that have dried up completely. I expect real estate prices will see a hit. On the bright side, they're likely to be the first spot in Malaysia to get 5G, so that will bode well for an emerging tech scene. Expats love it because sin items (tabacco and alcohol) are not only tolerated, but duty free. People buy a house right next to the airport and fly to KL / Singapore for their once a fortnight big-city fix.
    - dwd 6y ago
      Try Labuan, not as touristy and good Internet due to the offshore finance centre. Large number of expats as well as the oil crew from Brunei who come for the tax free alcohol. Regular flights to KL or take the ferry/fly to KK or Brunei.
  - st1ck 6y ago
    KL isn't much of a mega-city compared to Bangkok, which is IMO an upside.
- ShorsHammer 6y ago

ryannevius 6y ago

Most (not all) places in SE Asia have air quality that will have health ramifications that aren't worth the upsides of living there. I unfortunately recently had to move my family out of there because of it. Air quality aside, it can be a great place to live.

antigirl 6y ago
This. I've been in Bangkok for the past year and the air quality has been really bad. Not as fatal as china but almost there. other factors -Food is cheap but novelty wears off eventually and you will want to cook. Apartments are mostly expensive and small [in BKK] so kitchen is small. Western style groceries are expensive. -Its too hot. Traffic is really bad. Public transport is air conditioned but walking to skytrain etc is tiring because of the traffic, pollution, heat around you. -Wework or similar remote coworking spaces are not cheap -Language barriers -Time difference with clients back home [major one] I did one month in Hanoi, Vietnam and hated it. Places with infastructure worse than Thailand make it awkward if you have to work everyday 9-5 I think it can be fun if you move around and do it in episodes. I'd like to do some time in SKorea and Japan Perhaps Taiwan too https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23297378 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23297378 (but then also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIndXSfawA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIndXSfawA)
- jimhi 6y ago
  All of these points are easily resolved by not living in the biggest city in your country. Bangkok is the New York City of Thailand. You could have all the same delicious food, but great air, no traffic, and more if you went to say Chiang Mai
  - ryannevius 6y ago
    Nope. I moved from Chiang Mai. It has some of the worst air quality in the world for a quarter of the year, and almost consistently worse than in Bangkok.
    - 6y ago