I can't agree with you there. Outside of Bangkok I don't think you could live exceedingly well for any amount. I know people who have built homes in Chiang Mai

I can't agree with you there. Outside of Bangkok I don't think you could live exceedingly well for any amount. I know people who have built homes in Chiang Mai that are impressive, but they're still living in Chiang Mai. There's just not a lot going on up there. Maybe if you had something nice on the water in Phuket you could have a good life. But that's not something most non-wealthy or non-retired people will be looking at. I like living here because although my condo costs a significant percentage of what I paid in SF, it's also 3x bigger. Cars are a lot more expensive but they also hold their resale value much better than in the US. I also never have to cook a meal, wash my car or clean my place. That means I can spend 100% of my time working if I choose to. The value of that can't be stressed enough if you're an obsessive workaholic (like I would imagine a lot of people here are). Compared to the US, having access to good, low cost health and dental is also great. My wife needed major surgery a while ago and even with her generic coverage-as-a-perk corporate health plan I think we paid 500$ out of pocket for the procedure. This was for a minimally invasive procedure at a private hospital. I can't imagine what it would have cost in the US without additional coverage.