Asia costs $1,267/month to live with internet speeds up to 100 mbps and temperatures ranging from °C to 39°C°F to 102.29°F. Canggu, Bangkok and Seoul are the best cities to live in Asia that are affordable, with good weather and fast internet.
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The review that begins "Canggu is great. Here's some pointers you need to know before going:" is exactly 100% spot-on except... its not great. Motorbikes are dangerous and there are so many incredibly dangerous tourists on motorbikes either showing off on overpowered bikes or not knowing what they're doing and crashing. I've been crashes and near-misses almost every day. Had someone crash into me just yesterday. Walking is impossible and incredibly dangerous. Its not worth your life to be in a place with filthy beaches, filthy streets and incredible noise pollution from clubs and made-to-be-loud motorbikes. There are some incredibly, incredibly hot Western women but I don't like living like a colonialist. I've never seen an Indonesian in the same restaurant or pool or anything as me. That's creepy. If you miss The Raj, then its probably great for you but I like living among the local people. Not them being only servants with nothing about the place left to enjoy themselves.
Over-hyped. Bangkok isn't what I was expecting. After a month in Thailand's capital, I couldn't wait to escape. Chiang Mai is far superior if you have a desire to stay in Thailand. It feels unfair to compare Bangkok to Saigon... Go to Saigon.
Spend a few hours and learn the Korean alphabet (not that hard) and Google some names of Korean dishes + it's spelling in Korean. It will help a lot as most restaurants only have Korean menu's and often without pictures. As mentioned previously on the reviews, it's a little hard to eat alone, but Gimbab Chonguk (김밥천국) is everywhere and 24/7 - no one will bat an eye. Also look for places that "specialises" in dumplings, They are usually "alone-eating" friendly. And so are ramen places as well as Korean "chinese" restaurants - Jajangmyeon (자장면) is very good and super addictive. Bibimbab restaurant places are fine too. Actually, it's not that hard to eat alone in Korea. The "group" meals are generally quite obvious and will be things like BBQ. You'll figure it out. Do Get used to kimchi and spicy food otherwise you'll end up eating the same thing all the time. Be adventurous. Challenge yourself and eat an octopus alive (산낙지). If you're really brave try 보신탕 before authorities close them all - I haven't but a lot of Weagukins (foreigners) secret do. Cafe's generally have really good wifi, as you would expect from one of the most connected countries in the world. Expect to pay $4-6 for a latte and maybe even more at Starbucks. Best cafe's are usually around Hipster areas and Universities. Indie owned cafe's are awesome. Nightlife is great, probably amongst the best in Asia. Can get very expensive especially at night clubs in Gangnam where it would could be like $10 for a beer - in that case you can still get drunk for $2 with soju just outside at 7Eleven. Winters are stupidly cold and summers can be brutally hot & humid. Go between April and June or September to October. They have cherry blossoms in spring which is beautiful and so are the autumn leaves. Lived here for many years. It's a cool place and vastly underrated. Seoul is continuously becoming more expensive and cost of living will soon be comparable with places like Tokyo.
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Great place. Very easy to live here. Every self confessed "Digital Nomad" in Chiang Mai is borderline psychotic/delusional. Luckily, they're easy to avoid. Stick with the expats, locals, and tourists and you'll meet some great people. My second digital nomad pick after Saigon.
It's the hidden garden of Eden of Asia. Safe, clean, good services, relatively cheap for the quality of living you can get here. Friendly people and attractive girls. You walk out of the house, sun is shining with this cool tower in the skyline, you get your coffee, and some 7 eleven snack you go do some work. As Pieter said, you get to hang out with cool taiwanese ppl, many studied and worked in USA, and in general open to foreigners. Always felt treated well. For some reason, Taiwanese people don't think as highly of their country, but having seen the rest of the world, believe this is Heaven. Imagine if whole of China was as cool as Taiwan, the world would be one big happy party. Sorry not sorry
"omagad they like totally stole my iphone", "it's like the worst, everybody is like so aggressive" welcome to the Real World, maybe you now learn to appreciate your cosy first world country and stop bitching about your oppression and your rights. Ho Chi Minh is an awesome upcoming city. It has an original and still traditional look and vibe to it, interesting colors (check out japanese district) not swamped with brand shops (the local coffee shops dominate starbucks in terms of quality and design and some are open 24h !). The nightlife also has plenty of options and be sure to enjoy the view from a the many rooftop bars in the city. You get to see a city full of energetic, young people growing their country after a devastating war and under an authoritarian regime. You get a choice between older buildings in D1 or totally new apartment buildings in D2 all at great value prices. There are a lot of people coming here to work remotely and also to start businesses. Decent sports facilities readily available (check out mach's gym, UFC center). If you don't want to spend money on the gym you can always do a workout on one of the many parks that have bars for chalistenics available. However, beware the pollution and always wear a mask, especially in D1. This is the biggest con here in my opinion.
An amazing city for the value. Beach, MRT, Sun, and about half price of what you would pay in Taipei. Also, lots of super cheap flights all around Asia from the city airport. Been here a year so far and I like it. Not much in terms of night life, but a good digital nomad community. Also, really helps if you speak Chinese. An undiscovered Gem that I could see getting more popular with digital nomads in the next few years.
I like it here better than Canggu. It's more walkable, more cheap warungs, more convenient. You could find all kinds of shop catering to different type of visitor, from cheap to luxurious. Not a party place if you're looking for it, which made it even more perfect. More female than male, great for dating.
Automattic (creator of WordPress.com) is hiring remote workers: marketing, growth, mobile and UI/UX positions Work With UsSamui is Thailand's second most popular island for tourists, after Phuket. The main areas are Chaweng and Lamai. Chaweng used to be more backpacker and trashy (like Bali's Kuta) but is now rapidly developing into a real clean town. Since 2014, it now has a giant air-conditioned Central World mall, an increasing number of coffee places, good restaurants and more upscale hotels and resorts. Lamai Beach used to be the more clean and laidback area but is now deteriorating. The beaches are still okay but the streets are now filled with sex bars and bad restaurants. Worse, prices in Lamai are often higher than in Chaweng due to less competition. The preferrable spot to stay in Ko Samui now is the more mellow South Chaweng.
Kathmandu is an upcoming destination in the digital nomad community for its cheap living, great outdoor opportunities and its vibrant expat community. After the earthquake the country had to recover and with it came some major improvements: Internet connectivity has reached levels similar to many places in Asia such as Bali and the Philippines. Power cuts have been brought down to a minimum. And more and more places have started up co-working and living places that suit the digital nomads’ needs. Kathmandu now is a place that is alive with positive energy and is moving forward.
Nomad-ed here for a month. A totally ok place if you have the budget for it. Coworking spaces are good, 4g everywhere, transportation is effective. Lots of things to do. I was able to find friends. Lots of international people, very few digital nomads. If you're there, consider not renting in the center (as it gets expensive fast) and being creative with places to eat to find cheap options. Be prepared to use cash unless you live in a luxury.
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