Why People Move To Thailand From The West

Reason #1: Cost of Living

Cost of living is definitely one factor which has to be discussed. Bangkok and Thailand are much, much less expensive than living in Canada. In terms of prices, a condo in Bangkok can be anywhere from 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of a similar unit in a large Canadian city. Phone and internet are quite literally a fraction of the price. Eating out and going out is much, much cheaper here in Thailand.

With the huge cost of living differences, you have to step back and ask yourself: what exactly am I paying for? Lack of affordability in my country of Canada, like many Western countries, stems from an under supply of housing, which has made it not only very expensive to afford but difficult to even find a place to live.

Here in Bangkok, you actually have a massive oversupply of housing. There have been way too many condos built here over the past 10 years, and that is a problem for the housing market here. But as an individual, it does make it very easy to find a place to live. It’s very stress-free to simply decide to move. If I contrast that with attempting to move back to my home country of Canada and find a condo, that’s going to be brutal.

Reason #2: Value and Lifestyle

But there’s more to life than cost of living. It’s more important to consider value. You can find options at every price point—from luxury restaurants, rooftop bars, and pool parties to vibrant and inexpensive night markets—and everything in between. There’s always something happening in the city, and there are options available for every price point. I love just walking around and exploring the city.

I find there’s a large underlying cultural difference between any western society and most non-western societies, like Thailand. Non-western societies have a more community orientation. Take a walk out on any street here in Bangkok and you’ll see lots of people sitting around and eating together, and most of those locations are at a very reasonable price, so that everybody in the society can partake.

This differs substantially from Western societies, which are much more atomized and separated, and personally, I feel isolating. There just aren’t sufficient spaces in most western countries for people to spontaneously congregate at inexpensive prices. For example, in my country of Canada, it’s illegal to even have a beer in public. The freedom that you have in public spaces is actually very low.

In Northern climate countries like Canada, the weather has played a large factor in determining the structure of the society. We have a long five- or six-month winter, and so those public spaces that are outside are really cut off for about half of the year. We actually have a whole disorder called Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is a depression that people suffer during winter in Canada. The effect on people’s mental health can be very significant.

Human civilization was not built in these cold countries. When you live in a very cold country, I think you’re actually living in a relatively novel and unique setting for the human mind, and so we do have things like Seasonal Affective Disorder where you’re simply depressed.

Reason #3: Modern Infrastructure

For the past 20 years, there has been an enormous boom of infrastructure development in Asian countries generally. If you compared Bangkok 30 years ago to Bangkok today, it is virtually unrecognizable. Now you have extremely modern infrastructure, and when I go back to my home country of Canada, frankly it feels old and dated compared to here in Bangkok.

The public transportation rail systems have been built out to cover almost the entire city of Bangkok in the past 10 years. They are new, clean, modern, and safe. You have some of the fastest download and upload speeds for wireless services. You have public hospitals, private hospitals, clinics—and it will really depend on your insurance situation—but I’ve personally dealt with all of the healthcare options here. If you need to get something checked, if you need some treatment, you can go and get it checked pretty much instantly as there are a lot of doctors.

The malls here in Bangkok are much nicer, more beautiful, and modern than in western countries, so it’s very easy to go out and go shopping.

I think many people in western countries are very unaware of the rate of development that’s occurred in Asia over the past 20 years.

Reason #4: Safety

Bangkok is a very safe city, and in fact much safer than most western cities. I’m sure this surprises many people from western countries who think this is the “developing world” and think that it must be ridden with crime. No, you could walk around literally anywhere in Bangkok and feel safe.

You simply don’t find the same types of socially dysfunctional behaviors here. You don’t have things like street gangs. You don’t have that disrespectful youthful behavior. It feels like there’s more cohesion around shared values, identity, and respect between the people within the society.

Reason #5: Culture and Respect

Thailand has a somewhat unique “live and let live” culture. It may be best summed up by the Thai phrase: “mai pen rai”. That means: “let it be” or “leave it alone.” It can contrast very sharply with western ideology. I would argue that the West has a high orientation towards conflict and division.

When I was teaching in university here, I would walk into a class. I would have trans students, gay students, every single type of student. Everybody behaved with respect towards each other. I didn’t witness any bullying. You didn’t experience a culture of divisive arguing or fighting amongst people. That’s because respect was underpinning people’s social relations with each other, and the “mai pen rai” approach where you just let people be and leave them alone. They’re not bothering you, you don’t have to tell them how to live, they’re not telling you how to live.

Reason #6: Travel Hub and Opportunities

Bangkok is an excellent travel hub. This is the most visited city in the world. Here in Bangkok, I can fly to vastly different countries and cultures within an hour. I find that you get such an interesting range of people living here in Bangkok who are doing lots of interesting stuff, especially working online, and it definitely has helped to change my mindset.

Every new person you meet, you hear their story. They tell you what they’re doing. You have so many opportunities to learn from those people that are doing interesting things. That’s simply very different than being in a city in Canada where most people are following a certain conventional pattern in life. People living in Bangkok generally are not.

Costs have risen in western countries, salaries have stagnated. We’ve also seen an enormous rise in international job opportunities and online work opportunities that may make it much more attractive to pursue careers that allow you to live in a non-western country. If you’re employed by a western or international organization, your salary will normally be at least equivalent and often more than your salary back home.

And that’s not to mention the growth of the digital economy, which has also enabled an enormous number of opportunities to earn money online. This allows for a situation where you can earn that western salary while paying non-western expenses, living in a city like Bangkok.

In the future, I do question how many people are going to decide to leave overpriced, atomized, and cold Western cities and move to beautiful tropical environments with friendly cultures and work remotely. You now have a totally different work environment that really didn’t exist 20 years ago. This is brand new, and this is a huge revolution that’s occurring.

If you’re more interested in living abroad, you can pursue many different paths which will enable you to live a great life.