What's the Next Thailand for Digital Nomads?

#21
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Why nobody talks about Malaysia? Specially Penang or Kuala Lumpur.

In Penang you have similar life as Phuket, in Kuala Lumpur, similar life as Bangkok. Cheap rents, amazing food, great people, amazing nature, excellent internet, people speak English, and the best of all, you are not farang. Locals are very friendly to foreigners and don’t try to scam them every time.

There is the new MM2H visa which grants tax free remitted income but requires a property investment

If you don’t want the property investment, there are other visas, like the digital nomad visa. Tax free remitted income until 2026, after that, nothing is clear

From Penang you are half an hour flight away to Phuket and 1:30 hour away flight from Bangkok, so you can always combine your lifestyle with half a year visits to Thailand to not be tax resident in Thailand and keep your tax residency in Malaysia while enjoying the best of both worlds
 
#22
I've been a few times in KL. KL is boring compared to Bangkok, it doesn't offer as many things, and my experience with locals is that they aren't nice, as opposed to Thailand. That they don't try to scam you, I agree. It's also cheaper I would say.

About Penang I can't say anything because I've never been to. But I would not live in KL at all. Of course, some other people might think different and prefer it over Bangkok.
 
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#23
mud said:
I missed something here.

What are the new tax laws that make Thailand unattractive for digital nomads?
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nice info, now I know how the Chinese destroyed the Aussie/NZ property market.
 
#24
The Chinese know best how to move money.
But it's just a reaction to their restrictive government policies.
Anarchocapitalism at it's best.


But back to topic, Vietnam (especially Hoi An, Danang, etc.) is an even cheaper alternative to Thailand.

Free visa for 45 days for many EU countries, otherwise 90 days visa runs, shopping malls, good food, cheapest beer in the world if you like Bia Hoi ('raw beer'), good and cheap medical options, big with many climates and seasons, lots of airports for easy and cheap flights around Asia. Banking was easy when I opened my accounts few years back, though I only used it for domestic purposes.

I got used to the traffic quickly, even managed to cross a busy 6 lane highway on my third day (coz the taxi didn't want to do the u-turn). But it's harder to get used to the noise, and it's not an easy language (6 tones). But I know foreigners who opened restaurants in Danang in their own name, so that growing roots there is possible as well if one wants to settle down. And if one is really down and out, you still can teach English for $20 / hour at countless schools, some agents even arrange fake CELTAs for new teachers.

I think they even planned a retirement visa, though it takes a bit of time to pass through their socialist legislature.

There are negatives too, pesticides in fruit and vegetables, fake coffee (soybeans treated with chemicals), some scamming and overcharging, but it's not a bad option at all.
 
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#25
ecool said:
Why nobody talks about Malaysia? Specially Penang or Kuala Lumpur.
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because its the same as thailand. A xenophic gov, very messy, internal racial confilcts even (largely absent in Thailand), internal borders, terrible mismanaged currency, bad property market. As a foreigner you have 0 rights and laws on the book can change overnight and you need special means to address these adverse circumstances.

thats like in thailand. Ive rarely being scammed. You are foreigner in either place.
ecool said:
There is the new MM2H visa which grants tax free remitted income but requires a property investment
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only until 2026, or has that been clarified?
if one is mobile enough, you dont need any long stay visa.
 
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#27
Xshore said:
The official MM2H announcement for Silver requirements says (translated to English):

Still, as this is Malaysia anything can be changed.
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yes this, lets hope its not a lost in translation kinda thing.
If true, its a strong selling point.

As I have never been to Malaysia hospitals. Does anyone know if they have double pricing as well like in Thailand?
 
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#28
JackAlabama said:
Does anyone know if they have double pricing as well like in Thailand?
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You're outdated, private hospitals have spreadsheets with multiple pricing:
- Price for tourist with insurance
- Price for tourist without insurance
- Price for foreigner resident with insurance
- Price for foreigner resident without insurance
- Price for Thai people with insurance
- Price for Thai people without insurance
 
#29
well then I stand corrected, not double pricing but double pricing cubed or whatever.

But hows it in Malaysia? Do they scam in the same way?
 
#30
JackAlabama said:
Ive rarely being scammed. You are foreigner in either place
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Sorry I didn’t mean scammed but charged extra because they think you are tourist. In Thailand is quite common, even happens sometimes in markets when buying groceries. In Malaysia I’ve never seen that happen, you are always charged the same as others
JackAlabama said:
But hows it in Malaysia? Do they scam in the same way?
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In my experience and my friends experience, private hospitals only have 1 price for everyone, regardless if you are foreigner or local. Public hospitals they have 2 prices, one for locals and one extremely expensive for foreigners, as they don’t want foreigners using public hospitals so they have more room for locals.
But Malaysia having such high quality private hospitals (being one very important place in the world for medical tourism), I don’t see why you would want to go to a shitty public hospital
 
#31
thx. that sounds good. Will check it out and drop Thailand for medical tourism eventually.
 
#32
Does day trading in US stocks or crypto is classified in Thailand as foreign sourced?
 
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