Best Places To Live As An Expat in South East Asia & Why!
By: Henry Temple-Baxter
Tags: Finance, Asia, Expat Life, Expat, Life

Photo by Florian Hahn on Unsplash

Having lived in all of these countries, it really depends on what you are looking for as an expat. You can have a bustling life in a big Asian city with plenty of infrastructure such as Bangkok, or you can take the more relaxed route, enjoy the beaches, the locals, and their amazing food! Either way, there is a place for everyone!

Saigon — Best Prices

I would say if you are looking for the best in terms of cost, Vietnam wins. A great place was Saigon, it is an absolute gem, the people are nice the food is great and the prices are very affordable. Cons are the traffic is manic, but safe if you get to know the unofficial rules.

Philippines — Nicest People

The Philippines, has some of the friendliest people in the world, and English is widely spoken and in Manila, malls are everywhere. It can be a great place however, the traffic is manic and one of the worst in the world and found poverty to be the highest in any of the other countries. Although, most of the countries (with the exception of Singapore) have low wages people are happy and not too much poverty while in Manila, it is very common and quite sad to see. It does have a cheap residency program and a good place to be based if you like beaches.

Thailand — Well Developed

Thailand has some of the better development along with Malaysia. It also has cheap flights. It is very easy to live a western lifestyle here and then go straight back to Thai in the next street, it has is a very dynamic place & people are nice. So of the cons are English is the least spoken of the countries mentioned, and Thai baht is presently strong so will make living more expensive than the other (except Singapore).

Kualalumpur — Strong Residency

KL is a the top of the list for an affordable and good quality residency program. Some of the great benefits to KL are the English quality of locals, cheap flights & good transportation systems. I have looked at living in Singapore but then questioned myself as to why? When you get 75% of Singapore in KL for a 1/3 of the price. Also, my opinion, but a bit more edge to it. Personally, this place gets over-looked due to things such as high alcohol price and not as fun as Bangkok but this should not be the case. For residency programs and expat life, the quality is high here.

Singapore — Expat Heaven

Singapore, it’s the place a lot of expats go! It is clean, sterile, very westernised, great transport links, good infrastructure, lots of activities and the people are great! The worlds best everything, a great place if you like that. I would also say the best place for an expat to work, salaries are good, houses are good, but they are expensive. If you have the money for a residency (at a cool 1.5 million U.S) it is the best option as an expat. Even though it is very developed, it is safe and has a lot of green space dotted around so that it isn’t all just buildings. The cons are it's very small, about 1/3 of the size of London, so it can feel a bit cramped and it is very easy to see the whole island in a weekend. Finally, living in Singapore is quite expensive, the salaries do match the living, however, considering some of the other options, you can get better value for money in other areas!

Further Readings To Help You

Best Places To Buy Property Without Any Tax

Expats Property Guide To Asia

Should UK Expats Pay National Insurance While Abroad

How To Become Financially Independent