Thailand is the BEST country for work life balance - my experience

My lifestyle is pretty tame by most measures. It's a good lifestyle. I'm very happy with it, but it's not wild or anything. It's not the way people seem to assume it might be. And I think this reputational stereotype of Thailand is pretty aged in 2025. I don't think it's as accurate as it might have been a few years ago. So if you're looking for somewhere to relocate this year and you want to be productive and get stuff done and maybe build a business or something at the same time, then I want to explain in this video why Thailand might be a really solid choice for you. The first thing I want to talk about is the new destination Thailand visa or the DTV. This is pretty huge news because historically Thailand has been very ambiguous and difficult to navigate when it comes to visas. But the destination Thailand visa allows you to work for an entity that is outside of Thailand or own and operate an entity that is outside of Thailand whilst living in Thailand at the same time. And it lets you do that for up to five years. Now there's definitely some nuance here and I don't want to make this full video about the destination Thailand visa. I do have a dedicated video for this somewhere on my channel. So if you want more details, go and check that out. But I don't think this visa is going to be around for that long because it's just too good for the price point. It almost makes the elite visa which is 10 times more expensive redundant. So if you're even considering moving to Thailand on a long-term basis, I think you should get this visa while you still can. The second reason is that Thailand has a really strong digital nomad or entrepreneurial community. Whether that's Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket there's always interesting people doing interesting things everywhere. I've met some of the most impressive entrepreneurs ever in Thailand and that's because there's always networking events, there's always meetups, there's coffee shops and I'm always meeting new fascinating people and I think you probably will too. The third reason is easy access to solid financial infrastructure. So Thailand is not the easiest when it comes to opening bank accounts or setting up businesses and arguably not the most robust. So even if it was easy from a legal perspective to do any of those things, you wouldn't necessarily want to. That being said, there are neighbouring countries that are very easy to get to from Thailand which do offer easier ways to open up businesses or easier ways to open bank accounts and I'm speaking about primarily Hong Kong and Singapore. So if you needed to be in any of those countries, you can kind of get there pretty fast and pretty cheap. The fourth reason is the low cost of living. So you probably already know that living in Thailand is pretty cheap relative to other countries in the world. From food, accommodation perspective, it's affordable and I think this is important for entrepreneurs especially if you're operating a start-up right now where the future is not that clear, it's not very well mapped out and you might be reining in your finances a little bit, you might be operating a more strict budget than you otherwise would and Thailand just offers you that breathing room and gives you a longer runway which I think is really important especially if you're in that building phase right now and you've not got any cash coming in immediately. I think you can live pretty comfortably in Thailand for between 1,000 to 1,500 USD. You could even do it for cheaper but I think you could live quite comfortably around that number. The fifth reason is efficiency. So I talk about this all the time but the architectural culture in Thailand really prioritises co-living spaces. So most condos, especially in Bangkok, has gyms, co-working spaces, all these things within the condo. In fact, you don't really need to leave the condo, there's always a 7-Eleven within two to five minute distance and the real benefit of all this is efficiency and I didn't realise this until I actually left Thailand recently and went back to the UK for a bit where I'm having to, you know, spend 30 to 40 minutes getting to a gym. I'm having to walk to the shop which is taking 15, 20 minutes and all these things stack up and you waste a lot of time and life and energy just doing the basic everyday things. Here, everything's so efficient. No time is wasted and that just allows you to get more things done. The sixth reason is solid technical infrastructure. So whether that's Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, some of the other islands, the Wi-Fi here is very good and the benefits of this are obvious. I don't need to go into detail but if you're operating a business or you're working for a business that's outside of Thailand, you need that solid, reliable internet for video calls, all that obvious stuff. The seventh thing I want to talk about is easy access to neighbouring countries. This is more about the work-life balance side of things which I think is still really important even if you are in that scrappy entrepreneurial startup phase and you are prioritizing work. I still think it's important to mix up your environment, stay fresh, don't get stale, don't stay in the same place for too long, make sure you have regular breaks and Thailand offers you really easy, quick, cheap access to other places. Not just outside of Thailand but within Thailand. So let's say you were based in Bangkok, you could really easily get to Chiang Mai if you want a kind of mountain vibe or Phuket if you want to go to the beach for a while. I mean you can be there within an hour for like $30 and if you want to exit Thailand and go to a neighbouring country like Vietnam or Indonesia or Malaysia, again very easy, very quick, very cheap. We have two major airports in Bangkok and it's simple. Okay so those are the main reasons why I think Thailand is a fantastic option if you want to relocate but also be productive and work and build something. Just a word of caution though, this has been a really fast video, I've blasted through some of these points especially around the visa thing. Do your research when it comes to visas specifically, make sure you understand the legal points in detail, make sure you're on the right visa, make sure you're doing what you're allowed to do on that visa. If you want to work for a business within Thailand, I don't think that's a great option. There's very limited opportunities for foreign workers within Thailand as in working for a Thai business and that would require a specific work permit so there's a lot of nuance here. Also make sure you understand where you are from a tax perspective, do all that research but if you're a remote worker working for a business that's based outside of Thailand or you're building a business outside of Thailand then I think Thailand is a serious contender and somewhere you should definitely consider moving to this year and if you do, I hope to see you around. I appreciate you watching this video, as always let me know your thoughts in the comment section and I'll see you in the next one, peace!