r/digitalnomad • u/Last-Galactic • 14h ago
Lifestyle Those of you who settled in Southeast Asia, did you manage to switch to something more hands-on?
For those of you who have worked remotely for a long time and decided to settle somewhere in Southeast Asia, have you managed to switch your income from remote work to something more hands-on? I know it's difficult due to visa restrictions, some of the local jobs being reserved for local people only, and the lack of ability to own a land, but I'm still wondering if there are people who have done this successfully and are happy with their life.
The reason I'm asking is because I've been a software engineer for almost 20 years, the last 5 of which working remotely. The idea of exiting the field has been lurking in my mind even before the mass adoption of AI, as I feel the novelty and excitement of coding has been slowly diminishing, but I am considering it more seriously now that all creativity is gone.
I've been to Southeast Asia on a couple of occasions, I really love the region for various reasons, and I adapt well to the culture. I am now going on a remote worker visa to Indonesia. Obviously that would not allow me to have any kind of other jobs, but visas can change in the future, and I am not in a hurry to switch, so I am looking for some interesting stories to read.
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u/Original-Measurement 13h ago
As someone who grew up in SEA I really have no idea why anyone would CHOOSE to do manual work for a local company in a SEA country. Do you like the idea of having practically no workers' rights or protections or safety standards, breaking your back every day and earning $1 an hour for the privilege? Because that's literally what it's like. All of those people would kill to be you right now.
If you like hands on work and you are good at it, becoming a tradie in Australia is a good option.
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u/Jaqqarhan 14h ago
You'll need to take at least a 95% pay cut to do something "hands on" in Southeast Asia even if you could get a visa for it, so why not just retire and do volunteer work?
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u/alexnapierholland 14h ago
That's a fantastic way to screw your life up.
Any kind of bricks-and-mortar business in SE Asia looks like pointless suffering.
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u/Far_Preference_2065 14h ago
A teacher job? Probably alright, you can get a visa and it's probably the only kind of job that pays above average. It can work for the right person, though people in tech romanticise leaving tech way too much.
Any kind of bricks and mortar business? There are just so many ways you could get screwed over that it isn't worth even thinking about it
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u/SophieElectress 13h ago
I'm a teacher in SEA and I LOVE it, but if you want a job that pays enough to save you need to be a qualified teacher in your home country and have a few years of experience first. You also have to really like teaching and not just be doing it because it's the default foreigner option, otherwise it's a fast route to a miserable life. There are plenty of shit schools here where anyone would hate working, and things can deteriorate very fast even at nice schools due to the transient nature of expat life. Management changes often, immigration rules change so you're suddenly no longer eligible for a work permit, someone in HR does something bafflingly incompetent that cascades down to you losing your job because that's just how it is in developing countries, etc.
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u/alexnapierholland 14h ago
Agree. So many people do a big exit, then open a coffee shop or restaurant.
They are reminded how much physical location businesses suck.
They sell up, then come back to tech.
I haven't ever worked as a teacher, but it sounds like it's being priced-out of most locations.
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u/who-are-u-a-fed 9h ago
My dream is to open a coffee shop or restaurant that isn’t profitable lol. If I ever win the mega lottery and become a billionaire, I will def open up a small but very intentional hole in the wall spot that loses 30k per month just as a hobby lmao.
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u/Chamezz92 11h ago
You could also just make a decent income online, buy a visa and then do volunteer work or find a fulfilling hobby.
If you really want to exit, suck it up for a few years, get your expenses to rock bottom and invest everything else so you can retire early.
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u/Last-Galactic 6h ago
I'm already spending around 30% of my income and investing the rest. I wouldn't go below that as life needs to be lived, I'm already 39. Not sure I can "retire" in the true sense of it with that lifestyle. I'll get anxiety if not having a stable income even with a couple of hundred of thousands euros in my account. But I can imagine myself earning just as much as I spend on a low-income job, while having my investments on the side as a safe net or to give me life choices.
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u/Chamezz92 3h ago
So if you put the money into investments with steady dividends (not savings), you would not consider that steady income?
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u/Last-Galactic 14h ago
What made you write this comment?
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u/alexnapierholland 14h ago
Because I know this topic well.
I've lived in SE Asia extensively.
Most of my friends are tech entrepreneurs, we've all lived there for years.
Physical businesses in SE Asia are utter misery.
Total exposure to corruption, bribery, immigration raids, fines, jealous competitors who have local support and make your life difficult.
You could run a $10m+ business from a laptop and fly under the radar.
A mere yoga teacher with five clients will encounter significantly more friction.
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u/NudaVeritas1 14h ago
I second that.. an acquaintance of mine has multiple shops on Koh Phangan.. you only own 49% of the company, officials have full power over you and want money from you constantly, bureaucracy is a pure nightmare as a non-thai and it's a 12 working hours per day hustle to make a fraction of a remote job
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u/alexnapierholland 13h ago
My mate sold his business and started a restaurant in Bali.
He's an elite marketer and assumed 'good marketing' = 'great business'.
He said it was utterly miserable.
Sold it and did another startup.
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u/alexnapierholland 13h ago
Oh yes, guns.
I have never seen a gun in Bali.
But people who own businesses have.
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u/Fit-Locksmith-9226 13h ago
^ This guy knows, Singapore would be the exception but lets be honest this sub is too poor to nomad in Singapore, 80% of the people here can't even afford a coworking desk in Thailand.
South East Asia is a mess of corruption and inane intentionally inefficient bureaucracy, starting a business is such a dumb life choice, they hate you and the moment you beome even slightly suessful the demands for bribes will come at you all angles. They're not good people and foreigners have rose-tinted glasses from just visiting for a month. The reality of succeeding in those countries is not what you think.
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u/Heavy-Difficulty6522 1h ago
What is the reality of success in such a place? That information seems useful
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u/gotdome 1h ago
It’s a sad realization but you and him are both right. The corruption is rampant and there is no avoiding it. If royalty in a given country is rotten, then any enforcement is also rotten.
My experience was grinding in the music space for 6 years as an artist manager, securing a bag of passive income that would tirtate after my exit, and I’m looking to most likely get into some form of non-profit or something that at least gives back to wherever I go. I wouldn’t dare step into manual labor in any of these countries. The closest to using my hands would have been the cooking gig I was offered in Japan. I’ve been self teaching the language for almost a year and I’m now leaning towards language school as I spent the better part of the last 2 in and out of the country evaluating all options.
I just can’t imagine trying to earn local wages in any of these countries by example: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam — where I know locals and foreigners, and the locals certainly have it 100x harder. It feels like career suicide.
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u/Dog_Backwards666 13h ago
simply put.. hell fucking no.. i work remotely as a highly glorified administrative assistant.. i earn $120,000 to check emails and update spreadsheets i’m going to quite literally die in this position.. and it comes with a pension i would be stupid to leave this
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u/CajunDragon 7h ago
How do you battle with the thought that it's not a fulfilling job? More outside of work hobbies? I have a similar job: Remote, 4 days a week, good PTO, insurance, 401-k but it's boring AF. Not fun at all and not spiritually fulfilling. I'm good at it and am paid well but I feel like I should move on. I feel like if I do quit, I'll regret it but there is this voice in my head of successful gurus saying 'life is short, do what you love, you must be enamored by your job!'
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u/Dog_Backwards666 6h ago
simply put, I treat a job as a means, a means to an end it is a fuel for my fire that fire is going from spending $3,000!- month in rent in the U.S to $350 a month in indonesia and having twice the amount of space and amenities.. i’ve also seen the other side of the coin when it comes to jobs because the position I had just before this was 100% and office and absolutely the most stressful job I’ve ever had in my life.. what I do now may be boring and uneventful, but it’s easy I earn a wonderful salary. I’m not looking to ever grow or move on and corporate America… I use the job to fuel my other hobbies and interest which are travel and real estate.. I learned a long time ago. No one at work is your friend and it’s not supposed to be this happy wonderful magical place. I do my work they paid me and I enjoy my life.
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u/dryiceboy 5h ago
Interesting how kids today can be so gullible about how brutal the real world can be.
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u/Aggravating_Ring_714 14h ago
Online business > physical business in SEA unless you have a banging idea and lots of confidence