Bangkok, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh are amazing places, specially for nightlife, business opportunities and dynamism.
However are very different.
Jakarta - unless you earn well - is unliveable.
Traffic is a complete joke, basically there are no areas where you can walk, extreme pollution, and cost of living is not that low if you want certain standards.
I am currently deciding if moving to Bangkok or Taipei, so I definitely have a sweet spot for Thailand and Bangkok in general.
At my salary level, Bangkok is cheaper, cost of living is cheaper but tax is impacting quite a bit, so I have more disposable income in Taiwan then in Bangkok - I am not sure in your case.
HCMC is really cool, messy but cool.
Plenty of young people, economy is vibrant, dynamic, a lot of young people.
Not as easy as Bangkok for making young friends.
I’ve been to HCMC and it did not strike me as developed, at all. There are no metros. The traffic was even madder than here. It was charming don’t get me wrong but if you are after developed i don’t see how you will find it there.
What about Kuala lumpur? Just went there recently and was really quite developed and big. I feel like it could be a comfortable place to live.
Even if you earn well it’s barely liveable in my opinion. Unless living in shopping malls and hotels is one’s thing. As mentioned above the traffic is absolutely world record level horrendous.
Hmm as an English teacher you are not going to get more money in those countries unless you upgrade your skills or change your profession. In fact you are likely to make less money in many cases I reckon.
BUT why not give it a try as you are young and yes they can be more vibrant especially Bangkok and HCMC. Book some AirAsia flights and get travelling kemosabi…see for yerself first.
Edit : OP is not an English teacher, that was my mistake
Thailand and Vietnam are pretty wild to me. A relatively safe “wild”… I wouldn’t go to teach in like Zimbabwe or Lebanon or Brazil or anywhere I thought was truly dangerous to live.
I am, unfortunately, a middle aged family man. But if I were in my 20s and single I’d definitely go to Vietnam and Thailand.
Careful though… same rules apply. Fall in love and get married in one of those places and you may be stuck for life there as well. I like Vietnam but I’m not sure I would want to raise a family there.
Two of them, even. I’m just being facetious. Every point in life has its pros and cons. Of course I miss the freedom and energy of my 20s, but that’s the trade off!
KL is smaller than Taipei. Physically km2 and population wise. Maybe I didn’t state it but I want to move to a big city in terms or physics size and population. Not somewhere smaller than Taipei.
I’ve checked. I’ll get more money and a lower cost of living. 20% of my income on rent in those countries will get me a 2 bed condo. Gym. Sauna. Steam room. Rooftop pool. Downtown location.
20% of my income here in Taipei gets me a single bed studio with a toilet. In a shitty location.
.