TMBA20 – What Is the Best Place in Southeast Asia for Internet Entrepreneurs?

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This week I totally geek out on one of my favorite topics: how do various locations in Southeast Asia stack up to each other for internet entrepreneurs?

During the conversation I share a lot of anecdotes from my last 5 months on the road, along with a few new pieces of information I’ve picked up along the way. Hope you enjoy and curious to hear your thoughts as always.

Listen to this episode and hear about:

  • Why “Heads Down in Hoch” might make Vietnam the #1 destination of 2013.
  • If Bangkok is the real capital of lifestyle entrepreneurs in SE Asia (or is there a dark horse candidate)?
  • What’s up with the Philippines???
  • The magnetic pull of Bali, in all it’s sketchy interwebs glory.
  • The next tier of ballerdom: Singapore, Hong Kong, and China.

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Episode length: 31:05

 

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Here’s some photos of the places mentioned in the show…

Bangkok, Thailand

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Pattaya, Thailand

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Davao City, Philippines

The Philippines

Bali, Indonesia

Hong Kong

Shenzen, China

Singapore

Hope you have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Dan

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  • http://robcubbon.com/ Rob Cubbon

    Great podcast, Dan. Great one to listen to when you’re contemplating the onset of winter in London.

    I’m thinking of spending some time in Chiang Mai next year (with laptop) as I’ve been there before (without laptop). What you said about Bali was really interesting. And inspiring. As always! Thanks.

  • http://lucidability.com/ Jamie Alexander

    Great rundown of all the places. I’ve been to a few of those before and Bali stands out. I think because it’s more of a beach/holiday lifestyle. I agree with Chiang Mai being boring, but a lovely place. I quite like Bangkok as well.

    Do you know anyone that’s lived in Langawi, Malaysia? I know people that have traveled there, but never worked. It seems like it would be a lovely tropical island with great internet, plus duty-free alcohol lol.

  • Kyle

    Any reccomendations for startup locations in Latin America?

  • Alex

    Thanks Dan for this inspiring episode. I was feeling a bit down today and after listening to you talk about these awesome places I feel pumped up and ready to work on my projects.

    Thanks for doing this!

  • http://twitter.com/ryangoesabroad Ryan Goes Abroad

    AWESOME episode. Love hearing this boots-on-the-ground goodness. Very helpful. Thanks Dan!

  • http://twitter.com/KungfuPhoto1 Kungfu-Photo

    i ve been working in buenos aires for 3 months. I think it may one of the best place to go work in south America. I worked in the neighborhoods called Palermo and belgrano. Unfortunately in both the Internet connexion showed some deficiency, but it was only a real problem one day a month.

  • yuval

    Hey, sounds interesting.

    I have a question and maybe a good idea to help more people: Why is there no transcript of the audio?

    For example: I need more and better information by reading (text) It’s quicker and at my own pace.

    I’d love an answer

  • http://www.adventurous-soul.com/ Shayna

    I’m in northeastern Brazil. I wholeheartedly recommend Brazil (great weather, rich culture, great food, fun people) but I’d advise staying away from Rio and Sao Paulo, as those are rivaling NYC and Tokyo in terms of cost of living.

  • Deano

    Love that you are talking about locations and bootstraping again. I love your biznass stuff on LBP (I mean it, I really love it), but it is great to relax a little and talk about the lifestyle. Saigon for me, love CM too, though unlike you I think there is lots to do, need the bike though, go touring those mountains and hot spa pools; that said I’m a bit Thai-red of CM now (boom boom).
    Philippines, yes a great place for a week or two, no way I could live there long term, also quite hard to get monthly rents on the cheap (they seem to like 6/12 month contracts), and the less said about the food the better; the people are lovely though :-)
    Bali, I like the place, but it is where I learnt the travellers skill of being ignoring peopel, speak to a peddler they will never leave you alone. Not a skill I wish I had, but one that is needed in Bali (and a few other places). Also much as I like Australians, Kuta has a few too many of them (in their defence Ibiza has too man Brits :-)

  • Deano

    I think Tropical Talk is meant to be relaxed and chatty. If you read the transcript, it probably would not be the best of English, and would not read well (without some serious copy-editing) as I have the feeling that Dan is thinking of many of the things he says as he goes along. As a podcast it is perfect. I feel that you will enjoy it much more as a listen than as a read.

  • http://www.jonmyers.com/ Jon Myers

    I’m getting excited to be back in the Hoch for 2013.

    But, damn you Dan, you’re selling me on Bali. I’m gonna pay a visit there.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    I’ll see you there you see me here!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Hey Deano happy to pour on the lifestyle bits and love to chat with you in person about this stuff as well! I understand the peddler stuff but see so little of it here in Seminyak, perhaps it’s a Kuta vs. Seminyak thing.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    haha that’s partially true, I actually listened to this podcast the day it was published to check the editing and actually said quite a few things that are factually incorrect, because i’m literally talking off of the top of my head. would be embarrassing to format them in text! :D

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    hey yuval i’d love to help more people! but the problem is it is costly to produce good transcripts and we haven’t been able to justify the ROI just yet. however, i think it might be something we do in the near future. i need to sit down with some spreadsheets and talk to other podcasters who have done this. thanks for the thought!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    thank you Ryan!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Cheers Alex love to hear that I’m helping with that !

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Hey Kyle! good ideas below here, also lots of SA folks in the DC. I have no experience with SA and no immediate plans to visit … sorry can’t be too helpful on this point! :D

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Hey Jamie I’ve never heard reports of Langawi– I have a few friends who’ve laid low in Malaysia saying it’s very cheap and isolated (where they were) very few people seem to stick there or “love” the place.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Thank you Rob! Hope all is well in London and hopefully we can catch up next year.

  • Andrew

    Hi Dan! Have you been to Laos? I passed through Vientiane (capital) and Luang Prabang (UNESCO heritage site) recently. LP was really beautiful, seemed to have a great cafe culture, friendly people and cheap food. Have you heard anything about living in either of those cities?

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Hey Andrew I haven’t made it to Lao yet– I’m looking forward to it… I don’t know anyone personally who has settled there– seems a little off the beaten path. Many mention it as a top spot to decompress and relax.

  • kenzo

    Hi guys, for anyone who’s been to the cities mentioned, what are your thoughts on air quality in each place? I love PH but the smog got to me.. I’ve never been to Vietnam, curious on how it is in Ho Chi Minh.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    good question and tough one to answer… also there is a distinction between smog and particulate… cities like BKK used to have really bad particulate due to 2 stroke engines and the like and have been massively cleaned up but the city still has a layer of smog. HCMC less sooty than Phils for sure, not entirely sure on how the smog issues stacks up.

  • Tom Frearson

    Can’t wait to move to Bali at New Year, just hope I can afford it! Chiang Mai sounds great too, especially if you’re on a budget, but I’ve learned over the years that, for me, living close to the beach is a must; it makes all the hard work seem worth it.

    Really useful show Dan, thanks!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    My pleasure Tom! It’s a special thing to be able to totally geek out and provide a little useful info to others all in the same sweep. Good luck with the move in the new year and sure we’ll catch up.

  • http://benhebert.com/ Ben Hebert

    I’ve been to 30+ shows and festivals this year. Miike Snow is still one of my favorite performances to date. Check them out live!

  • http://twitter.com/BarryOkane Barry O’Kane

    Great, useful and inspiring show! Just returned from my first working experience in Vietnam this year and it was outstanding.

    I found Nah Trang one of my favourite places to work for a short/medium length of time – both on beach front living and internet connection, as well as access to the central highlands and some more remote sea side locations for non-working trips. In particular I was pleasantly surprised with the connection. Of course, it doesn’t have the big city attractions or community of somewhere like Siagon – though I did meet an English man, Quinten, who runs a web development shop there (wiserobot.com/).

    Anyway, thanks for another enjoyable listen :)

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Damn! Missed it by a week. Rockin’ out to them right now :)

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Hey great stuff Barry! Nha Trang is a fantastic spot to launch a scooter trip into some gorgeous landscapes. Not a bad way to decompress after a hard week at work!

  • kenzo

    Thanks so much for your input Dan, I’m heading out again in a couple weeks so this really helps!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Cheers my pleasure!

  • Josh

    Dan,

    My boys Tim & Nick from The Elevator Life have gotten me into Tropical MBA and looking at the DC. Have listened to tons of your guys stuff on your podcast.

    For this episode – I gotta disagree on the worth in China. Don’t get me wrong.. my first apartment in Guangzhou (worse than Shenzhen…) had rats as big as cats.. and it’s not even that cheap relative to the rest of SE Asia. But, it truly is the land of opportunity. Entrepreneurs looking to create physical products.. this has got to be the spot. I’ve met plenty here that seem to be popping out new products once a month. China has a steep learning curve.. but I’d recommend it.

    Love what you guys are doing. Lots of your great advice has helped me put together HeadCase. We’ve created a pair of premium headphones that are not only high-quality and affordable (Dr. Dre isn’t in China… bye bye Beats), but also raising social awareness by teaming up with 5 huge charities. Started a crowdfunding campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/headcasesound

    Cheers!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Cheers Josh! I love your assessment of China and I’m sure you are right about that… in fact, I’m looking forward to learning more about the place someday soon :) Best of luck with the headphones, as you know Ian and I are big fans of mobile offices!

  • http://mediascreen.se/ Marcus Andersson

    I like Buenos Aires. Reasonably priced serviced apartments (with pool and gym), big but laid back, wifi in most coffe shops and even good co-working spaces.

  • Mike

    There’s a lot of focus on SE Asia for digital nomads, but South America has many rival places, even better in lots of respects. Cost of living is also cheap in the right places.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    True!

  • http://www.facebook.com/Dotcup Brett Nelson

    Corruption, perhaps the biggest con for me living in HCMC. If your product is from here, you need to be even more careful.

  • Michael

    Great discussion, I’m packing my bags in March after 3 years in Singapore to try out Bali and Bangkok for a few months, hope I can catch up with you there Dan!

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Cheers !!!!

  • Serge

    Great show, Dan!

    I’ve been in Hanoi for the last couple months and I totally agree with what you said. Might be making my way down to Ho Chi Minh City on your recommendation.

    Any idea on the quality of internet on some of the islands in Thailand? I’m doing a fair bit of video conferencing and need as fast a connection as I can get. I was on Koh Phangan early 2012 and it seemed fast enough (although I was more chilin’ than workin’) but not sure about some other islands. Anybody has an idea about Ko Samui? Ko Lanta? I wouldn’t mind spending a few months again in Thailand this summer.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Thanks Serge. Koh Samui should be better, heard Koh Tao sucks. No word on Lanta. Sure you can find a way to make that work! :D

  • http://www.markzhang.me Mark Zhang

    Have you ever lived in Taiwan before Dan? If so, how does it compare to the places mentioned in the podcast?

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Mark I have not! Quite a few DCers live/travel there but me not yet. Sounds like a great spot looking forward to making it there in the next few years. Seems very developed, great food, fast webz.

  • http://www.markzhang.me Mark Zhang

    Thanks Dan. From Canada, in Singapore now. Exploring next step.

    You are a true balla.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Rock on! :D

  • curiouscat_com

    I considered it but there are really very few options to live there. It has tons of tourist hotels but very few long term living options. It has lots of good food and beaches but is very small and sleepy. I would be surprised if there are more than 5 expat entrepreneurs there.

  • Michael

    Hi Dan, just came back from Taipei, Taiwan. In a nutshell, its like a way smaller version of Bangkok, almost as cheap, cleaner food, as good nightlife. The bad side is apartments are slightly more expensive and there is almost no sun.

  • http://www.tropicalmba.com Dan

    Hey Michael appreciate the update! Really good insight there. Excited to check it out myself.

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