July 30, 2025 • 46 mins
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👉https://www.costoflivingabroad.com/newsletter
In this conversation on The Cost of Living Abroad Pod with ‪@evan_eh‬ and ‪@mogul.x‬ Mogul shares her experiences as a young creative navigating life between the UK and Southeast Asia. She discusses the significant differences in cost of living, food preferences, and cultural dynamics between the two regions. Mogul expresses her aspirations to move to Bangkok to expand her creative ventures while reflecting on the challenges and opportunities that come with living abroad. The conversation also touches on safety perceptions, social interactions, and the reasons behind her desire to leave the UK for a more fulfilling life in Thailand.
Mogul shares her motivations for leaving the UK for Thailand, discussing the high cost of living and the desire for a more appreciative lifestyle. She explains her transition to online work as a UX/UI designer and her journey into YouTube content creation, emphasizing the importance of building a personal brand and community engagement. The discussion also covers video planning, scripting, and the challenges of maintaining consistency in content creation, ultimately highlighting the potential for success in the digital nomad lifestyle.Â
ChaptersÂ
00:00 Introduction to Mogul and Her Journey
02:27 Cost of Living Comparison: UK vs Southeast Asia
05:38 Food Culture: Meals and Preferences
08:17 Monthly Expenses: Subscriptions and Living Costs
11:07 Cultural Insights: Living with Family vs Independence
13:50 Housing Costs: Bangkok vs London
16:27 Travel Plans: Moving to Bangkok
19:27 Cultural Experiences: Returning to Thailand
22:12 Multicultural Living: Experiences in Kuala Lumpur
30:30 Cultural Connections in Malaysia
32:50 Safety Perspectives: UK vs. Southeast Asia
40:03 Navigating Safety in Kuala Lumpur
44:05 Reasons for Considering a Move to Thailand
46:30 Challenges of Living in the UK
👉https://www.costoflivingabroad.com/newsletter
In this conversation on The Cost of Living Abroad Pod with ‪@evan_eh‬ and ‪@mogul.x‬ Mogul shares her experiences as a young creative navigating life between the UK and Southeast Asia. She discusses the significant differences in cost of living, food preferences, and cultural dynamics between the two regions. Mogul expresses her aspirations to move to Bangkok to expand her creative ventures while reflecting on the challenges and opportunities that come with living abroad. The conversation also touches on safety perceptions, social interactions, and the reasons behind her desire to leave the UK for a more fulfilling life in Thailand.
Mogul shares her motivations for leaving the UK for Thailand, discussing the high cost of living and the desire for a more appreciative lifestyle. She explains her transition to online work as a UX/UI designer and her journey into YouTube content creation, emphasizing the importance of building a personal brand and community engagement. The discussion also covers video planning, scripting, and the challenges of maintaining consistency in content creation, ultimately highlighting the potential for success in the digital nomad lifestyle.Â
ChaptersÂ
00:00 Introduction to Mogul and Her Journey
02:27 Cost of Living Comparison: UK vs Southeast Asia
05:38 Food Culture: Meals and Preferences
08:17 Monthly Expenses: Subscriptions and Living Costs
11:07 Cultural Insights: Living with Family vs Independence
13:50 Housing Costs: Bangkok vs London
16:27 Travel Plans: Moving to Bangkok
19:27 Cultural Experiences: Returning to Thailand
22:12 Multicultural Living: Experiences in Kuala Lumpur
30:30 Cultural Connections in Malaysia
32:50 Safety Perspectives: UK vs. Southeast Asia
40:03 Navigating Safety in Kuala Lumpur
44:05 Reasons for Considering a Move to Thailand
46:30 Challenges of Living in the UK
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now let's talk about Mogul. She was born in London,
works full time remote as a ux web designer, and
has had enough. The cost of living in the UK,
especially in Central London, has gotten so out of hand
she literally can't afford her own flat. Tesco is locking
up meat. So Mogul's planning her move not just for affordability,
(00:20):
but to reconnect with her roots as a Thai girl
born abroad. She's heading to Thailand to reclaim some space,
some peace, and a sense of home. If you stick
around to the end, she shares a wild story about
phone snatchers in the streets of London. Before we get
into today's episode, quick heads up if you're thinking about relocating,
retiring early, or just getting out of the grind, I've
(00:42):
got free guides, a full course, and a newsletter that
breaks it all down. You'll find everything linked below or
at cost of Living Abroad dot Com. Welcome the Cost
of Living Abroad podcast Mobile. I'm so excited to have
you here today.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Okay, thank you. Hi. My name is Mogul and what
I do on YouTube is actually a mix of creating
and travel vlogs. I like to show people how to
be creatives. One day and hopefully share my art to
the world. But I also want to integrate that within
(01:17):
my travel blogs and help people understand, say if I
went to Malaysia or Thailand or the all these different countries,
how to go about visiting those countries and hopefully give
them some insights.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I found you through a cost of living video in
Malaysia when I was filming Qualampur. But then when I
reached out to you, you're actually born and raised in
the UK. How long you've been traveling and visiting Southeast
Asia and what originally brought you to the region from
the UK.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Because I have a remote job, I work from home,
so I have the flexibility from the UK, I have
the flexibility to travel to Southeast Asia. So obviously I've
been to Thailand multiple times in the past, so I thought,
you know what, I'm going to give Malaysia a go.
I have a relative who works there as an expert,
(02:14):
and she has a flat over there, provided a better company,
and I went just to explore a different culture, to
try and work from home in a different city, change
my environment. And I went to Thailand for a brief
period as well. And I would say when it comes
(02:36):
to working from home, there's not really that much difference,
especially because you're working within the four Wars, isn't it.
But I think obviously when i'm there, I try to
change my environment as well, since I have such a
long time to be there at the time.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, a little later and I'll definitely ask you about
how you make your money on the class comparison compared
to the part of the UK where from when you live,
versus like how much it costs just your standard sort
of breakfast, lunch and dinner in Thailand or Malaysia.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Like into comparison for pricing, it's a lot more expensive
here than it is in Asia when it comes to
eating out specifically, So if I was to eat out
for breakfast, for example, would probably be around say like
fifteen pounds to twenty pounds for breakfast here, whereas in
Malaysia or Thailand Southeast Asia it'd be around no more
(03:34):
than three pounds really maximum five pounds depending on where
you go. But if I try to eat locally, it's
less than three pounds in comparison. But yeah, when it
comes to dinner, it's much more expensive. It would be
around here, would be around say London prices would be
(03:54):
around thirty to forty pounds per person. In Asia, if
it were talking a middle class restaurant, it would probably
be ten to fifteen from my experience.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
For the viewers, and like in the States two pounds
or like maybe like three percent on so like fifteen
pounds is like twenty dollars, right, what's your what's your
favorite breakfast or meal of the day when you're in
Malaysia or Thailand versus at home. Whi's like, what's the
food that makes you travel?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Choosing one? You're making it easy for me. Oh my god.
In the UK, people are accustomed to eating, you know,
something a bit more mellow for breakfast, for like a
like a beans on toast or like a British like
English breakfast. Obviously here in the UK, I would say
English breakfast would probably be my favorite. I know it's
very basic, but I think for Asia, you know what
(04:49):
street food I would I'm happy to eat street food
with a bit of salad, when it's like pork skewers
with sticky rice and that traditional Tai salad with it,
so it doesn't feel too much. Yeah, it's very refreshing.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Did you ever actually live in Thailand? Too, Are you
just traveling when you were here? Using there?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I lived in Malaysia. I've never actually lived in Thailand properly,
but I would. It's something I aspire to do but
one day.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
So how often do you visit Thailand? Go there?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Thailand? I try to go annually to visit family.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Is your family in Bangkok or were there?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah? They were in Bangkok, which is great for me,
you know, the big city. I'm a very city person London, Like,
it's very convenient to get anywhere from here. But I
think I am. I do say I'm a city person,
but it doesn't mean I don't like nature like I
do love the nature a lot. It's just more like,
in terms of convenience and things to do, I think
(05:56):
the city has a lot more, especially since I'm just
twenty five.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Okay, So this is an interesting question. Do you think
that is one of the reasons why you live with
your parents still? Is it more cultural or is it
more about the cost of living in the UK and
like howent and the expenser it is around London.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I would say both, because the cost of living in
London is Yeah, it's very scary trying to save money
and it's been it's been kind of working. But I
think once you stay at home, I think you get
a bit too comfortable and you start spending anyway because
you know you have that leftover money and also a
(06:34):
cultural thing as well. I think Asian families tend to
stay with each other for longer, even if you do
live in outside of Asia. But I'd love to move
out into central London to be more convenient with my
last style.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah, what you think of a cost in central London?
That's a great compression. Let's compare the cost for I
was looking at.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
The center, so like tom Law a so xpact heavy area.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
What were the cars you were seeing like monthly? For studios,
I was looking.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
At like one bedroom apartments. Would you call it studio?
It's just like, uh, it'd be like a condo with
a living room space bedroom and also in the living
room space there's also sometimes a kitchen area, which is
the spacing is quite generous in terms of the budget
I'm looking for. So the budget I kept seeing come
(07:32):
up was around three hundred something for rent per month
to five hundred to six hundred pounds per month. But
there are a lot cheaper ones for the quality might
not be as good, but it is there is like
still Liverpool, and I would still consider around two hundred
as well range. But then when you compare it to
(07:55):
say London.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Or like on the metro line right near Circompede right like,
they're a.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Bit more expensive for Thai locals, i'd say, or just
in general, they are a bit more expensive than the
ones a bit further out, whereas if I was looking
at London, central London, if we're just talking about rent
per month for one bedroom, they like one point five
(08:22):
k minimum to stay per month just for rent, not
including bills.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Do let's take two thousand dollars to us. So you're
saying like a basic like single, you know, like your
first first flap after you move out from your parents'
place in London will cost you two.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Thousand bucks basically, especially if it's in central London and
it's not exactly the same quality as like a condo
and Thaighland. You don't get swimple, you don't get all
the perks that come with the Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
That's very Yeah. So it's interesting to because you think
about it like that, that it might it might not
be three times much, maybe like five or even ten
times much because like I think about that in terms
of Toronto and Canada, right, like where the kind of
flat you can get for like a thousand bucks or
fifteen hundred bucks is like pretty crappy, right, It's not
(09:14):
just that, it's it's like, right, like if like you
look at that kind of like that kind of apartment
doesn't really exist in like downtown central Kal like because
all of those beautiful condos in Kale have like incredible
infinity pools and gyms and like all the nice amenities
and stuff like that, Whereas it's like, I think the
kind of flat you're talking about in London or like
(09:35):
black Home in Canada or the US, it's like it's
they're super basic, right, They're like an old building. It's
just all you're getting is like the room, the.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Bed, sometimes the room. Sometimes the room is like the
bed is right next to the kitchen. I'm like, oh,
definitely I'm not looking at those ones because I was like,
that's no way I'm doing that.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, I'm from Toronto originally it's been a long time
instead of there, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Surprise because of the course of living, right, it's not
very nice there.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Evo, No, it's nuts like New York or San Francisco,
or like London or the big cities in Australia. There's
just so little housing and it's in such high demand.
Everyone in the whole country, and of course new entries
to the country all want to live in Toronto, in
downtown Toronto, and there just isn't enough housing, so the
(10:26):
prices are insane, like and it's like the quality is
so low. That's the part that I think it's hard
to convey to, like in a conversation or like over
the phone, right, so that it's like it's not just
that it's two thousand dollars or whatever three thousand bucks
for an apartment, so that it's not a nice apartment, right,
Like it's not it's not like a new or beautiful condo.
It's just like you know, upstairs flat in some in
(10:48):
an old building. So what are your total monthly expenses
or what's your total monthly spend in London versus when
you're in kl or when you go back to Thailand.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Okay, So because obviously I live my parents, I pay
I do pay rent here, which is around five hundred
and fifty per person, which is pretty decent for a
house and obviously adding all the miscellaneous stuff like subscriptions
and all that bills whatever, comes around almost seven hundred
(11:21):
per month, whereas in comparison to I was calculating Bangkok
and obviously experienced Malaysia. Malaysia, I didn't really have to
pay for the flat because it was my aunt's condo actually,
you know what, not just food, total cost was probably
like i'd say three hundred to four hundred per month
(11:42):
because I was doing quite a lot there. And then
for Bangkok, I think it would be a bit more
expensive to live in Bangkok as opposed to living with
my parents, but that's me living alone, like living alone,
having my own space, being in the center. It would
probably come around seven eight hundred pounds a month for
(12:06):
like rent bills and all the activities I would be willing,
like wanting to do their like comfortably.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Like eight hundred pounds is about a little less than
eleven hundred dollars and like I think, yeah, for like
eleven hundred or twelve hundred dollars a month, you can
live really nice in Bangkok. So do you are you
actively trying to move to Bangkok?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Now?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Like, do you want to move to Bangkok?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
It's it's definitely a plan of mine within the near
future because I luckily my company is very kind to
me to because they were happy about my performance in
Malaysia when I was working there, so I have that opportunity.
They were like, you know what, as long as you
(12:56):
get the work done to a really good standard, like
I'm happy for you to try living in Asia. So
I'm very grateful for that and I would love to
experience it while I'm still within my twenties. Hopefully within
a year or two i'll be able to go, because
there's still some things I need to sort out here.
But I think if I was to go and live there,
(13:18):
I would still be coming back to the UK twice
a year. I know that's probably a bit expensive, but
I still have my life here, so I don't think
I'm completely ready to have the full transition into living
in Bangkok. And I've made a lot of connections here
as well and friendships that and obviously my family are here,
(13:42):
So yeah, I think a nice transition of I'll go
for a period of time and then come back twice
a year would be nice.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Would you save enough by living in Bangkok that you'd
still be able to afford the travel back to the
UK a couple of times a year, I.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Think so, and I think it would be cheapen up
for because I'll try and look for flights that are
within the cheaper range. So for example, I'll try to
fly within off peak times Qatar, Qatar and Thai airways
sometimes do like quite good deals sometimes of the year.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
I fly through Doha and Dubai and I think I've
thrown to both of those before and got their great
flights to the quality of so great qutarre, especially if
you're doing more would it cost to fly from because
it from London from he throw the other airport to
Bangkok the.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Costs so when it comes to like Emirates and Qatar,
they're quite quite similar. Qatar a little bit cheaper off
peak I would say around up to sixnred like five
one hundred and fifty to six hundred something pounds or
for off peak for peak is a bit more expensive.
But then for if I wanted to get a direct flight,
(14:56):
I think I'd definitely recommend Eva Air because they I
don't know if they do this anymore, but two years
ago when I went, they allowed to twenty five kilogram suitcases.
Like within the flight tickets, I'm just like perfect, it
couldn't bring as much as I want back, So I like,
I like flying with either air but then they are
(15:16):
quite expensive. There would be more within the higher seven
hundred to eight hundred Peictic's quite convenient. But then tai
Airways is around seven hundred six hundred. So if I'm
winning to spend another hundred pounds and I can get
a direct flight, just depends on the season pricing, as
those are all off peak times. Peak times are definitely
(15:37):
a lot more expensive within the one thousands for direct.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, so that's like off peak like seven hundred and
fifty to eight hundred dollars and then peak time like yeah,
thirteen hundred bucks, fourteen hundred bucks.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, extensive.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Nice, Yeah, and I can I'll put links below for
everyone watching for like Skyscanner, Orbago and all that stuff,
so you can pray so the best flight on your trip.
So let's get into some of the more like cultural stuff.
So obviously you're not Kerrang, but how do you feel
when you go to Thailand? You know clearly you've grown
(16:13):
up abroad, like your accent everything, right, what's it like
for you to go back.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Do you mean, how does it How does it make
me feel?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Like how people treat you? Oh, Like in like in Vietnam,
there's like people like people have grown up abroad and
come back are called like va q and it's like
very like they get special treatment, both bad and good,
you know what I mean. Whereas like I think like
(16:42):
in somewhere like Japan, like there's like a really harsh culture.
Like I know, I had Japanese Canadian friends and it's
just like they would go back to his relatives. It's
just like you're not Japanese, you know, like if you
didn't grow up in Japan, you're not Japanese. Whereas, like
in Vietnam, sometimes people come back from Europe or the
States and it's like it's like welcome home, Like you're
you're like, you know, like a little family celebrity. It's
(17:04):
a big deal. So what's it like for you when
you go home? How to the how to the title
of those entire family and stuff treat you coming back
from the UK?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Wow? I could go for Asians about this. It's more
like so first of all, when I go to Thailand,
no one, no one ever says to what you car
to me, that's the first because they don't think I'm Thai.
When I go there. It's always either like me how
or like hi, welcome or likea and I'm like and
(17:39):
I say to them, bink Thai. I say like I'm
Thai and they're like, oh, really, you don't look it,
and I'm just like, I don't know. I don't know
if it's the vibe, because especially when I go out
with my my family, when we go to like markets
and stuff, my parents try to say like, oh, don't
speak don't speak English because they're gonna, I think, with
(18:00):
foreigners and they're gonna like up charge us. I think
Thai Thai locals like like to up charge. I know
it's not a good thing, but like sometimes they like
to up charge with foreigners because they they're like, oh,
they have money and stuff. And I was just like, oh,
I could just say I'm from an international school. It's fine.
But then my tie is ok, like pretty decent. But
(18:22):
I think there's definitely with my relatives and the locals,
they would always say I still have a strong British
accent when I speak Thai, and I'm like, oh, it's
hard because I was born and raised here, and the
first time I actually went to Thailand was when I
was ten years old. Obviously I'm like twenty five now.
It's been like if I don't go, like I didn't
(18:43):
go every single year sometimes, So I was saying, in
my life, I've probably been to Thailand around ten times
in my life. Ten yeah, around ten times in my life.
And obviously growing up, my parents would speak to me
in Thai. But obviously, like when you're around I live
in the u K. Hopefully you speak English to everyone
you know. And how do they treat me? I think,
(19:08):
you know what, I think. I do get special treatment
because they know that I'm like half as I like,
I'm actually half like Thai Chinese, but I can't speak
Chinese at all. It's just like from my dad's side
there or the Chinese, but they were all born and
raised in Thailand. So and I get special treatment there
(19:29):
usually because of like they think I'm half Thai and
half something, so like I would get half Thai and
half white a lot, and I'm like, yeah, I'm not,
but yeah, generally in Thailand it would be considered like
back in the past because a lot of celebrities would
(19:54):
be half Thai, half white Likeusian. It'd be considered like
a compliments to be called that, and I I'd used
to like eat that up when I was younger. I'd
be like, yes, like I I feel like special is
quite nice. But when I struggled to speak Thai, I
think some I think the locals are very patient as well,
(20:16):
and they understand like, oh, they can't speak tight very well,
so they're quite Yeah, they're quite patient with me. I
have never experienced anything negative whenever I go back there.
Oh the one time, actually, so I went to a
dance class in Thailand, and they could speak English, but
I think they tried to pivot more towards speaking tied
(20:37):
to each other. And I think for me, I found
it quite difficult to integrate myself with that community, cause
I mean I went to one class, but I don't
I don't know whether it's because I was like quite
shy or because they're already quite close knit. It was
quite hard to talk to them because I wasn't very
comfortable with, you know, talking in Thai to people my age,
(21:01):
because I don't really I don't really have many typhoons,
is what I'm trying to say. Because they're just not
very common in the UK.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
How is that experience as opposed to like Malaysia and
qual Impour is like so multicultural, right, Like when I
went to Kal recently, especially coming from Vietnam where it's
like ninety plus percent of people here at yet everyone's
Viet all the time, right and if you're non Viet,
like if you're in any way visually non Viet, whether
it's like as like a Westerner, Caucasian or even like Korean,
(21:35):
like it's obvious, you know, like like no longer is
like passing for Viet as not Viet. So did you
find it like easier or like more chill to live
in somewhere multicultural like Kal and somewhere where there's like
there's lots of different accents, and you know, people wouldn't
maybe you not even know you were from the.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
UK, I think because obviously we know that Malaysia is
within like the British Commonwealth, so there's a lot, like
you say, there's a lot of international people that are
situated there. I made a couple of friends or I
know a few people from Malaysia in the UK, and
I think it was they were very, very friendly and
(22:17):
very outgoing to want to meet up with me. And
I think it's also because the fact that a lot
of Malaysians, or I would say all Malaysians can speak
English because it's that's one of their main languages as well.
You'd have like because you'd have like so many different
cultures or like ethnicities like India, Chinese. I had a
(22:40):
Chinese Malaysian friend that I met there. She was very accommodating,
very nice, and Malaysian. I had like Indian Malaysian friend
and Malaysian Malaysian friends, And I don't know whether it's
just because I was I already knew them that they
were very like warm and friendly to me. I'd say
(23:02):
in terms of communication with Malaysians, it's a lot easier
and a bit more a bit more chill for me
because of there's not much of a lang as much
of a language barrier, whereas like in Thailand, I feel like,
obviously it's within my responsibility to learn more tied to
(23:23):
people to communicate with Thai people, and obviously I want
to improve that. But I did find it a bit
more challenging with the more difficult words that I wasn't
familiar with. But I think like both places were equally
the people equally just as friendly.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, what about like safety, like compared to the UK,
how do you feel as a young woman and her
solo traveler your safety back home like here in London,
Central London versus how you feel in Bangkoker and call
and Pork.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Oh wow, safety the UK has become less safe as
time went on, especially London. I you know what I think,
because when you're familiar with something, it just feels monotone.
It doesn't really feel anything exciting. I think I'm so
desensitized to the chaos in London that I don't even
(24:22):
find it very scary anymore. But I'd say in terms
of safety, because we have the whole phone snatches situation
because of the cost of living increasing here, a lot
of items, so for example, there would be like a
pack of steak that would be cased up in a
plastic box in a supermarket in literally Tesco supermarket, And
(24:47):
I felt like it was a bit extreme, but it
was kind of needed in the area that I went
to in London, because with London, I feel like there are.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Safe areas I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
So so for there was oh so okay, so let
me elaborate. So the phone snatural situation is you'd walk
down the street with your phone out. You have to
be very careful for having your phone out in public
when you're walking down the street because that would be
people on mopeds or electric bikes. Two. They will drive
(25:21):
around and without especially when you're like not aware of
your surroundings. You'll target people like that and drive up
very fast and snatch your phone and drive off. I've
witnessed it happened to someone in front of me, and
I've also been told by people within the dance community
(25:42):
in London that it's happened to them as well to
some people. Yeah, so you can't. It doesn't really feel
safe to have your phone out, like, especially when I'm
looking for directions, I try not to have it out.
I try to kind of like look around me first
and then look at my directions. Or I tried to
stay within the corner of the station, like on the
(26:04):
side and look for my route first and then whip
it out like very quickly, not in a paranoid way,
but just being very cautious the whole time of my surroundings. Yeah,
theft is something that's an issue here. Because of possibly living.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
What about the test thing?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Okay, do you have a Tescos in Canada or not?
Is that it's a SuperM It's like it's like.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
A big like a supermarket grocery store, right, yeah, yeah, Yeah.
The boxing up meat I don't understand because it's being stolen.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
So yeah, they're boxing up meat. They're yeah, they're boxing
up meat in like security boxes, so when you go
to the till, you have to get them to remove
it before you buy it or when you're buying it
for example. And yeah, there was because like obviously someone
will prevent someone from sealing it because if they steal it,
(27:04):
like the security alarm will go off. Even though it's
only six pounds, people will still try to steal it,
which for me is crazy.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, like that's kind of blowing my mind. There's so
much food being stolen from grocery stores that they're putting
like they're like security tagging meat in the grocery store
in the UK. That's intan. How do you feel in Bangkok?
Like do you feel safe going out alone riding the
metro et cetera. Like what's the equivalent situation like in Bangkok?
As a twenty five year old woman.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I think that's quite hard to answer. The thing is,
I would love to say Bangkok feels safer, but for me,
I don't feel like I don't really feel like it's
safer because when I walk down the road there's a
lot of like chaos. I haven't experienced seeing or hearing
of like anti social behavior in Bangkok, but honestly I could.
(27:57):
I'll probably be able to give more actual answer when
I start living the in terms of how I feel.
I think I feel safe in the UK because I'm
a lot more familiar with my surroundings.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah, it's I think it's interesting you're describing because I
know that feeling too. Like I have little kids now
and I love Bangkok. I'm not like afraid of Bangkok
per se, but it is like intimidating, right, Like it's
scary and intimidating how much is going on there and
that it can seem chaotic. Like I had some friends visit.
They did like a tour of Southeast Asia with their kids,
(28:28):
and they were coming from Germany from Berlin, which is
like such a like very walkable, safe city, and we
were like walking around Bangkok. Two couples, four babies, with
like prams and like carriers and stuff, and it's like
I could just see on their faces that they were
like they were overwhelmed, you know what I mean, like
(28:49):
like rob us or like take our babies, But it
was like they were it was just they were like
having a moment where they're like bright eyed and like
oh my god, where are we? What is happening.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
It's like the word is like probably over stimulated. I'd
say for me, there is more antisocial behavior in London,
I'd say, but I think like in terms of like
people specifically, I think Bangkok does feel safer because there's
not as many like i'd say, weirdos out there like
(29:21):
doing random things as opposed to like London. It can
be chaotic in its own way with people, but I
say infrastructure is definitely more convenient in the UK and
more built up.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
It's only been to KL twice in my life, and
once it was just a few weeks ago. But how
did you feel safety?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I was there. I felt safe Because I think a
lot of people agree with me on this as well.
I think we agree that Malaysia KL is less hectic
than Bangkok because they don't have the as much of
a nightlife scene there, so it's very much more easy
(30:01):
to you know, stay focused on what you're doing, and
people kind of like, I think they keep them to
themselves a bit more. It's not as like in your face,
as opposed to saying you're going to like one of
the one of the what was it called the nightlife
areas in Bangkok.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Like on Second b Road or something like that, A
big word.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Yeah, I'm trying to remember the name of the main one,
the very Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Yeah, any of those big like tourist packed areas are
they're a lot.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, they don't really exist there, like because of the
whole drinking culture. Is a very Muslim heavy country, so
they're quite concerned. They're more conservative, i'd say, but I
think in that sense, I felt I felt like it
was the right thing to do to cover up a
bit more while was in Malaysia, not because only because
(30:55):
of safety, but because of like respecting their their culture
as well. And I think there was one time I
went because I went to Malaysia three years ago for
a holiday, not to live there, and I think once
I went out in a shirt and like a crop
top because I was going to go out with just
the crop top that first, but then I looked around
(31:16):
me and I don't know, like when, especially when I
went in the taxi as well, asked like, oh, you know,
I think I should wear my shirt because it's I
think you'd get more stairs if you were to dress
up like that in Malaysia. But I wouldn't say I
felt unsafe. Felt yeah, it felt It did feel safe
(31:36):
in Malaysia when I was going around. But and to
be fair, my area is quite safe. That I stayed
in was in Montciarra, the more expact heavy area.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. What are some of
the biggest garage? Like what is making you seriously consider
leaving the UK for Thailand and Bangkok?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Like?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
What are this? The three big ones?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Okay, one of them the main one being expanding my
creative ventures. So now in the UK, I pursue like dance,
I do. I try try to do some songwriting as well,
anything to do with like creative or entertainment. I want
to expand my my knowledge on Thai culture in in
(32:28):
Thailand because obviously that's where I'm from, you know, ethnically,
and a country that I'm very very proud of being from.
And I love the bits, so it just makes sense
for me to indulge myself in that environment. I suppose
because obviously I grew up in the UK, I think
(32:50):
I need the change. I know it probably sounds very like, oh,
a very personal reason. It's not very what's it called
common reason for people to move, but I think in
a way is common because there are people who move
from the UK to Bangkok to explore, you know, a
(33:11):
different side of theirselves, the culture, and you know, open
their mind up to new things. That's basically what I'm
trying to do there. That's the main thing. Second reason
is I would say that it would have been cost
of living would be better, but I realized that I
think after calculating all expenses of what I want to
(33:33):
do there, it's like, it's not that much better. It's
only a little bit better. But course of living, yeah,
it might not be that much cheaper, but the quality
of things you get from the money you spend there
is the quality is so much higher, whether it be food, environment.
Obviously you get the swimming pool and the gym in
the same apartment. There's no excuse for me to not
(33:55):
go now. And I also third reason is to be
so like make friends and you know, grow my relationship
with my family back at home. Thailand would be somewhere
I would love to live like when I'm older, like
permanently retire. So I think it'd be good to make
connections whilst like you're younger, to establish a relationship and
(34:18):
be familiar with the country before I make the move
I'm older. That's like the preppy side of me. And
fourth reason is I'm kind of fed up of the UK.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Let's dig into that. Then we talked about the things
that you're attracted to in Thailand and what's pulling you there,
So talk about what you're fed up with in the
UK and sort of the three biggest reasons for wanting
to leave the UK and try a new life in Thailand.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Three biggest reasons of heir Number one. Course of living
would definitely be one. Secondly, it's like the reasoning being
like there's not many Thai people here. There are some
things that I want to relate to with other people
that like people that aren't I won't understand. So yeah,
(35:04):
First is cost of living. Everything's increasing rent, food, transport,
to the point where like it's hard to enjoy living
living here. I'd say, like comfortably, it's hard to enjoy,
Like it's a very like rat race mentality here where
(35:26):
you have to keep you have to keep up skilling,
up skilling, up skilling so that you can be able
to survive here. Like living here is kind of like
about survival rather than actually, you know, taking your time
to enjoy the small things in life. People tend to,
I think, lose track of that quite quickly because of
how much work we have to do a lot of
(35:47):
the time. Whereas in Asia, I would see people with like,
you know, I would say, like a lifestyle that's very appreciative.
People are very appreciative with like what they have, and
that's something I want to adopt more. So, I'd say,
like first cost of living, second, friends, and third is
(36:09):
like just want to improve on the values, be more appreciative,
like learn how to be a bit more appreciative and
take life a bits more slowly, and like just like
see things for how they are rather than just like
having to feel like I have to work the whole
time to be able to sustain myself. Say I don't
like working hard. I love working hard. It's just more
(36:30):
like taking a step back, like being able to take
a step back and for sure.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Like one of the reasons why I live in Vietnam
and I've traveled and lived all around Southeast Asia.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
And.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Yeah, like back home, the you know, the word culture
in Canada is English, it's British, it's Protestant, And it's
this like idea that if you work harder you'll be
more successful or life be better and if you work more,
if there's like a problem in your life, the answer
is like, well, work, do more work, that will fix it.
You know, it's kind of bullshit, right, Like it's not
(37:02):
not true at all, Like there's no there's no real
equation in like the grander scheme of things. There's no
there's no equation between like, oh, if you work more hours,
you'll be more successful. Like that's not true. If you
walk by any office, any restaurant, any job, like it's
just as likely that the person who runs that business
works at one tenth as much hours as the labor,
(37:24):
and the labor works way harder and like hasway last right,
Like it's just not true. It's just straight up not true. Yeah, Okay,
so hey, let's do that. Let's transition that one into
how do you earn money online? So how do you
make a living online? Where? What's your job that makes
this sort of dream of living abroad and leaving the
UK for Thailand possible?
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Okay, so I work from home for so what what
my job is? Basically a U x uy designer. I
think the reason why I was hesitating to say that
is because I feel like I do a lot more
than you. I like obviously it means like a design websites, apps,
but I also do graphics as well, also do like
(38:10):
email templates, I designed like presentations, So it's not strictly
website and app designed. Because because I'm the sole designer
of the company, there's not other designers. I have people
within my team luckily that you know, are very supportive,
So it made it easier for me to grow to
(38:30):
be very like self sufficient in the job I'm doing.
Obviously there's a lot more to learn, but yeah, like
working from home nine to five ninety five and designing
websites and apps. That's my only main that's my only
source of income right now.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
So how did you how did you get into that
or how did if it sounds like you work for
like one company, so you're not like freelancing. How did
you find your gig on line?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
So actually studied architecture when I was in UNI. It
was during COVID. My second year was when it hit
and I was obviously doing my UNI work at home,
but then the summer was very long, so I was like,
I'm bored, like I need to do something. So we
were looking. I was looking at I didn't want to
do architecture at all. It was not my aspiration. I
(39:23):
was like, there's no way I want to like work.
There's long hours in an architecture firm. It's just not
for me. So I was thinking, what is an equivalent
that's a bit more a bit more chill, but a
bit more flexible. I didn't like the rigidness of architecture.
I was researching, and me and my friend were both like,
I don't want to do architecture. We saw this course that
(39:44):
was like about uxuy an online course, so we took
up that online course and I realized, yeah, I really
enjoyed it. So I then did I designed website for
a restaurant I got. I didn't like ask to be paid.
It was like more of a I was applying to
so many jobs. I think it took me about six
(40:07):
to eight months until I landed this job. When I
started applying, then I with that with a restaurant. I
applied to that job and they took me in because
they saw the potential in me and they liked the
way I presented in the interview.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Let's talk about a bit about your other online creative stuff. Yeah,
I found you through YouTube through a cost of living
video digital no mad Life, a broad type video that
you made when you're in Ko. Yeah, tell me about
your whole YouTube experience.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
I started off with travel when I did. When I
was going to YouTube, I wanted to, you know, just
put video videos out there for fun, like, oh here's
here are my memories. I want to edit it in
a way that people will enjoy as well. The first
video I posted was Chargau, Philippines, and I don't know
whether because the country is very high in demand of
(40:59):
people wanting to go that that's why it got like
probably the most viewser of all my videos. But I
was just kind of like, well, you know, lifestyle, it
all kind of like fits within the umbrella term. Yeah,
that's my that's my journey with YouTube. It's quite difficult
because when you don't. When you don't stick to one niche,
it's very difficult to I think it's more difficult to grow.
(41:20):
I think YouTube is such a gem of a platform.
It provides you the space to grow in whatever way
you want. I realized the videos that perform that are
still performing now are the ones where I talk about
Malaysia and like working from Malaysia the Yeah, because it's
like it's informational, so people will always kind of look
(41:41):
for information. Yeah. I want to be able to help
people and also entertain people about reaching that sort of
like create ave freedom to be able to live abroad,
travel abroad, work abroad.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you so much for coming
on with the cast, broad Pie and I actually thank
a perfect segue. I like to finish up these interviews
at the end by asking my guests, what's a question
I didn't ask you that I should have asked you?
What's the question I missed that you were waiting cancer?
Speaker 2 (42:17):
Oh, that's gonna be like a minute, just think about it.
I think, would you ever consider getting a job in
Thailand in the future.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
That's a good one. Definitely. The focus is usually on
like how to go remote, how to work online how
to earn online. But I'm an example of someone I've
taught in person in schools like all over the world.
So like when I, yeah, when I started doing the
like live abroad thing or dreaming of retiring early, it
was very much working in person. So that's a great question.
(42:52):
When you get to Thailand, what would you do if
you had to get a job in person or what
kind of job would you get? Would you open your
own business?
Speaker 2 (43:00):
To be honest, I to be honest, I don't think
I would want to get a job there. I would
definitely would love to still work remotely for this company.
If that was not a thing, then I probably wouldn't
move to Thailand because I'm not exactly very passionate about,
(43:23):
you know, teaching at this moment in my life. So
if anything, I'd probably just go all out in trying
to grow my socials to try and make a living
off social media like YouTube, Instagram or TikTok.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
Well, I think everyone can make a thousand dollars a
month on YouTube if they actually do it, Like if
you actually spend twenty hours a week or whatever on
your YouTube channel. I literally think anyone on planet Earth
can make a thousand a month off of YouTube. And
I don't think the thing is that you can't live
in Toronto or in London off a thousand dollars a month,
(44:00):
So you can't do that. It's like a catch twenty two, right,
So you could do it in Bangkok because you could
start building your following and your channel and stuff about
Thailand and living in Thailand and leaving the UK before
you got there and actually start like generating it's like
ad sense brand deals. And then you can also start
(44:21):
like you know, making stuff like whatever, selling merch selling things,
and you can make a part of your show too, right,
Like you can be like I'm saving money to move
to Thailand, buy my teahirt, like whatever, buy my hats, right,
Like people do that kind of stuff all the time.
Like it's crowdsourcing, right, nice, do you know what I mean?
Like it's the reason. One of the reasons why there's
(44:41):
so many more people like being digital nomads or like
working online, or like running online, or like being creators
in Southeast Asia is because you can make it sustainable,
Like you could find balance way easier here, because if
you're living on way less money, then the amount of
money you need to make online becomes way less so
you could succeed earlier and then it can actually like
(45:04):
you know, fuel you.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean I feel very
motivated there because I felt everyone around me was like,
you know, doing what they enjoyed, working hard, Especially in
like digital nomad spaces, it feels like more motivating because
you're in a space with familiar with similar people.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Yeah. Absolutely, I mean that's one of the reasons why
why I moved from Hochim into Done. The cost of
living is lower and there's more people, there's more people
creating here. Because the cost of living is lower, it
means people more people can sort of retire early or
go full time online or full time creative. Yeah. Well, yeah,
(45:46):
thank you so much for talking with me mobile and
coming on the cost of living a broad pod. I
can't wait to see you in Bangkok one day and
to know you're done, you've left the UK and you're
living your new life as a Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Of course, and thank you for having me and asking
me these great questions. Evan, It's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Yeah, cheers and for everyone watching, my channel will be
linked over one shoulder. Mulis will be linked over the others.
I'm Ebana and thanks for listening to the Cost of
Living Abroad Pod. For full interviews, find us on YouTube
at cost of Living a broad Pod. Before we wrap up,
I just wanted to let you know that if you're
struggling with the cost of living crisis back at home
(46:29):
and looking for a sustainable and affordable way to relocate
your life abroad, check out our resources, courses, and community
at cost of Living abroad dot com. Thanks so much.
New episodes air Sunday night in Bangkok.
Now let's talk about Mogul. She was born in London,
works full time remote as a ux web designer, and
has had enough. The cost of living in the UK,
especially in Central London, has gotten so out of hand
she literally can't afford her own flat. Tesco is locking
up meat. So Mogul's planning her move not just for affordability,
(00:20):
but to reconnect with her roots as a Thai girl
born abroad. She's heading to Thailand to reclaim some space,
some peace, and a sense of home. If you stick
around to the end, she shares a wild story about
phone snatchers in the streets of London. Before we get
into today's episode, quick heads up if you're thinking about relocating,
retiring early, or just getting out of the grind, I've
(00:42):
got free guides, a full course, and a newsletter that
breaks it all down. You'll find everything linked below or
at cost of Living Abroad dot Com. Welcome the Cost
of Living Abroad podcast Mobile. I'm so excited to have
you here today.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Okay, thank you. Hi. My name is Mogul and what
I do on YouTube is actually a mix of creating
and travel vlogs. I like to show people how to
be creatives. One day and hopefully share my art to
the world. But I also want to integrate that within
(01:17):
my travel blogs and help people understand, say if I
went to Malaysia or Thailand or the all these different countries,
how to go about visiting those countries and hopefully give
them some insights.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I found you through a cost of living video in
Malaysia when I was filming Qualampur. But then when I
reached out to you, you're actually born and raised in
the UK. How long you've been traveling and visiting Southeast
Asia and what originally brought you to the region from
the UK.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Because I have a remote job, I work from home,
so I have the flexibility from the UK, I have
the flexibility to travel to Southeast Asia. So obviously I've
been to Thailand multiple times in the past, so I thought,
you know what, I'm going to give Malaysia a go.
I have a relative who works there as an expert,
(02:14):
and she has a flat over there, provided a better company,
and I went just to explore a different culture, to
try and work from home in a different city, change
my environment. And I went to Thailand for a brief
period as well. And I would say when it comes
(02:36):
to working from home, there's not really that much difference,
especially because you're working within the four Wars, isn't it.
But I think obviously when i'm there, I try to
change my environment as well, since I have such a
long time to be there at the time.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, a little later and I'll definitely ask you about
how you make your money on the class comparison compared
to the part of the UK where from when you live,
versus like how much it costs just your standard sort
of breakfast, lunch and dinner in Thailand or Malaysia.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Like into comparison for pricing, it's a lot more expensive
here than it is in Asia when it comes to
eating out specifically, So if I was to eat out
for breakfast, for example, would probably be around say like
fifteen pounds to twenty pounds for breakfast here, whereas in
Malaysia or Thailand Southeast Asia it'd be around no more
(03:34):
than three pounds really maximum five pounds depending on where
you go. But if I try to eat locally, it's
less than three pounds in comparison. But yeah, when it
comes to dinner, it's much more expensive. It would be
around here, would be around say London prices would be
(03:54):
around thirty to forty pounds per person. In Asia, if
it were talking a middle class restaurant, it would probably
be ten to fifteen from my experience.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
For the viewers, and like in the States two pounds
or like maybe like three percent on so like fifteen
pounds is like twenty dollars, right, what's your what's your
favorite breakfast or meal of the day when you're in
Malaysia or Thailand versus at home. Whi's like, what's the
food that makes you travel?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Choosing one? You're making it easy for me. Oh my god.
In the UK, people are accustomed to eating, you know,
something a bit more mellow for breakfast, for like a
like a beans on toast or like a British like
English breakfast. Obviously here in the UK, I would say
English breakfast would probably be my favorite. I know it's
very basic, but I think for Asia, you know what
(04:49):
street food I would I'm happy to eat street food
with a bit of salad, when it's like pork skewers
with sticky rice and that traditional Tai salad with it,
so it doesn't feel too much. Yeah, it's very refreshing.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Did you ever actually live in Thailand? Too, Are you
just traveling when you were here? Using there?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I lived in Malaysia. I've never actually lived in Thailand properly,
but I would. It's something I aspire to do but
one day.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
So how often do you visit Thailand? Go there?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Thailand? I try to go annually to visit family.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Is your family in Bangkok or were there?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah? They were in Bangkok, which is great for me,
you know, the big city. I'm a very city person London, Like,
it's very convenient to get anywhere from here. But I
think I am. I do say I'm a city person,
but it doesn't mean I don't like nature like I
do love the nature a lot. It's just more like,
in terms of convenience and things to do, I think
(05:56):
the city has a lot more, especially since I'm just
twenty five.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Okay, So this is an interesting question. Do you think
that is one of the reasons why you live with
your parents still? Is it more cultural or is it
more about the cost of living in the UK and
like howent and the expenser it is around London.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I would say both, because the cost of living in
London is Yeah, it's very scary trying to save money
and it's been it's been kind of working. But I
think once you stay at home, I think you get
a bit too comfortable and you start spending anyway because
you know you have that leftover money and also a
(06:34):
cultural thing as well. I think Asian families tend to
stay with each other for longer, even if you do
live in outside of Asia. But I'd love to move
out into central London to be more convenient with my
last style.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yeah, what you think of a cost in central London?
That's a great compression. Let's compare the cost for I
was looking at.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
The center, so like tom Law a so xpact heavy area.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
What were the cars you were seeing like monthly? For studios,
I was looking.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
At like one bedroom apartments. Would you call it studio?
It's just like, uh, it'd be like a condo with
a living room space bedroom and also in the living
room space there's also sometimes a kitchen area, which is
the spacing is quite generous in terms of the budget
I'm looking for. So the budget I kept seeing come
(07:32):
up was around three hundred something for rent per month
to five hundred to six hundred pounds per month. But
there are a lot cheaper ones for the quality might
not be as good, but it is there is like
still Liverpool, and I would still consider around two hundred
as well range. But then when you compare it to
(07:55):
say London.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Or like on the metro line right near Circompede right like,
they're a.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Bit more expensive for Thai locals, i'd say, or just
in general, they are a bit more expensive than the
ones a bit further out, whereas if I was looking
at London, central London, if we're just talking about rent
per month for one bedroom, they like one point five
(08:22):
k minimum to stay per month just for rent, not
including bills.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Do let's take two thousand dollars to us. So you're
saying like a basic like single, you know, like your
first first flap after you move out from your parents'
place in London will cost you two.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Thousand bucks basically, especially if it's in central London and
it's not exactly the same quality as like a condo
and Thaighland. You don't get swimple, you don't get all
the perks that come with the Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
That's very Yeah. So it's interesting to because you think
about it like that, that it might it might not
be three times much, maybe like five or even ten
times much because like I think about that in terms
of Toronto and Canada, right, like where the kind of
flat you can get for like a thousand bucks or
fifteen hundred bucks is like pretty crappy, right, It's not
(09:14):
just that, it's it's like, right, like if like you
look at that kind of like that kind of apartment
doesn't really exist in like downtown central Kal like because
all of those beautiful condos in Kale have like incredible
infinity pools and gyms and like all the nice amenities
and stuff like that, Whereas it's like, I think the
kind of flat you're talking about in London or like
(09:35):
black Home in Canada or the US, it's like it's
they're super basic, right, They're like an old building. It's
just all you're getting is like the room, the.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Bed, sometimes the room. Sometimes the room is like the
bed is right next to the kitchen. I'm like, oh,
definitely I'm not looking at those ones because I was like,
that's no way I'm doing that.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Yeah, I'm from Toronto originally it's been a long time
instead of there, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Surprise because of the course of living, right, it's not
very nice there.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Evo, No, it's nuts like New York or San Francisco,
or like London or the big cities in Australia. There's
just so little housing and it's in such high demand.
Everyone in the whole country, and of course new entries
to the country all want to live in Toronto, in
downtown Toronto, and there just isn't enough housing, so the
(10:26):
prices are insane, like and it's like the quality is
so low. That's the part that I think it's hard
to convey to, like in a conversation or like over
the phone, right, so that it's like it's not just
that it's two thousand dollars or whatever three thousand bucks
for an apartment, so that it's not a nice apartment, right,
Like it's not it's not like a new or beautiful condo.
It's just like you know, upstairs flat in some in
(10:48):
an old building. So what are your total monthly expenses
or what's your total monthly spend in London versus when
you're in kl or when you go back to Thailand.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Okay, So because obviously I live my parents, I pay
I do pay rent here, which is around five hundred
and fifty per person, which is pretty decent for a
house and obviously adding all the miscellaneous stuff like subscriptions
and all that bills whatever, comes around almost seven hundred
(11:21):
per month, whereas in comparison to I was calculating Bangkok
and obviously experienced Malaysia. Malaysia, I didn't really have to
pay for the flat because it was my aunt's condo actually,
you know what, not just food, total cost was probably
like i'd say three hundred to four hundred per month
(11:42):
because I was doing quite a lot there. And then
for Bangkok, I think it would be a bit more
expensive to live in Bangkok as opposed to living with
my parents, but that's me living alone, like living alone,
having my own space, being in the center. It would
probably come around seven eight hundred pounds a month for
(12:06):
like rent bills and all the activities I would be willing,
like wanting to do their like comfortably.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Like eight hundred pounds is about a little less than
eleven hundred dollars and like I think, yeah, for like
eleven hundred or twelve hundred dollars a month, you can
live really nice in Bangkok. So do you are you
actively trying to move to Bangkok?
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Now?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Like, do you want to move to Bangkok?
Speaker 2 (12:35):
It's it's definitely a plan of mine within the near
future because I luckily my company is very kind to
me to because they were happy about my performance in
Malaysia when I was working there, so I have that opportunity.
They were like, you know what, as long as you
(12:56):
get the work done to a really good standard, like
I'm happy for you to try living in Asia. So
I'm very grateful for that and I would love to
experience it while I'm still within my twenties. Hopefully within
a year or two i'll be able to go, because
there's still some things I need to sort out here.
But I think if I was to go and live there,
(13:18):
I would still be coming back to the UK twice
a year. I know that's probably a bit expensive, but
I still have my life here, so I don't think
I'm completely ready to have the full transition into living
in Bangkok. And I've made a lot of connections here
as well and friendships that and obviously my family are here,
(13:42):
So yeah, I think a nice transition of I'll go
for a period of time and then come back twice
a year would be nice.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Would you save enough by living in Bangkok that you'd
still be able to afford the travel back to the
UK a couple of times a year, I.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Think so, and I think it would be cheapen up
for because I'll try and look for flights that are
within the cheaper range. So for example, I'll try to
fly within off peak times Qatar, Qatar and Thai airways
sometimes do like quite good deals sometimes of the year.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
I fly through Doha and Dubai and I think I've
thrown to both of those before and got their great
flights to the quality of so great qutarre, especially if
you're doing more would it cost to fly from because
it from London from he throw the other airport to
Bangkok the.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Costs so when it comes to like Emirates and Qatar,
they're quite quite similar. Qatar a little bit cheaper off
peak I would say around up to sixnred like five
one hundred and fifty to six hundred something pounds or
for off peak for peak is a bit more expensive.
But then for if I wanted to get a direct flight,
(14:56):
I think I'd definitely recommend Eva Air because they I
don't know if they do this anymore, but two years
ago when I went, they allowed to twenty five kilogram suitcases.
Like within the flight tickets, I'm just like perfect, it
couldn't bring as much as I want back, So I like,
I like flying with either air but then they are
(15:16):
quite expensive. There would be more within the higher seven
hundred to eight hundred Peictic's quite convenient. But then tai
Airways is around seven hundred six hundred. So if I'm
winning to spend another hundred pounds and I can get
a direct flight, just depends on the season pricing, as
those are all off peak times. Peak times are definitely
(15:37):
a lot more expensive within the one thousands for direct.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Yeah, so that's like off peak like seven hundred and
fifty to eight hundred dollars and then peak time like yeah,
thirteen hundred bucks, fourteen hundred bucks.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah, extensive.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Nice, Yeah, and I can I'll put links below for
everyone watching for like Skyscanner, Orbago and all that stuff,
so you can pray so the best flight on your trip.
So let's get into some of the more like cultural stuff.
So obviously you're not Kerrang, but how do you feel
when you go to Thailand? You know clearly you've grown
(16:13):
up abroad, like your accent everything, right, what's it like
for you to go back.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Do you mean, how does it How does it make
me feel?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Like how people treat you? Oh, Like in like in Vietnam,
there's like people like people have grown up abroad and
come back are called like va q and it's like
very like they get special treatment, both bad and good,
you know what I mean. Whereas like I think like
(16:42):
in somewhere like Japan, like there's like a really harsh culture.
Like I know, I had Japanese Canadian friends and it's
just like they would go back to his relatives. It's
just like you're not Japanese, you know, like if you
didn't grow up in Japan, you're not Japanese. Whereas, like
in Vietnam, sometimes people come back from Europe or the
States and it's like it's like welcome home, Like you're
you're like, you know, like a little family celebrity. It's
(17:04):
a big deal. So what's it like for you when
you go home? How to the how to the title
of those entire family and stuff treat you coming back
from the UK?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Wow? I could go for Asians about this. It's more
like so first of all, when I go to Thailand,
no one, no one ever says to what you car
to me, that's the first because they don't think I'm Thai.
When I go there. It's always either like me how
or like hi, welcome or likea and I'm like and
(17:39):
I say to them, bink Thai. I say like I'm
Thai and they're like, oh, really, you don't look it,
and I'm just like, I don't know. I don't know
if it's the vibe, because especially when I go out
with my my family, when we go to like markets
and stuff, my parents try to say like, oh, don't
speak don't speak English because they're gonna, I think, with
(18:00):
foreigners and they're gonna like up charge us. I think
Thai Thai locals like like to up charge. I know
it's not a good thing, but like sometimes they like
to up charge with foreigners because they they're like, oh,
they have money and stuff. And I was just like, oh,
I could just say I'm from an international school. It's fine.
But then my tie is ok, like pretty decent. But
(18:22):
I think there's definitely with my relatives and the locals,
they would always say I still have a strong British
accent when I speak Thai, and I'm like, oh, it's
hard because I was born and raised here, and the
first time I actually went to Thailand was when I
was ten years old. Obviously I'm like twenty five now.
It's been like if I don't go, like I didn't
(18:43):
go every single year sometimes, So I was saying, in
my life, I've probably been to Thailand around ten times
in my life. Ten yeah, around ten times in my life.
And obviously growing up, my parents would speak to me
in Thai. But obviously, like when you're around I live
in the u K. Hopefully you speak English to everyone
you know. And how do they treat me? I think,
(19:08):
you know what, I think. I do get special treatment
because they know that I'm like half as I like,
I'm actually half like Thai Chinese, but I can't speak
Chinese at all. It's just like from my dad's side
there or the Chinese, but they were all born and
raised in Thailand. So and I get special treatment there
(19:29):
usually because of like they think I'm half Thai and
half something, so like I would get half Thai and
half white a lot, and I'm like, yeah, I'm not,
but yeah, generally in Thailand it would be considered like
back in the past because a lot of celebrities would
(19:54):
be half Thai, half white Likeusian. It'd be considered like
a compliments to be called that, and I I'd used
to like eat that up when I was younger. I'd
be like, yes, like I I feel like special is
quite nice. But when I struggled to speak Thai, I
think some I think the locals are very patient as well,
(20:16):
and they understand like, oh, they can't speak tight very well,
so they're quite Yeah, they're quite patient with me. I
have never experienced anything negative whenever I go back there.
Oh the one time, actually, so I went to a
dance class in Thailand, and they could speak English, but
I think they tried to pivot more towards speaking tied
(20:37):
to each other. And I think for me, I found
it quite difficult to integrate myself with that community, cause
I mean I went to one class, but I don't
I don't know whether it's because I was like quite
shy or because they're already quite close knit. It was
quite hard to talk to them because I wasn't very
comfortable with, you know, talking in Thai to people my age,
(21:01):
because I don't really I don't really have many typhoons,
is what I'm trying to say. Because they're just not
very common in the UK.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
How is that experience as opposed to like Malaysia and
qual Impour is like so multicultural, right, Like when I
went to Kal recently, especially coming from Vietnam where it's
like ninety plus percent of people here at yet everyone's
Viet all the time, right and if you're non Viet,
like if you're in any way visually non Viet, whether
it's like as like a Westerner, Caucasian or even like Korean,
(21:35):
like it's obvious, you know, like like no longer is
like passing for Viet as not Viet. So did you
find it like easier or like more chill to live
in somewhere multicultural like Kal and somewhere where there's like
there's lots of different accents, and you know, people wouldn't
maybe you not even know you were from the.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
UK, I think because obviously we know that Malaysia is
within like the British Commonwealth, so there's a lot, like
you say, there's a lot of international people that are
situated there. I made a couple of friends or I
know a few people from Malaysia in the UK, and
I think it was they were very, very friendly and
(22:17):
very outgoing to want to meet up with me. And
I think it's also because the fact that a lot
of Malaysians, or I would say all Malaysians can speak
English because it's that's one of their main languages as well.
You'd have like because you'd have like so many different
cultures or like ethnicities like India, Chinese. I had a
(22:40):
Chinese Malaysian friend that I met there. She was very accommodating,
very nice, and Malaysian. I had like Indian Malaysian friend
and Malaysian Malaysian friends, And I don't know whether it's
just because I was I already knew them that they
were very like warm and friendly to me. I'd say
(23:02):
in terms of communication with Malaysians, it's a lot easier
and a bit more a bit more chill for me
because of there's not much of a lang as much
of a language barrier, whereas like in Thailand, I feel like,
obviously it's within my responsibility to learn more tied to
(23:23):
people to communicate with Thai people, and obviously I want
to improve that. But I did find it a bit
more challenging with the more difficult words that I wasn't
familiar with. But I think like both places were equally
the people equally just as friendly.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Yeah, what about like safety, like compared to the UK,
how do you feel as a young woman and her
solo traveler your safety back home like here in London,
Central London versus how you feel in Bangkoker and call
and Pork.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
Oh wow, safety the UK has become less safe as
time went on, especially London. I you know what I think,
because when you're familiar with something, it just feels monotone.
It doesn't really feel anything exciting. I think I'm so
desensitized to the chaos in London that I don't even
(24:22):
find it very scary anymore. But I'd say in terms
of safety, because we have the whole phone snatches situation
because of the cost of living increasing here, a lot
of items, so for example, there would be like a
pack of steak that would be cased up in a
plastic box in a supermarket in literally Tesco supermarket, And
(24:47):
I felt like it was a bit extreme, but it
was kind of needed in the area that I went
to in London, because with London, I feel like there are.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Safe areas I don't understand.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
So so for there was oh so okay, so let
me elaborate. So the phone snatural situation is you'd walk
down the street with your phone out. You have to
be very careful for having your phone out in public
when you're walking down the street because that would be
people on mopeds or electric bikes. Two. They will drive
(25:21):
around and without especially when you're like not aware of
your surroundings. You'll target people like that and drive up
very fast and snatch your phone and drive off. I've
witnessed it happened to someone in front of me, and
I've also been told by people within the dance community
(25:42):
in London that it's happened to them as well to
some people. Yeah, so you can't. It doesn't really feel
safe to have your phone out, like, especially when I'm
looking for directions, I try not to have it out.
I try to kind of like look around me first
and then look at my directions. Or I tried to
stay within the corner of the station, like on the
(26:04):
side and look for my route first and then whip
it out like very quickly, not in a paranoid way,
but just being very cautious the whole time of my surroundings. Yeah,
theft is something that's an issue here. Because of possibly living.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
What about the test thing?
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Okay, do you have a Tescos in Canada or not?
Is that it's a SuperM It's like it's like.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
A big like a supermarket grocery store, right, yeah, yeah, Yeah.
The boxing up meat I don't understand because it's being stolen.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
So yeah, they're boxing up meat. They're yeah, they're boxing
up meat in like security boxes, so when you go
to the till, you have to get them to remove
it before you buy it or when you're buying it
for example. And yeah, there was because like obviously someone
will prevent someone from sealing it because if they steal it,
(27:04):
like the security alarm will go off. Even though it's
only six pounds, people will still try to steal it,
which for me is crazy.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, like that's kind of blowing my mind. There's so
much food being stolen from grocery stores that they're putting
like they're like security tagging meat in the grocery store
in the UK. That's intan. How do you feel in Bangkok?
Like do you feel safe going out alone riding the
metro et cetera. Like what's the equivalent situation like in Bangkok?
As a twenty five year old woman.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I think that's quite hard to answer. The thing is,
I would love to say Bangkok feels safer, but for me,
I don't feel like I don't really feel like it's
safer because when I walk down the road there's a
lot of like chaos. I haven't experienced seeing or hearing
of like anti social behavior in Bangkok, but honestly I could.
(27:57):
I'll probably be able to give more actual answer when
I start living the in terms of how I feel.
I think I feel safe in the UK because I'm
a lot more familiar with my surroundings.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Yeah, it's I think it's interesting you're describing because I
know that feeling too. Like I have little kids now
and I love Bangkok. I'm not like afraid of Bangkok
per se, but it is like intimidating, right, Like it's
scary and intimidating how much is going on there and
that it can seem chaotic. Like I had some friends visit.
They did like a tour of Southeast Asia with their kids,
(28:28):
and they were coming from Germany from Berlin, which is
like such a like very walkable, safe city, and we
were like walking around Bangkok. Two couples, four babies, with
like prams and like carriers and stuff, and it's like
I could just see on their faces that they were
like they were overwhelmed, you know what I mean, like
(28:49):
like rob us or like take our babies, But it
was like they were it was just they were like
having a moment where they're like bright eyed and like
oh my god, where are we? What is happening.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
It's like the word is like probably over stimulated. I'd
say for me, there is more antisocial behavior in London,
I'd say, but I think like in terms of like
people specifically, I think Bangkok does feel safer because there's
not as many like i'd say, weirdos out there like
(29:21):
doing random things as opposed to like London. It can
be chaotic in its own way with people, but I
say infrastructure is definitely more convenient in the UK and
more built up.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
It's only been to KL twice in my life, and
once it was just a few weeks ago. But how
did you feel safety?
Speaker 2 (29:41):
I was there. I felt safe Because I think a
lot of people agree with me on this as well.
I think we agree that Malaysia KL is less hectic
than Bangkok because they don't have the as much of
a nightlife scene there, so it's very much more easy
(30:01):
to you know, stay focused on what you're doing, and
people kind of like, I think they keep them to
themselves a bit more. It's not as like in your face,
as opposed to saying you're going to like one of
the one of the what was it called the nightlife
areas in Bangkok.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Like on Second b Road or something like that, A
big word.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Yeah, I'm trying to remember the name of the main one,
the very Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Yeah, any of those big like tourist packed areas are
they're a lot.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Yeah, they don't really exist there, like because of the
whole drinking culture. Is a very Muslim heavy country, so
they're quite concerned. They're more conservative, i'd say, but I
think in that sense, I felt I felt like it
was the right thing to do to cover up a
bit more while was in Malaysia, not because only because
(30:55):
of safety, but because of like respecting their their culture
as well. And I think there was one time I
went because I went to Malaysia three years ago for
a holiday, not to live there, and I think once
I went out in a shirt and like a crop
top because I was going to go out with just
the crop top that first, but then I looked around
(31:16):
me and I don't know, like when, especially when I
went in the taxi as well, asked like, oh, you know,
I think I should wear my shirt because it's I
think you'd get more stairs if you were to dress
up like that in Malaysia. But I wouldn't say I
felt unsafe. Felt yeah, it felt It did feel safe
(31:36):
in Malaysia when I was going around. But and to
be fair, my area is quite safe. That I stayed
in was in Montciarra, the more expact heavy area.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, that's beautiful. What are some of
the biggest garage? Like what is making you seriously consider
leaving the UK for Thailand and Bangkok?
Speaker 2 (31:59):
Like?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
What are this? The three big ones?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Okay, one of them the main one being expanding my
creative ventures. So now in the UK, I pursue like dance,
I do. I try try to do some songwriting as well,
anything to do with like creative or entertainment. I want
to expand my my knowledge on Thai culture in in
(32:28):
Thailand because obviously that's where I'm from, you know, ethnically,
and a country that I'm very very proud of being from.
And I love the bits, so it just makes sense
for me to indulge myself in that environment. I suppose
because obviously I grew up in the UK, I think
(32:50):
I need the change. I know it probably sounds very like, oh,
a very personal reason. It's not very what's it called
common reason for people to move, but I think in
a way is common because there are people who move
from the UK to Bangkok to explore, you know, a
(33:11):
different side of theirselves, the culture, and you know, open
their mind up to new things. That's basically what I'm
trying to do there. That's the main thing. Second reason
is I would say that it would have been cost
of living would be better, but I realized that I
think after calculating all expenses of what I want to
(33:33):
do there, it's like, it's not that much better. It's
only a little bit better. But course of living, yeah,
it might not be that much cheaper, but the quality
of things you get from the money you spend there
is the quality is so much higher, whether it be food, environment.
Obviously you get the swimming pool and the gym in
the same apartment. There's no excuse for me to not
(33:55):
go now. And I also third reason is to be
so like make friends and you know, grow my relationship
with my family back at home. Thailand would be somewhere
I would love to live like when I'm older, like
permanently retire. So I think it'd be good to make
connections whilst like you're younger, to establish a relationship and
(34:18):
be familiar with the country before I make the move
I'm older. That's like the preppy side of me. And
fourth reason is I'm kind of fed up of the UK.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Let's dig into that. Then we talked about the things
that you're attracted to in Thailand and what's pulling you there,
So talk about what you're fed up with in the
UK and sort of the three biggest reasons for wanting
to leave the UK and try a new life in Thailand.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Three biggest reasons of heir Number one. Course of living
would definitely be one. Secondly, it's like the reasoning being
like there's not many Thai people here. There are some
things that I want to relate to with other people
that like people that aren't I won't understand. So yeah,
(35:04):
First is cost of living. Everything's increasing rent, food, transport,
to the point where like it's hard to enjoy living
living here. I'd say, like comfortably, it's hard to enjoy,
Like it's a very like rat race mentality here where
(35:26):
you have to keep you have to keep up skilling,
up skilling, up skilling so that you can be able
to survive here. Like living here is kind of like
about survival rather than actually, you know, taking your time
to enjoy the small things in life. People tend to,
I think, lose track of that quite quickly because of
how much work we have to do a lot of
(35:47):
the time. Whereas in Asia, I would see people with like,
you know, I would say, like a lifestyle that's very appreciative.
People are very appreciative with like what they have, and
that's something I want to adopt more. So, I'd say,
like first cost of living, second, friends, and third is
(36:09):
like just want to improve on the values, be more appreciative,
like learn how to be a bit more appreciative and
take life a bits more slowly, and like just like
see things for how they are rather than just like
having to feel like I have to work the whole
time to be able to sustain myself. Say I don't
like working hard. I love working hard. It's just more
(36:30):
like taking a step back, like being able to take
a step back and for sure.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Like one of the reasons why I live in Vietnam
and I've traveled and lived all around Southeast Asia.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
And.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Yeah, like back home, the you know, the word culture
in Canada is English, it's British, it's Protestant, And it's
this like idea that if you work harder you'll be
more successful or life be better and if you work more,
if there's like a problem in your life, the answer
is like, well, work, do more work, that will fix it.
You know, it's kind of bullshit, right, Like it's not
(37:02):
not true at all, Like there's no there's no real
equation in like the grander scheme of things. There's no
there's no equation between like, oh, if you work more hours,
you'll be more successful. Like that's not true. If you
walk by any office, any restaurant, any job, like it's
just as likely that the person who runs that business
works at one tenth as much hours as the labor,
(37:24):
and the labor works way harder and like hasway last right,
Like it's just not true. It's just straight up not true. Yeah, Okay,
so hey, let's do that. Let's transition that one into
how do you earn money online? So how do you
make a living online? Where? What's your job that makes
this sort of dream of living abroad and leaving the
UK for Thailand possible?
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Okay, so I work from home for so what what
my job is? Basically a U x uy designer. I
think the reason why I was hesitating to say that
is because I feel like I do a lot more
than you. I like obviously it means like a design websites, apps,
but I also do graphics as well, also do like
(38:10):
email templates, I designed like presentations, So it's not strictly
website and app designed. Because because I'm the sole designer
of the company, there's not other designers. I have people
within my team luckily that you know, are very supportive,
So it made it easier for me to grow to
(38:30):
be very like self sufficient in the job I'm doing.
Obviously there's a lot more to learn, but yeah, like
working from home nine to five ninety five and designing
websites and apps. That's my only main that's my only
source of income right now.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
So how did you how did you get into that
or how did if it sounds like you work for
like one company, so you're not like freelancing. How did
you find your gig on line?
Speaker 2 (39:01):
So actually studied architecture when I was in UNI. It
was during COVID. My second year was when it hit
and I was obviously doing my UNI work at home,
but then the summer was very long, so I was like,
I'm bored, like I need to do something. So we
were looking. I was looking at I didn't want to
do architecture at all. It was not my aspiration. I
(39:23):
was like, there's no way I want to like work.
There's long hours in an architecture firm. It's just not
for me. So I was thinking, what is an equivalent
that's a bit more a bit more chill, but a
bit more flexible. I didn't like the rigidness of architecture.
I was researching, and me and my friend were both like,
I don't want to do architecture. We saw this course that
(39:44):
was like about uxuy an online course, so we took
up that online course and I realized, yeah, I really
enjoyed it. So I then did I designed website for
a restaurant I got. I didn't like ask to be paid.
It was like more of a I was applying to
so many jobs. I think it took me about six
(40:07):
to eight months until I landed this job. When I
started applying, then I with that with a restaurant. I
applied to that job and they took me in because
they saw the potential in me and they liked the
way I presented in the interview.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Let's talk about a bit about your other online creative stuff. Yeah,
I found you through YouTube through a cost of living
video digital no mad Life, a broad type video that
you made when you're in Ko. Yeah, tell me about
your whole YouTube experience.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
I started off with travel when I did. When I
was going to YouTube, I wanted to, you know, just
put video videos out there for fun, like, oh here's
here are my memories. I want to edit it in
a way that people will enjoy as well. The first
video I posted was Chargau, Philippines, and I don't know
whether because the country is very high in demand of
(40:59):
people wanting to go that that's why it got like
probably the most viewser of all my videos. But I
was just kind of like, well, you know, lifestyle, it
all kind of like fits within the umbrella term. Yeah,
that's my that's my journey with YouTube. It's quite difficult
because when you don't. When you don't stick to one niche,
it's very difficult to I think it's more difficult to grow.
(41:20):
I think YouTube is such a gem of a platform.
It provides you the space to grow in whatever way
you want. I realized the videos that perform that are
still performing now are the ones where I talk about
Malaysia and like working from Malaysia the Yeah, because it's
like it's informational, so people will always kind of look
(41:41):
for information. Yeah. I want to be able to help
people and also entertain people about reaching that sort of
like create ave freedom to be able to live abroad,
travel abroad, work abroad.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Oh, I appreciate that. Thank you so much for coming
on with the cast, broad Pie and I actually thank
a perfect segue. I like to finish up these interviews
at the end by asking my guests, what's a question
I didn't ask you that I should have asked you?
What's the question I missed that you were waiting cancer?
Speaker 2 (42:17):
Oh, that's gonna be like a minute, just think about it.
I think, would you ever consider getting a job in
Thailand in the future.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
That's a good one. Definitely. The focus is usually on
like how to go remote, how to work online how
to earn online. But I'm an example of someone I've
taught in person in schools like all over the world.
So like when I, yeah, when I started doing the
like live abroad thing or dreaming of retiring early, it
was very much working in person. So that's a great question.
(42:52):
When you get to Thailand, what would you do if
you had to get a job in person or what
kind of job would you get? Would you open your
own business?
Speaker 2 (43:00):
To be honest, I to be honest, I don't think
I would want to get a job there. I would
definitely would love to still work remotely for this company.
If that was not a thing, then I probably wouldn't
move to Thailand because I'm not exactly very passionate about,
(43:23):
you know, teaching at this moment in my life. So
if anything, I'd probably just go all out in trying
to grow my socials to try and make a living
off social media like YouTube, Instagram or TikTok.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
Well, I think everyone can make a thousand dollars a
month on YouTube if they actually do it, Like if
you actually spend twenty hours a week or whatever on
your YouTube channel. I literally think anyone on planet Earth
can make a thousand a month off of YouTube. And
I don't think the thing is that you can't live
in Toronto or in London off a thousand dollars a month,
(44:00):
So you can't do that. It's like a catch twenty two, right,
So you could do it in Bangkok because you could
start building your following and your channel and stuff about
Thailand and living in Thailand and leaving the UK before
you got there and actually start like generating it's like
ad sense brand deals. And then you can also start
(44:21):
like you know, making stuff like whatever, selling merch selling things,
and you can make a part of your show too, right,
Like you can be like I'm saving money to move
to Thailand, buy my teahirt, like whatever, buy my hats, right,
Like people do that kind of stuff all the time.
Like it's crowdsourcing, right, nice, do you know what I mean?
Like it's the reason. One of the reasons why there's
(44:41):
so many more people like being digital nomads or like
working online, or like running online, or like being creators
in Southeast Asia is because you can make it sustainable,
Like you could find balance way easier here, because if
you're living on way less money, then the amount of
money you need to make online becomes way less so
you could succeed earlier and then it can actually like
(45:04):
you know, fuel you.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Yeah, for sure, for sure. I mean I feel very
motivated there because I felt everyone around me was like,
you know, doing what they enjoyed, working hard, Especially in
like digital nomad spaces, it feels like more motivating because
you're in a space with familiar with similar people.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Yeah. Absolutely, I mean that's one of the reasons why
why I moved from Hochim into Done. The cost of
living is lower and there's more people, there's more people
creating here. Because the cost of living is lower, it
means people more people can sort of retire early or
go full time online or full time creative. Yeah. Well, yeah,
(45:46):
thank you so much for talking with me mobile and
coming on the cost of living a broad pod. I
can't wait to see you in Bangkok one day and
to know you're done, you've left the UK and you're
living your new life as a Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Of course, and thank you for having me and asking
me these great questions. Evan, It's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (46:08):
Yeah, cheers and for everyone watching, my channel will be
linked over one shoulder. Mulis will be linked over the others.
I'm Ebana and thanks for listening to the Cost of
Living Abroad Pod. For full interviews, find us on YouTube
at cost of Living a broad Pod. Before we wrap up,
I just wanted to let you know that if you're
struggling with the cost of living crisis back at home
(46:29):
and looking for a sustainable and affordable way to relocate
your life abroad, check out our resources, courses, and community
at cost of Living abroad dot com. Thanks so much.
New episodes air Sunday night in Bangkok.
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