Is Kuala Lumpur for you?

Comparing against other nomad hot spots such as Thailand and Bali.

Pros:

• Malaysians in general speak far better English than our neighbours except Singapore and The Philippines. You won’t have to purposely look out for restaurants and services catered for tourists and have huge pricing markups. You will be paying the same $ as us local Malaysians, and won’t have much difficulty communicating.
• Extremely wide variety of foods compared to other ASEANs, to a point we are often compared to New York City in terms of cultural or culinary diversity.
• Malaysia is one of the safest countries you can visit. We are the 19th on Global Peace Index 2023! You are very unlikely to encounter violent crime here.
• Luxury condos with awesome view and infinity pools go very cheaply on Airbnb (mid-term stays) and Propertyguru (> 6 months).
• Cheap and accessible healthcare, almost all the doctors here are fluent in English.

Cons:

• Malaysia is considerably more conservative. You are expected to dress modestly most of the time except in the nightlife areas. Some public displays of affection like kissing are considered an offence.
• High taxes on alcohols and tobaccos. Malaysians tend to buy hard liquors upon arrival at the airport and pre-game with that before hitting night clubs. As such our nightlife is much more muted than in surrounding countries.

If you are a foodie and don’t party a lot, you may enjoy KL more than in Thailand, Bali, and other neighbouring countries. You get to live in a developed cosmopolitan city at the same price.