She is 39-year-old educator, content creator. He’s found an unconventional work/life balance by spending his off-time in Chiang Mai, Thailand and flying to Singapore each week (one way ticket only) for work. My wife and I moved to Thailand in November 2024 after living most of our lives in Singapore. He’s particularly fond of the low cost of living in Thailand. Alongside this, he manages his professional responsibilities as an adjunct lecturer at the National University of Singapore, where he teaches a class on digital marketing.
Chen considers the one-bedroom luxury condominium he rents in Chiang Mai, which runs him about $450 a month, to be quite modest. He uses his teaching income to support himself and only occasionally goes out on assignment, though. This is a monthly salary between $1,540 and $3,070 depending on class size enrollment. Chen spends between four and eight hours a week working, including teaching, coaching, and creating content for his YouTube channel.
Every week, he flies more than 1,200 miles to Singapore just for a three-hour class. This unique situation makes it possible for him to sustain his lifestyle in Thailand and at the same time reap the cultural rewards of living overseas. In many ways, Chen has set himself up for success. Today, he only needs to work three hours a week to pay for his living expenses!
“I’ve been working for the last 14 years of my life, and because of the layoff, I was forced to take a break,” Chen told CNBC Make It. The layoff proved to be a significant pivot point in his life. It inspired him to think critically about the way he wanted to live his life.
“It was very devastating. It was a huge blow to my ego, my identity, but it turns out, with time … it sort of mandated me to think about what I really wanted in life,” he added.
As a strict value investor, Chen’s entire portfolio is worth around $2 million. He assumed that this total would last him at least 30 years if he draws down approximately $80,000 per year. He has created a self-funded existence by significantly reducing his needs while boosting revenue potential in a low-expense ecosystem.
Food costs are fairly low in Chiang Mai with Chen spending about $300-500 per month on food and groceries, and about $200 per month on transportation. We have tons of great local products, including Thai food, that help him cut costs even more. “Three hours of working in Singapore can sustain my entire expenditure in Thailand,” Chen emphasized.
Though he’s doing well financially, Chen does not lose sight of the realities of local residents who don’t command those kinds of salaries. “I’m conscious that not everyone can do it, and the locals are not making as much as we are. We are earning in dollars, spending in baht,” he stated.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of Chen’s minimalist life was found in the autonomy it gave him. “For the first time in my life, I could just sort of … enjoy what Thailand has to offer,” he remarked. He emphasizes the importance of finding a balance between work and leisure, stating that he no longer feels the need to be “on that hamster wheel or to always be producing.”
Chen motivates those around him to develop their own skill sets. He argues that in this way, they are able to seek out and fill roles with lucrative hourly rates. “Find a way to improve your skill sets or to reach a position where you can charge a high per hourly rate,” he suggested. A significant income potential combined with a very low cost of living gives people the ability to work less. This configuration benefits them by making it simple for them to defray their costs.
Chen’s observations on his fellow chiang mai expatriates. He noted that many of them are ambivalent at best about their move. “I’ve actually met a few expats here, and they’re really not happy because they were only attracted to Thailand because of the cost of living,” he noted.
Chen believes that adapting fully to the local culture is crucial for anyone wishing to thrive in a foreign country. “The strategy for anyone who wants to live in a country like Thailand is to really embrace the local culture, the local options, the local way of life,” he advised.
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