- Paul Lee, 28, left New York City to move to Thailand in 2021.
- Life in NYC felt competitive and materialistic, which left him feeling unfulfilled.
- Now, he lives in a $600-a-month condo in Bangkok and says he’s “99% sure” he won’t return to the US.
Four years ago, Paul Lee, 28, left New York City to move to Bangkok.
Having grown up poor in Macon, Georgia, where 25.1% of the population lives below the poverty line, Lee was determined to build a better life for himself and his parents.
At 18, he decided to be an entrepreneur and eventually found some success by selling various products — including men’s grooming items and even home appliances — via e-commerce.
He dropped out of college in his second year to pursue it full time. With the money he made, Lee was able to move to the Big Apple and even help his father retire back in Georgia.
As a second-generation American — whose parents had immigrated from South Korea — something about life in NYC felt stifling, even though he had succeeded in achieving the American dream,
“I was being swallowed by this very competitive, very doggish, very materialistic lifestyle. I felt like I had to keep up with the Joneses, become popular, care about social status, and all these things that I never really cared about before,” Lee told Business Insider.
Even though he was better off financially than when he was growing up, there was a part of him that still felt unfulfilled.
“I quickly became depressed and realized I needed to make a change. I did some research and decided I wanted to leave America in general,” he said.
To take a break, he went on a three-month vacation to Bangkok. When he got back, he quickly realized he was done with New York.
So, he packed up his bags, said goodbye to his parents, and never looked back.
“It wasn’t a decision to move to Bangkok, it was a decision to just visit. But then I liked it so much that I decided to move there,” he said.
Moving across the world
To him, Bangkok seemed like the perfect place to be because it was chill but still exciting and well-developed.
“It has a lot of things I liked about New York City, and it doesn’t have a lot of the things that I don’t like about New York City, like the hustle culture and the competitive environment,” Lee, now a full-time content creator, said.
During the first couple of months in Bangkok, Lee stayed in different Airbnbs around the city to have a feel of the different neighbourhoods.
He knew he wanted to live in a luxurious, modern apartment building in a central area. Once he narrowed down his choices, he toured some apartments before signing a lease on the one he liked the most.
Now Lee lives in a pet-friendly, one-bedroom apartment in Thong Lo, a trendy neighborhood known for its stylish cafés, hip restaurants, and cool bars. Thong Lo is about a 30-minute drive from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
He likens the area to SoHo in NYC: “People in SoHo, they look fashionable. It’s kind of like that here, quite cosmopolitan,” he added.
His studio apartment is slightly under 650 square feet. He pays 20,000 Thai baht, or about $600, in rent each month.
The apartment came furnished, and the building also has a gym and a pool.
Getting around the city is a breeze, he said.
“I pretty much use motorbike taxis here. It’s like an Uber, you just ride on the back of one and get to somewhere in 15 minutes,” he said.
It’s a drastically different living situation compared to when Lee was in the US.
“In New York City, I was living with four other guys. It was a two-bedroom subdivided into four, and I was paying $2,000 a month,” Lee said. “If I were to spend $2,000 in Bangkok on a condo, it would be like a luxury penthouse. It wouldn’t even compare.”
However, he prefers to keep his expenses low and says he’s content with his current apartment.
“It’s already much nicer, bigger, and cheaper than the one I was living in New York City,” he added.
Lee’s parents were initially surprised when he told them he was moving to Thailand.
“At first, they thought I was just on a simple vacation and that I was going to come back home. But then, as time went by, I kept trying to clarify, ‘Hey guys, I’m not coming back home. I’m moving here,'” he said.
He said his parents eventually warmed up to his decision and decided they wanted to leave the US, too. They ended up moving to Jeju, South Korea.
A cheaper and slower life
Lee isn’t alone in his journey to leave NYC.
NYC ranks third among the top 10 most expensive cities in the world in the 2023 Worldwide Cost of Living report from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
A single person in NYC would have to make about $140,000 to live comfortably, and this amount increases to $318,000 for a family of four consisting of two adults and two children. As such, many lower-earning New Yorkers and even young families are choosing to move to the suburbs or leave the country entirely in order to enjoy a lower cost of living.
Financial reasons aside, there’s also been a wave of city-dwellers seeking a slower and simpler life abroad.
Even though Bangkok is a vibrant city, the pace of life is still slower than in NYC, Lee said.
In Thailand, there’s a culture of “sabai sabai” — a phrase which conveys the idea of taking it easy, he said. Being in such an environment has really rubbed off on him and helped him relax.
Whereas in the US — where even something small like a delayed coffee order or getting cut off in traffic can get people on edge — the phrase also encapsulates the idea that a lot of things aren’t worth stressing about, he added.
“I’d say in New York, I was very tense. I was like, I’ve got to get somewhere, I’ve got to do this, blah, blah, blah. Whereas in Thailand, I’m just enjoying each day,” Lee said.
Culture aside, the Thai people have also been nice and welcoming toward him.
“Most people can speak basic English, but it is still a bit of a challenge for those who do not know Thai. But I do speak Thai, I’m pretty conversational,” he said, adding that he took language classes twice a week when he first moved to Bangkok.
While he’s open to the idea of moving to a different country or city in the future, he’s “99% confident I won’t move back to the United States.”
“I’d say the biggest difference is back then I was pursuing this idea of wealth and success, but what I was actually pursuing was freedom and the ability to travel and happiness,” Lee said. “You don’t need all these superficial, worldly desires. You can just live a very simple life and not be that wealthy, but still live a very good life.”
Have you recently relocated to a new country and found your dream home? If you’ve got a story to share, get in touch with this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.
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