Indie hacker and entrepreneur Pieter Levels found success with his laptop at home – where “home” includes 40 different countries and 140 cities.
With over 40 startups under his belt, the self-taught developer claims that his various business ventures now generate over $2.2 million in revenue. (Levels regularly writes online about which of his startups make money—and which have failed.) And he was able to launch these startups all over the world as a digital nomad, a remote worker who travels freely.
In a recent episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” Levels revealed that his favorite place he’s ever visited is also the home of one of his biggest startups – Nomad List.
In 2014, Levels met other digital nomads in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He said that while remote work, which wasn’t yet popular at the time, seemed like “a cool thing,” he noticed that “the internet was really slow everywhere.”
“I wanted to find other cities where I could work and travel with my laptop, but we needed fast internet,” Levels said. “So I thought, ‘Let’s crowdsource this information with a spreadsheet.'”
This table eventually became Nomad List, a website for digital nomads that provides data on cities around the world, such as cost of living, internet speed and safety.
A decade and millions of users later, Levels said the best cities he’s been to are still Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
“I think Thailand is very special,” he said. “I’ve been to Vietnam and South America and stuff. I still think Thailand wins because the people there are so nice and live so simply.”
Thailand ranked sixth overall in InterNations’ annual Expat Insider Report 2024, a study that surveyed over 12,500 expats of 175 nationalities in 174 countries or territories.
The study analyzed several indices, including personal finances, ease of settling in, and expat essentials (which covers language barriers, affordable housing, digital life, and administrative issues). Thailand ranked 8th, 6th, and 15th, respectively.
Freelance journalist Lola Méndez previously told Business Insider that after visiting 90 countries, Chiang Mai was the only place she wanted to live because of its affordability and lenient legislation regarding marijuana use and same-sex marriage.
“In Chiang Mai, I pay $355 a month in rent, $300 less than in Puerto Vallarta and four times less than my rent in New York City,” she said.
The Lantern Festival of Chiang Mai in Thailand. Shutterstock/Alexander Mazurkevich
According to Numbeo, a website that provides crowdsourced summaries of the cost of living in major cities around the world, the estimated monthly cost for a single person in Bangkok, excluding rent, is about US$670 and in Chiang Mai it is about US$530.
Although Levels believes that Bangkok is getting more expensive, he still recommends Chiang Mai as a cheaper alternative.
“I think if you’re just starting out, it’s a great place,” he said. “The air quality sucks, that’s a big problem. And it’s pretty hot. But it’s a very cool place.”
Levels also expressed his affection for Brazil, which ranked 7th in the Expat Insider report, although he said the country’s “security issue” is still a problem.
“It’s like America – it’s localized,” he said. “So if you go to the right areas, it’s incredible. Brazil is incredible. If you go to the wrong areas, you might die.”
According to the study, Brazil came in 48th and 52nd place respectively in the categories of political stability and personal security among the last ten. However, the country came in first place in terms of friendliness towards foreigners: 92 percent of respondents rated this factor positively.
