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10 Digital Nomad Hotspots of Southeast Asia
Remote working has exploded in the post-pandemic world, and it’s now easier than ever to earn an income online whilst travelling. Great news for backpackers who want to stay on the road! Southeast Asia has long been a favourite region for digital nomads, and it’s easy to see why. Beautiful places, friendly locals, delicious food and a low cost of living: yes please!
Trendy co-working spaces are scattered in stunning places across the region, offering location-independent workers the opportunity to meet like-minded people and build a friendly community far from home. Here we round up the most popular places to be a digital nomad across Southeast Asia.
Personally, I’ve lived in several of them (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Phangan and Koh Lanta), so if you need any specific recommendations or have any questions, be sure to comment below and I’ll try my best to answer you!
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Top 10 Places for Digital Nomads in Southeast Asia
1. Chiang Mai, Thailand
Chiang Mai is the original, and some would say best, digital nomad hotspot in the region. Its streets, especially in the old town and the area around Nimmanhaemin Road, abound with air-conditioned cafés offering nomadic workers fast WiFi and strong coffee!
The city has played host to several conferences in the realm of digital marketing, SEO and even has a sturdy cryptocurrency scene. For new digital nomads, it’s a great place to meet and mingle with lots of remote workers from all over the world. The accommodation in Chiang Mai is also super cheap (you can rent an apartment for as little as $300 USD/month) and the restaurant scene is very varied and of great quality.
There are literally dozens of co-working spaces in the city, as well as hostels, cafés and restaurants where the staff are quite used to customers lingering with their Apple Macs. One of the most renowned coworking spaces in the city is Punspace, established in 2013, which has two locations in the city, one near Thapae Gate and one on Wiang Kaew Road in the Old City. Another option is C.A.M.P., located on the top floor of Maya Mall which attracts the student crowd from nearby Chiang Mai University.
If you want to check out the scene for a few days, hostels in Chiang Mai start at just a few dollars per night.
2. Da Nang, Vietnam
Previously used mainly as a jumping off point to reach its more famous neighbour, Da Nang has made a name for itself in recent years on the digital nomad scene. Located in Central Vietnam, this coastal city offers both urban buzz and beach-side living appealing to both city dwellers and beach lovers.
There are several co-working spaces in the city, including Ace Coworking, Coworking Danang and Seaview Coworking Danang, which comes with inspiration views to get those creative juices flowing!
As well as the wide sweep of sandy My Khe Beach, there are rice fields, mountains and ancient ruins to explore just a short drive away. And lying just 20 minutes north of historic Hoi An, Da Nang is an ideal base to enjoy all the beauty of the ancient town while staying away from the tourist crowds and close to like-minded working travellers.
3. Koh Lanta, Thailand
One of the more chilled Thai islands, Koh Lanta, is one of my personal favourite digital nomad hotspots. In the north of the island, there is a large co-working space called KoHub which attracts remote online workers from all over the world. You’ll become part of a community as soon as you join KoHub and if you fancy it, you can join their pub quiz team that competes every week at the nearby Irish Bar!
The island itself is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous sandy beaches, waterfalls, caves, great restaurants, bars and plenty of adventure to be had. I’d recommend hiring a scooter to get around the island which will cost you around $100 USD per month. For those of you who like to party, there is nightlife to be found across the island, but the scene is much more relaxed than Koh Samui or Koh Phangan.
Accommodation is a bit more expensive here in the South of Thailand than in the North, but you can still find some great deals on bungalows if you shop around. The cheapest accommodation can be found around Long Beach and Khlong Khong which are the backpacker areas. You can get a basic bungalow for around $200 USD / month, though you will have to pay around $500 USD for something really decent.
4. Bali, Indonesia
This distinctive little Indonesian island is more well known than the country itself! Bali draws people from across the globe looking for the good life and this is one Southeast Asia’s biggest digital nomad destinations.
The centre of the action for remote workers is the coastal town of Canggu. Overflowing with coffee shops, co-working spaces and boutique stores, this hipster enclave feels more like Byron Bay than Indonesia. There are several co-working spaces in Canggu, with the most popular being Tribal, Outpost Canggu and Dojo, as well as Finn’s Recreation Club, which is a fitness club and water park with its own co-working space.
Further inland, Bali’s spiritual heartland, Ubud, is another thriving place for remote workers, except here there’s less surf and more yoga. Made famous by Elizabeth Gilbert’s travel book, Eat Pray Love, Ubud is a bustling little town that’s surrounded by beautiful Balinese countryside.
When it comes to co-working spaces, the major players are Outpost and Ubud.Space Coworking and Coffee. Outpost has two locations, the original Ubud branch and Outpost Penestanan which has the added advantage of a swimming pool to keep you cool in between making money! Plus, they offer reasonably priced accommodation for nomads taking the co-working/co-living one step further.
5. Bangkok, Thailand
It may be a huge capital city with loads of other things going on, but we can’t mention digital nomad hotspots without adding Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, to the list. For those of you who prefer the buzz of a city to the sleepiness of Southeast Asia’s islands and villages, Bangkok is full of excitement and opportunity.
Accommodation, street food, Thai massage (and pretty much anything else you can imagine!) are cheap and readily available and there are tons of great networking events for digital nomads where you can meet with the right kind of people, whatever your field.
There are literally hundreds of co-working spaces and cool cafés where you can get productive with a good coffee and a great buzzing atmosphere. And, with Bangkok airport as a major hub for travel in Southeast Asia, you can use the city as a base to explore the rest of the region!
I paid $300 USD for an apartment here in 2016 with its own swimming pool, gymnasium and café. While prices have risen a little since then, you can still find cheap deals on flats. The area around Victory Monument and Din Daeng is a good place to look. For short-term accommodation options, check out our list of the best hostels in Bangkok here.
6. Siem Reap, Cambodia
Home to the world-famous archaeological site of Angkor, Siem Reap is the most popular place for digital nomads to hang out in Cambodia. There are several co-working spots including Siem Reap House, socially-orientated Level Up and BioLAB Coffee & Office, a coffee shop-cum-co-work space.
The small city (if we can call it that) is packed with cafés, bakeries, restaurants and backpacker hostels and there’s no shortage of places to hang out with good WiFi and great food. (See our list of the best hostels in Siem Reap here – some as cheap as a couple of USD a night!)
And when you’ve finished working, Siem Reap is a great place to explore by bicycle or motorbike. Despite the touristy centre, it’s really easy to get away from the crowds and get off the beaten track.
7. Koh Phangan, Thailand
Although it is perhaps best known for being one of the most pumping party destinations in Southeast Asia, the island of Koh Phangan is also a big hit with the new age crowd and there are many yoga and meditation retreats, massage centres, vegetarian and vegan cafés as well as a whole host of other hippie attractions on the island.
It’s also an increasingly popular spot for remote workers and co-working spots have popped up along the west coast. BeacHub, Inner Space and Remote&Digital Coworking La Casa are among the most popular. Overlooking a beautiful sandy beach while tapping away on your laptop is the digital nomad dream, right?
For long-term island dwellers, there are plenty of great accommodation options on Koh Phangan. Just hop on your motorbike and take a drive around the island stopping at all of the makeshift signs that say ‘HOUSE FOR RENT’. You can get yourself a great little bungalow for around $300 per month or cheaper if you don’t mind going basic. For short-term options, check out the best hostels in Koh Phangan here.
Note: The other islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui and Koh Tao, are also becoming increasingly popular with digital nomads. All of them offer conveniences of Western and Thai restaurants, strong WiFi and varied accommodation options. (Check out the best hostels in Koh Tao here.) Koh Tao also has a well-established dive scene and a buzzing nightlife.
8. Penang, Malaysia
One of the lesser-known digital nomad hotspots is the large island of Penang at the northern end of Peninsular Malaysia. The island is world-famous for its amazing food scene and colonial architecture which draws travel bloggers and Instagrammers alike.
There are several co-working spaces in Penang, most of which are located in the colonial capital of Georgetown. You’ll find prices for workspaces, accommodation and food a little more expensive here in Malaysia than in other parts of Southeast Asia, but you can still find some great deals if you hunt around.
One thing that’s great about living in Malaysia as a digital nomad is the entrepreneurial spirit amongst the country’s youth. Many locals (who speak great English by the way) are interested in tech and design and so you’re sure to make local friends while hanging in Penang!
9. Lombok, Indonesia
Bali’s sister island, Lombok has become a haven for wandering workers seeking a quieter vibe. The southern town of Kuta has grown from a quiet fishing village to a thriving hub for surfers and, more recently, digital nomads.
The island is seeing an emergence of co-working spots, such as South Lombok Cowork and KARIA by TIKA (which opened earlier this year). Rumour has it there will be more additions to the co-work space in the not too distant future, which will help to relieve the pressure on Kuta’s handful of popular co-working cafes.
This idyllic island also has plenty to explore once the working day is done, from world-class surf breaks, to mountains, beaches and jungle!
10. Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Yogyakarta is Indonesia’s third entry to the list. On the island of Java, the laid-back hippie vibe of Jogja (as it’s affectionately known) is a great option if you’re more of a townie than a surfer and want to avoid the influx of Instagrammers and influencers that flock to Bali.
The small city is famous for its art scene, being the cultural capital of Java, and there are plenty of cheap accommodation options and cafés with good WiFi and strong Javanese coffee!
While the co-working scene here is nowhere near as developed as in Bali, several co-working spaces have cropped up in recent years including KLA Co-Working Space. And, when you’re not tapping away at your laptop, there are lots of yoga classes to enjoy, art galleries to peruse and massages to enjoy!
Do you know of an upcoming digital nomad hotspot that we haven’t mentioned? Tell us in the comments below!
