Tables always turn but this is a tax. Many countries are realizing that Westerners (or people from countries with high cost of living) are taking advantage of the differential in living costs; and of course these governments wants to dip in the arbitrage. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if some SEA countries implement visa processes in the short-medium term future. The number of people from US/EU I have seen/met in SEA in the last year (Thailand and Vietnam) who were looking for local jobs and working illegally was alarming.