I acknowledge "dark" is a judgemental term... but the mix of extreme poverty, extreme relative wealth, and the blind eye towards the sex trade is... dark.
Such misery is not unique to Thailand but you may find it more open, deeply rooted, in your face palpable, or covert-in-troubling-ways.
If you are doing serious dev work of a leveragable nature, I would also be6 thoughtful about how to protect one's innovations in a heavenly land adjacent to China, full of friendly Russian expat hackers post-Ukraine-sanctions, with my hinkiness detectors already overwhelmed by cross cultural signals of a new environment.
I could try to sell you on the merits of low cost of living for English-speaking software hackers in other places like Vietnam or the Phillipines but have to remind myself you aren't asking for that and all I really have is anecdotes and observations anyways and so much of our options and choices are shaped by circumstances and personal tradeoffs. I wouldn't do it but I am me, not you. Good luck!
It's literally the digital nomad heaven. What's dark about it?
Fair.
I acknowledge "dark" is a judgemental term... but the mix of extreme poverty, extreme relative wealth, and the blind eye towards the sex trade is... dark.
Such misery is not unique to Thailand but you may find it more open, deeply rooted, in your face palpable, or covert-in-troubling-ways.
If you are doing serious dev work of a leveragable nature, I would also be6 thoughtful about how to protect one's innovations in a heavenly land adjacent to China, full of friendly Russian expat hackers post-Ukraine-sanctions, with my hinkiness detectors already overwhelmed by cross cultural signals of a new environment.
I could try to sell you on the merits of low cost of living for English-speaking software hackers in other places like Vietnam or the Phillipines but have to remind myself you aren't asking for that and all I really have is anecdotes and observations anyways and so much of our options and choices are shaped by circumstances and personal tradeoffs. I wouldn't do it but I am me, not you. Good luck!