>high literacy

where literacy is defined as the ability to write my own name.

One would find a better-developed tech scene in Delhi/NCR and Bengaluru, but those aren't very nice places to live for different reasons. Kerala works only if the OP becomes a digital nomad and works remote.

Then there's also the problem of people going on strike whenever they like - flavour of the month types. When I went on a solo trip, they decided to strike due to the rise in fuel prices. Causes a lot of disruption in day-to-day activities. I'm guessing this is because of the influence of the communist party.

Two things I do, occasionally stay in hostels to meet people (hit and miss) and going to tech-related meetup.com and eventbrite.com events in Bangkok and Chiang Mai (80-90%+ of my friends in Thailand were met this way)