Ask HN: Best country to start life in tech with $5000?

Interesting thought experiment. If I already had tech knowledge it basically wouldn’t matter where I started because I could exceed that amount in earnings right away.

If someone was trying to reboot their career, going somewhere like Thailand with low cost of living will extend the runway. $5K won’t cover expenses from start to self sufficiency, but it goes a long way.

However, it may be best to drop into the largest cities you can afford where you already speak the language and can get out and socialize. While you technically can learn tech career fundamentals and then get a remote job entirely from the comfort of your laptop, in practice it’s much easier said than done. Building in-person relationships and getting in-person jobs is the quickest way to accelerate your entry into a career because you can soak up so much more experience and more quickly build a network by physically being with people.

In Malaysia, for USD 5000, you'd be able to go 4 months on a fairly luxurious budget alone, and that should also cover things like healthcare, housing, public transport, and eating out every day. Flight might take a big chunk of that though.

English is spoken by everyone, race/religion integration is quite good, urban internet is fast. There's enough good food for everyone.

You could probably stretch the budget further in Indonesia. There's more unicorns in Indonesia, so tech and people are a bit more advanced. Salaries are a little lower and tighter. Malaysia & Thailand is mid-range, Singapore is high salary for the region. Bali's a nice place to be and a hub for remote workers; it's often on the benefits list for many companies.

Geography is largely irrelevant. You likely want stability, good internet, visa-free access, relative internationalism for network building, and low costs. If you are coming from South Asia, I'd recommend Thailand. I heard they are now planning on granting few-questions asked long term visas to foreigners as a means to obtain post-COVID inbound tourism at 10K THB (USD$310) per year, renewable for up to 10 years. A cheaper option would be Indonesia but it's more visa hassle and the infrastructure isn't as good.

The U.S.A. It has the best salaries, the best choice of companies, the best choice of geography, and the best wine.