Mostly due to inertia, we were already in Bangkok, Phuket was close by. The alternative was Bali. We have a cat and felines don't move so easily within Asia.

We're looking for similar places in EU or US timezones, but - contrary to information for digital nomads - it's hard to find information about good places to live as a family...

I haven't lived in America so I can't compare, but compared to Europe, Thailand to a certain extent feels like Southern Europe, eg Portugal, Spain, Italy IMO. Not only the weather, also efficiency, organisation, less focus on families, ...