Bangkok vs KL
Hey all, I’m looking to retire in a year or two, and would like to move to SEA. I’m Chinese American, 40, married with a 9 year old. Originally was thinking Singapore but wife found it too sterile, plus the visa situation is more complicated than Thailand and Malaysia.
I’ve been to Bangkok 3 times, KL once, from a tourist POV here are my thoughts on the things that matter to us, really curious to hear what folks here think:
- COL: tie as they are both much much cheaper than where we live, not a consideration point
- Food: tie also, I like Thai food just slightly better than Malaysian food but KL has more Chinese food which evens it out
- Languages: hands down KL, I speak mandarin and English at a native fluency, don’t know much Thai
- Air quality: KL from what I read and my limited experiences with both cities
- Infrastructure and transportation: from what I gathered public transportation in the two cities are similar, but traffic in KL is slightly better
- Nightlife: BKK by a mile, Malaysia is a Muslim country after all. This is actually really important to us since we like to go out a lot
- Education: there are good private schools at both, so assume a tie here
- Making friends: I would assume it’s easier to make expat friends in BKK, but easier to make local friends in KL, mainly due to the language barrier
Am I missing something that I should think about? Right now I’m leaning towards living in KL with a few trips a year to Bangkok, but end of this year I plan to spend 4-6 weeks in each to see what it’s like living there. Thanks