Thailand Digital Nomad Review
Out of all of South East Asia Thailand gets by far the largest number of tourists, which on the one hand means that infrastructure is super developed, but it also means you can get a very 'sterile' experience filled with western comforts mixed with a sprinkling of scams. Especially when you spend time anywhere near the sea, western culture seems to have 'replaced' the local culture to a large extend. From a Digital Nomad perspective the upsides of all these tourists coming to Thailand is not only the great amenities, but also the supply of relatively affordable apartment complexes - with luxeries like rooftop pools and gyms - catering to tourists who want to stay for longer stays. The downside however is that some prices have adjusted to the influx of foreign wealth, so you for example end up with temples and palaces charging locals a couple of cents whilst western foreigners pay 13 euros.
Links to the tools/resources we used for Thailand
Bangkok
People often talk about Bangkok as this city to get out off as quickly as possible, but we actually quite like it. Inside Bangkok there is a lot of places to explore (our favourites: cycling in Bang Krachao and shopping in 'aliexpress in real life' MKB center and luxury mall ICONSIAM), and there are many good weekend and day trips to Ayutthaya, Lopburi or even all the way up to Sukothai.
The biggest downside of Bangkok is the traffic, pollution and noise, which can both be frustrating and become somewhat overwhelming. The one saving grace from our perspective though is that Bangkok is still a decently walkable city with decent public transport, especially compared to some other South East Asian capitals.
Links to the tools/resources we used for Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is sometimes called the Digital Nomad capital of the world, because for a long time it provided an attractive mix of western comforts for incredibly little money at a time when the rest of South East Asia couldn't offer the same. Looking at it through today's lens though, we do not really understand the appeal anymore. The selection of foreigner focused restaurants is definitely still top notch and the walking street night markets in Chiang Mai were some of our favourites, but at the same time Chiang Mai doesn't have a lot of unique things to offer from our point of view.
Links to the tools/resources we used for Chiang Mai
Phuket: Overtourism central
Phuket is 'overtourism central', for a population of around 400k locals there is 12 000 000 annual tourists. We used this to our advantage to 'calm down' after a very intense couple of weeks in India, but if this is your one time in Thailand we would probably not recommend Phuket. If like us you however want to enjoy a very peaceful couple of weeks, Phuket's 'inexperienced tourist' friendly amenities can be perfect. Want to go on a tour to one of the islands around Phuket? Minibuses will pick you up at your accommodation no matter where you're staying. Craving Italian dried hams like my wife? You might just find a shop next door that imports them directly from Italy. As much as I would try to dissaude someone from going on a vacation to Phuket, for a Digital Nomad it's really not that bad of an area to spend some time.
Links to the tools/resources we used for Phuket
Pattaya: Sex Tourism Central
I will keep this short: Don't go to Pattaya for more than a day. We needed to do a visa run at one point and we decided to stay in Pattaya... and it turns out that Pattaya is probably the sex tourism capital of the world. Not to say that it's not an interesting experience seeing how such a city functions, but be also prepared to be disturbed. We made a game of trying to spot even a single solo female tourist, and I think we failed 😅 .
Links to the tools/resources we used for Pattaya
Going somewhere 'less popular'
All of Thailand is popular, and as far as we know mobile data coverage is pretty great everywhere, so there is probably countless of awesome places you could base yourself in. Thailand is easy, so no matter what: Don't worry about it too much.