Life as a digital nomad in Malaysia

I dont use social networking   .thats for failed presidents and lonely people with no personality and fake news. so how to contact expat for Classifieds by email?

Malaysia perfect spot for Digital Nomads?

Who wrote this nonsense!

Visas, poor internet and higher costs of living make it a poor choice. Thailand is way better in all 3 regards. Many in CM for example.

Malaysia has no such program that I know of and maybe thats a good thing. The first requirement is a strong and stable net and Malaysia is maybe the very worst on the planet. Most of the time I have no net at all. The past 2 months have been a nightmare of on-off-on-off-on-off net and they wont fix it. So it automatically fails as a nomad location.

Other countries have programs but the basic requirement is that the nomad has stable employment and money in the bank that is not connected to the country in question. So a nomad with a healthy US income and bank account could qualify and some of the programs, like Mexico, are very liberal. Digital nomad programs arent for poor people or those looking to the desired country to provide employment. They are people on the move and need to travel for extended periods to do their work, sometimes living in four countries in a year. Given the visa and other fees for each country, plus all living expenses, it can be an expensive lifestyle.

Hi Diksha. Malaysia has been kind to me. The cost of living, and especially rent, are much lower than in Munich - where I come from. For the money I would spend on a 2 bedroom apartment in Munich, I am renting a private 3 bedroom unit and a second 3 bedroom unit as an office for my agency.
My visa is provided by my Labuan company. So all good. Happy to share my experience with other 'digital nomads' - although there is not much 'nomading' going on

Hi! Could I ask you some questions about the Labuan company? We heard that it has gotten rather difficult to set up this structure. Something like requiring a certain amount of operational expense in Labuan and having a minimum number of staff. Is it as difficult as it seems? The tax benefits looked really good if it's still the same. Are you on an EP visa as a business owner?
My husband is on the spouse visa and we own a business here but the spouse visas are really tedious while EPs and other expat related visas have far more benefits, so we are looking into changing it.
Thanks for any tips!!

Nemodot wrote:

Malaysia perfect spot for Digital Nomads?

Who wrote this nonsense!

Visas, poor internet and higher costs of living make it a poor choice. Thailand is way better in all 3 regards. Many in CM for example.

Objectively speaking, Malaysia has lower cost of living than Thailand.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/c … ity1=Kuala Lumpur&city2=Bangkok&tracking=getDispatchComparison

With regards to internet connection, this depends on your service provider and where you live. We have had limited issues with our connection.

Most Digital Nomads left Malaysia a month or so ago, when the amnesty on Tourist Visas. Most are in their homelands again

I lived in KL for two years and it was the best internet I've ever had. The Visa does suck though.

rogwilde68 wrote:

I dont use social networking   .thats for failed presidents and lonely people with no personality and fake news. so how to contact expat for Classifieds by email?

This makes little sense. Were you having a stroke when you wrote this?

I was in Malaysia as a digital nomad when borders closed in 2020. I travel full time with my family. Pre-pandemic it was easy to go for 3 months visa free. That's how we were there. No work visas, etc. Malaysia doesn't do that.

There's some weird stuff going on there politically right now. Once the pandemic wraps up and borders reopen, I'm not even sure the visa free 90 day window will still exist. I hope it does. I really want to return!

Their internet is cheap and reliable. Food is good. Housing is affordable. Public transit needs improvement though. Many people like Thailand better, but my family really enjoyed Malaysia. Definitely worth a stop for any DN.

I found public transit amazing in KL. Their rail system beats anything we have in Seattle.

Depends on what part of the city you live. There are a lot of gaps in city that the train lines don't service. If you're in KLCC, transit is excellent. I was in Setiawangsa for a while, and could easily take the red line down to KLCC. But compared to other cities in Asia and even Chicago where I lived for a number of years, IMO KL is behind the times in how (not) expansive their train network is.

Brodi Cole wrote:

Depends on what part of the city you live. There are a lot of gaps in city that the train lines don't service. If you're in KLCC, transit is excellent. I was in Setiawangsa for a while, and could easily take the red line down to KLCC. But compared to other cities in Asia and even Chicago where I lived for a number of years, IMO KL is behind the times in how (not) expansive their train network is.

Yes you are right, it is not expansive. I live in Taman Desa and my friends tried using bus service to KL Sentral. There was only one bus that plies from Taman Desa to KL Sentral. Also, the timing was pathetic.

yes, of course one of the best travel transit in KL

With the chronic traffic jams in KL I cannot imagine trying to take the bus! Your friends are brave. It was either the LRT or a Grab for me, but the latter does get expensive after a while even though it's far cheaper than rideshare services in the US.

Internet here is way faster than what I had in Switzerland and the UK in the past. Maybe those commenting otherwise were living in Kedah or didn't know how to set up their wifi for concrete condo living.
That said, the visa situation does suck. Visa runs, even prepandemic, are no longer possible. So probably not a good option anymore unless you qualify for MTEP (not so easy, needs a lot of big keywords).

These posts have me thinking about an overall picture.

Ive lived here a long time and 20 years ago the place held so much promise but the promise was never fulfilled. In my heart I think that for most people Malaysia should just drop off the general radar. "Its not all that" is probably the best way to put it. If a person has a specific reason to come like a job transfer, Malaysia would be great for a couple years.  And there are possibilities for retirement too and its great for a holiday. But throwing a dart on a map and it lands on Malaysia and you pick up and move your life on hope, thats where it will succeed in just one thing, letting you down.

Malaysia has always let me down for the things that were really important but like many people I stayed because I was charmed by the food, friendly people, warmer climate and lower prices. But those are not enough to sustain a person, you need more and where I made my overall mistake was letting a few charms overshadow what was critical, like hanging on to a girl because she is pretty while knowing deep down she was never right for you. I forgave far too much instead of being strict about needs like good internet and uncomplicated visas as is mentioned in here. On points like that and others, I should have stopped thinking about delightful food or something and said, Ok, enough, stop, end, bye. Life is very short. Newcomers who like Malaysia wont see that, it takes time to gel.