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Comment by csomar | Hacker News Reader

This is something that I can't get first world people to understand. It costs more to live in a third-world country. And I mean that literally. It is cheaper to vacation in third-world but try running a business there.

Here is an example:

- Imported products have high tariffs. Electronics and Cars are usually more expensive than the US.

- No Good Transportation Hubs/Companies like DHL to move things around. Broken and corrupt customs.

- No trained professionals to repair electronics.

So What gives? I had to pay around $200 to fix a Wifi issue on a Macbook; and the worst part? Wait for 3 months until the replacement was shipped.

Let's not then get to the other issues: Health, Public Transports, Schools, Taxes, etc...

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It costs more to live the same lifestyle you had from your home country. If you cook and eat local food, don't indulge in expensive imports, use fans instead of aircons 24/7, drive a moto and not a car etc. Too many expats move out here and live in expat ghettos where it is expensive. Move to an area that is at least 10km from the nearest Western Style coffee shop and you'll find it's a lot cheaper. Sadly, two weeks ago a chain coffee shop opened across the street from the university where our office is, so there goes the neighborhood....

As for electronics? Stay away from ecosystems like Apple, they are expensive everywhere. Twenty years ago, our Thai office used Macs because we needed to run Japanese software that only ran on Macs. We needed to go to Penang (in Malaysia) to buy new Macs or get them fixed. But the prices there were about the same as in Hong Kong. Was it as easy going down to Golden Shopping Center in HK? No, but life was a lot more pleasant and overall a lot cheaper. We moved shop to Phnom Penh five years ago and haven't had any serious problems running a cloud service here except for the power outages.

That's Apple and Oranges. We are comparing same lifestyles in different countries. Otherwise the comparison will not hold.

Collecting Government stipend from a wealthy country, living in a rural area, and using nothing but free government services will make life less expensive even for the minimalist lifestyle.

But that's not the point here. The point is, is it cheaper? The answer is obviously: No!. If it was, people will move to "arbitrage" out there money/lifestyle. That's what happened with Thailand. That's what is happening with Cambodia.

Yes, at least 6x in my experience trying to replicate a Western way of life in Asia. Japan and HK being notably challenging in terms of costs.

I visit Singapore for shopping and getting electronics repaired...

Is Singapore a 3rd world country?

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