In 2018, Andrew Corona flew to Bangkok with a friend for a monthlong vacation. But as the trip drew to a close, Corona realized he wasn’t ready to leave.
“I told my buddy that I was not going home, and I extended my stay for another three months,” Corona, now 30, told Business Insider said.
He spent the time traveling around Southeast Asia and returned to San Diego convinced he wanted to live in the region someday.
Relocating across the world didn’t feel feasible at that time. Remote work was far less common then, and his corporate job rarely allowed for extended travel, Corona said.
“You’re lucky if you can get even two weeks’ time, typically,” he said.
By early 2019, Corona had quit his job to run his own business. Still, it wasn’t until the pandemic normalized remote work that he felt the move was possible.
At the same time, Corona said he was growing frustrated with San Diego. Homelessness, drug use, and political divisions had changed the way he viewed the city, leading him and his then-girlfriend to seriously consider a life overseas.
Taking the leap
In early 2024, Corona and his now-fiancée rented an Airbnb for three months in Bangkok as a trial run.
They began envisioning a long-term future in Bangkok but still spent the rest of 2024 traveling around the world, exploring cities such as Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Dubai.
“I speak Spanish fluently, so on paper Madrid or Buenos Aires should’ve been the obvious choice,” Corona said. “But Bangkok just felt like home in a way I didn’t anticipate.”
In January 2025, Corona and his fiancée officially settled in Bangkok.
They now live in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom furnished condo in Thonglor, a stylish, upscale neighborhood commonly referred to as the “Beverly Hills of Bangkok.”
Their monthly rent is 80,000 Thai baht, or about $2,500 — roughly half of what Corona said he paid for a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in San Diego.
Their building in Bangkok comes with amenities such as a rooftop pool, a gym, a golf simulator, lounges, and parking. It’s also within walking distance of a train station.
Still, some people back home had very different ideas about what life in Thailand would actually look like. Corona said one relative initially imagined the couple living “in a hut on the beach,” rather than in a modern city.
While he doesn’t follow a strict budget, he estimates his monthly expenses — including utilities, groceries, and a gym membership — come to about $1,700. He sets aside another $1,000 to $2,000 for entertainment and leisure.
Working US hours in Asia
Despite moving across the world, Corona still works American hours, running a private lending firm for US commercial real estate.
The majority of his work takes place overnight in Thailand. His fiancée largely follows the same routine.
“It was a little bit of an adjustment to reverse my entire schedule,” he said.
Most days, he wakes up between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and spends his afternoons at the gym, running errands, and relaxing by the pool before starting his workday at around 7 p.m.
“In a way, it’s provided more of a relaxing work schedule — and a cup of coffee around 8 or 9 p.m. isn’t so bad,” he said.
The couple sometimes takes what Corona jokingly calls a “lunch break” at a nearby Japanese restaurant that’s open until the wee hours of the morning.
After finishing work, he usually heads to bed between 4 and 6 a.m.
“I honestly prefer it because I find it easier to focus at night. Even in the US, I would catch myself working in the evenings just because that’s when there were fewer distractions,” he said.
Making Bangkok home
Corona and his fiancée are among the many foreigners who now call Thailand home.
In 2025, Thai civil registration data recorded 102,988 foreign residents living in Bangkok. The true number could be much higher in the city of 5.4 million.
Business Insider has spoken to several Bangkok expats in the last year. They cited Bangkok’s safety and vibrant social scene as reasons for making the move.
“I should spend more time at home, but there’s so much to see and do and people to meet that I have a hard time staying home,” Bill Strayer, a retiree who trades US stocks in the middle of the night, told Business Insider in February.
In recent years, Thailand has introduced several visa programs to attract remote workers, including the five-year Destination Thailand Visa, which Corona and his fiancée hold.
It also helps that English is widely spoken in Bangkok.
“And if we can’t overcome that language barrier, we’ll use Google Translate to help bridge that gap,” Corona said.
One of his first close friendships came about unexpectedly last year, when the city experienced earthquake tremors.
“Another tenant who lived in my building ran down in nothing but a towel because he was in the shower at the time the earthquake occurred,” Corona said.
The two struck up a conversation during the evacuation, which became even more memorable after another resident accidentally ran outside naked, his robe undone.
“Because of him, I got introduced to a lot of people that I then became close with,” Corona said. “What I’ve realized is that, as big as the city is, it’s very interconnected. Once you get adopted into one friend group, many follow shortly after. It’s like a domino effect.”
As Corona settled into Bangkok, his enthusiasm for the city began rubbing off on friends back in the US. One of his friends in San Diego moved over too, despite never having visited Thailand.
“The next thing I know, he’s living here and having just as much fun as me,” he said.
Apart from a “good burrito,” there’s not much Corona misses about life in Southern California — and the move changed his definition of success.
“Now I measure it by freedom. The ability to wake up and decide where I want to be, how I want to spend my time, and build something that funds that life rather than consumes it,” he said.
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