"After Thailand, Georgia seems aggressive." A programmer on wintering in Asia and life in Tbilisi

Sri Lanka almost didn't work out

— A funny story happened with Sri Lanka. I saw an Instagram ad for some coworking space on this island. I really liked it, but by the time I got around to it, all the spots were already taken.

But I didn't get upset and decided to go myself. Because I am an experienced traveler and this was by no means my first time in Asia. Before this, I had already lived in Bali for half a year — even before it became mainstream, about 11 years ago. I was in Thailand, on Phuket, for half a year. I went on business trips to India. I was also in China, on Hainan.

That is, I've explored Southeast Asia quite well. And for some reason, Sri Lanka appealed to me the least.

Belarusians can apply for an electronic visa to Sri Lanka for 30 days, which can then be extended for six months. By the way, at the airport upon arrival, I was forced to buy a return ticket. I didn't even know how long I was staying. But I had to buy a ticket for a date four weeks later.

But generally, it's quite boring in Sri Lanka.

The internet is bad, motorbikes are quite expensive, and the food is very monotonous. There's no alcohol. More precisely, it exists, but you stand in line with some homeless people to buy the simplest beer.

One day I was riding a tuk-tuk from one village to another, and the police stopped us, searched all our pockets, checked everything. Seemingly politely, everything was normal, but then you think: what the hell? It was clear they were looking for drugs. They are strict about that there.

By the way, racism is quite widespread there. Some cafes don't serve locals — they explicitly write: foreigners only. And there was a case: a famous comedian, a citizen of Sri Lanka and Britain, arrived, and they told him: "Get out of our cafe." He was very indignant, and that's when there was a big scandal around this topic.

Currently, the country has big problems with gasoline, so foreigners are leaving en masse. In general, Sri Lanka fails to attract wealthy Europeans; mainly people who don't want to spend much come there. Therefore, the country even loses money on tourism.

But the nature is very beautiful; in the center of the island, there are mountains reminiscent of Svaneti. And Galle itself has a lot of beautiful colonial architecture. Good surfing, friendly people. And everyone speaks good English — after all, it's a former English colony.

Thailand - Great!

The term of my Sri Lankan visa was coming to an end, and I decided to go to Thailand. And the difference was very strongly felt; the infrastructure is much more developed, the country has money.

I didn't want to go to Phuket or Pattaya because they have too much of a tourist vibe — it's hard to put up with all those drunk companies. And a friend recommended northern Thailand — the city of Chiang Mai, which I had never heard of before. It's a former capital, the second-largest city in Thailand. And it impressed me very pleasantly.

It even reminded me of Minsk in some ways: no one honks, everyone is polite, smiling. People's English can be so-so, but the atmosphere is very calm, no one bothers anyone.

In Thailand, there's a good selection of beer, marijuana was recently legalized, so there are stalls selling it everywhere. And the expat crowd there is completely different. You come to a coworking space, and they immediately tell you: "Oh, you're a mobile developer? I'm a mobile developer too. We have our own community here."

There I started looking for a new job. And I found one! Also remotely, though it turned out that the easiest option for me now was to return to Georgia. In Thailand, you can open an individual entrepreneurship (IE) and receive money as a digital nomad, but there was no time to sort that out.

I wouldn't have had time to get a visa for Poland or Portugal, so I returned to my previous life in Tbilisi. But when I decided to go back to Georgia, a "special operation" began in Iran. Flights through Dubai and Doha became risky. So I bought tickets through China, visited Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

And the latter — pure delight! I thought it would be hard to surprise me anymore. But it turned out it was possible. So many contrasts, a kind of London City (business district), next to which is a "Bangladesh" with substances and prostitutes. Hard to describe, you have to see it.

How is it in Georgia?

Georgia is currently the calmest location for me in terms of living. Although they are now significantly changing the rules for expats there. To start working officially, you need to get a permit from the Ministry of Labor and only then apply for a residence permit. For a residence permit, a business plan and an annual turnover of 50,000 lari (around 19,000 dollars) are required. Many non-IT specialists don't have such a turnover.

But at first, I really liked Georgia. It felt like everything had worked out for this country. But then there was a rollback. Many people outside the capital support the authorities, who lean more towards a pro-Russian stance. And people seemed to become angrier. Young people, pro-European in sentiment, are frustrated. There is a strong division in society.

This doesn't directly affect expat life, but it's still felt within the country.

At the same time, service in Georgia is still quite mediocre. Especially in Tbilisi. After Thailand, everyone generally seems quite aggressive: they honk quickly, get irritated, and can be unfriendly.

Almost all my friends and acquaintances have moved to EU countries. And, by the way, they integrate much better than Georgian expats. I learned their wonderfully beautiful alphabet, but it didn't go any further. You can speak Russian with people over 40, while the youth are predominantly English-speaking.

In general, for now, I'll recover financially a bit in Georgia, and then I'll move to the European Union. Thank God, the contract allows me to obtain almost any digital nomad visa. And according to stories from friends in Spain or Poland, they integrate much faster.

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