<svg width="110" height="18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g clip-path="url(#a)" fill="#000"><path d="M79.42 9.335c0-.484.523-.672 1.085-.672.908 0 1.769.282 1.769.282V7.628c-.59-.174-1.193-.241-1.89-.241-1.528 0-2.6.725-2.6 1.908 0 2.299 3.162 1.708 3.162 2.823 0 .551-.495.7-1.218.7-.51 0-1.327-.2-1.916-.406v1.304c.49.195 1.18.378 1.862.378 1.487 0 2.907-.444 2.907-2.043 0-2.218-3.162-1.64-3.162-2.715l.001-.001Zm8.337 1.345c0-1.491.817-2.003 1.783-2.003.643 0 1.32.19 1.774.364V7.696c-.536-.174-1.01-.31-1.802-.31-2.104 0-3.404 1.291-3.404 3.375 0 1.975.938 3.333 3.31 3.333.75 0 1.333-.148 1.976-.364v-1.317c-.723.282-1.279.39-1.775.39-1.044 0-1.862-.484-1.862-2.124v.001ZM42.273 8.596h-.054V7.548h-1.474v6.384h1.581v-3.804c.496-.94 1.099-1.25 2.105-1.25h.16V7.494s-.227-.027-.428-.027c-.858 0-1.448.336-1.89 1.13Zm19.837 0h-.053V7.548h-1.474v6.384h1.58v-3.804c.497-.94 1.1-1.25 2.105-1.25h.16V7.494s-.227-.027-.428-.027c-.857 0-1.447.336-1.889 1.13Zm45.76-1.21c-.682 0-1.46.377-2.171.848l-.187.12c-.335-.712-1.005-.967-1.742-.967-.683 0-1.461.35-2.171.82v-.66h-1.501v6.385h1.594V9.35c.59-.39 1.219-.632 1.676-.632.523 0 .844.282.844 1.183v4.032h1.581v-4.57c.59-.39 1.219-.645 1.676-.645.523 0 .845.282.845 1.183v4.032h1.581V9.524c0-1.237-.738-2.137-2.024-2.137h-.001Zm-12.262 5.431c-1.032 0-1.58-.671-1.58-2.07 0-1.398.548-2.07 1.58-2.07s1.568.673 1.568 2.07c0 1.398-.536 2.07-1.568 2.07Zm0-5.43c-2.184 0-3.216 1.411-3.216 3.36 0 1.95 1.032 3.347 3.216 3.347s3.216-1.399 3.216-3.347-1.045-3.36-3.216-3.36ZM73.664 9.336c0-.484.523-.672 1.086-.672.907 0 1.768.282 1.768.282V7.63c-.59-.174-1.193-.241-1.889-.241-1.527 0-2.6.725-2.6 1.908 0 2.299 3.163 1.708 3.163 2.823 0 .551-.496.7-1.22.7-.508 0-1.325-.2-1.915-.406v1.304c.491.195 1.178.378 1.862.378 1.487 0 2.908-.444 2.908-2.043 0-2.218-3.163-1.64-3.163-2.715v-.001Zm-6.86.7c.094-.887.576-1.452 1.366-1.452.845 0 1.099.673 1.099 1.452h-2.466Zm1.38-2.648c-2.037 0-3.096 1.586-3.096 3.32 0 2.38 1.245 3.387 3.267 3.387.817 0 1.523-.109 2.347-.363v-1.32c-.664.244-1.263.391-1.905.391-1.178 0-1.967-.323-2.008-1.72h4.074c.027-.256.054-.497.054-.94 0-1.345-.71-2.756-2.734-2.756ZM56.3 9.483h-1.254V6.257H56.3c1.019 0 1.527.564 1.527 1.573s-.469 1.653-1.527 1.653Zm-.013-4.556h-2.928v9.004h1.688V10.8h1.24c1.916 0 3.31-1.035 3.31-2.97 0-1.935-1.394-2.903-3.31-2.903ZM49.82 12.09c-.51.47-.992.725-1.5.725-.871 0-1.435-.578-1.435-1.935 0-1.465.697-2.231 1.903-2.231.375 0 .764.094 1.032.202v3.239Zm0-4.557c-.47-.094-.805-.149-1.193-.149-2.184 0-3.377 1.466-3.377 3.603 0 2.137 1.193 3.105 2.6 3.105.697 0 1.54-.323 2.05-.753v.591h1.5V4.926h-1.58v2.608Zm-13.565 5.282c-1.031 0-1.58-.671-1.58-2.07 0-1.398.549-2.07 1.58-2.07 1.032 0 1.569.673 1.569 2.07 0 1.397-.537 2.07-1.569 2.07Zm0-5.43c-2.184 0-3.216 1.41-3.216 3.36s1.032 3.347 3.216 3.347c2.185 0 3.216-1.399 3.216-3.347s-1.044-3.36-3.215-3.36Zm47.372 6.545h1.587v-1.64h-1.587v1.64ZM31.608 4.926 29.82 11.82 28.03 4.926h-1.805l.42 1.477-1.575 5.65-1.712-7.128H21.62l2.441 9.005h1.892l1.462-4.815 1.37 4.815h1.892l2.563-9.005h-1.634.001ZM8.973 0C4.025 0 0 4.037 0 9s4.025 9 8.973 9 8.973-4.038 8.973-9-4.026-9-8.973-9ZM.906 9c0-1.173.25-2.287.698-3.293l3.849 10.575A8.095 8.095 0 0 1 .906 9Zm8.067 8.092a8.052 8.052 0 0 1-2.28-.329l2.42-7.055 2.48 6.814c.017.04.037.076.059.112a8.02 8.02 0 0 1-2.68.458Zm1.111-11.885a16 16 0 0 0 .924-.077c.435-.052.383-.693-.051-.667 0 0-1.307.103-2.15.103-.793 0-2.126-.103-2.126-.103-.435-.026-.485.64-.051.667 0 0 .411.052.846.077L8.733 8.66l-1.766 5.311L4.03 5.206c.486-.026.924-.077.924-.077.434-.052.383-.693-.052-.667 0 0-1.306.103-2.15.103-.151 0-.33-.004-.519-.01A8.049 8.049 0 0 1 14.42 3.033c-.035-.003-.069-.007-.105-.007-.792 0-1.355.693-1.355 1.436 0 .667.384 1.231.792 1.897.307.54.666 1.232.666 2.232 0 .692-.266 1.496-.614 2.615l-.806 2.697-2.915-8.698.002.002Zm5.967-.088a8.077 8.077 0 0 1 .989 3.882 8.09 8.09 0 0 1-4.012 6.994l2.464-7.146c.461-1.155.614-2.078.614-2.9 0-.297-.02-.573-.055-.831v.001Z"/></g><defs><clipPath id="a"><path fill="#fff" d="M0 0h109.895v18H0z"/></clipPath></defs></svg>{"id":21053,"date":"2022-06-08T17:02:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/crypto-gaming\/working-in-paradise-part-1-cointelegraph-magazine\/"},"modified":"2022-06-08T17:02:08","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T21:02:08","slug":"working-in-paradise-part-1-cointelegraph-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053","title":{"rendered":"Working in paradise, Part 1 \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Walking into Remote and Digital\u2019s La Casa co-working space on the tropical island of Koh Pha-ngan, you wonder how anybody gets any work done. I sip a cocktail and wait for my burrito as James Brown plays in the background.<br \/><\/strong><br \/>There\u2019s a real palm tree growing at the edge of the cafe, and behind it sits shallow crystal blue water stretching off for miles, with Koh Samui\u2019s jungle-covered mountains jutting up in the distance. Adding to the ambiance, kite surfers are getting massive air off small waves, before gently floating back to earth.<\/p>\n<p>30-year-old Belgian blockchain developer J\u00e9r\u00f4me Van Vlierbergen is one of the regulars at this Ban Tai co-working space and runs his Equinox Launchpad here. He explains Koh Pha-ngan (or Koh Phangan) has a thriving crypto scene, mostly populated by digital nomads like himself.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cThere are a bunch of people here that own crypto or they\u2019re doing something with crypto \u2014 because when you have money, you like to be somewhere where it\u2019s a nice place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ironically, of course, you need very little money to live here. You can rent a desk at La Casa for less than $3 a day, rent a scooter to get around for under $4 a day, and rent a whole house for $500 a month. With beautiful food, postcard-style views and half a dozen other coworking spaces with gigabit internet, it\u2019s no wonder Koh Pha-ngan has become something of a mecca for crypto digital nomads.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12185\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12185\" style=\"width: 601px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12185\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Working in paradise\" width=\"601\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-750x422.jpg 750w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise-1140x641.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12185\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>It\u2019s remarkably easy to join the crypto community in Thailand.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s this crypto island vibe \u2014 you can find a lot of workshops, a lot of people that work with crypto, and most of them are in the market,\u201d says Van Vlierbergen. Crypto social media groups based on the island suggest hundreds of residents are deep into the scene.<\/p>\n<h4>Crypto island<\/h4>\n<p>Known for its legendary Full Moon Party, Koh Pha-ngan\u2019s 12,000-strong population doubles or triples at times with American, European and Russian backpackers drawn by the endless parties, yoga scene and general chilled out vibe. It\u2019s probably one of the last bohemian island hideouts left in Asia, with package tourists seemingly unwilling to take the ferry ride over from neighboring Koh Samui.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no airport here,\u201d says Edwin de Lepper, who runs the crypto-friendly Buddha Cafe. \u201cSo, it is a journey to get here with the boat, which makes it kind of exciting\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12176\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12176\" style=\"width: 385px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12176\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/remote-1.jpg\" alt=\"Jerome Van Vlierbergen\" width=\"385\" height=\"513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/remote-1.jpg 605w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/remote-1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12176\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Belgian blockchain developer J\u00e9r\u00f4me Van Vlierbergen at the office.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since the end of the pandemic, he\u2019s noticed an uptick in crypto digital nomads mostly concentrated around the co-working spaces of Tropicana, Sunset Hill Resort, Signature Restaurant and High Life Resort.<\/p>\n<p>De Lepper explains recent visitors include big influencers such as MMCrypto (948,000 Twitter followers) and James Crypto Guru (74,000 YouTube subscribers).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a tremendous amount of people that come here, and they talk to me and they say, \u2018Oh, yeah, I\u2019m building a new DEX, or I\u2019m building a new crypto project,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would say there are crypto whales here. The people that are here that I might suspect that they have a lot of money, they don\u2019t talk about it. You don\u2019t want to scream it from the rooftops I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Koh Pha-ngan isn\u2019t the only place in the region attracting crypto digital nomads, with a growing scene in the Thai island of Phuket, another in Chiang Mai in the north of the country, as well as other locales in Southeast Asia, including Bali.<\/p>\n<p>Guy Allison, founder of Blockchain Careers, says that many in the crypto scene flit between Koh Pha-ngan and Chiang Mai.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people do six months in Koh Pha-ngan and six months in Chiang Mai because the weather can get quite rainy here in October\u2013November, then they go back to Chiang Mai. And then they come back here in February March for the smoky season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when farmers burn their fields and biowaste during the dry season to prepare the land for the next year\u2019s crops, which helps create a thick fog of air pollution around Chiang Mai for months.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12177\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12177\" style=\"width: 609px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12177\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Edwin-De-Lepper.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin De Lepper\" width=\"609\" height=\"457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Edwin-De-Lepper.jpg 600w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Edwin-De-Lepper-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 609px) 100vw, 609px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12177\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Buddha Cafe owner Edwin de Lepper<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Work from home, but move home<\/h4>\n<p>Paid Network and Master Ventures founder Kyle Chasse called the island home for some time, though he can now be found in the more upscale villas of Phuket. He says people realized during the pandemic that if you could do your job from home, you could pretty much work from anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHello, you\u2019re working from your house, you have the freedom,\u201d he says, pointing out that Thailand is also super cheap compared to the United States.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cYou have amazing infrastructure; your cost of living is gonna go down \u2014 your transportation, your food, your utilities, your cell phone \u2014 everything\u2019s cheaper.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Chasse moved to Koh Pha-ngan in 2018 after hearing of a budding Bitcoin community on the island. \u201cI went and checked it out and fell in love with it,\u201d he says, adding it\u2019s so safe due to the influence of Buddhism that there have been numerous times he\u2019s left his phone or wallet behind only to have someone return it to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the things I love the most is the people. And of course, it\u2019s truly like paradise,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12178\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12178\" style=\"width: 597px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12178\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/thailand-full-moon-party-2020.jpeg\" alt=\"Full Moon Party\" width=\"597\" height=\"398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/thailand-full-moon-party-2020.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/thailand-full-moon-party-2020-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 597px) 100vw, 597px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12178\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Koh Phan-ngan\u2019s legendary Full Moon Party. Source: fullmoonparty-thailand.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The safety of Thailand was a big plus for Vlierbergen, who started off his digital nomad days traveling through the decidedly less friendly Central America and Mexico four years ago while working as a web designer. Having taught himself Solidity, he then graduated to the much better-paid blockchain industry. Good pay thanks to the deficit of qualified devs and a decentralized workforce make crypto the perfect industry for travelers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When the pandemic struck in March 2020, he was already in Asia and headed to Koh Pha-ngan to ride out the storm. But despite enthusing about island life, he admits there\u2019s a darker side that social media influencers don\u2019t want to show.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of the time, it is fake. They want to show the best side of it,\u201d he says about digital nomad influencers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t really want to party anymore or take drugs or drink alcohol, you know? And when you travel mostly what they want to do is to get fucked up. So, I think one of the many negative sides of it it\u2019s how you can feel like, sometimes lonely and hard to connect with people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4>Three days later<\/h4>\n<p>If you do enjoy partying of course, then being on a tropical island surrounded by beautiful people with a new party to go to every day means it\u2019s not always easy to find the motivation to get any work done.<\/p>\n<p>Allison laughs about that one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s quite a party place. It\u2019s difficult to concentrate solely just on work. And I might see someone in the street on a bike who was going to a party, and next thing you know, three days have passed. So, that\u2019s the issue,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Allison explains there are three \u201cscenes\u201d in Koh Pha-ngan: the party scene (drugs), the bar scene in Thong Sala (booze) and the yoga scene (spirituality). Yoga retreats are a big appeal for some \u2014 the sorts of places people go on juice cleansing diets for two weeks. In a sad coincidence while I\u2019m on the island, Australian cricketing legend Shane Warne dies of a heart attack after a two-week juice diet fast a few kilometers away on neighboring Koh Samui.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of them [the different scenes] seem to be quite focused on, you know, not doing that much work,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12183\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12183\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12183\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/views.jpg\" alt=\"Thong Sala\" width=\"594\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/views.jpg 806w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/views-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/views-770x578.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/views-750x563.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12183\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>It\u2019s hard to take a bad picture on Koh Pha-ngan.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Van Vlierbergen watched one of his digital nomad friends have a complete breakdown after partying too hard for too long.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was partying, doing a lot of drugs hardcore and microdosing as well [at work during the day] and then he had this, how you call it when your brain just switches off\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cSo, this guy went crazy. We had to help him, had to get him to go to a hospital before he got deported back to the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4>How practical is it?<\/h4>\n<p>Living and working in Thailand requires a visa, of course, and there are a variety of options \u2014 from hard-to-get special tourist visas that allow you to stay nine months a year through to elite visas that cost 600,000 Thai baht ($17,300) but enable you to stay for five years.<\/p>\n<p>You can also get an education visa as long as you spend a few days a week learning Muay Thai kickboxing or studying the language. Most new digital nomads simply get a 30-day tourist visa, extend it for another 30, then take a quick weekend trip to a neighboring country to start the process all over again. Technically, you\u2019re not supposed to actually work on any of these visas, but as long as you\u2019re not taking work away from locals, the government reportedly doesn\u2019t seem too fussed.<\/p>\n<p>The holy grail though is the forthcoming digital nomad visa costing just 10,000 baht ($290), which the Thai government has announced\u2026 but hasn\u2019t yet been implemented.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12179\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12179\" style=\"width: 604px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12179\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12065768_10153713161873055_198481854171906357_n.jpg\" alt=\"Sean Stella\" width=\"604\" height=\"340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12065768_10153713161873055_198481854171906357_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12065768_10153713161873055_198481854171906357_n-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12065768_10153713161873055_198481854171906357_n-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/12065768_10153713161873055_198481854171906357_n-750x422.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12179\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Hardforking founder Sean Stella, left. Source: Facebook<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Blockchain media company HardForking founder Sean Stella says it\u2019s been on the cards for a while.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings don\u2019t typically happen quickly in Thailand,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut every country is wrestling with how to attract people to their countries and make it easy, so I would hope a digital nomad visa to visit Thailand becomes a reality in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stella has been a digital nomad since long before the term even existed. \u201cIt\u2019s a lifestyle choice,\u201d he says. \u201cFor me, I\u2019ve been doing it for 20 years. I can\u2019t envisage any other way of living.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrypto is an enabler. The phenomenon of being a digital nomad has been around before crypto. But crypto is facilitating the ability for anybody to make a lifestyle choice to go and live wherever the hell they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Koh Pha-ngan\u2019s crypto scene in 2016<\/h4>\n<p>Originally from New Zealand, Stella moved to Asia in 2005 and has spent most of his time between Singapore and Thailand, with Koh Pha-ngan a favorite locale over the past seven years. He fell in love with the place at the same time he discovered crypto in 2016 while filming a documentary called <em>Living the Dream<\/em> about expats who had moved to paradise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe middle of that process, crypto crossed my path and slapped me in the face. I went, \u2018Holy shit, this is amazing.\u2019\u201d He fell deep down the rabbit hole, socializing with a group of crypto fans every Monday at a bar with mining rigs in the toilets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019d go in there and take a pee standing next to a Bitcoin mining rig,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cFast forward a couple of months. Here\u2019s me paying my bar bills in Bitcoin. We created a little economy amongst ourselves. So, I literally went from using Thai baht to everything I did, to paying for hotels, paying my bar tabs, paying for a meal within this little ecosystem on Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Samui, I just operated in crypto.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>That ecosystem has mostly disappeared, however, says de Lepper, who bemoans the fact Koh Pha-ngan doesn\u2019t live up to its \u201cCrypto Island\u201d reputation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean, Crypto Island? That means that everybody can go here to the shops and pay in Bitcoin or Dash or whatever it may be. But we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d De Lepper does his best by providing free education for business owners on how to accept crypto and which coins to accept.<\/p>\n<p>Stella estimates there were around 50\u201360 crypto fans on the island in 2016 when he arrived, and numbers took off in 2017. But Paid Network\u2019s Chasse says that when he arrived in 2018, interest had tailed off due to the effects of crypto winter.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bitcoin Documentary - Part one\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KwDwHOw3hOg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Numbers picked up once again in 2019 with the arrival of large numbers of Russian crypto hippies. \u201cThere was a lot of idealism, people that understood that the financial infrastructure that we blindly followed was broken,\u201d says Stella.<\/p>\n<p>Chasse helped revitalize the local scene when he took over the Utopia resort to create his Cryptopia crypto community, which later rebranded as House of DAO (more about that in part two).<\/p>\n<p>Stella lived at Utopia resort for months and filmed a short documentary (above) about the experience featuring his good friend Didi from the Bitcoin family, and guest stars the on-chain analyst Willy Woo and Bitcoin influencer and occasional insurrectionist Tone Vays.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stella created his media brand HardForking to help educate people about crypto. It\u2019s now incorporated in Panama and has set up what Stella calls a \u201clegal DAO,\u201d where participants create content and are rewarded in both stablecoins and with equity tokens in the DAO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEffectively, I want 1,000s of content creators who are digital nomads living all over the planet to create content for HardForking. And they are rewarded for their efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur intention is to build the first legal Dao in crypto media, or media in general.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Heart of the community<\/h4>\n<p>The beating heart of the crypto community on Koh Pha-ngan these days is de Lepper, who runs the Buddha Cafe in Haad Salad. Originally from the Netherlands, de Lepper moved to the island three years ago and later rented the former cafe as a place to live.<\/p>\n<p>But when people kept turning <span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 15px;\">up asking for coffee, he reopened it and started running weekly talks called \u201cLiving Library\u201d on interesting topics. Researching one of these about crypto, he became obsessed, and the weekly talks became \u201cCrypto Cafe\u201d each Wednesday morning with regular guests from various projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12180\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12180\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12180\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Edwin-2.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin\" width=\"350\" height=\"263\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Edwin-2.jpg 600w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Edwin-2-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12180\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">De Lepper has made it his mission to help educate residents and visitors to the island about crypto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s a bank of computers in an alcove at the back for learning how to trade, stake or set up wallets, and he\u2019s running \u201cCryptocation\u201d sessions to teach tourists about the space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis island is special because it does have a different energy,\u201d he explains. \u201cI feel at home and feel free here. And it\u2019s a beautiful community that is big enough that you don\u2019t see each other every day, but you see each other every week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>De Lepper says crypto offers everyone the chance to go live in paradise.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cIf you know those opportunities, and you start collecting the right projects, the right tokens, over time, you can build up enough money that you can live off the interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He estimates there are about 300\u2013400 people on the island who work in crypto in some fashion.<\/p>\n<p>One of those is Allison, who runs his Blockchain Careers business from co-working spaces or his home office. We meet for a Korean meal and beers at an open-air restaurant in Thong Sala. He explains that he\u2019s been in Thailand since 2011, starting in hospitality recruitment in Bangkok and then moving to Koh Pha-ngan just as COVID-19 struck. On an education visa, he learns the Thai language three days a week, online between work. \u201cI probably need to do it every day, but I\u2019m sort of getting nearly there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He fell into crypto recruitment after discussing plans with Chasse that didn\u2019t eventuate but led to a gig sourcing talent for Hathor Network. His main client now is Parity Technologies, which developed the Parity Ethereum client, Substrate and Polkadot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of my clients are actually in Europe, a few in South America. I\u2019ve got one in America that I\u2019m speaking to now. But over time, I want to try and get 60% or 70% of the business in Asia because I\u2019m sick of working nights!\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Crypto to go mainstream<\/h4>\n<p>Allison says Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and now Thailand are becoming hotspots for crypto in the region, citing the Stock Exchange of Thailand\u2019s development of a new digital asset exchange and Siam Commercial Bank\u2019s takeover of the Bitkub crypto exchange in November last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s a sign that crypto will go mainstream in Thailand. It\u2019s the first traditional bank in the world to buy outright a crypto exchange. And they\u2019ve actually come out and said there\u2019s gonna be no tax on crypto profits in Thailand, which is a good thing. They seem to want to adopt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12181\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12181\" style=\"width: 608px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12181\" src=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Allison.jpg\" alt=\"Guy Allison\" width=\"608\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Allison.jpg 806w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Allison-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Allison-770x434.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Allison-750x422.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12181\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Guy Allison at a Korean restaurant in Thong Sala. Despite the baffling heat, few restaurants have AC.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But personally, Allison\u2019s time in Koh Pha-ngan is coming to an end. When we spoke, he had just got back from a trip scoping out Chiang Mai as his new home.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been doing it for two years, and I feel like I\u2019ve hit a wall creatively,\u201d he says. \u201cA lot of people are quite extreme here. They\u2019re either escaping addiction or they are addicts themselves. And there doesn\u2019t seem much in between. So, it\u2019s difficult, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cMaybe I just need somewhere a bit more normal. It is nice here, but a lot of people are very transient, so you\u2019ll make a good friend, and they\u2019ll be gone next week. Whereas Chiang Mai and Phuket a lot of people do live there, and it\u2019s stable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In Chiang Mai, he was particularly impressed with the Yellow co-working space, which also offers a business incubator and VC funding. He says that\u2019s the sort of infrastructure Koh Pha-ngan is lacking right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a startup as well, and they said they can help with potential loans in the future. So, for me anyhow, it seemed more serious for work. So, I will try it out probably for six months and see how it goes. And then I can always come back here if I don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2022\/06\/08\/thailands-crypto-islands-working-paradise-part-1\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Walking into Remote and Digital\u2019s La Casa co-working space on the tropical island of Koh Pha-ngan, you wonder how anybody gets any work done. I sip a cocktail and wait for my burrito as James Brown plays in the background.There\u2019s a real palm tree growing at the edge of the cafe, and behind it sits [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto-gaming"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Working in paradise, Part 1 \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine - Gaming News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Working in paradise, Part 1 \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine - Gaming News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Walking into Remote and Digital\u2019s La Casa co-working space on the tropical island of Koh Pha-ngan, you wonder how anybody gets any work done. 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I sip a cocktail and wait for my burrito as James Brown plays in the background.There\u2019s a real palm tree growing at the edge of the cafe, and behind it sits [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053","og_site_name":"Gaming News","article_published_time":"2022-06-08T21:02:08+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"pley2win","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"pley2win","Est. reading time":"15 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053"},"author":{"name":"pley2win","@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abf11620d7b4805f5f298fb9c0a56d0d"},"headline":"Working in paradise, Part 1 \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine","datePublished":"2022-06-08T21:02:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053"},"wordCount":3012,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/#\/schema\/person\/abf11620d7b4805f5f298fb9c0a56d0d"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/magazine-Working-in-paradise.jpg","articleSection":["Crypto Gaming"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053","url":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=21053","name":"Working in paradise, Part 1 \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine - 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