South-East Asia is definitely cheap. I am from Singapore. Personally, I'm not a digital nomad but I could if I want to as I run a digital business as well.

Even in Singapore, where Crazy Rich Asians was filmed, actually you could easily get a meal for $1.50 if you're not within the central business district. And Singapore is the most expensive city in the whole region.

If I were to be a digital nomad, I would probably be in Thailand long term. Thailand is a great place, the whole country is open to the whole digital nomad thing, and not just restricted to an island like Bali, Indonesia.

I tend to not like being around too many people, so I would really choose somewhere peaceful and quiet, and I would definitely not choose Bali, because it is too over-rated. And there's too many Australians staying on that island now. Some of them can be pretty rowdy and disrespectful to the culture, throw in some alcohol, and you have a mess.

So yeah, Thailand, probably Chiang Mai, Krabi or some other smaller islands in Thailand. But not Phuket.