UAE vs Bali vs Thailand: where should an online business be based?
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Watch Alan explain it · 1:26
Read the video transcript
So, why the UAE over other low-tax jurisdictions? I think one of the large reasons for me was that it isn't all about tax, and neither is the UAE. I do look at other territories, I look at other jurisdictions, and they can offer low tax as well. But what I don't see them offering is the huge amount of infrastructure that the UAE is putting in place to support businesses that do want to move. Taxes, of course, a factor, but there's other areas to business, like the infrastructure, like the people that are bringing the skills that are here, the people that are moving here. The business environment is incredibly positive. It's all about growth. The opportunities are here to be found. Doors are open. There's an expression that I've used quite a few times today when talking to people. So it's a growth market in a low-tax jurisdiction, and the doors are wide open to bring your business here to grow, to expand. So if you'd like to learn more about relocating to, yes, a low-tax zone, but also a place to grow, contact us below.
This comparison gets framed as a contest, but it’s really a category error. Bali and Thailand answer “where do I want to live and work?” The UAE answers “where should the business be based?” Those aren’t the same question, and the smartest location-independent founders answer both.
What Bali and Thailand are great at
They’re wonderful places to be: lifestyle, climate, cost of living, community, and a relaxed pace that suits creative and remote work. For many nomads, that’s exactly the point, and it’s a genuine draw.
What they typically aren’t is a formal base for the business. The common setup is a tourist or short-stay visa, income flowing through home-country or personal accounts, and no local company or residency tied to the work. That’s fine early on, but it gets shakier as the income grows.
Where the informal model strains
| As you grow… | The informal-base problem |
|---|---|
| Banking & payments | Processors and banks get cautious without a real company behind the income |
| Credibility | Brands and clients increasingly expect a proper entity to contract with |
| Tax certainty | No settled tax home means an unclear, sometimes risky, position |
| Residency | Tourist visas aren’t a status; they run out and reset |
What the UAE adds
The UAE is increasingly chosen as the business base for exactly these reasons:
- A real company and licence to contract and invoice through.
- Business banking and payment infrastructure built for it.
- Residency, a residence visa and Emirates ID, so you’re formally based somewhere serious.
- 0% personal income tax within the UAE, and a competitive corporate regime.
- Stability and reputation, a recognised jurisdiction, not a workaround.
The model that actually wins: do both
You don’t have to pick. The pattern we see most often is: base the business in the UAE, live and travel wherever you like, including Bali or Thailand. The company gets a credible, stable home; you keep the lifestyle.
Two honest caveats, as ever: a standard UAE residence visa needs periodic presence to stay valid (the Golden Visa is more flexible), and where you personally pay tax depends on where you actually spend your time under each country’s rules, not just where the company sits. Those are planning questions, not dealbreakers.
So the real answer to “UAE vs Bali vs Thailand?” is usually “UAE and wherever you want to live.” One is the base; the other is the life.