Southeast Asia has changed for the worse

I've lived in various Southeast Asian countries for a cumulative 7 years from 2005-2015, and visited many of them several times a year from 2015-2020. I've recently returned to Asia and it's very clear Southeast Asia is dead as both a viable long term expat location and as a holiday spot. Here's why.<br><br>Thailand: Recently breach of the lèse-majesté law can result in, among other things, life imprisonment for quoting something the monarch said. The monarch is a great source of pride for Thailand, but this is ridiculous. The country has also just banned open carrying of durian fruit and there's been a spate of arrested tourists recently. This is on top of the fact the country is generally just becoming more hostile to tourists. The weekends are filled with anti-Tourist demonstrations in Phuket and the like. The Thai people are actively hostile towards anyone that doesn't speak Thai now, where as before they just didn've speak the language. Its also extremely expensive and become a bit of a police state.<br><br>Cambodia: Cambodians have always been terrible drivers but now the situation is out of control. The number of cars has vastly increased and everyone drives like an absolute lunatic. The country is also extremely corrupt, where as previously you'd only be asked for bribes in certain situations, now you need to pay bribes for everything. The roads outside Phnom Penh are also incredibly rough<br><br>Vietnam: Vietnamese, particularly the youth, have become extremely nationalistic and xenophobic. There have been multiple instances of foreigners being beaten up for speaking out against the government and the country is also experiencing a surge in car ownership and the driving is absolutely insane. There's also a lot of hostility from the Vietnamese towards anyone who doesn't speak Vietnamese and the government have also started cracking down on foreigners speaking out about the government.<br><br>Indonesia: Indonesia has passed a law where sex outside of marriage will result in up to a year in prison. This by itself isn't that bad since its non-enforced but its a step in the wrong direction and shouldPDnt exist in the first place. The traffic has also become insane.<br><br>Malaysia: Malaysia is experiencing the same issues as Indonesia, except instead of cracking down in sex outside of marriage they're cracking down on 'indecency'. The country has also experience a massive surge in road accidents from bad driving and the government have raised the penalties for drink driving.<br><br>Singapore: Singapore has essentially become a low end American state, but with less freedom. The country was previously very safe and well run, but it seems to be inflating into an American-esque shithole. The only difference is instead of the government draining the tax money, its being diverted to the massive corporations. The country has also become extremely expensive.<br><br>So in conclusion, all these countries have moved towards authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, xenophobia and shittier infrastructure. I'm not sure if its the influence of other countries or just a side effect of the global economic downturn, but essentially all these countries have changed for the worse and I'm quite sure its only going to get worse from here.