Thai cities have slightly improved their liveability scores, with Bangkok remaining the most liveable city in Thailand for East Asian expats, according to a survey by ECA International.
The majority of Malaysian and Thai locations saw scores improve and liveability rankings increase. Bangkok was the highest-rated Thai city at 89th in the rankings, while George Town and Kuala Lumpur rose to 97th and 98th.
"Both Thailand and Malaysia continue to develop and improve their infrastructure, resulting in steady improvements in their liveability scores over recent years," said Lee Quane, regional director for Asia at ECA International, a global employment information service. "In particular, advances in road and transport infrastructure have improved access to areas in these countries that were once considered far more remote."
Singapore retained the top spot as the best city for expats in Asia, while Hong Kong dropped 12 places to 41st.
"Unsurprisingly for many, Singapore once again remains the most liveable location in the world for expats relocating from elsewhere in East Asia," Mr Quane said. "Several factors make Singapore the ideal location, such as access to great facilities, low crime rates, good quality healthcare and education, as well as a large expat population already living in Singapore."
Although many cities in Asia offer similar benefits to overseas workers, Singapore remains the top location and looks set to remain so for a good while.
Hong Kong lost its placing after sustaining US$1 billion in damage from typhoon Mangkhut last September.
The only other Asian location to experience a drop in liveability ranking as significant as Hong Kong's was Colombo. Sri Lanka's largest city fell 12 places to 194th overall.
"In recent months, there has been considerable political instability in Sri Lanka, owing to a constitutional crisis over the prime minister's position," Mr Quane said. "This led to a significant amount of violent unrest, in addition to unrelated ethnic violence earlier in 2018. However, the situation has cooled slightly and its ranking may improve."
