I guess the affordability aspect has already been covered. And that's a big issue. I've lived in both places. Both places can be a blast so long as you can extract $$$ from the ATM anytime you need it. In today's economy, I wouldn't want to live in NYC without a disposable income of at least $20K a month. To have the same amount of fun in Pattaya, you'd hardly need even a fraction of that amount. Otherwise, there's the weather factor. Some people just don't like winter, and while winter in NYC usually isn't so brutal, it's bad enough. Of course, the taxes for anyone living in NYC can be very high. Federal tax, state tax, city tax, property tax, sales tax....
