I think if you can get $10-12K per month in south east Asia then that would be the best lifestyle/income/cost of living balance you can find today. But make sure you know what you are moving to, and more importantly make sure your family know what you are moving to, that part of the world ain't NA ;-) Often very chilled lifestyle outside work but it takes some time and patience getting used to how things are done in that part of the world.
As a side note, just read an article about cost of living for expats in various cities around the world, Dubai came up on 15th place or something just ahead of Abu Dhabi and they haven't seen a proper pay rise in years. I'm sure all the guys working out there can fill you in on the details, just making a general point.
China, as already mentioned, pays top dollar but I would only ever personally go to HK or Shanghai. Problem is, in HK you won't get paid enough for the level of cost of living anymore. Might look ok on paper but when you start asking around about cost of housing, food, schools etc etc it's probably not worth it anymore.