Van Dijk, who scored 50 goals in 105 games during five A-League seasons, plays his football in Thailand for Premier League club Suphanburi.
Van Dijk says he is enjoying his football although he admits he would like to be scoring more goals for his side that is challenging for the championship.
"Thai football is growing. The set-up of the league is the most professional in south-east Asia," Van Dijk said.
"The message I would give to Aussie players is that Thailand would be a good choice as a career path because they would get a different experience and still have a good standard of living."
Van Dijk, who hails from the Netherlands but is a naturalised Indonesian, has nothing but praise for the way the game in Thailand is being run after years of neglect and mismanagement.
"There are clubs with great facilities and backed by wealthy investors," he explained.
"You can see that at international level ... Thailand is starting to compete very well.
"Take, for example, Burinam United who narrowly missed out on a spot in the last 16 of the AFC Champions League."
Van Dijk also spoke highly of the national team that has won the first two matches in its 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.
"In December, Thailand won the AFF (Asean Football Federation) Cup and this month they won the South-East Asian Games so it is fair to say that they are the strongest country in south-east Asia," he said.
Van Dijk said a problem with Thai footballers generally is that they need to have a better temperament to go with their individual skills.
"If they had a stronger mindset like the Aussies have, their game would develop faster," he explained.
Van Dijk was on the score sheet at the weekend when Suphanburi took on Bangkok United at home.
It was a game Suphanburi needed to win with three away matches coming up but it could only manage a 1-1 draw.
"The outcome of the match was disappointing because we wanted to stay as close as possible to leaders Burinam," he said.
"The only good thing about the match was that I scored."
