To be honest - that's sort of off the beaten path (speaking for a lot of Americans).

From the SE asian island-ish countries, I can think the ordering of "who goes where" would look something like this - Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Phillippines, Malaysia - just based on country marketing + anecdotal conversations alone.

This is coming from someone who was nomad-ing around for 2 1/2 years too.

My flight from New York to KL cost less than my flight from Orlando to NY.

Most Malaysians also speak English very well, especially compared to the rest of SE Asia.

I have spoken to Americans back home who couldn't even point out Malaysia on a map, and even more who just write it off as a "Muslim country" despite it being secular and very diverse.

I would say it has less to do with accessibility, and more to do with Americans being skittish travelers who have been brainwashed into thinking that any country with a couple Muslims is a scary place.

I didn't say anything about accessibility.

I said it has to do with how the country presents itself. If you polled people going to Asia - you'd see a huge # of them would be going to Thailand or Bali (80/20) - likely due to them being portrayed in the media quite a bit. Indonesia is also significantly Muslim.

You seem to be looking for a fight where there isn't one. Maybe you should reconsider your assumptions about Americans.

I am Mexican American, its not an assumption when you lived in the country for most of your life.

I'm not looking for a fight, I am just genuinely interested in why Americans are an under represented group of travelers in the country where I currently live and work.

So far the majority of the replies that attempted to give a reason included the fact that it is a Muslim country, despite that being as true as America being a Christian country.

  couldn't even point out Malaysia on a map, and even more who just write it off as a "Muslim country" 

I'd be very interested in meeting this population that "couldn't even point out Malaysia on a map" but know that it is majority Muslim.

You can thank the American education system and media for that.

That's weird. I met an unusually high number of US people in Kuala Lumpur.

Mileage may vary I suppose, but I am in KL right now to see my doctor and have been staying at a friend's hostel for the past week in a very touristic area.

I have been socializing quite a bit and have not met a single American the entire week.

I've been rather to the expensive places. Maybe that's where your fellow Americans are hiding?

That seems like a likely explanation, although the island where I dive attracts very affluent tourists and there are effectively no Americans there either.

Were most of the people you met tourists or living in Malaysia?

Tioman?

Bingo, have you been?

I've been. Last time I thought I'd pop in from Singapore I found they'd discontinued the flights there which can't help with US tourists who don't want to schlep about with busses and boats.

They discontinued flights because of the environmental impact it was having on the island.

The big resort on the island (Berjaya) wanted to build a bigger airport a few years ago and the locals flat out said no.

Tioman is entirely owned by the local population and they have the first and last say on what gets developed there.

So far they are doing a great job, Tioman has the only growing reef in Malaysia and is seeing a lot of rare wildlife returning year after year.

The bus from Singapore takes a few hours, and the ferry about the same. We get more than enough tourist who are willing to make the trip.