Because Thiel is famous for his libertarian views. Though having heard him discuss his thoughts on the roles of government and private enterprise in person, I was surprised to find that he's much less ideological than he is commonly portrayed as; he expressed support for a moderate amount of regulation but preferred that it be more personal and accountable than (ie based on the judgment of experienced civil servants) than legalistic and systematized.

I think he has a good point. Japan and Europe have more 'hands on' regulatory regimes and even though regulations are stereotypically more onerous in Europe, it's arguably more results-driven and less of a procedural minefield. Of course the downside of this is that there aren't as many avenues of appeal and if the judgement of a regulatory authority goes against you then you may have to just grin and bear it; that's problematic for startups which don't have a history of successful commercial operations behind them and may find compliance more difficult and expensive.