simon43

Swissie, thanks for your concern. My last medical tests were only 2 years ago, performed in the UK. Nothing untoward found ha ha!! Happily, my symptoms have not got any worse in the past 20 years, (meaning that 20 years ago I was also reduced to explosive coughing and litres of phlegm). I've learned to live with it. Being penniless in old age is a choice for me (I could spend my earnings only on myself, but I think that's a waste of the money). The only sad part is the attitude of my close family (ex-wives and UK kids), but that's life. It's 5am and I had a terrible night of coughing, but I'll go for a long walk along Jomtien Beach when it gets light - that should help to clear my lungs 🙂

When I'm not in Myanmar or Laos, I stay in Thailand on a 'retirement' visa. Always used an agent for yonks, no issues 🙂 I don't have 800k because I spend it on my charity work. But if there were no visa agent option, then I would keep this money available. The bottom line with my income is that I can't take it with me when I die, and I certainly don't want to leave a single penny to my ungrateful relatives. So I spend it on more deserving causes 🙂 As for my lungs, I acquired this problem 25 years ago after working in a damp, unheated office in London in winter - an office that had been empty for yonks. This medical problem led to many cases of pneumonia, chronic bronchitis etc, including hospital stay in both the UK and Thailand. The diagnosis of UK and Thai doctors? All who have taken sputum tests, x-rays, lung capacity etc say that there in nothing wrong with my lungs... (thanks guys). So I've soldiered on. I guess it is some sort of throat irritation. I got back from Laos about 24 hours ago, after cutting short my trip because of acute bronchitis. Tonight and last night I have to lie on my bed on my front, with my head hanging over the end of the bed to let the phlegm drain more easily out of my lungs.... yep - nothing wrong with them at all 🙂 I've got a humidifier, so my room is like a sauna, but it helps 🙂 I had to abandon my online lesson tonight mid-lesson after I couldn't stop coughing lol. Really, it's more frustrating than a major medical issue, because it stops me returning to Myanmar/Laos to help with much-needed education.

I was fast-tracked because of suspected cancer. Happily, no cancer was found!

See my comment to the other person (like you) of limited IQ....

Duh!! But I'm not using that money to live on am I? I live on less than 40k baht per month. Whether I have additional income is irrelevant if I don't actually use that income to live on....

Nope, I currently have 8,000 baht + 87,000 baht each month to live on (I teach science online). But I find that I easily live an enjoyable and healthy life with just that 8k. How much does it cost to buy fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh chicken etc? Next to nothing. I rarely buy beer, don't smoke or waste money on women. Zero stress that way 🙂

Lol, I'm on the 15th floor of a newish condo, 300 metres from Jomtien Beach, 7k baht/month. My Vios costs 8k/month, the air-con house I'll be renting on Koh Phangan is 11k/month (expensive!), my $400k medical is less than 6k/month. When renting property in Thailand, it helps to speak Thai and rent directly from Thais 🙂

My (reduced-29 years) UK state pension starts in 6 weeks from now 🙂 About 40,000 baht/month. On that sum I am able to rent a decent car, a condo by Jomtien Beach, another house (maybe on Koh Phangan - Chiang Mai was too smoky for me), and a $400k medical insurance cover, and still have money left over for food, drink and so on. Seems to be that some people aren't able to budget....

I waited just 7 days.....

"There is no reciprocal agreement with the UK. If there was, he could get his adjustment. It takes 2 to make an agreement and Thailand did not agree. " That statement is incorrect. I will have to dig out my previous research on this matter, but many years ago (I think it was in the 1990's), the government of Thailand formally requested a social security agreement with the UK, similar to that between the UK and The Philippines. The data that I researched stated that the UK government never made any response to the request from Thailand...

So..... no fine or arrest for driving a car when p*ssed as a fart...

I recall my first Thai GF was from Songkhla, and she was also the first MAD Thai GF that I had - started talking loudly to herself as we were driving along. Finally had to physically flee from her in BKK Saladaeng Road, jumped in a taxi with her screaming and running after the car!! Well, welcome to Thailand 🙂 I'm back in Jomtien an hour ago. My throat/bronchitis is easing up.. My comment "What I don't want to do in my retirement is simply do nothing, get fat, drink beer and catch STDs from 'professional' woman." was actually a joke! I rarely drink beer and never socialise with ladies of the night 🙂 I'm not fat either and intend things to stay that way... My studio near the beach is absolutely fine on almost all points except 1. That is concerning my rather eccentric hobby of shortwave amateur radio which necessitates me to have several large erections (of the antenna kind). I can get away with these large erections in rural regions, but the moment I start extending my telescopic antenna tool in urban areas, people start to point and whisper! When I lived on Phangan Island a few years ago, no-one was concerned because I could throw my erection over a palm tree.... Also, there is another (small but important) reason why KP comes up as a good destination. Last time when I lived there, I was the volunteer English and written Thai teacher for the Burmese community school at Chaloklam. Some of these young kids spoke no Burmese but could speak some Thai, (but not write it). Some were vice-versa, and most could manage some simple spoken English. As someone with more than a little experience in teaching primary grades in Myanmar, I could 'run' the class with a mixture of spoken/written Burmese, Thai and English. I know that the school misses my help, so that's a good way to keep busy in the daytime for a few hours.

Hi, thanks for your advice. Sadly, this is not going to happen, due to the air pollution and my pathetic lungs, which are unable to cope with anything but the cleanest air. I am in Luang Prabang right now, offered a job at the international school, but unable to accept the job because I have chronic bronchitis within 2 days of arriving in town. I fly back to Thailand in a few hours from now. The coastal air in Jomtien or south Thailand is fine for me. For me, who really wants to live and teach in Myanmar or Laos, it is hugely frustrating that my lungs let me down, but realistically I can't see the situation improving with age...

His horse has worms.....

No.... www.TeacherSimon.org I prefer to use my spare money to help others. I never consider living the good life with my spare money. I have spent a fortune on school books over the years!

Lol! Here's an extract from the school's recent email to me: "... We do appreciate your efforts and you're one of the best science teachers of ***. Please let us know your thoughts on returning to Myanmar " Of course, maybe I was the last of their choices 🙂 But it's not going to happen. I have very delicate lungs, (which is why I moved from the UK some 23 years ago - needed a warmer/humid climate). Sadly, the air pollution in Myanmar, Laos and north Thailand is too much for my lungs, even though others are not affected. My condo in Jomtien on the 15th floor near the beach seems to have good clean ocean air, so my lungs are OK there.

I was living on koh Phangan a few years ago, and that place was peaceful and had clean air. I visited a few months ago but rental prices had increased a lot and I couldn't find a place to stay. But I just found a little house in a coconut grove that wasn't available last time I visited. (I know the property already from my previous visit). I'll drive down to KP next week to check it out. Yes, it's still in Thailand, but trying to find clean air, nice beaches, safe region etc in south-east Asia is getting more and more difficult.

That doesn't affect me at all 'cos I have no money.......

Yes, I had my polio vaccine and others... what vaccine are you talking about to protect me from drinking kefir milk made with pasteurised milk?

I make kefir milk every few days - just take my grains in a small jar when I travel and tell the customs guys that it is medicine....

An early memory for me is eating a sugar lump with a drop of polio vaccine on it. At my primary school I remember a boy using crutches with a withered leg. He hadn't had the polio vaccine. When I was maybe 8 years old, I got mumps (no vaccine easily available in those days). My mum put my brothers in with me to try to get them to catch mumps (since it can send you sterile if you get it at an older age). They didn't catch it from me lol!

Right, there is one small problem there - I don't have a spare 200k euro lying about the place... 🙂 I don't need citizenship, I just need a cheap, hot place with clean air...

^^^ As a young boy, I and my family used to take month/2-month long holidays on the island of Corfu (my father was a university lecturer and got long holidays). We would relax on the beach opposite the coast of south Albania, about 9km away. At that time, Albania was hard-core Chinese-style communism, with gun boats patrolling up and down the coast at night. I remember one early morning when a young Albanian man swam under cover of darkness to the village where we were staying. Nowadays, there are more Albanians in the UK, than in Albania! And most crime in the UK is committed by Albanians 🙂 Still, worth consideration as a retirement destination, as is eg Cyprus. The air quality is so terrible right now in Luang Prabang that I have just booked a flight back to Thailand tomorrow! I'm coughing, nose streaming etc. Impossible now to consider this location for retirement 🙂

Those places are still in Thailand! I want to avoid Thailand for a long-term retirement location.

The thing is, I don't do condos 🙂 I have a condo at Jomtien purely as somewhere to store goods etc, but it's not a retirement home. I'm a shortwave radio ham and I need a small detached house with a garden. I'm in Luang Prabang right now, and such properties exist at low prices. But the burning season is a major no-no for me! Sure, I could stay in Jomtien during that time, but I don't want my retirement governed by whether there is smoke in the air. Right now, the smoke in LP is terrible! Because there is this smoke problem every single year in north Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia etc, I'm half-thinking to find somewhere in southern Europe where I can legally live (I'm British so Brexit has made some visa problems for retiring in EU countries). I could stay in south Thailand, but I don't have 800k in the bank and I simply do not trust the Thai government not to change the visa rules...... Basically, I'm looking for a hot country with clean air, with a coast if possible, easy visa requirements for Brits etc, especially for impoverished Brits!