dclaryjr

Back in the early 90s, I was in the USAF and stationed with a guy who had met a Costa Rican girl in the U.S. on a student visa. They eventually married and he came back from a trip there raving about what a great place it would be to live. About that time, Parade magazine (or a Sunday insert of another name), advertised a video about retiring in Costa Rica. It was only $10 or so and I ordered a copy. I watched the video and it looked great! About a month later, I opened my local paper and saw an article with the headline: "Paradise Lost". It went on to describe how the influx of foreigners had driven up prices on real estate and goods. !

We both made assumptions, at least mine were based on facts you provided

A guys asks a question on a forum populated mainly by expats, on a topic filled with posts about expat golf societies in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and elsewhere, and you assume he doesn't want to associate with Thai's? His reply may have been a little over the top, but the opening shot in this exchange of rudeness was yours.

I'm going to be in the same boat since my plan is to retire at 62 (six years from now). It gets real complicated for me because my wife is 6.5 years older than me so we have to make medicare/tricare decisions too. If I'm apprehensive about anything concerning retirement, this is it!!

Yes, insurance is pretty critical. Medicare doesn't apply in Thailand. Does Tricare?

This gets complicated. Tricare does apply in Thailand. Others here have posted the name and number of a contact in Bangkok for Tricare. But "tricare-for-life" (over 65) requires taking Medicare Part B. So I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. My wife will hit 65 in two years but we won't be moving to Thailand until four years or so later.

Wow that's impressive! Has she always been athletic?

She ran track (sprinter) as a school girl but hadn't done anything like that in a while when we got to the U.S. She noticed she was putting on some weight and started jogging. That was some 30 years ago and she's been at it ever since.

That was just a demo for the camera--she had already done her workout which includes three sets of those push ups (20/15/15), dips (15/15/15) and pull ups (8/8/8). She also leads three to five spinning classes a week, does a couple hours on a stepmill, stretches 40 minutes a day, and runs 7 miles on Sunday. She used to do a lot of free weight stuff (squat, press, rows, etc) but gave that up in favor of the body weight stuff a few years ago.

She's already declared that one of the bedrooms in our house in Thailand will be a mini gym!

My wife grew up in a small village outside of Korat and her "exercise" came in the form of work in the rice fields or other work around the home. We got married in 1975 while I was stationed at a small military installation down the road from Udorn. She's come a long way as this video shows:

I'm going to be in the same boat since my plan is to retire at 62 (six years from now). It gets real complicated for me because my wife is 6.5 years older than me so we have to make medicare/tricare decisions too. If I'm apprehensive about anything concerning retirement, this is it!!

It sure sounds like prices have risen since my 2000 trip. I sure hope I find a suitable home course in the Kao Yhai area when I retire that won't bust my budget!!

May Chivas Irons be with you!!

Most appropriate for a post about Golf in the Kingdom!!

My wife (who is Thai) leads 3 -5 spinning classes a week! She's 63 and leaves 'em gasping for air!!

I've put a video of her doing some of her workout on YouTube. Search on One Tough Grandma. I plan on putting up another showing her in one of her spinning classes.

My grandkids having fun with their Thai relatives in the village watering hole (outside Korat).

A hot day in the village (with a fan pointed at yours truly to keep "the white boy" cool)!

Still prefer to play ROOKS.

There is also a Army or Airforce Golfclub not to far away (10km)from Rooks.

9holes ,easy and enjoyable round, played there last year .

SURANEE is the name.

http://www.thaigolfer.com/courses/course.phtml?id=141

I was just checking through the Korat area sites on Thaigolfer.com and both of these were listed as charging two-tier pricing. It sure sounded expensive compared to when I played in the area in 2001. I almost choked when I say Kirimaya--it was empty and in bad shape when I played it.

Does anyone know if there is a course in the area that has a reasonable annual membership plan? I'm not talking about a full-equity membership although I'm open to that possibility. I'm thinking more like the daily-fee courses in the U.S. where you can get unlimited play for a set amount. I hope to play a lot when I retire (target date 2014)!!

Thanks!

"Jakobs Kroenung" for me!

Gerd

Me too although the spelling here is a bit different. I guess this is an export package although everything written on it is in Deutsch!

I worked in an inexpensive old folks home in San Francisco at one time and they were mostly lonely and miserable. If they realized it, they could be living much better lives for much less in the Land of Smiles!

but how does it work out in the Land of Smiles when you are (physically or mentally) not capable anymore to take care of yourself?

In my wife's case, lot's of family in the village to do just that.

, in the US, it is quite easy to be old and lonely. Here, The Thai people give you so much attention, all of the time, that you have to really have something wrong with you to be lonely.

That's the main reason my wife and I are going to retire in Thailand. She wants to have absolutely NO PART of ending up in some nursing home.

The time table:

2012 - House in Khao Yai is paid for.

2014 - We're outta here!!!

Does anyone know if you can get coffee from Germany such as Tchibo or Jacobs? My wife and I have used one of the two since we left Berlin in '91. I would think that with the size of the Deutsch expat community that it would be.

As for running up the score, I have no doubt that they are doing so. If I were Bill Belichick, or Tom Brady, and you had questioned both my integrity and talent, would I do it? You bet your ASSterisk, I would! There's an almost audible "I got your videotape right HERE!" in every one of those late TDs!

Well you certainly have changed your tune. What happened to the "they have to score to keep the other team from coming back" defense? Now you admit the obvious.

As the Patriots won 3 Super Bowls, the naysayers were claiming that they weren't that good, because they never won big. Now, with, IMO, a definite "I got your cheating RIGHT HERE!" attitude, they score big, and they're "classless".

Let me amend my original statement. The public AND NUMEROUS former players and coaches think that it's classless. I watch a variety of sports shows and that was the almost universal statement from those who played the game. Your arguments might fly up to the Washington game, but not after that.

That must be a huge house if it will take you 5 years to pay it off making good money.

It's not huge but it's nice and it's located on a resort (Phupimarn outside of Pakchong). The land and the house was about $50K when we bought it, but that was at an exchange rate of something like 42B to the $. You can see pics at davidclary.com.

I haven't updated them in awhile--a lot of landscaping has been done since those photos.

It is not clear from declyr post if he ended up with title for the house, which falang can own without difficulty in Thailand, it is only the land falang can't own. Even in a condo, the unit owner doesn't own the land nor an interest that exceeds 49%.

I understand that I don't own anything (or even have title to to the house at this point). I'm not concerned--I'm in a very stable marraige (32 years this December), and I get along great with the family.

I can understand hometown support of the Patriots, however, I think most of the public considers the Patriots 2007 a team with an asterisk attached to its name, whatever the outcome of this season may be. Sorry if I'm ruffling a few feathers here but the Pats brought it on themselves.

I don't think much of the public gives a <deleted> about Spygate. They do think, however, that their propensity to run up the score is rather classless.

However, owning my own home here makes a major difference.

Five years ago I agreed to purchase some property in Thailand (technically I supplied the funds for my brother-in-law to buy the land). It wasn't until construction was underway that I learned that I had agreed to a house as well!! I was upset at first but now I'm kind of glad I did it. I will finish paying for it in another five years while I'm still making good money. I figure with a paid off house, my wife and I will be ok because we each will have Social Security and government pension (retired military for me--GS for her).

I don't think that I've seen a worse call in all of the 45 years that I've been watching NFL football than the Pass Interference call that went against the Patriots, and handed the Colts their second Field Goal. It was clearly OFFENSIVE Pass Interference! But, despite that, and the bogus PI call made later in the game, the best team won. End of story!

I was pulling for the Colts but I agree--those were some horrible calls. That first pass interference was just a case of great defense.

Moss is incredible!!!

The Pats armor has been cracked! they finally trailed in the 2nd half

Uh...not quite. The Cowboys had a third quarter lead.

My best is a 20 but that's using a cheat sheet I have at work that shows a way to ace every hole.

Boudin will be made fresh,

How 'bout da crawfish??

My plan is to remove chocolate, cakes, and coffee over the next two weeks.

I then want to just eat fruit during the day, with the exception of maybe a couple of slices of toast.

In the evening I plan on having a normal meal followed by nothing.

I also plan on walking at least an hour a day.

My goal is to fall below 80kg (176 pounds) by January and 75kg (165 pounds) by this time next year. I want to then maintain this weight until it's time for me to be cremated (when I expect I'll lose a lot more weight ).

Is this plan workable?

I think you would be much better off eating smaller meals throughout the day with a heavy emphasis on vegetables, plus fruit and good sources of protein. That's what I've been doing for the last seven weeks and I've lost 21 pounds. I recommend doing a search for a blog called Mark's Daily Apple and check out his take on nutrition.