Jingthing

Yes incredible hypocrisy and also massively absurd considering Jewish ancestors DID live there. Sorry, but it's Jew hatred. One impossible standard for Jews only.

Yeah absolutely it's smart to look closely at taxation. When I was looking at Colombia I determined that at the very least I would be required to file tax returns there and that was a strike against them but the added visa hassles and expenses were the no go cherries on the cake. I actually predict they will backtrack somewhat like Malaysia did but I doubt it will be enough. Either you want retired expats or you don't. If you make it too hard applications will dry up. That's too bad because before they f-ed it up Colombia's retirement option was exceptionally excellent and at ridiculously low costs in the coffee region rather than Medellin.

Not a matter of hate. A matter of economics I don’t consider destination countries shady. A matter of choosing a better life. A matter of having a decent quality of life and not worrying about every dollar. A matter of not needing a car. A matter of being able to afford to eat out daily vs almost never. A matter of very affordable housing instead of constantly risking homelessness. Yes if Trump wins avoiding living in a dystopian dictatorship. I could go on but you get the idea. I know you'll respond with a flame. I'm not saying this is everyone's situation but it is many people's situation.

Of course you do.

Good if you want the USA to fall to a fascist dictator.

Eccentric is putting it mildly.

Hamas is a terrorist organization.

Not a thought from you about the safety of Israelis.

Horrible. Should be prosecuted. Obviously not an IDF policy. But good for your Israel demonization agenda.

You can't resist pushing the Jew hating trope that Israel is the same as Nazi Germany.

Medellin isn't a cartel center now. That's history. Even though I no longer suggest Colombia because they've screwed up their retirement visa, cities in the Coffee region Armenia and Manizales are better choices and half as expensive.

OK there is very bad news on Colombia. It's complicated but it's basically about access to the national private hybrid health care system for four or five years before bring eligible for residency or citizenship So you would need private or travel insurance as a requirement for visas until then. This on top of previous onerous changes and Colombia which has been on top of my Plan B list is now off my list. It's possible that they'll backtrack when the applications dry up though.

Its more like if you want Israel to continue to exist you're out. You're in denial about the level of Jew hatred coming from the left.

Your info about Colombia is dated.

On this topic I've noticed that Paraguay of all places has increased in popularity for expatriation. They have a reasonable residency path as well. Personally my impression is that Paraguay is a very strange country though.

Or if Thailand changes the rules on a dime and you don't qualify anymore and you've been in Thailand for decades and you have nothing "back home" to go back home to. That's why permanent residence and citizenship paths have so much value and should be a warning sign to all considering Thailand for retirement as Thailand does NOT offer that at all to retired expats.

A very good point. Of course routine stuff and routine meds are very affordable though. Of the three on the list, that makes Medellin best as expats in Colombia are required in a quite decent health care system regardless of preexisting conditions.

Absolutely expat destinations are not one size fits all! Regardless of the press, good or bad, you need to check places out yourself.

I call B.S. Try being a visible Jew who supports the existence of Israel and go to attend a leftist political group at typical modern campus. You as a Jew will be put under a very aggressive and intolerant litmus test about Israel/Palestine. If you don't agree with extremist anti Israel rhetoric (stuff like genocide, apartheid, failed Zionist project, white colonialist failed experiment, etc.) you will not only not be allowed to join this group but you will experience explicit Jew hatred. Guaranteed.

Pope -- NOPE!

Thanks for helping to keep the prices down.

I think the cat is long out of the bag about Pattaya for a long time already so I'm not too worried. Some factors keep the prices down. Such as the not great beaches.

You're wrong. 1400 is plenty for a single person non sexpat anyway to have a very nice life here.

Lots of places much cheaper. But that's not the point. The Pattaya area pretty much has almost everything international expats could realistically want. Random places in Thailand do not. No, not everything of course. Nothing much for western culture like you would get in Europe.

This isn't a black and white issue. Personally, I most certainly DO choose countries among those countries that I can realistically move to visa-wise. In my case, that is quite limited. I advocate that others do the same, don't bother considering a country for expatriation before you've determined that YOU can actually live there. When I moved to Thailand, I would have preferred Mexico but I didn't qualify for Mexico back then. But then I started travelling to Thailand and had one of those cosmic feelings here. Like I was fated to move here. I wasn't old enough then to qualify but I did find that at the time that I was old enough, Thailand was pretty much the only realistic option that I had, visa-wise. The biggest downside of Thailand's retirement system is a total lack of any path whatsoever to a higher level of residence security beyond the year to year thing. So because of that Plan B countries interest me and only Plan B countries that offer what Thailand does not as far as residence security. So because of that this info from Chile interests me. I haven't even been to Chile though I know of someone who moved there, loves it, and will never leave. In Latin America, I have been to Mexico of course, and also Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.