Jingthing

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.

I've seen this trend happening for about five years. Instead of Pattaya being totally ignored for the stupid reason of the sex industry, more and more Pattaya is not only mentioned but specifically highlighted. Of course maybe it isn't good if it gets TOO popular, but it is pleasing to get confirmation about what expats here already know -- Pattaya (including the metro area of course) indeed is one of the best places in the world to retire abroad on a budget. As far as the budget part of it, no it isn't the absolute cheapest, but bang for the baht, the value for what you get is incredible. Cut Your Living Expenses in Half By Moving Abroad to These 3 Locations (yahoo.com)

You have no idea what you're talking about. This is probably way too advanced for maga types but others will learn a lot.

That's one of the games of the maga fascist movement -- to project on their opposition everything that they are.

You would hate ANY Biden speech no matter how great because you're obviously following the maga cult. There are many non-American maga fans, particularly in our enemy states like Russia.

Why would anyone choose a fascist dictator who's running to dodge prison over a decent man like Biden?

Five Guys is a higher level than McDs. How are prices at Five Guys the fault of ANY president? Is there something in the constitution about being able to afford to eat out as much as you want?

Biden MUST build on the momentum of his massively successful speech. He doesn't need to run around and do Mussolini style tiki torch rallies like his maga fascist Putin Orban loving opponent, but he DOES need to be out there fairly often, all over the country, and continue to show the voters the version of Joe Biden they just saw. In other words, the WINNING a second term version. He does have reasonable leeway to actually be president though and that's the way it is for any incumbent. You need to do the job and campaign simultaneously. Exhausting? You betcha.

Approaching the election date I seriously doubt that either Biden or the unhinged fascist will be way ahead in the polls. Trump "demanding" debates is a bluff. He's scared <deleted>less without one of his bountiful diapers of actually debating Biden as Trump's mental decline has been dramatic and rapid. I've never had any doubt that fightin' Joe Biden wouldn't debate Trump but I do think once concrete proposals are made Trump will come up with excuses why it is rigged.

It's time for me to pause posting. There is only so much that I can take of such a rapid fire of toxic extremist Israel demonization. It's not like anyone is going to change their mind.

Oh I get it. You're accusing Israel of being the same as Nazi Germany. Very predictable.

You're a liar. Another one that doesn't know what Zionism is. All Zionists are not like that!

In my life experience I have found people that claim that they're free of racism are not to be taken at face value. As an American I know that American society teaches everyone to be racist. You need awareness of that reality to fight it.

More B.S. Some Zionists are like that and some aren't. Its like saying that all Palestinians are terrorists. Just being a Zionist does not mean a person believes in the things you say. In that sense I think you're promoting Jew hating -- falsely suggesting that all Zionists think the same things such as support for that horrible leader Netanyahu.

There are issues. Such as if you do high doses, it changes your brain chemistry, and you'd need higher doses to get the same effect, etc. Compared to alcohol much safer of course. People don't die from cannabis.