roiethome

Who the hell would want to see some OAP trying to recapture his youth in public.

Why can't they grow old gracefully.

I have used the hospital near the railway and treatment was very good with well qualified doctors, a few can even speak English.

No need to travel to Korat for medical treatment.

Girls from Buri Ram Province are the best in my experience. Satisfied with less material things than girls in Bangkok who want the latest phone and the designer labels.

Rejection by a lover is seen as loss of face and hence the guy looks weak by his so called peers.

Until Asians understand that it is OK to lose sometimes, they will not move forward.

And of course they need to grow up, Asian men are generally very immature until they get much older.

I use Moonpig site to send cards and presents to my family in UK.

Not very expensive, posted from Jersey and always delivered on the correct date.

Thailand is still a safer place to walk around than in the UK where mindless random acts of violence have become so frequent they are hardly reported.

I felt very nervous on my last visit back to England.

Usual scaremongering from the British press who have nothing better to print.

Only 62, not even old enough to qualify for his pension.

Having seen too many of my colleagues succumb before retirement, I decided that I could afford to live comfortably and retire at 55.

There is much more to life than just working till you drop.

Glad to see a positive post for a change.

Sitting in my study, in a house designed and built to my own specification, surrounded by rice fields and trees, what is there not to be content with.

Compared with back in my original country this truly is paradise

Came to Thailand some 20 years ago to work with an International Company and then took early retirement at 55 deciding to stay in Thailand.

Sure I could live back in UK and have a reasonable standard of living, but why when Thailand has so many advantages.

Great climate, great food, easy travel to other Asian countries for vacations, easy to pay off police for speeding, little planning restrictions for building your own house, and almost everything cheaper than UK.

Only ben back to UK three times for a total of 12 days in the last 15 years. Meeting up with old friends in UK was going into a time warp, nothing has changed back there and will never go back again.

Thailand has everything I need for a happy and enjoyable retirement.

Just finished building my second house in Thailand. You might find Sweet Home 3D a useful program for designing your house, as it allows you to 'walk thru' the finished design and look at the design from all angles. My home finished exactly as it looked in the plans. Very intuitive to use and takes about 10 minutes to learn.

To control the costs, I purchased all the materials direct and engaged labour on a daily rate; labour was 22% of the total build cost and took 5 months for construction.

Myself or my wife were on site every day to manage the build.

PM me if you have any particular questions.

If you have time, apply for a second passport and send that back to UK.

All you have to do is write on the application form that you travel a lot and need to travel while passport is held by embassies for processing visas.

I have had two passports for the past ten years or more.

Always handy to use two passports to make the passport with your Thai visa/extension last longer before needing to replace and move visa to new passport.

I note that the wording says after the date the visa expires.

If you come in on a 30 day visa exempt stamp will that mean that they only get charged for an overstay and not a ban as technically they have not overstayed a visa ?

just a thought

It really depends upon personal circumstances: do you require a mortgage or do you have the cash.

I designed and built my own house in Thailand to be low energy low maintenance quality finish for about 3M thb., cash paid.

To rent the equivalent standard of house the capital cost would only see me through for 8 years of rental, and with double the utility bills.

Investing the 3M in some secure account would only yield one third of the monthly rental cost.

Therefore, for me, owning is the best investment.

I am sure others will disagree.

The first year I was here in 1996, it rained on Oct 31st, moved to new apartment that day, and was then dry until Feb15th, wife's birthday. This was the cool dry season I expected, even had a car with heater which I used in Christmas day '96!

Slowly over the years the length of the dry season has gotten shorter with more showers in January, and the temperature has ben increasing in the cool season.

Guess we have to get used to new seasonal weather.

Having worked and lived in Philippines on several occasions, I cannot agree with most of the comments.

I have driven around Manila and other cities there, never felt threatened, just as safe as Bangkok.

Local food is great, Spicy Sissig ( minced pig cheeks and other part ), Sizzling Gambas ( prawns in chilli sauce ) and Bulalo ( marrow bone soup ) are all delicious, and lecche flan is better than creme caramel.

If I ever had to leave Thailand, Philippines would be my next home, no problem.

Thai Immigration are only interested in the exit stamp to prove departing Thailand.

When I fly to Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam etc ( many time a year) I always use my second passport on arrival and departure from those countries, so as not to fill up my passport with my Thailand extension of stay stamp.

Never had a problem in or out of any country.

Make sure there are enough rooms for the family,,,

they will eventually move in.

Make sure you install a hot water unit,,,

Thais don't like washing themselves in cold water.

Make sure you buy a very big fridge,,,

Thais like to eat free food,,,

But this is my house

do you really think that ?

Keep a packed bag, you might have to exit in a hurry.

This is a very cynical view of Thai people. There are good and bad people in every country, it's a question of not rushing in.

I have built two houses in Thailand for my former and current wife, and in neither case did her family move in, use our hot water, eat out of our fridge.

Best advice is not to rush into anything but do your homework first and you can enjoy a happy life in your own home.

The OP says he has everything the same as Thailand but safer and cleaner.

Well I am sure that Thailand is safer than USA and most of Europe. On my infrequent returns to the land of my birth I certainly feel much more at risk walking the streets there than I do in Thailand.

Living in rural Isaan, the air is as clear as anywhere else with no pollution for dozens of miles.

Personally, having worked in Asia for fifteen years, then retired to Thailand, I would not consider living anywhere else.

But, the same as living in any country, you need to have a plan to survive. I started planning my retirement pension when I was 18 and it allowed me to retire at age 52 and hopefully enjoy many more years in Thailand.

There are many good foods which I have enjoyed while travelling around Asia:
Chine - Owl soup

Pakistan - Goats testicles and curried cow brains

Vietnam - dog, snake, and honeybees

Cambodia - Turtle and a local type of porcupine

Korea - fermented skate ( smells like urine )

Philippines - Bullott

Thailand - grasshoppers, ants eggs, fish bladder, rat and frogs

Cant see what all the fuss is about, only regret none of my friends would take me to eat fresh monkey brains in Korea as I was looking forward to a new taste.

I have lived in Thailand for twenty years, first 12 years as employed with a work permit and last 8 years on a retirement extension.

As I reside in Thailand, and have no property or address in any other country,up to about a few years ago I never filled in the reverse of the form as I am not a visitor but a resident.

However, now the officials checking the forms at the line insist that every white face must fill in the reverse of the form, even though we are residents.

It seems that this is the way that TAT say there are 30M visitors this year, as they are 'double counting'. Some years I come in and out of Thailand 30 times, but this should not count towards the visitors number.

Another case of Thailand manipulating the figures to look good.

I have internet banking with BB and have an extension based on retirement, no problem.

Think this is a case of try another branch that understands.

I have renewed my 5 year licence four times, last time a few months ago. Never been asked for later of residence, provided you renew before expirery date

Phnom Penh is much cheaper than BKK and has some good cheap sleazy places.

Only other place I would live if I was forced to leave the land of smiles.

I always cook turkey with all the usual trimmings. First year, my wife said the family and friends would not eat it; they cleared almost everything, especially the roast tatties, and I hardly got a mouthful.