3 hours ago, overherebc said:

Reading the article in the magazine it mentions things like special pensioners queues in pharmacies where it cuts down waiting times and discounted medicines for pensioners along with excellent health care facilities

( in Panama )

Panama is very welcoming and does offer unusual specific benefits in their program. However, the cost of housing (buying or renting) in or at a beach area near Panama City is very expensive compared to more popular "budget" expatriation options. There are alternatives like David but it's unspeakably hot there. Many people like Boquette though (I think a hour's ride from David) which has nicer weather, tons of expats but more of an isolated small town experience. In my impression most of the retired crowd in Thailand is more budget oriented and Thailand and a number of other choices on the IL list is better for that.

 

Obviously Spain or Portugal aren't the cheapest choices either. If not a EU person (Brexit impact pending) you are required to purchase very expensive private health insurance. 

7 minutes ago, realenglish1 said:

I have lived in Panama back  25 years ago and I would say it is the best. OBTY no reporting every 3 months What an archaic rule serves no purpose other than keep some people in a job at immigration

shows  who  the  boss  is..........know  your  place

2 minutes ago, ZeVonderBearz said:

All the best for your retirement in the EU, I really hope you're not a Brit.

 

5 minutes ago, realenglish1 said:

I have lived in Panama back  25 years ago and I would say it is the best. OBTY no reporting every 3 months What an archaic rule serves no purpose other than keep some people in a job at immigration

Since it is done online now or by mail it hardly seems much of a chore. 

The International Living survey is flawed in that it is not based on subjective opinion.

 

If you want to see world rankings based on objective criteria for quality of life for expats (who are not earning an income in that country) then go here where Thailand is ranked at #71. The data considered and weighted includes:

 

Stability, rights, health, security, climate, costs and popularity

https://www.worlddata.info/quality-of-life.php?expats=1#tab

 

 

Just now, marcusarelus said:

Since it is done online now or by mail it hardly seems much of a chore. 

ah  but  why  does  it  have  to  be  done  at  all..................?

Don’t worry about not being colonized in the past, your women are being bred by foreigners, one at a time.

For me it is in the last 10 countries for retirement. Just before Congo and Nigeria.

If Thailand is such a great place to retire in why does the government make everyday life so difficult with there immigration laws????

3 minutes ago, Blue bruce said:

If Thailand is such a great place to retire in why does the government make everyday life so difficult with there immigration laws????

I posted this earlier, but...

 

If you look at the original article from International Living Magazine, there are four categories that figure into the final score and ranking.

 

For the 'Visa and Residence' category, Thailand unsurprisingly ranked dead last in the top ten countries.

 

https://internationalliving.com/the-best-places-to-retire/

 

 

About International Living.

They are neither a perfect source or the devil incarnate.

They are legitimately criticized by expats in the know for these reasons --

They exist for profit

They are compromised by real estate promotion interests

They tend to focus much much more on the positive "sells" of destinations rather than the downsides.

 

Only total fools (and there are many) take IL as gospel. You must do your own research. Negative realities for one person may exclude a place and be no problem for others. These choices are very personal.

 

Also keep in mind that the main target audience for IL are Canadian and American nationals.

 

As far as Thailand, I seriously doubt that they folded recent developments in income letters into their rating system. This is very relevant as Americans are the biggest market for their stuff. The U.S. embassy in stopping the income letters has created a situation where American retirees must either use the 800K method or an income method that requires monthly imports of income. The vast majority of American's social security retirement pensions are under 65K baht per month. Supposedly the combination method still is valid, but the new rules about that are murky at best.

 

If they did fold in these new very negative developments considering their big American audience, I think Thailand would have been pushed off their top 10 list.

 

All that said, International Living is not worthless. They can give readers ideas for looking at destinations they hadn't thought of before and then they can do their own due diligence research. Nicaragua used to be on their lists but many expats have fled because of violent political developments there. I wouldn't blame IL on that. Bad stuff can happen anywhere.
 

16 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

The International Living survey is flawed in that it is not based on subjective opinion.

 

If you want to see world rankings based on objective criteria for quality of life for expats (who are not earning an income in that country) then go here where Thailand is ranked at #71. The data considered and weighted includes:

 

Stability, rights, health, security, climate, costs and popularity

 

https://www.worlddata.info/quality-of-life.php?expats=1#tab

 

 

 

It's an interesting list but there is no way that list is really targeted to people expatriating for retirement. Most have no retirement visa programs whatsoever. That is what this topic is about and that is what IL focuses on specifically, albeit quite imperfectly. 

"Richly deserved", if jumping through hoops is the standard by which retirement destinations are judged.

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It's an interesting list but there is no way that list is really targeted to people expatriating for retirement. Most have no retirement visa programs whatsoever. That is what this topic is about and that is what IL focuses on specifically, albeit quite imperfectly. 

5. Panama Retired or Pensioned Program

Retirees or people with lifetime annuities or pensions can qualify for the Panama Pensioner Visa, also know as the Panama retirement visa.  This permanent residency visa is for anyone over 18 years of age who obtains monthly pensions or annuities of at least $1,000 USD for the rest of their lives.

4 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

5. Panama Retired or Pensioned Program

Retirees or people with lifetime annuities or pensions can qualify for the Panama Pensioner Visa, also know as the Panama retirement visa.  This permanent residency visa is for anyone over 18 years of age who obtains monthly pensions or annuities of at least $1,000 USD for the rest of their lives.

Yeah, so many 18 year olds have lifetime annuities or pensions. Yes, some nations offer some sort of legal status based on income other than retirement pensions. Also some allow qualification via money in the bank including Thailand, Ecuador, Mexico and the Philippines. Mexico is interesting that way because you can get status based on showing money that is not in Mexico!

A couple of troll/misleading posts have been removed, also some  off topic stuff about WW2 and replies.

Please stop trying to hijack the topic.!!

4 hours ago, dyertribe said:

for many years I have been actively looking forward to my retirement in Thailand which is pretty close now, but with recent events and the unfriendly visa requirements, I am now looking to Cambodia ...

 

I'm both sad about that but looking forward to exploring the new options in Cambodia.

 

This year will be my last trip to Thailand

Sorry to lose you dyertribe. But keep up with TVForum and put in the occasional contribution.

Any magazine that would list Panama as its top recommendation for retirement is clearly not fit for purpose.

Maybe if all you want is cheap rent and a warm climate it will just about pass muster, but, really, Panama is, culturally, the intellectual sump of the known world. 

 

Sometimes, oh sorry ("Always") LOS baffles me are they all so far up their own arse they can smell the B@#$T that come out of their mouths.

How on earth can they claim something like this when they make it hard to the point of impossible with (Going the backdoor route) to actually easily live here.

 

I have been here 12 years love the country have a wife and kids and support her family and have a decent house, all of which mean jack to the powers as they would be far more happy if I just spent my money and left. Under no circumstance can LOS be deemed as a top destination for retirees or anyone else for that matter. As I have said, Love the country, love the people generally, but the admin and gov suck end of.

Must have taken the bloke from International Living magazine to Pattaya and sunk him in Booze and Bars. LOL

did they check, just for example how polluted Bangkok is ?

http://aqicn.org/city/bangkok/

 

my home town pollution index is less than 1/3 of that

 

and the whole thailand never... because it was a buffer country (the switsenland of asia) between the UK that invaded malaysia & others and the french that had vietnam & others

 

and they said, let's keep thailand as a buffer

 

and this is really one of the big reasons, not that thailand was this & that...

 

but I guess somchai is not allowed to learn that in the history books

International Living releases its Top 10 Best Places to Retire annually.  This time in 2018, Thailand didn't even make it on the list.   Go figure that.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/01/03/international-livings-top-10-places-to-retire-abroad-in-2018/#71feb7876c3e 

 

1.  Costa Rica

2.  Mexico

3.  Panama

4.  Ecuador

5.  Malaysia

6.  Colombia

7.  Portugal

8.  Nicaragua

9.  Spain

10. Peru

3 minutes ago, Radar501 said:

International Living releases its Top 10 Best Places to Retire annually.  This time in 2018, Thailand didn't even make it on the list.   Go figure that.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/01/03/international-livings-top-10-places-to-retire-abroad-in-2018/#71feb7876c3e 

 

1.  Costa Rica

2.  Mexico

3.  Panama

4.  Ecuador

5.  Malaysia

6.  Colombia

7.  Portugal

8.  Nicaragua

9.  Spain

10. Peru

Nicaragua according to the OP is appropriately NOT on the current new list.

6 hours ago, kannot said:

is  this actually in  thailand? i  live  in  the  country  and  i  still  hear  thud  thud  thud  bloody  music regularly

The music must be drowning out the sound of roosters, dogs, motorbikes, tractors etc. 

When you get to retirement age, you deserve the opportunity to drink nice beer. Thailand has the worst beer in the world. 

But the food is great!

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The chief of the tourism authority has said it is a deserved award pointing to all the reasons Thailand is wonderful for those in retirement.

Riiiight. Nobody asked me. Did anyone on TVF get asked or is this just another cloud of BS intended for a market comprising 70 million gullible-and-not-very-bright Thais?

 

I can think of lots of things that get said about Thailand which might be richly deserved, but accolades isn't one of them.

 

 

 

The older I get the more likely it becomes that I will move back to Europe. It would be nice to actually own my own home, and having to “report” every 90 days on a visa that’s never longer than one year - that’s just offensive.

1 minute ago, Chippy151 said:

When you get to retirement age, you deserve the opportunity to drink nice beer. Thailand has the worst beer in the world. 

But the food is great!

People keep saying that, but in my view, Thai food is not very nutritious, and generally tastes like a mouthful of hot solder. I'n not to sure that qualifies for 'delicious'. Perhaps I've been unlucky...

1 minute ago, Stoker58 said:

The older I get the more likely it becomes that I will move back to Europe. It would be nice to actually own my own home, and having to “report” every 90 days on a visa that’s never longer than one year - that’s just offensive.

Yes, I agree. I just wish I could afford to live in Europe, but I think that boat sailed some years ago.

 

 

 

Just now, HalfLight said:

People keep saying that, but in my view, Thai food is not very nutritious, and generally tastes like a mouthful of hot solder. I'n not to sure that qualifies for 'delicious'. Perhaps I've been unlucky...

I didn't really mean nutritious. But I do think it's tasty. God only knows what they put in everything - pesticides, antibiotics. etc. But I have to eat. I can't live on beer alone.