Thailand is still among the most affordable destinations for expat retirees

[StevieAus]

2 hours ago, realenglish1 said:

 Actually I have lived in Panama and it is a really nice country Very friendly do expats and very very easy to live there and work there No 90 day reporting or other ridiculous  requirement  Good infrastructure and hospitals as well What Thailand does not understand is they must compete with the rest of the world for expats money or there will be a breaking point for people will not come anymore

I have to ask the question if it’s so good why are you not living there?

I have never visited Panama but have an American expat friend living here who paints a different picture of the place than you.

[crees]

3 hours ago, Trandewinds747 said:

Factor in the rip off theivery, con artistry, conniving Island mafia and under cover gangsters, corrupt BiB/officialdom, not to mention many of the opposite gender waiting to prey on naive farang men mis-judging the “come on” smiles as welcoming friendliness, get feet under table and pay heavy price, with all of these somewhat intangibles, Thailand is not as rosy as some of the other countries in the survey.

 

Sorry to be negative to those obviously happy in the LoS, not intended to take away from your good luck, but there are costable dangers that need factoring when doing the DD on this subject.

You might be happier in Mexico.

[StevieAus]

8 minutes ago, stud858 said:

If you can organise home stay with a family, Australia would be cheaper than Thailand. Cheaper pies, cheese, milk, coca cola, burger king and pizza and the women are.... come see for yourself.

You are obviously not talking about Sydney the only thing cheaper is the wine.

As for pies, Coca Cola Burger King and pizza not part of my daily diet

[madmitch]

9 minutes ago, stud858 said:

If you can organise home stay with a family, Australia would be cheaper than Thailand. Cheaper pies, cheese, milk, coca cola, burger king and pizza and the women are.... come see for yourself.

Cheaper pies?

 

Where do I apply for an Aussie retirement visa?

[Naamblar2014]

2 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Those are less than 140thb a bottle in Aus. 

 

????

But who would want to stay in oz right,  it's full of Aussies ????

[overherebc]

8 minutes ago, madmitch said:

Cheaper pies?

 

Where do I apply for an Aussie retirement visa?

Think carefully. They serve them in a bowl of pea soup.

[Naamblar2014]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

These kinds of reports rarely if ever seen to address the important issue of whether an expat can actually legally continue to reside in these countries... visa obtainability and sustainability, and at what price. As opposed to come and go tourists.

 

The fact I can get a $500 a year health club membership doesn't mean much if Thai Immigration keeps changing the rules and ends up making it impossible for many current expats to live here, or if not impossible, makes continual rule tinkering so burdensome and intrusive as to not be worth it anymore.

 

$500 would get you lifetime membership at Tony's when promotion is running. ????

[baansgr]

Thailand is still very cheap to live, as stated gym membership is great value. Food especially seafood is amazingly low cost. Where Thailand gets expensive is drink and entertainment, everything else pretty much is a bargain. Ive just made a fantastic healthy chicken meal for 4 at home for 75 Baht.....not many other places that cheap.

[stud858]

10 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Think carefully. They serve them in a bowl of pea soup.

That's the English your thinking of. Australia is a much more advanced country than England. Just the red stuff on top. Some don't spoil a good thing to start with and leave the sauce altogether.

[ttrd]

1 minute ago, baansgr said:

Thailand is still very cheap to live, as stated gym membership is great value. Food especially seafood is amazingly low cost. Where Thailand gets expensive is drink and entertainment, everything else pretty much is a bargain. Ive just made a fantastic healthy chicken meal for 4 at home for 75 Baht.....not many other places that cheap.

Providing that you are eligible to stay ...

[Ajarnbrian]

This story seems to be geared towards wealthy retirees, judging by the prices quoted. Of course for those who do their homework and don`t get hitched to a bar girl who cleans you out, Thailand is very affordable for many. And if you adapt to local living and don`t insist on western amenities, even more so. Of course there are some who just keep complaining.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, baansgr said:

 Food especially seafood is amazingly low cost.

 

A lot of the local seafood sold in commercial markets here is cr** as far as I'm concerned -- either farm raised and fed all kinds of junk and doused in chemicals and medicines, or from polluted seawaters. And then you get to the common practice where the Thai buffet places take their farm raised local salmon and use colorings to get the nice natural orange color that normal salmon should have.

 

[stud858]

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

A lot of the local seafood sold in commercial markets here is cr** as far as I'm concerned -- either farm raised and fed all kinds of junk and doused in chemicals and medicines, or from polluted seawaters. And then you get to the common practice where the Thai buffet places take their farm raised local salmon and use colorings to get the nice natural orange color that normal salmon should have.

 

The eggs here seem nicht so gut too.

[overherebc]

13 minutes ago, stud858 said:

That's the English your thinking of. Australia is a much more advanced country than England. Just the red stuff on top. Some don't spoil a good thing to start with and leave the sauce altogether.

That is an Oz picture from Bogan Masterchef.  Ran out of brown sauce.

????????????????????

[JAG]

37 minutes ago, stud858 said:

If you can organise home stay with a family, Australia would be cheaper than Thailand. Cheaper pies, cheese, milk, coca cola, burger king and pizza and the women are.... come see for yourself.

Well, I don't eat pies, like cheese. do drink a glass of milk every evening. avoid Coca Cola, can't stand Burger King, make my own Pizza and the only Australian woman I have ever known dumped me after 6 months.

 

I think I'll stay here if it's all the same...

[Gweiloman]

1 hour ago, madmen said:

Why are you here if you don't have money for health insurance.? Who buys millions of baht in assets and not tuk away 50k a year on insurance?

 

The runners who are broke are living in cheapo fan rooms and not beautiful condos

Something fishy about your story

 

Had a myocardial infarction couple of years ago. Life insurance paid out (critical illness rider). So basically uninsurable anymore. 

I have 4 bikes (PCX, KLX250, Ninja 1000 and Versys 1000), Ford Ranger pickup, Mazda2, studio apartment in a Jomtien condo, 4 bedroom house 15km out of CM, pool table, bits and bobs like chest freezer, wine chiller, twin door fridge, Doc Quikfire bbq, 65in LG tv etc. 

Interested in any of these items?

[Pravda]

Do they still sell "The Lot" in MacAustalia?

[shackleton]

There must be some on here lost for words usually reading how bad it is 

I speak for myself and find it great here just conform to the rules and enjoy 

living the Dream 

[NoshowJones]

 

"Thailand is still among the most affordable destinations for expat retirees".

Yes, I believe it is, but I would bet Thailand gives retirees much more hoops to jump through compared to most, if not all other countries.

[bkkcanuck8]

4 hours ago, sup3r1or said:

Affordable if you were a CEO of a company with a nice retirement package.

It is affordable - but depends on what lifestyle you require and where you chose to live.  Right now I live outside of Bangkok in a 3 story new townhouse which is 60% cheaper than a 1 bedroom condo western oriented condo in the CBD.  If you come here and you want to eat in all western (imported) food, live in "a high rent district" add in some fooling around in western oriented entertainment establishment etc.... then suddenly the cost of living is going to go way up.  I doubt the formula is much different in any location in Thailand, but it is all based on your choices.

[rumak]

1 hour ago, madmitch said:

Cheaper pies?

 

Where do I apply for an Aussie retirement visa?

i tried once.  Not a million baht that everyone cries about.   They wanted a million dollars !

[asiamaster]

4 hours ago, crazykopite said:

No doubt this report was completed before the Immigration Burea decided to introduce financial penalties in order to obtain the retirement visa .

How so? Anyone who does not have at least  400.000 Bh as an emergency fund is just an irresponsible idiot.

And how does that requirement effect the cost of living?  You are not spending it are you? And you can always take it out if you bugger off to Cambodia or back to your home country

[moe666]

Just do not come here the living conditions are horrible, garbage over flowing the bins, rabid dogs running lose, unset expats over new requirements to stay, lets see what else can I do to keep out more rif raf. Do not come here not a good place to live, that sums it up

[malibukid]

5 hours ago, SammyT said:

 

Presumably still more affordable than your home country, hence why you're here?

i'am a political refugee. 

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, Trandewinds747 said:

Factor in the rip off theivery, con artistry, conniving Island mafia and under cover gangsters, corrupt BiB/officialdom, not to mention many of the opposite gender waiting to prey on naive farang men mis-judging the “come on” smiles as welcoming friendliness, get feet under table and pay heavy price, with all of these somewhat intangibles, Thailand is not as rosy as some of the other countries in the survey.

 

Sorry to be negative to those obviously happy in the LoS, not intended to take away from your good luck, but there are costable dangers that need factoring when doing the DD on this subject.

Apart from the dreadful driving mentality, the only real problem is the government and immigrations attitude to tourists and retirees.

Sorry to be so negative but the truth must prevail.

[elliss]

4 hours ago, SammyT said:

 

Been here 3 years, I've experienced none of that. 

 

If an overweight 65 year old can't work out that the 22 year old Thai bar girl isn't with him for his beer gut and crappy dad-jokes, then that's just a "stupid tax" she is imposing on him when she takes all his money. TBH.

     Better  than dying  of boredom,  my money is not waisted , i enjoy spending it , my way .

[Letseng]

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Figures might be a bit different if they factored in how dangerous moving around in the country is. And that world class health care they talk about, most definitely is not at all cheap.

nor is it world class (care you get), at least not in some of these "world class" hospitals. Billing is world class.

[NoshowJones]

4 hours ago, SammyT said:

 

Been here 3 years, I've experienced none of that. 

 

If an overweight 65 year old can't work out that the 22 year old Thai bar girl isn't with him for his beer gut and crappy dad-jokes, then that's just a "stupid tax" she is imposing on him when she takes all his money. TBH.

You posted some rubbish earlier SammyT, but you have got it right this time.

[moe666]

Ah nothing like a good cost of livin article to get all the cry babies out enforce, I love it my nightly entertainment

[malibukid]

3 hours ago, zydeco said:

It is.

it's called the combo method.