Hua Hin and Chiang Mai among the 10 Best Places to Retire in Asia

[Sticky Wicket]

4 hours ago, Thechook said:

The coastal areas of Thailand are disgusting the oceans are sewage ponds would never put a toe into the waters and air in Thailand is toxic.  Thais have absolutely flushed their beautiful country down the sewer.

 

There are still a lot of expats with connections in Thailand(family, friend, property etc). Once those connections have been broken/gone then you will see the true decimation of the current policies

[mike787]

16 hours ago, DNPBC0 said:

As far as Chiang Mai is concerned, it must be one of the worst places in the world if you value your health.

 

I agree, it's a shit hole.  I tried it this year and and left for Pattaya.

[MRToMRT]

3 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

There are still a lot of expats with connections in Thailand(family, friend, property etc). Once those connections have been broken/gone then you will see the true decimation of the current policies

 

Thats very true. If I did not have my own connections I would have left already I think. Its not what it was.

[WeekendRaider]

as long as the US dollah is in the 30's.  

what is the best place in the world to retire to when...... pretending that China is a 5G security risk and China just makes stuff too cheap for anyone to 'compete' with.... both of which are as absurd as a Chinese Hoax or "Mexican Rapists" invading Amerikee..... when entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, public and military pensions and the military itself is funded using a combination of conjured global currency "money" and more and more USA debt.... not Chinese banks..... USA debt... is how we or anyone else gets a trade deficit in the first place.  duh.

so how quickly can the "best 10 retirement spots in the entire world" change?

 

with a dollah in the teens or twenties at best?  don't laugh.

as fast as a new smartphone screen update can be transmitted by 3G or 4G.  we wouldn't even notice the time difference even if 5G became anything more than just another True Corp advertisement. 

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by WeekendRaider

[Vacuum]

1 hour ago, kjun12 said:

Hua Hin should get an award for being one of the most boring places on the planet.

Krabi Town is also aspiring for this award.

[TSF]

24 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

There are still a lot of expats with connections in Thailand(family, friend, property etc). Once those connections have been broken/gone then you will see the true decimation of the current policies

Absolutely, so many of us have painted ourselves into a corner.

[mike787]

1 hour ago, miamiman123 said:

Pollution or Drunk people all the time?

great! 

2 best reasons to launder 800/400K to thai bank and 90 day reports.  Gotta love it!  Don't even get started not the deadliest roads in the world or side walks.  

[mike787]

1 minute ago, TSF said:

Absolutely, so many of us have painted ourselves into a corner.

and with rose colored sun glasses.

[TSF]

There should be legal action taken against whoever writes these garbage reports of Thailand being a retiree's paradise. People read all this baloney then come to the country and invest in condos and long-term leases then find themselves trying to navigate the immigration minefield...talk about buying a pig in a poke. 

[Tajasia]

Proporganda. Who would retire here now. You need a MRI if you tick yes..You can't even open a bank account without a work permit. Not welcomed here it's all over. 

[Tajasia]

38 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

The dumbest thing I have ever heard. Chiang Mai air is worse than chain smoking, Hua Hin has better air, but nothing else:) And then we have the retirement immigration circus. Whoever wrote that shit should be committed.

THEY need a MRI scan

[holy cow cm]

Sure.

-Forced deposits you cannot touch or income verification that cannot step out of line per month or void.

-90 day forced check ins. 

-TM30 forced checking of being back at home. 

-Small yearly allowances to stay here. 

So many jump through the hoop benefits

[freedomnow]

Unless I'm tied here with a wife and kids, I don't see myself being here over 60.It has been good while it lasted. If still here, I'd bail for half the year at least to avoid the otherside of the weather 'sweetspot'. Pricing will be like Samui no doubt in 10 years or less..if they ever open up more land ownership for foreigners in some limited way...oh boy, prop values will shoot up crazily and that feeds into rent and your fine coffee.

Still like Thais over surrounding nationalities, except Lao people who I hear are more like Thais were 30+ years ago.

[wwest5829]

I remember reading such statements as "a retired couple can live on as little as $1,200.00 a month" comparisons. However, a retiree is required by Thai immigration to bring in a minimum of around $2,365.00 a month or hold 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for half of every year), this statement in the report is misleading for anyone thinking of retiring in Thailand. (Yes, I am aware of the variations as to funds required but did not want to write that dissertation).

[freedomnow]

16 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

I remember reading such statements as "a retired couple can live on as little as $1,200.00 a month" comparisons. However, a retiree is required by Thai immigration to bring in a minimum of around $2,365.00 a month or hold 800,000 baht in a Thai bank for half of every year), this statement in the report is misleading for anyone thinking of retiring in Thailand. (Yes, I am aware of the variations as to funds required but did not want to write that dissertation).

No issue with those cash figures, all they need to do is plop down 800k for as long as they are here and survive if they need-be on $1200.Take that 800k with them if things lose their luster.

It can still be done if they are not boozebags or western food only types.

Edited May 30, 2019 by freedomnow

[topt]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

“A retiree can afford a high standard of living, including days on the city's golf courses and regular dinners out at first-class restaurants, on a modest budget.

I would be interested to see their definition of "modest" and "first class restaurants".

Golf around HH is at least 50% more expensive than around Pattaya for example and food is generally much dearer. 

[TheRead]

This article is fraudulent and misleading..

I’ve been one year in Thailand looking for the right place to retire, buy land and build a home with my wife who is Thai. I had hopes in Chaing Mai but the fact Is the pollution makes it unviable. After six months here, the burning lasts for three months after starting in January and even today the effects are not livable. Business are suffering. Restaurant and tourism industries are hurt and the authorities are doing nothing!

 

Hau Hin also has issues. It felt to me like a run down Pattaya. 

 

The immigration process is an assault course of paperwork rife with corruption. Especially in Chaing Mai (less so in Hau Hin). This makes long term living in Thailand simply not worth it.  

 

I love Thailand, but the decision to leave has been forced by both the pollution and corruption within all government run institutions.

[freedomnow]

17 minutes ago, TheRead said:

This article is fraudulent and misleading..

I’ve been one year in Thailand looking for the right place to retire, buy land and build a home with my wife who is Thai. I had hopes in Chaing Mai but the fact Is the pollution makes it unviable. After six months here, the burning lasts for three months after starting in January and even today the effects are not livable. Business are suffering. Restaurant and tourism industries are hurt and the authorities are doing nothing!

 

Hau Hin also has issues. It felt to me like a run down Pattaya. 

 

The immigration process is an assault course of paperwork rife with corruption. Especially in Chaing Mai (less so in Hau Hin). This makes long term living in Thailand simply not worth it.  

 

I love Thailand, but the decision to leave has been forced by both the pollution and corruption within all government run institutions.

Yep, all strong points against CM. They need to nail this burning season issue seriously, with some method in the very near future..it was hell this year regarding pollution, and I've been here for over 5 years now. Class action lawsuit against he govt. for health damage should do it.

 

The best places are often not on top 10 best place lists...as they say, a good thing becomes a bad thing when it gets too much exposure to the world.

Edited May 30, 2019 by freedomnow

[smileydude]

With the current air pollution crisis in CM goes to show how fast things change (for the worse) and how quickly information can become outdated and incorrect and the need to double or even triple check information.

Edited May 30, 2019 by smileydude

[paddyfield7]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Don't mention the four months of severe smog we've just had.

Smog hasn't quite ended yet and it's nearly June.

You want better than green?

[lahgon29]

1 hour ago, WeekendRaider said:

as long as the US dollah is in the 30's.  

what is the best place in the world to retire to when...... pretending that China is a 5G security risk and China just makes stuff too cheap for anyone to 'compete' with.... both of which are as absurd as a Chinese Hoax or "Mexican Rapists" invading Amerikee..... when entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, public and military pensions and the military itself is funded using a combination of conjured global currency "money" and more and more USA debt.... not Chinese banks..... USA debt... is how we or anyone else gets a trade deficit in the first place.  duh.

so how quickly can the "best 10 retirement spots in the entire world" change?

 

with a dollah in the teens or twenties at best?  don't laugh.

as fast as a new smartphone screen update can be transmitted by 3G or 4G.  we wouldn't even notice the time difference even if 5G became anything more than just another True Corp advertisement. 

 

Have you been taking Speed? 

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Hua Hin and Chiang Mai have are two of the best retirement destinations Asia, according to a new article by news and information site U.S. News & World Report

delusional!

[RickTik]

I am stunned by this report.

When you consider that Chiang Mai had the most polluted air in the world this past spring...

The report is either "dated" or somebody is blowing smoke.

Is there traditional beauty? Yes. However, nly a fool would move to a place where people have to breathe that kind of air.  

That kind of air does help the "elites" speed up the success of their objective. What is that objective? :

[TMNH]

Forgive me for seemingly simplistic question: Did this poll take place before the "choking" smoke? And who TF conducts these polls? Perhaps some years ago, but who is the culprit of the end result of smog and smoke? Northern farmers? How f...g ironic that is:)

[Crustyhk]

When Chiang Mai was reported as having the most polluted air on the planet for week earlier this year how the hell can it make a list of worlds best retirement destinations. 

Maybe Chernobyl should have made the list for the peace and quiet and extraordinarily cheap real estate. 

 

[M71]

Nothing wrong with Henry he's a great bloke - just because he and G H W Bush planned the war in Cambodia now referred to as the killings fields and supervised it working with their mate Pol Pot it is not a bad thing it needed to be done it was getting over populated - ya know.

 

Has anyone ever seen an actual medical report detailing the health risks associated with living in Chiang Mai breathing the smoke from burning the fields? I wonder if burning vegetation is as harmful as chemical smoke. Can't be good for you obviously but some details would be interesting.

 

 

 

 

[TMNH]

Simple...a rural tradition of farming.......then tourism comes in and then Chiang Mai is suddenly urbanized....per -se. A "free' for all does not help most...One must decide to accept rural (and their choking and contributory whatever) or decide a better place. All subjective obviously, but inasmuch as I loved northern Thailand, the culture (and it should remain) is set in stone. Both Thailand and Myanmar's burning to contribute to respiratory effect is NOT GOOD. Burn your crops...do this...do that...just don't expect foreigners to breathe like you do:)

[Beggar]

10 minutes ago, Benroon said:

Bizarre - given there are about 500 temples you may need to break that down - as for 'burning' or cremation as its usually known, temples are where cremations take place in temple kilns - where do they do them in your country ? 

Not in the city center ???? They have many ovens there at this temple in Hua Hin and sometimes the smoke came into my hotel room. I also didn't like to eat my dinner at an open air restaurant with the feeling that ash from the cremations falls on my food. 

[TMNH]

assuming you welcome foreigners of course:) I suspect that foreigners have their place....for whatever reasons. And then you decide whether you want any tourism or simply go about your business. Obviously, some would vote either way.

[peter14]

Immigration nightmare.... Thailand is NOT the place is used to be ... everything complicated and basically thai hate you...