I am 70 years, want to retire in Thailand, which place is more suitable and economic. My budget is 500,00 baht per year.

all depends on what you want.....

I think 500,000  baht means you expect to live 'rural'.... Pretty much all rural areas are far cheaper than the tourist areas. The OP previously posted about an Elite Visa and having family.... this strikes me as at odds with that idea.

Westerners who end up living in places like Nakhon Nowhere, have usually followed a Thai wife/ partner back to her home village/area, and the support that includes is a necessity. Language barriers are formidable. 

Bht 10,000 a month will not get you very far. Stay where you are.

You do know you will need to tie up 800,000 baht that you can't touch for the first 5 or 6 months,  plus your 'living money' so you'll need at least 1,000.000 + to start with.

Just askin?

Edited September 27, 20196 yr by overherebc

13 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Bht 10,000 a month will not get you very far. Stay where you are.

That's 10k a week !! Not a month (actually 9600)

 

It won't however meet the 65k month income 

But would on a marriage basis , barely.

14 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Bht 10,000 a month will not get you very far. Stay where you are.

500,000/12 = @42,000 ??

28 minutes ago, overherebc said:

You do know you will need to tie up 800,000 baht that you can't touch for the first 5 or 6 months,  plus your 'living money' so you'll need at least 1,000.000 + to start with.

Just askin?

10,000 baht a week will easily cover the 200(2nd)-400(1st)  baht visa agent charge to cover the 800k. and 100,000-150k should easily cover your initial set up costs if not living the high life. Just answering 

4 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

10,000 baht a week will easily cover the 200(2nd)-400(1st)  baht visa agent charge to cover the 800k. and 100,000-150k should easily cover your initial set up costs if not living the high life. Just answering 

maybe true but agents don't cover you for illness and there's a big difference between existing and retiring.

Edited September 27, 20196 yr by overherebc

At 70 you need to be in a place that has access to reasonably priced western medical services for day to day issues... The most reasonably priced area would be Chiang Mai - but the months of Mar & Apr area very polluted... Second area might be the hinterlands outside a Pattaya... The “dark side” or Rayong coastline area... 

 

I personally live in Chiang Mai but spend Mar & Apr in Hua Hin or Koh Samui... You as a single person could rent a small condo in either of those seaside areas for 5k a month...

Latin America. Some countries there you can:

 

Easily afford to live at an upper middle class level

 

Easily qualify for retirement visas even leading to permanent residence

 

Even be able to buy into national health programs in some countries

 

I would strongly advise forgetting about Thailand at your financial level. You aren't even really welcome here at that level.

 

Yes you could do it if you can afford to lock up 800k baht or pay for an elite card but you would be building a life here on quicksand.

 

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10 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Easily afford to live at an upper middle class level

As a single person with 40k per month he is also upper middle class in Thailand

I've travelled around most of Thailand and (apart from Bangkok) didn't notice much difference in living costs. A bottle of Chang costs the same in Pattaya and Chiang Mai. With only 42k a month you will be living a thai life anyway on rice, chicken etc which again costs the same everywhere.

35 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes you could do it if you can afford to lock up 800k baht 

There are other options than putting 800k baht in the. The income option and combination of the two is still available.

I think a person can live here on 500k baht a year. It just depends upon what type of lifestyle they want.

13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There are other options than putting 800k baht in the. The income option and combination of the two is still available.

I think a person can live here on 500k baht a year. It just depends upon what type of lifestyle they want.

Yes, but certain lifestyles require stamina and or support from love ones. At 70, being a newbie, single and on a budget, in Thailand is more than adventurous. I'd rather go back paragliding.

 

Don't get what you mean when you say "The income option and contamination of the two is still available."?

By "contamination" you mean going to an "agent"?

1 hour ago, sfokevin said:

At 70 you need to be in a place that has access to reasonably priced western medical services for day to day issues... The most reasonably priced area would be Chiang Mai - but the months of Mar & Apr area very polluted... Second area might be the hinterlands outside a Pattaya... The “dark side” or Rayong coastline area... 

 

I personally live in Chiang Mai but spend Mar & Apr in Hua Hin or Koh Samui... You as a single person could rent a small condo in either of those seaside areas for 5k a month...

Chiang Mai is polluted year round—in March/April it is ridiculously polluted. AQI today in Phuket-0, Chiang Mai 92. 
 

Absolutely loved living there for years, met my wife there. However, glad we moved away from that year round lung BBQ.

 

Don’t choose CM unless you mean you have 500,000 to spend on medical bills locally. At 70 that year round pollution doesn’t bode well.

4 minutes ago, Momofarang said:

Don't get what you mean when you say "The income option and contamination of the two is still available."?

By "contamination" you mean going to an "agent"?

Spell check error that I have corrected. It is now combination option.

6 minutes ago, Momofarang said:

Yes, but certain lifestyles require stamina and or support from love ones. At 70, being a newbie, single and on a budget, in Thailand is more than adventurous.

He may of visited here before.

You are basing your post on unknown info.

I was under the impression the combination method is not being approved by most or all offices.

op a little more information would be good, have you visited Thailand in the past, do you have friends here, single?, financials other than the 1/2 million per year, ie would you have 800,00 baht to park in a Thai bank account, heath requirements,   etc.etc.

There are other options than putting 800k baht in the. The income option and combination of the two is still available.
I think a person can live here on 500k baht a year. It just depends upon what type of lifestyle they want.

The combination method is quite an onerous thing for Americans and other nationals that can't get embassy income letters.

Also not even accepted in all offices.

But you're right there are some other options. The lock up for the bank method can be 400k rather than 800k if you spend down and top up annually.

I'm looking to the future. He may be able to make it work for awhile but the clear trend is to shake out lower wealth / lower income retired expats.

I think it's deeply unethical to encourage such people to move here now.

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14 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

I was under the impression the combination method is not being approved by most or all offices.

Not at most. Only a few offices have reported as not accepting a application.

Not at most. Only a few offices have reported as not accepting a application.

But the mechanics are confusing both for applicants and officers. You're a visa guru. I think a typical 70 year old moving abroad probably for the first time is looking for residency security and certainties.  

 

Not a situation like oh there is some glitch with one of your required monthly transfers so now leave the country.

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Have you been to Thailand before? If so, you know why most Westerners come to Thailand rather than a place near their home country which may have better air and water quality, less scortching sun, familiary foods and streets not filled with garbage. Thailand is a Third World country. If you are an American, there are many places for 500K comfortable living near America. 

Of course, if your desire is to come to Thailand for the same reason as most Westerners, than no body can talk you out of your misadventrue. 

 

 

Edited September 27, 20196 yr by onera1961

You can't live comfortably in the USA on that income even if you owned your house outright it would be iffy.

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3 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Bht 10,000 a month will not get you very far. Stay where you are.

Exactly. The OP should try retiring in his/her own country.

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I think it's deeply unethical to encourage such people to move here now.

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

But the mechanics are confusing both for applicants and officers. You're a visa guru. I think a typical 70 year old moving abroad probably for the first time is looking for residency security and certainties.

 

 

I don't feel the same way. Plus the OP has been a member since 2011 and has done a couple of posts indicating he has visited here before or is her now. Certainly not a newbie.

I don't feel the same way. Plus the OP has been a member since 2011 and has done a couple of posts indicating he has visited here before or is her now. Certainly not a newbie.

No problem. I am clearly voicing my opinion based on observation of changes in immigration policies over many years. I sincerely do not think retirement in Thailand is recommendable to lower wealth level individuals. I think they are settling themselves up for a likely future disaster here and the older you are the harder it is to recover from that. Also considering the rapidly increasing cost of health care here.

 

People already long settled here also in lower wealth levels have a different kind of decision to make though than someone considering coming in initially.

 

 

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To live on 500,000 baht per year, the OP could try Chiang Mai, Buriram etc. Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket would be too expensive.

He would also need to have good health, or health insurance.

He would need to navigate sensibly with respect to Thai women and alcohol. Both can punch holes in a budget in no time.

Transport options are tuk-tuks, songthaews or learn to drive a scooter. On his budget, a car is a stretch.

Plenty of furnished accommodation available in Chiang Mai in the 5000 - 10,000 baht/month range. I assume Buriram, Chiang Rai and Udon Thani would be similar.

He also would need a Plan B to fall back on.

16 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not at most. Only a few offices have reported as not accepting a application.

Maybe good for the poster to hear what ones are or have been problematic. 

34 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Transport options are tuk-tuks, songthaews or learn to drive a scooter. On his budget, a car is a stretch.

CM has Grab which is very easy.