Philippines Or Chiang Mai For Retirement?

[DragonQuest]

CHIANG MAI WINS HANDS DOWN IMHO

You have the best of both worlds in terms of light skin and dark skin women and same for the food,chinese or thai, what more could you ask for? also fresh air! im sure phil is more polluted. although some islands are nice in phil, im just saying from personal opinion you better off inland then on an island cause you can travel more and safty too

[cobra]

Why not spend the next 7 yrs visiting both places for extended periods and see how you feel.

Yes indeed, you wouldn't buy a car without first driving it.

After visiting both you'll have a better feel, where ever you settle nothing is cast in stone, don't like it try some where else.

Personally I'm confident you'll pick anywhere in Thailand over PI.

[Sophon]

7 years ago the baht was 60 to the dollar. Now it's 34. What will the baht dollar rate be 7 years from now?

I agree with your sentiment, but just for the sake of accuracy the USD/THB exchange rate was nowhere near 60 seven years ago. It was actually around 38, so not so very different from now.

In early '98 on the other hand the rate was up close to 56.

Sophon

[Lancelot]

Same same but different. Thailand has better infastructure; the Filipinos (mostly) speak goodhe PI english and IMHO the PI is a bit more western orientated. Don't listen to those who say seven years is too soon to plan.

Go for it man

[pete98146]

I'm right there with you! A year ago, I married a gal from Cebu. Best move that I've ever made. Filipino women are wonderful, they speak the english language, their cultures are definitely more western than Thais, and they don't have any problems walking hand in hand with a non-asian man.

As good as Filipinas are, I don't think you could pay me to actually retire in The Philippines. No way. Too many people, too much poverty, the food isn't very good, bad traffic, poor infastructure. The list goes on and on.

I'm 45 and we'll retire somewhere in Thailand in 5 years. I've taken my wife over to Thailand a few times and she absolutely loves it! Problem is that she fell in love with Bangkok. Filipinas really dig malls and she said she can just ride that Skytrain all day long going from mall to mall to mall and never get stuck in traffic. lol.

I'm not sure if I could handle living in Bangkok so Chiang Mai may be the place to put down the tent posts. I agree with the other person in that for some reason there are A LOT of negative posters on Thaivisa.com. Don't let them ruin your fun. It's good to plan ahead because the entire process of finding a wife, bringing her abroad etc will take atleast 2 years.

I'd recommend that you first find a filipina that you like. Plently of ways to find them online. When you make your first trip to go visit her, extend your trip over to CM and see how you like it.

[KhunMarco]

for some reason there are A LOT of negative posters on Thaivisa.com. Don't let them ruin your fun.

Reading expat forums is much like reading a newspaper, good news hardly make the first page.

Not only this forum, I have a few experiences with expat forums around the world and they all have the "gloom and doom " factor in common. The sky is falling!

I guess it's the stress caused by the expatriate life (not easy at all, wherever you go),

Edited April 17, 2007 by KhunMarco

[vantexan]

How much money will you have every month when you retire? If we know that, then we will know what kind of lifestyle you might be able to afford when you get here.

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Wow, came home and found many great reples! Won't attempt to answer them all, but the above question gets to the point of a major concern. I work for FedEx, recently transferred to a station that has a reputation for good overtime. The plan was to work hard for 5 years and beef up my pension. Then FedEx announced they're terminating the pension plan next year. Instead of the $22k or so I would've got annually startting at 55, now looks like about $13.5k annually. And that starts 10 years from now. They're replacing it with a cash balance plan that'll pay considerably less. So I may have to work and save until I'm at least 55, maybe longer. Not the biggest problem in the world, but after so many years of running for them I was really counting on that pension. I'm thinking of buying a condo there with my savings to lessen the monthly expenses, assuming that's a good idea. So I'll have more than $500 a month to live on, but options like going to the States to visit family will be limited. Thanks again for the great info here. Just bought a Lonely Planet Thailand guide and noticed on Amazon.com there's a retirement guide published Oct. 2006. Regards

[Rasseru]

How much money will you have every month when you retire? If we know that, then we will know what kind of lifestyle you might be able to afford when you get here.

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. . . . . Instead of the $22k or so I would've got annually startting at 55, now looks like about $13.5k annually. And that starts 10 years from now. They're replacing it with a cash balance plan that'll pay considerably less. . . . . .

I suggest you spend some time looking at the requirements for getting a retirement visa in Thailand. There is a separate forum on Thai Visa devoted to visa issues.

[silverhawk_usa]

At age 53 I had been to Thailand a number of times and began to think about retiring here when reaching an appropriate age. Shortly after returning from a month long vacation I was offered a nice early retirement buy out from my employer. It also coincided with the time Thailand reduced the age requirements for a retirement visa.

The writing was on the wall. I retired in September and was in Thailand in October. It never hurts to plan early, one can, and should, adjust that plan accordingly as situations change.

[edit; typo]

Edited April 22, 2007 by silverhawk_usa