Come and stay for a few weeks and see for your self.

30 minutes ago, mr mr said:

sure if you don't mind sausage and getting blown by a dude.

Not a fussy person.

12 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Variety is the spice of life.

Eggsactly close your eyes and it could be whoever you wish. (Too kinky?)

15 hours ago, Clive said:

Thank you for you replies so far.
I love Thai food and that is the main attraction for me as well as the weather. Although Im not religious I like to see the temples as for me it gives the country the foreign Asian aspect. There are many places in S/E Asia that have the weather, the girls etc but not the culture that Thailand has to offer.
I suppose as I get older I have to look at what life will be like for me in say 20 or 30 years time regarding healthcare or ability to stay in the country. I have a friend that loves the phillipines but he doesn't like asian food as I do but I don't think that Id be happy there as the food is not so good generally.
Seriously considering Cambodia or Vietnam if Thailand becomes to difficult to live

 

First of all, your financial status?

2. Where are you from?

3. Age?

4. Health issues and health insurance? 

5. Urban or rural lifestyle? 

6. Innland or seaside? 

7. How many flights back to orign country a year? 

Im sure its more but a good start

 

Today I would not have chosed Thailand, and I was actually off to Brasil, but now Im Happy Im here. Brasil did not turn out as a good destination anyway, especially now these times, then Im happy to stay in Thailand while covid runs the world for awhile. 

16 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Knowing what I now know absolutely not stay in europe the governance and safety is an absolute shocker ???? 

Lightweight.

54 minutes ago, mr mr said:

sure if you don't mind sausage and getting blown by a dude.

Whats the difference between a dude and woman throat ?

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Lightweight.

Not after being locked down for 6 months ????

18 hours ago, Pilotman said:

No; yes; and you need to make your own mind up. You will not get any useful advice on here. 

What Pilotman wrote is very true, mostly. Everyone has different experiences. If you think moving to Thailand will make you happy, it probably won't. Are you planning a hobby (art, woodworking), ministry (cleaning the beaches, caring for orphans, helping people find Christ) or sport like golf where you can meet people and have friends or will you be hugging a bar stool and hoping to make friends that way? Something to think about.

1 hour ago, RangerP703 said:

Whats the difference between a dude and woman throat ?

being sick if it was a dude.

18 hours ago, Pilotman said:

No; yes; and you need to make your own mind up. You will not get any useful advice on here. 

That was pretty useful advice.

1 hour ago, SteveK said:

Variety is the spice of life.

yes a variety of women ,not men thanks????

 

ok, now you already have 7 pages of answers and 102 (3 including mine) posts/comments,  did it help making up your mind 555

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by Mavideol

Mindset has a great deal of influence over people's outlook and comments....... along with their fortunate or unfortunate experiences.

 

I can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else (unless I were filthy rich and had a completely free choice).

 

....and the women.........OMG.

19 hours ago, Clive said:

I lived in Thailand about 14 years ago, and it has always been my dream to retire there.

As you have lived here before, you have a head start knowing what it's like and that it will be different living here to what you are used to back in your home country. I am assuming you have been back on holidays here since the past 14 years that you had lived here ?

 

19 hours ago, Clive said:

I was wondering if you would recommend retiring in Thailand now but scouring the internet there seem to be so many negative comments regarding visa/ Thai people etc.

 

I would recommend it, I retired here 5 years ago at age 55, never an issue with immigration or Thai people, as long as you know to have your paperwork in order each time, or they will tell you to get it, 90 days done on line, as for the Thai people also never an issue, but do expect some to try and charge you more for something, but if you ask beforehand and then decide whether you want it or not, then you can make a decisive decision.

 

19 hours ago, Clive said:

Has Thailand changed so drastically in a negative way over the years or is it still a wonderful beautiful place to live?

 

I have been coming here annually since 2006, everything changes and to be honest, it still is a beautiful place to live, that said it would in my opinion depend on where you choose to live. That said I would strongly recommend you look at private health insurance cover, or set up an account having enough money in there to self fund yourself in the event of an accident/surgery, or you can depend on the government hospitals, "up to you" I will leave that there.

 

Plan your budget wisely depending on your income structure, assuming it to be from investments as your too young for the pension. To live a comfortable life here as a single bloke I would say 60,000 baht a month should do it which would include say 5,000 a month for private health cover costs.

 

Another important thing to look at depending which country you are coming from, if its Australia and you own property, get rid of it because as soon as your residency status changes after 6 months, the capital gains tax on your property when you sell it in years to come will make you lose out big time, i.e. the capital gains tax is charged all the way back to the day you purchased it, not the day you left the country and started leasing it, that could be 42% of any increase since your purchased it. Would be good advice to talk to an accountant before you make the move if you have property, even in another country.

 

Last but not least, only invest as much as your prepared to lose and the going rate is no more than 10%, also keep as much funds back in your home country and once you set up an account here, use Transferwise to send money to that account in Thailand as you won't be paying anything at your bank on either end, only the Transferwise fee, but they give a great exchange rate.

 

Good luck.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by 4MyEgo

I lived in the Philippines from '78 to '88, and I've lived in Thailand for the past 10 years, and I can tell you that the place to retire is the PI hands down. Most Filipinos speak English and they are extremely hospitable and pro-Westerner. There is absolutely no comparison between the peoples of the two countries. Filipinos are extremely warm and friendly, and all you'll get in Thailand is the cold shoulder unless they think they can get something from you. In Thailand if you're outside the circle of friends, relatives and colleagues, then you are essentially "invisible to the average Thai. In the PI everyone will be your friend and they will be the first to offer to give without expecting anything in return. 

 

My advice would be to live in Makati, the financial district of Metro Manila, where it's a little more expensive, but you'll be in a thriving metropolis with little to no evidence of poverty. The up and coming place, however, is Bonofacio City, and it would be less expensive than Makati. It's a beautiful new city and has everything that you will need. Here's a nice video that I copied from YouTube. 

 

Bottom line is....the physical attributes of a country are unimportant to your overall well-being if the citizens are not to your liking. Personally, I'd pick the Filipinos over the Thais any day of the week!
 

 

You'll need to ultimately make your own decision, but I would do some research on some other countries in the region, i.e Phillipines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

12 hours ago, Catkiwi said:

That is just bloody sad mate!!! I hope you get better soon. You either love Thailand for what it is or just <deleted> off and stop bloody whining about it!!! <deleted>!!!

Not whining. Just expressing my opinion to the OP. I would be gone already, but the border to places I want/need to go are shut. As I said before, my plan was to leave permanently on March 29. I am out the first chance I get to go where I need to be.

 

Thanks for saying that you hope I get better soon. The second half of your post was just uncalled for.

 

Love it or leave it? I don't love Thailand anymore and I will be leaving. It is perfectly acceptable to express that. I don't have to agree with you. If you love Thailand feel free to express it in a positive post to the OP. No need to attack me for expressing an alternative view. Please show some common courtesy. Have a good day.

14 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

If you want to keep your farang food, lifestyle and values or think you can change your Thai partners to be more western than you will not be happy long term.

I have to disagree with you on that, each to their own of course. I say that as my wife of 14 years lived with me in Sydney for 9 years and we have been living here for 5 years now.

 

The kids and myself eat predominantly western foods made by the wife, we will have Thai every now and again, and the reason we eat western is because it's tastier, and more filling and has less sugars, and salts, i.e. she makes it, so controls the levels of salt and sugars, Thai food is high in sugars and salts.

 

Our values and lifestyles have always been our own, not what societies wants to shove down our throats, including Thailand, as for changing my partner to be more western, her living overseas for 9 years showed here something different to Thailand, I had no part in changing her attitude towards Thailand. I would say that the experience opened her eyes, hence the reason she says to me every now and again, that she hates Thailand, and no she didn't work in Sydney, so it has nothing to do with making money.

 

To sum it all up, we are very happy here, albeit it we do dislike things here every now and again, but what you cannot control, you cannot change, so accepting it and hoping for change is the only thing we can hope for, alternatively we can move back overseas as we are financially secure, however that is not in the pipeline for a few years yet as I get closer to the pension age.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by 4MyEgo

1 hour ago, Surelynot said:

That was pretty useful advice.

yes, its a gift I have 

You'll find that most of the negative comments are about the cities and living there.  Expats living out in the sticks seem to have a much more mellow time of it.

 

Me, moved to Pattaya 3 years ago, no regrets so far.

1 hour ago, fittobethaied said:

I lived in the Philippines from '78 to '88, and I've lived in Thailand for the past 10 years, and I can tell you that the place to retire is the PI hands down. Most Filipinos speak English and they are extremely hospitable and pro-Westerner. There is absolutely no comparison between the peoples of the two countries. Filipinos are extremely warm and friendly, and all you'll get in Thailand is the cold shoulder unless they think they can get something from you. In Thailand if you're outside the circle of friends, relatives and colleagues, then you are essentially "invisible to the average Thai. In the PI everyone will be your friend and they will be the first to offer to give without expecting anything in return. 

 

My advice would be to live in Makati, the financial district of Metro Manila, where it's a little more expensive, but you'll be in a thriving metropolis with little to no evidence of poverty. The up and coming place, however, is Bonofacio City, and it would be less expensive than Makati. It's a beautiful new city and has everything that you will need. Here's a nice video that I copied from YouTube. 

 

Bottom line is....the physical attributes of a country are unimportant to your overall well-being if the citizens are not to your liking. Personally, I'd pick the Filipinos over the Thais any day of the week!
 

 

I looked at moving to BGC with work & agree that it’s a lovely place but if I wasn’t working there, I wouldn’t live anywhere in Manila, much prefer the Visayas (Davao over Cebu).

 

 

12 hours ago, Clive said:

Thank you very much for all of your advice. Theres a lot of information here and it seems that there is some difference of opinion as expected but most of it is mainly positive but warnings regarding finances. What I didn't mention earlier is I have 2 Thai children so any house building if I ever decide will be put in their name once they become old enough as being late teenagers they're not old enough for this.
A friend of mine told me years ago when I was living in Thailand nor to put into Thailand what your not prepared to loose and I have followed this advice religiously. Its got me out of trouble on a few occasions as Ive heard too many horror stories in the past. Im 53 and when Im 55 I will be able to draw on my private pension giving me around £55k annually.
I have never been into the bar girl scene. I don't believe that its good to start a romantic relationship starting with a financial transaction, there will always be the exception to the rule of course but many of these relationships fail. Im looking for a normal rural kind of living as that is what I enjoyed so much previously embracing the Thai culture giving me a n enjoyment I had never experienced before and the Thai people I found so friendly.
Theres always an escape route but I believe with a relatively good pension and funds from rental property in the uk It wouldn't too difficult to set up elsewhere if it became absolutely necessary but Thailand is where my heart has been for many years now.

 

Most people will have missed your update Clive once few pages have grown on a thread the participants have their say then respond only to direct comments on their posts

 

Bin all the usual, only spend dialogue, health concerns, and visa issues, you have adequate means to dispatch all those concerns

 

So to current day, Thai banks are tightening up on loans, so if you wish to secure a little corner in rural Thailand for yourself and family to relax, for now and in the future, I would suggest any time now is a good place to start inquiries with a view to purchase.

 

Given you have a couple of years before you anticipate possible early retirement you can build your 'dream' steadily and spread the expense

 

Choose an area where your interests are facilitated, be it food, women and partying, golf, a small holding, gardening, motor racing, cycling, hash running. Set your self up steadily and methodically, then you will have an enjoyable retirement. Housing paid, done sorted. expect too the ability to explore Thailand and Asia in more depth.

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

 

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by 473geo

6 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

I thought we were talking about Thighland?....Pardon my covfefe.....carry on

 

Make of that what you will.

You have to have lived elsewhere (in addition to your home Country) in order to compare. More roads are now paved than when OP was here last. Railway is under improvement. Water is reliable and potable. Electricity and internet both reliable too. Immigration is not difficult to deal with or as expensive as some Countries. If you don't wish to deal with them yourself there are easy options. It is cheap to rent or buy accommodation. OP may have two decades before health becomes an issue. T shirt and shorts weather everyday. Thailand is a safe Country to live in. OP likes the food too!

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have to disagree with you on that, each to their own of course. I say that as my wife of 14 years lived with me in Sydney for 9 years and we have been living here for 5 years now. <snip>

I would say that the experience opened her eyes, hence the reason she says to me every now and again, that she hates Thailand, and no she didn't work in Sydney, so it has nothing to do with making money.

 

My wife hated life in the UK for the 12 years she was here. "Thailand is my paradise" are her words, she is far happier there than anywhere else. She has gone back to Thailand ahead of me, and I'll join here in retirement in the next few months.

 

To the original poster - nice pension, you'll be able to have a great life in Thailand, and you have a wide choice of lifestyle, from busy Bangkok, to being on the beach, to having a quiet rural life. The choice is yours.

Wherever you retire, there's only one rule to live by:

 

 

31 minutes ago, Tuvoc said:

My wife hated life in the UK for the 12 years she was here. "Thailand is my paradise" are her words, she is far happier there than anywhere else. She has gone back to Thailand ahead of me, and I'll join here in retirement in the next few months.

 

To the original poster - nice pension, you'll be able to have a great life in Thailand, and you have a wide choice of lifestyle, from busy Bangkok, to being on the beach, to having a quiet rural life. The choice is yours.

I hear the weather in the UK isn't as good as the weather down under, and I can understand that your wife hated it there, i.e. if she didn't have the weather she grew up with, Thai friends to socialise with and not returning every year to see family as mine did.

 

Most from the UK can't live on their 30,000 baht pensions here, just scrapping it in, so I hope when you say nice pension, your talking 50k baht plus as everything here has gone up if your into farang stuff especially.

 Can birds fly?

We've been here for 5 years and are very happy. I prefer non tourist areas for residence. The locals in tourist areas seem to be more jaded. We lived on Samui for 2 years, and liked it, but it was too busy, and the traffic is horrible and dangerous.

 

So we chose a small town and will never leave. There is a small expat community, and we have a Thai "family". It's truly amazing, and would highly recommend. 

 

Visas can be difficult, but if you have the financial requirements it's ok!

Best of luck!

22 hours ago, mark131v said:

Has it changed in 14 years absobloodylutely, some would say better I think most would say worse, that said if your content you get on quietly and if your not you might be a bit more vocal. Post #2 is correct you need to make up your own mind...

I came over here to stay 14 years ago, all I had to do then was take a nice pleasant 200Ks drive to the border every 90 days, none of the nonsense and hoop jumping that Thai immigration makes you do today. So the answer is no I would not advise anyone to retire here today especially with not so well educated soldiers attempting to  run the country.