The best country for expats to relocate to has been named

Not Thailand!

6 minutes ago, connda said:

The best country for expats to relocate to has been named

Not Thailand!

Every guy I know is looking for love and of sex.

Where is better than Thailand for a guy over forty then?

1 minute ago, Grecian said:

Every guy I know is looking for love and of sex.

Where is better than Thailand for a guy over forty then?

Philippines

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Philippines

I didn't mean love and sex at the exclusion of allelse. Lol

 

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Philippines

Brazil

Worked on Taiwan for five years. Loved the place and loved the people. Most retirees would, however, find it expensive. 

 

Left there in 1993 to retire to Thailand which would still be at the the top of my list.

Funny thing about people looking to retire to another country is that most of them aren't rich enough to move and make a significantly better life for themselves and the ones who are rich enough don't need to because most countries are pretty damn good if you are rich.

Funny thing about people looking to retire to another country is that most of them aren't rich enough to move and make a significantly better life for themselves and the ones who are rich enough don't need to because most countries are pretty damn good if you are rich.

17 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Funny thing about people looking to retire to another country is that most of them aren't rich enough to move and make a significantly better life for themselves and the ones who are rich enough don't need to because most countries are pretty damn good if you are rich.

Really?

 

Rent 300 to 500 $

 

 

Lets be realistic---by the numbers

Top 10 countries for expats

1. Taiwan--sooner than later going to be some problems if not full scale invasion by China

 

2. Mexico---- drug cartels fighting for control with resorts having guards with machine guns patroling the beaches

3. Costa Rica

 

4. Malaysia    My second home scheme used to reuire $5,000 dollars a month to get visa, now it's $9,000 a month to retire there.

5. Portugal

 

6. New Zealand +

7. Australia       I am not  living in any country that treats me like a prisoner telling me I can't leave if I want to.

 

8.Ecuador

 

9. Canada  ----high cost of housing

 

10. Vietnam---no long term visa at present  but possibilites for for the future

Best strategy is to keep moving (living out of a suitcase) literally and 'romantically'. Tired of a place, people, cuisine, weather? Move on!!!

On 12/14/2021 at 8:15 AM, Jerno said:

Canada's great place, but housing costs in any major city is horrific.  Average house price in Toronto is over CA$1,300,000.  Try that as expat on a pension or retirement savings.

Canada !!  mmmm I lived there for 5 years in New Brunswick .  40 below in the winter and in the summer the black flies kept me indoors .  Taxes, cost of living ,  HEATING !!    Here in Thailand all those things are negligible except cost of living is going up !

3 minutes ago, World Traveller2 said:

Best strategy is to keep moving (living out of a suitcase) literally and 'romantically'. Tired of a place, people, cuisine, weather? Move on!!!

That would be me, if my situation changed ... ????

On 12/14/2021 at 7:14 AM, ezzra said:

A clue Thailand Not among the top 10..

When u moving?

21 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Really?

 

Rent 300 to 500 $

 

 

When u off?

11 minutes ago, World Traveller2 said:

Best strategy is to keep moving (living out of a suitcase) literally and 'romantically'. Tired of a place, people, cuisine, weather? Move on!!!

For some. For others that would be hell. This isn't one size fits all matter.

2 hours ago, Grecian said:

Every guy I know is looking for love and of sex.

Where is better than Thailand for a guy over forty then?

Not well traveled, 'eh?

29 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

For some. For others that would be hell. This isn't one size fits all matter.

Let me clarify...

 

*For me*. Not for others like me. For me

1 hour ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Funny thing about people looking to retire to another country is that most of them aren't rich enough to move and make a significantly better life for themselves and the ones who are rich enough don't need to because most countries are pretty damn good if you are rich.

I've managed it on 1,000 pounds a month.

That got me a nice house, and an attractive younger woman in my bed every night.

Food, drink, motorcycle, car, kids and pets.

None of which I would have back in the UK.

30 minutes ago, connda said:

Not well traveled, 'eh?

What's that got to do with your claim there is better than Thailand for a single guy?

 

I will repeat my question to you. where is better?

Connda wrote...

 

"30 or 40 years ago, those of us who came to SE Asian had a high tolerance to risk."

 

Exactly. I lived through several civil wars and miltary conflicts in S.E. Asia and the Indian Ocean. So 'safe' is subjective. Safe compared to what and compared to when? Instability has perks. For example, governments and military leaving you alone, generally anyway,  because they have more important (to them anyway) interests.

 

I enjoy invisibility.

1 hour ago, Grecian said:

What's that got to do with your claim there is better than Thailand for a single guy?

 

I will repeat my question to you. where is better?

A reasonable question.

 

And for which kind of single guy? At 35 and with more cash going out for a hotel buffet, I got different responses from Thai women than I do at 65 eating 'jok' (rice porridge) for breakfast. If you are black American you might do better in Tanzania. I know white Americans who do well in Capetown as visitors. There are dozens of factors.

 

Where I agree with Grecian is that for easy-access night-time entertainment, Thailand is still supreme. Phnom Penh took over that mantle for perhaps eight years. Certain obscure places in Indonesia and China were party towns. *For a while*.

 

Glitzy Bangkok and pedestrian Pattaya rule. Long-term

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I've managed it on 1,000 pounds a month.

That got me a nice house, and an attractive younger woman in my bed every night.

Food, drink, motorcycle, car, kids and pets.

None of which I would have back in the UK.

45,000 baht won't get you anything like that in Bangkok and if you want to live in one of the nicer beach locations you'll pay more than BKK and have a lot less convenience.  

I've been all over Thailand and aside from some coastal areas everywhere else has been a sh*thole.  I was in Buriram city recently, what an absolute dump of a place that is.

 

On 12/14/2021 at 11:54 AM, connda said:

Must be an old review.   Taiwan may end up in a hot war with China.  Borders to Australia, NZ, Canada, Vietnam and closed.  Perhaps others. About the only viable countries at this time are Mexico, Costa Rica, and Portugal.

In the Covid era, there "Best Places To........" reviews are about as useless as nipples on men.

Facts are irrelevant for such lists.

As mentioned in previous posts here. It depends what your looking for. I live in Canada but am looking to get away from it. It is expensive here, have 7 months of the year with snow on the ground, and a people that tend to be like sheep to the corrupt government.

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

For some. For others that would be hell. This isn't one size fits all matter.

I have considered a compromise of sorts - plenty of good and cheap (I am thinking 5-10,000b) places in Pattaya/Jomtien to use as a base from which to slow travel from.  Constant travel does get tiring, at least for me, so having a home to come back to for extended periods is invaluable.  Recharge the batteries, if you will.  If I am gone for 1,2 even 3 months the housing costs here are low enough to make it manageable.  Easy access to Swampy seals the deal, IMO.  I am drawing up my post-Covid travel plans so always enjoy these threads.

Go to Taiwan all you want if you have the $$$ for housing!!  It is unreal and as for temperatures for 8 months of the year, I sure hope you love the humidity index each day!! It's a great place to work as it pays well and I have some insight as I just put in 22+ years there finishing up a few months ago.  But I was on the first plane each Chinese New Year holiday for a month and summer holidays July 1st/2 months to Thailand to escape the heat / crowds and why I am here now.    As for buying places, my friends would always laugh as when people pass out flyers on the sidewalks for new condos and see one of us coming, they never gave them to us.  But in Thailand it was the opposite.  Nobody is in Taiwan to retire mostly (unless married and not always all of them stay) and I will say I "never" met one in my 22+ years that did!!

ive been to most on the list and  a few not on it colombia,panama,croatia,philippines to name a few but each to their own,if u want a nice but boring life of mass control yes oz nz and canada work well at some expense too.not my idea neither the thrill of educational islam.taiwan  id like to know how as no retirement visa but if anyone has a suggestion id be all ears.given the shreiking hysteria from EU and uk over the new highly undangerous variant we are all going nowhere fast.im sure more of this mass paranoia will be visiting us soon.

2 minutes ago, rupert the bear said:

ive been to most on the list and  a few not on it colombia,panama,croatia,philippines to name a few but each to their own,if u want a nice but boring life of mass control yes oz nz and canada work well at some expense too.not my idea neither the thrill of educational islam.taiwan  id like to know how as no retirement visa but if anyone has a suggestion id be all ears.given the shreiking hysteria from EU and uk over the new highly undangerous variant we are all going nowhere fast.im sure more of this mass paranoia will be visiting us soon.

Yeah, the list is about expats in general probably skewed towards working expats, not retired expats specifically. Retirement in Taiwan? No visa for that. Vietnam, also no visa for that. . 

7 minutes ago, rupert the bear said:

ive been to most on the list and  a few not on it colombia,panama,croatia,philippines to name a few but each to their own,if u want a nice but boring life of mass control yes oz nz and canada work well at some expense too.not my idea neither the thrill of educational islam.taiwan  id like to know how as no retirement visa but if anyone has a suggestion id be all ears.given the shreiking hysteria from EU and uk over the new highly undangerous variant we are all going nowhere fast.im sure more of this mass paranoia will be visiting us soon.

Lived in Taiwan 22+ yrs just finished recently (my post above).  I had my permanent residency (APRC) and once you have that, you do not need to work and can stay as long as you put in 183 days/year.  Of course if you marry there, you got permanent residency (through marriage/different rules) too and can stay throughout.  But for me, back around 2006 I got my permanent residency/ APRC after working/paying my taxes and no time in between jobs on an ARC (Alien Resident Card which you get first day of work) for 7 yrs.  Today this is down to 5 years.  So for anyone to just walk in, you could would have to put in 5 years of work or marry to stay/retire.  There is even a new law on my permanent residency, that being when I left in May, I still retain my Permanent Residency for 5 years without even re-entering.  And if I re-enter, I am extended another 5 years and so on.  But again, like my post above......I never met a person there that retired.  Pays well....but too many people  / housing prices unreal / humidity index unreal!!