at my age ready to retire soon from my job in Australia im glad i didnt take that "plunge" back in 2004 like most first timers to thailand/Asia and leave my job with excited hope to live there .

These are the results of some that did,effectively ruining their later life .

Its the dream guys to go to Asia particularly thailand to live but if you are leaving a secure job, and you are say under 50 with not much money ....dont do it 

 

Fast forward nearly 20 years and i get a whatsapp message from one of my friends here in Sydney that a former friend we had travelled with is trying to contact us.

About 5 of us travelled to pattaya and one in particular his name was Russell was 34yo and had left his secure government job to live back then in pattaya with a girl he met on his first trip.

 

Silly me at that time was also looking to live there although i was older than Russell,must be over 10 years since i spoke to him,he had moved to thailand leaving his job etc and bought a bar but now a teacher

Russell is now in Cambodia ,i think around the 52 mark and has apparently been a teacher in Cambodia Burma etc ,,Russell is contacting us to ask for money .

I havent been contacted by him yet but apparently financially he is not going too good and told my friend he hadnt saved any money and was considering coming back to Australia to find work.

he has no skills ,no money,no job,no housing ,and get this,cant afford his airfare back to sydney 

 

His teacher salary was something like 30,000 baht a month ,so in other words he wasted his last 20 years when he could of been saving here in australia and possibly retired by now 

 

The second case is another farang friend  ,who has lived in thailand around 15 years ,he is now 65yo ,married in thailand,2 young kids ,he talks to me on skype ,he says he is coming back without missus and kids to claim his Aussie pension, apparently has to live here 2 years to claim it at 67yo ,but he has no where to stay ,can he stay at my apartment with me ?..can i get free board until my wife gets a loan from her father? ....ummmmm no i said 

He has no money either despite his thai wife working in thailand and apparent rich father in law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by georgegeorgia

8 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

he wasted his last 20 years when he could of been saving here in australia and possibly retired by now

You say he must have wasted his life , but I doubt he would say that,

much better been here when you are younger , than arriving much

later in life, when you cannot get it up.......????

regards Worgeordie

I came her 20 years ago,doing ok so far.

Many people with skills can live happily every after in Thailand and many other places. People without skills and without business knowledge mostly can't do that. What a surprise. Or maybe not?

But then again it is everybody's personal choice what they want to do. If they want to live i.e. with 30k per month in Thailand for years and then have no money and then they return to their home countries that is up to them.

Carpe diem

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Many people with skills can live happily every after in Thailand and many other places. People without skills and without business knowledge mostly can't do that. What a surprise. Or maybe not?

But then again it is everybody's personal choice what they want to do. If they want to live i.e. with 30k per month in Thailand for years and then have no money and then they return to their home countries that is up to them.

Carpe diem

Im of the opinion if you can make ok money in Thailand its nice to live here when younger. Much better as when you arrive old.

 

Of course you need to have skills to do so. The OP seems to be obsessed by Thailand and constantly posts yet he is happy he did not go. I wonder if he is trying convince himself.

I came to Thailand at 26, been here 22 years.

 

I work overseas and make good money.

 

Being here at that age was a blast, best times ever, due to still being relatively young and due to Thailand being a much better vibe 'back then'.

 

Don't know if i'd like to arrive and try and find my feet as an older gentleman, be a bit of a minefield.

Guess Russell doesnt know he,s a "former friend"!! 

That's pretty anecdotal stuff you are using there to justify not coming to Thailand.

 

I know lots and lots of ex-pats who did make the move at an early age and are absolutely thriving here. Granted, not many of them are living off a 30k THB per month salary so i would suggest the problem is not with Thailand but more the fact your friends didn't have an 'in demand' skillset and had to make do with whatever job was offered to them (low paid teaching being the case here).

 

People make bad career choices all the time and give little or no thought for the future and their more 'mature' years. But I would counter this can happen just as easily in your own home country but with the downside you didn't have an absolute blast in Thailand for 10/20 years.

53 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

The second case is another farang friend  ,who has lived in thailand around 15 years ,he is now 65yo ,married in thailand,2 young kids ,he talks to me on skype ,he says he is coming back without missus and kids to claim his Aussie pension, apparently has to live here 2 years to claim it at 67yo ,but he has no where to stay ,can he stay at my apartment with me ?..can i get free board until my wife gets a loan from her father? ....ummmmm no i said 

My Brit pal was dying of AIDs a few years back.

I offered him my spare bedroom in Chiang Mai if he could get back here (he had a decent pension).

It's what friends do for each other, sadly he never left  the UK hospital and died there after nearly a year.

 

I retired in the UK at age 45, was divorced by my Brit wife at 52.

Discovered Thailand during my divorce and never went back.

Not worked a day since my divorce.

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by BritManToo

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

at my age ready to retire soon from my job in Australia im glad i didnt take that "plunge" back in 2004 like most first timers to thailand/Asia and leave my job with excited hope to live there .

I bet your "friends" are glad you didn't too.

58 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

You say he must have wasted his life , but I doubt he would say that,

much better been here when you are younger , than arriving much

later in life, when you cannot get it up.......????

regards Worgeordie

Well, I don't think I could get it up at all on 30000 a month. I waited until I was entitled to my full pension at 62. Now, seven years later, with over a quarter of million a month, and some magic blue pills life is great. A vigorous income here has the greatest sex appeal.

Not unusual for aussies to go back for 2 years to get that pension, must feel like a lost 2 years.

 

At 28 after a year of travelling I could of stayed in Thailand and work as scuba dive instructor, good life but poor money, glad i didnt, went back to work in London in financial services which enabled me to retire early

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by scubascuba3

How many times are you going to post this story?

Live and work here and very happy.

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by FritsSikkink

I think from the response your getting georgegeorgia--most people recognize your negative posts from earlier postings----they dont seem to change.

 

Just to add to the rest---I came here over 20 years ago----in my 50s......spend most time wishing I had done it sooner, instead of slowly dyeing  in a nice safe job.

 

Mate if you dont want to be here---fine, but try not to live your life through the forum--your only showing everyone how bored you really are in Oz.

 

 

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by sanuk711

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Many people with skills can live happily every after in Thailand and many other places. People without skills and without business knowledge mostly can't do that. What a surprise. Or maybe not?

But then again it is everybody's personal choice what they want to do. If they want to live i.e. with 30k per month in Thailand for years and then have no money and then they return to their home countries that is up to them.

Carpe diem

And many continue to shed the usual bitterness and naivete as it is so promptly shown among venues like this.

Dullards rule. 

Planning is everything.   Those who don't ... oh well ????

 

Quite enjoyed / enjoying my 20+ years living here.   If thinking about it, may regret not leaving the USA sooner.  But don't stress over 'should have, would have, could have' scenarios.

 

This part of the OP's post, would fall under the uncommon common sense, many don't seem to have, then cry when it hits the fan ... ????

"but if you are leaving a secure job, and you are say under 50 with not much money ....dont do it"

 

OP commenting negatively, on something has no 1st hand knowledge of.  Only from the 'stories' of folks he may or may not know, who have failed, vs the millions that have succeeded at it.  hmm .... nuff said.

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by KhunLA

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Planning is everything.   Those who don't ... oh well ????

 

Quite enjoyed / enjoying my 20+ years living here.   If thinking about it, may regret not leaving the USA sooner.  But don't stress over 'should have, would have, could have' scenarios.

 

This part of the OP's post, would fall under the uncommon common sense, many don't seem to have, then cry when it hits the fan ... ????

"but if you are leaving a secure job, and you are say under 50 with not much money ....dont do it"

But isnt that common sense to not leave something secure if you have no money. I would not have stayed here if i could not provide myself with good income. 

27 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

went back to work in London in financial services which enabled me to retire early

And how did your clients fare? 

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

You say he must have wasted his life , but I doubt he would say that,

much better been here when you are younger , than arriving much

later in life, when you cannot get it up.......????

regards Worgeordie

 

To every single soul that ask me about life in Thailand I tell them to come when they are young.

 

Long airplane rides get harder to handle and recover from.  Living in less developed places ... while younger you pretty easily navigate weird sidewalks, badly designed bathrooms, lower quality mattresses, wonky climate control (whether it be heat or AC), crowded unclean buses, etc.  When older, physically, these minor annoyances and rough edges, can become real obstacles. 

6 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

And how did your clients fare? 

That for a large part depends on how the stockmarket goes. I worked as the head of backoffice and IT at a stock traders office. They serviced clients and traded for them. I saw profits and losses it made me lose faith in the abilities of stock traders. These guys also had personal portfolio's they traded for and even those did not see huge increases (more like losses) in the downturn. 

 

One of the traders often did trades just for the commission, these guys made a lot of money. It was not unheard of to see two guys in the same office take opposite views of how the market or a certain share would move and acted accordingly. It was not a really large company i believe 7 traders if i recall. 

 

So id say everyone does well when the stock exchange goes up, most do bad when it goes down. And sure you can speculate that it goes down with options and stuff like that. But in general this was what i saw. 

Hindsight is a 20/20 vision and easy to pick fault.

Shoulda woukda coukda etc, but at the end of the day you can only do what feels right for you at the time.

 

The past is history, tomorrow a mystery, today a gift, thats why its called the present. ????

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

Russell is contacting us to ask for money .

It's ok to say no.

 

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

but he has no where to stay ,can he stay at my apartment with me ?

Again, it's ok to say no.

 

To me, mates are few and far between, i.e. you can only count them on one hand, takes years of growing with them, knowing their make up, what makes them tick and visa versa, and over those years you both get respect each other and form a bond and become loyal to each other, sort of like brothers, without the fights.

 

Only ever had a mate ask me once for a leg up when a payment for goods to his business was held up in China, he asked me for $100K, if I didn't think he was worthy of paying it back, I wouldn't have lent it to him and yes there was a risk involved, however I knew the guy well, very well.

 

I do not lend money to anyone period, and often say no, I don't provide a reason and if a person persists, I tell them that is my rule, burnt once, twice three times, so I don't do it anymore and if they can't accept that, I can't help them.

 

But when it comes to that handful of mates I will do what I can for them, whether that is putting them up or lending them money, but these types of mates takes years if not decades to form the bond as mates, not to be confused with your casual affiliations, and I know if I needed something tomorrow they would do the same for me.

 

You can pick and choose your friends, but mates are in the game for the long haul, again, not to confuse them with the guys you have been drinking with for a few years at the local waterhole, or been on an overseas trip with.

 

So say no and move along, as for moving to Thailand, agree, if your not financial, best you don't, but not everyone wants to wait till they are financial and that is there choice, all you have to do is when they put in that call is say no, and no need to apologise for their decision to move to Thailand earlier than later.

I dont know about the OP and what his motivations for the thread are but there are some things he says that I agree with. 

Don't come to Thailand  until you are ready, your needs when you are young are not the same as when you will be older. You need to prepare for the winter otherwise  when winter (old age ) comes you will not fair well. 

    It reminds me the story of the cricket and the ant. We all know the story. 

I cringe when I hear , I will sell the house  and car, quit my job and with the proceeds finance my escape to Thailand. Then when things don't work out or an emergency occurs and you need to return,  you are up the creek without a paddle.

We all want tp escape. So did I, but i stuck it out, put in my time, paid my dues,.

Now both US and Thai houses mortgage free, trade union pension fully vested, above average social security, and sitting pretty. 

Nothing worst than to be retired and not have the money to do the things you want to do, IMO , And as I said, god forbid you have problems when you get old , as many of us do. 

15 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I dont know about the OP and what his motivations for the thread are but there are some things he says that I agree with. 

Don't come to Thailand  until you are ready, your needs when you are young are not the same as when you will be older. You need to prepare for the winter otherwise  when winter (old age ) comes you will not fair well. 

    It reminds me the story of the cricket and the ant. We all know the story. 

I cringe when I hear , I will sell the house  and car, quit my job and with the proceeds finance my escape to Thailand. Then when things don't work out or an emergency occurs and you need to return,  you are up the creek without a paddle.

We all want tp escape. So did I, but i stuck it out, put in my time, paid my dues,.

Now both US and Thai houses mortgage free, trade union pension fully vested, above average social security, and sitting pretty. 

Nothing worst than to be retired and not have the money to do the things you want to do, IMO , And as I said, god forbid you have problems when you get old , as many of us do. 

Largely dependent on the familial connections and company one wishes to keep. 

Some will always be engaged in being a foreigner. 

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by zzaa09

I retired twice -- once when I was 48 and then again when I was 68.

 

When I was 48 I left the high tech business world and traveled in Asia for 4 years -- mainly Thailand, Burma, Laos and Indonesia. I spent months in northern Burma and rarely saw another foreigner. I hiked a mountain in Chin state and never worried about getting sick. I didn't care about the bad food or the primitive accommodations. I was still in the invincible phase and was having the adventure I wanted.

 

When I was tired of traveling, I settled down in Thailand and went back to work. I picked up web programming jobs that paid around $3,000 a month, enough for monthly expenses. So I never had to touch my retirement savings until I actually retired after working for another 15 years.

 

If you're rich enough, you can retire early and do the things you've always wanted to do. But if you're moderately well off, you can take a long break when you're relatively young and then go back to work until you actually retire.

 

Paul Laew

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

And how did your clients fare? 

they're all down and out now

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

My Brit pal was dying of AIDs a few years back.

I offered him my spare bedroom in Chiang Mai if he could get back here (he had a decent pension).

It's what friends do for each other, sadly he never left  the UK hospital and died there after nearly a year.

 

I retired in the UK at age 45, was divorced by my Brit wife at 52.

Discovered Thailand during my divorce and never went back.

Not worked a day since my divorce.

 

If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage financially when retiring at 45 and dealing with a (I assume expensive) divorce in your early 50s ?

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

Nothing worst than to be retired and not have the money to do the things you want to do, IMO , And as I said, god forbid you have problems when you get old , as many of us do. 

As an old 65+ man, all the things I want to do are done from a sofa in front of the TV.

I don't really need much money for that, but it's nicer in a country where I can have the doors and windows open all day.

5 minutes ago, realfunster said:

If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage financially when retiring at 45 and dealing with a (I assume expensive) divorce in your early 50s ?

I left work at 45 with  ........... 1 years tax free salary and a company pension.

Then moved from Oxford to a much larger but much cheaper house in Cornwall (both houses without a mortgage). 

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

As an old 65+ man, all the things I want to do are done from a sofa in front of the TV.

I don't really need much money for that, but it's nicer in a country where I can have the doors and windows open all day.

Not everyone is the same, I am almost 65 myself but,

I am a cant sit still kind of guy, I am always involved in some project and when I start working I hate to stop, even to eat,

wife is constantly calling me to come and eat and I am always "10 more minutes" LOL.

I also like to travel. If you want to punish me, make me do nothing, I would probably lose my mind.

When I was in collage my brother got me a job covering for the doormen as they went on vacation in the summer, at a posh  park avenue building, The money were very good, and there were tips, The job involved just sitting there , opening the door, being pleasant to people, and getting a cab, if it was raining, holding an umbrella. In the evening shifts some times I would go for hours not seeing a person.

 You would think "great job" sitting there doing nothing and getting great money.

I thought I would go out of my mind!! Next summer when they called me back , I told them "not on your life." ????