Is living in Thailand better health-wise than elsewhere?

[jerrymahoney]

38 minutes ago, Orinoco said:

The shags are good, but the rest. you just have to tolerate. 

Yes the problem is there are 24 hours in every day and one can only <deleted> so much.

[BritManToo]

11 hours ago, Thumbs said:

1. you will be required to either have medical insurance or show 800,000 baht in savings in order to obtain a retirement (double if a couple). As we age medical insurance becomes more and more expensive and after reaching a certain age almost impossible to obtain.

There is no requirement for medical insurance.

[jacko45k]

36 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

There is no requirement for medical insurance.

Well there is if your Permission of Stay is based on an original O-A Visa entry, I think you are aware of that. I have heard agents can get around this in some regions. (Recategorizing the Entry). I expect many will do that themselves when land borders are open and entry requirements get back to pre-Covid rules. 

[Lacessit]

10 hours ago, cardinalblue said:

Air quality is incredible important to westerners…we were raised in it as a right to breathe clean air….

 

So expectations are extremely high…

They can't be too high around Los Angeles, orange soup. I was horrified when I drove up to Big Bear Lake, and looked down at what I had been breathing.

The world's cleanest air is at Cape Grim, Tasmania. However, it is named Cape Grim for a reason.

I don't have a problem with air quality here, I have my API monitor and turn on my air purifiers at 75.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Well there is if your Permission of Stay is based on an original O-A Visa entry,

I always arrived on VISA waiver, tourist VISA or Non-O, so no insurance.

O-A never seemed to be available in the UK.

 

Can't believe anyone would be daft enough to buy a VISA with all the extra expense of the O-A.

Don't know anyone that ever had that VISA.

[jacko45k]

Just now, BritManToo said:

Can't believe anyone would be daft enough to buy a VISA with all the extra expense of the O-A.

Don't know anyone that ever had that VISA.

A lot of USA guys seemed to arrive with one of those.... years gone by it was a good Visa allowing two years stay. I am so long in the tooth I still operate on an entry based on a Non-Imm-O Multiple Entry....long since gone.

[Nemises]

2 hours ago, garyk said:

But, in Thailand it makes it absolutely not livable several months a year. 

Not true. Should read:
 

“But, in some parts of Thailand it (the poor air quality) makes it absolutely not livable several months a year”

 

There, all fixed. 
 

You’re welcome!!!
 

 

[ding]

21 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

They can't be too high around Los Angeles, orange soup. I was horrified when I drove up to Big Bear Lake, and looked down at what I had been breathing.

 

We hiked to the Griffith Observatory in LA a month ago and I was surprised to see the area below socked in with a layer of 1970's style smog. I heard the SUV's were given an emissions pass so everybody started buying those.

[david_dyer]

10 hours ago, milys said:

What kind of music is "duff duff duff duff" ? Techno or..... ?

hard to tell cos i dont listen to techno music but the continual deep base rattles the windows and when the kids that moved into the village during covid, and their super loud car systems that are loud enough to even get the bar owners upset. the noise down here is out of controle sometimes. sounds similat to the bass tones used for tuning big car systems or cinemas

[Lacessit]

15 minutes ago, ding said:

We hiked to the Griffith Observatory in LA a month ago and I was surprised to see the area below socked in with a layer of 1970's style smog. I heard the SUV's were given an emissions pass so everybody started buying those.

Same trend in Australia, SUV's and pickups now dominate the market. Some serious taxing on the basis of vehicle mass is needed to reverse the trend.

I bought a Honda Civic in 1974, it weighed 690 kg. The 2022 Civic is nearly double that weight.

 

In California, smog is exacerbated by many households having two, three or even four vehicles. Exempt the first vehicle, and progressively tax the rest, and IMO it would go a long way to making the air there more breathable. Cue outraged Americans claiming I am infringing their personal freedumb.

 

Large pickups in Thailand serve two purposes. The first is transporting large quantities of goods or people. The second is to bull their way back into queued traffic, or intimidate smaller vehicles occupying the fast lane.

[JTXR]

On 4/13/2022 at 6:58 AM, cheapcanuck said:

I travel to Thailand (southern islands) yearly for a month or two or three. When in Thailand I feel 20 years younger. I loose a minimum of 20 lbs per visit. Am a lot more active by walking, hiking, biking, swimming, diving, etc, etc.

So my answer to the question is YES, Thailand is a healthier environment to live in.

What you mean is that Thailand is a nice place to live a healthy lifestyle in.  If you laze around on the sofa, drink like a fish and eat like a pig, you'll be as unhealthy as if you did the same anywhere else.

[The Fugitive]

14 hours ago, simon43 said:

Well, almost (if not all) every single foreign friend that I knew in Phuket is dead.... motorbike accidents, liver cirrhosis, suicide, cancer, diabetes.  some were older than me, some younger.  Perhaps I'm just a Jonah!

Not only us foreigners either. A disturbing number of local Thai's have died from strokes in their forties.

[chalawaan]

If you are where the sea breezes blow inland, then yes.

Elsewhere not so good.

What many elderly and even middle aged chaps discount, is the significant risk increase of heart and vascular disease filthy air bestows. 

If the booze, smokes, and hydrogenated palm oil products don't get you first.

[pokerface1]

Just don’t breath to deeply and you should be okay. 

[The Fugitive]

3 minutes ago, pokerface1 said:

Just don’t breath to deeply and you should be okay. 

True! Remember reading some time ago (U.K.) that aerobic exercise was not recommended for anyone living within a thirty mile radius of a large town/City. 

[Andrew65]

On 4/13/2022 at 4:01 AM, 2009 said:

Well, they do teach English here from 3 years old, so he has a point.

 

I have as much Thai as I really need and I have little interest in studying more.

 

My precious time could be used in a much more beneficial way: exercise, reading novels, making more money, spending more time with family, having a beer, going for a massage etc etc

 

I mean what are the odds of intellectual conversation in Thai anyway?

 

The average Thai mother only communicates a few words to her children anyway: eat, sleep, shower etc etc.

Further to what I mentioned about my old friend and his lack of Thai language skills. He's been retired in Thailand for many years now. He doesn't have a wife/girlfriend/partner, as far as I know. He's never worked in Thailand, and he doesn't 'hang-out' socially with Thai people. From his point of view he muddles-along ok regardless of that. He occasionally goes dinking with farang friends, and heads to the supermarket for his weekly food shopping. He seems happy enough with his life, and can get along ok without speaking any Thai. It's dependent on what we're actually doing in Thailand, how useful the language is to us.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

Further to what I mentioned about my old friend and his lack of Thai language skills. He's been retired in Thailand for many years now. He doesn't have a wife/girlfriend/partner, as far as I know. He's never worked in Thailand, and he doesn't 'hang-out' socially with Thai people. From his point of view he muddles-along ok regardless of that. He occasionally goes dinking with farang friends, and heads to the supermarket for his weekly food shopping. He seems happy enough with his life, and can get along ok without speaking any Thai. It's dependent on what we're actually doing in Thailand, how useful the language is to us.

I can read, write and conduct simple commerce in Thai.

My Thai family all speak English (and their first language is Laos, not central Thai).

Never encountered any Thai I wanted to chat with.

That's good enough IMHO.

 

[Andrew65]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I can read, write and conduct simple commerce in Thai.

My Thai family all speak English (and their first language is Laos, not central Thai).

Never encountered any Thai I wanted to chat with.

That's good enough IMHO.

 

My point being, my old friend doesn't need to do, or want to do those things. (Different strokes for different folks).

[BigStar]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:01 AM, 2009 said:

I mean what are the odds of intellectual conversation in Thai anyway?

Probably greater than the odds of intellectual conversation in English with an expat. Or in Brummie or Geordie.

[rickudon]

On 4/13/2022 at 2:14 AM, webfact said:

Thailand is generally extremely hot, particularly between March and May with April being the hottest month (30°C/86°F). 

Time to buy a new thermometer! Over 90% of days over the whole year are above 30 Centigrade. Weather only nice before 10 a.m. or in the evenings (sometimes). The heat is probably my biggest bugbear, and effects my ability to keep fit. Last night was in hospital, as sister-in-law had food poisoning - have to be careful about food quality here. 

 

Is Thailand better health wise? Well beats most of Africa.......

[Andrew65]

One thing being, for a long term resident of Thailand, it's impossible to know how their health would have been if they hadn't been living in Thailand.

[BritManToo]

18 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

One thing being, for a long term resident of Thailand, it's impossible to know how their health would have been if they hadn't been living in Thailand.

I would have caught a lot less STDs if I'd stayed in the UK.

[Andrew65]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I would have caught a lot less STDs if I'd stayed in the UK.

STD - Subscriber trunk dialling????

[garyk]

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

In California, smog is exacerbated by many households having two, three or even four vehicles. Exempt the first vehicle, and progressively tax the rest, and IMO it would go a long way to making the air there more breathable. Cue outraged Americans claiming I am infringing their personal freedumb.

Same in Texas, the guy living across from me has four vehicles all huge gas guzzlers. I love my country, but I can only stand to live here about 3-6 months a year..  But the air quality for me is breathable. Thailand is on another level.

[MyFriend You]

deleted

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, rickudon said:

The heat is probably my biggest bugbear,

"Thailand, country located in the centre of mainland Southeast Asia. Located wholly within the tropics."

 

It does what is says on the tin?

[rickudon]

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

"Thailand, country located in the centre of mainland Southeast Asia. Located wholly within the tropics."

 

It does what is says on the tin?

Yes, but the high temperatures are the most negative factor in living here, for me. Obviously there are positives, or i wouldn't be here. All countries come with positives and negatives. If i find paradise, i will let you know - or on reflection, not, wouldn't want to spoil it!

[VocalNeal]

17 minutes ago, rickudon said:

or on reflection, not, wouldn't want to spoil it!

My sentiment exactly. 

[BritManToo]

20 minutes ago, rickudon said:

Yes, but the high temperatures are the most negative factor in living here, for me. Obviously there are positives, or i wouldn't be here. All countries come with positives and negatives. If i find paradise, i will let you know - or on reflection, not, wouldn't want to spoil it!

34c in the shade up here in Chiang Mai ....... sitting on the sofa, no fan, no air-con, no sweat, I don't find it a problem.

[KhunLA]

49 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

34c in the shade up here in Chiang Mai ....... sitting on the sofa, no fan, no air-con, no sweat, I don't find it a problem.

It's the feels like that gets to me, down here, PKK ... 

... at least the air is back to normal 'bad' AQI 40-75 range ????