If Thailand is getting tougher for expats, how about Vietnam?

[webfact]

 

by Michael Bridge

Pollution, Covid entry restrictions, health insurance requirements and ever-changing immigration rules, are making many expats reconsider the merits of being a resident in Thailand.

So how about considering moving to Vietnam?

According to Numbeo’s ranking, the largest website in the global price data field, Vietnam ranks 86th in the world but sixth in Southeast Asia in terms of cost of living. 

Their survey results show that Vietnam ranks in the position with the lowest cost of living for foreigners. 

Ninety-three percent of foreigners living and working in Vietnam said they have enough or more money than they need to cover their lives.

According to one AseanNow viewer, he said he had just come back from HCMC, where he had an offer of a 1-year visa there for $450. That alone was a tempting reason not to bother coming back to Thailand! 

 

He did add though that the wife, son, dog, cats, fish & plants all disagreed with me. 

 

Of course, lifestyle is as important, as is a low cost of living.

 

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In the past, it would be fair to say most expats especially those working in Vietnam chose the two main cities Hanoi and HCMC (formerly Saigon) as their base.

However, now that Vietnam has invested heavily in its infrastructure, resorts and destinations, many savvy expats especially retirees are becoming a bit more adventurous in their choice of final destination.

Similar to the resorts of Hua Hin, Phuket, and Chang Mai, there are other options away from the city crowds in Vietnam.

Not everyone wants or needs to live in a big city, so here are a few alternatives to consider.

Da Lat

Da lat – is a cool place to live in Vietnam.

 

Although the job opportunities are not as many as those in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh city, this old city blessed with great atmosphere and landscape, Da Lat is also among the best places to live in Vietnam.

When the French were running the country, they chose Da Lat for its cooler summer temperatures as it is approx. 1,500 metres above sea level, so is cool all year round.

Da Lat is known as the miniature Paris, the city in the fog, the city of love, the valley of thousands of flowers, and the city of pine forest.

When arriving here, visitors will feel many unforgettable impressions. Located on Lam Vien plateau, Da Lat has long become an attractive tourist paradise for domestic and foreign tourists. This place is like a giant air conditioner running all year round with moderate heat. The annual average temperature fluctuates around 20 degrees Celsius, so it is very suitable as a resort.

Besides natural beauty, this city is also famous for works imbued with luxurious and noble French architecture. Up to now, Da Lat has preserved and maintained hundreds of old villas, and even the street signs are blue similar to any French town.

Da Nang

Many people think that Da Nang is a place worth living for because of a clean environment, low pollution, diverse service models, abundant living standards and stable infrastructure. 

In 2011, Da Nang won the ASEAN award for “Environmentally Sustainable City”. 

However, one reason many tend to retire here is because of the likes of Nicklaus, Faldo, Norman, or Donald who have all created some exceptional fine golf courses around the region.

Da Nang also boosts a series of famous tourist destinations that you cannot ignore. Visitors will have the opportunity to visit Son Tra peninsula – about 10 km from the city center: Ba Na Mountain with rich ecological area about 1500m from the sea level or ancient craft villages such as Cam Ne mat village, Tuy Loan ancient village, Non Nuoc fine art stone village.

Nha Trang

Nha Trang is known as a paradise with famous tourist attractions and cool climate. 

Located in the center of Khanh Hoa province, Nha Trang city is also known as “the pearl of the far east” with the bestowed nature gifts such as many beautiful beaches with clear blue water, long stretches of sand, several golf resorts, wonderful sunshine, as well as spacious and airy roads, no traffic jams, and well-invested infrastructure.

There are many attractive tourist destinations in Nha Trang that visitor should not miss such as the Hon Chong, Vinpearl tourism paradise, and Hon Mun Island.

So, in the end you are actually spoilt for choice. 

Therefore, apart from getting assistance from a reputable visa specialist, go over there and rent a condominium or house.

That way you can get a good idea of the location and what it is like to live like a resident. 
Then make your choice.

The Land of Smiles is starting to lose its potential for many retirees especially those with shrinking pensions to live on.

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-04-22

 

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[Jingthing]

No retirement visa and likely never will be. 

[Meat Pie 47]

What about stay in your own country

[Jingthing]

24 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about stay in your own country

Wouldn't be prudent.

[Mac Mickmanus]

59 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about stay in your own country

There's too many foreigners in my home Country

[freedomnow]

Yip - one of my Plan B alternate bases....which may be soon...

 

I tag Viet Nam as a country near Thailand that is going to beat them on economic growth and other metrics...

Going to hose them next 20 years.

[gt162]

Vietnam has very limited Visa options. Not good to single expats. More for short-term tourists.

 

They want to avoid all the problems Thailand gets. 

[Jingthing]

12 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

There's too many foreigners in my home Country

So living abroad where you're a tiny minority is the solution. Interesting. I find the phenom of expat / xenophobes to be delicious. 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, gt162 said:

Vietnam has very limited Visa options. Not good to single expats. More for short-term tourists.

It's so stupid that Vietnam is still featured on so many clueless "best countries to retire to" lists. 

[Mac Mickmanus]

59 minutes ago, gt162 said:

Vietnam has very limited Visa options. Not good to single expats. More for short-term tourists.

 

They want to avoid all the problems Thailand gets. 

Didnt Vietnam open up a few years ago and tried to encourage retired ex-pats to relocate to Vietnam ?

   Seems like Vietnam were expecting millionaires to sail their yachts from Phuket to Danang about build million dollar houses and the only people to relocate were broke ex-pats who couldnt afford to live in Thailand 

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

So living abroad where you're a tiny minority is the solution. Interesting. I find the phenom of expat / xenophobes to be delicious. 

I initially reacted the same way as you but then I thought (hoped) he was trying to be funny… but on this forum……..

[Fairynuff]

Vietnam is a country I love to visit, but a couple of weeks and I’m ready to leave. I know I could never live there. Nha Trang, pre Covid was an absolute nightmare with 3 major tourist groups, Chinese, Russian and Korean. The noise  levels were off the scale and the general standard of behaviour was appalling. It didn’t stop me going because I have a favourite hotel and some good food.

Thailand has been getting more difficult as long as I’ve visiting and mow living, but for me it’s still home for the foreseeable future.

[Card]

2 hours ago, gt162 said:

Vietnam has very limited Visa options. Not good to single expats. More for short-term tourists.

 

They want to avoid all the problems Thailand gets. 

Which are?

[sead]

Expats chose Hanoi? 

I was there 2 weeks 2019 and i saw 5 white heads during that time. I was walking through the city every day everywhere

[BritManToo]

23 minutes ago, sead said:

Expats chose Hanoi? 

I was there 2 weeks 2019 and i saw 5 white heads during that time. I was walking through the city every day everywhere

I was also there for 2 weeks in October 2019 and saw 100s of foreign tourists.

This photo taken in 'Beer street', but they were all round the lake as well.

Also went on a food tour around the center with 10 other white tourists.

 

[Nemises]

Retired foreigners not allowed to own cars.

[Gottfrid]

The usual talk about Thailand is so bad, so need to chose another country garbage. Vietnam is not an option for most retirees at the moment. Nothing wrong with Thailand, and no need to make it sound more bad than it is. Most people that planned their retirement well have no problem at all. It´s just in this forum, all the ones that wish to complain on a daily basis gather to measure their levels of negativity.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about stay in your own country

Back to Blighty... no bleeding way.

[jensmann]

Follow the rules ( it's simple) and there won't be any problem to retire in Thailand...

[sammieuk1]

The Russian loving regime will put me off going right now but each to their own ????

[JimHuaHin]

Some interesting informed posts.

 

I have been visiting Viet Nam off and on since 1975, yes 1975.  Things have changed, slowly, for foreign tourists, and will probably, over the coming years, maybe a couple of decades, change for expats who want to retire to Viet Nam.

 

Maybe in a few years, probably before 2030, Viet Nam will have a "retirement visa" category.

 

It will probably take longer for expats to be allowed to own a motor car and drive it freely around Viet Nam.

 

It will also take time for Viet Nam's health care system to reach the same level that Thailand is currently at.

 

 

[Tropposurfer]

Ive been told first hand by a fella I new since my early childhood, (he's dead now) who lived in Vietnam for almost 15 years that corruption is a real problem there, and yes he said it was far and away greater than LOS who knew of Thailand quite well as a  long term visitor. He went to Vietnam to live for financial reasons as he couldn't afford to live in Australia on his pension alone.

I/we have visited there a few times and enjoyed the whole country although I thought the south of the country was more friendly and less drab than the northern part. Infrastructure is way way behind LOS if this is something you se as important.

It definitely cheaper than LOS if this is your main criteria for seeking another place to live. Food is delicious.

 

[newnative]

    Very poorly-written article.  Slams Thailand's 'ever-changing immigration rules' (nothing's changed for me in 11 years except the insurance requirement)  but not a word about what Vietnam's visa requirements are.   

[D M G]

Nha Trang ????

[wwest5829]

5 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

What about stay in your own country

I retired to Thailand as one of my choices because, in large measure it afforded me a working middle class living standard unavailable to me in my own country … the USA. So, I joined the 9 million +/- Americans living abroad. Ha! An economic refugee in reverse …

[NorthernRyland]

53 minutes ago, JimHuaHin said:

It will probably take longer for expats to be allowed to own a motor car and drive it freely around Viet Nam.

 

If that's how the feel then there is probably a deeper cultural problem which is going to surface in other areas. Are you going to get pulled over and harassed by the police like in China (so I'm told) if you go off the beaten path? Do you need to notify the police if you leave your city for more than 24-hours?

[Flink]

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

So living abroad where you're a tiny minority is the solution. Interesting. I find the phenom of expat / xenophobes to be delicious. 

I think you misunderstand the OP's point. It's not that he doesn't like foreigners. What, I believe, the OP is getting at is how foreigners arriving in their home country are changing it in ways that are not necessarily for the better. When you live in a foreign country, like Vietnam, you expect not to be able to read the road signs, find shops catering only to people of a different ethnicity/nationality to you. When those things begin to happen in your own country it begins to show you that the foreigners in your own country are getting the upper hand. Case in point, the recent furore over the new signs appearing at Whitechapel Underground station. When a council decides to change the some of the name boards at an international airport or arrivals hub to a foreign language we understand the logic. Lots of foreign tourists so make it easier for them to understand. When it is happening at a local underground station it conveys the notion that the area is no longer an area dominated by the natives. When you fancy a "City Break" with the wife for a weekend but find it hard to book a hotel because they've been block booked by the government to house people who entered the country illegally. When you see churches closing down but more and more mosques being built month after month. When you find yourself being accosted in the street by men in strange costumes calling your wife unspeakable things because she is wearing a sleeveless summer dress on a hot day. THAT is the "too many foreigners" people don't like. It is not a xenophonic thing, more a feeling of losing your own national identity.

[brianthainess]

Thailand is not getting tougher for ex-pats, its just the same as years gone by, if you are on visa extensions there is no insurance required, and one year extension costs about $60 1,900 baht + 3000 baht for multi re-entry. Immigration rules haven't changed only covid has changed the re-entry, but I don't want to work or play golf.  

[brianthainess]

12 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Do you need to notify the police if you leave your city for more than 24-hours?

No not in Thailand.

[swm59nj]

If a person planned their retirement future properly.  They wouldn’t have to worry about moving to another country for financial reasons. 
It’s amazing how people blame their own country for the financial situation they are in.  I can see this if you are a citizen of a poor third world country. 
And some people don’t like the “control” of their own country.  Of course you have to abide by the laws and pay taxes in your country.