Top 10 reasons to retire in Thailand in 2023

[Mr Dome]

39 minutes ago, mania said:

That one is always a bit scary as folks there were not expecting the crazy increase when it came. Forcing many to leave

 

I bet. Kind of cruel to do this but it fits with my image of Malaysia & how it's run.

 

Lots of videos on YT now praising it as a retirement destination. Are they all SuperRich or haven't they gotten around to reading the details yet?

[mokwit]

2 hours ago, mania said:

That one is always a bit scary as folks there were not expecting the crazy increase when it came. Forcing many to leave

 

I thought at the end of the day they grandfathered in existing visa holders? - if not that is disgusting.

[BigStar]

Predictably, our old keyboard warriors immediately turned the topic into a Thai-bashing thread.

 

 

But the OP was spot on. It didn't promise champagne on a beer budget, however, as we'd all much prefer. Me, been happy living in Pattaya for over 2 decades. Gettin' ready for a walk on the beach now. Russian hotties! ???? Enjoy the bashfest. 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by BigStar

[KhunLA]

3 hours ago, mania said:

That one is always a bit scary as folks there were not expecting the crazy increase when it came. Forcing many to leave

 

If referring to MM2H participants, it didn't force any to leave that already had, as they were grandfathered in.

 

Only had to meet 2 new requirements;

... higher fee

... be in country for 90 days a year

 

Also more like a TH resident visa, and also appropriately silly priced.

Not many other options to stay, like TH, as they apparently prefer not to have the problems & riff raff TH allows in.  SMART MOVE IMHO

 

A 10 yr visa to start

Allows you to own a house, which they'll even finance.

Bring <21 yr old dependents with you for free education

Can work part time or even have a business.

[JohnNThai]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Keep telling yourself that ...

South Thailand still is the part of Thailand that offers the most consistent air figures throughout the year, ranging between 10-15 μg/m3 on average. Now maybe I should’ve worded my sentence a little different, maybe using ‘comparatively’ would be better ???? 

[Kwaibill]

On 4/18/2023 at 3:56 AM, Pique Dard said:

"Top 10 reasons to retire in Thailand in 2023"

 

no matter what, you'll still need dough in thailand

Where in the world do you NOT need dough to retire?

[KhunLA]

24 minutes ago, JohnNThai said:

South Thailand still is the part of Thailand that offers the most consistent air figures throughout the year, ranging between 10-15 μg/m3 on average. Now maybe I should’ve worded my sentence a little different, maybe using ‘comparatively’ would be better ???? 

Internet AQI sites will disagree with you

AQI 79 ... 25.5µg/m³ / 5.1x healthy ... Hat Yai

AQI 72 ... 22.1 µg/m³ / 4.4x healthy ... NST

AQI 89 ... 32.2µg/m³ / 6x healthy ... Chumphon

AQI 69 ... 20.1µg/m³ / 4x healthy ... Phatthalung

AQI 66 ... 19.1µg/m³ / 3,8x healthy ... Trang

AQI 46 ... 11.1µg/m³ / 2.2x healthy ... Satun ????

 

Info sourced from: IQair.com

Edited April 20, 2023 by KhunLA

[JohnNThai]

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Internet AQI sites will disagree with you

AQI 79 ... 25.5µg/m³ / 5.1x healthy ... Hat Yai

AQI 72 ... 22.1 µg/m³ / 4.4x healthy ... NST

AQI 89 ... 32.2µg/m³ / 6x healthy ... Chumphon

AQI 69 ... 20.1µg/m³ / 4x healthy ... Phatthalung

AQI 66 ... 19.1µg/m³ / 3,8x healthy ... Trang

AQI 46 ... 11.1µg/m³ / 2.2x healthy ... Satun ????

Can you provide a link to your list? As I have found data that puts average pollution in I.e. Hat Yai at 16.8 μg/m3 annually. Update: I see you’ve taken real time peak data by IQAir. I’d recommend taking a look at this all time data page by IQAir, it shows annual pollution and monthly pollution: https://www.iqair.com/th-en/world-most-polluted-cities?continent=&country=&state=&page=1&perPage=50&cities= And the question remains, when let’s say 11 μg/m3 is still 2.2x the healthy limit, is there any civilized place on earth that achieves the healthy target? Because if the WHO target is what you go by, then of course no place in Thailand can offer that ????????

Edited April 20, 2023 by JohnNThai

[KhunLA]

19 minutes ago, JohnNThai said:

Can you provide a link to your list? 

 

29 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Info sourced from: IQair.com

just type 'AQI + location' in your address bar, or Gsearch, as same site you use, but their search engine sucks

 

[n00dle]

why are you making us read this poorly written SEO <deleted>?

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, n00dle said:

why are you making us read this poorly written SEO <deleted>?

Maybe because someone asked, or needs a bit of help, when negotiating sites with a krappy search feature.

 

Why would you care ?

[n00dle]

Just now, KhunLA said:

Maybe because someone asked, or needs a bit of help, when negotiating sites with a krappy search feature.

 

Why would you care ?

I was talking about the articles in general.

Why, when i did not quote you, would you assume i was replying to you? 

[KhunLA]

11 minutes ago, n00dle said:

I was talking about the articles in general.

Why, when i did not quote you, would you assume i was replying to you? 

probably because I mentioned 'search engine' in the post immediately before yours. ????

[Hanuman2547]

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

probably because I mentioned 'search engine' in the post immediately before yours. ????

Hey Khun LA, your location says Prachuap Khiri Khan.  Are you living in the city of PKK?  How is the air quality there?  

[KhunLA]

46 minutes ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Hey Khun LA, your location says Prachuap Khiri Khan.  Are you living in the city of PKK?  How is the air quality there?  

Yes, A Muang

 

This week, sucks, between AQI 50-75 at the house.  IQair stating higher, but haven't a clue where they source their info, as state on site, no meter/contributor of theirs here.   Probably 'sat' info.

 

PM2.5 not a whole better, hence the sucks part.  20 ish last time I checked this afternoon.  windy.com is saying 17µg/m³ now.  

 

Indoors w/filters, no problem.  It was nice 10ish days ago, and I actually thought smog season was over, till this week.  Hopefully rain before the end of the month.

Edited April 20, 2023 by KhunLA

[Hanuman2547]

6 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Yes, A Muang

 

This week, sucks, between AQI 50-75 at the house.  IQair stating higher, but haven't a clue where they source their info, as state on site, no meter/contributor of theirs here.   Probably 'sat' info.

 

PM2.5 not a whole better, hence the sucks part.  20 ish last time I checked this afternoon.  windy.com is saying 17µg/m³ now.  

 

Indoors w/filters, no problem.  It was nice 10ish days ago, and I actually thought smog season was over, till this week.  Hopefully rain before the end of the month.

Ouch!  Sorry to hear it has been so bad.  It didn't used to be like that.  I'll be there in December.  Bought a house there a long time ago not too far from the main train station but I really don't spend much time there anymore.  

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Ouch!  Sorry to hear it has been so bad.  It didn't used to be like that.  I'll be there in December.  Bought a house there a long time ago not too far from the main train station but I really don't spend much time there anymore.  

Beats the hell out of Hua Hin @ 150+ and they do have meters there ????

[K2938]

51 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Indoors w/filters, no problem.  It was nice 10ish days ago, and I actually thought smog season was over, till this week.  Hopefully rain before the end of the month.

1) Is your smog "locally produced" or is this coming down from Bangkok?
2) And what do you get the PM2.5 level down to with an air purifier indoors when it is this bad? (This says you have an AQI outside of 158 at the moment: https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/prachuap-khiri-khan/gaia-10).

 

Thanks.

Edited April 20, 2023 by K2938

[Hummin]

10 minutes ago, K2938 said:

1) Is your smog "locally produced" or is this coming down from Bangkok?
2) And what do you get the PM2.5 level down to with an air purifier indoors when it is this bad? (This says you have an AQI outside of 158 at the moment: https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/prachuap-khiri-khan/gaia-10).

 

Thanks.

Sea salt aerosol, look it up

[Hummin]

10 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Sea salt aerosol, look it up

Sea salt particles can also release halogens to the air. Their resulting chemical reactions affect the amount of ozone and methane, both greenhouse gases, which may further impact temperatures.

 

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019gl085838#:~:text=Sea salt particles can also,which may further impact temperatures.

[KhunLA]

19 minutes ago, K2938 said:

1) Is your smog "locally produced" or is this coming down from Bangkok?
2) And what do you get the PM2.5 level down to with an air purifier indoors when it is this bad? (This says you have an AQI outside of 158 at the moment: https://aqicn.org/station/thailand/prachuap-khiri-khan/gaia-10).

 

Thanks.

Whoa ... 158 ... sucks being there.   That's SE of us, and winds coming from the W.   

 

If our PM2.5 is  17µg/m³, then we can't be nowhere near that AQI #

We keep air indoors at single digits

Pollution now would be local or from Myanmar, as winds are coming from west.

[KhunLA]

On 4/20/2023 at 11:47 PM, Hanuman2547 said:

Ouch!  Sorry to hear it has been so bad.  It didn't used to be like that.  I'll be there in December.  Bought a house there a long time ago not too far from the main train station but I really don't spend much time there anymore.  

Getting back to 'normal' non smog season readings.   Not yesterday, as had to be AQI 100+, and could barely see the hills E/W at 5/10 kms away.

 

Today much better, and meter for the indoor air at the house.

Local weather/AQI station:

 

Non local station site guesstimate (AQair):

 

Inside our house:

 

Outdoor temp:

THINK REAL HARD BEFORE RETIRING IN TH

[Hindy]

On 4/20/2023 at 11:37 PM, KhunLA said:

Yes, A Muang

 

This week, sucks, between AQI 50-75 at the house.  IQair stating higher, but haven't a clue where they source their info, as state on site, no meter/contributor of theirs here.   Probably 'sat' info.

 

PM2.5 not a whole better, hence the sucks part.  20 ish last time I checked this afternoon.  windy.com is saying 17µg/m³ now.  

 

Indoors w/filters, no problem.  It was nice 10ish days ago, and I actually thought smog season was over, till this week.  Hopefully rain before the end of the month.

I have a paid account with Windy.com

the AQI reports including PM2.5 are only updated every few hours,

it is not in real time.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, Hindy said:

I have a paid account with Windy.com

the AQI reports including PM2.5 are only updated every few hours,

it is not in real time.

Windy is fairly accurate, most times.

 

I go by our local weather/AQI station, and vastly different from most other sites, sometimes.  But always agrees with my meter +/-.  

 

No surprise since only couple kms away from house:

Now ... local:

 

IQair:

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by KhunLA

[Reginald Prewster]

On 4/18/2023 at 12:39 PM, digger70 said:

Yep that's fine , only one tiny problem Can't get Insurance  and if one can it's at over the top premiums with a lot off exclusions for preexisting conditions.

So for us Old Sods that means if one Can get insurance we pay for healthcare what we Don't get.

Well I pay 120.000 THB for 5 Mil EUR coverage (my wife and myself) which is about EUR 3.200 per year or ruff 266 EUR per month.

The same private health coverage in Germany would be around 580 EUR per month for me alone.

 

That is very cheap when I compare the Hopitals and their services.. 

[tonbridgebrit]

On 4/18/2023 at 5:22 AM, webfact said:

How can I be eligible for O visa in Thailand?
by Kriti Sharma

 

Photo: Freepik

Thailand is a popular destination for expats, digital nomads, and retirees looking for a new adventure. To stay in Thailand for an extended period, a non-immigrant visa is required, with several categories to choose from.

 

The average stereo-typical bloke doing a retirement in Thailand does not look like the bloke above.  The bloke above has also got a white girlfriend, but the vast bulk of people retiring in Thailand have got a Thai girl-friend or wife.

[Thingamabob]

Friendly  people, warm weather, good food, good healthcare, good infrastructure, beautiful beaches, beautiful mountains, good hotels, good restaurants, reasonable living costs.

[jak2002003]

On 4/18/2023 at 9:00 AM, LittleBear57 said:

If it wasn't for the wife and kid, I would be off.

Why?

 

Pollution, air quality, really isn't healthy. It may not have an immediate effect but it is slowly killing you.

 

Driving. So much is wrong here, Too much to mention except it's nearly always foreigners fault even when it clearly isn't. Which takes me on to the next issue.

 

Corruption, it is everywhere.

 

Dual pricing, it's the principle more than the cost. 

 

Medical care is quite expensive, not cheap except perhaps if you are a US citizen. If it's not expensive it's often poor.

 

The heat and humidity is too much this time of year.

 

I still eat bread , potatoes ,cheese and pasta etc. and these are not cheap at all by western standards. Don't know where you can get a meal for 1 US dollar starts around two here and that's at the markets, perhaps a few noodle shops are cheaper. Even beer and wine are more expensive here.

 

Immigration is always an issue even if you have it all planned, never know what they will throw at you, next time. 

 

However I am still here and continue to try to make the most of Thailand which does have some benefits over the west. Cheap holiday accommodation I try and go away as often as possible.

I think the same as you. 

 

Immigration is always an inconvenience at best and a nightmare at worst.  90 day report irritating waste of time..

 

Several months of the year are way too hot, with horrific dangerous air pollution. This means using air con and air purifiers..which run up electricity bills. 

 

Electricity is not cheap.. Similar price to UK. 

 

If you want to eat western food it is MORE expensive than back home...and USUALLY not as good quality or not authentic as its hard to get the proper ingredients here. 

 

Retire anywhere other than Bangkok and there is no real public transport and no frequent modern trains.

CM for example has no busses, and very infrequent extra slow trains.

 

The beaches are in the south in tourist places where things are more expensive than living in your home country. 

 

The police are corrupt and you are best to stay away from them. 

 

The roads are a deathtrap..the most dangerous in the world. And the standard of driving is scary. 

 

These is very limited choice of western things like wine and beers, and they are much more expensive than back home. 

 

Thailand does have good points. The genesal Thai people are great, the Thai food is delicous and cheap, there are lots of new experiences and things to see, and you can live very cheap if you eat mostly Thai food, and there are no council taxes etc. 

 

However, if you want to retire here and live a western lifestyle it will be expensive.  

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

On 4/18/2023 at 11:56 AM, NoshowJones said:

So far in this thread there has been no mention of a retiree having to forfeit his annual state pension increases.

You don't have to, it's entirely up to you.