Next Generation of Expats

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, JimTripper said:

I need more money to live the way I want and where. I admit it.

 

Would be outta here if I hit the lottery. You can stay though, it’s up to you.

If I was to win the lottery, I would still want to live in Thailand.

It's a state of mind, I find living in Australia too stifling. It's not improved when I compare Australian women to Thai women.

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

Maybe 1% of tourists become expats. (to use your own number for passport bro's)

 

Tourists aren't committing anything beyond a week or 3, before sleeping back in their own bed in their own country.  That's a very different decision from picking up your entire life and moving it to a different country.

Agree & 1% is a real stretch.  Tourist are just that.  Very few folks uproot & retire to another country, especially from the Americas or Europe to SEA, IF not already 'working' overseas.

 

People seem to settle with what they know, and think is safe.  Just a different language takes them way out of their comfort zone for everyday living.

 

Aside from leaving family & friends behind.

[KhunLA]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

If I was to win the lottery, I would still want to live in Thailand.

It's a state of mind, I find living in Australia too stifling. It's not improved when I compare Australian women to Thai women.

Hell NO ... 20+ yrs here already, I'm done.  Just too lazy to uproot.  Lottery win - Might buy a condo at Krung Thep to visit the kid every month, but that's about it.

 

Don't know where I'd settle again, if at all.  Thinking nomadic myself ????

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Hell NO ... 20+ yrs here already, I'm done.  Just too lazy to uproot.  Lottery win - Might buy a condo at Krung Thep to visit the kid every month, but that's about it.

 

Don't know where I'd settle again, if at all.  Thinking nomadic myself ????

I'm done with travel, except essential. Had enough of it in my working life. A golf course and swimming pool is as far as I want to go.

[LaosLover]

12 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

If I was to win the lottery, I would still want to live in Thailand.

Agreed. Maybe a second place in Silom as a dream. 

 

We plan to travel in the burning seasons, but I'll always be grateful to get back to Chiang Mai. 

[Don Chance]

I think the Philippines will surge ahead in the future as their society advances and progresses. It will more attract  to expats for the cooler weather and English speaking people.

Thailand will lose flavor due to over development.

[John Drake]

5 hours ago, LaosLover said:

What does the demographic look like living here in 20 years?

Expatriation as we knew it in the twentieth century is close to dying off. Western arrivals will mostly consist of corporate nomads. I doubt digital nomads will still have a standing, as the locals will be able to handle things for themselves. That leaves retirees. Once the age for getting Social Security in the US goes to 70 or above in a few years, you can cross Americans off the list. Will Euros follow the same path? Already seems as if the British are being squeezed out of sufficient retirement money. BTW with Thailand's crashing birthrate (in another topic) it looks like the demand for English teachers is going to drop with it.

[John Drake]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Me, as a foreigner, the USA will always be thought of as America........????

And Americans think the same way.  

Quote

People from the United States of America are known as and refer to themselves as Americans. Different languages use different terms for citizens of the United States. All forms of English refer to US citizens as Americans, a term deriving from the United States of America, the country's official name. In the English context, it came to refer to inhabitants of British America, and then the United States. However, there is some linguistic ambiguity over this use due to the other senses of the word American, which can also refer to people from the Americas in general.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonyms_for_the_United_States#:~:text=People from the United States,America%2C the country's official name.

 

[JimTripper]

11 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Expatriation as we knew it in the twentieth century is close to dying off. Western arrivals will mostly consist of corporate nomads. I doubt digital nomads will still have a standing, as the locals will be able to handle things for themselves. That leaves retirees. Once the age for getting Social Security in the US goes to 70 or above in a few years, you can cross Americans off the list. Will Euros follow the same path? Already seems as if the British are being squeezed out of sufficient retirement money. BTW with Thailand's crashing birthrate (in another topic) it looks like the demand for English teachers is going to drop with it.

Why would you cross retirees off the list getting less money if it’s cheaper to live in Thailand?

[John Drake]

1 minute ago, JimTripper said:

Why would you cross people off the list getting less money if it’s cheaper to live in Thailand?

Because they will be unable to meet Thai immigration's financial requirements. Too, if they are 70 or more in order to receive SSA benefits, it's simply going to be more difficult to get up and move to another country in their seventies than in their sixties. Now, you draw early SSA at age 62. Will the age for that go up? 

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, John Drake said:

Because they will be unable to meet Thai immigration's financial requirements. Too, if they are 70 or more in order to receive SSA benefits, it's simply going to be more difficult to get up and move to another country in their seventies than in their sixties. Now, you draw early SSA at age 62. Will the age for that go up? 

IMO it's inevitable governments will increase the age required to qualify for a pension, in response to (a) the increased average life span in many countries (b) the smaller population of working age people available to support pensioners via taxes.

IIRC Greece now has a pension system which is financially unsustainable.

[jerrymahoney]

4 hours ago, LaosLover said:

How do you describe yourself in Thailand?

Flor- ee- DAH

[JimTripper]

21 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Because they will be unable to meet Thai immigration's financial requirements. Too, if they are 70 or more in order to receive SSA benefits, it's simply going to be more difficult to get up and move to another country in their seventies than in their sixties. Now, you draw early SSA at age 62. Will the age for that go up? 

You need to plan for retirement, not just decide at 70. Save up the 800k baht and move before your immobile. Otherwise, you go downhill fast stuck in an expensive country. A lot of people probably do that.

[John Drake]

Just now, JimTripper said:

If they waited to the last minute and did not plan ahead of time. 

And that's very true for many people. Another factor, btw, is medical care. For those of us getting SSA in Thailand, we must pay our own way for medical costs. No Medicare coverage here. And when you're in your seventies, you're probably going to be seeing a lot more physicians and hospitals than in your sixties. Might be easier to just go to Mexico, although I think Mexico has higher financial requirements than does Thailand currently. Sill, a lot of people in the US are also Mexican citizens or second generation immigrants. They'll not need to worry over immigration and visa requirements. And SSA operates three Federal Benefit Units in Mexico, compared to zero in Thailand.

[KhunLA]

34 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I'm done with travel, except essential. Had enough of it in my working life. A golf course and swimming pool is as far as I want to go.

I can't see me sitting on a plane, in economy, for more than 2 hrs, means I'm not going anywhere out of TH or SEA.  Let alone the added 2-3 hrs, just to get on the plane, then the same on return.  Nah, that ain't happenin'.

 

Add in the hotel & car rental cost, there isn't much I'd spend that much time, hassle or money on to see.  Traveled out also.  

 

Only if hitting the lottery, going & staying First Class all he way, would I bother.

[KhunLA]

27 minutes ago, John Drake said:

And Americans think the same way.  

I do not, although saying that, IF, you don't say American here, you get a blank stare.

 

'Where from?'

United States, US, USA

"huh?'

 

Only 2 have official name using 'United States'; USA & Mexico, and I don't think they get a lot of Mexicans here saying, they're from the Unites States of Mexico or United Mexican States.

[John Drake]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I do not, although saying that, IF, you don't say American here, you get a blank stare.

 

'Where from?'

United States, US, USA

"huh?'

 

Only 2 have official name using 'United States'; USA & Mexico, and I don't think they get a lot of Mexicans here saying, they're from the Unites States of Mexico or United Mexican States.

Everyone's free to use whatever term they like to describe their nationality. 

[impulse]

52 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Why would you cross retirees off the list getting less money if it’s cheaper to live in Thailand?

Health care and/or insurance costs for the aged.

 

Euro's and American and Canuck retirees have gub'ment paid health care (even if it sucks).  My friends in their 70's are paying $1000 USD a month just to get insurance cover in Thailand.  If they can get it at all, given pre-existing conditions.  That may be the single factor that keeps me from retiring to Thailand, since I have some pre-existing conditions.

 

During my prime earning years, there was no such thing as a digital nomad or an influencer, or working from home in a corporate environment.  I think the interweb and AI are going to play a huge role in shaping the next generation of expats.  Thailand can either capitalize on it.  Or not.

 

[NextG]

1 hour ago, LaosLover said:

Aren't you a former tourist who got smitten? I am, that's all I meet here.

 

Same in Mex. Once a low down place becomes your mono-destination, you're a candidate for a cheap apartment with weak water pressure there.

 

Air conditioned apartments in Mex City -hard to find.

 

U.S. citizens… can barely see past their own noses. You’ve hijacked your own thread…

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, LaosLover said:

Aren't you a former tourist who got smitten? I am, that's all I meet here.

 

Same in Mex. Once a low down place becomes your mono-destination, you're a candidate for a cheap apartment with weak water pressure there.

 

Air conditioned apartments in Mex City -hard to find.

 

I actually came here Oct 1999, to recon for retirement, on suggestion of coworker, as was running out of places to peek at N. Americas.

 

If I didn't have weeks of timeshare to burn & worked for an airlines, that would never have happened.  Simply to far for a recon or a dive trip, which it turned out to be also.  And only 1 week for 1st visit.  Lots of research after, (hindsight, limited) came back a year later, Sept 2000 & stayed. 6 month later retired. 

 

Retiring, or playing tourist here, SEA or Europe never interested me, prior to.  Only went to Europe, because my niece lived in Sweden, and I wanted to go somewhere cold, before coming to hot TH, from hot (August) Memphis, TN, USA, having like 2 months off of work to kill.

[JimTripper]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

And that's very true for many people. Another factor, btw, is medical care. For those of us getting SSA in Thailand, we must pay our own way for medical costs. No Medicare coverage here. And when you're in your seventies, you're probably going to be seeing a lot more physicians and hospitals than in your sixties. Might be easier to just go to Mexico, although I think Mexico has higher financial requirements than does Thailand currently. Sill, a lot of people in the US are also Mexican citizens or second generation immigrants. They'll not need to worry over immigration and visa requirements. And SSA operates three Federal Benefit Units in Mexico, compared to zero in Thailand.

Does mexico accept medicare as a visa requirement, or do I need to be self insured?

[John Drake]

4 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Does mexico accept medicare as a visa requirement, or do I need to be self insured?

Medicare doesn't cover you anywhere outside the US. Dual citizens of Mexico in Mexico, however, would have Mexican medical coverage. And I believe that foreigners who are resident in Mexico can get Mexican government issued insurance for less than $100/month.

[LaosLover]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

 

 

Add in the hotel & car rental cost, there isn't much I'd spend that much time, hassle or money on to see.  Traveled out also.   

I feel this way in Chiang Mai.

 

If the so-called famous Khao Soi noodles are a 200 baht grab cab RT for the 50 baht bowl, shouldn't I just eat at the decent place on my block for 80 baht? It's not even the baht, it's the bother.

 

The irony is that having waited so long to get here, a little Chiang Mai now goes a long way.

 

I have seen and done less here in a year than I'd do in the average week-long pop-in when I was a tourist.

 

So I am like Khun La, except without leaving town.

 

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

11 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

I feel this way in Chiang Mai.

 

If the so-called famous Khao Soi noodles are a 200 baht grab cab RT for the 50 baht bowl, shouldn't I just eat at the decent place on my block for 80 baht? It's not even the baht, it's the bother.

 

The irony is that having waited so long to get here, a little Chiang Mai now goes a long way and scratches the itch. I have seen and done less here in a year than I'd do in the average week-long pop-in when I was a tourist.

 

So I am like Khun La, except without leaving town.

We have an excellent Khao Soi shop down here, and we popped in the other day.  Good for once or twice a month.   One of the very few Noodle Soup dishes that I like.  Only a few other places we eat out at here.  

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I do not, although saying that, IF, you don't say American here, you get a blank stare.

 

'Where from?'

United States, US, USA

"huh?'

 

Only 2 have official name using 'United States'; USA & Mexico, and I don't think they get a lot of Mexicans here saying, they're from the Unites States of Mexico or United Mexican States.

I shouldn't need to ask an American where they are from, I should know that as soon as they speak.

Canadians get very annoyed when they are lumped in with Americans, based on the same -sounding accent. It's why I still have to ask.

[LaosLover]

24 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

 

Canadians get very annoyed when they are lumped in with Americans,

Canadians view Americans like we view Mexicans.

 

So when I lived in Mex City, I was getting the superiority from all sides -fair # of English in Mex City too for Med Tourism, so from them too.

[GinBoy2]

Another weird dup post

[GinBoy2]

15 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

I think there may be some truth in the original OP, since we seem have got derailed along the way.

 

Thailand always attracted three distinct western expats, maybe four.

 

1. There were the true expats, those working for western companies as 'real' expats

 

2. The younger wannabe expats, those wanting to stay in Thailand probably for carnal reasons eking out a living pretending to be English teachers

 

3. The old retirees who like to pretend to be expats, but a good % are beer stool sexpats

 

4. Then there are the young backpacker brigade

 

#1 Are pretty much focused in BKK, and unlikely to change

#2 I think are finding it harder and harder to even eke out even that meagre existence

#3 A dying breed, for a few reasons. Often the stark reality of mortality and more media reported events of some poor soul ending up in a hospital with no way to pay, tends to be a sobering disincentive 

#4 They've moved on to more exotic climes

 

[JimTripper]

10 hours ago, John Drake said:

Medicare doesn't cover you anywhere outside the US. Dual citizens of Mexico in Mexico, however, would have Mexican medical coverage. And I believe that foreigners who are resident in Mexico can get Mexican government issued insurance for less than $100/month.

Sounds like Mexico is a better option for me if health premiums are going up that high in Thailand as I get older, someone said $1000 usd a month.

 

That would basically make Mexico cheaper to live in. I could also just hop across the border if I had something serious like cancer and get treatment in the USA.

 

I don’t need to be in Thailand in my 60’s. My sex drive would be gone by then (pretty much is now) and i would not want to be hopping around as much.

[habuspasha]

To mix it up a bit:  I plan on joining the next generation of expates in a few years, having just retired at 82.  I Will keep a home in America,  New York, expand my travel in SEA, deepen my libido, and build a home with my 40yr younger GF of the last ten years  somewhere in Thailand.