23 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And for the Europhiles amongst us, the OP's entry on Portugal, in a separate listing, has the following add-on:

 

"You can get a retirement visa with €760 in monthly retirement or pension income, which is equivalent to approximately $830. After five years, you can convert your residency for EU citizenship and enjoy easy travel across Europe."

 

https://expatsi.com/communities/retirees/10-countries-where-you-can-retire-with-2000-month/

 

Big very bad expat tax news out of Portugal that makes the Thailand expat tax news sound like peanuts. 

51 minutes ago, QuantumQuandry said:

Is Penang actually cheaper than Pattaya, per the list?

Nope. All of Thailand is cheaper except small islands.

 

 

2 hours ago, bignok said:

Good. Keep the sheep in a pen.

 

 

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The 10 Cheapest Retirement Cities for Frugal Boomers - The Expat Test (expatsi.com)

 

I've noticed this trend for about 5 years.

Pattaya FINALLY is getting noticed in international retirement abroad media as a very desirable expat destination as opposed to only a sexpat destination.

Credit where credit is due.

 

Pattaya makes the top 10 Expatsi list. 

No other place in Thailand made it.

 

Take that rip off Chiang Mai and choky smoky Chiang Mai.

 

 

 

 

You really need to equate your gushing praise with the nature of the accolade. 

1 hour ago, kinyara said:

 

You really need to equate your gushing praise with the nature of the accolade. 

Karen lives

6 hours ago, bignok said:

Good. Keep the sheep in a pen.

You say you have never been to Pattaya; your opinion has no value.

List of top 10 forum losers in asia:

 

1. Bignok

 

Are there any good tower condos there attached/directly adjacent to a large modern shopping mall?

Stupid website like most, doing as though income tax didn't exist. 1st thing you want to know if you settle somewhere is whether you will be taxed.

Low budget and cheap can bring lowlife and cheap people.   Which is what I am seeing coming to Pattaya over the past year.

 

5 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

 

Are there any good tower condos there attached/directly adjacent to a large modern shopping mall?

VT 6

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Pattaya FINALLY is getting noticed in international retirement abroad media as a very desirable expat destination

 

Umm it got noticed in a race to the bottom   I guess if cheapest is the criteria for desirable then ok ;)

46 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

VT 6

Also, Northshore is just a short walk to T21.

12 hours ago, bignok said:

"The cheapest place to stay in Thailand as an expat is Chiang Mai. It’s the largest Northern city in Thailand."

 

https://travelhiatus.com/11-cheapest-places-in-thailand-to-visit/

 

We have homes in Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai is definitely a lot more expensive than Chiang Rai, about 25% more for Grab and Foodpanda.

 

We have lived in Pattaya (Prathumnak Soi 4) and Bangkok (Sukumvit Soi 16).  Pattaya is navigable on a motorbike but you get ripped off by corrupt police and completely unnavigable by car at times, the sea is unusable it's so dirty.  Bangkok pollution is appalling all year round and you better not try to go anywhere by taxi if it's raining.

 

In Chiang Rai we call 2 cars in front of you at the traffic lights a traffic jam.

14 hours ago, Jingthing said:

 

 

Take that rip off Chiang Mai and choky smoky Chiang Mai.

 

 

 

I might eventually have to agree.

 

This next smoke season is said to be running March to June due to El Niño -so a little worse than last year. A place I love is def less lovable if I have to rearrange my life 25% of the time.

 

We've re-signed for another year (no rent raise). If Smoke Season '25 looks dire, we're gone. 

 

In which case, The  Dark Side of Pattaya starts to make sense (not into the beach partic) for having the mix of whitie pleasures and services; not to mention other whities. Close to Bangkok one way, lots of lovely towns like Chantaburi the other way.

 

Nonthaburi BKK is another option. I'm going to look in on Phuket this year for the first time since '99.

 

Unless you have a GF who's putting out sex, going to No Whitie-Land is self-flagellation (and not the good kind). Reports here say that that the ardor cools substantially around month 5 in Roi Et.

6 hours ago, noobexpat said:

List of top 10 forum losers in asia:

 

1. Bignok

High class stuff. 10yo kid using the internet.

25 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Pattaya is navigable on a motorbike but you get ripped off by corrupt police and completely unnavigable by car at times, the sea is unusable it's so dirty

Did you ever try the better beaches outside Pattaya?

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Did you ever try the better beaches outside Pattaya?

 

Yes, the water gets visibly cleaner, but I suspect it would analyse badly with traces of raw sewage.

20 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

I might eventually have to agree.

 

This next smoke season is said to be running March to June due to El Niño -so a little worse than last year. A place I love is def less lovable if I have to rearrange my life 25% of the time.

 

We've re-signed for another year (no rent raise). If Smoke Season '25 looks dire, we're gone. 

 

In which case, The  Dark Side of Pattaya starts to make sense (not into the beach partic) for having the mix of whitie pleasures and services; not to mention other whities. Close to Bangkok one way, lots of lovely towns like Chantaburi the other way.

 

Nonthaburi BKK is another option. I'm going to look in on Phuket this year for the first time since '99.

 

I wouldn't have thought you'd want the Dark side as I had assumed everything is spread out unless you want a house. Nothing like I picture Nimman though I am taking both based on youtube so could be completely wrong.

I thought Pratumnak or  Wongamat or maybe a quiet offstreet in the main centres but walking distance to the shops might be more your cup of tea. 

7 hours ago, champers said:

You say you have never been to Pattaya; your opinion has no value.

I went there. Stayed 1 night and left. Looked like a rubbish dump.

4 minutes ago, bignok said:

I went there. Stayed 1 night and left. Looked like a rubbish dump.

Funny. In my 3 days I was sort of pleasantly surprised in some ways in that it seemed like a normal city. Not much for a tourist who wants palm trees and a beach but lots of infrastructure and shops and whatever. Kind of nice in parts though a lot of traffic. Don't remember piles of rubbish or stuff like that. 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1099647-unsightly-pattaya-trash-damaging-the-resorts-image/

 

What is it with people who don't like Pattaya always coming on the Pattaya forum to trash talk Pattaya.

 

Maybe us Pattaya people should visit the Chang Mai and Issan forums to constantly highlight all the negatives about where these people choose to live?

 

22 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I thought Pratumnak or  Wongamat or maybe a quiet offstreet in the main centres but walking distance to the shops 

Thanks for the recco's. I've spent maybe 2 hours in The Dark Side, long ago. A proper survey of Pattaya awaits. The outliers like Jomptien etc. also makes the short list of such places.

 

My superficial takeaway is that Pattaya is basically smaller Miami on a budget. 'Can't fault it.

 

Having a mix of walkability, gym, and idiosyncratic restaurants means being adjacent to a tourist zone. Thai people alone can't keep a vegan-only Mexican restaurant open.

 

In Nimman, I'm a poor prospect for buying a Durian ice cream cone, but a place like that will also have six different ethnicity restaurants on either side of it.

 

Some people move to Thailand for cheap sex. We moved here for cheap sushi.

 

 

Dreadful place, the very unpleasant foreign types is the worst thing about it, rather live in Peterborough than Pattaya.

15 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Pattaya makes the top 10 list 

Top 10 list for numbers of whinging, whining, complaining, moaning foreigners. 

3 minutes ago, proton said:

Dreadful place, the very unpleasant foreign types is the worst thing about it, rather live in Peterborough than Pattaya.

That's a good thing. Most of the bad farangs go there.

 

 

11 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

What is it with people who don't like Pattaya always coming on the Pattaya forum to trash talk Pattaya.

 

Maybe us Pattaya people should visit the Chang Mai and Issan forums to constantly highlight all the negatives about where these people choose to live?

 

If you want. You are welcome to opinions like we are. Lampang is a rubbish dump too as is Ubon. So there, you know I'm not biased.

It is when you have the rose-tinted spectacles on and a peg on your nose. It's the Ryan Air of cheap places to live - you wanted cheap and you got cheap but don't complain because it's cheap. We bought a condo in Jomtien so I'm invested but only for 3 months of the year - that's enough. It ticks all the boxes though - cheap condo, cheap transport, close to the airport plenty of markets and malls and plenty of your home folks to talk to when you need to. But if my wife wasn't Thai I would never consider it. Just too hot, too dirty and too mono-cultural. There are only so many cover bands playing the hits that I can take before going mad!