Why do you choose Bangkok to retire?

[georgegeorgia]

As I'm getting closer & closer to retirement I'm thinking more Bangkok than Pattaya .

 

I would like to have some thoughts on expat retirees who chose Bangkok to retire 

 

Oh please don't give me excuses it's more expensive, there are many things far cheaper or comparable to Pattaya 

 

If I could just analyse the "facts" ,you have many food places , many more parks , not that I'm into parks or food places but please may I ask your opinion your "facts" on why you chose Bangkok say over Pattaya or even Hua Hin to retire 

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, georgegeorgia said:

As I'm getting closer & closer to retirement I'm thinking more Bangkok than Pattaya .

 

I would like to have some thoughts on expat retirees who chose Bangkok to retire 

 

Oh please don't give me excuses it's more expensive, there are many things far cheaper or comparable to Pattaya 

 

If I could just analyse the "facts" ,you have many food places , many more parks , not that I'm into parks or food places but please may I ask your opinion your "facts" on why you chose Bangkok say over Pattaya or even Hua Hin to retire 

 

Not going to wax lyrical and give you chapter and verse, but BKK has it hands down......so, so much more to do and see......the only drawback....if it is one....... your not at the seaside.

 

[georgegeorgia]

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

 

Not going to wax lyrical and give you chapter and verse, but BKK has it hands down......so, so much more to do and see......the only drawback....if it is one....... your not at the seaside.

 

"Not going to wax lyrical" 

I have never heard that saying for years !

I have added it to my "list" of words and sayings 

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, georgegeorgia said:

"Not going to wax lyrical" 

I have never heard that saying for years !

I have added it to my "list" of words and sayings 

 

Showing my age????

[georgegeorgia]

The meaning of "wax lyrical"

 

You mean they talk about it in an enthusiastic way 

[nikmar]

Im not retired, Im in Bangkok working.

 

 

I much prefer Krung Thep over Pattaya as there are so many more places to hang out, well out of the way of the tourists. Less tourism orientated if you see what I mean.

Pattaya is 2/3 hours away if I fancy a walk by the sea.

Having said that, I don’t think I’d fancy Bangkok as an old ‘un. When I’m no longer working, my wife and I plan to go north – maybe Chang Rai or Lampang.

That’s just my personal opinion. It’s really down to you to see what you would prefer yourself George.

[Briggsy]

I worked in Bangkok. I retired to Pattaya.

 

The reasons were simple.

Traffic and people congestion making it take hours to get anywhere particularly if off the mass transit routes but often on the mass transit routes.

Noise, everywhere.

And the big one, air pollution.

It all added up to a sense of claustrophobia.

 

On the plus side, you had

every imaginable product and service.

more cosmopolitan culture like film festivals.

a wider range of foreigner.

avoiding the tourist ghetto.

 

Each to their own.

 

I think I have just persuaded myself to leave Pattaya! 🤔

[mokwit]

BKK: Less people with shaved heads and a gut wearing a Singha beer singlet, cargo shorts and flip flops.

[Lorry]

6 hours ago, nikmar said:

well out of the way of the tourists. Less tourism orientated if you see what I mean.

Exactly. 

6 hours ago, mokwit said:

BKK: Less people with shaved heads and a gut wearing a Singha beer singlet, cargo shorts and flip flops.

And less of the  accompanying females and "ancillary staff".

 

 

[G_Money]

 BKK feels like a regular cosmopolitan city.  Younger crowd compared to Pattaya 

 

Agree with the positives and the negatives.

[timendres]

More options for almost everything.

The levels of insanity possible here are off the chart.

Hospital and healthcare choices important to me.

I actually like Chaeng Watthana immigration.

 

I dislike the pollution, but it is not a show stopper.

I almost never deal with traffic, so that is not an issue.

The further you get from Sukhumvit, the happier you will be,

[Yagoda]

17 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

As I'm getting closer & closer to retirement I'm thinking more Bangkok than Pattaya .

 

I would like to have some thoughts on expat retirees who chose Bangkok to retire 

 

Oh please don't give me excuses it's more expensive, there are many things far cheaper or comparable to Pattaya 

 

If I could just analyse the "facts" ,you have many food places , many more parks , not that I'm into parks or food places but please may I ask your opinion your "facts" on why you chose Bangkok say over Pattaya or even Hua Hin to retire 

I started off in Bangkok. Greatest city in the world. Unbeleivable food, fabulous transport, loads of things to see and do, great transport, cheap, hot chicks yadda yadda.

Cons: the immigration system, the air, the simple size of the place as I get old and creakier, now pushing 70.  Stairs stairs traffic stairs

 

Solution: Siem Reap. Cheap easy visa, world class attraction, quiet and relaxing, Bangkok $28/8 hours away.

 

Beats the USA for me right now.

[newnative]

      Spouse and I have a Pattaya house and a Bangkok condo.  We like visiting Bangkok and staying for short periods but we prefer Pattaya for year-round living.  In Pattaya we can afford to own a 4-bedroom pool villa, all on one floor.  Two car garage with electric charger.  Fairly large land plot.  Something like that in Bangkok would cost much more. 

     We like having a large space to live in with a nice pool, a home gym, and guest bedrooms for visits by family members.   Pattaya offers a wide variety of housing at all price points, in a number of different neighborhoods, so there is a lot to choose from, either to rent or buy.

      From our home location, we can be at all the major shopping, movie theaters, and several different hospitals in 15 minutes or less, with an easy drive to them.  Bangkok is more of a chore to get around in.  Traffic is much worse than Pattaya.  We do take the subway most of the time but it's crowded--and getting more crowded--and it limits what you can carry back with you, such as groceries. 

     Pattaya works very well for us with our everyday living.   As we grow older, this will continue to be the case and we have space in our home for live-in care should we ever need it.   If we were 20 years younger we might be doing the reverse--living in Bangkok with a Pattaya getaway condo.  But, for us at our retirement ages, Pattaya is the better fit.