Hey everyone 👋

I’m a 47-year-old retired U.S. Marine vet, planning a move to Thailand with my girlfriend and possibly one or two kids. We’re in the research and transition phase right now and really looking to connect with people who’ve recently made the move or are already settled there.

I’m not just looking for surface-level info — more so community, real-world advice, and folks who don’t mind helping newcomers learn the ropes. Things like neighborhoods, schools, day-to-day living, cultural do’s and don’ts, and just having a friendly handoff when we land would mean a lot.

If you’ve moved to Thailand with family, or even solo and built a solid life there, I’d love to hear your experience. Open to grabbing coffee, chatting online, or just exchanging messages and insights.

Appreciate any connections, advice, or direction. Looking forward to being part of the community 🇹🇭

Where in Thailand will you live?

11 hours ago, Bacon1 said:

Where in Thailand will you live?

Right now my plan is Bangkok, most likely around the Rama 9 area. It seems like a good balance of central location, modern condos, and transit access.

That said, I’m still in the research phase and very open to input. If you’ve lived in Bangkok or that area specifically, I’d love to hear what you liked—or didn’t like—about it.

How long have you been in Thailand, and where did you end up settling?

I’m not based in Bangkok, though. I’ve been living in the North East, for more than ten years, and it’s really where I’ve settled in.

Will you work here?

Link about long term living here:

🙂

@Teamkarriem1978

When is your ballpark actually timeline for actually moving to TH ?

Which visa do you plan on applying for, since not 50 yrs old or is you GF (future wife Thai) ?

Seems nothing definite, with comment 'possibly one or two kids'. Have you ever been to TH, or realize how polluted the air is about half the year, in half the country, Bangkok included. Along with a good part of the year, temps are brutally hot & humid, and not for everyone.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/3174485/unsafe-levels-of-smog-in-59-provinces-red-levels-in-greater-bangkok

Negative AN comment removed.

On what visa?

I won’t be working locally in Thailand.

My income is primarily remote and U.S.-based, and I’m looking at Thailand as a place to live, not a place to compete for local employment.

I’m still doing my homework on visas and compliance, but the plan is to remain financially independent while integrating into the community and lifestyle there.

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

On what visa?

.I’m looking at moving sometime within the next 9 to 12 months. Right now, I’m taking the time to figure out the visa details and get all my plans lined up so the move goes smoothly.

This is clearly a windup and the text was written by AI. Anyone who doesn't realize that is being very naïve.

51 minutes ago, Teamkarriem1978 said:

.I’m looking at moving sometime within the next 9 to 12 months. Right now, I’m taking the time to figure out the visa details and get all my plans lined up so the move goes smoothly.

Hmm.

Well, too young for a retirement visa (need age 50) so I suggest prioritizing if this is even going to be viable for you, visa-wise, before spending any time planning for anything else here.

1 hour ago, BilllyGOAT said:

This is clearly a windup and the text was written by AI. Anyone who doesn't realize that is being very naïve.

It is strange English.

On 1/26/2026 at 9:18 PM, Teamkarriem1978 said:

Right now my plan is Bangkok, most likely around the Rama 9 area. It seems like a good balance of central location, modern condos, and transit access.

That said, I’m still in the research phase and very open to input. If you’ve lived in Bangkok or that area specifically, I’d love to hear what you liked—or didn’t like—about it.

How long have you been in Thailand, and where did you end up settling?

retired in BKK 20+ years ago, daughter began school there but quality ENGLISH was not available for schools. Traffic then was horrible so 12 years ago moved to Chiang Mai - daughter went to Chiang Mai International School - graduated speaking, reading, writing (teaching even) with 4 languages (korean - 6 level tested, Chinese (taught at another HS too), English native and Thai native) but not really cheap but well worth it as she also learned a lot about computers. Housing outside the city itself is relatively cheap and available. Every type of food is also easily available. While daughter began college in BKK (much cheaper than USA even with her scholarships available there), we rented a house in BKK for 2 years as we had 2 dogs and needed a yard and we found the transportation with the train system much better than those early years driving in the city. But I found the air pollution and noise pollution higher and than living in Chiang Mai - though during the "burning season" the pollution does increase and one needs to have air purifiers in one's house IMHO. But the living in Chiang Mai to us is much better but then that all depends on what an individual family is looking for. Let me know if you need any further particular information. I still consider that I live in paradise!

Always underestimated: make a point of learning the language if you want to be comfortable.

On 1/26/2026 at 9:35 AM, Teamkarriem1978 said:

Hey everyone 👋

I’m a 47-year-old retired U.S. Marine vet, planning a move to Thailand with my girlfriend and possibly one or two kids. We’re in the research and transition phase right now and really looking to connect with people who’ve recently made the move or are already settled there.

I’m not just looking for surface-level info — more so community, real-world advice, and folks who don’t mind helping newcomers learn the ropes. Things like neighborhoods, schools, day-to-day living, cultural do’s and don’ts, and just having a friendly handoff when we land would mean a lot.

If you’ve moved to Thailand with family, or even solo and built a solid life there, I’d love to hear your experience. Open to grabbing coffee, chatting online, or just exchanging messages and insights.

Appreciate any connections, advice, or direction. Looking forward to being part of the community 🇹🇭

If your wife not Thai, think twice about it. You live in the greatest country on earth, best free health care, great food , good education system and safe country. Just travel and bring family for holidays when the air is clean.

6 minutes ago, Bruce Aussie said:

If your wife not Thai, think twice about it. You live in the greatest country on earth, best free health care, great food , good education system and safe country. Just travel and bring family for holidays when the air is clean.

What are you talking about. America is a great country, but we have horrible healthcare and our educational system is going backward with Linda McMahon at the helm of education.

My advice is first look for schools. Once you decide which school then look at accommodation preferably a gated village or condo. Taking kids to school and back will take a good chunk of your day if the distance is great. Around central bkk traffic is always problematic.

Took me a few years to decide which location and accommodation I would choose here. I would suggest renting first , travel around to the other major ex-pat areas, choose one, move and rent there for a while, see how that suits your budget/lifestyle/personality. Repeat until you find the one that works best for you. Again, it took me years and the wait / process was worth it. I hate to think what my life would have been like if I had made an early decision, it's so far removed from where I ended up.

2 hours ago, Bruce Aussie said:

If your wife not Thai, think twice about it. You live in the greatest country on earth, best free health care, great food , good education system and safe country. Just travel and bring family for holidays when the air is clean.

The thing that you do not take into account is the cost of living. If he is ex-military, his life depends on what he has in savings and a pension. That makes a lot of people move here

Health care in the US is not free food here is good and if you can afford the education it is better here than the U.S. Thailand is a lot safer than U.S. UK

One thing to take into account is how old are your kids and what misa's are teh schools gong to want youto have.

9 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

Health care in the US is not free food here is good and if you can afford the education it is better here than the U.S. Thailand is a lot safer than U.S. UK

This is a key. For a good international school you are looking at a minimum of 20-25,000 usd per year per kid. You can get education for less but leaving top tier schools is not recommended.

On 1/26/2026 at 3:35 AM, Teamkarriem1978 said:

Hey everyone 👋

I’m a 47-year-old retired U.S. Marine vet, planning a move to Thailand with my girlfriend and possibly one or two kids. We’re in the research and transition phase right now and really looking to connect with people who’ve recently made the move or are already settled there.

I’m not just looking for surface-level info — more so community, real-world advice, and folks who don’t mind helping newcomers learn the ropes. Things like neighborhoods, schools, day-to-day living, cultural do’s and don’ts, and just having a friendly handoff when we land would mean a lot.

If you’ve moved to Thailand with family, or even solo and built a solid life there, I’d love to hear your experience. Open to grabbing coffee, chatting online, or just exchanging messages and insights.

Appreciate any connections, advice, or direction. Looking forward to being part of the community 🇹🇭

Lots of stuff to consider when settling a new place, especially when having children included.

As there can be huge differenes between places in Thailand, it might help a lot if you know more about, where you are looking to settle. I.e., in a tourist area – like Hua Hin, Phuket or Koh Samui – daily life can be very different from a rural village up on the Isaan Plateau; again especially if having children that needs to go to school.

I'll gladly help you – I've settled here 20 years ago now and had a child also – I'm not American, I'm Danish, and I decided for a touristed area rather than Isaan, but is familiar with some areas up there and especially the differences. It's a personal choice what you like and also eventual Thai family-ties – but if you havent made any decisions, it's worth collecting information and other's experience. My best advise is always to try to stay in areas of interest for a couple of weeks to felle what it is like; preferably both in dru period and rainy season; up north eventual aso the cold season.

If you are interested, you can both PM me or continue in this thread, where others perhaps also might find questions and replies useful.

It looks like if you are covered with the TRICARE health care for US military you can use that in Thailand. If that is true, that should save you quite a bit of money on health care--something that a lot of retirees here struggle with.

My spouse and I have a getaway condo in the Rama 9 area of Bangkok and we like that area. You might want to consider the suburbs of Pattaya, however. The Darkside area where we live has lots of international schools and a very wide variety of housing available to rent or buy, in a large number of different housing projects. You'll have lots more choice for housing in greater Pattaya than in center city Bangkok. Pattaya has a large expat community, very good shopping, restaurants, health care, recreation, etc., and it's an easy drive to Suvarnabhumi airport and Bangkok, for getaways.

On 1/27/2026 at 11:21 AM, BilllyGOAT said:

This is clearly a windup and the text was written by AI. Anyone who doesn't realize that is being very naïve.

i’m not AI at all. I’m not a real person that use ChatGPT to make sure my grammar is correct..

Just now, Teamkarriem1978 said:

i’m not AI at all. I’m not a real person that use ChatGPT to make sure my grammar is correct..

You're not AI and not a real person?

I'm confused.

You're not Bob either, right?

You knew what I mean. I’m not here for back-and-forth online banter, I’m just a guy looking for solid information. Any given I greatly appreciate I’m not here to bother anybody or be picked with.

On 1/31/2026 at 10:08 AM, Bruce Aussie said:

If your wife not Thai, think twice about it. You live in the greatest country on earth, best free health care, great food , good education system and safe country. Just travel and bring family for holidays when the air is clean.

Are you assuming that the poster is living in America, and what on Earth makes you say it's the greatest country in the world? Either you've been listening to way too much false hyperbole, or you're a multi-millionaire. Healthcare costs in the US are ridiculous and education is not even in the top 40.

The overall quality of life right now is very low in the US, everything is way over priced, there is so much bitterness, division and dissent, and I can think of at least 20 countries where the QOL is infinitely higher, including Thailand.

I applaud anyone who's looking to get out of America, at this point in time it's a fantastic move.

It’s Bangkok or Chiang Mai for you. And both both have great forums here to ask specific questions about about education and housing.

For family life, I suggest Chiang Mai. Much more user-friendly.

For a Visa agent, they are all largely close to the same in terms of competency and price. My girlfriend is a visa agent, so I better say this quietly.

In terms of building a community for yourself, take a look at meetup.com. It has been invaluable to me in making quality Expat friends.

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Are you assuming that the poster is living in America, and what on Earth makes you say it's the greatest country in the world? Either you've been listening to way too much false hyperbole, or you're a multi-millionaire. Healthcare costs in the US are ridiculous and education is not even in the top 40.

The overall quality of life right now is very low in the US, everything is way over priced, there is so much bitterness, division and dissent, and I can think of at least 20 countries where the QOL is infinitely higher, including Thailand.

I applaud anyone who's looking to get out of America, at this point in time it's a fantastic move.

I always love and click on your comments, but we should keep this thread to providing useful information to a newcomer instead of fighting over politics and the state of the world.

I lived around Rama 9 for couple years, check out Jodd Fairs night market and Fattys Bar and Diner.