Retirement

[Baht Simpson]

As we all know one of the pre-requisites for retiring in Thailand is not having a job. I hope to be in a position in the next year or so to retire there. I believe that I can meet all the requirements with ease, but the one thing that does worry me if I am not working is keeping my hand in as it were. Although I love the contemplative life I think at the tender age of 50 I would go mad if I didn't have anything at all to do. My question is what do retirees do to keep busy without doing a Thai out of a job? I quite like the idea of writing articles for a magazine or travel guide or something. Would that be acceptable?

The place I'm looking to retire to has plenty of itinerant labourers looking to earn a crust, both Thai and Burmese, so any sort of manual work is a no-no.

Incidentally I'm not into the bar scene or anything like that, so the hedonistic delights of Thailand are not of interest.

[Baht Simpson]

Crap! I meant to put that in the General Topics Forum. Sorry.

[PeaceBlondie]

Hey, your username is clever, Baht.

The moderator can move it to the best forum if he pleases.

I retired at age 56 and nearly went crazy with all that dead time. So I moved to Thailand and for now, I teach English fulltime, which is right for me.

You can do volunteer work. You can work part-time. You can work independently. Under the table. You can do a temporary full-time gig for a while, and then kick back and take it easy. Write a novel. Do research on-line. Walk. Swim. Etc.

Of course, you can travel all over Thailand. If you enjoy the company of like-minded individuals, find some really good quality (not rich) foreigners who won't swindle you.

I think if you stop working, you rust out. At least, I would.

[doctormann]

As we all know one of the pre-requisites for retiring in Thailand is not having a job.

Baht

I'm in a similar position although I shall be taking up retirement a bit sooner than you (October 2004). I believe that the ban on employment, if you are on a retirement visa, is primarily to protect Thai jobs, so any job that would deprive a Thai of work, or that was paid from within Thailand, seems to be a no-no. Voluntary work should be OK as it is unpaid.

You can work part-time.

Not so sure about this one though, if it's paid work.

I quite like the idea of writing articles for a magazine or travel guide or something. Would that be acceptable?

Could you arrange to get paid for this work into a non-Thai bank account? It seems to me that if you could do this then the authorities would never know about it anyway. Unless you are depriving a Thai writer of this type of work (unlikely?) I don't see that there should be a problem but I don't really know what you can get away with. The visa forms that I filled out were quite specific about not being involved in work or in a profession so, if you take that at its face value, you can do nothing apart from relax in the sun, etc. I'd quite like to hear some views on this as it's something that I am vaguely considering doing myself.

Cheers

Doctormann

[toopeekaa 1]

I would say if you plan to retire at the tender age of 50, you would be a man of credible human intelligence, and obviously of means,,,,,,,, perhaps you could get on this forum as a moderator...... the money won't matter, they use falangs , not sure if being human is a requirement, and the intelligence might get in your way.......

its a joke guys especially to those sans sense of humor

[abdulrahman]

Good joke Topeka,thimk the moderators will like it too;

more seriously I have the same problem,though on an non O visa,retired but still needing something interesting to do with the time;travelling is not so easy,not all the time,due to my working wife,and my Thai insufficient for a teaching job(my english too).Any specific advise appreciated.

[astral]

I think you will find that you need a little extra in your life, after the contemplation.

On a retirement visa legal work in Thailand is not allowed, but perhaps you can do some consulting on your field in the region?

Any money paid should go to an offshore bank account.

The ocassional trip overseas is good, then you can see that Thailand is better/worse than you thought - it all depends were you travel to.

Alternatively there are many charitable organisations here in Thailand that would welcome your unpaid assistance.

As suggested, you could even while away a few hours moderating for Thai Visa Forum.

Whatever takes your fancy.

That is the good bit about retirement, you can choose when/if you work.

[loong]

Strictly speaking you need a permit to do voluntary work.

Check the different type of visas.

Doubt whether you would have a problem doing voluntary

[Baht Simpson]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Food for thought. One thing I could do is finish my degree. I hear that you can take your Open University exams in Bangkok now.

[simcity]

I retired in Thailand at 39 , now 47 . Put myself into trading stocks on the Australian stockmarket as a hobby .

[RDN]

.....As suggested, you could even while away a few hours moderating for Thai Visa Forum.....

I while away enough hours just reading the @#$%^ stuff! (Wish I could get paid for it )