In my view, probably the best reason for an older expat to move to Bangkok is health care. As said before, I see Pattaya as having two levels, obscenely greedy private hospitals and government options which most expats can't realistically deal with. Yes that is a big exaggeration, but I think there is truth there. Go to Bangkok and the choices including on price level expand dramatically. Plus you get all the specialists. clearly the best health care in Thailand and some of the best in the world. You need eye surgery? Rutnin. Pattaya has no Rutnin and sorry managing things like that from Pattaya is quite inconvenient. You want Bumrungrad? You can have it if you afford it and/or your insurance covers it. If NOT, you have still very good, better priced options in Bangkok that simply don't exist in Pattaya. Bottom line, living in Bangkok for health care access MIGHT both save your life and save your life savings. No guarantees of course, but I think clearly better odds. This articles details some of those choices. bkkscene.com/best-hospitals-bangkok/