Retiring At 32 Next Feb!

[TommoPhysicist]

I wonder what is it that attract people to Thailand (beside the obvious, of course). It's great to visit for a short vacation, but there really is no reason to move there, especially if you have a family. If you've experienced negativity in this forum in the past, it's because there is a lot of bitterness from people who are stuck in the LOS. I would be bitter too, if I would be stuck there; I currently live somewhere else and my life is much better in every way than my short time in Thailand.

One of the biggest challenge that people probably overlook at your age is the challenge of making friends and networking. There are very few people who are in the same situation as you, and if you live outside Bangkok, it's extremely likely you'll end up with a deeply unsatisfying social life. (Even in Bangok, it's pretty hard to make friends).

Prima facie, Thailand might appear like a bargain destination, but it really isn't, unless you live in the middle of nowhere. But then if you live in the middle of nowhere, it's pretty depressing.

If you would be alone, I would just say go for it. But seeing you're dragging your family, I would strongly advise against it.

Been here for 5 years and loved every minute.

Weather is great every day, no more cold weather, or cold rain.

I live in a remote area with no foreigners nearby but have a great social life, CM is within driving distance.

But in one way I agree with you, can't see it being much fun if your whole family are non-Thais.

[The Pundit]

So you were an ex-commando at what, 26? You then developed a presumably multi-million $ business in 5 years, and during a recession too. In my experience the type of people that are able to do that, don't even consider retirement. They certainly don't move to Thailand. I would also venture to suggest that your average commando isn't bright enough to achieve any of that.

More like ex-territorial army with a failed business venture behind him trying his luck abroad cos it's cheap. Though I hope for your sake you're just a troll.

He'll be amongst friends then,here on Thai Visa!

[taotoo]

So you were an ex-commando at what, 26? You then developed a presumably multi-million $ business in 5 years, and during a recession too. In my experience the type of people that are able to do that, don't even consider retirement. They certainly don't move to Thailand. I would also venture to suggest that your average commando isn't bright enough to achieve any of that.

More like ex-territorial army with a failed business venture behind him trying his luck abroad cos it's cheap. Though I hope for your sake you're just a troll.

You do realise that the entire Royal Marines from top to bottom (the best part of 10000 men) are commandos, don't you? Not to mention certain regiments / battalions from the Army who also make up 3 Commando Brigade together with the RM.

No I didn't. Suspect my point still stands though!

[meatballs]

Is OP a troll? He opened this thread which adds nothing to the previous thread except to reopen the debate.

I wish you the best of luck. I am not sure that I can logically understand how raising a farang child in a rural area of a third world country where neither you nor your wife speak the local language is a good idea. It sounds like you are on an adventure and your child is just a piece of luggage and as a parent myself, I just can't relate to that.

edit: Just to say, reading the OPs post it is getting more and more likely that he is just a troll.

Registers a few weeks ago and uses the name "excommando".

Makes multiple posts braging about how he has "retired" at the ripe old age of 32.

Can't be certain but it definitely smells like troll food.

[taotoo]

So you were an ex-commando at what, 26? You then developed a presumably multi-million $ business in 5 years, and during a recession too. In my experience the type of people that are able to do that, don't even consider retirement. They certainly don't move to Thailand. I would also venture to suggest that your average commando isn't bright enough to achieve any of that.

More like ex-territorial army with a failed business venture behind him trying his luck abroad cos it's cheap. Though I hope for your sake you're just a troll.

Lots of young former army people with lifetime 'grace and favour' pensions after being injured in a war zone. I know a couple. You can also get medical retirement pensions from other services, for example police and firefighters.

The OP's implication was that he was retiring on the back of a successful business. Do physics degrees not require comprehension?

[cdnvic]

Nobody is forced to read the topic. If you don't like what the OP is posting, read something else. Let mods deal with trolls. Making accusations will only come back on you.

[tinfoilhat]

Is OP a troll? He opened this thread which adds nothing to the previous thread except to reopen the debate.

I wish you the best of luck. I am not sure that I can logically understand how raising a farang child in a rural area of a third world country where neither you nor your wife speak the local language is a good idea. It sounds like you are on an adventure and your child is just a piece of luggage and as a parent myself, I just can't relate to that.

edit: Just to say, reading the OPs post it is getting more and more likely that he is just a troll.

Registers a few weeks ago and uses the name "excommando".

Makes multiple posts braging about how he has "retired" at the ripe old age of 32.

Can't be certain but it definitely smells like troll food.

but why does it matter to you unless you want very badly for his story to be untrue?

[poanoi]

I retired at 33, and came here a few months later, now age 44

[Trembly]

So you were an ex-commando at what, 26? You then developed a presumably multi-million $ business in 5 years, and during a recession too. In my experience the type of people that are able to do that, don't even consider retirement. They certainly don't move to Thailand. I would also venture to suggest that your average commando isn't bright enough to achieve any of that.

More like ex-territorial army with a failed business venture behind him trying his luck abroad cos it's cheap. Though I hope for your sake you're just a troll.

You do realise that the entire Royal Marines from top to bottom (the best part of 10000 men) are commandos, don't you? Not to mention certain regiments / battalions from the Army who also make up 3 Commando Brigade together with the RM.

No I didn't. Suspect my point still stands though!

That's just the daftest generalisation I've heard for quite some time . . . not since kindergarten, I should think. Fit = meathead.

There are many ex RM (and ex forces in general) earning at least 5 or 6 figure sums in the City (of London), never mind those that have struck off on their own in various corners of the globe.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Trembly

[Stradavarius37]

Do what you want to do, make your own decisions, and live with them. Then come on TV and complain about them to strangers

[HeijoshinCool]

I have never, ever, met a Special Forces guy of genuine pedigree who would refer to himself as "ex." In the States, if you refer to a Marine as an "ex-Marine," he'll passionately set you straight. Once a Marine, always a Marine, unto death. But, an acceptable term is "former Marine." I've met a lot of "ex-SEALs" in ex-pat bars here, but have only met a few "former" special forces guys.

Is it different in Great Britain? Somehow, being a tight community, I doubt it.

Either way seems quite pompous to post something so self-aggrandizing.

Not an accusation, just a little deductory cogitation.

[Naam]

did i just read the standard of living in thailand is higher, compared to where.

I think someone said that his standard of living was higher in LOS than it would be in the UK. For some that might be true. Instead of being homeless in the UK, you could rent a 2,000bht "apartment" in LOS and the dumpster diving has mangos. (Voice of experience here, LOL. Love those dumpsters.)

If on the other hand you bring a wife and child to LOS and expect to maintain the Western lifestyle which is two cars, a fully equipped home, medical insurance and all else to match, I don't believe it's cheaper.

I could be wrong but I don't go to LOS for it to be cheaper. I'm not willing to live like a 3rd world peasant (not to say that anyone is) if I can afford better.

you are wrong because it is cheaper. keyword is "income tax" !

[Naam]

I find it curious that a 32 year old successful man would want to come and live in the back blocks of Thailand.

I couldnt think of anything worse. Why would you?

Believe me the cost of living is not that cheap if you want to lead a similar lifestyle to what you had in the west.

Further if you were a successful businessman the cost of living in Thailand wouldnt really be a factor as you would have plenty of money already?

this poor man's ignorant talk drives me crazy Tolley. but no offence meant!

we live in Thailand, compared to my home country Germany, not only a comfortable but a rather luxurious life. and it does not cost us a single copper penny because each and every cost incurred is paid for by the income and other fancy taxes we don't pay to Mr Schäuble (German Finance Minister) who'd be shovelling a part of our taxes to Greece, Portugal and Spain. and guess what... our tax savings are in fact much higher than our expenditure, i.e. a nice portion of additional cash is available for reinvestment.

i have no idea about the OP's financial means. but i know the tax situation in Oz because years ago we were considering to retire in Australia. Oz income tax is not as bad as the German one but still considerably high. it doesn't take rocket science that the OP's tax savings might pay for a considerable share of his expenses in Thailand, and perhaps like in our case, paying for all.

[rgs2001uk]

did i just read the standard of living in thailand is higher, compared to where.

I think someone said that his standard of living was higher in LOS than it would be in the UK. For some that might be true. Instead of being homeless in the UK, you could rent a 2,000bht "apartment" in LOS and the dumpster diving has mangos. (Voice of experience here, LOL. Love those dumpsters.)

If on the other hand you bring a wife and child to LOS and expect to maintain the Western lifestyle which is two cars, a fully equipped home, medical insurance and all else to match, I don't believe it's cheaper.

I could be wrong but I don't go to LOS for it to be cheaper. I'm not willing to live like a 3rd world peasant (not to say that anyone is) if I can afford better.

you are wrong because it is cheaper. keyword is "income tax" !

Beg to differ there Herr Naam, key word missing from the above, NO, as in no income tax.

Gotta love Thailand, they aint taxing me to support a bunch of Greek tax dodgers, or failed de facto commie states.

[jacktrip]

Thanks for all the replies.

I am not a troll - what would the purpose be?

I'm on here to try and meet a few people before we arrive.

My daughter is 6 months old; will we stay in Thailand until she is at school age? Who knows.

For us, it's a 1 - 3 year plan to relax in the sun and chill out. If it becomes our home, so be it.

I've picked Thailand because we know the country from holidaying there and the cost of living is relatively low.

can you raise a family around sex tourists and grandpa walking around with what looks like his grand daughter? something to seriously consider, they are unavoidable.

if you have means you can get away by mostly staying away from cheap digs, but if you are moderate or scratching you get some flea place with pedos and sex pervs and people getting blitzed nightly because they cant handle the trials of life and carry no internal moral compass about bedding someone 1/3 their weight and just over legal age (hopefully).

you know the drill.

Edited November 21, 2012 by jacktrip

[advancebooking]

I only read this forum forum with an open mind- to 'observe and not to judge' and thus hope OP is not offended but why did he raise this thread? Why is he telling us this? I speculate that maybe he is a very bored and lonely individual but maybe this is too harsh. Maybe he simply has a garrulous personality...

[tinfoilhat]

Expats go to Thailand for the girls.

Unless you actually are coming for the bar girls, I give you 6 months. Actually I give your wife 6 months in any event.

i am so tired of hearing this <deleted>.

Just because you or every lowlife you know is in thailand to get laid because you couldn't manage it anywhere else don't tar me or the people i know with the same foul brush.

You know, I don't mind you snipping my quotes as long as you don't snip the context and hear only what you want to hear. I said:

The cost of living isn't low unless you choose to live as the natives do. If you want Western housing and Western food and two cars and all else that is West, you won't save a dime. What you save in housing you'll lose in Western food, sundries, durable goods, cars, and most else.

Expats go to Thailand for the girls. </subject> They can live cheaper if they rent cheap, eat as Thais do, (I can't hack that even most of the time) do without a good car and use public transportation, maybe buy a used scooter, and so on. Most important, they can have a girl much younger and cheaper if they are wise about it.

Unless you actually are coming for the bar girls, I give you 6 months. Actually I give your wife 6 months in any event.

Now, I don't go to LOS for the bar girls myself and don't think most expats do. But I believe that most are looking for a younger, prettier gal with fewer economic demands than they would find back home. Some get married. Some have girlfriends. Some live a nice life. It's still the girls. Reality is that an older guy has more prospects in LOS, and maybe even better if he never sets foot in a bar or meets a bar girl.

I didn't mention bar girls until the end, and then only because the OP is married and bringing a family.

and i disagree that anything else you said in the first post mitigates the fact that you have asserted that the reason people are here is the women.

The women are not why i am here, nor why i have stayed, nor are they the reason the majority of my long-term friends have stayed here.

Certainly we have met women, some have married women here, but that in my opinion is a side issue.

rephrase it all you want, talk about bargirls or not, in the end you are still talking about the cost of having a woman.

I personally have only had relationships with partners here, (or anywhere i have lived), who have been self sufficient, intelligent individuals in their own right that i have not needed to nor felt i needed to pay to continue an association with.

i reiterate, neither myself or my group of friends seem to think like you, please do not assume that your experience or attitude to women is universal. it is not.

Edited November 21, 2012 by tinfoilhat

[TommoPhysicist]

I personally have only had relationships with partners here, (or anywhere i have lived), who have been self sufficient, intelligent individuals in their own right that i have not needed to nor felt i needed to pay to continue an association with.

I would rather pay for the company of a pretty young woman than have the company of an older unattractive woman for free. But each to his own. (IQ, educational levels and previous employment history not important)

Edited November 21, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[Semper]

I personally have only had relationships with partners here, (or anywhere i have lived), who have been self sufficient, intelligent individuals in their own right that i have not needed to nor felt i needed to pay to continue an association with.

So, what was wrong with them, as you're not in a relationship with them anymore?

Edited November 21, 2012 by Semper

[TommoPhysicist]

I personally have only had relationships with partners here, (or anywhere i have lived), who have been self sufficient, intelligent individuals in their own right that i have not needed to nor felt i needed to pay to continue an association with.

So, what was wrong with them, as you're not in a relationship with them anymore?

He wouldn't pay?

[Naam]

did i just read the standard of living in thailand is higher, compared to where.

I think someone said that his standard of living was higher in LOS than it would be in the UK. For some that might be true. Instead of being homeless in the UK, you could rent a 2,000bht "apartment" in LOS and the dumpster diving has mangos. (Voice of experience here, LOL. Love those dumpsters.)

If on the other hand you bring a wife and child to LOS and expect to maintain the Western lifestyle which is two cars, a fully equipped home, medical insurance and all else to match, I don't believe it's cheaper.

I could be wrong but I don't go to LOS for it to be cheaper. I'm not willing to live like a 3rd world peasant (not to say that anyone is) if I can afford better.

you are wrong because it is cheaper. keyword is "income tax" !

Beg to differ there Herr Naam, key word missing from the above, NO, as in no income tax.

Gotta love Thailand, they aint taxing me to support a bunch of Greek tax dodgers, or failed de facto commie states.

i stand corrected!

[MAJIC]

I don't understand this forum, the dude says he wants to retire at 32 ...

Why do we all assume he is a liar ...and if he is a liar who really cares ...but if he does and the "long game " is his demise .he will delete his account and start again saying he is somebody else ...I don't see the point in the negativity ....nobody is forced to write a post we all do because the rest of our lives are boring I'm doing it coz right now I'm bored stupid

Thai visa is in the bog and is sinking day by day

The same repetitive posts over and over again ,the same posters and the same mud slinging ...I'm not helping by writing this garbage either

It's ok tough I'm not looking for replys or for anybody to try convience me that Thai visa is a helpful site .it isn't and hasn't been for a long time ..can an expiereneced poster show me the light to the delete account button and I'll bid you all farwell

It's like watching Television,nobody forces you to do it! and you don't need a delete account button,just don't Post.

[Humbugged]

I don't understand this forum, the dude says he wants to retire at 32 ...

Why do we all assume he is a liar ...and if he is a liar who really cares ...but if he does and the "long game " is his demise .he will delete his account and start again saying he is somebody else ...I don't see the point in the negativity ....nobody is forced to write a post we all do because the rest of our lives are boring I'm doing it coz right now I'm bored stupid

Thai visa is in the bog and is sinking day by day

The same repetitive posts over and over again ,the same posters and the same mud slinging ...I'm not helping by writing this garbage either

It's ok tough I'm not looking for replys or for anybody to try convience me that Thai visa is a helpful site .it isn't and hasn't been for a long time ..can an expiereneced poster show me the light to the delete account button and I'll bid you all farwell

It's like watching Television,nobody forces you to do it! and you don't need a delete account button,just don't Post.

But that does not produce the same 'look at me' emotions.

[RedBullHorn]

I retired from Singapore at the age of 28 !!!!!!!!!!! (year 2000) and I'm 41 now. With my farm (in Thailand), I'm earning close to a million Thb per annum and will be expending next year. Yes of course i still have some businesses in Singapore to sustain me during my early years so as to ensure i do not fail... Planning ahead is crucial...

Edited November 21, 2012 by RedBullHorn

[Tolley]

I find it curious that a 32 year old successful man would want to come and live in the back blocks of Thailand.

I couldnt think of anything worse. Why would you?

Believe me the cost of living is not that cheap if you want to lead a similar lifestyle to what you had in the west.

Further if you were a successful businessman the cost of living in Thailand wouldnt really be a factor as you would have plenty of money already?

this poor man's ignorant talk drives me crazy Tolley. but no offence meant!

we live in Thailand, compared to my home country Germany, not only a comfortable but a rather luxurious life. and it does not cost us a single copper penny because each and every cost incurred is paid for by the income and other fancy taxes we don't pay to Mr Schäuble (German Finance Minister) who'd be shovelling a part of our taxes to Greece, Portugal and Spain. and guess what... our tax savings are in fact much higher than our expenditure, i.e. a nice portion of additional cash is available for reinvestment.

i have no idea about the OP's financial means. but i know the tax situation in Oz because years ago we were considering to retire in Australia. Oz income tax is not as bad as the German one but still considerably high. it doesn't take rocket science that the OP's tax savings might pay for a considerable share of his expenses in Thailand, and perhaps like in our case, paying for all.

Going by your avatar you look a little over 32 I would say?

And I believe you are staying in the Pattaya area which is a lot different from some hick town in Thailand where the OP is considering staying.

As for income tax I have been trying to avoid paying taxes for years and have succeeded to some extent having done a long stint in the ME and just recently in Singapore. Unfortunately I still have a company in Australia and income producing assets there so I still make a hefty contribution to the tax take in Oz.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Tolley

[Tolley]

I retired from Singapore at the age of 28 !!!!!!!!!!! (year 2000) and I'm 41 now. With my farm (in Thailand), I'm earning close to a million Thb per annum and will be expending next year. Yes of course i still have some business in Singapore to sustain me during my early years so as to ensure i do not fail... Planning ahead is crucial...

It doesnt sound like you really retired then.

[Humbugged]

There has been no rant at all, so "gain" is thus impossible... I would agree that I had slight confusion of two thoughts. However, the latter point regarding deja vue remains.

'Slight'....

The old converging thoughts excuse.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Humbugged

[MAJIC]

I don't understand this forum, the dude says he wants to retire at 32 ...

Why do we all assume he is a liar ...and if he is a liar who really cares ...but if he does and the "long game " is his demise .he will delete his account and start again saying he is somebody else ...I don't see the point in the negativity ....nobody is forced to write a post we all do because the rest of our lives are boring I'm doing it coz right now I'm bored stupid

Thai visa is in the bog and is sinking day by day

The same repetitive posts over and over again ,the same posters and the same mud slinging ...I'm not helping by writing this garbage either

It's ok tough I'm not looking for replys or for anybody to try convience me that Thai visa is a helpful site .it isn't and hasn't been for a long time ..can an expiereneced poster show me the light to the delete account button and I'll bid you all farwell

It's like watching Television,nobody forces you to do it! and you don't need a delete account button,just don't Post.

But that does not produce the same 'look at me' emotions.

Or don't go pleas!

[Rob8891]

There has been no rant at all, so "gain" is thus impossible... I would agree that I had slight confusion of two thoughts. However, the latter point regarding deja vue remains.

'Slight'....

The old converging thoughts excuse.

Hahaha.... However, work comes first, and TV is a rare afterhought during the day. It is refreshing to note that you didn't address the issue of the familiar style of your posts, which of an in itself is familiar.

[Sayonarax]

32 - Play the long game.

It's pretty young isn't it. When I was 32 I was also thinking about retirement but for when I was 35-36, ended up going on until I was 39 because there was just so much money about.

Get what you need, don't let it own you.