Thailand ranks among the world's best places for North Americans to retire

By Coconuts Bangkok

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya.

BANGKOK: -- By this point, it can be widely agreed that knowledge doesn’t count unless it’s placed into a numerical list.

Case in point: prior to this week, there existed in the minds of many a murky, inarticulate assertion that Thailand might be a good place to retire. However, the good persons at InternationalLiving.com have finally lent credence to this rumor by creating a list of the Best Places for North Americans to retire, a list that includes (surprise, surprise) Thailand among its ranks.

As reported in the Bangkok Post, InternationLiving.com placed the Kingdom in the ninth spot in its compendium of possible retirement destinations, several slots behind Malaysia, the only other southeast Asian country to make the cut. [more...]

Full story: http://www.coconutsb...cans-to-retire/

-- COCONUTS Bangkok 2013-01-07

Behind Malaysia?

International Living always list all the good things but tends to completely ignore the bad. They have always done that. So I think little of their advice.

Behind Malaysia?

No! Abowe Malasya, to the North.

Well there you go ,only last week the Australian and U.K. Ambassadors were panning the place , marvelous what a week can do.

Thailand named ninth-best for retirees

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand ranks ninth in the world as a retirement haven, according to International Living.

The publisher of retirement-oriented magazines said that, compared with Malaysia, one of two Asian destinations in the top 10, Thailand was more attractive only in terms of climate. Its final score is 82.3 points, compared with Malaysia's 89.

Ecuador was No 1 with 91.9 points.

International Living's Retirement Index ranks destinations across eight crucial categories - real estate, special retirement benefits, cost of living, ease of integration, entertainment and amenities, healthcare, retirement infrastructure and climate.

Thailand follows Ecuador, Panama, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Colombia and Spain.

-- The Nation 2013-01-07

OK. I'm off to Ecuador.

My God

The caption below the pic says

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya

Who writes this stuff for Coconutz?

Have they been to Pattaya?

Give me a break.

Why wait until retirement?

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya

I assume they are being sarcastic!

I wonder where North Americans rate on the list of most desirable expat retiree source markets?

OK. I'm off to Ecuador.

Isn't that where the turkeys were all going, planning to claim political-asylum, prior to the Christmas festivities ?

They were hoping to pass themselves off as followers of that Julian Assange chap, I heard.

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya

I assume they are being sarcastic!

I think they figure all North American retirees are horny old men.

OK. I'm off to Ecuador.

Isn't that where the turkeys were all going, planning to claim political-asylum, prior to the Christmas festivities ?

They were hoping to pass themselves off as followers of that Julian Assange chap, I heard.

I really should Google it and find out where the heck it is!

Must be a different Pattaya

I wonder where North Americans rate on the list of most desirable expat retiree source markets?

Which North Americans would you be referring to???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_countries_by_population

I wonder where North Americans rate on the list of most desirable expat retiree source markets?

Which North Americans would you be referring to???

http://en.wikipedia....s_by_population

USA and Canada is the market they are referring to.

Retire to a Catholic country?

Apart from the obvious fact that this survey is highly weighted by living costs I can well imagine that Thailand is high on the list.

As the article is dedicated to retirement most of these visitors will be looking for a bang for their buck in the most financial sense

One of the reasons that many migrate to Pattaya and Phuket is as a result of the volume of tourist that invade these places many locals have the ability that they can speak English induced by free trade and certainly not from their Government education system. this makes day to day living somewat easier.

I lived for some time on the Eastern Seaboard and now live or exist in a suburb of Metropolitan Bangkok and day to day living here is a bloody nightmare compared to the east coast..

Was I coming here to retire then there is no way in hell I would reside in their so called capital city, which is a shambles.

What's not to love: Denegue, political unrest and instability, drug resistant malaria, high HIV rates, poor health care, visa uncertainties, cannot own land, scam always around the corner and cops that shake you down and always have their hand out.

Great place to visit for a fun time though, but most seem to retire and buy a place in Florida, Bahamas or Carribean for winters.

No one in their right mind would even visit Mexico or Columbia right now, much less retire there. Those destinations would seemingly be reserved only for those on the run from something or for the really desperate for cheap living and maybe chicks in Columbia. These places are a war zone and having means there will get you robbed, shaken down or kidnapped by Narcos and the cops.

I have never met another north american that had dreams of retiring in ecuador. That doesnt mean its not the best place to retire.

I have never met another north american that had dreams of retiring in ecuador. That doesnt mean its not the best place to retire.

It's become a "thing" in the last few years. Many people are checking it out. There is an industry developing in Cuenca to help people check it out. Clearly, most people who check it out don't actually follow through. The Ecuadorian government is noticing too. They have opened an immigration office locally in Cuenca offering English language services and claim a lawyer is no longer needed. There are still only a few thousand "gringo" expats in Cuenca so it isn't exactly a boom yet.

Most countries don't offer bank account methods for retirement status. Thailand does and so does Ecuador. In Ecuador a bank account there of 20K USD in US dollars (their currency) which pays I think 7 percent interest cannot be touched but can be used to lead to permanent residency in a few years. That's a massively attractive offer compared to the NO stability permanent non-immigrant that Thailand offers.

BTW, Cuenca, the main target for expats doesn't even have an expat web forum yet! They do have a website/mailing list message board type thing but no way for forum type interaction. Maybe they've seen Thaivisa and got scared!

http://www.gringotree.com/cuenca/

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya

I assume they are being sarcastic!

Pattaya is a charming delightful tropical beach resort. If all of Thailand was like Pattaya it would have scored the number 1 spot easily.

It seems Americans have a pretty bad taste when it comes to places for retirement. Not surprising.

My God

The caption below the pic says

Spend your golden years in clean, wholesome Pattaya

Who writes this stuff for Coconutz?

Have they been to Pattaya?

Give me a break.

U ever heard of irony?

It seems Americans have a pretty bad taste when it comes to places for retirement. Not surprising.

Americans have limited incomes! Most baby boomers will have no private pension and the current AVERAGE social security pension is about 1200 dollars per month. The vast majority of Americans over 50 don't even have 50K USD saved. Real estate values have plummeted. Get the picture? Money is number one.

Of course, naturally, for North Americans considering retirement abroad, the first place most will look is in the Americas.

Thailand named ninth-best for retirees

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thailand ranks ninth in the world as a retirement haven, according to International Living.

The publisher of retirement-oriented magazines said that, compared with Malaysia, one of two Asian destinations in the top 10, Thailand was more attractive only in terms of climate. Its final score is 82.3 points, compared with Malaysia's 89.

Ecuador was No 1 with 91.9 points.

International Living's Retirement Index ranks destinations across eight crucial categories - real estate, special retirement benefits, cost of living, ease of integration, entertainment and amenities, healthcare, retirement infrastructure and climate.

Thailand follows Ecuador, Panama, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Colombia and Spain.

-- The Nation 2013-01-07

How did Spain get in there? I was in Barcelona last year. Hotels were $225 a night, cocktails $18, food prices were outrageous, and bottled water $4 each, US.

Strange that Malaysia open their arms to Americans seeing as Americans are considered the defenders of Islam all over the world ....

Another BS theme. Although Pattaya is a good place to retire to if you steer clear of from what is euphemistically called the entertainment area, clean and wholesome are not adjectives that I would use to describe the city. There are many plus points for Pattaya and its environs but the overall appearance is World class scruffiness. Juan-les-Pains it isn't.

I was particularly amused at the posting on Coconut asserting that Yanks were in danger of being ripped off by Brits. Maybe posted by Manuel from Barcelona? Fans of Fawlty Towers will get my drift.

Why wait until retirement?

<deleted> is retirement..please explain..I did this retire-retire?...I did this 35 yrs ago, I am ... well 40 years older than my girl friends...retirement in the NA view is your wife with you running down a beach hand in hand..WHF..it is all fairy Tail stuff that keeps the people in this dream world..ok 65 and I retire..then slowly feel that retirement is ...well I could have done this years ago!...get rid of the baggage one collects and find the soul with in you...yes holly day....holiday where ya become a tourist...and a horney day that is not ever done in north America..just pattaya..well Hugh Heffer said it " Be with young people is the key to living a long time"...so you know the secret..now get out and meet a young lady and enjoy retirement..do it now..retire from the NA mind set... Enjoy the moment..Rotor Ron