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Posted

There are many countries. Plenty of good places to go on holiday and many retirement havens.

Most people, I guess, live, until they are old, where they can work or have 'family'.

If you did not have a Thai wife/ girl friend/business are there actually any good reasons for living here rather than somewhere else?

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Posted

If I didn't currently have a wife/gf here, next week I would have.

That's what's great about Thailand, the ease of acquiring a wife/gf/children.

I'm guessing there might be other countries where you can do that easily, but I haven't found them (yet).

Posted

I came out here to further my interest in bird-watching. I have found a particular liking to the the brown coloured, short legged varieties mostly native to the north and north-east areas of the Kingdom.

No sighting of the lesser spotted tit yet?

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Posted

are there actually any good reasons for living here rather than somewhere else?

Yes, tax reasons and ease of living here, no one asks any questions.

Its at time like this I feel sorry for my American friends with the draconian IRS on there back.

Personally I would rather be elsewhere and so would the mrs, but the visa situation prohibts this.

Never could understand why the good old US of A has never introduced some sort of retirement visa, guess they would rather have illegals than those with money.

That's a bloody good point. US retirement visas. Where are they? Why aren't they?

Posted

Still better than other places for setting one's own business.

But would rather leave somewhere else for retirement.

To a place with more to visit/see, more substance.

Also Thai partner's wish. So will see how we can manage it altogether.

Posted

I'd rather be in Latin America but for a variety of personal reasons it is better for me to be here now... can't say I love it anymore though, especially after learning Thai language.

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Posted

I don't have wife / gf / kids (at least that I know of), business or a job here. I just like it here. I can be almost anywhere but I choose to be here. This is a good country to live in IME.

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Posted

Wife is the reason I stayed here after 7 years. Can't really say if I'd have remained where I am. I think I'd be bored enough to consider it had she not come along. Life is always going thru changes after a clump of years it seems; for me at least

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Posted

are there actually any good reasons for living here rather than somewhere else?

Yes, tax reasons and ease of living here, no one asks any questions.

Its at time like this I feel sorry for my American friends with the draconian IRS on there back.

Actually, yes, I have to pay taxes to the IRS but they are less than 20% of my gross adjusted income. I posted a link earlier showing that the average American pays about 20% in taxes - even the rich. People from other Western countries on here say they would have to pay much more than that in their home country.

Also the US doesn't have import duties, so consumer items are cheap.

The US government deposits about $2,500 (78,000 baht) into my bank account every month for my social security payment. It also provides me with full health insurance including prescription drugs for about $150 (4,700 baht) per month. I don't have much to complain about.

Personally I would rather be elsewhere and so would the mrs, but the visa situation prohibts this.

Never could understand why the good old US of A has never introduced some sort of retirement visa, guess they would rather have illegals than those with money.

That's a bloody good point. US retirement visas. Where are they? Why aren't they?

Maybe they read ThaiVisa and the comments about the US by all of the "foreigners." biggrin.png

Just a minor point concerning your statement that "The US government deposits about $2,500 (78,000 baht) into my bank account every month for my social security payment" lest our non American friends get the wrong impression. Social security is based on a lifetime of income and social security payment withholdings made by each of us. If compared to other investment alternatives, the return on our investment is not particularly impressive. I am not complaining and am looking forward to drawing my own social security in a few years, but did not want to have anyone walk away thinking that this was free money from the US government.

Also, when analyzing US income taxes, adjusted gross income is income after deductions and exemptions. The most recent data (2009) tells us that the average tax rate, based on adjusted gross income, was 11.09%. Obviously, when calculating taxes based on total income, the percentage is substantially smaller than that number.

Cheers.

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