Retire in Phuket or Southern Europe?

[JB300]

Depends upon your needs JB300........first of all though, not 100% sure where you mean by the place names but I would think Kathu, Kata and possibly Kamala and Karon are the places you mean??
 
If you like a few nights out on the town, with some restaurants close at hand (both Thai and European) as well as a beach nearby, then Patong can fit the bill and despite there being the occasional water scare, folks have told me that you can find patches of good sand and clean sea, not that it's something I ever do (anyway if you wanted a day in the sea and on the sand, then you can just pop along to Karon or Kamala both of which have some lovely stretches of sand). And of course you have the shopping and shopping malls ranging from the big Jungceylon to the small numbers, and the occasional Chinese/tent city Mart that sell knickknacks and cheapies which can come in handy.
 
I know of a few expats who have moved out of Patong and gone over the hill to Kamala, but the problem is if they ever want a night out on the town they have to contend with traffic jams and roadblocks, not to mention breathalyser stops, so that has basically put paid to their forays to Bangla and environs.
 
The same applies to Kathu and anyway IMO it's bloody dangerous going over the Patong Hills at night at the best of time.
 
Kata was a place I quite liked when I first arrived here, along with Rawai, however they seem to have quietened down a bit now and it's just too quiet and "rural" for my liking.
 
You mentioned you would like to be closer to the airport and these last two places would be even further away, but from my perspective I wouldn't worry about being any closer to the airport because at any time of the day you can get a taxi here (Patong) which will whisk you to the airport in under an hour and most of the drivers know a few alternative routes if they need to take them.
 
As for budgeting 25,000 baht a month for a nice apartment, well you will certainly get one for that and quite possibly with two bedrooms.
 
As others have said, get here and book into just about anyplace you fancy for a week until you get your bearings and then you can start to look around and ask around and get a feel for the place; that's what I did and you'd be surprised how your view of certain areas change after you've been here a while, for example I looked at a place within walking distance of Bangla Road, until I walked up it one morning at about 3 a.m. and the deafening disco noise would certainly ensure that sleep was hard to come by.
 
Another place I quite liked was in a small Soi, but later on in the day seemed to be a meeting place for all of the Soi dogs, and indeed in a place I eventually settled one Soi dog got a little bit too vicious with a young family member and me, and I had to dispatch it to doggy heaven.
 
So what I'm saying is that being mobile early on in the piece is of paramount importance in my opinion.
 

Apologies, I live in Singapore so had a bit of a brain fart & put Katong (the area I live in here) instead of Karon (I'll blame autocorrect for Kuta instead of Kata [emoji14])

Thanks for the tips, I can see I have a lot of research ahead of me but if I want to move to Thailand it's going to have to be somewhere like Phuket, Krabi etc as the gf (Filipina) won't move to Bangkok, Pattaya etc...

[Old Croc]

Just now, JB300 said:

 

Apologies, I live in Singapore so had a bit of a brain fart & put Katong (the area I live in here) instead of Karon (I'll blame autocorrect for Kuta instead of Kata )

Thanks for the tips, I can see I have a lot of research ahead of me but if I want to move to Thailand it's going to have to be somewhere like Phuket, Krabi etc as the gf (Filipina) won't move to Bangkok, Pattaya etc...
 

 

If you don't want to live in one of the tourist centres on the western beaches there are places to the east of the hills where many expats live. As stated, it's an Island, you can drive to a beach from anywhere.

Look on a map for popular areas like Rawai, Nai Han and Chalong in the southern part of Phuket.  There are plenty of restaurants, shopping centers, bars, etc. without quite so many tourists.  If you want to live near the airport, there are quieter areas in the north, along with great beaches. You can be back in Singers in a couple of hours. 

[xylophone]

7 minutes ago, JB300 said:

 

Apologies, I live in Singapore so had a bit of a brain fart & put Katong (the area I live in here) instead of Karon (I'll blame autocorrect for Kuta instead of Kata )

Thanks for the tips, I can see I have a lot of research ahead of me but if I want to move to Thailand it's going to have to be somewhere like Phuket, Krabi etc as the gf (Filipina) won't move to Bangkok, Pattaya etc...
 

 

No problems and for the record, if you do decide to fly over and have a bit of a reconnoitre, then get in touch by PM and I'll gladly take some time to show you around the area – – I know it fairly well as I've been living here almost 11 years now, and visiting for 13 in all.

 

Up to you and it is no hassle for me and will probably help break my days up a little, not to mention giving the car a bit of a run!

[Old Croc]

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 3:38 PM, mcfish said:

Geez why not just say your wife drives you. I wouldn't have even responded.

Why tell us phuket is not for those that worry about transport costs and emit the fact you don't pay a dime? How bizarre lol

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk
 

Why difference does it make who drives my car. It happens to be my wife at the moment because of my health difficulties. My car and the four (at last count) motorcycles I've bought here didn't come free. How bizarre to say I don't pay a dime (satang?),  the costs and upkeep of these vehicles, is ongoing.

I agreed with you and the other guy that transport in Phuket is expensive, and people who cant afford their own transport would find difficulty in living here.

I have strong moral reasons why I wont use tuk tuks, which is why I bought my own vehicle, like most expats here who can afford to do so. If you cant afford to do the same, stay in Pattaya and ride your baht buses and cheap ladies.

You have some severe comprehension issues Mcfish.

[NamKangMan]

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

Why difference does it make who drives my car. It happens to be my wife at the moment because of my health difficulties. My car and the four (at last count) motorcycles I've bought here didn't come free. How bizarre to say I don't pay a dime (satang?),  the costs and upkeep of these vehicles, is ongoing.

I agreed with you and the other guy that transport in Phuket is expensive, and people who cant afford their own transport would find difficulty in living here.

I have strong moral reasons why I wont use tuk tuks, which is why I bought my own vehicle, like most expats here who can afford to do so. If you cant afford to do the same, stay in Pattaya and ride your baht buses and cheap ladies.

You have some severe comprehension issues Mcfish.

 

 

"It happens to be my wife at the moment because of my health difficulties." - can I ask, what your Plan B would be, if for whatever reason, your wife could no longer drive?

[Old Croc]

12 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

 

 

"It happens to be my wife at the moment because of my health difficulties." - can I ask, what your Plan B would be, if for whatever reason, your wife could no longer drive?

no

[simon43]

Although posters have said that getting around is not an issue if you have your own car, from experience, I can't agree.  Phuket, especially the main centres have many traffic jams that make what used to be a pleasant journey into a nightmare.  I used to drive from the airport down to Patong for a night out, but in the past few years I'd stopped because the traffic has got so bad.

 

If I lifted in Bangkok, then although the traffic is bad, I can use the cheap Skytrain, MRT and/or motorbike/car taxis to get about.

 

If I live in Pattaya, then I have the baht bus and all amenities are generally within the city itself - no great distances to travel.

 

IMHO, whatever the disadvantages of living in Phuket are, the traffic jams and expensive transport alternatives (tuk-tuk, taxi) is top of my list.

 

Right now, if I were to return to Thailand from Myanmar, I would probably initially settle in Pattaya, simply because it offers so much - and you don't have to be a sexpat to live there :)

[Old Croc]

5 minutes ago, simon43 said:

 

Right now, if I were to return to Thailand from Myanmar, I would probably initially settle in Pattaya, simply because it offers so much - and you don't have to be a sexpat to live there

Are you planning to change the title of your thread?

[geisha]

Simon, why not do 50/50 ? I always thought I would retire to Thailand full time. Now I'm near retirement, I've had second thoughts. A long sunny winter here, and a lovely summer in Europe continues to sound great. It means I can keep my health insurance and pension , taxes are less for pensioners, summer months are usually very nice ( I live in the south of France) . Of course, if I had to pay rent in Europe or buy an apartment there, maybe I wouldn't go down that road . But I do do like to be free to go where I want when I want, which is why I've chosen not to be tied down here. Then there's the health question. When you are in perfect health, anywhere in the world is good !

[stevenl]

45 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Although posters have said that getting around is not an issue if you have your own car, from experience, I can't agree.  Phuket, especially the main centres have many traffic jams that make what used to be a pleasant journey into a nightmare.  I used to drive from the airport down to Patong for a night out, but in the past few years I'd stopped because the traffic has got so bad.

 

If I lifted in Bangkok, then although the traffic is bad, I can use the cheap Skytrain, MRT and/or motorbike/car taxis to get about.

 

If I live in Pattaya, then I have the baht bus and all amenities are generally within the city itself - no great distances to travel.

 

IMHO, whatever the disadvantages of living in Phuket are, the traffic jams and expensive transport alternatives (tuk-tuk, taxi) is top of my list.

 

Right now, if I were to return to Thailand from Myanmar, I would probably initially settle in Pattaya, simply because it offers so much - and you don't have to be a sexpat to live there :)

" I used to drive from the airport down to Patong for a night out, but in the past few years I'd stopped because the traffic has got so bad."

 

Strange, because in the evenings I drive to the airport from Rawai in under one hour, at night even less. And during daytime, if managing to avoid the peak hours, it really is not too bad at all.

[kunfish]

I know this is going to sit wrong with many, but if you are not that special kind of tourist, I'd say retire elsewhere.

What about for an American? Mexico?


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[Bulldozer Dawn]

3 hours ago, simon43 said:

Although posters have said that getting around is not an issue if you have your own car, from experience, I can't agree.  Phuket, especially the main centres have many traffic jams that make what used to be a pleasant journey into a nightmare.  I used to drive from the airport down to Patong for a night out, but in the past few years I'd stopped because the traffic has got so bad.

 

If I lifted in Bangkok, then although the traffic is bad, I can use the cheap Skytrain, MRT and/or motorbike/car taxis to get about.

 

If I live in Pattaya, then I have the baht bus and all amenities are generally within the city itself - no great distances to travel.

 

IMHO, whatever the disadvantages of living in Phuket are, the traffic jams and expensive transport alternatives (tuk-tuk, taxi) is top of my list.

 

Right now, if I were to return to Thailand from Myanmar, I would probably initially settle in Pattaya, simply because it offers so much - and you don't have to be a sexpat to live there :)

 

Traffic, and not wanting to witness daily environmental rape, were the two primary reasons why I left Phuket.

 

But, back on topic, I don't really understand the term retire?  

 

Retire from what?

 

One of the keys to happiness and good health is to have meaningful work that you enjoy.

 

Surely if you eventually save enough to quit your current job that just means that you now have the funds, and the spare time, to focus on work you love.

[DrDave]

46 minutes ago, kunfish said:

What about for an American? Mexico?


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As I noted in post #7,  Mexico and Central America are good, relatively inexpensive retirement spots for American retirees.

 

Mexico has a number of developments not far from the ocean that are tailored toward Americans.

In Central America, Costa Rica and Belize are good options. Particularly Belize, where English is the official language and permanent residency can be had for $1,000. A retirement visa for Costa Rica can be obtained based upon income or investment (e.g. home purchase). 

 

As mentioned before, Roatan is very laid back and has gotten expensive, but there are still some homes and seaview land at reasonable prices depending upon location on the island.

 

All of these places have a large number of American expats.

[dageurreotype]

On 14/02/2017 at 8:31 AM, madmax2 said:

All the poor people complaining about the same things again

 

If you do not drive yourself and have no partner to drive you you pay someone to do it if you want personal transport, the same as any other country in the world

 

Hua Hin is OK for a overnight stop only in my opinion and Pattaya is just one big banga road

a sexpats paradise

 

If you cannot afford to buy a motorbike just rent one for 250 baht a day long term, no more expensive tuk tuk rides and go where you want when you want, Or buy a bicycle like quite a few retired expats on low incomes do 

 

The roads here are in about the same condition as anywhere else i have driven in thailand and large amounts of money is currently being spent on improving them

For potholes in footpaths try walking in some areas in Bangkok, not potholes but being torn up and having to try and walk in the traffic is no fun and dangerous 

 

Costs of using private hospitals does not worry many expats here except some forum posters you can always use the public ones if poor or shift to Bangkok to save 30%

They are certainly much cheaper than private hospitals in Australia

 

The overall cost of living here is cheap compared to Australia and i am not interested in shifting to anywhere else in Thailand just to save a few Baht like all the expats i know personally who have no intentions of leaving Phuket because its not expensive in their opinion either 

 

If you are really poor you can always take up begging which seems to be a new way of making a living by some people who call themselves expats in recent times

Lol 'the poor people'  I take exception to having to fork out 1000 baht to take my computer to town for a repair cost of just 800 baht, same airport 2000 baht (can be 1800 if I take an airport taxi BACK only) for a RETURN flight to Bangkok of just 2400 baht. Do you not see the idiocy of this? The reasons for my not having my own car atm are none of your business, but being 'a poor person' isn't it.

 

But another poster on this thread has enlightened me as to all these insane 'oh you must have 100,000 baht at the very least to live here'  I've often asked myself what can anyone possibly spend these amounts on in this third world country? Of course!  Your, haha 'significant others'! I'm not a monger so it hadn't crossed my mind until now. 

[simon43]

Are you planning to change the title of your thread?

 

Nope, I just took a wrong turn on the way to Swampy Airport.......

 

Geisha's advice sounds good ==> split time 50/50 between southern Europe and Thailand.  Though I suspect that if I started living in the Pyrenees again, the cross-country skiing, hiking and local food and wine would rapidly ensure that my 50/50 split would soon become 90/10, (in favour of France).

 

(I've always wanted to ride a horse from the Atlantic coast to the Med coast, using the GR10 high Pyrenee route).

[stevenl]

Lol 'the poor people'  I take exception to having to fork out 1000 baht to take my computer to town for a repair cost of just 800 baht, same airport 2000 baht (can be 1800 if I take an airport taxi BACK only) for a RETURN flight to Bangkok of just 2400 baht. Do you not see the idiocy of this? The reasons for my not having my own car atm are none of your business, but being 'a poor person' isn't it.
 
But another poster on this thread has enlightened me as to all these insane 'oh you must have 100,000 baht at the very least to live here'  I've often asked myself what can anyone possibly spend these amounts on in this third world country? Of course!  Your, haha 'significant others'! I'm not a monger so it hadn't crossed my mind until now. 

Where do you live? Songtaews running to town from all over the island and to the airport there are alternatives from nearly everywhere. Seems you're not happy with the choices you're making.

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[Bulldozer Dawn]

On 2/15/2017 at 1:04 PM, DrDave said:

All of these places have a large number of American expats.

Is that a positive or a negative?

[NamKangMan]

On 16/02/2017 at 11:33 PM, stevenl said:

Where do you live? Songtaews running to town from all over the island and to the airport there are alternatives from nearly everywhere. Seems you're not happy with the choices you're making.

sent using Tapatalk
 

 

"Seems you're not happy with the choices you're making." - I disagree. It seems the member is not happy with the options available when having to make that choice.  

 

[gk10002000]

On 2/12/2017 at 10:48 PM, mcfish said:

Even Pattaya ranks better, mainly due to cheap and easy transport. No matter how amazing a place is if you can't get around or can't afford to get around then your stuck at home.. May as well go back home

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk
 

agreed. Better to retire near pattaya or even any other city.  It is cheap and easy to get to a decent beach in other areas for weeks at a time.

[simon43]

Better to retire near pattaya or even any other city

 

I've got a 3-week holiday in April (kindly paid for by my school).  I have to come over to Thailand to get a new visa.  But I'm not coming to Phuket.  Instead, I will spend my time based at Jomtien Beach, just over the hill from Pattaya. (I've always found Jomtien to be a fairly relaxing sort of place, despite the changes over the years).

 

When I first moved to Thailand in 2002, I almost bought a house with pool, just a few hundred metres from the beach.  I regret not making that purchase

 

 

 

 

[madusa]

On 2017/2/11 at 3:21 AM, Chicog said:

I'd rather retire to Yemen than Phuket.

I was told the wild honey in Yemen is really the best viagra.  Problem is if you consume the honey in Yemen you cannot get the pretty girls, the pretty girls are all in Phuket.

[Flustered]

3 hours ago, madusa said:

I was told the wild honey in Yemen is really the best viagra.  Problem is if you consume the honey in Yemen you cannot get the pretty girls, the pretty girls are all in Phuket.

If you want Yemeni girls, you need more than wild honey, you need to be tanked up on qat

[anotheruser]

On 2/15/2017 at 0:04 PM, kunfish said:

What about for an American? Mexico?


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I have been looking into Mexico lately. A place called Playa Del Carmen in particular. I think it would be a place that makes a good comparison with Phuket. Not the cheapest place in Mexico and an international resort. Loads of restaurants in both locales and night life. Old hands will probably say Playa has already had it's day but I like good infrastructure and to get that you have to deal with crowds and development. They also say this about Phuket as well.

 

It is really hard to say what the better value would be. It looks like cheap restaurants Phuket wins  easily. For mid range restaurants Phuket has a slight edge. I do not eat at 50 or 60 Baht street stalls in Thailand but probably would consider 150 Baht street tacos in Mexico. So I might actually save eating street tacos where as in Thailand I only eat at mid range restaurants.

 

According to Numbeo mid range restaurants are 25% more or so in Playa. However I like wine when I go out and that is around 40% cheaper, domestic beer is 60% cheaper and imported beer is around 50% cheaper.

 

So if I go to the inexpensive places once in awhile instead of the sit down places that actually would save me money as I don't go to street stalls here so the price of them is irrelevant. Although mid range restaurants are a tad more expensive for food this would be eclipsed by the saving on drink. 

 

Chicken  seems to be a bargain in Thailand but it is so cheap that even somewhere else if the price is double it wouldn't matter. How much chicken can a person eat in a month? It is a whopping 60 Baht more per kilo of chicken breast in Playa. I might eat chicken twice a week. So even that the price is 60% higher than Phuket it would cost me maybe an extra 300 Baht a month extra for my chicken addiction. It is still very reasonable. 

 

Almost every other food item is cheaper. The index on the whole shows groceries are 40% cheaper.  That bodes well for a guy like me that cooks at home, eats out twice a week and enjoys wine and beer when he does.

 

I think many places if you try to live on the lowest end of expenses Thailand is hard to beat. That being said if you are in the middle of the road on your budget other places offer value.  I think Spain and Portugal are probably pretty similar if you begin to make comparisons on prices. If you like to eat noddles and chicken feet on the street Thailand for sure but if you eat cheese and drink wine often the savings can be substantial. 

 

I looked at Numbeo using Lisbon to compare and it shows a very similar picture. If you are American in Mexico or British like Simon is in Portugal or Spain you also save a lot of money on flights if you go home now and again. 

 

I started a thread on Playa in the home country forum if anybody wants to share info there on Playa or Mexico in general. I am sort of in the same shoes as Simon where the more I look into it the less reason I am seeing to stay in Thailand. 

 

If I were European and had an easy visa for the EU hands down I would be over there instead of here. Phuket is one island and the south of Europe as a whole offers so much more. So if I feel this way why am I still in Thailand? I am working on it trust me hope to be on my way in a few months. I am in Bangkok so here is the summary between my two places. I also take Numbeo with a grain of salt.

 

You would need around 59,797.23฿ (33,961.71MXN) in Playa del Carmen to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 95,000.00฿ in Bangkok (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses our Cost of Living Plus Rent Index to compare cost of living. This assumes net earnings (after income tax). You can change the amount in this calculation.

 

 

[simon43]

I've also considered Cambodia as a place to settle down in.  I like Phnom Penh and the city is certainly much-improved (in the centre of the town) from what I recall about 15 years ago. Plenty of nice restaurants, no big hassles from the tuk-tuks, certainly a very cheap location.

 

Another reason to consider Cambodia is that I always like to be involved in some sort of business, rather than doing nothing.  Cambodia has an advantage over Thailand, Laos and Myanmar in that a foreigner can own a business (any sector) 100% and the entry costs are low. Laos allows 100% ownership, but you need to invest $125,000.  Thailand.... well I'm not from the USA, so the Amity treaty doesn't help.

[kunfish]

On 2/14/2017 at 10:04 PM, DrDave said:

As I noted in post #7,  Mexico and Central America are good, relatively inexpensive retirement spots for American retirees.

 

Mexico has a number of developments not far from the ocean that are tailored toward Americans.

In Central America, Costa Rica and Belize are good options. Particularly Belize, where English is the official language and permanent residency can be had for $1,000. A retirement visa for Costa Rica can be obtained based upon income or investment (e.g. home purchase). 

 

As mentioned before, Roatan is very laid back and has gotten expensive, but there are still some homes and seaview land at reasonable prices depending upon location on the island.

 

All of these places have a large number of American expats.

Sorry for the belated reply. Thanks, I'm warming up to Mexico (if Thailand is not super-long-term.

 

There's an American guy with is (Cambodian-American) wife doing videos, primarily in Mexico, South Central, Guadalajara area. Seems like a really nice place. Close to USA for medical treatment and fast just simply to get back to USA. And more closely aligned with American culture. Also, language...

 

Belize sounds good. Costa Rica...maybe more crime than necessary.

[chrisandsu]

1 minute ago, kunfish said:

Sorry for the belated reply. Thanks, I'm warming up to Mexico (if Thailand is not super-long-term.

 

There's an American guy with is (Cambodian-American) wife doing videos, primarily in Mexico, South Central, Guadalajara area. Seems like a really nice place. Close to USA for medical treatment and fast just simply to get back to USA. And more closely aligned with American culture. Also, language...

 

Belize sounds good. Costa Rica...maybe more crime than necessary.

What's up with Florida ? It's cheaper to live there then Phuket. 

[Flustered]

6 hours ago, chrisandsu said:

What's up with Florida ? It's cheaper to live there then Phuket. 

America does not have a retirement visa system and does not want Europeans living there even if they are self sufficient and would be no burden on the tax payer or social system.

[DrDave]

6 hours ago, chrisandsu said:

What's up with Florida ? It's cheaper to live there then Phuket. 

Yes and No.

 

Florida real estate can be much cheaper (and better constructed) than Phuket.

On the other hand, you won't find a bowl of noodles for $1.50 or a good meal for under $9 in a restaurant in Florida. Factoring in mandatory health insurance if you're under 65, real estate taxes, car insurance and other expenses, it's a wash at best.

 

Having lived (and been a homeowner) in both places, I would say that at the end of the day, the two are nearly the same, given adjustments to lifestyle to suit the area. The thing to keep in mind is that your lifestyle will be different in each place. For example, you probably wouldn't be able to afford eating every meal out in Florida, but you can easily in Phuket. Conversely - you probably wouldn't be able to afford to imported (US) food every day in Phuket.

 

Cheaper in Florida: Cars, gas, housing (purchased)

More Expensive in Florida: Restaurants, groceries (meat, vegetables), housing (rental), real estate taxes, healthcare, travel (airfare, hotels), clothing 

[Flustered]

Generally as a non American, you can only stay in the country for 3 months even if you can support yourself and not be a burden on the over taxed Americans.

 

In Phuket under the Thai system, you can stay as long as you like provided you meet the financial requirements which are hardly punitive.

 

America is not a retirement alternative for the average person.

[JB300]

Generally as a non American, you can only stay in the country for 3 months even if you can support yourself and not be a burden on the over taxed Americans.

 
In Phuket under the Thai system, you can stay as long as you like provided you meet the financial requirements which are hardly punitive.

 
America is not a retirement alternative for the average person.

I thought, as a Brit, you could spend up to 6 months a year in the US/Florida.

Not trying to nitpick but if it is 6 months then it makes Florida a viable "2nd half" location for us Brits [emoji1303]