Jump to content

BBC says Thailand is among 7 top places in the world to live after retiring


webfact

Recommended Posts

BBC says Thailand is among 7 top places in the world to live after retiring

12511924_10153865716448637_475036298_n-w

BANGKOK: -- Thailand is among the world's top seven countries for retirees to live as it has everything they need and want to make retirement life affordable, according to BBC.

A travel article written by BBC’s author Rob Budden this week said a growing number of pensioners are seeking far-flung destinations.

They’re lured by hours of sunshine, a slower pace of life, favourable tax rates, and the prospect of a more fulfilling lifestyle where their income goes much further than it does at home.

Considered carefully, retiring abroad can deliver all of the above without compromising home comforts or quality healthcare, he wrote.

He then guided seven best countries to retire from from tropical towns in Thailand to coastal comforts in Central America where he said they have it all.

The seven best places to live after retirement are Panama, Ecuador, Malaysia, Spain, Malta, Portugal, and Thailand.

For Thailand, he wrote that “Known as the “The Land of Smiles”, Thailand offers expats retiring here plenty to smile about — a low cost of living, tropical clime, culture that respects older people plus no tax on RETIREE income from abroad.

International Living magazine ranked the country as one of the cheapest in its cost of living index, buoyed by competitive property prices. Eating out remains reasonable with a typical Pad Thai lunch available from just $1.

As well, the country’s retirement visa, which is renewable annually, is available to all retirees with monthly pensions of 65,000 Thai baht ($1,800) or to pensioners depositing 800,000 baht ($22,125) in a Thai bank account.

While the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office rates many private hospitals in Thailand equivalent to western standards, it says standards at local hospitals can vary. Retirees should therefore budget to pay for local health insurance.

Further he wrote that a low cost of living, no tax on retiree income from abroad, a tropical climate and a culture that respects the elderly — what’s not to like in this retirement destination known as “The Land of Smiles”

Thailand is also the land of affordable living, according to International Living magazine. It ranked the country as the second least-expensive in its cost of living index, pointing out that an “over-the-top” luxury two-bedroom condo with great views can be rented for less than 40,000 baht ($1,200) per month. A Pad Thai lunch can be had for $1.

However, you should budget to pay for local health insurance as, while the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office rates many private hospitals to western standards, the group notes that standards at local hospitals vary, he noted.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/bbc-says-thailand-is-among-7-top-places-in-the-world-to-live-after-retiring

thaipbs_logo.jpg
-- Thai PBS 2016-01-08

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 86
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Yes, it is quite easy as a retiree in Thailand (and many other low cost countries), when you enjoy a steady if not spectacular income, to lead a good life. The situation changes somewhat when you develop an emotional attachment to the country and its people. Then life becomes about your empathy and concern for other people and their living conditions. The "sunny retirement" articles tend to gloss over these possibilities, which are inevitable for many of us.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Problem is with 65 years of being babysat somewhat in most of their respective countries, many retirees come over here ill prepared for the potential hazards of living in Thailand. Some of the dumbest moves I have seen over here in the last 12 years or so have been done by people old enough to know better, not sure in every case a late start is a good idea..............

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thailand is great for retirement if you are prepared to live in a bubble. Live your own little life cheaply and happily and ignore what's going on around you. Things that are not likely to affect you much, like the blatant day to day corruption that permeates Thai society from top to bottom. The injustices of the legal system. Better not venture out onto the roads. Don't care about te Thais that live around you, you know the ones that struggle to live on 300 baht a day (if they're luck), ignore the 'slave labourers' from Burma on the building sites. Oh yes I'm all right Jack.

I wonder -how deep the research these articles by so called 'travel experts' go. Have they ever experienced 'trying to get things done' satisfactorily in Thailand. Have they ever had to jump through hoops at the whim of some surly Immigration Officer, and I'll bet they've never had to pay themselves for private hospital treatment in this Country.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

as to empathy for local Thai.... actually the way it works is.... the longer you are here the more Thai you become. at least for me in a rural village. and so, empathy goes away as you become more Thai like. genuine empathy, the kind that we farlang, and most other kinds of foreigners, value, at least as far as I can vaguely remember now, as it is not just something drilled into our heads at a "school". so, no problemo. same as Thai.

another thing I ran across today. interesting as I sometimes comment I believe real tourists, i.e. urban Chinese, are not so much here for temples and food but maybe it is that Thailand is seemingly vying to be the world's biggest 21st century 'ethnological exposition'. well, what do you know? if you look up 'Home sapien' on Wikipedia (I was using it for a spell check, not this idea of mine) it shows 2 locals, or at least it did for my settings, along with something about "Middle Pleistocene-Present" whatever that means.

could my 'ethnological exposition' theory actually be serious?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Articles like this are not helping Thailand.

Yes, it is quite easy as a retiree in Thailand (and many other low cost countries), when you enjoy a steady if not spectacular income, to lead a good life. The situation changes somewhat when you develop an emotional attachment to the country and its people. Then life becomes about your empathy and concern for other people and their living conditions. The "sunny retirement" articles tend to gloss over these possibilities, which are inevitable for many of us.

I like this insight. Sadly it's why so much passion for the country gets misread as hate, cynicism or Thai bashing. Then there are the daily practicalities:

Thailand is great for retirement if you are prepared to live in a bubble. Live your own little life cheaply and happily and ignore what's going on around you. Things that are not likely to affect you much, like the blatant day to day corruption that permeates Thai society from top to bottom. The injustices of the legal system. Better not venture out onto the roads. Don't care about te Thais that live around you, you know the ones that struggle to live on 300 baht a day (if they're luck), ignore the 'slave labourers' from Burma on the building sites. Oh yes I'm all right Jack.

I wonder -how deep the research these articles by so called 'travel experts' go. Have they ever experienced 'trying to get things done' satisfactorily in Thailand. Have they ever had to jump through hoops at the whim of some surly Immigration Officer, and I'll bet they've never had to pay themselves for private hospital treatment in this Country.

...that often give rise to the genuine hate, cynicism and Thai bashing.

The article is out of touch in its reference to the Land Of Smiles. It reads like one of those websites encouraging gap year kids to go find their 'dream job' teaching English, money making by selling dreams. The article is mostly devoid of any real worth and paints a skewed picture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Superficially (a bit like the BBC report) Thailand is a great place to live....just don't look too deep, the country is a bit like a Thai motorcy... blinged up wheels sparkly chrome and stickers everywhere..all the bits on show but underneath a Knackered engine ..wai2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Superficially (a bit like the BBC report) Thailand is a great place to live....just don't look too deep, the country is a bit like a Thai motorcy... blinged up wheels sparkly chrome and stickers everywhere..all the bits on show but underneath a Knackered engine ..wai2.gif

It's a fantastic place for a vacation.

Living in Thailand didn't agree with me so much though except when I was making frequent trips to worse places like S. Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Yemen etc......

It was pure heaven to come back to Thailand.

Last go-round was living on the Darkside of Pattaya, in a really nice house, 3 br, 2.5 bath place with nice beautiful year round breezes on Khaotalo.

Postage stamp sized lot, nosy neighbors, neighbors with yapping poodles, gossip out the wazoo (nosy folks), soi dogs everywhere, utterly chaotic traffic on Soi Khaotalo, an ex Special Forces guy at every pub nearby - most of whom were broke, Koh Larn got developed, Chinese and Russians arrived en masse over the past decade (I have no problems with them as people... but did they all have to show up at once?).

I have family ties to Thailand and will always return, but don't think I'll retire in Thailand.

Then again, I have a gypsy bug. I doubt I'll ever retire to any place in particular.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I retired to Chiang Mai 10 years ago, never regretted it for a minute. I married a good woman, built a house in a small village not too far away. I wish I could become fluent in the language, but alas the tones escape me. Immigration was my worst nightmare, but I use an agent now, so no problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I retired to Chiang Mai 10 years ago, never regretted it for a minute. I married a good woman, built a house in a small village not too far away. I wish I could become fluent in the language, but alas the tones escape me. Immigration was my worst nightmare, but I use an agent now, so no problem.

Yes, we are all unique. Paradise to some might not be the same for others (beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder).

The tonal language is a bear isn't it?

I have thousands of Thai words in my vocabulary, but cannot pronounce them correctly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thailand is great for retirement if you are prepared to live in a bubble. Live your own little life cheaply and happily and ignore what's going on around you. Things that are not likely to affect you much, like the blatant day to day corruption that permeates Thai society from top to bottom. The injustices of the legal system. Better not venture out onto the roads. Don't care about te Thais that live around you, you know the ones that struggle to live on 300 baht a day (if they're luck), ignore the 'slave labourers' from Burma on the building sites. Oh yes I'm all right Jack.

I wonder -how deep the research these articles by so called 'travel experts' go. Have they ever experienced 'trying to get things done' satisfactorily in Thailand. Have they ever had to jump through hoops at the whim of some surly Immigration Officer, and I'll bet they've never had to pay themselves for private hospital treatment in this Country.

Written by online, non-staff writers living in Bolivia who read online magazines for their research.

Or staff writers who outsource their research material to similar people.

Forget journalism folks. No one mentioned Uraguay thank God.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That article is about as good as the one I once read in Lonely Planet or Thailand on a shoe string or one of those publications...

It said, The Thai people are a quiet race.

I thought I'd bet this bloke has probably NEVER been to Thailand, writing rubbish like that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I retired to Chiang Mai 10 years ago, never regretted it for a minute. I married a good woman, built a house in a small village not too far away. I wish I could become fluent in the language, but alas the tones escape me. Immigration was my worst nightmare, but I use an agent now, so no problem.

Yes, we are all unique. Paradise to some might not be the same for others (beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder).

The tonal language is a bear isn't it?

I have thousands of Thai words in my vocabulary, but cannot pronounce them correctly.

555 I am one of those who understand just about everything they say but speak little. It confuses the hell out of people that I can understand them but can't speak fluently back to them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thailand is great for retirement if you are prepared to live in a bubble. Live your own little life cheaply and happily and ignore what's going on around you. Things that are not likely to affect you much, like the blatant day to day corruption that permeates Thai society from top to bottom. The injustices of the legal system. Better not venture out onto the roads. Don't care about te Thais that live around you, you know the ones that struggle to live on 300 baht a day (if they're luck), ignore the 'slave labourers' from Burma on the building sites. Oh yes I'm all right Jack.

I wonder -how deep the research these articles by so called 'travel experts' go. Have they ever experienced 'trying to get things done' satisfactorily in Thailand. Have they ever had to jump through hoops at the whim of some surly Immigration Officer, and I'll bet they've never had to pay themselves for private hospital treatment in this Country.

My wife and I and family live happily in the bubble outside a small town in northern Thailand.

We live comfortably but economically whilst not showing off to our Thai neighbors and locals.

Corruption can be found in any country if you look hard enough. It doesn't affect us on a day to day basis.

Not involved in the legal system. Hope not to be, ever.

I drive my own truck anywhere I want on the decent roads up here with little traffic.

Most Thais living around us are lucky to get B300 a day even though that's the national average.

We have no contact with immigrant laborers from Burma/Myanmar. They tend to be in Bangkok and environs

I do not exhibit an "I'm all right Jack" attitude. Some folks may enjoy the feeling of superiority. I speak a little Thai and they appreciate that.

We recently had our new house completed by local builders at a reasonable price with good quality workmanship and materials. If I want something welded, my local guy drops everything to oblige. Need my car checked? On the spot, no appointment necessary.

The Immigration team at Phitsanulok office are courteous and helpful. No hoops available.

Got your papers and affairs in order? In and out.

Go shopping at supermarkets, get your bags packed, a nice wai and thank you from the check-out. No problem.

I have used private hospitals and found the costs not unreasonable for the care given.

So, all in all it's not a bad place to live. However places that attract large contingents of farangs like Pattaya, Hua Hin, Samui and Phuket etc are bound to exhibit more problems and naturally many people have reason to complain.

I didn't move to Thailand to spend my retirement years whingeing and complaining about Thais. Yes, they can be bloody annoying, frustrating and downright nice people. Just like many other countries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why should retirees NOT live in a bubble?

In a way you are right of course but if you have children of your own and step children for whom you care it is difficult to extricate oneself from what goes on and it is also expensive then as well but we all make our own life's choices, i don't regret mine. Due to financial constraints i can no longer go to the coast which i used to enjoy but i can comfort myself with the fact that i am making positive life changes to people who 11 years ago had no chance in life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. . . the blatant day to day corruption that permeates Thai society from top to bottom.

Part and parcel of living in a 'developing country' I'm afraid. The other two on the BBC's list, Panama and Ecuador, rate even worse for corruption than Thailand (source: Transparency International).

One of the problems with lists like this is that they don't make it clear that living somewhere like Thailand is very different, and for many people much more difficult, than living in a basically familiar Western society like that found in Spain or Portugal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

as to empathy for local Thai.... actually the way it works is.... the longer you are here the more Thai you become. at least for me in a rural village. and so, empathy goes away as you become more Thai like. genuine empathy, the kind that we farlang, and most other kinds of foreigners, value, at least as far as I can vaguely remember now, as it is not just something drilled into our heads at a "school". so, no problemo. same as Thai.

another thing I ran across today. interesting as I sometimes comment I believe real tourists, i.e. urban Chinese, are not so much here for temples and food but maybe it is that Thailand is seemingly vying to be the world's biggest 21st century 'ethnological exposition'. well, what do you know? if you look up 'Home sapien' on Wikipedia (I was using it for a spell check, not this idea of mine) it shows 2 locals, or at least it did for my settings, along with something about "Middle Pleistocene-Present" whatever that means.

could my 'ethnological exposition' theory actually be serious?

Sorry but the longer I spend here the more I think that Thailand is seemingly vying to be the World's least evolved Homo Sapiens!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Superficially (a bit like the BBC report) Thailand is a great place to live....just don't look too deep, the country is a bit like a Thai motorcy... blinged up wheels sparkly chrome and stickers everywhere..all the bits on show but underneath a Knackered engine ..wai2.gif

'Seedy underbelly' comes to mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.





×
×
  • Create New...