"Retiring" in Thailand?

Has anyone considered retirement to a cheaper destination such as Thailand?

- Rents are generally much cheaper than Australia.
In a nice beach town you could rent a one bedroom apartment for about AUD$1,000 per month or less.

- Food is much cheaper

- Visa situation is very easy for those over 50 and not too hard for those under

- Cheap airfares available for domestic and even international travel. Bangkok is like a hub that you can travel from (helps extend the visa too perhaps).

- cars are much more expensive than in Oz, but taxis and ride share (similar to uber) are very cheap. A 2 hour taxi ride might cost you $30.

- Nightlife is great

- beaches, domestic travelling and sightseeing is great

- you can hang out in area where English speakers congregate or avoid them totally.

- low crime, pretty safe

- going out to movies etc much cheaper than Oz

- hospitals are excellent (but getting there in an ambulance might be a problem).

There are plenty of videos on living expenses in Thailand on youtube - you can live on $1500 AUD per month upwards fairly comfortable.

There could be some tax concessions coming soon for those living there but earning their income from overseas such as digital nomads.

 

Sounds great. But I get home sick very quickly.

 

Not for me, sorry.

 

I'd rather live in portugal or spain personally.

 

Terry's Life Tips?

 

Not without family and friends. No point moving and living thousands of miles away to be all alone imho. You can't enjoy a better lifestyle for long if you're doing it alone.

If someone has no family or friends, different proposition.

 

"retired" at 47 in Spain (because my kids live here), but I still muck around a fair bit with investments to generate income.
I'd roughly estimate cost of living here about 60% of Australia (Barcelona vs Sydney).

 

UK BBC Radio earlier this year:

David Baddiel, whose father suffers with dementia, hears how some people from Britain and Europe are choosing to send their mums, dads and partners as far away as Thailand for dedicated round the clock support.

Peter Brown runs a care resort in Chiang Mai - the mountainous north of the country. His 31 dementia patients are referred to as ‘guests’ with care tailored to the individual. Meanwhile Martin Woodtli runs a nearby ‘village’ where 14 people live in Villas with round the clock personal carers. He set things up after struggling to find care for his mother in his native Switzerland.
....
At the moment, there’s a quiet revolution around catering for foreign nationals with dementia in Thailand, but its not the only place. It’s also happening in Mexico, where people have begun moving their loved ones because they couldn’t find suitable or affordable care in the United States.

When visiting my brother in Chiang Mai a few years ago I stayed at a resort (it might have been the first mentioned above) which was 50/50 resi care and tourists - the former providing a 'baseload' income through the year. I was hugely impressed by the patience and care shown by the staff towards the residents. It's a scary thing here that should (hopefully not) I end up needing to be in resi care, there's no guarantee that I'll be looked after well regardless of what I pay.

 

Interesting discussion Terry.

I wonder which other countries out there offer relatively proposition?
1) English friendly 2) Accommodation affordability 3) Personal Safety 4) Food diversity

I don't mind living in countries that don't speak English - I can pick up languages relatively easily.

Top of my list so far would be:
Spain, Italy, China, Vietnam
Not in particular order

 

When you say home sick. You don't mean Mt Druitt area or living in Australia?

 

Haha, it's Datto. Of course it's Mt Druitt!

 

This is perhaps written more from US perspective and closer to their home but also has the link to world retirement location index if someone is interested.

The world's best retirement destinations might surprise you

 

I have a friend that retired to Bali. She moved just prior to Covid. Came home when Covid hit but went back early last year. There are quite a few expats there. She's been posting photos for the last year travelling around the glorious countryside. I love Bali but not sure I could live there. I know a lot of people that live in very cheap accom and sit around or lay on the beach. Not my style. A lovely villa with a pool though, I could do.
I met a lady in Prague that had a plan to buy a unit on the Gold Coast. Instead they bought a villa in Prague. They invested the rest of the money and that paid for their airfares twice a year. They did 3 months in Prague and 3 months in Australia, repeat.

So many options if you are flexible.

We travelled for 4 years until hubby said no more. I could have kept going. That wasn't long in one place though.
I could happily jump on a plane and see where it takes me. Set up on a beach and leave when I get bored. Hubby is a homebody though.

 

Any tips to picking up languages easily?

 

Not full time, we like to move around and enjoy as many places we can

interested to hear more about some tax concessions that might be coming soon though?

 

I don't really know if there is course you can do.
I was brought up in a multi cultural country and you have to speak their languages to others and actually learn it at school as well.

First thing is be eager to learn, listen to their radio, news and mix with locals. This have to be 24/7 around the clock.

Speaking it is much easier to learn first. Writing is another 5 levels of difficulty.

I think it is also harder when you are older to learn. If you haven't the motivation when younger.

Sorry no quick route for that one.