Moving there in two years

[LarryGee]

Hey All:

I've been lurking here for a few months trying to soak up information.

In a couple of years, I'll be 62 and ready to take early retirement. My wife is Thai; we've been married for 30+ years which I guess makes me an outlier around here. We met in Los Angeles in the '80s, and have some kids and grandkids.

I've always been kind of figuring that I would work until I was 68, but lately I've been feeling like I want to get out of here. I work at a university in flyover country in the US, and it' getting old. Who knows how many years I have left?

So we decided to move to LOS in 2018. We'll have enough between Social Security and retirement funds to live there and possibly travel back to the US once a year or so. The wife wanted to build a house in her old village just outside of Korat, but there's no way I want to swat mosquitos over there for the next couple of decades. So I convinced her that we will travel around for a year or so and check out all the possible places. Lately, she's been watching a lot of Youtube videos on Chiang Mai, so she's starting to think that might be an option. I'm thinking about eventually moving to some place with a reasonable population of farangs, but definitely not Pattaya Phuket or Bangkok.

We're going over there this summer for a month to start to firm up some ideas. I've only been to Thailand twice, although I took some language lessons and can speak Thai like a 4-year old and read it like a 6-year old.

What do I need to worry about? I think my expectations are pretty realistic, but there's always something I could be missing.

[pseudolus]

What do I need to worry about?

over planning. building false expectations.

thats about it. Enjoy it - it will make or break you

[Neverna]

What do I need to worry about? I think my expectations are pretty realistic, but there's always something I could be missing.

1. Funds to last you for the rest of your life
2. Health care (and insurance)
3. Hobbies/things to do
4. A back-up plan/escape plan (and funds) if it doesn't work out as you had hoped.

[LarryGee]

What do I need to worry about?

over planning. building false expectations.

thats about it. Enjoy it - it will make or break you

Well, my wife wanted to buy some land right away and build - now that would be overplanning. I'm going to hold off on that as long as possible.

[Neverna]

And welcome to Teakdoor, LarryGee.

[pseudolus]

What do I need to worry about?

over planning. building false expectations.

thats about it. Enjoy it - it will make or break you

Well, my wife wanted to buy some land right away and build - now that would be overplanning. I'm going to hold off on that as long as possible.

Comes down to what ever you are comfortable with at the end of the day. Building a place doesn't mean never moving or selling up and going somewhere else. If you are retaining a place in the states, rent it out, use the rent to rent somewhere in Thailand. won't cost you anything that way to test it out. Just have to do what makes you happy and don't trust life decisions to random people on an anonymous forum.

Chiang Mai is a decent place.

[Sumbitch]

Chiang Mai is a decent place.

Especially for expats.

[Ratchaburi]

Welcome

[baldrick]

Chiang Mai is a decent place

what about the several months a year of chinese city scale smog ?

[Davis Knowlton]

^I don't know, as it's been years since I've been to what was at that time a lovely city, but I hear from numerous friends that the traffic is approaching, or at, a BKK level.

[AndyCap]

While travelling around taking a look, be sure to have a stay in Prachuab Kiri Khan, I've lived all over and finally settled there. But don't tell too many people.

Oh shit...

[somtamslap]

be sure to have a stay in Prachuab Kiri Khan

It's on the list for the slaps.

But there isn't that much wrong with little villages just outside of Korat either.

[Bettyboo]

So I convinced her that we will travel around for a year or so and check out all the possible places.

Excellent plan.

I took some language lessons and can speak Thai like a 4-year old and read it like a 6-year old.

Good stuff, that'll help. Seems like you're making sensible decisions. Good luck...

Oh yeah, and here's a welcome:

[Sumbitch]

what about the several months a year of chinese city scale smog ?

Absolutely true. However: Study Finds Plant Growth Surges as CO2 Levels Rise | Climate Central

I don't know, as it's been years since I've been to what was at that time a lovely city, but I hear from numerous friends that the traffic is approaching, or at, a BKK level.

Again, I agree. Firstly, why isn't there more road rage? Secondly, I don't drive so I have to get around on my two legs or a bike. Otherwise, i use a red car or songthaew which will go just about anywhere and much more cheaply than a tuk-tuk (a three-wheeled motorized vehicle).

[Luigi]

While travelling around taking a look, be sure to have a stay in Prachuab Kiri Khan, I've lived all over and finally settled there. But don't tell too many people.

Oh shit...

I agree.

Probably the best place in Thailand to retire too, and I love Chiang Mai.


Any nice condos for sale around that area Andy?

[AndyCap]

No and I hope it stays that way, most of the land is government owned due to wing 5 and it being the capital of the province. All the condo action and chaos is further north in Hua HIN and Cham.

Prachuab stays quite quiet and cheap, the beaches are great and it's a good base to explore further South.

I built a house there about 3 years ago, based in China at the moment but will settle there when I can stop paying for education ( 4 kids ). My parents who are in their late seventies use the house for about 3 months of the year, we do Christmas there together, etc.

Nice spot.

[thaimeme]

Chiang Mai is a decent place.

Especially for expats.

That is if you don't mind their company and all associated.

[pseudolus]

Chiang Mai is a decent place.

Especially for expats.

That is if you don't mind their company and all associated.

Mind it? Most of us love it. Why would we want to get involved with johnny foreigner (birds excluded of course) if we don't have to.

[thaimeme]

Chiang Mai is a decent place.

Especially for expats.

That is if you don't mind their company and all associated.

Mind it? Most of us love it. Why would we want to get involved with johnny foreigner (birds excluded of course) if we don't have to.

You'll be expected to follow the one in front of you, Sid....
Same ol, same ol....

[Norton]

Prachuab Kiri Khan

Great place. Petchabun worth a look see as well.

What do you have to worry about?

Based on your OP. Not much at all.

Welcome to the forum.

[LarryGee]

Thanks for the advice all, and thanks for the welcome. We'll check out Prachuap too. I bought your book Somtamslap & enjoyed it BTW.

I'm thinking I'll find plenty to do in retirement. It's staying in the US I would be worried about. There aren't too many cities here that I would want to retire in, except for a few on the coasts. Where I live right now, my neighbors drive into their garages when they come home from work, and you don't ever see them. But I admit, I've only ever vacationed in Thailand, and living there is gonna be different.

The plan is to live below our monthly SS, and not even touch the retirement funds unless we buy a house.

[Seekingasylum]

If you can afford to move to Thailand, buy a property and enjoy what remains of your life without watching the pennies then might I suggest you move to Colorado?

Thailand is very much a shithole populated by a breed of folk combining the worst aspects of retards in the Blue Ridge mountains and the greed and manners of a New Yorker on the make. Don't expect good neighbourliness in the boonies - you will either be ignored or your wife will be hit on by chisellers looking for handouts. The stupidity and sheer thoughtlessness of the Thai is quite alarming and does take some getting used to.

Ordinarily, I advise people to consider Bangkok as a best retirement destination but the deterioration in air quality, the incessant traffic hassles and interminable building work as they destroy any and all green spaces militate against this.

Pattaya is the best bet for expat farang offering all the benefits of a coastal city, quick access to the hinterland and islands and avoids the horrors of Thai provincial life. Most sensible folk live in well secured compounds, either in inland estates or adjacent to the beach.

But the main attraction is the fact that one can appreciate in a relatively neat little package true Thai society - egregious, stupid, larcenous, occasionally brutal, devious, deceitful, dishonest and often quite amusing. The weather is relatively benign and the air quality there is infinitely better than the capital and northern places.. A fine array of sausages is usually available.

[pseudolus]

The plan is to live below our monthly SS, and not even touch the retirement funds unless we buy a house.

Factor in fluctuations in exchange rate. Many people have been burnt by budgeting on todays exchange rate, and then when their home currency tanks are suddenly emptying their nest egg, or worse still moving into a 1 room local condo with no aircon and existing off of noodles.

[thaimeme]

The plan is to live below our monthly SS, and not even touch the retirement funds unless we buy a house.

Factor in fluctuations in exchange rate. Many people have been burnt by budgeting on todays exchange rate, and then when their home currency tanks are suddenly emptying their nest egg, or worse still moving into a 1 room local condo with no aircon and existing off of noodles.

Aside, being dependent on the proverbial pensions, retirement, social dole, etc is quite restrictive and predictable - nothing guaranteed.

[pseudolus]

The plan is to live below our monthly SS, and not even touch the retirement funds unless we buy a house.

Factor in fluctuations in exchange rate. Many people have been burnt by budgeting on todays exchange rate, and then when their home currency tanks are suddenly emptying their nest egg, or worse still moving into a 1 room local condo with no aircon and existing off of noodles.

Aside, being dependent on the proverbial pensions, retirement, social dole, etc is quite restrictive and predictable - nothing guaranteed.

It is a fair comment that everything grows very easily in Thailand. We literally threw some seeds down one year, and had so many tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, water melons and corn growing we were giving the stuff away all the time! That is, when the dirty thieving locals were not walking brazenly into our garden and just taking it.