They now have adopted some abandoned dogs here. In Stocks % In Bonds % In Cash % Modify Stock Returns. I truly enjoyed reading this blog. Good luck in whatever you decide. What a huge generalisation. I have lived in a private estate for 6 years. Foreigners should bring that same “self-preservation” attitude here. It is not good for a man to be alone, God said. Might go to the Alps next year. It’s the tropics here so of course there are lots and lots of insects. To this day I continue to make merit in an attempt to wipe my karma clean of such a dastardly act. If your going to live in Thailand embrace it for what it is with your eyes wide open and be POLITE, understand it is their country and you are a guest and you wont go far wrong, find out all info yourself, and you will learn it is not as hard as some say. I won’t come back, ever. Yes, private hospital costs are rising. Lots of luck with your retirement. In Thailand I learned later that I was payiny not only for my girlfriend but her 2 daughters. If you are married to a Thai or have children who are part Thai then you can stay for about half of the above on a spousal support visa. My net worth was $40 exactly. If you are single then the amount you have is more than I spend per month. Thai culture is fascinating. The “together” is the important word here. I feel the govt does this to make money. I happen to be one who sees them often. Antibiotics I accept that medical prescription is controlled, but any Joe can walk in off the street and buy a wide range of antibiotics over the counter in Thailand over which the only control is a pharmacist running a business for profit – although I have found them to be generally knowlegeable and helpful without being particularly restricted in what they can sell. her father pays 15000 a month for his truck, why won’t I help out…. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Immigration sucks. They can wait for you. 3/ Money, it is getting more and more expensive here, in CM especially… it’s turning into a go ahead place, new roads, airport coming and plenty of new buildings. How about Thai ladies? He buys her a car and a house. One of the first newspaper articles I wrote, for the Bangkok Post in the ’80s, was about how I had to kill 2 cobras who had taken over my garden, even coiling around my maid’s ankle at one point. Hers was $0. So now with that out of the way, I don’t think that the Thais would ever show any outward racism to anyone. I live in suburb of BKK and it was ages when I last time saw a snake. Relationships are what they are. Current Age. The Thai alphabet has 44 consonants and 32 vowels, and about half of the alphabet is unpronounceable for us westerners. Thailand may or may not be the place for everyone. Image credit: Matthew Champlin / Contributor, Getty Images. Animals: again just install screens on doors and window and impose draconian closure rules. I am worried I will be vulnerable Thailand is far too lax with over the counter antibiotics which are often not taken properly – this may lead to an untreatable epidemic with the current spread of MCR-1 (and this takes no account of non specific urinary infections already resistant to antibiotic treatments). The rules are there to stop foreigners taking land from Thai people. Didn’t know about the asbestos here. dramatic effect on the results. Love+Peace, If you love the beach, you’ll love Las Terrenas! Remember: Foreigners can own condos but cannot own land without going through many legal hoops. To paraphrase one of my favorite people Joseph Campbell, your wife should “Follow her bliss.” She should do what she loves. They carry things regular pharmacies don’t. I would just like to mention that the inks used in all tattoos are According to the AARP, Pat Westheimer, who is 67 and a former teacher, and her husband Don David Price (69) moved to Portgual in 1991. I lived in Thailand for 8 grueling months Sept 14 to May 15. Depends on the hospital. Some uncertainties. I have heard good things about Malaysia. The cost of living here would run you about $1,500 a month. Just close your eyes and imagine. Opps! The problem with Black people here is that there are so few of them. Banded krait and various tree vipers (not all snakes are poisonous but lots are), Monitor lizards (can administer a nasty, easily infected bite), Scorpions (the large black kind and the small more dangerous red kind), Small red fire ants (tiny, but they swarm, and their bites are excruciating), Cockroaches (the huge flying kind, love to get stuck in your hair), Swarming flying termites (millions come out on a rainy season evening), Stinging Caterpillars (just a brush by one of these feels like a blow torch hit you). Would you have lost $25,000 to a Canadian lady? Couple the instability of the central government with the unrest in the south, and you have a pretty volatile political situation. BTW, the 800,000 baht required to be held in the bank is not an arbitrary amount. You’ll also be close to world-class golf courses, restaurants and shopping, in addition to extravagant beachfront living that is much more affordable than the United States. You’ll be looking at the food, health care, friendliness of the people, language, and housing available. Well, it’s just the same here. They rent a office/apartment with a pool for $1,000 a month. Most scammers work on the premise that you are greedy or just plain stupid. I love Thailand like a high standard of living and don’t know how i can live well without attracting the wrong kind. You must have done some things right…. Infected with HIV in April 2014 even when using locally procured condom (defect). “I feel the govt does this to make money” (immigration restrictions). The Thais, because they really don’t know much about the outside world, believe that the Thai culture is superior to all others. But the better question is, could you afford it? I come from Brooklyn,NY and have been inculcated with street-smarts, so personal safety is not a real worry. I will sure tale your advise to visit Chiangmai during the raining session.. I do have A/C but I rarely run it.. Expat retirees must have savings and annual income totaling at least 800,000 Thai baht — currently about $24,000. Compare the latest sign-up bonus offers to start earning free flights, hotel stays and more. The best you can do is to test out the waters here and you will see how much you will need depending on your lifestyle. They are perfectly designed. We just lost one of our ducks, probably to a very large python. Quite literally, you get what you pay for. As for you, I would try not to “leisure” away anything. I am also old enough to have seen the Dodgers play at Ebbits Field. I drove down in my truck on my own, and Terri—and five cats—flew down. Here is one of the big mistakes those thinking to invest in Thai real estate make. One big thing you forgot to mention is the noise level you have to deal with here in Thailand. So this is a total of 9 months time in thailand with only 2 trips to chiang rai and 3 trips to chiang mai immigration. I also have a Thai girlfriend who I have been with for over a year.. My GF is from Isan (northern Thailand) and thanks to me owns a restaurant but also has a nursing degree.. We live in an all Thai community between Chiang Mai and Mai Rim.. But I have enough savings and pension income to cover most stuff. In Thailand it doesn’t work that way. It’s a little more expensive than Thailand though. A lot of violence is perpetrated by one Expat on another. My current preference for retirement is Phuket. Problem was that the sign was in Thai. What happens back home in a divorce? You are right though in that it seems to be a dollar (and a pound) problem as the Australian currency exchange rate doesn’t seemed to have moved much lately. How is living higher up? The best travel rewards credit cards! Now it is 35 or more. Being retire means that you are free, no boss, no time clock, no deadlines. Politics. 3. At the end I though living in a dumb was not for me any more . 10.Health: Hospitals are best in the world and very cheap. But insulin is cheap there, and easy to get. If it really happened then okay. I have seen too many Expats fall through those hoops and end up owning nothing but the shirts on their backs, if they are lucky. Even I have never seen one in my house, and I live in the country. Image credit: Marka / Contributor, Getty Images. But it isn’t the right place for everyone. My company owns land. And there have been 17 different versions of a constitution. = Aussie dollars/ week, in Sth Am.. Australia is a VERY expensive country, good, but expensive. Image credit: Patricia Marroquin / Contributor, Getty Images. Even a high-speed Internet connection is hard to come by according to Kathleen Piccord, the publisher of Live and Invest Overseas. I own 3 motorbikes, scooters, and a truck.. They even stopped my needless from a US Amazon shipment. The first thing I would like to do is find where the nearest hospital would be…just in case the old ticker gives out after viewing the spiders and flying roaches. Live long and prosper. To this day, to the relief of Mama, he is ink-free. For the last few years the central, south, and Bangkok areas have been hit with “100 year floods”. If i can stop one person or family from making the same mistake as we l will be happy. You can buy a condo though, and many people do. Good luck. Emergency room: we have another visitor. 90 day reporting is and always be, a absurd requirement… and move to control farang. The picture perfect medieval city of Carcassonne is far more affordable than other parts of the country. A) The Thai currency is not going up so much..but the US$, due to the hudge dept of the US, is losing a lot a value. Here it is a piece of cake. I’ve heard people say great things about living in Thailand as an expat. * We use today's dollars to account for inflation. I worked in Singapore for 5 years, while there I met and subsequently married this past year in the states through the K1 visa , now we have been in New Hampshire just over a year, as i am working and she is going through the US citizenship process, driving license process, as well as trying to secure a job that is not in a Thai resteraunt, so all is well and moving along swimmingly well.