jacknscoob

Hi Folks

We are originally from the UK, now in Aus. We are considering moving to Langkawi.

Can anyone give us any advice? Anyone moved there or to anywhere in Malaysia?

What would a 3 bed house cost in Langkawi? We have been there and know the cost of living.

Are visas required?

Can anyone direct us to any websites?

Thanks folks

The Spinkways

shriver9

1) http://www.langkawi-property.com/listings/
This website of a property agent will give you an indication of house prices
there. Link or terrace houses are common here, and 2 storey units will
have 3 to 4 bedrooms. Bungalows will cost more depending on the design
& land size.

2) On visas and other websites, read the tread " I quit the UK for Malaysia
and loving it" dated 21st Feb last year, on this very forumn. Should be on
page 6.

3) Do a google serarch on " Malaysia my second home" . You will come across
many sites.
One such site, set up by an agent is :
http://www.12retireinmalaysia.com/mm2hprogram.htm

This scheme is for those who want to retire here. If you are still young
and intend to work here, you'll need a work permit.

hellola

Hi

You may want to try this website: http://www.expatkl.com/v3_index2.php Also you can subscribe to their magazine for free.
Hope this helps.

Hutch

Hey guys - just curious how you went from 'All of the Sunshine Coast is great!' to 'We are considering moving to Langkawi' in 10 days? Nosey bugger - tell me to piss off if you want

Wendy

That's seriously weird isn't it. The post made about 10 mins ago was full of Oz is brill etc

Hutch

Aye. Very. Seen the price of those houses tho - they're about £30k a pop - wish our Oz pad was going to cost that much!

Wendy

That'd be good But at what cost !!

jacknscoob

Hey Guys n Gals

Glad u got ur eye on the ball re all the posts!!

We are planning for the future. We accidently stayed in Langkawi and loved it, ended up staying for one month on the way our to activate our visa!

We r researching our options for the future.

It is more expensive here than we expected. Tin of beer in Langkawi was 40c, a bottle of vodka was $6. Food was amazing and cheap as chips. Big plate of noodles (meal) being $1.50. A portion of rice was 35c, and very yummy. Oysters were $2, for a monster size one, if u like that sorts thing.

We love Mooloolaba, but not sure how far our funds will go.

The Spinkways

OriginalSunshine

There is lots that is great about Malaysia, but there is a lot that is crap as well. Typical of most SEAsian countries, the police and government are corrupt as f***. Healthcare is extremely basic outside of the major cities and because it is run by government (see above statement) is often short of funding to a chronic level. Hygiene is an issue. Water & electicity supplies are haphazard. Import and income tax is large, salaries/wages small.

One thing to realise if you are going to retire out here is that the elderly are cared for by their family. As you get older your health risks increase. It's a great place to retire to when you are fit & healthy but you arent always going to be that way. If (god forbid) one of you has a stroke, you wont get intensive care to help you recover, nor physiotherapy. You'll be stuck on a bed at home with your spouse as your carer. If you get cancer or any other serious illness you will need to be able to afford to travel to a big city on a regular basis.

The expat community is small and friendships are 'incest'ual. You can get sick of the same 10 people year in year out, especially if you are friends because there is no-one else to be friends with. The locals will be friendly but you will never truly integrate unless you become family somehow - eg by marrying in. Even then unless you speak their language (Malay, Chinese) you'll still be an oddity.

I'm not trying to put a downer on your plans, but a holiday is a very different prospect to a permanent move. Personally I would think about buying a 2nd home for extended holidays but unless I was going to rely on my children to be my full time carers I would make a 1st world country my permanent retirement base.

ex reg

Lot of sense in that post.

jacknscoob

Thanks for a very informative reply. Very helpful.

Womble, out of interest where do you live? If you dont mind me asking.

Thanks

The Spinkways

shriver9

I think you have painted all SE Asian countries with the same broad brush, and is not reflective of the actual situation. You may be surprised to note that Singapore, being a SE Asian nation, has often been ranked as among the least corrupt nations. True, there are some bad apples, but that does not mean that entire system is corrupt.

As an expat in Malaysia, you are more likely to encounter corruption when you try to go beyond the boundaries of the law or if you try to hasten the approval process - for example if you insist on building a 3 storey house in a location where local regulations only permit one or two storey buildings, or if the normal review and approval process of your building plans takes 3 months, but you want it done in one month, or if you were given a speeding ticket and rather than pay the fine you prefer to "negiotate" with the officer who wrote the ticket.

There is however a perception among some locals in Malaysia that expats, particularly white expats, are filthy rich and have money growing on their trees in their backyards, and hence may be occassionally overcharged for goods and services. For example, when building your house you may be quoted a jacked up price for building materials and labour. The thing to do is to obtain a few quotes and compare prices.

I do agree with you that the presence nearby good medical facilities are an important consideration.

Pollyana

So how are you intending to fund your stay in Langkawi? Even there your money will run out eventually....... (just being nosey now )

OriginalSunshine

We're talking about Malaysia, not Singapore (which is a 'gentle dictatorship' however you want to call it) & if you read carefully I said "typical of most" and not "typical of all"

Malaysia does have institutionalised racism.

In addition, non-Malay race Malaysians suffer from considerable corruption, particularly here in Borneo. Local tribes & villages often have their land acquisitioned from them by the large palm-oil plantation 'owners' without any payment and are chased off their own land by gun wielding security forces. The police cannot and will not intervene, and the local courts side with the plantation 'owners'.

dave_wong

Being a Malaysian, I would say there are some truths in your comment. I also feel that foreigners under MM2H should not worry too much about the political climate in the country as it will not have much impact on them. i.e. A foreigner with a foreign passport could just buy a one-way ticket out of the country in case the un-imaginable happens.

However, one must take note of the ever increasing crime rates in the country.... snatch thefts, day light robberies, .... etc. This is due to the large influx of foreigner workers from neigbouring countries, both legal & illegal.

DAVE....