argv1900

I doubt bangkok is good place for people to retire.
There are traffic jams, pollution and too many shopping complex.

However, i like chiang mai or phuket.
Phuket if you like beach especially.

John Speed

Malaysia is mainly Muslim
Draw your own precautionary conclusions.

aldo

Don't buy a place here at present. The visa rules - as someone else mentioned above - are in a state of flux. You can only 'own' a condo - not a house/land. The latter can only be leased for 30 years - a stupid option if you ask me since they sell the leasehold for the same price they would sell the freehold. Why pay someone rent - upfront - for 30 years? Like I say makes no sense - but people seem to do it anyway.

Advice - don't buy a place in Thailand right now. Wait a while. Things could get even worse for foreigners here. There is an increasingly hostile attitude to any but the most rich foreigners now..looks like it could get worse.

John Speed

We have been here for 4 years and feel perfectly safe and secure
own a condo,love the life,no problems with visas or driving licences or tax or anything else for that matter
except the bloody mad idiot drivers.

alynn

to me Malaysia is an ideal place its the only place in the whole wide world that have multi-religions and races and yet live and CO-EXIST harmonically.
You can even have a piece of Thai, India, Chinese and Indonesia in Malaysia (and obviously British so you won't be all that homesick) malaysians are mainly influenced by these countries. Malaysia is located below thailand, above singapore and side of indonesia & phillipines....you can say that its the centre of Asia.

the people there are also friendly, english is their 2nd language so you shouldn't have any problems there. but the cost of living comparing to the Thai, Malaysia is higher but still its considerably cheap if you are British...

scotian

Surely given the cultural differences you are experiencing in Spain, it will be amplified x100 in Thailand.

I speak Spanish and have lived in Spain. My wife is Thai and I have spent a lot of time in Thailand. There are cultural differences in every country, these are very apparent when looking at Europe to Asia. My point is that you need to adapt not the otherway about. The 4 things you mention about Spain could apply to any country in the world (and definately Thailand).

Hope you do your research before diving in....plenty of good and bad experiences on google searches.

alynn

yes i agree with you

John Speed

What do you do with your time when retired in Thailand"
What will you do with your time if you retire anywhere?
Join the dog rescue society, The PIWC (in our case in Phuket >>Phuket International Womens Club, doing charity work for deprived children)
Play golf,tennis,swim,yacht race,garden,grow orchids.
Use your imagination, the life is wonderful and the choices of how you live it are only yours to make.

Vigile

Is it difficult to get an internet connection in Malaysia? I don't mean internet cafes, but actually internet installed in your apartment?

alynn

yeah we DO have internet connections mind you :P
we even have broadbands & wireless installed in our homes & offices
and its easy! *who ever told you that its hard to get internet connection in Malaysia? *

if there are people saying that its hard to get internet connection here in malaysia, it only means that he/she is using phone line connection which gives unstable connection*nobody uses that anymore*

mitzipurr

The main concern for me would be Health. I know you have to pay all medical expenses there but is there a way you can get some kind of insurance to cover you???

mitzipurr

Alynn - You say a lot of nice things about Malaysia, however when we last visited Thailand we went to the Hot Springs and met some people from Malaysia who said in their opinion the cost of living was more expensive there and they were not Expats!!!

John Speed

Don't cancel your European Insurance.

Phuketti

I've been in Thai-Lie-Land for over a year and have come to the conclusion that this is an extremely bigoted, racist culture. Every time I'm called " Farang," I cringe as I know this is used in exactly the same way as a very rude word used in the West for dark skinned people. A seething hatred of " Farang" is rampant , in fact I believe it is taught in school.
As a woman I don't have two-faced " Bar-Girls" sucking up to me or shall I say, lubricating my way, so I really feel the sting of discrimination in every outing from my house. Sitting at a traffic light - " Farang!" Walking into a store, someone will comment, " Farang!" But it is NEVER said to your face.

Racism against lower income foreigners is actually legislated.
Burmese construction worker are not allowed to drive cars, own cell phones or be out after 8 PM.
http://phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?id=5528
Can you believe that? Someone needs to get the UN involved on this issue.

To say that Thai people are stupid is to do a disservice to stupid people all over the world. Along with the unbelievable two-facedness of these people, they suffer from what I call No Concept of Future, NCF.
It's apparent everywhere. See the man unloading his truck on the street, no thought at all to the cars passing at 45 mph just inches away from him. See the woman with her 3 year old clutching his 2 other siblings on a motorcycle...

I'm quite attractive, can still turn heads at age 45 with a minimal preparation and would sure like to meet a man near my own age but forget it, there are so many prostitutes here. I haven't had a date in a year now except with a Thai man who took me to a three hour "Whiskey circle". What fun!!
However, I notice that the foreign men here flocking here are no prize and are only coming here for the main commodity Thailand has to offer, which is cheap, easy sex, so I guess it is no loss for me.
Still it would be nice to at least SEE some foreign men that I think are attractive. ( Well, OK there is one..)There are attractive Thai men but they all seem to be either 20 or 60 and will expect you to clean up after their whiskey circles.

It took me a while to get it that lying is the way here in Thai- Lie- Land , it's your responsibility to make sure people stay honest-if they get over on you, good for them-no one cares.
It seems to be especially OK, even admirable- to screw " Farang" over ....

There was a new internet service offered through an " Air Card," like a cell phone for your computer. Having read rave reviews I went to a Tech Mall to purchase it. Nope.. You must have a work permit even though I have a perfectly legitimate visa.
This was purely to discriminate against foreigners...

Inconsiderate doesn't begin to describe their so called "Manners."

It is 8 AM and I've been listening to the same Karaoke song since 6:30, emanating from a house 200 meters away at a volume so loud I cannot have a phone conversation within my own house. This goes on pretty much every day. When the rest of the neighborhood stirs I'll be listening to 3-4, maybe 5 different stereos.


I'm residing in Thai-Lie-land under an Investor visa which requires 3 million baht in a fixed bank account.
I went to the bank the Friday before just before Christmas to withdraw 6 million baht from a different account as after the 30% withholding fiasco, I'd decided that, at 2 weeks of age, Thai-Lie-Land's government was too immature and reactionary to trust with my money.
It took me 3 hours. I was there 2 hours after closing and only finally got an international draft because I refused to leave.
I had the proper forms alright but the portion asking about import, export funds I had marked N/A as I am not going to run any kind of business. The bank manager should have corrected it when I first deposited the funds. A young woman at the main Siam Commercial Bank in Phuket Town asked me very personal questions about my money such as did I have receipts for purchases and unbelievably,
just where did I, " Get the funds initially? Your amount of money, it's too much for a tourist .." she stated while on the phone with BOT( Bank of Thailand)
"Well, if you'd look at my passport, (although it really isn't any of your business, ) "you'll see I have a " B" business visa. "
" Well where's your work permit, then?" As if she's an immigration official.
But , In Thai-Lie-Land I guess she is.
However I don't have such a permit. I'm not allowed to work as far as I know.
But I really don't know anything as I wasn't told anything.Am I supposed to register my address?
Immigration, in their ridiculous militararistic uniforms, tell you nothing.

I fully expect my application for the yearly renewal to be withheld next September unless I repeat my performance with an expensive lawyer as I did with the "extension."
The initial investor's visa , 1200 Baht , was initially granted for 90 days. It took another 20,000 to get it extended for 9 months, a full year.
A woman at Phuket immigration actually recommended I get married to a Thai man. Oh yeah, and get murdered for my savings? No thanks.

All the businesses , lawyers, restaurants, etc. run by foreigners have as employees, grossly incompetent Thai women that are the owner's girlfriends. I had a high dollar lawyer's office-manager give me totally erroneous information which caused a house sale to collapse. The most expensive, nicest restaurants you have to chase down the server to get another drink... Oh, on and on and on...

You can forget about using the title Ms.
I got a driver's license and Mrs. was put on it and now I have to explain constantly I've never been married and cannot produce a marriage certificate or divorce papers.
Infuriating.


Thai's are all about appearance. They may live in a tin shack but will have the latest model car and it will be shiny clean. Their clothing too is always neat in appearance yet they'll eat 2 inches off the sidewalk and think nothing of sticking viral infected fingers way up into their nostrils.
They routinely throw garbage from their cars and will burn plastic refuse in front of your home if the wind is blowing away from theirs. Having absolutely no regard for the environment, there are no laws requiring them to do otherwise.

Ugh, and then there's how horses are treated in Thailand . I took many many pics of the pony rental/torture stable where I rescued my horses from. Pictures that would make you sick and cry, but am afraid to send them to the paper as I may find myself on the business end of a shotgun. After I leave though...
So , unless you are a sexually unattractive man who can't find women ( or men, or children, or hamsters...) in your own country, I'd say, STAY AWAY from Thailand, it has very little to offer socially.

The people are beyond horrible.

On the plus side , it is beautiful and the food, fruits and vegetables are of excellent quality and cheap.

John Speed

Well, that was a bitter cynical rant.
Why don't you join the PIWC, there are a lot of very nice Europeans as well as Thais in the membership, and they help people to know more about what is true and false about Phuket.
If you are in Phuket that is.
But your experiences are not generally found amongst the people we know here. And you do Thailand and yourself a disservice by being so vitriolic about A BEAUTIFUL country.
We have lived here with happiness and comfort for 5 years and had NONE of your experiences, Thank God.