Retirement, any takers?

[KopiKat]

Thailand is a good idea too but will it be more suitable if you are single and not married?

But married people can also go to thailand, there's so many things wife can do, there are loads of hair salons around, also pedicures, facials, massage, spas, shopping malls and all cheap to boot like anything, shop how hard also will not break your wallet.

If you are single or newly single again and like to party it's cheap too depending what you do but if you are abv 50's won't have the stamina might want to pace yourself slowly once a month or every few month. Partying is one thing that can burn thru a lot of money quickly even tho booze there is so cheap.

I may consider if me and a whole group of friends become widower/divorcé...George Clooney style!

If you're not already Street Smart (not the Wall Street kind) before you go retire to Thailand to party, I'd be most worried for you...

[Caelitus]

No man when I say transportation I meant public transportation cheap and good. Look at the traffic there's no point to buying a vehicle. Also going there to retire to enjoy life not going there to work. People on average paid around 8k bhat a month that's like less than $500 so I don't see how I will need to be working in thailand to communicate much with thais other than buying things or getting someone to do the laundry.

I see Thailand as one place where they like arrange all the happening things to do in one area to make everything convenient for whether marketing, shopping clubbing pubbing or whatever entertainment you need all within walking distance or easily reachable by rail, elsewhere there are such things also but often you need to travel and not so convenient. In Singapore everything are also in walking distance but things are not getting cheap and at the same time getting very cramped and will get even more expensive as more and more come here to cram in future.

Spore citizen allow to stay up to 30 days in thailand after which they can do a visa run like what all the farangs are doing in thailand, go to border crossover and crossback get a chop for another 30days. Retirement visa allows longer up to 90 days but need to put around 800k bhat into bank. As for buying a place I think I will take my time here, there are many options my preference will be not to buy at all because I don't see the value once you buy you are stuck with it and if it turns out to be a bad choice you are screwed. I think I will just rent move around from place to place. Rental is very cheap, for less than S$500 can get a very excellent accommodation and live it up. I think by then I can rent out my pigeon hole to FT in sing for 3k or more and his money will finance my retirement in bkk no need even to touch cpf.

idea idea

SGD, you are right, it is better to rent. I know of a case where a buyer thought he was staying in an area where the developer had installed a water tower and pump. Soon, when the next development came up, the water tower and pump uprooted leaving him to install his own. Public transport is cheap too so it is very affordable to live there.

Previously, I met up with a Singaporean couple (mid 30s) who decided to give up the rat race and open a coffee shop in Thailand. They are doing well enough to get by and are raising a 3+ year old daughter there.

I just opened my savings account on Sunday at Thailand. 0.75% for a ordinary savings account with Kasikorn Bank. As I am not a work permit holder, I needed my Thai friend to be my guarantor. Good place to park my Thai baht besides the drawer. I am also vested in Thailand since I have investments via a Thai fund.

People in the area where I frequent are used to floods and their normal floods are what will make the headlines here!

[edragon]

You are right. It was the flood plains that attracted early settlers to grow wet-rice which Thailand is famous for.
Problem is these days they got much more than before and flood water flow all the way south through Bangkok.