Why I Retired to Thailand

I just heard from a U.S. Consulate official here in Chiang Mai, Thailand that there are more than 8,000 registered Americans in just this town alone. Since I myself am not registered at the consulate and neither, it seems, is anyone else I know, it would appear that there are lots more than 8,000 Americans here. And we are one of the smaller contingents of peoples from around the world who have chosen to make Thailand their retirement homes.

Besides the wonderful people, the great food, the exotic atmosphere, the winterless weather, the constant requirement to learn new stuff, what makes Thailand so inviting for those looking to retire?  First let’s look at what generally makes for a good retirement. Here’s what I was looking for (Note: I would be looking for these things anywhere, whether in the U.S. or abroad).

• Affordability
• Housing
• Health Care
• Access (to family, books, news, sports, popular culture, etc.)

Note: I write about lots of these topics on my blog so to keep this post short I have provided links to my blog post where you can get some more information about retirement to Thailand.

Affordability:  I live off of Social Security along with some other savings that I have. That’s not a lot and if we had to remain living back in Seattle, a lovely place which we miss greatly, we would be quite hard pressed to make ends meet and would probably have to take on some kind of part-time work to survive. Thailand, although not the cheapest place to live in the world, offers a very affordable lifestyle for the amount of income that we now have. I have written on my blog about that in Cost of Living in Thailand Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Housing:  We live in a very nice 4 bedroom house with about an acre of land with gardens and trees where we raise chickens, ducks, rabbits, and started a conservation project taking in endangered mountain tortoises.  Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand but there are lots of loopholes that people use to get around that. (If you do want to buy, try reading my blog post on Owning a House in Thailand – A Caveat). My advice is to rent instead. To rent a house like mine would cost about $600 a month.  A very nice one bedroom place, with a garden, and all the amenities would cost between $250 and $400 a month.

Health Care:  The best thing to do about health care is to not get sick in the first place.  Here in Thailand we eat fresh vegetables and fruits daily, get lots of exercise in the garden, and take walks in the surrounding mountains. We don’t have a swimming pool but there is a beautiful pool and fitness center 5 minutes from here that costs $3 to use.  The second best thing is preventive care. We get a great annual check up from one of the really good hospitals here.  The cost is what you might pay for a meal in a nice restaurant back home. Find out more from my blog post Annual Checkup.

If you do need medical attention it turns out we are in luck. Thailand is a center for “medical tourism” and there are great hospitals here that are very affordable. I have been sick a few times here. Nothing serious but I did need a doctor.  As always, when something interesting happens, I blogged about it (Getting Sick and Getting Better in Thailand).

Access: We have 2 children and 2 grandchildren back in the U.S. We don’t like traveling long distances too often but we do miss them. Luckily we now live in the 21^st Century and there is a wonderful invention called “Skype”. We talk often and can see our grandchildren grow (Skyping and Facebooking  – An Expat’s Lifeline). Nothing beats touch though and we’ll be visiting them this year.

Another thing I miss is TV shows, sports, and movies (I’m a popular culture junkie, what can I say?) Of course that would be something I have blogged about too (Keeping Up with Popular Culture While Living in Thailand).

Why I really live here

The real truth is, when I return to the U.S. I get bored. It is a pretty homogeneous place. Here I live in an exotic tropical land with lots of stuff going on that is new and strange to me. I am learning new stuff, learning a new language, meeting interesting people from around the world, having fresh and fascinating experiences every day. Going shopping in an outdoor market (there are lots of modern supermarkets too) is an event. Fast food here (although there are McDonalds and KFCs everywhere which I go to about once a year usually just as a reminder of why I don’t go more often) is getting stir fried veggies over rice at a roadside restaurant for a dollar.

At our last picnic lunch in our garden there were people from Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, France, South Africa and Northern Ireland.  Hard to get bored when there are that many strange accents floating around you.

When one does something new every day your brain has to revert back to a younger time. You’re back in learning mode. That forces you to think like a kid again.

Why did I retire to Thailand? Because here I have found the Fountain of Youth.