Retired Life in Thailand

Thinking of Retiring Abroad?

It is for good reason that people from America, Europe, Australia, and increasingly other Asian countries, are looking for places outside their home countries for retirement. The first and obvious reason is cost of living. But lifestyle and quality of life are frequently just as important. Quite often, the place that they find that most satisfies these needs is Thailand.

Could that place be Thailand?

There is a popular saying about my hometown of New York City, "It's a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there." With one exception something similar could be said of Thailand, "It's a great place to visit. Now what do I have to do to live there?"

Why Thailand?

More and more Expats come to Thailand to enjoy

• the great food,
• the beauty of the country,
• the almost perfect weather,
• the affordable cost of living,
• the first class medical facilities,
• and the friendliness of its people .

Read about what retired life in Thailand is Like

Retired Life in Thailand is a sharing of experiences from my years of being retired here and helping prospective retirees, and includes my writings from magazine articles and blog posts with a lot of added information. We discuss what new retirees will probably encounter moving to and living in the Land of Smiles.

What you will find are discussions on how to go about making Thailand your home and how to understand the culture and people you will be living with.

Retired Life in Thailand includes the sections

• On Getting Started
• On Daily Living in Thailand
• On Staying Healthy
• On Living in Thai Culture
• On the Thai Language

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Sample from Retired Life in Thailand

Introduction

A Google search on "retiring to Thailand" turns up thousands of web sites devoted to this topic. It is for good reason that people from America, Europe, Australia, and increasingly other Asian countries, are looking for places outside their home countries for retirement. The first and obvious reason is cost of living. But lifestyle and quality of life are frequently just as important. Quite often, the place that they find that most satisfies these needs is Thailand.

When it became time for me to think of a place to retire Thailand was an obvious choice. I first came to Thailand in 1969 as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher. For most of the next 40 years I kept being drawn back. Once for a long stint when I taught at Chiang Mai University, when my two children were born. Later I became the director of the American University Alumni Association (AUA) Language Center in Chiang Mai. In between I went back to school, lived in a few Middle Eastern countries, traveled to over 40 other countries, worked as a psychotherapist and later as a computer consultant, owned a number of businesses and raised two boys. When my wife Pikun and I had a little more free time, we spent many wonderful Chiang Mai winters here and the wonderful Seattle summers back in the U.S. - sort of a staggered retirement. Finally we moved back "for good" and it felt like a homecoming.

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Chapter One  -    Could That Place be Thailand?  Download Now

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Table of Contents

On Getting Your Retirement Started

• Could That Place Be Thailand?
• The New Snowbirds
• Is Thailand Right For You?
• Moving
• Looking For a Place to Live
• Condo Hunting
• Building Your Dream House
• Getting access to your money
• Retiring Early
• Live Under Your Means
• You Know You Aren't A Newbie Expat Anymore When...
• Out of Sight, Out of Mind
• Applying for Social Security

On Daily Living in Thailand

• Getting Around - Transportation Options
• Driving in Thailand - A Survival Guide
• Four Stages of Living in Thailand
• Culture shock
• Going Up the Country
• Too Busy to Keep Working
• A Fruit For All Seasons
• Comfort Food Just Like Home
• A Starter Lunch Menu
• Dealing with Bureaucracies
• The Immigration Office
• Avoiding Sand Traps and Immigration Problems
• Keeping Connected
• Enter With Caution - Keeping Your Relationship Healthy
• Blogging - An Expat’s Lifeline
• I Don’t Want to Complain - But ...
• It’s a Dog’s Life
• A Cathartic Journey
• What Do You Miss?
• You Can Get Anything You Want
• Uninvited Houseguests
• Insurance in Thailand
• A Day in a Retired Life in Thailand
• Evening in Thailand
• Cost of Living in Thailand
• Thai National Holidays

On Staying Healthy

• Medical Care
• Going to the Dentist
• Who Ya Gonna Call - In Case of Emergency?
• Staying Alive
• Internal Heat and a Broken Stomach
• The Fungus Among Us
• Annual Checkup
• Power Napping
• You Can’t Beat the Heat
• Going Green - My Carbon Footprint

On Living in Thai Culture

• First Impressions
• What’s in a Name
• Eating Right
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
• Who Pays the Bill
• Counting Your Blessings
• Golf in Thailand
• Thai-Expat Relationships
• Visiting a Thai Temple
• Thai Stereotypes - A Contrarian View
• Why didn’t you tell me?
• Never say No
• Unintended Consequences
• Listening to Thai Music
• Thais Retiring to Thailand

On the Thai Language

• Can I Borrow a Word?
• How Do You Spell That?
• Why Learn Thai
• Tarzan English
• Eight Steps to Learning Thai

Note about the author:

Hugh first came to Thailand in 1969 as a Peace Corps volunteer and has lived here on and off since then. In 2001 he and his wife Pikun started doing a staggered retirement in Chiang Mai, 4 months here, 8 months back in Seattle. Since 2007 they have lived permanently in Chiang Mai. Hugh is a fluent Thai speaker and writes regular articles on learning the Thai language.

He has written for the Bangkok Post, the Asia Magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and currently has a regular column, A Retiring Attitude - Tips on Retiring to Thailand, for Chiang Mai City Life magazine. He was an English instructor at Chiang Mai University and is a former director of AUA Chiang Mai, and has traveled to more than 40 countries. He has written an English textbook series for the Thai professional market called Professional English for Thailand.