Retirement in Thailand

My first reaction to the retirement in Thailand article is that it seems that the Thais have got the right idea about how to deal with foreign residents. Allow me to elaborate.

Naturally I don’t have your knowledge about Thailand, Mr Stick, and I cannot even remotely compare myself to you or many other readers regarding this matter. I have only been to Thailand 5 times in a time span of 11 years, 2007 – 2018.

I always enjoy being there. I always stay a month. The first three times were spent mainly in Bangkok, the two latest trips were in Phuket. I am seriously contemplating retiring there. Although I have been to Soi Cowboy, Nana and Patpong and barfined a sexy and funny lass at Shark bar, that was only a one time thing (well, actually several times but always the same girl ), and it happened during my first trip in 2007. The reason I first visited Thailand back then was because I was visiting family in Singapore and knew that an old friend of mine was living in Thailand, for a long, long time already. So I contacted him, flew over there from Singapore and he had arranged a nice hotel, the Amari Atrium, and we met. Well, of course he took me for a little ‘sight-seeing’ after dinner. And yes, that first trip, especially Bangkok, felt magical, absolutely brilliant. Afterwards I couldn’t think about anything else but returning. However, I must say that in all the following trips I never returned to the bar scene. First, because (also during that first trip) I had met a super super lovely girl with whom I held contact and later stayed with in Bangkok. Best time in my life, no question about it. But even without that I find whoring, especially in places with appallingly loud noise, extremely boring and it is very, very hard to find a girl there attractive enough to go with, let alone pay money for. Maybe I have a too high a standard but I wouldn’t pay for any of the girls you regularly show in your weekly column. I wouldn’t even go with one of them if they’d pay me! I guess that one barfine was the needle in the haystack. Anyway, enough of that. Back to retirement.

As you say, the financial requirements are easy to match. And I happen to think that Thailand’s yearly check up about retirees, or any foreign residents for that matter, situation is a very sensible thing from their point of view. It should not be a permanent visa.

Reporting every 90 days is not all that terrible, is it? It’s not like you haven’t got time for it, since you’re retired. No problem for me at least. Although that TM30 form after 24 hours seems a bit ridiculous. But even so, I could live with that. I will make foreign trips occasionally but nowhere near 8 times a year. So what’s the big deal about filling out some form?

That the so-called retirement visa is not a permanent residency is, as I see it, a no-brainer from the Thai pov. Only an insane country would grant permanent residency to foreigners without ever checking up after. I wish my (former) country had the same sense. Over here, and elsewhere in all Western countries, they are doing the exact opposite! Without de facto demanding any requirement whatsoever!

You compare foreigners’ rights in Thailand to, for example, New Zealand. Let’s generalise that for a second to all Western countries. Again I strongly believe that the Thai approach is the sensible one because handing over citizenships to just about anyone who decides to take a ride on the Western gravy train equals handing over your country to them. I salute the Thais for being so smart. In fact, the main reason I will retire in another country is precisely because of that. I don’t have a country anymore. Thailand may be poor compared to Western countries but at least they still have a country of their own. Come take a trip to Europe, take a little walk in Paris, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and many, many other cities and even villages. Millions and millions of third worlders who absolutely hate us and do not contribute anything of value to Western civilisation have been granted permanent residency and / or citizenship. Yeah, real smart move. The quality of life has so much improved because of it. I mean, once western Europe was high cultured, prosperous, clean and safe and freedom of speech was a given. But who wants that, right? Now, luckily it isn’t high cultured, prosperous, clean or safe anymore, forget about free speech and even old customs which are now non-PC, and we all got these foreigners to thank for. Isn’t that great? To give you an example of how hard-core Bolshevik my country has become the following example. A while ago an Afghan immigrant, or refugee (Bolshevik newspeak for ‘invader’) was sentenced to a deliberately lower sentence by some insane female Bolshevik ‘judge’ for raping a mentally disabled girl in the back of shop in broad daylight because if he had been sentenced properly he would have to be deported since any immigrant, refugee-invader who committed a crime for which one gets a certain amount of jail time has to be deported. So the ‘judge’ made sure that the rapist could remain safely and comfortably in the Netherlands. Now, who wouldn’t want to live in such a country, huh? Currently in Europe there are millions and millions of foreigners (re-christianed ‘citizens’) who are literally creating decaying third world ghettos, no-go areas for whites, committing 95% of the crimes, destroying the continent and are even getting paid to do so by our so-called ‘governments’. And anyone wants to blame Thais for not wanting that to happen to their country?

About the cost of living, you said you spent THB 100.000 a month while not having health insurance, didn’t have a car and obviously didn’t lead a degenerate’s lifestyle. Could you elaborate on what on earth you did spend THB 100.000 every month? And needing US$ 5000 to live comfortably in Thailand? That’s silly, for US$ 5000 in pocket one can live comfortably in Switzerland.

So, I honestly don’t think I will need US$ 5000 to live comfortably in Thailand. But then, the very last thing I need is an urban Western lifestyle. So I guess it depends on what you consider comfortable. I can rent a very smart condo in Phuket for THB 15.000, or even less. Add utilities let’s say THB 5000, that’s 20.000, let’s make it 25.000. I will have a pension of about THB 60.000, certainly not spectacular but more than enough to even save a little of that the way I live. I have savings of around THB 5.500.000 and I am comfortable. I don’t need anything larger than give or take 50 sq mtrs. All I need is a kitchen, washing machine (at my disposal) internet (and absolutely NO TV) and somewhere to work out regularly. Don’t need a car, just buy a motorbike. A whoring and boozing lifestyle is not only costly but also something for degenerates, which I detest. I will need less than when I am on vacation, during which I eat out all the time of course. I hardly ever eat Thai food, not because I don’t like it, I do, what little I know of it, but I don’t know many dishes so I practically always eat Italian. Once I live there I will make my own breakfast and can learn more about Thai cuisine. With all the most outrageous calculations I will not need anything near US$ 5000 or even THB 100.000 to live very, very comfortably. And that’s including foreign trips including worldwide flights because I like to travel at least once a year. Currently I also travel not only to Thailand but other countries as well. Only thing that is a consideration perhaps by then is the cost of health insurance. But as my retirement is still 10 years away I will have to evaluate that then. A lot can happen and change in 10 years. I might even choose another country to retire, like one of the Baltics or the Czech Republic. I would prefer Italy or Spain but alas they are heavenly infested with enemy invaders too. And I do like to have a daily float in the water of Nai Harn beach looking at the blue sky praising myself lucky to be alive and well. I really don’t need that much to be happy and comfortable.

So the cost of living, which is way lower than in the Netherlands (a Bolshevik stronghold like all of Western Europe, which I truly detest) and the weather does it for me. And there is another thing I would enjoy there which is also a huge consideration, and that is, as you said it not too long ago, to be out of the system. In Thailand all kinds of things are happening that I really don’t like, but I am just a foreigner who has no vested interest in Thailand and I am more than happy to meet all requirements they set in order to be able to live there, in THEIR country. That is a way more normal situation and I am way more comfortable with that then to live in my so-called ‘own’ country and witness the decay and third worldification getting worse by the day until it will resemble Somalia in 30 years from now, guaranteed, and even be forced by my ‘government’ (you know, that institution which supposed to be looking out for my best interests as a Dutch person in the Netherlands) to sponsor that. I just don’t see what the attraction to that is. Frankly, I can’t wait to close the door behind me for the last time and get the hell out of here for good.

Good luck to all.

P.S.  I do realise that living somewhere is quite different from spending a yearly vacation there. But then, I have the option to go elsewhere. And besides, who says I will not get bored in my own country after retirement? What has my country to offer me anymore that is so great? Alas.

Stick‘s thoughts:

A few random comments to make in response to you:

• Permanent residency visas in New Zealand (and I would assume in the rest of the developed world) require police checks in that person’s home country, and every country they have spent a length of time in, in the past. There is also a comprehensive medical examination including x-rays, blood check and urinalysis. A VERY lengthy application form is completed and it is explicitly stated in that form that any misrepresentations could be cause for residency status to later be revoked. The process is robust. I would like to see Thailand offer permanent residency for foreign retirees and I would expect a similarly robust process. If they offered more and raised the bar (by say, massively increasing the financial requirements) then I think this would be a win : win situation for everyone.
• I am pro-migration but let me qualify that, I am PRO CONTROLLED IMMIGRATION. I am, however, against the idea of open borders (which essentially means the loss of a nation’s sovereignty). Immigration needs to be controlled and of course all immigrants should undergo extensive and stringent background checks. Given declining birthrates, developed countries need to encourage immigration.
• The 100,000 baht / month I spent on average could be broken down to rent + utility bills totaling 38,000 baht / month. Trips back to New Zealand averaged out at a cost of 10,000 baht / month. Trips within Thailand about 10,000 baht / month. Trips in South-East Asia about 5,000 baht / month. The rest was spent on food, transport, going out, books and various incidentals. I don’t know exactly how much I spent but it was 100,000 baht / month, give or take about 10%. My feeling is that it was probably closer to 110K baht / month but I cannot be certain. I had nothing to do with any sex workers and drank little. I did enjoy eating out all the time, but seldom anywhere fancy or expensive.
• Yes, the lifestyle you seek is readily available in Thailand for 60,000 baht / month. That can be done easily outside of Bangkok. For me – and this is a very personal thing – I would want to insulate myself a little more from the nonsense in Thailand and that is part of why I personally would need a bigger budget. Further, I find the cost of travel is much higher than it used to be. Let’s say you fancy 10 days in Vietnam. Yes, it could be done on the cheap, but if you want to do a lot of things and move around, the total cost of the trip could be much higher than you think. Visit somewhere pricier like say Hong Kong, or further afield like Paris, and you’re paying real money.
• I get it that some have become disenchanted with the way their country has changed and how it might not feel like the country they grew up in. Growing nationalism is probably going to be a big theme in the years to come and it will be interesting to see the effects of it around the world as it clashes with the politically correct and parts of the left who push the idea of open borders. Interesting times.

The author of the article can be contacted at : aug201964@hotmail.com