Chiang Mai- and they LOVE Americans there and respect the fact that we are bringing money to their country- they will go out of their way to PROTECT you from bad people because they know you are helping the community by being there spending your money
We were there this year to check out Chiang Mai. We really liked this place (400 miles north of Bangkok). It is actually quiet and we found it to be quite clean. They are building a bullet train to Bangkok-will be done next year I think. Lots of ex-pats there, from everywhere. Medical care is cheap and superb. You can buy private health care insurance there, but they can and usually do cut you off at age 72. You then have to apply for a govt plan, and the Thais don’t like this. Of course you can always buy it with cash. We met a guy who has 2 cardiac stents placed for total of $400 to 500 range. Renting is recommended, not buying, as you can’t own the house unless you have Thai husband or wife, However,there are ways to get around this. I also think language issue would be a barrier.
It certainly gave us food for thought.