Replies

We have, for some years, been splitting our time between USA and Thailand and as we retire completely, we will likely spend our time in Chiang Mai. We enjoy it however would not recommend it except in certain cases. The positives are cost of living, medical costs and people. The negatives are government bureaucracy, language, and travel time.

My wife was born in Thailand and is a naturalized USA citizen so our land ownership problems are miner. Non-Thais must either rent or live in a condo which they can own. That said, a nice condo can cost about $50,000 US. Our three bedroom, new home cost $30,500 including the furnishings. Autos cost about the same as in USA. Good medical care is very cheap -- anyone interested can go to http://www.bumrungrad.com/ for expenses at the best hospital in Bangkok. If you buy your food at the local markets (in Chiang Mai, we shop at Warorot) fresh food is very cheap.

The language is tonal and, for me, was difficult even with a live in instructor.

We live in an area without Americans or other non Thai. The biggest plus for me is the character of the people -- they are socially conservative, very friendly and warm and crime is virtually unheard of except in the tourist areas.

23 hours total travel time back to the West Coast is a real negative.

Needless to say, I wouldn't want to live in the South.

That sounds pretty good, but what do you do about medical care? Hospital trips seem like they might be worse than any disease you might normally get. Isn't the HIV rate in Thailand incredibly high? Hepatitus? I think being at least one day's travel from an American ER would be too damned scary to contemplate. What has your experience been like?

23 hours total travel time back to the West Coast is a real negative.

Man oh man, I hear ya.

I've done flights like that about 20 or 25 times, living in places like, Perth, AU, Jakarta, IN, Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, Auckland NZ.

Never got use to the jetlag.

Thanks for all that good information! Very informative post about living in Thailand.

My wife is Filipino, and sometimes we give thought to retiring somewhere else later. The Philippines is not particularly attractive (even though her family is there), because the government is corrupt from the top to the very bottom, and very unstable at the top right now. So Philippines is not a viable option.

One thing in your post I didn't understand, you said in Thailand, a condo costs about $50K US, but you said your new 3bd home incl furnishings cost $30.5K. Why would the home be less expensive than the condo?

I have also heard that non-Thai's must leave the country and then reenter to keep their tourist visa active. I have looked at Bumrungrad (an American certified and accredited hospital) and their expenses and it is all very reasonable. My daughter had some dental work done their and the quality was perfect. She visited Chiang Mai and liked it very much but liked Bangkok better.