I was looking at properties in Samui and Krabi a few weeks ago.
I still want to retire there, the place to move will be Vietnam soon. Phu Quoc is going to be the next big place.
I agree. I think I will retire in Thailand and the medical care is excellent (and cheap) there. It has some of the most beautiful places in the world and the people are very friendly.
Of course part of that depends on if the government can keep the insurgency in the South from spreading. I think the Thai government is serious about the war on terror, unlike the Philippines which has failed to stop their in insurgencies in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Part of the problem is corrupt generals selling arms donated by the US to the rebels. (Did you hear about their comptroller, General Garcia, whose sons were caught by customs smuggling $200,000 cash into this country? It turns out this guy, who made less than $800 US per month, stashed $1.4 million US here in the United States. I saw guys in our military go to jail for stealing as little as $1000 through fraud) I think we will be much more careful with our military aid to the Philippines in the future.