Thailand earned a mention from the prestigious BBC as being one of the best places for those from the United Kingdom to retire to. Travel writer Rob Budden had several good things to say about the Kingdom and placed it as one of his top seven places for retirement.
“Thailand offers expats retiring here plenty to smile about — a low cost of living, tropical climate, culture that respects older people plus no tax on retiree income from abroad,” Budden explained in his article. “The country’s retirement visa, which is renewable annually, is available to all retirees with monthly pensions of THB65,000 (USD1,800) or to pensioners depositing THB800,000 (USD22,125) in a Thai bank account.”
Cost of living was another area where Thailand ranked highly. According to International Living Magazine’s Cost of Living Index, the country is one of the cheapest places to live. One of the key factor to this is Thailand’s competitive property prices. Budden also noted that eating out is also fairly cheap with a typical lunch being available from around USD1.
He did point out that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office says standards at local hospitals can vary but does rate many private hospitals in Thailand as being equivalent to western standards. It was recommended that retirees budget to pay for local health insurance to help make sure medical costs are covered.
The only other Asian country to make the BBC’s list was Malaysia which was noted as having a population that speaks English well. Other strong points for retirees in Malaysia include the low cost of restaurants and the availability of direct foreign ownership of property freehold.
The other six countries to make the list were Panama, Ecuador, Spain, Malta and Portugal. The one common trait that all the locations on the list shared was a warm, tropical climate that appeals to retirees from the U.K. who have spent most of their life dealing with colder weather.
