Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thailand as a retirement destination. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from VN Express, vnexpress.net. Friendly Visa policy puts Thailand among world's top 10 retirement destinations. Quoting directly: "Thailand was the only Southeast Asian country to break into the top 10 retirement destinations in the world, according to a list compiled by Irish publisher International Living. Thailand was 9th on the list, which was topped by Portugal. The rest of the top 10 were Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Spain, Greece, Italy and France. To compile the list, International Living asked its ever-expanding network of editors, correspondents, and contributors all over the world to find the best places for retirement based on factors such as cost of living, visa policy, climate, housing, and healthcare." 

Interesting. I would have put Thailand way higher on that list. Again, I may be biased, I have been in Thailand 15 years; I am a naturalized Thai, I may have the fervour of the converted as it were, so in my opinion if I was looking to retire someplace, Thailand would top my list. Now that said other people have different feelings, people have different preferences, people like different things. I can totally understand retiring in Europe having never been there myself but having sort of seen it and it looks beautiful. I get it, Mediterranean climate, nothing wrong with that so yeah I totally get their other great retirement destinations. Really good to see that Thailand sounded like it was the only destination I think in Asia at all; they said Southeast Asia but yeah the rest of the top 10 after Portugal and then Thailand also on the list, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Spain, Greece, Italy and France; most of those are in South America and then you basically have southern Europe and France I guess.

So interesting, I would put Thailand far higher on that list as far as proposed retirement destinations but again that is just my opinion. As we have noted in other videos, Thailand does have a much more cost-effective Retirement Visa program than in my opinion, virtually any other jurisdiction on earth; fairly straightforward to deal with things here. That being said, easy is never a word that comes up in the context of any Immigration System really in the world; Thailand or the USA or any place for that matter, it has been my experience at least. So those who feel like they may need some assistance in obtaining a Retirement Visa to Thailand, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional and gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.