Debunking the online myths about Thailand

Many would-be expat retirees believe they can find out all they need to know about their preferred destination by a simple search, but how do they determine between the few sites which tell it like it is and the myriads which tell it like it decidedly isn’t?

Taking Thailand as an example, many guides rave about its pristine beaches but forget to mention the piles of trash, dying coral reefs, nearby sewage outlets and invasions of poisonous jellyfish! Yes, it’s still perfectly possible to find amazing beaches in this popular retirement hub, but they’re nowhere near the tourist-heavy main beach towns. The country is famed for its low cost of living, but those who arrived a decade or so ago had the best of it, and inflation is now rampant. Even so, American retirees on the US pension can live well, but many who’ve arrived from the UK are now struggling due to the sterling slump’s effect on the meagre British state pension.

One well-set up website describes Thailand’s currency exchange rate against sterling as 25.6 baht to a pound. A decade ago the average was 68 baht/£1 and the rate nowadays hovers between 42 and 44, due mostly to the Thai government’s manipulation of its currency. If 25.6 was or ever would be the rate, British expats will be either starving or rushing for the exit. The same web page quotes a studio apartment at around 13,800 baht upwards per month and a three-bedroomed apartment at 29,000 baht a month – that’s £700! The reality is that, in the half-a-dozen or so popular expat destinations outside Bangkok, rentals are usually less than half the quoted amounts, and the cosy Thai-style ‘shop houses’ can be had for as little as 5,000 baht per month.

The website’s conclusion is that a retired couple can live comfortably on the average US pension of $2,000 a month - some £1,500 – not a lot of comfort for UK pensioners on £671 a month frozen from point of entry. The reality is that a single Brit retiree could live in Thailand on that amount, but wouldn’t be able to afford to join any of the expanding US expat cliques in the majority of Thai cities even if he/she wanted to. The ‘vibrant expat communities’ mentioned on the same website used to exist but are now just a memory.

The site mentions Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hua Hin and Chiang Rai as top destinations, all described with the same hyperbole intended to entice retirees to a non-existent heaven. However, the site’s suggested requirements for a retirement visa are accurate, although the stated cost of £600 using a lawyer doesn’t mention that you can, if you wish, go it alone with at least a chance of success or arrive on a non-immigration visa and convert via a local visa agent at a cost of around £151.

So, what’s a retiree looking to live in Thailand to do? Google may well be your friend, but only if you apply a strong dose of common sense whilst surfing. A better idea is to trawl social media sites and Thailand expat forums peopled by those who’ve already made the move or, better yet, take a month’s holiday, rent a condo and see for yourself how to determine fake news from real news about your future life in this intriguing country.