Anyone here ever lived in - or visited extendedly - Thailand?
by AK - Jeff 20 Replies latest jw experiences
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Gerard
I don't 'know' Thailand but I've visited it. Good place in South East Asia with good people. Just stay away from Bangkok.
Malaysia comes to mind too....the blue South China sea, white beaches, palm trees....
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nvrgnbk
but speaks little english so far.
Hey, she knew enough to have a baby.
I love Thai cusine!
Good coffee, good tea, good beer, good soup, good curry, etc.
Beef Larb.
Check it out, Jeff!
I wish you the best in whatever you end up doing.
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AK - Jeff
Check it out, Jeff!
I wish you the best in whatever you end up doing.
Thanx NVR. Retirement is a long way off - but it gets here fast. I was supposed to be living in Paradise about 30 years back by now. That was the retirement I had envisioned. Just palm trees and smiling faces - hey wait - that sounds like the South Pacific, not paradise. Maybe they are the same after all.
Jeff
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ozziepost
Jeff,
I think you already know my thoughts. Suffice to say that Viet Nam would be preferable over Thailand for me and is definitely on my wish list - I even have a place to live there - but it doesn't seem practical. From our experience (of Mrs Ozzie and I) health care is definitely a consideration. Forget the glossy brochures - healthcare in SE Asia is non-existent for our needs. You must plan to be evacuated to Singapore. Do not, repeat, do not, rely on Thailand as adequate medical care.
Other than that, I'd say that there's nowhere I'd rather be than SE Asia.
cheers, ozzie
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AK - Jeff
Thanx Ozzie - I knew that it would ressonate with your heart. Health care is certainly an issue that we will be taking a hard look at.
Jeff
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sammielee24
Jeff - check out escapeartist.com
This is just one site that at least will offer you some books and info on living abroad and what to expect. There are also a lot of ex-pat forums where you can check out whats happening and what people think after they've moved to a foreign country. Also, med-tours are offered a lot in Thailand because they do have some top notch health care at far less than the US has, so you might want to check out those websites. That at least will give you some insight as to what is available where and for how much in that regard. I know that places in Mexico have a lot of Americans that now live there and they set up their own websites and communities to help others either vacationing or retiring down there. Puerta Vallarta has one if I'm not mistaken.
sammieswife.
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ozziepost
Also, med-tours are offered a lot in Thailand because they do have some top notch health care at far less than the US has, so you might want to check out those websites.
Forget the websites - they can so easily distort. I can only repeat (as Jeff knows already) that it's not unwise to rely on medical care in Thailand.
A problem too that arises, how do you evacuate to whatever country you choose when a medical emergency arises?
AK-Jeff:
As you know, Jeff, we faced this ourselves (evacuation in a medical emergency) and all the horrors accompanying "just getting out of there".
Mrs Ozzie and I chose Singapore but when we eventually arrived, we felt that after the ordeal of getting there we might as well get an overnight flight to Sydney - all of this with heavily disguised multiple injuries!!
In Thailand, as in the whole of SE Asia, you face tropical diseases that you've never met before. Despite vaccination, there are some that you cannot prevent being infected with - just last month a good friend of mine who's lived there for about ten years, fell sick with dengue fever - now that's not nice but it's endemic in the region.
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AK - Jeff
Thanx Ozzie and others.
Your insights are invaluable to me in looking at this matter carefully.
Jeff
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wings
I have only been in the airport there. I lived in Singapore for a few years about 20 years ago. Loved it! Of course it is not a third world country, I just loved the foreigness of it, the food, the differences in culture. My only input would be that I found as an American the Chineese culture to be less than embracing. Don't get me wrong. I loved them, learning about them, and getting to know them....you just might have a cultural bridge to cross that might not be easy.
The whole American expatriate thing could be a thread of it's own. I am personally looking into Mexico, mostly because I could stay closer to my kids.
