Moving to phuket

[mickymac]

I am a 53 year old male moving to Phuket for retirement living and will be bringing my mother with me. I am looking for any possible advice to help us with our transition to life in Thailand.

[mickymac]

I forgot to mention that we are both retires from Canada.

[cnx_bruce]

Far too broad a question to get a meaningful response plus you need to provide more info about yourself (e.g. have you been to Thailand before, why have you chosen Thailand? why have you chosen Phuket? etc etc).

If you really are at the start of the info gathering process I would start with a general book like 'retiring in thailand' (Retiring in Thailand - Paiboon Publishing) or similar, and read widely existing threads in this and other online expat forums ... and at that point ... come back with specific question for anything you remain unclear about

[TomC]

Hey, I want to move to Phuket too. It's the highest cost of living in Thailand, but if you want what it has to offer, I think it's worth it.

[pedo]

I am 55 yr old planning to retire there, any suggections.

I just found this site online.

thanks for ANY info.

peter

[Song_Si]

I spent about a year in Phuket 2009-10; since then two other long-term locations.
It can be more expensive.
At that time I was paying 9500/mth for a stand-alone one-bedroom bungalow in Chalong. I pay less rent now.
Otherwise, electricity, water, internet, cable tv, gasoline cost about the same. Food is cheaper where we are now - living on the coast, fresh fish, and surrounded by orchards - whereas much of the food on Phuket is brought in from the mainland or overseas.
Phuket - cafes that charge 150b for a coffee and cake. Access to western style, and western-priced shopping. English-language cinemas. Thousands of expats. We have friends there who choose to eat the same foods as they did on UK/Australia etc - never a grain of rice on their plates. Huge food bills, expensive cheese, imported steaks, wines etc. Buy English language magazines at Central Festival etc for 500b each.
If I went back there to live it would be the north-west, Nai Yang maybe, near the airport. The island covers about 550 square kilometres - plenty of options for quiet living

[TomC]

Originally Posted by mickymac

I am a 53 year old male moving to Phuket for retirement living and will be bringing my mother with me. I am looking for any possible advice to help us with our transition to life in Thailand.

Sign up for the Thai language school in your area as soon as you move here. Thailand has never been colonized. They will always speak Thai first, last and in between.

[TomC]

I can't stress enough about learning Thai as you will be hiring helps for your mother. You can't be in a better country to get help in taking care of your mom. But you must learn the speaking language.

[mickymac]

Originally Posted by TomC

I can't stress enough about learning Thai as you will be hiring helps for your mother. You can't be in a better country to get help in taking care of your mom. But you must learn the speaking language.

Thanks Tom. I am taking Thai lessons online now it is slow slogging but I am getting better at it day by day.

[Thai Bigfoot]

I'm a 64 year old American who moved to Phuket alone, sight unseen, almost 3 years ago. Phuket is a tourist area so it is more expensive than the more remote areas. All the other comments are pretty accurate. You can live pretty well her for $2,000 per month (B$60k) per month.
The two most frequently asked questions of me are #1: “What is it like there?” #2: “Are you coming back for a visit?”

Weather: It’s a constant daily temperature 80°-85° (26°C-30°C). Night time is around 75°. You do have to get use to using Celsius. No one even knows about Fahrenheit. Humidity, like any island area, is a major factor. Unlike Hawaii, there is no constant trade winds. April through September is the “low” tourist season. It rains frequently. Heavily, many times. The seas are much rougher. Higher waves. Many times swimming is very dangerous due to large undertows. We lose about one tourist a week to drowning during this time. They just don’t understand. Hotel rates are about 50% of “high” season which runs from November through March. Seas are peaceful. It might rain for an hour once a week.

Touristy things to do: The adventurous/exotic nature of the place. Beaches, though none are as good as Cancun, Hawaii, or many places on the East or West coast. The women!! Like Las Vegas, you can be as crazy or calm as you want.

Drugs/Crime: Yes to both. But, relatively little crime against falangs. Drugs, sure, but, mostly among the Thais. You don’t want to be a tourist here caught using or selling drugs. They have the death penalty for that! And, the jails apparently are real tough places.

Cost of Living: Very low. I rent a nice, fully furnished, 2 bedroom house for β$11,000 (U.S.$355) per month, plus electric, which runs around U.S.$30 depending on how much I use the air conditioning (once or twice a month).
Food is incredibly cheap, and good, if you don’t have to eat in fancy falang (white people) restaurants. A terrific sweet and sour chicken dinner with rice costs me β$100 (U.S.$3.10) from the Thai restaurant across the street. Any Western chain (McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut) are priced a little more than in the States. That makes them very expensive by Thai standards. At McDonalds, a triple cheeseburger, large fries and large coke is β$315. Almost U.S.$10. A large pepperoni Pizza (a medium in the U.S.) is $15.
Gas is β$40 per liter. Since there are 3.78 liters to a gallon, gas is $1.50 per gallon.

People: The people are great! Very friendly. However, they love us falangs because of the money we spend. I guess that’s true most places, but, particularly here. When I had a Thai girlfriend, she’d be the one who would buy anything, with me in the background, almost out of sight, except at major stores. If they told me something was β$300, she’d get it for half. I learned this pretty quickly, however. By myself, I will offer ½ or 2/3 of whatever price I’m quoted telling them “I live here. Give me Thai price.”

Religions: 93% are Buddhists. 5% Muslim. And a very small mix of all the rest. There is true freedom of religion, however. The Thais absolutely feel it is up to you what you think. The King, as well as his immediate predecessors are Buddhists. The country’s religion is automatically that of the King. While being a died in the wool total Atheist, Buddhism is a very interesting belief. I am seriously learning about it. It doesn’t preach about an entity that created everything. It doesn’t try to convert others to it or kill them if they won’t. Like I said, Buddhism is more of a belief than a religion. They actually do believe in the golden rule, while religions only give it lip service. OK, enough, already, right?

Terrorists: There is some bombing that occur in the southern most province. That area is mostly Muslim and they want their own country down there. Economically, they would die a swift death because the country’s wealth comes from all the areas North of there. No affect here.

Medical/Health Care: World class health care at much cheaper rates. However, most U.S. insurance will not cover you if you live here full time.

Respect: They respect the old folks here. They figure since we’ve been around for a while, we may have actually learned a few things. It feels good.

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Politics: Thailand has a Constitutional Monarchy with a Parliament, much like England. Our King just celebrate his 84th birthday, although he was born in Massachusetts. He took power in 1946, which makes him the longest running ruler in the world today. While the political riots two years ago in Bangkok, they really had no affect on Phuket Province (me). Bangkok is 500 miles away. Lèse Majesté laws allow for the arrest of those who criticize or insult a monarch.

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Am I ever going to return to the U.S.?: I can’t see that ever happening. While I love the U.S., and am proud to be an American, there’s no reason to return, even for a visit. My daughter (34) lives in Florida. She’ll be visiting me. But, for me, the U.S. is too expensive and too far away. I really have seen it all through my decades of long distance motorcycle travels.