How much would it cost to retire in Thailand? I know it "depends"...let's assume a few scenarios.

1. BKK area...
2. Chiang Mai
3. Issan, but one of the larger cities.

Assumptions:

1. Renting a decent one or two bedroom apt..with air, decent area..not raging expensive..maybe similar to a middle class type of apt. in the US..one that would cost like 1000-1200 in the SF Bay area..(less elsewhere)

2. TV access..maybe satellite if they have that or great cable set up..internet connection..

3. I'd probably eat out a lot, but not at super expensive places..

4. Entertainmnet...probaby just a woman once or so a week..let's asssume a LT session once a week for kicks...

5. Travel..the ability to travel some..say 4,000 a year budgeted for intra country and intercountry travel including expenses..

So, would like $2000 USD a month do it? 2500? Too much not e nough..care to elaborate?

I'm just trying ot get an idea, but I "could" retire ina little more than a year on 35,000 a year....but might work longer because I'd think once I moved there it'd be hard to come back to the US and live on 35k and I might be too old to get another decent job..ha ha.

Thanks for the help and input!!

If you really intend to live abroad...you may wish to consider if a republican vote makes sense...they have managed to devalue the dollar whenever they have any power and have now managed to destroy any sense of international credibility in our money...so good luck on what you plan to live on....

Remember...it is going to get worse so what do you plan to live on then?

I have friends who have lived (or retired) in various parts of Thailand, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia on as little as about $500 month. Their situation is usually living in basically non-tourist area, with a local GF and pretty much local standard of living basics. Not exactly what I would choose but I might consider something about like this... By the same token some of other guys who splurge up to say around $1000-$1500 month live like KINGS OF SIAM in their little villages. Depends on WHAT you what and WHERE you want to have IT.

My personal investment interest income alone should be around $1500 mo. which is about the income required for a long-term retirement visa in Thailand - if that's where I end up in a 2-4 years. Hurry up and come back a bit Calif. R.E. market so I can sell my free and clear home!

This sort of sums it up nicely from the blog of an old Asia hand:

Asia for the Budget Traveller

Inspired by the recent Mercer HR study on the living costs of popular cities around the world, World’s Most Expensive Cities: June 2007: Guide for budget travelers. Mercer study looks at the cost of living for expats around the world, in order to determine which are the most expensive cities. Wanting to find out how expensive various cities around the world are for budget formula list below compares the cost of budget accommodation and inexpensive local meals of 94 different cities around the world. The formula is only based on these two variables, and provides a value for “Budget Cost/Day” of a city. Below is a more detailed description of the two variables:

The cheapest private, double occupancy room that I could find in each city. (I used private rooms, as they were the most commonly available accommodation options I found across the board. This does not mean that these are the cheapest of all accommodation options, as a dorm style accommodation is certainly less expensive when available. However, for comparison purposes it made more sense to just look at private rooms.)

The price of a cheap local meal in each city, multiplied by 2. Meant to represent the cost of two meals per day.

Obviously, there are many other travel expenses that I didn’t consider, such as transportation costs, site-seeing fees, bars/clubs, etc. Unfortunately, with my limited resources, I am simply unable to take on a more comprehensive survey. However, I still think this study provides an interesting look at the wide range of travel costs throughout different parts of the globe.

All expenses displayed below have come from either personal experiences, information provided by traveling friends, HostelBookers.com (accommodation prices), HostelWorld.com (accommodation prices), and the Lonely Planet World Guide (cheap meal prices).

# City: Country: Budget Cost/Day: Accom: Meals:

1 Vangvieng Laos $4.25 $3.25 $0.50
2 Goa India $4.50 $3.50 $0.50
3 New Delhi India $5.50 $4.50 $0.50
4 Bangalore India $6.00 $5.00 $0.50
5 Bangkok Thailand $6.23 $3.73 $1.25
6 Ho Chi Minh Vietnam $6.86 $5.00 $0.93
7 Quito Ecuador $7.00 $5.00 $1.00
8 Phom Penh Cambodia $7.00 $3.00 $2.00
9 Bali Indonesia $7.16 $6.50 $0.33
10 Asuncion Paraguay $8.00 $4.00 $2.00
11 Kathmandu Nepal $8.29 $3.67 $2.31
12 Beijing China $8.50 $6.50 $1.00
13 Lima Peru $8.50 $4.50 $2.00
14 La Paz Bolivia $8.90 $4.90 $2.00
15 Cairo Egypt $9.84 $4.62 $2.11
16 Shanghai China $10.00 $8.00 $1.00
17 Nairobi Kenya $10.38 $8.00 $1.19
18 Accra Ghana $10.50 $8.50 $1.00
19 Buenos Aires Argentina $10.50 $6.50 $2.00
20 Cuzco Peru $11.25 $7.25 $2.00
21 Havana Cuba $11.32 $7.00 $2.16
22 Bogota Cuba $11.97 $9.97 $1.00
23 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia $12.44 $6.06 $3.19
24 Taipei Taiwan $12.46 $9.42 $1.52
25 Sofia Bulgaria $12.53 $9.77 $1.38
26 Panama City Panama $13.00 $9.00 $2.00
27 Managua Nicaragua $14.00 $11.00 $1.50
28 Santiago Chile $15.00 $9.00 $3.00
29 Oaxaca Mexico $16.55 $12.55 $2.00
30 San Jose Costa Rica $17.00 $11.00 $3.00
31 Salvador Brazil $17.18 $12.00 $2.59
32 Guadalajara Mexico $17.52 $13.52 $2.00
33 Hong Kong China $17.95 $15.95 $1.00
34 Jerusalem Israel $18.00 $12.00 $3.00
35 Lusaka Zambia $18.50 $16.50 $1.00
36 Mumbai India $18.84 $17.84 $0.50
37 Guatemala City Guatemala $19.00 $15.00 $2.00
38 Istanbul Turkey $19.56 $15.00 $2.28
39 Prague Czech Republic $19.76 $14.12 $2.82
40 Mexico City Mexico $20.09 $16.09 $2.00
41 Cape Town South Africa $20.66 $15.00 $2.83
42 Singapore Singapore $20.81 $16.91 $1.95
43 Osaka Japan $21.13 $12.63 $4.25
44 Minsk Belarus $22.00 $20.00 $1.00
45 Toronto Canada $22.10 $14.60 $3.75
46 Tokyo Japan $22.19 $13.19 $4.50
47 Sao Paolo Brazil $22.66 $17.48 $2.59
48 Kiev Ukraine $23.00 $21.00 $1.00
49 Budapest Hungary $23.62 $18.14 $2.74
50 Seoul South Korea $24.07 $19.09 $2.49
51 Sarajevo Bosnia-Hercegovina $24.36 $17.44 $3.46
52 Kyoto Japan $26.50 $18.00 $4.25
53 Rio de Janeiro Brazil $27.07 $21.89 $2.59
54 Belgrade Serbia $29.02 $23.02 $3.00
55 Warsaw Poland $29.26 $22.08 $3.59
56 Melbourne Australia $29.63 $21.13 $4.25
57 Auckland New Zealand $30.61 $19.77 $5.42
58 Lisbon Portugal $32.54 $24.42 $4.06
59 San Francisco United States $33.00 $25.00 $4.00
60 Montreal Canada $33.50 $26.00 $3.75
61 Rome Italy $33.84 $20.30 $6.77
62 St. Petersburg Russia $33.90 $27.90 $3.00
63 Los Angeles United States $34.00 $26.00 $4.00
64 Marrekech Morocco $34.04 $28.00 $3.02
65 Sydney Australia $34.91 $26.41 $4.25
66 Florence Italy $35.16 $21.62 $6.77
67 Bratislava Slovakia $35.47 $29.03 $3.22
68 Quebec City Canada $35.50 $28.00 $3.75
69 Chicago United States $36.50 $28.50 $4.00
70 Berlin Germany $36.53 $25.71 $5.41
71 Athens Greece $37.26 $23.72 $6.77
72 Paris France $37.89 $27.07 $5.41
73 Dubai United Arab Emirates $38.72 $36.00 $1.36
74 Moscow Russia $38.99 $30.99 $4.00
75 Vienna Austria $39.82 $29.00 $5.41
76 Madrid Spain $39.98 $29.16 $5.41
77 Manchester England $42.16 $30.12 $6.02
78 Nice France $42.32 $31.50 $5.41
79 Boston United States $43.00 $35.00 $4.00
80 Washington DC United States $43.00 $35.00 $4.00
81 Stockholm Sweden $43.14 $32.90 $5.12
82 New York United States $44.00 $35.00 $4.50
83 Marseille France $44.65 $33.83 $5.41
84 Milan Italy $46.02 $32.48 $6.77
85 Brussels Belgium $46.54 $33.00 $6.77
86 Helsinki Finland $48.04 $37.22 $5.41
87 Barcelona Spain $48.42 $34.88 $6.77
88 Munich Germany $48.71 $37.89 $5.41
89 Edinburgh Scotland $53.35 $41.31 $6.02
90 Oslo Norway $55.12 $44.94 $5.09
91 Dublin Ireland $56.25 $48.13 $4.06
92 Copenhagen Denmark $62.79 $50.05 $6.37
93 London England $63.67 $51.62 $6.02
94 Amsterdam Netherlands $67.67 $54.13 $6.77

As a previous poster said, it is possible to live on
$500/month but it would be up country and very spartan
existence. No cable TV, no internet at home, no Western food,
no trips anywhere, etc.

15 minutes outside Chaing Mai you can rent a house for 9000B/month ~ $300/mo. But you will need a car. A rental is 15000B/mo.

A very small one room apt outside Bkk can be had for 4000B/mo.
A friend of mine is well connected to Thais so his room is larger and closer in to the city. But you will not have such a connection I assume.

Inside Bkk you can rent a nice 1BR for 10-15000B/mo with a one year lease.

Best to come to Bangkok for a nice 2 week visit and see
what apts/houses go for yourself.

And the ladies here are gorgeous and available BUT you will need
money to enjoy that delicacy.

Note it is too easy to underestimate what you will need/want.
Too many guys burn out and have to leave before a year is out.
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Edit in ...
Just reread your post ..... yes $35000/yr [net/net/net]
would be fine, especially if it is inflation adjusted every year.