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Pretty awesome. Chiang Mai is a great city. We lived there for a month but just moved to Uthai Thani, which is even cheaper. It's a lot quieter, but pretty nice

Pretty awesome. Chiang Mai is a great city. We lived there for a month but just moved to Uthai Thani, which is even cheaper. It's a lot quieter, but pretty nice. Unfortunately, you can never really settle down in Thailand, unless you marry a Thai person. Foreigners aren't allowed to own land, although you can buy an apartment. But even so, it must get tiring to go on visa runs every 90 days for over 30 years.

geomark 11y ago
If you have a retirement visa (age 50 years and up) or spouse visa (married to a Thai citizen) you never have to do a visa run. For all others, it's a PITA. Also, it's not that cheap to live in Thailand. You can live cheap if you like. But if you want a car, TV, bottle of wine, a decent steak, etc. you pay far more in Thailand than in the U.S. I've been living in the Khao Yai area for more than 10 years. Added: Something is wrong with the story of that couple in the article re: their visa. Because the only one year visas are retirement, spouse and business visas. They could have retirements visas at their age but no visa run is required - you never have the leave the country at all, just renew it once a year. If they are in the country on tourist visas, well, there is no such thing as a one year tourist visa. There is a 60 day multi-entry tourist visa, valid for one year, extendable by 30 days one time after which you have to leave the country and re-enter getting another 60 days, rinse and repeat. (Added: maybe this is what they are referring to). And you used to be able to get 30 days visa exempt on arrival and do visa runs every 30 days indefinitely, but they put a stop to that recently.
- nathan_f77 11y ago
  > Also, it's not that cheap to live in Thailand. That's an interesting perspective. My own perspective might be slightly skewed, since we moved from San Francisco, where we were splitting $4,400 per month for a 2 bedroom apartment. I see what you mean about luxury items costing more, so it definitely depends on your lifestyle. We're renting a house for $200 per month, and we've found great meals for under a dollar at local restaurants. Going out to eat at western restaurants rarely costs more than $5 per person. About the visa details, I met someone in Chiang Mai who was here on a retirement visa. He said he had to leave the country every 90 days, but I think he mentioned that they had recently changed the rules.
  - geomark 11y ago
    Well yes, that's a pretty hefty monthly rental. I just got back from Singapore which is even more absurdly priced. So you can definitely save a lot on housing in comparison to some places. On the other hand, if you want to buy then you find land prices are pretty high throughout the country, even in areas I wouldn't live if they paid me. I compare that to friends who bought ranch lands in the southwest U.S. - much cheaper and nicer. But a basic car is hardly a luxury item yet costs 2X to 3X the same car in the U.S. does due to high import tariffs. I eat at the local places for $2 (used to be $1) but when you want a pizza you pay $10 for a small one that is no bigger than one of those giant slices of Costco pizza in the U.S. Try a steak of local beef and break a tooth it's so tough, so if you want a decent steak you pay $30 at a restaurant for import. I suppose that is a bit of a luxury. The list goes on. Some things are cheaper, others more expensive. It's just not uniformly cheaper as many people think.

geomark 11y ago

If you have a retirement visa (age 50 years and up) or spouse visa (married to a Thai citizen) you never have to do a visa run. For all others, it's a PITA. Also, it's not that cheap to live in Thailand. You can live cheap if you like. But if you want a car, TV, bottle of wine, a decent steak, etc. you pay far more in Thailand than in the U.S. I've been living in the Khao Yai area for more than 10 years. Added: Something is wrong with the story of that couple in the article re: their visa. Because the only one year visas are retirement, spouse and business visas. They could have retirements visas at their age but no visa run is required - you never have the leave the country at all, just renew it once a year. If they are in the country on tourist visas, well, there is no such thing as a one year tourist visa. There is a 60 day multi-entry tourist visa, valid for one year, extendable by 30 days one time after which you have to leave the country and re-enter getting another 60 days, rinse and repeat. (Added: maybe this is what they are referring to). And you used to be able to get 30 days visa exempt on arrival and do visa runs every 30 days indefinitely, but they put a stop to that recently.

nathan_f77 11y ago
> Also, it's not that cheap to live in Thailand. That's an interesting perspective. My own perspective might be slightly skewed, since we moved from San Francisco, where we were splitting $4,400 per month for a 2 bedroom apartment. I see what you mean about luxury items costing more, so it definitely depends on your lifestyle. We're renting a house for $200 per month, and we've found great meals for under a dollar at local restaurants. Going out to eat at western restaurants rarely costs more than $5 per person. About the visa details, I met someone in Chiang Mai who was here on a retirement visa. He said he had to leave the country every 90 days, but I think he mentioned that they had recently changed the rules.
- geomark 11y ago
  Well yes, that's a pretty hefty monthly rental. I just got back from Singapore which is even more absurdly priced. So you can definitely save a lot on housing in comparison to some places. On the other hand, if you want to buy then you find land prices are pretty high throughout the country, even in areas I wouldn't live if they paid me. I compare that to friends who bought ranch lands in the southwest U.S. - much cheaper and nicer. But a basic car is hardly a luxury item yet costs 2X to 3X the same car in the U.S. does due to high import tariffs. I eat at the local places for $2 (used to be $1) but when you want a pizza you pay $10 for a small one that is no bigger than one of those giant slices of Costco pizza in the U.S. Try a steak of local beef and break a tooth it's so tough, so if you want a decent steak you pay $30 at a restaurant for import. I suppose that is a bit of a luxury. The list goes on. Some things are cheaper, others more expensive. It's just not uniformly cheaper as many people think.