#Retirement in Thailand: Real Stories

A retirement visa, a pension that stretches much further than at home, and a country that suddenly has to become a real, permanent address rather than a holiday destination. This page gathers the stories where retirement is the reason a foreigner is in Thailand in the first place — some who built something lasting, some who learned the hard way what an unplanned retirement can cost. Prior loneliness — widowhood, divorce, grown children who've moved on — shows up as the backdrop in most of these stories, more than the climate or cost of living.


Stories with #Retirement in Thailand: Real Stories

Cover: I followed her one day instead of believing her story about the family visits. She didn't go to the bus station — she walked into a hotel with another man.

I followed her one day instead of believing her story about the family visits. She didn't go to the bus station — she walked into a hotel with another man.

Retired in Pattaya since 2017, a 55-year-old Polish man falls for Apple, a 32-year-old bar girl with three kids to support. For months he believes he's the only man helping her out financially. One day he decides to follow her instead of believing the usual excuse, and discovers he was just one of several sponsors supporting her at the same time.

Cover: I checked her passport, her certificates, years of photos. It all lined up. It cost me $30,000 to learn that wasn't enough.

I checked her passport, her certificates, years of photos. It all lined up. It cost me $30,000 to learn that wasn't enough.

At 57, living in the quiet peace of a marriage that survived my wife's third affair, I met Pre at a bar in Nana Plaza, Bangkok. She was 37, looked 25, and had a perfectly verifiable story: passport, divorce papers, years of social media photos. Over six months I sent her 30,000 dollars for her family, her studies, and a Denmark visa that never came through.


Keep exploring

Explore more