I have worked and lived in Thailand since 1999. My wife is Thai and my son is Thailand. Although I am a Singapore citizen, I enjoy the Thai culture, traditions, food and environment. Thailand is a beautiful country, and I love travelling to many provinces and its cities and remote towns.
I am now 61 and am thinking of spending most of my balance days in Thailand. When I started SilverHairsClub, the reasons then were to find like minded friends to live in Thailand too. Now, 10 years later, I have the same dream.
There are many reasons to spend our retirement days in Singapore. But, more retirees are looking at spending time in nearby countries. I can only focus on Thailand because this is where I had spent my last 20 years.
Thailand is a great place to spend our retirement days. You are invited to participate in discussions, and hopefully you can make your decision to stay in Thailand, just like I would in a few years time.
Feel free to join the discussion on Facebook or on this forum.
Terence Seah
I made a trip to Chiangmai a week ago to get a feel of the changes in this big modern city. And true enough, one of the changes is the number of Chinese tourists. The weather, the low costs, the thai smile, and the expanding Chinese economy all make Chiangmai an ideal destination for leisure, business and long term stay.
However, the number of Chinese-speaking Thais is not sufficient to meet the demands of thousands of Chinese tourists and business. So much so, that the Chinese language schools are facing a shortage of Chinese language Thai teachers. Many have left for the tourist industry to service the influx of Chinese.
Singaporeans are suited to teach Thais Chinese, so that they can handle the tourists and the industries. It is the same as American and European English teachers being sought to teach students entering the English speaking world. But the tide has changed, and Chinese language teaching has surpassed in demand in Chiangmai, with flights easily available for Kunming and other major cities.
For seniors and retirees who have the time, likely 6-12 months, or longer, you may want to consider tapping on this opportunity to teach Chinese to Thais and enjoy the life in Chiangmai.
Terence Seah