Chiang Mai makes best place to retire list

[Steve]

These lists come out every once in a while. I was shocked to see Nicauragua be at number one. Like most folks in America we associate that country with the war that happened there and that's it. What I'm even more shocked at is Medellin, Columbia being on the list!!

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/111327/top-retirement-havens-in-the-world-2011?mod=fidelity-livingretirement

 

I would assume its the same for our UK friends but in my opinion if you're on a moderate retirement package. Basically average, the US its difficult to retire within the US and live fairly comfortable. Yeah, you hear about Arizona, Miami, etc. but really? Is it all that? If you're rich you can obviously retire anywhere and live well but the rest of us poor bastards? Choose carefully.

 

Overseas is the way to go in my opinion.

[Torneyboy]

A very diverse list .....

 

I am happy in Bangkok...rather go for a short visit to Chiang Mai ...imo

[Flashermac]

Chiang Mai is not the nice little city it used to be, but it's still a better choice than Bangkok. The traffic is getting worse and the city sprawls all over. But I will always love the north. It's where I first lived in the 1970s and where I met my Mrs.

 

Some of the other choices are bizarre and I put them down to just plain ignorance by the respondents. In order to vote, you should have lived in a place!

 

 

 

[unit731]

I think the list states Chaing Mai. Not Pattaya.

 

Anyway, what criteria was used for such a list?

 

Did the author or authors actually visit these places? Me think not.

 

I lived in a small New England city that has seen better days. All the mills are closed. Much dumpy old mill homes with poor upkeep. High RE taxes for remaining folks. Mediocre services. Underfunded schools.

 

YET . . . the headline one day in local newspaper stated that this little city is NUMBER ONE to live in. Number one. I just could not believe this as I lived there - and this town had almost zero culture, zero entertainment, and on and on.

 

So how did this author arrive at this dumpy city being number one?

 

The answer - STATISTICS. Numbers only. Crime rate, death rate, patient/staff ratio at local hospital, number of police officers to resident ratio, and a bunch of other obtuse numbers.

 

The author NEVER set foot in this dumpy town.

 

So take these "studies" with a grain of salt.

[Flashermac]

Four or five years ago the author of several Lonely Planet guides for South American countries got outted for never having set foot in them! He'd done his "research" by looking at other guide books. His excuse was the Lonely Planet people didn't pay their writers enough to actually go there. Sounds like your "wonderful city" recommendation.