@Thom *********

Well it is true that if you are unable or unwilling to meet Thailand's arguably complicated visa requirements, there are other choices.

Chief of which might be Cambodia. Visa is $290/year, no financial requirements to be met, no 90 day reporting, and they even throw in a multiple reentry permit.

Is it as nice a place as Thailand? Reasonable people can disagree. But it IS livable, inexpensive compared to the west, and a viable option.

@Ken *******

It's a simple difference in perspective. You want to make sure that if or when you face a major medical calamity, you'll be able to pay for good care.

But others consider their quality of life during the weeks, months, years or decades before that calamity occurs as more important.

Both reasonable. We're all wired differently.

I know people who, when diagnosed with cancer, say, treatment? No thank you. When I die, I die.

Others want the best oncologist, at the best hospital with every possible treatment employed. Who is to say which is "right?"

It would be great if every human had the resources to live their life out with dignity, comfort and fiscal responsibility.

But millions don't have that option.

@Danny ******

I understand the situation, I think perfectly.

What I cannot understand why you feel obligated to be such a moralistic crusader on the subject? What IS the matter with you? Where does this JD Vance-like fury come from?

In a part of the world with all the frankly horrific problems people struggle with on a daily basis, THIS is what you fasten on as an evil that you must personally stamp out?

What exactly is it about your perception of visa agents that makes you so doggedly obsessive?

I can't walk 100 meters from my home without seeing real tragedy, real injustice. What would make you pick THIS subject to attack like you're some sort of junior Donald Trump?

It's none of your business. The end.

@Danny ******

What's the matter with you?

Yeah, I think the average American monthly Social Security payment is a good bit higher than the average UK pension. Not certain though.

I would never return to the US.

One thing hopefully everybody here agrees on - getting old sucks.

And when it's over, rich or poor, righteous or not, smart or irresponsible, we all end up in a very similar hole in the ground, stone cold dead.

@Ken *******

This position always perplexes me. You're absolutely correct. Someone could find themselves in a real jam someday. Or not.

But the fact is, social security is not enough to cover the most basic living expenses in the USA. Which is why the homelessness rate for retirees who worked hard all their lives is skyrocketing.

So many make the best of a bad set of choices. Better to live somewhere where you have a chance of living with dignity, than live in the USA out of your car and hungry everyday, but at least you're covered if you someday have a healthcare crisis.

@Phil *****

If the Thai government wanted to end the use of visa agents as we all so clearly understand it, they could and would have done so years ago, overnight. All the levers are completely within their grasp.

But, it's the Thai way, and it works. Quite well actually. End of story.

@Danny ******

Actually yes.

@Kal ********

Yes. Far better to stay in the USA where an apartment will cost 75% of your monthly income, nutritious food is beyond your budget, a car you cannot afford is a near necessity, and crime is a real concern, particularly for the rapidly-growing number of retirees who find themselves homeless.

You may be homeless, cold, hungry, and preyed upon by criminals, but no matter, because you have cheaper healthcare! Tada!

Pat, SS monthly payments can vary from what, $785 to ~3000/month, so it's hard to give a definitive answer.

I think the average is around $1700. I would say that's borderline doable. You'll have to be frugal and not risk-averse. Getting up to around $2100/month makes everything a lot easier.

The thing you have to beware of is health care. Insurance availability at age 71 here is limited, and very expensive. Especially compared to what you would pay with Medicare and a small supplement back home. What will you do if you have a heart attack or an accident? Big problem.

On the other hand, trying to live on $1500-$2000 a month in the USA raises immediate problems. You might not have to worry about health care costs if and when something goes wrong, but housing, hunger, safety and basic transportation are likely to be for-sure thorny daily problems, unless you have strong family support. Being homeless in America at 71 is no picnic.

On these forums, cut and dried black and white answers are popular, but sometimes rather moralistically dismiss situations where there is no good solution, only a difficult choice between two or three bad ones.

Sooo. . .it probably can be done, but with some risks.