Wayne North Hi again. I was there in 2016 and as such gained my 'residencia' pre Brexit. However, I have friends who arrived post-Brexit and it is now much more difficult for Brits to retire and live there (or in any EU country, including Portugal and Poland I believe). It is still possible but you will need a visa and there are requirements regarding income etc (a bit like Thailand I guess). You would need to check the requirements carefully as it may prove to be difficult thanks to Farage and Co, but if you get that far it will be definitely be worth it. I would definitely recommend the Alicante area, specifically around Elche, Aspe and Santa Pola for the kind of life you are looking for and can probably give some advice on teaching opportunities as I was a teacher and headteacher in the UK and Spain for nearly 30 years before retiring. However if you are interested it is probably best to DM me rather than discuss your personal requirements in a forum like this.

Wayne North Hi Wayne. I spent 10 fantastic years in Spain. The climate, lifestyle, cost of living are superb and I would definitely recommend it. I guess after 10 years I am a bit like you and fancy a change although having travelled extensively and visited Thailand many times it is the only place I considered suitable. To be totally honest, I think 6 months per year in each country would be my ideal scenario but I am still considering the viability of this.

Unfortunately you are correct - health insurance in Thailand is, sadly, a complete rip off. As a 70 year old UK citizen, I have lived in Spain since retiring 10 years ago and have had excellent comprehensive health cover each year for less than €100 per month. I have no pre-existing conditions (non-smoker and healthy) but the quotes I have received since moving to Thailand in November have been at least double or triple what I was paying in Spain - a similar experience to yours. Clearly the costs of providing health care in Thailand are much less than in Spain or Australia. The only conclusion one can come to is that the insurance companies realise that our American friends here (of which there are many) are accustomed to paying exorbitant amounts for their health cover and therefore consider the high premiums in Thailand acceptable. This is how insurance companies work unfortunately.

If you only arrived on 17th October (the same day as me, coincidentally) surely it took a few days to open your bank account and deposit the required 800,000 Baht? As this has to be in your account for 2 full months, the earliest you can apply for the 1 year extension would be around 24th December. I say this because I am in exactly the same position - unless of course you already had a Thai Bank account with the necessary funds in place? This is not clear from your original post.

Blúport Hua Hin

Visa, passport, residence certificate from immigration. Kasikorn bank were very helpful.