Vietnam compared to Thailand for living

[oakdale160]

You Tube is just bursting with videos concerning the HUGE numbers of ex-pat retirees that are leaving or planning to move and their reasons for doing so and other videos praising VN and Cambodia as more comfortable alternate destinations.

[buksida]

That will continue all the while the Thai junta keeps introducing draconian visa rules and the place remains expensive to live in for all but those on fat pensions/salaries.

They're basically sticking the finger up at everyone else.

Edit here is one of those videos ...

[Zidane]

Sadly it looks like Vietnam will only be issuing 30 day visas from July 1st....no multi entry or retirement visas.
Its the same as Laos.No problem renewing a monthly visa but your passport is screwed after 2 years.
Malaysia....Brits and some other nationalities get 90 days which can be extended at Immigration for another 60 days.

[buksida]

Vietnam doesn't have a 'retirement visa' according to this relatively recent article. To stay long term you need do rolling tourist visas or get a work visa.

https://vietnamvisavoa.com/visa-guide-t ... etnam-a892

More here:

http://www.vietnamvisa-easy.com/how-to- ... etnam-visa

https://www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/v ... ures.html/

[Zidane]

Yes but I think from 1st July you will only be able to get the 30 day single entry visa which you can keep renewing every month.
The 90 day visa will cease....

[handdrummer]

No one wants foreigners living in their country. Please transfer you money and stay home.

[laphanphon]

They probably got flooded with the foreigners that couldn't make the financials here, and seemed to learn quick why Thailand didn't want them.....

[sateeb]

Plenty of decent folk I know of who have fallen foul of the financials due to the sinking pound,let's hope the same doesn't happen to you one day. Karma is a biatch

[Chazz14]

Not for the first time, laphanphon appears to take a cheap shot at anyone who is financially less well off than himself... (from behind the anonymity of the internet again, of course)!

Please stick to taking your beautiful photos of birds.

[laphanphon]

Not a cheap shot at all. Maybe I just planned my retirement to a foreign country just a wee bit better. I lost 25 % value on the $$$ and had to deal with the same 100+ % inflation.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence that shortly after Thailand started enforcing the rules, and kicking the scammers out, and there was a farang exodus, that Nam followed suit, after they arrived there.

If you don't have a mere 400k or 800k a year, you really shouldn't be trying to retire in a foreign country, and surely don't try it on a fixed income, as sh*t happens, and things get more expensive in time. Just common sense.

Nothing anonymous about me, I'm an open book.

[dtaai-maai]

Nothing anonymous about me, I'm an open book.

And a bit of a twat, apparently.

It's one thing to make the point about people misjudging their finances (which you have done frequently), it's quite another thing to revel in the misfortunes of others. Schadenfreude is not an attractive quality.

[laphanphon]

Not reveling at all. Just pointing out the fairly obvious. The scammers that made bad for the rest of us here, using agents, and taking advantage of a corrupt system, now are not welcomed elsewhere.

So go back to where you came from. OK, maybe revel a bit, as they really made things bad for all of us.

I do realize, that a few good folks did get screwed because of them, and have already, and will fall through the crack in the future, and yes, that is unfortunate, but again, better planning would have avoided that. They can thank their fellow scamming expats for that. Along with their useless self serving politicians.

Living month to month, then moving to a foreign country, thinking less expensive living will last for a decade or 3 afterwards, and your income won't even keep up with inflation, isn't their smartest move.

Don't consider myself a genius, and thought that was just common sense. I didn't come here 20 yrs ago, with 400k or 800k a year, and expect nothing to change, or not have an emergency fund, JIC.

Did I expect a 25 - 30 % loss of income, and 100+ % inflation....no, but didn't expect USD equivalent of 400k or 800k to remain constant for 20 to 40 years either.

USD @ 40 when I got here, up to 45, now doesn't even hold 30. So 25 or 30 % loss, depending which you want to use. Inflation, is about right, and 5 % a year should be expected, no matter the lies gov'ts will tell you, so 100+ % over 20 years is actually about right. For Thais, that has matched their income, as about 150 a day then, now 300+ a day. Which really sucks for them.

[Big Boy]

Can we get back to a comparison of iife in Thailand compared to life in Vietnam please?

[laphanphon]

So, has anyone been a regular visitor to Nam, say the past 5 yrs, or personally know an ex Thai expat, who has based themselves there, for any 'inflation' comparisons.

Would expect the same as here, 5 ish % per year, if paying attention. I know when I arrived here 2020:
3 eggs - 5 baht, now 1 egg
49 / kg pork 150
20 chicken 60
150 beef 400+
49 milk 90
Seafood even more noticeable increases.

Most things, raw cooking food items, oils all 100+ % more. Cooking gas and the list goes on & on. Hence the doubling in ma / pa restaurant pricing & serving size fluctuations. Actually the locals absorbing quite a bit of that. Not talking tourist traps, vendors catering to strictly tourist, as they seem to take the piss no matter.

Petrol < 15 hit 36, now 26/27, even though price of crude oil not at the $150 USD high, which makes you wonder.

[buksida]

I know I haven't been for a few years but the costs of groceries and drink was a fraction of the price in Vietnam than it is here.

More on inflation for those interested: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/V ... n-rate-cpi

Good luck to those deep pocketed souls that can sit on their lofty perches in Thailand and gloat at the rest of humanity while reveling in their own superiority.