Retirement issues.

[tuktukmike]

Ok how about a thread dealing with healthcare for the older generation amongst us.

What happens if you drop like a stone in the street, does Hua Hin have the right sort of emergency services to help and respond.

I think Clive would be a good spokesman on this subject as one of the old boys in Hua Hin.

Also Wig, as he seems to be falling over more than most people.

Mike.

[Big Boy]

TTM,

An excellent idea. I'm looking at taking early retirement and moving to Hua Hin within the next years. I'm sure there will be plenty of questions to ask.

Maybe it could become a forum in its own right.

[Kraka's Dad]

Hear hear. A lots of us I think are considering retiring over here at some stage.

I imagine most things have been covered somewhere on this Forum but this would pull them all together into an orderly and userfriendly place.

[Jaime]

Apologies in advance for what will be a quite morbid post!

The benefits of retiring to a laid back, cheap, hot country are obvious, so long as you retire young, remain healthy and can afford to live above the level of the local population.

Retirees in the EU benefit from reciprocal state medical care agreements and I can vouch from personal experience that such care in Europe is often better than in the UK, despite the British delusion that the NHS is the 'envy of the world.' That is another topic though!

But what happens when you get really old in Thailand? Where does your support - emotional, intellectual - come from? Will you actually be able to get or afford medical insurance after your first heart attack or long term illness - assuming you survive it?

No-one likes to contemplate their own demise and hopefully it's a long way off but I must admit, the idea of going through the process of dying in Thailand - and in particular Hua Hin (see threads on healthcare) fills me with dread.

How many of the ex-pats out there have experience of people reaching extreme old age and dying the same sort of lingering or lonely deaths that people everywhere have? How do things differ in Thailand? Do people go back to farang land when they know this is happening to them? Or do all the ex-pats die young!?

[Big Boy]

Jaime,

It may be a bit morbid, but it is a good post. Its something thats been at the back of my mind for sometime now.

My thoughts have been don't cut all ties with home (rent out my current house). That way if I should survive my first heart attack, or if I'm diagnosed with the big C, I'd have the option of returning home to enjoy the benefits of the NHS (if I could afford the UK on my pension).

Medical insurance is one of the big things I will need to get clarified.

[PeteC]

But what happens when you get really old in Thailand? No-one likes to contemplate their own demise and hopefully it's a long way off but I must admit, the idea of going through the process of dying in Thailand - fills me with dread.

1) Try, and I mean really try, to have a trusted Thai spouse and family by the time that may happen. If you don't, get a medivac policy.

2) Don't come here thinking there isn't a fair amount of risk concerning things like this, that may be different than in your home country.

3) If one has the balls or the ovaries to take a leap of faith and retire in a foreign land such as this, I don't think the "end" is of great concern. When it comes, it comes. Just tell the people in #1 above whether you want to go below ground, the sea or up in the air.

4) Have faith and live one day at a time, you'll know when those days are getting short..except if you eat English breakfasts each day, then there is no warning .

Seriously, death is not worth worrying about. Live the whole enchalada everyday. Pete

[olmate]

surely if you are retireing in LOS passing away would be the last thing on your mind.
Doods im young, dont wanna get old but i will one day and all i want to say to you guys is go hard and live for today.
RESPECT!

olmatey

[Jaime]

Seriously, death is not worth worrying about. Live the whole enchalada everyday. Pete

It is not the dying part that worries me Pete - it's the bit leading immediately up to it that is of concern. If you go quick then great but if it drags out ...........

Nevertheless, I was somehow hoping you would contribute Pete and as usual a thoughtful and philosophical, if fatalistic (could discussing death be anything else!?), response.

You have been in LoS almost as long as I have been alive so I'd be interested if you have any answers or experiences with regard to the questions in the last paragraph of my previous post.

[Jaime]

surely if you are retireing in LOS passing away would be the last thing on your mind.

It is just good sense to consider healthcare when you are retiring anywhere outside your native country - especially if you are retiring to a developing (AKA Third World) country like Thailand. We owe it to ourselves and those who love us to think of such things as we get older. If you're not bothered then live fast and die young - but with a little common sense you can live fast(ish) and die old!

[tuktukmike]

As many know with old age comes all sorts of ailments.

One example would be is what happens if you become housebound or need 24hour medical care ie nursing home.

I cant remember ever seeing any nursing homes out here,

As stated if you are lucky you may go to sleep one night and not wake up, but that due to the increasing life spans is rarely the case.

What for instance would happen to a single pensioner who developed parkinsons disese, these people need huge amounts of care and wonder how long BUPA would pay for this.

For anyone interested they do offer health insurance at the Hua Hin Observer office.

Mike.

[lomuamart]

Ive been here for a long time.
I have family back home who are getting older and older day by day. So am I.
I can't really think about it any more.
They know I'm here and so do I.
If I die here, it won't be as bad thing.

[clive]

Sorry Mike, I nodded off. As an old boy as you now like to call me, I can see two money making ideas here. First business is repatriating the old and frail, as I suspect your heart may now be a little weak from constructing all the replies you have been submitting this week re your fav subject, I guess you may be on the first flight so I will give you your usual discount, the second is coffinair, enough said. Mind you I suppose I will need a good caterer! When are we due a beer buddy!

[tuktukmike]

When you blow the cobwebs out of your wallet.

Mike.

Just had a thought, I worked as a funeral director in Brighton for 3 years so maybe i could start Tuk-Tuk Funeral Services.

[clive]

That explains it then' Funeral director, a good excuse.

[Wanderlust]

[cynical expat mode]There is always the way that our hosts do it - have a few kids (preferably girls) and then make them feel as guilty as hell if they don't look after you, so guilty that they will do anything to get enough money to support you. If they can snag a rich farang partner all the better - they might even get you a new house![/cynical expat mode]
Seriously though, this is an important issue for anyone, not just older people. Essentially the first thing that is needed when you fall ill is some sort of support network, whether that is a Thai partner and their family, or a group of friends who will help you. An idea that has just occurred to me is that a group of long term residents could club together and form their own non-profit making 'insurance company', paying in a set amount a year/month/week to cover certain possible situations, rather than buying off the peg insurance which is often a rip off in my experience. Maybe something HHAD could consider? It might even be possible to make some sort of deal with a good local hospital (e.g. in Petchburi) if enough people were involved.