Thailand among top ten best countries to retire

 

Thailand is the sixth-best country in the world as a place to retire, according to a survey compiled by the British financial website Money, which considered 142 countries in its research on retirement.

The survey named “Where the World Wants to Retire” found that Thailand was the destination most searched for on Google in relation to retirement. Money used data from Google Keyword Planner to analyze search information in each country. It examined common terms associated with retiring to another country, such as ‘retirement in [country]’, ‘retire in [country]’ and ‘retire to [country]’.

In finishing sixth, Thailand came in ahead of Spain, a long-favored retirement destination for British citizens and Europeans and also ahead of its ASEAN friend, the Philippines, which ranked seventh and tenth respectively.

France was the country that came out on top with people in 20 countries searching about retiring there more than anywhere else. Following closely behind were Canada, Argentina, Portugal and Australia to round out the top five.

“Retirement is an exciting phase of our lives and for many, this means the opportunity to spend some of our pensions, and the latter years of our lives, in a new country altogether,” said Joel Kempson, the personal finance expert at Money.

“We hope our findings help to provide some inspiration for anyone currently considering retiring abroad, wherever they may currently be based.”

According to the survey analyzed existing search engine data, retirees have often cited the relatively low cost of living, warm climate, good health care, friendliness of the Thai people, food, and a variety of locations from islands and coastlines with white sand beaches to lush mountainous towns as reasons for Thailand’s popularity as a retirement destination.