Olddaddy

Yes not a good idea to sell up everything in your own home country and then be left with nothing if Shit hits the fan.

Very interesting, What kind of things made you think otherwise Scott? Did you base your stay in Pattaya and/or Bangkok areas ? What was your daily routine,was it far different than your normal one where you live?

Very nice, I probably won't stay there however 😃

More boys to choose from in jomtien complex,however .....the "tops" are mostly in Boyztown. Massage areas jomtien complex full of boys massage shops (twink types) I guess depending on the length of your holiday, you can spend a week in jomtien complex and a week up at Boyztown

Dumamagette or Palawan in Philippines, a lot of farangs. Philippines has also a lot of handsome boys , and very loving of older mature western men, a lot less moneyboys than Thailand in my experience there the last few months although I don't like Manila I like Davao City and parts of Cebu/ Mactan island etc. Filipino boys seem to be more boyfriend type experience than the Thai boys I experienced

I think once I retire fully ( I'm still not retired at 62) but once I do I may consider a few months a year in Pattaya, but as someone posted above ,you can meet guys anywhere nowadays via apps and there are gay bars in nearly every city ,so why Pattaya ?

That link to Utopia travel was very interesting read , it did happen nearly 20 years ago but nothing has changed. That matter was caused by the Australian government at the time but nothing has changed in Australia the people & media are still homophobic to a degree . Of course this sort of stuff went in years ago where pedophiles did prey on children in Thailand but in them days they linked gay men to that and pedophiles should never be thought of as part of the gay community. I often cringe sometimes when I read on gay Asian forums the use of the word "boys" to describe young men of 18plus ,the Karen's will soon have a field day when they start reading these forums .

Very interesting link As for gay tour companies I can see a future,but I think they will concentrate on the middle aged wealthier gays particularly the gay couples ,I very much doubt Pattaya will be high on their list,many I see like the Greek islands,Turkey,Boracay ,Rio ,I doubt moneyboy Pattaya has much appeal for middle-aged gay couples . Even the mature aged gay man as you mentioned now can use apps & far far more gay destinations

I guess you would leave behind family,friends? Maybe medical services you don't have to pay for . I just can't see the same level of gay farangs living in Pattaya say in 10 years like there is now,and even now many of the older ones have left and are slowly leaving. I'm not sure how the gay beer bars are surviving,I guess to many owners it's just a hobby.

Would be quite interesting to see just how many gay farangs are nstill retiring to Thailand particularly Pattaya The current 50yo to 65yo age gay farang group is very different to the generation of 25 years ago. More wealthier,more knowledgeable, far more different,I don't think as "settled", I can't see the new generation of gay retirees doing what the past generation did Do any of you agree with that?

I'm not sure I heard right but I had a aussie expat farang a few weeks ago in Pattaya telling me was paying 15,000 baht a month? Maybe I heard wrong,it was either 15k a month or 150k a year ,now if your on a limited income eg Aged pension then it's a bit difficult to afford that . As for travel insurance I have no sympathy for those who travel overseas for a few weeks and fail to take it out!

I guess you have to have " interests' or hobbies , or you perhaps you may have a boyfriend or a lot of friends you enjoy being with ? I'm more unfortunately introvert ,I also suffer from depression sometimes . Perhaps if I didn't go there to retire with that mindset of looking only for sex and actually looked for other things in my lifestyle it would be ok, but I didn't those few months, I just sat all day at beer bars

I did miss a microwave actually,needed for those times I bought a pie or sausage roll from nearby Tinnies and wanted to hear it up later I stayed at the Zing resort,you can get a room with balcony overlooking pool for around 800/900 baht a night. Cheaper options with no balcony from 700 baht a night I believe,but I needed a balcony .

Especially if your travelling on a overnight flight too, a massage , a bit of wine and then hop onto the flight to sleep the night away😴sounds great

My impression after travelling the Philippines last few weeks is they love their fast food chains, everywhere I went in shopping malls etc they were busy lining up for Jollibees fast food & all those American chain restaurants. If that was Thailand it would be the street food they line up for, I found that a bit of a shock compared to Thailand where they love their street food, but maybe I was just in the wrong places/areas in the Philippines. I guess more in the poorer type areas of Manila you would find more street food but the Shopping malls were always crowded ,I couldn't get over how crowded they were along with their fast food restaurants. No wonder there's so many " large size" Filipino around,some looked like Hawaiian/islander look

I love massages that's one reason I go to Asia for the cheaper massage , someone on here mentioned they get a massage at the airport on the way out ,I didn't know about that . At my age 62 I need a massage everyday,in Thailand I pay roughly with tip about $15 AUD compared to my country ( Australia) around $80/90

Must admit having flown economy and business class these last few months I couldn't travel nowadays without going business class. Last night Bangkok to Sydney stop one stop Manila with Philippines airlines had a bed to myself in business class,$2800 ( Au) return ,not direct flight however and stopover in Manila 6 hours I flew economy a few weeks ago in a short flight Bangkok to Manila and it was the worst experience,cramped in like sardines no room to move, kids screaming & crying etc

I will now travel for less than a month too! I just done a big trip of nearly 3 months in the Philippines & Thailand Too long .

Filipino food such as Balut? I found Filipinos seem to love their American fast food more than anything,that's my impression anyway I was in the Philippines last night at the airport and saw some stunners, dark skin ,tight butt cheeks and strong build guys😘 I would like to check out farang expat places like Dumamagette & Palawan, I wasn't keen on Manila 😞 Philippines is cheaper than Thailand in many aspects ( not for hotels in Manila though😅 I guess if I had a real lover I could live in the Philippines anywhere ,but like Gaybutton says, just don't take into account the sex . I think close proximity to hospitals,safety ,gym , recreation facilities etc are high priority when deciding where to retire

What about those of you with pets? I actually met a farang 76yo up at soi bukhao nice old man said he had 6 dogs !!! Said he couldn't go on trips but he loved his dogs more than anything!

That's food for thought, you are entirely right, I haven't thought of it that way.

I just saw another post where the poster was saying he was retiring to Pattaya in September. Now this question has been thrown around the gay forums for years and of course many of the original farang expats are no longer with us. The "latest" gay farangs of course to retire will be more wealthier however is it just me but I have noticed my last few months there is far far less gay farangs retiring to pattaya,no idea about Bangkok but far less gay resident expats in my opinion So this is my update, I just spent several months in Thailand, particularly in Pattaya to see if I still had that "urge" to settle down there forever like I used to want to when I worked hard and all the overtime I could to save enough money for that "exciting retirement" Fast forward 25 years and sadly it seems going by my last few months in Pattaya I no longer have that urge or excitement to retire here in Pattayail,I'm not ruling out other parts just Pattaya now doesn't do it for me Its a combination of things, unfortunately I tend to reminisce over old times and what Pattaya used to be like, walking thru the old Sunee recently I had memories after looking at the old Top man go go ,the exciting & busy times there etc, Michael who used to own it,memories bar ,the old farang expats who used to talk chat laugh with The boys who were more Boyfriend material entertainment,rather than the business like boys nowadays. It's no longer like that,well to me anyway,yes I know times change 25 years on and now near retirement I cannot see any reason to retire there,the boys are drying up and more than ever " businesslike" with one even sending me a written quote for his services on grinder and times of service etc. The beer bars I can no longer relate to,I find a few farang owned great where you can communicate with other farangs but most seem Thai owned and uninteresting . Unfortunately I suffer with "it's not like it used to be" syndrome. I find most things in the supermarket etc just as expensive if not more expensive than my own country eg cheese& coffee. But what confirmed it was talking a gay farang in a beer bar who had been here 2 years who was "lonely".He was thinking of going back to the UK as he had his daughter there. He spent his days living in a jomtien condo near the complex and was ,in his words,"bored" He had no friends it seems or should I say "real friends" just seemed to be the other gay farangs attending daily the beer bars he would say hello to.On asking if he had a BF he said no you cannot find a real BF here and I believe he is right. Talking to him gave me that extra thought that it's too early yet and with risk to retire there without having any "support'. Support meaning someone who is a genuine friend, someone who notices you not around etc ,support when you get sick I imagined what my scenario could be 62yo ,then retire to pattaya,I'm still gym fit & relatively healthy. So I would rent a condo probably near jomtien complex and spend my days doing what? Maybe going to gym like I did, massages etc but the days start to get boring, missing family back home, etc Visiting bars? Hiring the services of male prostitutes who want to go as quick as possible,then what? That got bored for me. Watch tv ? I would be bored too and very lonely . Obviously age makes a difference too,if I was 75 instead of 62,it may be more inclination to retire to pattaya but once again where do you get that support if you need it in sickness etc What some guys cannot fathom is you will no longer be a guy on a 2 week holiday chasing arse or dick, you will be living there and you will grow tired of it . You will find the boys working will become disinterested in you as you no longer use their services as much as a 2 week millionaire and they stop contacting you on Grindr etc You will sit most nights in your condo watching tv bored shitless, you will go out during some days to beer bars just to talk to someone. You will be alone the majority of your time unless you hire the services of company who want to most times leave asap anyway I can't do it at this stage of my life ,I prefer to continue working and travel each year . One thing that could change that though is if I had a very genuine Thai boyfriend and I don't mean a paid boyfriend who works in a bar I mean a real lover , someone you can move there for and live with . But at this stage guys I would say be very hesitant to jump into something such as retirement to Pattaya and finding out your more lonely than ever! Suffering depression being away from family,living by yourself in a high rise condo would be no fun with no network support wouldn't be fun, and to be brutally honest with you I have heard there have been far more negative stories of farangs retiring to pattaya particularly gay farangs than positive,that's why you see so many going back after trialling it for a few months It wasn't what they imagined, I doubt any like me on here will admit that though,that they didn't like it here full time , I do,I couldn't cut it guys,living in that jomtien condo everyday ,not at this stage of my life, it got boring,I got lonely ,I felt like I had no support,I wanted love after a while, someone to care for and he cared by, the moneyboys,that's what they call themselves nowadays, weren't people I could relate to,times change I guess ,but maybe some day I can get my spark back when Pattaya comes back I guess but not this time, I'm going back home

Taiwan is closed ?? 😳😳 I knew China was but didn't know Taiwan was too. I think it's time for me to "explore" other places

You don't get lonely by yourself? Do you care for yourself?

Next year in all probability I will skip Thailand, too businesslike in terms of sex now ,and getting expensive Taiwan will probably top my list of visiting. Haven't tried African countries yet