Living the Dream? Barry's Pros & Cons of Retiring in Thailand After 1 Year

[Music] hello how is I'm very good very good okay so what's happening today well today we're going to go meet Barry Barry's 64 years of age he's from Australia I met Barry about one year ago just after you had moved to Thailand to huin and I saw him last week and I said Barry would you like to make a video on the pros and cons of living in huin or in Thailand in general he said sure we're going to find out if he likes it here or if it's a mistake so without further Ado let's go see Barry hello Barry Johnny good to see you again good to see you again yes saw me about a year ago would have been just after I arrived here in hin um bank P saw you you were filming with s and yeah I noticed when you took a break from your filming I went up and introduced myself and so tell us all about bit about yourself you come from Australia I do mate yeah born in Perth raised bed in Melbourne then I left Melbourne I lived for many years uh over 25 years in the Tweed Tweed Valley raised two sons in that area of the world beautiful part of the world not a lot of employment uh spent a lot of time self-employed R my willar yeah yeah had a little cafe had a a machining shop I'm a f Machine by trade had a little Machining shop for a few years um had a hamburger shop on the beach at kingscliffe and worked as tourism off officer the twe CH for a few years okay um enjoyed that and then I finished up uh with the government um got shifted around a lot and spent some time in Alice Springs um Darwin and when I finally retired from all that I settled in Newville for about 5 years before I came here mate so this video is pretty much about you how you compare living and huin yeah how do you pronounce it oh depends who I'm talking to why who generally it's hin for me um you can ask a local and you'll get two or three different variations so as long as it comes out everyone knows who you're talking about absolutely yeah so you moved here just over a year ago yeah just coming up for a year um decided to pack up and come over and got myself a uh a non-resident retirement Visa which means every 90 days I've got a report for the immigration department update if there's any change of address or any other major change last week I said okay well let's make a video and I got you to give me a list of your pros and cons about living in huin compared to living in Australia so I've got your Pros in here which and funny enough your Pros outweighed your cons yes by twofold I think I'm still here I think you I think you like pushing it to find your cons where I had to dig deep I did yeah okay so let's just go through the first one that you said you said affordability and housing and food so can you describe how the cost of living in who H compares to that in Australia oh right yeah no comparison I'm living in an apartment here in a condo complex with a pool 24hour security everything I want except there's no gym but have a look at me I'm not a gym junkie and that's cos me the prin the sum of 65,000 B per month plus electricity so I've never paid more than 9,000 B for a month's accommodation so what your power bill is about 2,000 a month is yeah y 2,000 on average yeah if I if I give the air conditioner a good workout yeah but I try not to it's pretty hard not to sometimes though sometimes you just got to do it oh yeah yeah especially in the previous past two months M yeah yeah brings back a lot of memories of my years in Darwin but Dar was the same run the run the air conditioner okay air condition car air conditioned office same same as we say in Thailand see your rent and your electricity say 9,000 b a month yeah yeah on average yeah that's about right how would you compare to something like that in Australia oh mate you could live under a bridge in Australia for that sort of money I don't I think you would really struggle to find anything it's probably about $250 a month a month yeah you know I mean you wouldn't get a car you wouldn't get a caravan for that no no not in Australia yeah so what are some examples on food and how affordable is it in Thailand compared to what it is in Australia look Johnny if you want to eat on the street which I often do if you're talking right noodle soup if you're talking P Caro local meals local dishes you're paying 50 to 75 80 B which is $2 to $3 for a meal it's hot you know it's it's it's hot here you don't eat a lot if you want to I mean there's some very reasonably priced places was one not far from here where you can buy like a a schnitzel with real mashed potatoes and vegetables with gravy it's about 160 B which is what we talking was $67 yeah sorry if I fiddle with the microphone there Johnny no that's all right and of course you can head on down to the touristy spots and buy a lobster for yeah 12500 B the beauty of why here it's a there's a lot of fishing villages around here so the seafood is pretty good and it's not all that expensive all in all you'd say the housing and housing and food can't compare it with Australia really can no look um I saw a fell in the news in Australia last week and he's paid nearly $50 for breakfast in a cafe Disney it's you know why bother why bother Madness isn't it absolute Madness if you've got it why not but you know if if you're like on the pension like yourself and you you watch your money yeah I mean even if you got it you're not going to have it long you're get paying those sorts of prices to what you can get down the road for less than half that but yeah people pay it in Australia yeah so why not they put the price back up okay and have you found that Thailand's got more expensive over the past 12 months since you've been got here oh the 12 months have been in here noticed it's slightly more expensive definitely over the years Thailand is no longer a I compare it 1050 like oh my gosh 10 14 years ago and I moved here yeah no the good old days are over my friend yeah the exchange rates and all the rest of it but no it's it's still very reasonable and and the quality is good the food's good I've never had a problem 250 b a day for the food which is bit over $10 aali I'm eating out and I'm eating well so your second thing you've got here is freedom less rules and regulations yes so can you provide some speak examples on the types of regulations in Australia that you find more relaxed or non-existent in Thailand in Thailand look um so many so many where where I first met you Johnny bankon po your viewers saw that that's open air seating there's got to be 60 different food vendors scattered around the perimeter beer they got young ladies will bring the beers to your table you can sit there have your dinner live music's happening and that's 7 days a week that happens and I've often said to many uh Aussies that are visiting and living here now can you imagine doing that in Australia the the Health Inspectors the insurances you'd have to cover the um you the safety officers the trip hazards the waste it would just not be possible um the red tape would just kill it ab and it already is in Australia in Australia it is you're losing out on so much and the W the wages are so high in Australia you can't employ people cuz you can't afford it can't afford it the cost of the food but yeah it's more about the regulations insurances and the uh you know the approvals you've got to get um so in a way would you say living in Thailand's pretty much like living in the wild west uh no there's definitely rules regulations here yeah um but they're relax minimal yeah yeah and they make sense I mean you know people can work within them and it doesn't cost them an arm and a leak so you can you can get up and start a business and don't have to worry about you know putting up a sign have to pay the counsil to put your sign up you don't have to have all the development proposals put in the the just say the that goes with don't start me on the insurances I've done it all in Australia and I'll never do it again yeah uh okay so the third one you actually listed safety can you elaborate on why you feel safer and at night and whoin as you would compared to it in Australia hey I even this surprised me is I I can come out for a night out at a bar have my pool competition finish at 10 10:30 at night and I can walk home through the streets and alleys and never have an issue never been crossed but a lot of places in Australia that we all know it's just too dangerous at night you just even at that time in tonight Thailand is no different anywhere else in the world I wouldn't wander around at 3:00 in the morning blind drunk wearing gold jewelry you're asking for trouble but then I was only here less than a month and some fell on NSA Beach he's gone down there for his morning walk on the beach and he'd been knifed and died on the on the walk in NSA in Nua where where the property prices are through the roof and prob part are crazy and it's it's a beautiful part of the world but you know I've I've known friends who have personally been home invaded and and suffered some horrific injuries and that asleep in their own home by Young gangs of young kids you know good a really good friend of mine lives in Alis Springs and has lived there for a long long time and I lived there for 2 years 2 and 1/2 years but I'd never go back and live there again you know the the crime rate the the horror stories what's going on there so so with that cuz currently on the Gold Coast it just seems like crazy town do you think like the Court Systems Failing for that and also the amount of drugs that are like ice and all that kind of bad definitely ice parent parents is with addictions and breaking down the family and kids losing respect they got no respect left the roaming the streets look I tell you about Thailand is um they they value their their um their reputation so much they depend so much on tourism that sort of thing just would not be tolerated here there are boy races they're young people well you get that anywhere in the worldwhere nowhere in the world safe no no but I tell you what they they won't step out of line the police here will have them by the Scruff and they sort them out because they want people coming here they want people staying here safe so they're big on it they clamp down they're serious they there's no revolving doors here no and um yeah you screw up doob you're going to get get consequences there are consequences okay so you've lived here for over a year now is there any particular memory or occasion that you can think of of where you've been at at night or you've been somewhere during the day or something and you have had a kind of like a like a confrontation with either atire or for sran everyone's getting squirted by water pistols and there's a group of us we went down to the corner here on soy 94 and there was six of us in the group we're just standing there squirting people with water pistols and uh uh a fellow about my age he walked past Fang yeah for foreign I think I won't say not just tell you what you want can't hold back possibly Swede he's Swedish was he bastard bastard Swedish sorry s subscribers if you're Swedish and Johnny will tell you you leave the house you are soaking wet on SRA you're you've got to expect it you're moving Target pretty much and 10:00 at night your Dy as the bone and you go past big bass I'm going to squirt you on the back with my water pistol just on the back well it's better than in the eye but uh and then I looked away and squirted some someone else but the next thing I saw in the cor was his knuckles coming at me and he swung one oh did he yeah he just glanced off me you give him one back I did very quickly did he and what did he do after that uh he took quite a few steps back um and walked backwards across the rad oh he won't do that again me a mouth of some sort of foreign abuse I mean the worst part of the night was I threw me water pistol at him he'll be eating Swedish meat balls the next night r no I didn't collect that good but know that's you know I think it's going to happen and especially I think song br's A a high intensity moment where a lot of people yeah yeah you yeah a lot of people put the hand up you respect that you don't squirt them you don't throw water at them they put their hand up but obviously had a that the only occasion M that's the only that Springs to mind yeah um I have heard stories I've never seen any big issues okay no so you you got number four here you've got people more accepting patient and less judgmental oh yeah yeah yeah how have you experienced the acceptance and patience of people in Thailand compared to what you had find in Australia I think Johnny this is just my assumption that's to do with the Buddhism Live and Let Live I mean Thailand's famous for transgender lady boys is that what you're into is it no I'm not mate I just had to ask no no look I I don't care what people do as long as it's not compulsory and whatever FL boat but yeah the way they're they're accepting the society ties don't they look on the inner person more than the outer person um and yeah if you're a good person and you're honest yeah you've got a lot of tie friends yeah uh you're a guest here it's their country absolutely you got to remember that you you see so many arrogant fangs uh walking around speaking to people so rude and you think would you do that at home would do no or if you do that's probably why you're not welcome back home yeah yeah you're a guest behave yourself um it's happened a lot lately have you seen the news recently with all these getting in trouble like I have but the swed was it the Swedish guy it keep take that tie tie doctor po then you had those new zealan brothers that beat that cops and pet and it all seems to be coming out of puket all the way down south I I think it has got worse over recently past 12 24 months but yeah I think Thailand's getting on top of it I think they are they don't they're not around now don't they M don't underestimate the PO the tire police force they they've got all the gear they need they'll find you the 6s everywhere in this world and they track you down pretty quick so you get number five you've got Health affordable massages Sports and an ego boost ego boost what's that happy ending or something so how is access to Affordable massages impacted your health and wellbeing right look how often would you have a massage first of all uh twice a week I I triy to keep active believe it or not I actually lost a lot of weight since I've been living here cuz I walk more I'm 65 years old I've got aches and pains I've had a knee replaced I've had neck surgery and your joints don't bend like they used to your feet ache but yeah you can walk and then you can go and get a foot massage for an hour in a chair for $10 25 or 250 bucks so you can walk again you can keep walking and you don't need to make an appointment you can just walk in off the street there um so to have two massages in Australia per week what would you be looking at $200 or $300 yes oh yeah yeah yep for for good good massages yeah y it' be $100 an hour wouldn't it 100 bucks an hour yep and you can get two massages in Thailand for less than $20 yeah it's a little bit over $20 and I always give them a tip cuz it's hard work got big feet yeah I think every massage day depends on what kind of massage you get in there too D you might want to give them a bigger tip of they helping your ride out you know what I mean the whole thing I want this video to be monetized we won't go into that not just the tip Johnny the whole thing not that middle leg mate that don't message head I hope okay so what kind of sports and recreational activities do you keep yourself busy look that's a big thing you've got to keep busy whether you're here or in Australia but I personally I play golf twice a week it costs me now this is for 18 holes of golf with a buggy with a caddy it cost me the equivalent of about $52 Australian very duable what's that for one round of golf is it for round of golf yeah there's I don't know how many how many golf courses here that there are lot there's about nine I think n but you can pay double that on some of the bigger courses black mountains like two or 3 4,000 yeah you say that's not my quality but but but again it's all what's in your budget isn't it yeah yeah so you're keeping yourself busy yeah and I think you've done it you've got to do that if you're retiring you do you do Johnny whether you're here or or wherever you are in the world you know you don't just retire and sit down but a lot of people do though don't they yeah they don't know for very long though say touch on that subject before about the social activities that you do how how have you found meeting new experts like coming by yourself obviously you moved here by yourself how did you find adjusting to a city like hin that you knew nobody yep and finding new new friends you know your friend here owns this bar which I'll give a shout out to at the end of this video but so you know you've obviously picked up a lot of friends in who here now you've got social activities how did you find meeting friends here I found it incredibly easy Jo because some more affordable because you can get out and you can get more involved pool pool playing pool is a huge thing here I play pool two nights a week that's where I met the owner of this bar and I've met many people yeah look people from all walks and did you play when you back in Australia no no no it was playing pool and the pubs in Australia yeah it's just not a good VI the thing about the pubs in Australia now it's all about Pok machines isn't it Pok machines so anyone that's moving to to to to retire and in Thailand like yourself and they want to get into social activities they want to get out there and meet new people y what's your best advice to give them get out of your condo Google is your friend Facebook is your friend you'd be amazed I know there's a back gaming Club here in ha there's a group that meet once a week at one of the cafes to play back gaming there's something here for everybody # harriers the racing group The Running group so get on social media yes social media is the go Facebook especially faceb got all groups and clubs and um and those Community groups on Facebook why expats and things like that but it's not it's not just to are H either you've got these clubs in like these Facebook groups in patio too p b there so there's exper Social Clubs all around time on Facebook and and people just screaming out company and they love to meet you speaking about company this is the next question have you found any love yet have you met anyone love of your life or I do you been married why you're going to get married again oh that no no no you're not that dumb no I I have met someone she's a lovely woman she's working at the moment um she's U doing some waitressing yeah uh in a restaurant she's she has a job she's going to be working as a trainee Chef uh she's in her early 40s she's got a couple of adult children uh that live out in isan aren't here um yeah so yeah we live together she's my girlfriend I'm the boyfriend she's the boss that's pretty much how it rolls that's how it Rock and rolls and how long have you been together with her I've been together most of the year I've been here cuz I actually came over here to hen for a couple of months before I made the move and I came for 2 months and within a week I said yep I can live in h it's so can I stop you a minute there did you did you just make who hin it or did you go to Patia or did you go to changma or joh I've been coming to Thailand close to 20 years and I lived in camui for 6 months and then went back to Australia uh I found that was the island was just too small my head did my head in Fever yeah it got smaller and smaller uh I tried puket puket too busy too rush rush rush too much traffic came to H and ticked all the boxes hospitals as you know we getting rolled up hospitals are here shopping centers here there's the N life you've mentioned man if you want the night life you've got soy binta you've got soy 0 you got soy 94 and all the little El Coes around here it's here if you you want but by the same time there's plenty of other things here to do that's like that's your positive that's your positiv your PR of of you didn't touch on my ego ego boo oh what's that about we'll go back to that then sorry was that which is connected was it to patio is it can you get your mind out of I don't know are you would you call yourself a Monga a Monga do you know what a Monga is uh yeah I've heard the term um I I think so no no what do you reckon what do you reckon guys so what's with this ego boo look any Vlog especially when you on the wrong side of 60 you get off the plane and you walk to an area like this and the girls are all yelling out to you hello handsome man uh uh come have a drink with me buy me a drink spend some time with me any man that doesn't get a little puff out the chest and think you think your movie started I still got it still got it you're you're a liar it's the the women know how to make you feel good and they're not Dum are they they're definitely not dumb the they are not dumb look T everything's a transaction a business transaction here in Thailand just be aware of that but when I said you know it's good for your mental health who doesn't want to feel handsome or attractive hide the mirror at home cover it up whatever and just walk around the streets in places like this man tell me that's not good for your ego make you feel good make you want to exercise want to make you be more active it's good for your mental health okay so that was a pros of living in Thailand compared to living In tha Australia and you know I didn't want to compare it to Australia but I think you have to to give some people why am I here of a compare this you know what I mean I don't think anywhere any place should be compared to another one cuz every place is different yeah but it just gives like especially the Australian sitting at home now that are watching this video I think it just gives them an idea of what you've just explained yeah so let's talk about the cons now I've got them here cons number is a pollution yeah so what types of pollution have you noticed in h are here look the big one of course is air air quality we do go through months of where the air is not nice thanks to yeah very very Smokey cambodia's half of Cambodia is on fire there's pretty much southeast Asia at this stage and depends which way the wind blows yeah we cop it here so there the air pollution um it's nothing like Chang my they no no no or Bangkok or no no it's not to that level but it's still you it's see you can see it I mean the visibility cut right back so you got the air and then just the uh General litter things INR where you just woodn't see here little washed up on the main beaches on this anywhere you go past the VAC block you'll see rubbish dump there and you just think well so you don't see that in Australia do you no and this is my next question like how does it how are the levels of pollution in hin compared to where you lived in Australia yes nonexistent really is it it's well it's like chalk and cheese CH and cheese but you I lived in some pretty groty parts of Australia too but a lot of it comes back to all those rules regulations that you've got in Australia which is you know on the upside here it's we don't have the rules they're not enforced like they are over there so yeah we have a saying saai saai just on no place is perfect no place is perfect man and have you taken any measures to like how to how to how to like when when it is Smoky season and a qual in h isn't too bad what do you normally do to like to keep the risk or do you stay inside definitely stay inside yeah turn the airon on airon shopping centers Cinema I'm not a I don't get up more and go for a 10 15 km jog so I avoid all that sort of stressful activity and yeah any physical stick inside to an air conditioned gym work out in the Clean Air yeah but it's unavoidable I know a lot of people invest in air purifiers etc etc which I haven't gone that path yet so your second one here I think there's only two here though your cons of living here we'll try and bang a few more out here but language you said language can be language says can you describe some of the language challenges you face moving to who sorry what' you say you're pulling the piss now taking the piss out of Johnny um yeah I mean of course English isn't their first language of the local people but a hell of a lot of ties speak English and there's a lot that speak broken English and their broken English is still much much better than my tie yeah it's not my country it's theirs it's their language so um you got to respect that you respect it man you know if the sign you can't read the signs well just have a think about where you are and have you tried learning Tai language and how do you find it if you have try for me is extremely difficult it is and also a lot of times don't want you to learn no cuz they don't want what they're saying yeah yeah they want to keep that all private yeah which they don't that they want that too smart for rang in their country do they no no that's that's no value for them uh but yeah look it's a very difficult language I know certain words but yeah okay it's very tonal you've touched on pollution you've touched on language barrier for your cons is there anything else that you can I'm not John I'm making a point and I I I said that to myself when I come in here I've got to accept this is not my country it's not the way I would do things everything but it is their way and whether it's right or wrong that's not up for me um and a lot of people forget that you know a lot of people bash the way they people drive they bash the way people build houses well at the end of the day man it's you don't like it there you go you're here I either accept it or in my case I ignore it I try to ignore a lot of it and uh become a tie and just shake my head and T all right so we'll just touch on so this isn't a pro or con this is just something that I think a lot of people are very interested in especially with the at the moment the new Visa regulations that were announced last night last night yeah which I'm not going to go into that I don't really discuss visas on this channel it's like I'm not a lawyer I don't want giv out as a v this isn't my bag if you want to I can definitely point you in the right direction if you need help with your visas what visa have you obtained to to move here and how was the application process ah look I I originally came on a u tourist visa and then I got an extension during that extension I applied for a non-resident o Visa which is a retirement Visa uh which meant I had to have 800,000 b in a bank account um because I applied for it in this country if you apply for it outside the country you got to have that plus you've got to have a certain amount of was $4 million 4 million B of insurance dropping they dropping that and they're dropping that to 400,000 yeah which is new here here first 400,000 is they dropping to health insurance that's good that's from the 1st of June which is only a few days away so yeah when people ask advice on and things like that man I'm not the person Johnny's not the person you're going to someone professional they're changing all the time and there's someone that can always help you out isn't it there is yeah like and it's not a Facebook group foru God say the questions you see posted on Facebook have you seen the driver's license for S oh man yeah don't buy driver's license just do the right thing so have you experienced any challenges in maintaining your Visa while living in Thailand over the past 12 months so you've only had it so it's pretty much not really cuz you've only had it 12 months but you could did a n-day report obviously yeah well as I said when I first arrived I had a a 60-day tourist visa then they extended that for me then there was a but I just I just use an agent I did use an agent you don't have to you can do it yourself it's not difficult I had my reasons um and I used an agent and the whole thing was done once I I had all the correct paperwork in place uh a bank account opened and the money in the bank the whole thing was done in a morning which involved yeah a trip to the bank a trip to the immigration department perfect and since then yeah I've had two 90-day reports which could not go easier I just go to the immigration office out here uh walk in put my passport down not a word has been spoken either time haven't asked for anything uh stamp stamp stamp done see you in 90 days it's it's good it's easy just if if you're having difficulty just speak to someone M that's it there's agents everywhere yeah but just get the right agent though talk to Johnny yeah well you can yeah you can but you got to book me for 45 minute consultation at johnny. Asia I've got to screen you I've got to screen you before I putting it into my contacts what could possibly go wrong had a few very happy subscribers that have booked me yeah yeah for for a 45 minute consultation and it's not about Visa it's about anything about living in Thailand and it's not a plug I'm just going to sh if you guys do need at hand with anything you can book me for a 45 minute consultation yep and that's not a plug it's just a just an opportunity for you you can use me or you can go speak to someone else okay so that's pretty much about it I think we're getting to 46 minutes now I think we can wrap it up so all in all have you got any tips and advice that you'd give to someone mooving to Thailand and what recommendations or would you told them to do before they came or what not to do so sum this up in like 2 or 3 minutes or however you give it a long hard thing yeah is it really what you want to do shift Halfway Around the World start off a new life if the answer is yes do it don't delay don't put it off do it can you afford it yes you can yeah you can too many people Johnny would know I've known they oh I can't afford Till I Retire and they've retire died at 6568 drop down dead drop down dead missed the bus uh do it sooner rather than later and enjoy your life get here it's a good place yeah yep absolutely and would and I thank you very much for this opportunity you know speak to my subscribers and if you do see Barry where he normally what your normally St 94 around this area well this is your friends this is your friends B here this is called what's this par called This Is The Friendly Bar in B Ro this is just off 94 there yeah this is a good good friend of yours so here here's T night playing pool you've got your pool table pool queue over there yeah so this is my my home bar for my pool team what's your uh James what's your your friend's name who owns it yeah James Jim James just come over here for a sec look it's a great family bar Mar you come over if you want if you want to be on camera so this is James is it hi Hi how are you you're the owner just give him the m a so James you're the only here and they friendly baring P yeah well actually the the owner really has just come in I know your wife said your girlfriend come in Mark don't be HT you're from New Zealand so come and sus this place out we're about to you James we're we're on 394 Canal Road yeah Friendly Bar beastro 7 days a week 7 days a week Thai food European food music most nights if I can drag my wife over I I'll TR yeah bring her over and how are you Mark give get the Mark's from New Zealand one of my golfing allies he look like a right Monga don't you Mark just give him yeah so this is your wife so what was your name Sor it's a real buff okay so what was your name sorry my name Jam car Jam car and your husband was James yes very love it and you're the boss here yes B yeah if anyone if anyone plays up you got to answer huh I don't think you muck around either no mark this is your friends all friends are you so jum in Mark can you get a hold that we're all well we're golfing Partners yeah I'm from New Zealand and in here for a few months and loving it never going back yeah um I'm staying there at mikinos very handy walked everything so and how do you like living in h here I love it yeah love it I should have come I should have done it 20 years ago yeah or more yeah yeah but you know you might not financially been in a position back then or something so well I probably was okay but you go all then I got divorced yeah that's what I was going to say all right so that's it so thanks very much to Barry thanks Johnny good to see you again I've got a mic you can hold that so guys come down it's a Friendly Bar and Grill many thanks to Barry for uh for coming in having a chat you see these guys thanks for watch you're watching I've got to get home because I got to go to Bangkok in the morning but we'll see you soon thanks for watch for watching and we'll speak to you soon take care everybody bye a [Music]

Channel: Jonny There Is Something Happening

Views: 189,557

Keywords: HUA HIN, BANGKOK, THAI FOOD, THAILAND VLOGS, THAILAND, VLOGGER, LIVING IN THAILAND, RENT IN THAILAND, JONNY THERE IS SOMETHING HAPPENING, MOVE TO THAILAND, RETIRE, 'THAI, GIRLFRIEND'

Id: ud0AzyXqeJs

Length: 34min 15sec (2055 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 02 2024