Come see if Thailand is actually right for you.

Not a tour. Not a group trip. A working visit built around your budget, your health, and your priorities. You leave with a plan.

Bangkok at dusk
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$985
Five days · Bangkok · Flights and accommodation not included

The Bangkok Scouting Trip

Before arrival, you fill out a short questionnaire. Budget, health situation, priorities, what's keeping you up at night about this move. The days are built around those answers. Every scout covers similar ground, but no two are exactly alike. That's why the questionnaire comes first.

By the end, you'll have seen real apartments in a neighborhood that fits your budget, walked a market, priced the medications you're actually taking, and gotten a real look at what healthcare costs at a place that gives you an accurate picture. Within a week of returning home, you'll receive a written plan based on everything covered during the trip.

No commissions. No referral arrangements. Where I take you is based on what you told me in the questionnaire, not on who's paying me to bring you there.

The $985 covers five full days, transit, and the written plan. Flights, accommodation, and meals are separate.
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$745
Three days · Bangkok · Flights and accommodation not included

The Three-Day Option

Same tailored approach. Questionnaire before arrival, itinerary built around your situation. Less ground covered, lighter written summary. Right for people who want a real look without committing to a full week.

The $745 covers three full days, transit, and the written summary. Flights, accommodation, and meals are separate.
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A great vacation is the worst reason to move across the world.

Deciding where to spend the rest of your life is a serious decision. A holiday tells you what a country looks like when you have zero responsibilities and a strong currency. A scouting trip tells you if you can actually build a stable, comfortable life here.

We aren't here to re-create a resort experience. We are here to see how your budget, your healthcare needs, and your daily habits fit into the fabric of real-life Bangkok. It's a working visit, not a postcard tour.

But Thailand has a way of relaxing people whether they came for that or not. Thailand Retirement Service will be right there with you, making sure you experience the true hospitality this country is known for firsthand while keeping your feet firmly on the ground.

You can read about Thailand forever. At some point you have to go.

There's good information out there. What it can't do is answer whether you specifically will be okay here. Your budget, your health, your personality, the way you like to live.

That's what five days on the ground does. Not tourism. Five days of the things that actually determine whether this works: what your money buys, what the healthcare is really like, what a neighborhood feels like at 7am on a Tuesday.

Some people do this trip and come home certain they're moving. Some come home knowing they need another year to sort their finances. The one outcome worth preventing is someone spending $20,000 on a move they weren't ready for.

What a good life in Bangkok costs per month.

Conservative estimates. Your real costs may be lower. These numbers assume a comfortable life, not a cheap one.

The number that tends to surprise people isn't the rent. It's health insurance. For someone 55 or older, a solid expat plan runs ฿7,500 to ฿14,000 a month, closer to $200 to $400 USD. A GP visit costs around $25. Private hospitals in Bangkok are genuinely good.

Dental care isn't covered by Medicare at home. A cleaning at a reputable private clinic runs about $35.

Thailand is affordable. It is not free. The retirement visa income threshold exists for a reason, and anyone who arrives without sufficient funds runs into serious problems. That conversation happens on the call, before anyone books a flight.

Getting around Bangkok is cheap. A Grab (ride-hailing app, like Uber) to Suvarnabhumi Airport from central Bangkok runs about $7–10. The same distance in most American cities costs $50.
Monthly Expense (Single Person) THB USD (approx.)
Rent (1BR, decent area)฿18,000–35,000
Utilities (incl. heavy AC)฿3,000–5,000
Internet + Phone฿1,200–1,800
Groceries฿9,000–16,000
Eating out (2x/week)฿4,000–8,500
Health insurance (55+)฿7,500–14,000
Transportation฿2,500–5,000
Entertainment฿4,500–8,500
Miscellaneous฿3,000–5,500
Monthly Total฿52,700–99,300

Loading current exchange rate…

Figures in Thai Baht. USD conversions updated automatically. Baht costs are more stable than dollar equivalents. Exchange rates shift.

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The visa threshold is real. It exists for a reason.

Thailand's retirement visa requires you to be 50 years of age or older, with either 800,000 THB in a Thai bank account or roughly 65,000 THB/month in guaranteed income. The USD equivalent shifts with exchange rates. Bring it up on the call for a current figure. If you're under 50, this specific pathway isn't available yet. If the finances aren't quite there, that conversation happens before anyone books a flight.

"When you hire someone to help you navigate a foreign country, it helps to know they won't disappear overnight. I'm not a digital nomad on a tourist visa. I'm a Thai national, legally operating, permanently based here."
Tong, Thailand Retirement Service
Thai National · Grew up in the United States · Bangkok since 2015

This isn't your typical introduction to Bangkok, and I'm not your typical Thai guide.

I was born in Thailand and grew up in the United States, where I lived for 32 years. Family reasons brought me back to Bangkok.

When I returned at 36, I had to figure Bangkok out the same way you will. I've been figuring it out for more than a decade now.

I spent four years producing content inside Bangkok hospitals, including time in operating theaters. My own story includes brain surgery at a Thai private hospital and helping friends through medical emergencies.

As a Thai citizen, I am able to operate this business legally. If you're ready to find out whether Bangkok works for you, I'm the right person to show you.

When the answer is yes.

The scouting trip answers whether Thailand is the right move. Full relocation support is for when it is. Visa coordination, housing, healthcare setup, banking. The logistics of actually getting there, worked through together.

Full relocation support starts at $3,000. The scouting trip fee comes off the total. Specifics are discussed on the call.

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Ask me anything. Thirty minutes. Free.

You've got questions the internet hasn't answered. Whether your budget actually works. Whether you'll be okay here at your age, with your health, with the way you like to live. Whether this is a good idea or a bad one.

That's what this call is. You ask whatever you want. I'll tell you what I know. If Thailand doesn't make sense for you, I'll say so.

Free
30 minutes · Zoom or email · No obligation
Fill Out the Questionnaire

Five minutes. No obligation.

This helps determine whether a free call makes sense and, if so, makes that call more useful for both of us.

After submitting, you'll hear back within 24 hours. Either with a call booking link or a brief follow-up question.

A note on eligibility. Thailand's retirement visa requires you to be 50 or older, with either 800,000 THB (~$22,000 USD) in a Thai bank account or roughly $2,200/month in guaranteed income. If that's not where you are yet, fill this out anyway and we'll take it from there.
For your own context. Not a test.
No need to share specifics. A general yes/no helps with visa and insurance planning.
No need for detail. Just helps with pacing and logistics.
This is the most useful thing you can tell me. Be as direct as you want.

After submitting, you'll hear back within 24 hours. Either with a call booking link or a brief follow-up question.

Thank you.

Your responses have been received. You'll hear back within 24 hours.

Where We Work

Bangkok.

Bangkok is where most people start, and for good reason. It has the infrastructure, the international hospitals, the transit network, and the range of neighborhoods to suit almost any budget or lifestyle.

The scouting trip is based in Bangkok. It covers enough ground to give a realistic picture of what daily life here actually looks like. Costs, neighborhoods, healthcare, getting around. For most people considering a move to Thailand, Bangkok answers the question.

If another city is on your mind, bring it up on the call.

Send a message.

Ask whatever you want. Bring a budget, a timeline, and the questions that haven't been answered by the research already done. If Thailand makes sense, the next steps are clear. If it doesn't, that's worth knowing too.

tong@thailandretirementservice.com  ·  WhatsApp: +66 98-740-4085  ·  Response within 24 hours