Hi Lorna. Great blog. I've been in love with Chang Mai and Thailand since my first visit in 1994. I went back to Bangkok and Phuket 12 months ago and a lot has changed! I plan to retire there as well in 5 -10 years or sooner if I can! When I was in Bangkok 12 months ago, the air quality reported for Bangkok AND especially Chang Mai was dangerously poor due to burning off crops. There was a lot of respiratory disease reported in children. Is this a concern for you and your husband? Good on you for taking the plunge I think you're an inspiration and living out what may be your best years. Also I nearly cried with fond memories when I heard that bird call. What is the name of that whistling bird heard in the background. I miss hearing it.
Hi Susan, thanks for your great comments. The whistling bird is a called a Asian Koel and can he quite loud. We arrived just before the burning season, end of September, so we had a few months to adjust to the climate as it was winter. Around March the sky became grey from the atmosphere being affected from the smoke. This lasted up to around May, but to be honest we did know this happens and so we were prepared, we did a lot of research before we came here. We were surprised we didn't have any adverse reactions at all. We both suffered from sinus allergies in Australia but it didn't affect us at all here. Neither of us has any respiratory problems and are both healthy and medication free. I think if anyone has any health problems then they should avoid coming to Asia between March and May. We plan to do lots of traveling, and there are many reasons we moved here but one is because we are now closer to other countries and its much cheaper to live here and travel from Thailand. We plan to go to Vietnam and do some traveling for about a month or so next year during the smoky season. We do have another RUclips channel we started before this one which is our joint main channel. Our journey is documented in detail here. :) ruclips.net/channel/UCxJ521EJofTbLX_d9_4zaZA
@@lornamidlifestylediaries You're most welcome! Asian Koel Ok thanks for that info! Pleased to hear you have had no health issues from burn off and that puts my mind at ease. I don't have any respiratory issues anyway so should be fine like you. Very excited for your travel plans to neighbouring countries and planning to do same in a year or so once I generate more income from a new business' venture (still in development phase). I'll check out your RUclips Channel too! Keep up the great reporting. It's so inspiring and helps with my future plans. Stay well. Cherio for now. (:
Hello Lorna, fellow Goldie here. Just stumbled across your channel and I'm so glad that I did. I have seriously been thinking about living in Thailand for extended periods moving forward. The points I took from your video and questions I have: 1. Visa Agency (Assist Thai Visa Services); 2. What Removal Agency did you use from the GC and roughly what did you ship across, e.g., furniture, clothes, linen, crockery; 3. With whom did you find a place to rent? Did you find a place when you got there or before your left Aust. 4. Did you eventually buy a place or are you renting and with whom did you use to find this place; 5. Are there any restrictions for Australians when buying or long-term renting? 6. Are there restrictions to Thai banking for foreigners? 7. Can you get a retirement visa if you're only going to be staying there for 6 months out of every year? Question: do you think it's better to rent or buy. I'm thinking of Southern Thailand because I can't live away from a beach. What are your thoughts? Are property prices cheaper in Thailand, say for instance a 2-bedroom condo near the beach, would someone be paying more than $500 per week rent or less or does the cost to buy comparable to a cheap GC Unit. I suppose research prior is essential. Can you recommend a good online real estate agent e.g., Thailand's version of realestate.com.au Apologies for asking these questions but these are the nitty-gritties that most youtubers don't address. Regards
Hi Sonia, you have some great questions & we wanted to know all these things before we made the commitment to move here. I can and am happy to answer all your questions in an email. Can you send me your email address?
Nice Video
Thanks!
That location is lovely. My husband loves the heat, but it sucks the life out of me, so Chiang Mai might be an option.
yes the weather is cooler here, especially now as we are in winter & the temps are around the 18 deg at night, day 28 😃deg cel.
🎉 Vibes in here ❤❤. I love everything and wish to travel there someday ✨️
thanks Nancy, what you focus on grows...😃
Interesting, the environment is soothing 👍
thanks 😀
Nice country!
Thanks 👍
Good luck with your move.
Thanks for your support 😊
Nice
thanks for your comment 😃
Hi Lorna. Great blog. I've been in love with Chang Mai and Thailand since my first visit in 1994. I went back to Bangkok and Phuket 12 months ago and a lot has changed! I plan to retire there as well in 5 -10 years or sooner if I can! When I was in Bangkok 12 months ago, the air quality reported for Bangkok AND especially Chang Mai was dangerously poor due to burning off crops. There was a lot of respiratory disease reported in children. Is this a concern for you and your husband? Good on you for taking the plunge I think you're an inspiration and living out what may be your best years. Also I nearly cried with fond memories when I heard that bird call. What is the name of that whistling bird heard in the background. I miss hearing it.
Hi Susan, thanks for your great comments. The whistling bird is a called a Asian Koel and can he quite loud. We arrived just before the burning season, end of September, so we had a few months to adjust to the climate as it was winter. Around March the sky became grey from the atmosphere being affected from the smoke. This lasted up to around May, but to be honest we did know this happens and so we were prepared, we did a lot of research before we came here. We were surprised we didn't have any adverse reactions at all. We both suffered from sinus allergies in Australia but it didn't affect us at all here. Neither of us has any respiratory problems and are both healthy and medication free. I think if anyone has any health problems then they should avoid coming to Asia between March and May. We plan to do lots of traveling, and there are many reasons we moved here but one is because we are now closer to other countries and its much cheaper to live here and travel from Thailand. We plan to go to Vietnam and do some traveling for about a month or so next year during the smoky season. We do have another RUclips channel we started before this one which is our joint main channel. Our journey is documented in detail here. :)
ruclips.net/channel/UCxJ521EJofTbLX_d9_4zaZA
@@lornamidlifestylediaries You're most welcome!
Asian Koel Ok thanks for that info! Pleased to hear you have had no health issues from burn off and that puts my mind at ease. I don't have any respiratory issues anyway so should be fine like you. Very excited for your travel plans to neighbouring countries and planning to do same in a year or so once I generate more income from a new business' venture (still in development phase).
I'll check out your RUclips Channel too! Keep up the great reporting. It's so inspiring and helps with my future plans. Stay well.
Cherio for now. (:
Have nice time. Thanks you
@@susantickner5687 Thanks Susan, im going to video a vlog to update how we are going & where we are now one year later.. 😊
We just had our 5 year OX visas approved in Australia. Arrive on June 27th. Our home will be in Hua Hin.
Wishing you a smooth relocation.. 😊
Hello Lorna, fellow Goldie here. Just stumbled across your channel and I'm so glad that I did. I have seriously been thinking about living in Thailand for extended periods moving forward. The points I took from your video and questions I have: 1. Visa Agency (Assist Thai Visa Services); 2. What Removal Agency did you use from the GC and roughly what did you ship across, e.g., furniture, clothes, linen, crockery; 3. With whom did you find a place to rent? Did you find a place when you got there or before your left Aust. 4. Did you eventually buy a place or are you renting and with whom did you use to find this place; 5. Are there any restrictions for Australians when buying or long-term renting? 6. Are there restrictions to Thai banking for foreigners? 7. Can you get a retirement visa if you're only going to be staying there for 6 months out of every year?
Question: do you think it's better to rent or buy. I'm thinking of Southern Thailand because I can't live away from a beach. What are your thoughts? Are property prices cheaper in Thailand, say for instance a 2-bedroom condo near the beach, would someone be paying more than $500 per week rent or less or does the cost to buy comparable to a cheap GC Unit. I suppose research prior is essential. Can you recommend a good online real estate agent e.g., Thailand's version of realestate.com.au
Apologies for asking these questions but these are the nitty-gritties that most youtubers don't address. Regards
Hi Sonia, you have some great questions & we wanted to know all these things before we made the commitment to move here. I can and am happy to answer all your questions in an email. Can you send me your email address?
@@lornamidlifestylediariesI just sent my email via messenger as I didn't want to display on yt.
How do find a legitimate visa advisor, and what does that usually run?
We used this visa service & can highly recommend them
assistthaivisa.com/
Did you contact SS about moving to Thailand or keep information in US.
I'm from Australia so don't understand your question?
Sorry, in US we have Social Security Benefits and was wondering if you had to change anything. Thank you.
We have social security benefits in Australia but I'm not eligible for them.. I'm self funded.