I've done:

*My own car (hated it because could not do ANYTHING in that country without a car)
*Metro + ferry across a river + short walk (Fun)
*Uber (fine going to work, but often bad coming back)
*My own motorcycle (Awesome except when it rained...)
*Metro - 2 lines inc. a stressful transfer (fairly awful most days)
*10 - 15 minute walk (Glorious)

My .02c - I will NEVER again work in a location where I am required to own a car due to no other options.

[quote=Illiane_Blues post_id=60187 time=1605938044 user_id=235743]

Only a few capitals in SEA with somewhat clean air.
[/quote]

The only ones that come to mind are Vientiane and possibly Yangon. But work opportunities there are really limited compared to the other ones on that list (Vientiane only has 1 school I think).

In my experience Jakarta will be the worst by far. Have not lived there but have visited - never again! I love Indo as a place to travel, except for Jakarta.

The other locations are tolerable, but I know that Malaysia (and by extension, Singapore) can get nasty in the burning season. Bangkok in the dry season can also have rough stretches, but I think it's ok overall.

When they ask if you have any questions at the initial interview, I would bring it up then. Some schools will automatically make you a local hire in this case, and they will ask about your dependent situation before offering a contract anyway. If they won't give you an expat contract, you can tell them nicely where to shove their local hire offer. This may result in them eventually offering you an expat contract anyway, or moving on from you.

Came very close once. Multiple meetings with the school director, and we were all advised to have some cash on hand and a small bag packed and ready to go at all times. The evac was going to be to a safe neighboring country, organized by the school. It was a very tense situation for a couple weeks, and some of the expat staff were seriously freaking out, others just played it day by day. In the end the situation stabilized and nothing happened, except a few teachers deciding to bail out and break contract anyway.

Regarding Mexico, Baja (except for Cabo) is appealing, but probably not as a full-time base. I would want to balance it out by also having a base with a little more going on. Mexico City is great, but the rents there for the neighborhoods I would want to be in are high for a retiree teacher (and insanely high when compared to the rest of Mexico). PV is popular but just too touristy for my taste. I have heard good things about Guadalajara & Guanajuato but have not yet visited these cities so hard to say if they would be suitable. Love Oaxaca city as a place to visit but I think it is just a little too small to live there - with that said you could live there very cheaply. I think coastal Oaxaca would also be worth checking out, but have not been there myself.

Illiane_Blues wrote:
> Colleague just told me he bought a house in Patagonia for his retirement
> years. Too cold and isolated for me so I'll stick to my Thailand plan for
> now.

Parts of Thailand are on my list too, but the idiot generals running the place seem determined to turn it into Myanmar circa 1999, or even North Korea. Who knows what it will look like in 10 (or even 5) years.

I'm not worried though, I have loads of backup options.

PsyGuy wrote:

> No those are current values. Im in agreement with @grdwdgrrrl, set aside
> housing and a family of 5 burn through BT฿10K/wk, thats BT฿40K/mth. A
> single person, in BKK, can live off half that BT฿20K/mth. What exactly is
> so expensive, especially when living off the economy as opposed to
> maintaining some boujee western lifestyle?
> Ill be the first to agree with you that I couldnt live off BT฿20K/mth, Id
> need BT฿100K/mth discretionary coin, but I have certain rather pricey
> social indulgences Id engage in living in BKK, but actually just costs of
> day to day living, again on the economy, it really isnt that expensive?

Well if some expats want to live the lifestyle of a typical Thai office worker (e.g. wage slave) in one of the most happening cities in the world, then by all means they should move to Bangkok and live on 20k baht/month. For most expats I knew there it was not about living a fancy western lifestyle, it was about being able to have some entertaining weekends and hop over to a beach or island once in awhile - neither of which is happening on 20k baht.

Thailand will eat you alive if you are broke. There is a reason why the government mandates a 65,000 baht/month minimum for retirees to even get a visa.

Somewhere warm and close to sea. That list is pretty good. I have loads more places in mind that I won't list here, as some are rather unknown and I'd like to keep it that way. I plan to jump around a bit after I retire rather than staying put in one place.

Retiring in the home country is out of the question, my finances would limit me to mostly horrible locations.

Regarding Portugal, I read recently about changes in which property purchases in Lisbon and all coastal areas would no longer qualify you for their residency/citizenship through investment program. This may make it a much less attractive option for some.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @Heliotrope
>
> Is that just informative or are you inferring a point?
>
> I ask because Numbeo, as you cite it, shows a cost of living (without
> rent/housing allowance) as THB฿20K for a single IT and only THB฿72K for a
> family of four, which is very cheap to live off. Housing costs (rent,
> utilities, etc.) about doubles that, which is still pretty cheap.

Really, in Bangkok? Did Numbeo last update those figures in 1992 or something? In 2020, starvation would kick in by the middle of each month on those wages. Even the tight ass retiree crowd in Chiang Mai couldn't swing that.

Do we assume we magically get a good salary & benefits wherever we choose, or do we have to consider the realities? Those lists will be different for most.

Example: I love Mexico City, but would never move there to work because the international school salaries in Mexico are so awful. But if I could get a teaching gig there that somehow paid 4k-5k USD month net with housing fully covered, I would move there tomorrow.

Assuming taking the realities into account:
*Tokyo
*Switzerland
*Hong Kong (but maybe not anymore since Beijing seems determined to ruin it)
*Bangkok (only at a top school)
*London

It's hard to just give an average salary in Bangkok as there is such a wide range and extremes at both ends.

If you are at one of the top schools you can easily clear 200,000 baht/month. The wanna-be "international" schools might pay as low as 50,000 baht/month. If the school is for-profit and/or managed by Thais, run away as fast as you can.

Bangkok has this myth of being a cheap place to live, this was maybe the case 15-20 years ago, the only thing cheap there these days are the taxis. I would say anything below 120,000 baht/month + housing allowance is a joke and an insult.

You are required to register with your school email address, and I believe your current Head is auto-notified when you do this. If you are looking to job hunt under the radar, GRC is not going to work.

PsyGuy wrote:
> Drinking usually.

Is this what my school really means when they constantly urge us to take "wellness" breaks throughout the day when doing VL?

Totally depends on the school and its policies.

I have worked at schools that will give you nothing extra (even for a doctorate in your field), I have worked at a school that gave a trivial amount. The best I've experienced was a school that gave out a bump of over $10k USD per year for an MA. Find a school like that and stay for a few years, the increase can really add up. As long the MA is in an area loosely connected to your role, it should be fine.