Olddaddy

That would mean vacating the place you own for very long periods of time rather than just a few months per visit. 
It would probably mean selling my place which I am very loath to do. So for me it’s live in the UK and spend long holidays in Thailand.

I guess it's " convenience"& comfort in using a air conditioning Grab car rather than a baht bus.
The majority of us are old ,and with being old you can become lazy just like me 😃
Sometimes just for comfort & convenience I used a Grab to go from jomtien complex to Pattaya, rather than walk up the hill,wait in the heat for the baht bus then spend the next 20 minutes stopping and going with people crowding in with you .
 
 
 

I agree! GenSan is a nice place to visit in the PH. But there not any beaches near by. You have to go down to Glan to find a good sand beach.
But Davao is much better. You can take a Pump Boat across the strait to Samal Island. Several nice beaches and water parks there. And many places to visit in the City. Give it a PLUS!!

Up to a couple of years ago I used to rent a motor scooter of which I made extensive use for myself and was very often accompanied by boyfriends. I think I was a carefull rider and in fact I never had any sort of accident. I was fined a couple of times - once for going the wrong way up a one way street and the other because the bike had not got a valid test certificate. I never used them when I had drunk more than one beer. I always refused requests by boyfriends for them to use the bike. 

I have been very spoiled. From the mid 1980s I have worked for companies in Asia which allowed me to travel in business class. For three years in the early 90s, one of those companies alllowed me first class travel for long haul intercontinental flights, of which I took about a dozen a year. Travelling so frequently, I amassed a very large number of air miles each year and these enabled even more business class trips for vacations, often for annual visits to friends in Sydney and once for a trip to and around South America.  
Intercontinental first class in the early 1990s was not much better than business class in most airlines now. Only two real differences - a lot more space and mostly very fine cuisine and wines, especially the latter. In the years since then, I have been upgraded a few times and find the difference with business class getting even closer.
Since semi-retirement, I have had to pay for most of my own travel and the mileage bank is close to empty. I'm medium height and now 88 kg. I have still only done 2 longish-haul returns in economy class. First was LHR to Chicago on BA in mid-2015. Hated it. Outward trip I was seated in the middle of about 30 girls who had been at some hockey tournament in Israel. They were as high as a kite. The flight was miserable. On the overnight return, I declined dinner but said I would like breakfast. Assuming this would at least be juice, coffee and a bacon roll or something lilke that, little did I know how desperate BA's economy catering had become. Breakfast was tea or coffee and a tiny hard wrapped slab of fruit cake that was all but frozen!
At the other end of the scale JAL's economy class 787 on the BKK/Tokyo route in 2018 was extremely good. Comfortable window seats and the best economy menu I have ever experienced. This had been created by JAL chefs especially for economy passengers.

Problem with that green seat , is they line up for the toilets hovering over you 
I was in seat  which is just opposite you,I look up from my aisle seat they are all lined up for the toilet standing over me , for now on anywhere near toilets for me is a no go .
People I found out are fascinated by  toilets even on a 1 hour flight .

General Santos City,or Gensan for short is a city in the southern part of the Philippines,it's more a country type city .
It even has its own international airport although you can't fly there directly from other countries,you have to change at Manila airport.
Gensan is known as the "tuna capital" of the Philippines and will hold the tuna festival in September for those interested.
I found General Santos City the best out of all the cities I visited.
There's no condos there or skyscrapers,it's a large country type city where the people are friendly and cheap prices .
As for guys I had 8 in 2 weeks and the majority didn't want pay !
Two asked for trycycle money to my hotel ,(100 pesos) another asked for 1000 pesos (about 700baht) the others were bisexual guys in the tuna industry looking for quick fuck for free.
They were all tops and a few had tattoos and most were either married or had girlfriends,I got them all of grinder.
General Santos City ( Gensan) has a few 4 star hotels one a 4.5 and also a casino inside the hotel.
Country city like this is worth a visit esuif your in your mature years because the bisexual guys on Grindr are horny for new ass , very few farangs are in Grindr in Gensan , I saw a few backpackers only .
So guys I ask you to explore rather than just go to Thailand every year !
Try the Philippines!!!
Especially country cities like general Santos City & Davao,2 of the most safest cities in the Philippines!
 
 

Problem with that green seat , is they line up for the toilets hovering over you 
I was in seat  which is just opposite you,I look up from my aisle seat they are all lined up for the toilet standing over me , for now on anywhere near toilets for me is a no go .
People I found out are fascinated by  toilets even on a 1 hour flight .

I guess it's " convenience"& comfort in using a air conditioning Grab car rather than a baht bus.
The majority of us are old ,and with being old you can become lazy just like me 😃
Sometimes just for comfort & convenience I used a Grab to go from jomtien complex to Pattaya, rather than walk up the hill,wait in the heat for the baht bus then spend the next 20 minutes stopping and going with people crowding in with you .
 
 
 

I am thin/medium built so I have no problem fitting into economy class seats.  But I still fly business class for flights longer than 3 hours because I can afford it.  In my younger years I was stingy too and always flew economy class.  But as I mentioned in my other post, I am at the age now to prepare for my death.  I need to time my death and money spending.  I am trying my best not to leave money behind. I rather die poor than leaving money.  I work hard all my life and was frugal in my younger years.  I deserve some enjoyment now.
As far as airlines choice, I am not loyal to any airlines or airline alliance, there is no need for me to be.  I just shop around and find the best deal on business class.  PAL business class is usually cheaper but many of their planes have obsolete business class seat configuration, so I don't consider them the best deal.

The twelve hour LHR-BKK flight is a trial for me, and bluntly gets more difficult by the year.  I promised myself that, after six cancelled trips, this recent trip would include Business, as opposed to Premium Economy, flights. And what a difference this made.
It's not just the flight itself but the privileged check-in, immigration and security procedures and then the comfort of a lounge where you can eat and  rest in comfort. The only draw back is that after this experience, I shall have to find the money to replicate it for future flights; I'm spoilt!. As it happens, I paid EVA £3000 for the recent ones and £2500 for the next visit. 
However comfortable the flight, nothing prevents the inevitable jet-lag,  from which I'm still suffering after arriving home late on Tuesday. Money doesn't solve everything.

I rather spend my money on business class bar guys than business  class flights and always fly economy in the one of last rows precisely because nobody likes to seat there. Long flights are chore and I don,t see reason to pay more than necessary, jet lag  being main issue for me.
As  for overweight passengers taking 1.5 seat I feel sorry for them  but even more for people in the same row. Perhaps charging passengers  by total  weight of them and their luggage would solve issue ?

After a few years break from visiting Thailand I will be treating myself to business class on my next trip despite the price, although tall I have had no problems fitting into economy but the 7hr flight in economy seats is close to my limit. When I was in Indonesia I flew business class everytime on Thai airways and really loved it, the fights from Bali were only about four and a half hours but it was nice to be up the front away from the crowed economy section. 

Are you familiar with Seat Guru?  You might want to check that site when trying to decide where you want to sit.
https://www.seatguru.com

General Santos City,or Gensan for short is a city in the southern part of the Philippines,it's more a country type city .
It even has its own international airport although you can't fly there directly from other countries,you have to change at Manila airport.
Gensan is known as the "tuna capital" of the Philippines and will hold the tuna festival in September for those interested.
I found General Santos City the best out of all the cities I visited.
There's no condos there or skyscrapers,it's a large country type city where the people are friendly and cheap prices .
As for guys I had 8 in 2 weeks and the majority didn't want pay !
Two asked for trycycle money to my hotel ,(100 pesos) another asked for 1000 pesos (about 700baht) the others were bisexual guys in the tuna industry looking for quick fuck for free.
They were all tops and a few had tattoos and most were either married or had girlfriends,I got them all of grinder.
General Santos City ( Gensan) has a few 4 star hotels one a 4.5 and also a casino inside the hotel.
Country city like this is worth a visit esuif your in your mature years because the bisexual guys on Grindr are horny for new ass , very few farangs are in Grindr in Gensan , I saw a few backpackers only .
So guys I ask you to explore rather than just go to Thailand every year !
Try the Philippines!!!
Especially country cities like general Santos City & Davao,2 of the most safest cities in the Philippines!
 
 

General Santos City,or Gensan for short is a city in the southern part of the Philippines,it's more a country type city .
It even has its own international airport although you can't fly there directly from other countries,you have to change at Manila airport.
Gensan is known as the "tuna capital" of the Philippines and will hold the tuna festival in September for those interested.
I found General Santos City the best out of all the cities I visited.
There's no condos there or skyscrapers,it's a large country type city where the people are friendly and cheap prices .
As for guys I had 8 in 2 weeks and the majority didn't want pay !
Two asked for trycycle money to my hotel ,(100 pesos) another asked for 1000 pesos (about 700baht) the others were bisexual guys in the tuna industry looking for quick fuck for free.
They were all tops and a few had tattoos and most were either married or had girlfriends,I got them all of grinder.
General Santos City ( Gensan) has a few 4 star hotels one a 4.5 and also a casino inside the hotel.
Country city like this is worth a visit esuif your in your mature years because the bisexual guys on Grindr are horny for new ass , very few farangs are in Grindr in Gensan , I saw a few backpackers only .
So guys I ask you to explore rather than just go to Thailand every year !
Try the Philippines!!!
Especially country cities like general Santos City & Davao,2 of the most safest cities in the Philippines!
 
 

I was not referring specifically to Thailand. Travel pricing depends on a host of factors and there is no reason to believe that, as in the past, high prices are here to stay in the long run.
Re air fares, of course they are higher due to much greater than expected demand after covid, oil price, high inflation rate, finding new staff fast, peak summer demand etc. But airlines have been through similar price hikes before and prices have eventually come down. Remember when oil was almost $150 per barrel? That was in 2008 and 2012 and was followed by predictions of doom and gloom for the travel industry. By 2016 it was down to around $60. Just yesterday alone there was a cut of 12% in the price of jet fuel.

I recommend you hire a gayguide for the first few days then you will be confident walking alone 
Far better to be alone you will get boys approach you rather than they see someone with you 

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.

Well not really.
If you sold your house in farangland wherever that may be ,and make Thailand your home then it's going to be expensive to go back to your own country unless you had somewhere to stay cheaply.
 

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 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 
 

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 
 

For go-go bars, Boyztown area.  For  other bars (no go-go), massage  and boys, Jomtien Complex.

Good point; I'd be interested to know how many retirees have learnt enough Thai to function in rural areas? or whether the thinking is "why bother?"