This is a reader's submission from the stickmanbangkok website. I found it interesting, so I'm sharing it.I got to know many younger guys who were permanent residents (or at least making regular visa runs) in Thailand.  Many of these guys were working in the traditional jobs of bar owner or EFL teacher.  What was common to them was that they were not paying any attention to planning for retirement.  None of the Brits, for example, were paying into the UK state pension scheme or an offshore annuity fund.  Some were accumulating a percentage of pay in a local scheme, but this would provide only a small lump sum on maturity, with not much hope of this being adequate to support them once they were too old / too knackered to work anymore.  This assumes that by the time they come to collect, the money is still there.  This leads to an interesting question.  Will they have the wherewithal to obtain a retirement visa?  I foresee that there will, at some point, be a growing problem in Thailand of destitute farang, living without visas, ending up in the immigration detention centre pending extradition to a country of origin they haven't seen in years!   

it's not me......yet

agree with the poster, although many may be going home early if they are on tourist visas.

the rules didn't change; they decided to enforce them. no longer can one do back-to-back-to-back tourist visas by visiting neighboring countries. many will find, i believe, that in the long run it's for their own good.

Hmmmm interesting, this is the very reason I am not living in Thailand

Retirement? Pension?? By the time we get to 65 (and there is an if there somewhere) we'll be ordered to volunteer for a short stint in the Soylent Green factory.

What about the gigalos? lol

Don dude - if you have permanent residency, you don't need to worry about the retirement visa. However, yes you still need to survive so need some sort of backup. Point taken & I'm sure many people will be hoping that they can go back to their 'motherland', knock on the door after years of being away, & expect a handout. Unfortunately the times are a changing, so if they wanna be away for a long period, they better do something unless they wanna endure cold wet winters under their local bridge.

The UK state pension I gave up on long ago. All the same it is worth knowing there is a reciprical agreement between the Comonwealth countries - I kept my payslips from Jamaica and Kenya (5 years) and spent 4 years in the EU (Italy) Maybe that will be enough to scrape me a free walking frame! ? I pay into some shite private pension scheme which I know very little about that I never check - I just hope The Isle of Mann doesn't go under when the polar ice caps melt!!

Don, what you said is so true. I will stick it out here until I hit 55 and then consider my options