Top Ten retirement places

[frequent]

It's that time again and this thread is not in the Gay Thailand forum because Thailand doesn't make the Top Ten in this latest list (http://www.nextavenue.org/best-places-retire-abroad-2018/). Interestingly Vietnam does - specifically Da Nang. However a quick Google search reveals that Vietnam has no such thing as a retirement visa, although apparently there are workarounds. You have to wonder why sites such as this recommend places for retirement where it's difficult to, you know, retire. Perhaps bobsaigon2 can shed some light on this

The other place in Asia that gets a mention is Malaysia which does have a 10-year retirement visa programme (http://www.mm2h.com/), although the requirements are more stringent that Thailand's one-year, infinite renewal kluge. The downside of Malaysia is all the Muslim nonsense that seeps into everyday life (somewhat avoidable in Kuala Lumpur or Sabah (if you can bear living in provincial towns like Kota Kinabalu)) and not much of a bar scene (if that's your thing)

[bobsaigon2]

Correct. No retirement visa available in Vietnam.

Five year visa can be obtained by the foreign spouse of a Vietnamese citizen. Two year visa available for executives or specialists of foreign companies.

For the ordinary folk, there are just tourist visas, renewed interminably for 3, 6 or 12 months at a time, depending on ever-changing regulations. There's an upside in that there's no requirement that you have any money in a Vietnamese bank. Downside is that as a tourist visa holder, you cannot buy a car or motorcycle or home.