ATLANTA: Retirees have become a growth industry for second and third world economies. Malaysia offers visas for international retirees; Bali is funding retiree villages, dementia resorts have opened in Thailand, medical tourism has become an Asian/Middle Eastern focus and 10 per cent of western retirees are looking for a ‘second life’ experience different from the first 60 years…
The competition:
3. Hua Hin, Thailand
Another popular city for expats is Hua Hin.
Hua Hin was once a quiet fishing village, but after Thailand’s royal family built a vacation home on the shore in the 1920s, it attracted Bangkok’s elite, who in turn established a community of vacation homes along Hua Hin’s wide, sandy beaches. Today, Hua Hin has a well-developed expat community, who enjoy the area’s small-town feel, flourishing restaurant scene, sea breezes and reasonable cost of living…