As I get older I am considering which area of Thailand to retire to. I have visited Amnat before and wonder about this place to live.

Does anyone currently reside there and would you recommend it or not? Is it easy to get western food at supermarkets or not? Does it get very boring or do you find things to do? Are there any other foreigners to talk to out there? Would you recommend getting a motorbike or car to get about or is it too dangerous?

Any web sites which specifically have a forum and can talk about the Amnat area?

Thanks for any feedback.

Richard

Have a search in ThaiVisa, you should be able to find something in there.

I have skirted past Amnat Charoen (or I think I have) but have no idea of the facilities.

Richard
Have you been to Chiang mai? [north of Bangkok]. The weather not too hot , you can enjoy motorbike[my husband does],easy to get western foof at supermarket and foreigners to talk to out there.You can ride motorbike to Laos. http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/ maybe you will like Chiang Mai.

Hello RichardM
I was born not far from Amnat (about 1/2 hour drive away north of Amnat) but have lived in UK most of my life. I would recommend you consider Mukdahan which is a small town on highway 212 (the same as Amnat) which based on a visit or two every year for the last 16 years. Much has changed over that period. Muk has foreigners, a Tesco for Western food and everything really but still retains the charm of Isaan. There's some bars at the one end of the town if that floats your boat and in December the bridge to Laos will open. They currently do ferry crossings to Laos - our friend works in the Customs / visa house there but will be moving to the bridge. Perhaps a smaller town outside Muk will be cheaper but within a short car/bus ride. There are regular buses to/from Muk but a pickup or motorbike will be better. We have access to both. Driving is not dangerous - very quiet relatively speaking except for the fat falang razzing around on the motorbike
http://isan.sawadee.com/mukdahan/attractions.htm
Try that website too.

Thanks for the comments on this.

Thank you Brownies, I have visited Chiang Rai before but not Chiang Mai. I was thinking of Amnat because I already know some Thai people there - but no westerners.

Thank you Thaddeus, I am looking around the ThaiVisa web site but have not come up with much so far on Amnat.

I have visited the Amnat area for 3 days but did not manage to look around much. From what I saw it seemed very remote and they had never even seen a westerner before.
But thanks for the comment Noel, at least I know there are some foreigners about within 30 minutes drive at least.

I think I should go back and have a much longer look around but it would be nice to know if there are any others here who have first hand experience on the area.

I hope this is not a silly question but if a British national retires to Thailand on the '50 years and over visa' do you need to report to immigration at regular intervals? If "yes" how is this done? Do you have to travel down to Bangkok, or can it be done at a local Police Station, or online?

Richard

quote:

Originally posted by richardm:
if a British national retires to Thailand on the '50 years and over visa' do you need to report to immigration at regular intervals? If "yes" how is this done? Do you have to travel down to Bangkok

No such thing as a silly question (only silly answers )

Yes, you do need to report into a real Immigration Office under those circumstances, but, there is one in Mukdaharn, opposite the ferry station.

Last April, I did meet a chap from America who was a resident in Amnat Charoen, but he told me that he was one of the few.

Richard

Click on This Link

Wow, thanks. Great!