LOEI, THAILAND – A 70-year-old Swiss retiree living near this rural northern town described a life of peace and family warmth overshadowed by growing financial and legal worries.
Quiet life in rural Loei built around family
The man, who gave his name only as Urs, said he had found the calm he wanted in the hills and rice fields around Loei, far from Thailand’s tourist hotspots. He woke to birdsong and fresh mountain air while his Thai wife Noi prepared breakfast in the kitchen, a routine that made him wonder how he had ever wanted to live anywhere else.
He described the relationship with his younger wife as a partnership in which she ran the household and cared for the family while he tried to make her life easier. Her two adult children had initially been sceptical, he said, but now visited for meals, helped with repairs and sometimes spoke to him in English, which he said felt like “real family.”
Granddaughter brings joy as retirement fears grow
Urs said the biggest surprise of his later life was watching Fah, the four-year-old daughter of Noi’s eldest child, grow up in their home. The girl called him grandfather in Thai and had, in his words, “somehow become our child”, asking about his white hair, laughing at his attempts at Thai and sometimes falling asleep in his arms.
Those moments made him forget his worries during the day, he said, but his concerns returned at night as he thought about whether his fixed Swiss pension would be enough in the long term. His old-age insurance (AHV) and a small pension fund were paid reliably and currently covered a modest but dignified life in northern Thailand, helped by low local costs and what he viewed as a stable baht.
Changing tax rules raise doubts over security
Urs said he had long assumed his Swiss retirement income would be taxed only in Switzerland, with Thailand demanding nothing. That sense of security was shaken when he read reports that Thailand might change its tax rules for foreigners and began searching articles, internet forums and other expatriates for guidance.
He was repeatedly told not to panic and that the double taxation agreement between Switzerland and Thailand should protect his income. But he admitted he was not a tax lawyer and did not fully understand the legal language, adding that what he could not understand frightened him, especially when it involved money already taxed once.
Property, inheritance and the risk of losing home
The retiree explained that while the house was in his name, the land it stood on belonged to Noi because foreigners are not allowed to own land in Thailand. He generally saw this as a fair compromise, but said he sometimes worried about what would happen if something occurred to his wife and whether he would still have a home.
He stressed that these questions did not stem from mistrust, saying he trusted Noi completely, but described himself as Swiss and “someone who thinks in scenarios”. He also worried about what would become of his family if he died first and whether his wife would be able to claim his Swiss survivors’ pension from abroad.
Health insurance costs mount with age
Urs said his private health insurance still covered him well, but annual premiums increased every year as he grew older, a development he called logical but uncomfortable. At some point the policy would become unaffordable, he said, although he did not know when that point would come.
He noted there was a hospital near Loei, but that residents usually travelled for hours to Khon Kaen or Chiang Mai for more serious procedures. At 70, he said, he thought about access to good medical care with “sobriety rather than panic”, but added that high-quality treatment in his area could not be taken for granted.
Language barrier and dependence on his wife
Despite living in Thailand for about five years, Urs said his Thai remained limited. He could shop, introduce himself and manage small talk, but he struggled in serious situations at the doctor, at offices or with a lawyer, relying on Noi to translate.
He accepted that dependence but worried about what would happen if she could not accompany him and he faced an official who spoke no English while being asked to sign documents he could not read. He described this as everyday reality for many foreigners in Thailand and said he still had no solution.
Expat peers highlight potential future risks
Urs said a small group of Western retirees in the region offered both comfort and a mirror for his own fears. They met occasionally for beer and wide-ranging conversations that often circled back to their shared concerns about ageing abroad.
Listening to other retirees who had lost spouses or health insurance made him reflect on his own future. One man lived alone without family or safety net after his wife’s death, he said, while another had lost coverage because he had become too old for his policy, situations Urs felt he might one day face himself.
Visa rules and a country in transition
According to Urs, Thailand was no longer the country it had been two decades earlier, with the government modernising, digitalising and introducing more regulations. For retirees like him, that meant more paperwork, more rules and more uncertainty, including regularly changing requirements for extending a retirement visa.
He said renewals had gone smoothly so far but that news reports made him wonder how long that would last and what would happen if Thailand demanded higher income proof or tightened rules for older foreigners. In his view, it would not be the first time he had been surprised by regulatory changes.
No way back to Switzerland, only forward planning
Urs said friends in Switzerland sometimes urged him to return, but he responded with laughter and a question: return to what, with his former home, routine and social ties gone. He described Switzerland as expensive and cold and said no one there was waiting for him anymore.
In Thailand, by contrast, he said he had a family, a home and everyday life with Noi, Fah and breakfast on the veranda. Giving that up would not be a “return” but “capitulation”, he said, adding that he wanted his decision to stay to rest on a solid foundation and was working toward that goal.
Lawyers, wills and conversations about the future
To reduce his anxiety, Urs said he had begun to put his affairs in order, including planning a meeting with a tax adviser familiar with Swiss-Thai tax issues. He was also updating his will under both Swiss and Thai law, an exercise he acknowledged was costly but said bought him something valuable: clarity.
Noi knew where documents and assets were kept, he said, and the couple had talked about the house, finances and what should happen after his death. Those were not easy conversations for a married couple, he added, but they were important and had already helped him sleep “a little better, most of the time.”
Despite worries, no regrets about Thai life
Urs said he did not regret leaving everything behind at 65 to start again in Thailand. The life he found there gave him warmth, family and a sense of meaning he believed he would not have found again in Switzerland.
“The worries stay. They belong to old age like white hair and stiffer knees. But I sit on my veranda, look at the hills and hear Fah laughing in the garden – and I think: this is how it should be. May it stay like this for a long time. And may I be wise enough to protect it.”
said Urs, Swiss retiree in Loei.