Why People Regret Moving to Thailand: Downsides [2026] – Weak Yen, Pension Tax, Health Insurance and Air Pollution

October 19, 2026

Taiga Sato

When people moving to Thailand find that "this is not what I expected," the reasons usually come down to three things: living costs pushed up by the weak yen, Japanese pensions that can be taxed in both Japan and Thailand, and health insurance that gets harder to obtain as you age. The baht is about 40% more expensive in yen terms than five years ago, and since 2024, Thai residents who bring foreign income earned from 2024 onward into Thailand are taxed on it. The Japan–Thailand tax treaty has no article on ordinary pensions, so Japanese public pensions are subject to withholding tax in Japan, and no exemption is available by filing a form. Other things that tend to weigh on people once they have settled in include air pollution in Chiang Mai during the dry season, road deaths at about ten times Japan's rate per capita, and annual visa extensions with address reports every 90 days. On the other hand, more than 70,000 Japanese nationals live in Thailand, and there are hospitals where Japanese is spoken and plenty of Japanese food. If you understand the downsides in numbers and settle your finances, insurance and where to live in advance, you can avoid most regrets.

*Amounts and rules are as of October 9, 2026. This article is an English version of our Japanese guide, adapted for foreign residents of Japan and international investors. Please check tax matters with a tax professional before you move.

For an overview of moving to Thailand and a list of related articles, see Moving to Thailand: Requirements and Costs.

Contents

Conclusion: why people regret moving to Thailand, and a list of the downsides
The weak yen: the baht has become about 40% more expensive in five years
Pensions and tax: withholding in Japan, and tax on remittances to Thailand
Health insurance: harder to get and more expensive as you age
Visa procedures: annual extensions, 90-day reports, and visa exemption cut to 30 days
Air pollution and road accidents: Chiang Mai's dry season and motorbike crashes
Scams and trouble: tactics that target Japanese nationals, and items you cannot bring in
Property and permanent residence: no land ownership, and PR capped at 100 per nationality
Frequently asked questions
Summary

Conclusion: why people regret moving to Thailand, and a list of the downsides

Here are the points people most often find different from what they expected after moving, with figures and ways to prepare.

Downside	The current situation in numbers	What you can do in advance
Living costs up because of the weak yen	1 baht was about JPY 3.31 in October 2021 and about JPY 4.70 in October 2026 (about 1.4 times)	Estimate living costs in baht rather than yen, and keep enough margin to pay even if exchange rates move
Pensions can be taxed in both Japan and Thailand	20.42% withholding in Japan. Income earned from 2024 onward is also taxable in Thailand when remitted there	Plan the timing and amount of remittances, and check how to use the foreign tax credit with a tax professional
Health insurance is hard to get	Many insurers accept new applicants only up to around age 60–65. Premiums for those 75 and over can range from 120,000 to over 870,000 baht a year	Sign up while you are still young enough. Check how pre-existing conditions are treated
Ongoing visa procedures	Retirement visas must be extended every year. Address reports every 90 days	Keep track of deadlines, and if you use an agent, watch out for forgery
Air pollution	On March 30, 2026, Chiang Mai had the worst air pollution of any major city in the world	Decide how you will spend the dry season (February–April) and get an air purifier
Road accidents	25.4 road deaths per 100,000 people (2021, WHO estimate)	Do not ride motorbikes. Watch out for vehicles even on pavements and at crossings
Property and permanent residence	Foreigners cannot own land. Permanent residence is capped at 100 people per nationality per year	Plan to rent, and do not assume that living there long enough leads to permanent residence

Whether you regret moving to Thailand depends less on the country itself than on whether you built the weak yen, taxes and health insurance into your budget and plans. We compare visa types and requirements in Moving to Thailand: Requirements and Costs.

The weak yen: the baht has become about 40% more expensive in five years

A major cause of the regret that "living costs are higher than I thought" is the weak yen. Based on mid-rates published by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, 1 baht was about JPY 3.31 on October 1, 2021, and about JPY 4.70 on October 8, 2026. The same lifestyle costing 50,000 baht a month went from about JPY 166,000 to about JPY 235,000 in yen terms.

Date	Yen per 1 baht (mid-rate)	50,000 baht a month in yen
October 1, 2021	About JPY 3.31	About JPY 166,000
October 8, 2026	About JPY 4.70	About JPY 235,000

For people living on a Japanese pension or yen-denominated assets, a weaker yen raises living costs even if nothing else changes. If you move with a fixed yen budget on the assumption that "Thailand is cheap," you may struggle. Build up your living costs in baht (rent, food and so on) and plan with enough margin to keep paying even if the yen weakens further. Typical living costs in Bangkok are covered in the living costs section of Moving to Thailand: Requirements and Costs.

Pensions and tax: withholding in Japan, and tax on remittances to Thailand

Thailand's "remittance taxation": foreign income taxed since 2024

In Thailand, you become a Thai tax resident if you live there for 180 days or more in a calendar year. From January 1, 2024, when a resident brings foreign income earned in 2024 or later into Thailand, it is taxed regardless of the year in which it is remitted (Revenue Department Order Por.161/2566). Income earned up to 2023 is not taxed even when remitted (Por.162/2566). In practice, however, you need to be able to show that the funds date from 2023 or earlier, for example with records of your account balance as of December 31, 2023.

Tax rates are progressive: taxable income up to 150,000 baht is tax-free, and the top rate is 35% on income over 5 million baht. In 2025, a relaxation was proposed under which income remitted in the year it is earned or the following year would be tax-free, but as of October 2026 it has not been published in the Royal Gazette and has not become law.

Japanese pensions: withholding in Japan, with no exemption by filing a form

The Japan–Thailand tax treaty has no article on ordinary pensions (other than pensions for government service). For this reason, the Japan Pension Service treats Thailand as a country "where a tax treaty exists but does not apply to pensions," so unlike for other countries, you cannot get an exemption from Japanese income tax by submitting the "Application Form for Income Tax Convention."

Japanese public pensions remain subject to withholding tax in Japan even after you move to Thailand and become a non-resident of Japan. The rate is 20.42%, applied to the pension amount after deducting JPY 50,000 per month (JPY 95,000 for those aged 65 and over) (National Tax Agency).

Stage	Tax
Japan	20.42% withheld from public pensions (applied after deducting JPY 50,000 a month, or JPY 95,000 a month for those 65 and over). No exemption by filing a form
Thailand	Taxable when a Thai tax resident remits pension income received from 2024 onward to Thailand
Relief from double taxation	Tax paid in Japan may be credited against Thai tax (up to the amount of the Thai tax)

If you leave your pension in a Japanese account, no Thai tax arises. However, withdrawing cash from a Japanese account at an ATM in Thailand is treated as bringing the money into Thailand. On the other hand, if you remit money to Thailand every month for living expenses, that pension income must also be declared in Thailand. Check the remittance method and how to use the foreign tax credit with a tax professional before you move. We explain the resident registration and tax procedures around departure in Taxes and Resident Registration When Moving Abroad, and how pensions are treated in each country in Can You Retire Abroad on a Japanese Pension?.

Health insurance: harder to get and more expensive as you age

Private hospitals in Thailand are well equipped, and some in Bangkok have Japanese interpreters. However, costs are high compared with the out-of-pocket share under Japan's public health insurance, so private health insurance is essential.

The problem is that insurance becomes harder to obtain as you get older. According to a May 2026 report in the local newspaper Pattaya Mail, many Thai insurers accept new applicants only up to around age 60–65, and only some accept applicants up to 75. Example premiums are as follows.

Age	Example annual premium
60–64	About 28,000–175,000 baht
75 and over	About 120,000 to 870,000 baht or more

Pre-existing conditions are usually either excluded from cover or subject to a waiting period of 12–24 months. The same report gives the example of knee replacement surgery costing 300,000–450,000 baht.

Among retirement visas, the O-A visa requires health insurance with cover of at least 3 million baht. You need to either decide to move while you can still get insurance, or set aside funds (such as savings) for medical costs in case you cannot get insured.

Visa procedures: annual extensions, 90-day reports, and visa exemption cut to 30 days

To live in Thailand long term, you have to keep up with visa procedures. The retirement visas for people aged 50 and over (Non-O and O-A) require the following, either every year or at regular intervals.

Annual extension: show deposits of at least 800,000 baht, monthly income of at least 65,000 baht, or a combination of the two
90-day report: report your address to the Immigration Bureau every 90 days. Failure to do so carries a fine of 2,000 baht (up to 5,000 baht if you are caught)
Re-entry permit: if you leave Thailand without one, your permission to stay is lost when you depart
No work: you cannot work in Thailand on a retirement visa

In addition, visa-exempt stays for tourism and similar purposes were shortened from 60 days to 30 days from September 15, 2026. Visa-exempt entries at land border crossings are in principle limited to twice a year. "Entering without a visa and living there long term through repeated border runs" is no longer realistic.

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also warned of cases in which people handed their passports to businesses advertising "VISA EXTENSION," had forged entry and exit stamps put in them, and were detained for illegal entry when leaving the country. If you use an agent, check their track record. For a comparison that includes the DTV and LTR, which are available to people under 50, see Moving to Thailand: Requirements and Costs.

Air pollution and road accidents: Chiang Mai's dry season and motorbike crashes

Dry-season air pollution

In northern Thailand, air pollution becomes severe every year in the dry season from February to April because of smoke from agricultural burning and forest fires. On March 30, 2026, Chiang Mai ranked first in IQAir's ranking of air pollution in major cities worldwide (AQI 205, "very unhealthy"). It was also the world's worst in March 2024. According to IQAir, Thailand's annual average PM2.5 level in 2025 was 17.8 micrograms per cubic metre, about 3.6 times the WHO guideline (5 micrograms).

Chiang Mai is cheap and popular with people relocating from Japan, but it is hard on those with respiratory or heart conditions. Plan on measures such as spending the dry season in Bangkok or abroad, or getting an air purifier.

Road accidents

According to WHO estimates, about 18,218 people died in road accidents in Thailand in 2021, or 25.4 per 100,000 people. 83.8% of those killed were motorbike riders or passengers. That is about ten times Japan's rate (2.6 per 100,000 people in 2021, OECD International Transport Forum). Avoid motorbike taxis and rental motorbikes, and pay attention to traffic even when walking.

Scams and trouble: tactics that target Japanese nationals, and items you cannot bring in

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs overseas safety website (Thailand, updated April 13, 2026) lists cases such as the following in which Japanese nationals have been victims.

Pickpocketing, and theft by distraction, such as approaching you and asking you to "show me your money"
Scams by taxi and tuk-tuk drivers or people who strike up a conversation
Losing contact with a Thai partner after giving them a house, land, a car or money
Exorbitant bills at karaoke bars and similar venues in entertainment districts
"Shady part-time jobs" that lure people into acting as callers for Japanese phone-fraud rings or as drug couriers

Thailand also has regulations that may not be obvious to newcomers. E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are banned from import and possession, with penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment or a fine of 500,000 baht. Recreational cannabis is also prohibited, and for Japanese nationals its use can be punishable under Japanese law as well. Lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) carries 3–15 years' imprisonment.

On safety, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a Level 3 "Avoid all travel" advisory for areas within 30 km of the Cambodian border in seven provinces and for southern provinces including Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani (July 2, 2026). No risk advisory has been issued for the main relocation destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Please also check your own government's travel advice.

Property and permanent residence: no land ownership, and PR capped at 100 per nationality

Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand. They can buy only condominium units within the foreign quota of up to 49% of the total floor area of all units. Leases can be registered for a maximum of 30 years. Proposals to raise the foreign quota to 75% and extend leases to 99 years were put forward in June 2024, but as of October 2026 they have not become law. Plans to "buy a home and live in Thailand" do not work the same way as in Japan.

Permanent residence is not easy either. Thai permanent residence is capped at 100 people per nationality per year, and there is no permanent residence application category at all for people who have renewed a retirement visa, however many years they have done so. We explain the requirements for permanent residence and citizenship in the permanent residence section of Moving to Thailand: Requirements and Costs.

Frequently asked questions

Why is moving to Thailand sometimes described as a disaster?

Because three things tend to combine: living costs rising more than expected due to the weak yen, heavy medical costs when you cannot get insurance, and tax in both Japan and Thailand. All of these can be checked in numbers before you move; Thailand is not an especially hard place to live.

How much savings do I need to move to Thailand?

For the retirement visa requirements alone, one option is to deposit at least 800,000 baht in a Thai bank. However, that is only the screening threshold. You also need to factor in funds for medical costs if you are too old to get insurance, a buffer against a weaker yen, and the cost of trips home.

What happens to my Japanese pension in Thailand?

You can receive a Japanese pension while living in Thailand, but 20.42% is withheld in Japan, and because the Japan–Thailand tax treaty has no article on ordinary pensions, you cannot get an exemption by filing a form. If a Thai tax resident remits pension income from 2024 onward to Thailand, it is also taxable in Thailand. Tax paid in Japan may be credited against Thai tax.

How can I move to Thailand in my 50s?

If you are 50 or over, you can use a retirement visa with deposits of 800,000 baht or monthly income of at least 65,000 baht. It is safest to take out health insurance while you are still young enough to qualify. If you are under 50, the DTV and LTR are options.

Should I live in Chiang Mai or Bangkok?

Rent and prices are lower in Chiang Mai, but air pollution from February to April is severe. Bangkok is better for hospitals where Japanese is spoken and the size of the Japanese community. Of the 72,113 Japanese nationals living in Thailand, 51,297 live in Bangkok (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as of October 1, 2025).

Summary

Regrets about moving to Thailand tend to center on the weak yen (the baht up about 1.4 times in five years), tax on pensions (20.42% in Japan, plus tax on remittances to Thailand) and health insurance (unavailable as you get older)
The Japan–Thailand tax treaty has no article on ordinary pensions, so Japanese withholding tax cannot be exempted by filing a form
Visa-exempt stays were shortened to 30 days from September 15, 2026. To live there long term, you need to keep up with procedures such as the retirement visa
Be especially careful about dry-season air pollution in Chiang Mai and motorbike accidents
More than 70,000 Japanese nationals live there, and daily life is well supported. If you settle your finances, insurance and where to live in advance, you can avoid regrets

Our office provides comparison consultations on long-stay visas and permanent residence in Thailand and other countries, as well as apostille and translation services for the Japanese documents needed for applications. If you would like to work out whether Thailand or another country suits you better based on your pension, assets and family situation, please use our free consultation. We never use pushy sales tactics. We can assist in English and Japanese. As Certified Administrative Scriveners, we are bound by a legal duty of confidentiality.