Live data from Hacker News

Americans are retiring to Vietnam

latimes.com

211–220 of 254 posts

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#211
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you guys are missing the joke. The users experience is with the U.S. health system. Because the stereotype and the parent comments have the implication that doctors from Asia are seen as inferior; the joke being that the U.S. sets a fucking low standard for quality of care.

> Because the stereotype and the parent comments have the implication that doctors from Asia are seen as inferior; That's not at all what I said and is exactly the opposite.

Yeah because I'm explaining someone else's joke to you. Like it or not some of the comments here are perpetuating that stereotype. It's also a disservice and naive for one to claim that the there isn't that stereotype.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the reason for this is simple (though understandably unpopular): A lot of people that get rich because of America would just drop American citizenship once they do get rich to avoid paying back into the system that allowed them to become successful. There is no other country that offers as much upward mobility as the US to its citizens. Hence the tax.

Also the services that the US Government provides to even their overseas expats is pretty remarkable. I’m not sure there’s another country in the world that can bail you out of a dicey situation within hours in almost any spot on earth.

You don't know what you are talking about. The US overseas generally won't lift a finger unless it has invaded the country in question. Canada, the UK, Germany, Ireland, Japan: all in fact assist.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#214
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I'd rather live in a small town in Iowa than Vietnam for that price.

I can only speak to Bangkok, but life in Bangkok will be cheaper, safer, more convenient, the food quality will be higher, medical and dental care will be much higher standards, public transport is better, than in Iowa. I’ve spent less time in Vietnam, but it seems to be hot on the heels of Thailand.

Bangkok ain't cheap. The current Thai government discourages retirees. Those who have already retired there are moving to Vietnam, Cambodia or the Phils.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not about the cheapest place to live it’s about not-Birmingham, not-Memphis The Bi-coastal Americans in this article will take communism on a bankroll over the Bible Belt, take a hint

Tropical weather and ocean access helps. A flat land with extremes of hot and cold, tornadoes and drastic divergences in daily temperature are more worrisome than being on the head with a Bible, personally.

Yes all that is geographically part of the Bible Belt:

Shitty extremes of temperature

Shitty hostile weather patterns

Shitty viability of opportunities as a result of ongoing talent drain towards the coasts with everyone wondering why its so cheap

Shitty isolationist mentality and nationalism to rationalize why their dystopian nightmare is okay

Shitty extremes of religion that were literally kicked out of Europe

Shitty public policy and services as a byproduct of the prior two realities

When people want to enjoy their money its an easy and hard pass on the bible belt. Social welfare states and full blown communist states by the water give you everything for free all while you can buy luxury in liberalized state planned economies.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#216
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't. Care to expand on that?

> The intersection of decent cost of living, close to medical facilities, high quality medical establishment, and affordable medical care leaves not too many places in the world.

My point is, i think there are _plenty_ of places like that.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#217
post #208
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personality arguments aside: if we assume that “buying” an asian wife is an uncomfortable stereotype, doesn’t “status or wealth to attract a young attractive western woman” fall into the same category? What’s the difference (except life cost multiplier/divisor) that makes one uncomfortable and the other comfortable?

The reason it’s easy for Western men to impress women in third-world countries has to do with the inequality between those countries which is itself linked to an ugly legacy of colonialism. Exploiting the income gap between America and Vietnam is, in a real sense, getting laid because of colonial history. And that is bad .

Thailand was never a colony. Granted, it is a complex issue.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#218
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically some of the SEA countries probably have better medical services than Tokyo. You guys are criticizing me for calling Asia a monolith but I can assure you the difference between Tokyo and Myanmar is smaller than NYU and the Midwest

Midwest like the Mayo Clinic?

Will you be living next to Mayo Clinic when you have your heart attack, or something closer to the median hospital in the region?

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any where the To Lich flow. Quan hoa is one example

Wait that canal is sewage? I drive on that road everyday, never noticed it was anything other than a cute waterway.

Long ago it was a river, the French made it that way in the early 20th century.

Re: Americans are retiring to Vietnam

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Health care in Vietnam is not not too bad, at least for the price. Surely you can't expect state of the art cancer treatments here but everything else is pretty affordable. My father just had an operation to fix his retinal detachment, everything costed less than 800 USD, and only 200 USD after insurance. Another guy I know had an operation for appendicitis, and he only needed to pay 200 USD for it. And both of them…

> Health care in Vietnam is not too bad, at least for the price. Let us see... My partner got what looked liked food poisoning when we arrived to Hue. Local hospital refused to take us, sent to a special hospital "for foreigners". She was put on a bed and kept waiting in pain for hours. The doctor didn't bother to do anything for her for hours, despite not too many other patients. We felt hungry, yet they refused to…

I'm sorry to hear that. It seems that we are still not used to deal with foreigners yet, especially outside HN/SG.

> Local hospital refused to take us, sent to a special hospital "for foreigners".

This was the red light, Hue central hospital is actually very good (I have been there myself). It would be better if you had a local to guide you, maybe I should develop a website to help expats in Vietnam... Still what was the name of that hospital 'for foreigner' you mentioned?

Post reply on HN