Retiring to Thailand from Australia: your pension, your tax and your home.
// Short answer
You can draw the Age Pension in Thailand, but after 26 weeks away its rate depends on how many years you lived in Australia between 16 and pension age: 35 years or more keeps the full rate in most cases, fewer gets a share of it. Thailand taxes foreign income only when you bring it in. A 1-bedroom condo in Chiang Mai is listed for a median of ฿2.95 million.
Pension and tax rules as published by each government on 5 October 2026; home prices are 2026 asking prices.
On this page
Can you retire to Thailand from Australia?
Yes, many Australians do. The visa is a question for Thai immigration; the money questions are below.
Living in Thailand needs the right visa, and that is set by Thai immigration, not by anything on this page. Start from the Thai government’s official e-visa site: thaievisa.go.th. This page covers the money: your pension abroad, how it is taxed, and the home.
Do you keep the Age Pension in Thailand?
Yes, at an outside-Australia rate. From the day you leave to live abroad your Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement stop and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled. After 26 weeks the rate depends on your Australian residence between 16 and Age Pension age.
Services Australia’s rule: with 35 years or more of residence your rate will not change in most cases; with fewer, you get a share, for example 10/35ths after 10 years. Some people who were already abroad on 1 July 2014 keep their rate under a transitional rule. Check your own case with Services Australia before you go.
How is an Australian retiree taxed in Thailand?
Thailand taxes a resident (180 days or more in a calendar year) on foreign income earned from 2024 when it is brought into Thailand. Australia decides your own residency with its own tests, and the tax treaty between the two countries decides which one taxes a pension.
Thailand treats you as tax-resident in any calendar year in which you stay 180 days or more. A resident pays Thai tax on foreign income only when it is brought into Thailand, and only on income earned from 1 January 2024: the Revenue Department’s own manual says income earned before 2024 and brought in later is not taxed. Where the same income was taxed at home, the tax treaty decides which country taxes it and lets you credit one tax against the other. How you time and source the money you bring in matters, so take advice in both countries before you move it.
On the Australian side the ATO applies the resides, domicile and 183-day tests, and its rules are not the same as the visa rules. Whether you stay an Australian tax resident after moving changes how your income is taxed at home, so work it out before you leave.
Sources
Can an Australian buy a home in Thailand?
A foreigner can own a condo freehold in Thailand, as long as the building’s foreign quota (49% of the building’s unit floor area) is not full. Land is not open to foreign ownership; a house is usually held on a registered lease.
The money for a freehold condo has to arrive from abroad in foreign currency, documented, and the bank issues the record you show at the Land Office: the FET certificate. Ask the building for a dated letter confirming quota before any deposit: the foreign quota letter.
The rules for Australian buyers in full: can Australians buy property in Thailand.
What does a home cost in Thailand's retirement towns?
By median asking price, a 1-bedroom is ฿2.95 million in Chiang Mai, ฿3.63 million in Hua Hin and ฿4.16 million in Pattaya, plus a monthly building fee of about ฿45 to ฿50 per m².
| City | 1-bedroom, median asking | 2-bedroom, median asking | Building fee a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chiang Mai | ฿2.95 million, 37 m² | ฿5.19 million, 68 m² | ฿45 per m² |
| Hua Hin | ฿3.63 million, 41 m² | ฿7.35 million, 75 m² | ฿50 per m² |
| Pattaya | ฿4.16 million, 36 m² | ฿7.39 million, 65 m² | ฿45 per m² |
Median asking prices from our own 2026 listing data, one listing platform per city, de-duplicated; asking, not sold. The building fee is the median common-area fee per m² a month on the same listings. Five cities compared: how much is a condo in Thailand, and by size: 2-bedroom condo prices.
If you are buying a home to live in, the Home Shortlist picks five condos on your criteria and checks each one: the building, its fees, the foreign quota and the title. If you are buying to let as well, the Custom Report ranks every listing in your budget: see a real report.
// Buying in Thailand?
Every listing in your budget, ranked on net yield, appreciation and resale. Any market with public listing data; book a free call first so I can confirm your city has the data.
See the $499 report, page by pageFrequently Asked Questions
Can I get the Australian Age Pension in Thailand?
Does Thailand tax my Australian pension?
Can an Australian retiree buy a condo in Thailand?
How much is a condo for a retiree in Thailand?
Header photo: Elmschrat, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. All credits: image credits.