Best “Cool” Places to Retire in Southeast Asia

Loi Kratong festival in Chiang Mai.

Americans living in the colder parts of the United States may dream of expatriate living in the warm and sunny tropics. However, upon moving to a tropical climate, they might discover the weather to be too hot and humid for their tastes. However, all is not lost, one can still live in the tropics and have live in a cooler more temperate climate even if you are living right on the Equator.

Of course, you can simply buy an air conditioner and keep it running throughout the day. But it really is possible to a cool climate if you decide to retire abroad in the Tropics. This is due to a phenomenon called the environmental lapse rate.  The environmental lapse rate is the fact that temperature gets cooler the higher up you go in elevation (approximately 0.65 C/100 meters or 3.5 F/1000 feet).

Thus, many expatriates will make the decision of living abroad in the mountains rather than along a coastal beach. Depending on your region of choice, one can find a cool place to live throughout most of the tropical regions in the world. Here are some of the popular ‘cool weather’ retirement destinations that are popular in Southeast Asia that savvy expatriates select for cooler expatriate living.

Best Cool Places to Retire: Chiang Mai, Thailand

In Thailand, Chiang Mai has become a popular retirement destination for many. It is located in the highland interior of the country. At approximately 1000 feet above sea level, it is a retirement destination that is several degrees cooler than the more populated coastal cities in Thailand.

In many countries, the majority of the population will be found in the coastal lowlands. Coastal areas have historically has been the focal point of trade and agriculture, and many major cities have developed along the coastline at the mouths of river.  Retirees selecting the highland interior of many Asian countries will not only find a cooler climate, but discover an area that is less densely populated.

Chiang Mai, with a population of about 150,000, is located on the Ping River which connects it to the coast. The city was founded in 1300 and has evolved into a major cultural center in northern Thailand. The photo to the left is Loi Kratong, a major Thai festival worshipping the goddess of water. It is one of the best retirement destinations in Thailand, if you want a somewhat cooler climate and which is a distance away from the hustle and bustle of the much larger capital city of Bangkok.

Tea plantation in Bandung highlands.

Best Cool Places to Retire: Bandung, Indonesia

A similar type of environment can be found in Bandung, Indonesia which is the capital of the West Java province. It is a even cooler than Chiang Mai because of its location at an elevation of about 2,500 feet. During the Dutch colonial period, industry developed around tea plantations in the Indonesian highland regions and still remain today.

Because of the old tea plantation economy, the mountainous region around the city center have been associated with the wealthier European colonial class. Bandung is much larger than Chiang Mai and has been an expatriate destination to Europeans for many years. Today the city is a bustling metropolis of about 2.5 million people supported by tourism, manufacturing, education, and textile industries.

Bandung thus offers a cool climate, but is a fairly large urban center in and of itself with all of the amenities associated with living in a large city. If you are looking for a cool climate combined with the hustle and bustle of city life, then Bandung may be one of the best places to retire in Southeast Asia for you.

Golf courses and retirement communities make Tagaytay a popular retirement destination.

Best Cool Places to Retire: Tagaytay, Philippines

An increasingly popular cool climate destination in the Philippines is Tagaytay.  With a population of about 60,000 and an elevation of 2,000 feet, the city of Tagaytay is largely built upon a tourist economy.  The primary engine driving tourism is the area’s cool climate and the fact that the city overlooks Taal Lake and Volcano – two very popular tourist destinations.

Tagaytay’s cool climate also attracts many of the wealthier Filipinos who use the city as a weekend or vacation get away from Manila. Today, foreigners are also beginning to discover the area. The Japanese for example, have been involved in the development of retirement communities for their elderly in Tagaytay.

Tagaytay thus offers a cool retirement destination for expatriate living, coupled with a smaller town environment. It seems to offer a pleasant and more upscale lifestyle away from the large city, but relatively close to the city of Manila if one needs to make the commute into the larger city.

The vegetation in Baguio is much more temperate climate.

Best Cool Places to Retire: Baguio, Philippines

Historically, Baguio City has been a popular destination for many American expatriates in the Philippines. With a population of about 300,000, it is situated over 4,000 feet above sea level. Education, commerce and tourism are the foundation of its economy. And it offers the coolest climate of the destinations covered in this article.

At the end of World War II, the Japanese Army surrendered to American forces in Baguio bringing the war to a close. And following the end of the war, the city has attracted many American expatriates into the region. Baguio offers a cool climate within a midsized city that is located far from the larger cities in the region – making it a pleasant and isolated getaway from Manila.

Best Cool Places to Retire: Summary

The tropics are not all about high temperatures and humidity. Many tropical destinations are found in mountainous regions, and by locating at higher elevations, a retiree may find a cooler climate more to his or her liking. Besides the cooler climate, one can also decide to retire abroad to a large urban center, a midsized town, or a small and isolated town off the beaten path.

(Photos by: hde2003, Sander Klaver, Falk Schaaf, and Tom Estrera II)

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