$420 Rent in the “Friendliest Town on the Planet”

"Would you ever go back to the States?" I ask Frank White as we lounge over cocktails in Lampang, northern Thailand.

"Never, why would I?" he replies. "I had never known what happiness and contentment were until I came here, where the impossible became the possible. It's a different world. In Thailand I have rejuvenated, revitalised, and reinvented. No, I will not be going back."

Frank White reinvented his life in Lampang, Thailand and has no plans to ever return to the US.

Frank is a retired librarian from Milwaukee, and I was intrigued as to why he chose this incredible, understated, but little-known Thai town to retire to—as I was aware of only a handful of expats who lived here.

"My wife died 12 years ago, she was only in her late forties," he explains. "My life became just reading and work, in one of the many Wisconsin public libraries. It was at one of these libraries I met a co-worker called Natalie, originally from Belarus."

Frank and Natalie made plans to retire to Belarus together, spending less than half what it would cost to stay in the US. Unfortunately, their research uncovered a roadblock—Belarus is one of the few countries where US Social Security payments are not sent.

That put an end to Frank's Belarus plans, and eventually he and Natalie parted ways.

"But I was determined to take a chance for once," he says. "When my wife was alive, I attended a conference on library studies at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. I enjoyed the laidback charm of the place and the exoticness of the different culture, but also the affordability."

So he decided to make an exploratory trip to Chiang Mai to check it out.

"I stayed in a guest house on Loi Kroh Road which is in the centre of town and is surrounded by cafes, bars, and restaurants. This cost me only $12 a night," he says.

Frank was immediately taken with the city and its lifestyle. He also made friends with other Americans already living there. This was a first for Frank, as in the US he kept himself to himself, only mixing with work colleagues. But the atmosphere in Chiang Mai was much more welcoming, so making friends came easier.

And the best was still to come…

"A few weeks after I arrived, I went on a day trip on the train, two hours south to a town called Lampang, the town I now call home," he recounts. "After a few minutes there, I knew I had arrived. Lampang is authentic, charming, colorful, and peaceful—it was exactly what I was after."

Within a week, Frank had moved into a one-bedroom house by the river in Lampang. His rent is $420 a month, including a maid who comes in once a week to clean.

"I spend $8.50 a day on food and breakfast, this also includes a healthy mango or watermelon smoothie. It's actually cheaper to eat out here, so I regularly eat at the fantastic One Baht Aroi restaurant, which has Western and Thai food at unbelievable prices. My laundry bill comes to $20 a month, and the town is small enough not to need transport, so I walk everywhere. The rest is spent on kayaking and, of course, buying books."

Frank's daily routine includes getting up at first light to walk along the bank of the Wang River accompanied by the cockerel's crowing, Buddhist monks returning from their alms round, and the town's inhabitants waking up and going about their daily business.

"There are some very good gyms in Lampang; as with everything else, they are inexpensive, but I enjoy the many open-air gyms along the banks of the river," he smiles.

He says his favorite part of life in Lampang is the people.

"They understand it's the simple things in life that give the most pleasure, a lesson we could certainly learn in many aspects of American society. Lampang is one of the most peaceful, easy-going, friendliest towns on the planet.

"The longer I stay here, the better and better it gets," he says, turning his face up to the bright sunshine beating down from a clear blue sky. "And I didn't fancy those Belarus winters anyway."