Regula and Michael Enderle emigrated to Phuket, Thailand, in 2024.
DR
Many Swiss set out to settle abroad to retirement, a choice that often arouses prejudice and criticism. Michael Enderle, Swiss retired expatriate in Thailand, contradicts these stereotypes. He wants to show that going to live abroad to retirement requires courage, preparation and the sense of responsibility.
“Emigrating at the retirement age requires a lot of courage,” wrote Michael Enderle in an email addressed to Swissinfo this spring. Sometimes more tolerance and openness to others would be desirable. ”
His message refers to the debates in the Swiss press about the Swiss who settle abroad to retirement – preferably in Thailand – and “take advantage” of the Swiss state. “The ‘profiteers’ label is completely moved,” said the former retirement in retirement.
Retirees who leave Switzerland and then live from their AVS rent have indeed contributed all the same their life. “In addition, everyone is free to decide where they want to retire,” says Michael Enderle.
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Why go to Thailand?
Michael Enderle is one of the new retirees who have emigrated to Thailand. Last October, he settled in Phuket with his wife Regulated. He who had spent more than twelve years from his professional career abroad, mainly in India, wanted to retry a new project with his wife.
“Life abroad and the fact of evolving in expatriate circles have always enriched us a lot over the years,” said the sixty -something video with a video call with Swissinfo. A neat man, dressed in a polo shirt, is sitting this Tuesday afternoon in front of his laptop, on which he usually pursues his professional activities in Switzerland. Michael Enderle still retains some advice mandates, which he can provide from Thailand.
He and his wife had a beautiful apartment in Frauenfeld, in the canton of Thurgovie. “One evening, I was sitting on the terrace looking at the sunset. I wondered if my life was going to be like that for the next twenty years, ”says Michael Enderle. He couldn’t resolve it.
The couple therefore gave themselves a year to prepare for their departure abroad. The choice of destination was quickly established. “During our period in India, we regularly went on vacation in Thailand.” They already had knowledge in Phuket, the island pleased them. In addition, benevolent and warm Thai culture had seduced them.
A family on several continents: proximity despite the distance
The Enderle couple’s decision to emigrate did not surprise those around them in Switzerland. “Almost all of our loved ones found that it was a ‘cool’ approach,” said the Swiss from abroad.
Already at the time of their missions in India for a textile machine company, then at the Swiss Business Hub, the whole family did not accompany them. “Our son, who was 17 at the time, wanted to finish his business learning in Switzerland.” They had found a solution with friends for him. “I was however regularly in Switzerland during this period,” said Michael Enderle.
Their daughter, who accompanied them in India at the age of 14, then studied in various other countries after high school and lives and works in Switzerland today. Communication with their children has already taken place more virtual than “face to face” during their years spent abroad. This did not prevent them from staying very close.
This geographical separation may also be easier to Enderle, because they do not yet have grandchildren. Michael Enderle knows, in his entourage, several expatriate grandparents that the country’s evil resumes because of their grandchildren.
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A good preparation is the key
Two years ago, Regula and Michael Enderle felt a strong desire elsewhere. “The cold and gray months in Switzerland weighed me,” he says. After many years in India, the Enderle couple aspired again to a “more pleasant, close to the sea and above all warmer” environment.
The fact that life in Thailand is cheaper than in Switzerland was a bonus.
By talking to Michael Enderle, we quickly understand that his wife and carefully prepared their emigration to him. The conditions for obtaining residence permits, the formalities of entry into the country and the tax situation of the council company of Enderle in Switzerland – everything has been clarified, verified and organized in detail.
“Maladie has been a project in its own right in our emigration,” explains Michael Enderle. His wife and finally found international health insurance as part of a so-called “expat” plan. “But for many Swiss wishing to emigrate, health insurance is a reason not to leave definitively,” said the sixty-something. Because a cancellation in Switzerland leads to the termination of Swiss health insurance-and adequate private solutions are also expensive.
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Fight against clichés and prejudices
For Michael Enderle, emigrating is a lot of individual responsibility. “This also applies to Swiss institutions, which would help the Swiss and Swiss in difficulty if an unexpected should occur,” he explains.
If it considers that it is absolutely necessary to take into account, as soon as the emigration is prepared, all the possibilities and the different possible life situations, the expatriate is annoyed that the Swiss retirees in Thailand are all put in the same basket – and, among other things, qualified as parasites.
“This tendency to stereotyper exists everywhere, but that simply does not correspond to individual reality,” says Michael Enderle. He wonders if we would also describe pensioners who would like to emigrate to New Zealand.
“Each individual has their own awareness of their responsibilities, their own social circle and their own way of organizing and living their life,” he says, before concluding: “The place and the way in which you want to pass back from everyone’s freedom.”
Text reread and verified by Balz Rigendinger, translated from German by Pauline Turban using an automatic translation tool
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