Into Paradise or Out to Pasture

By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing at BMA Management

How’s this for a way to cope with the pending explosion of the older adult population. Build retirement communities for your citizens in a location that is nearly 5,000 miles and five time zones away from home.

According to a newspaper article published today, Finland has plans to build retirement communities in Thailand rather than in Finland or other European countries that might be a little closer to home.

Phuket, Thailand could benefit from the Finnish plans, shouts the headline in the Phuket Gazette, an English language newspaper that has been published since 1993. You can read the article at http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=8315

The article notes that the 65+ population in Finland is projected to grow from 0.8 to 1.8 million in the next five decades and the need for housing and other facilities for the elderly is expected to double in the next 20 years.

To help cope with the cost, Finland is looking at creative solutions. A person’s pension, savings and other benefits will go much further in Thailand than in Finland, and Thailand is less expensive than other countries which Finland has been considered such as Spain.

The savings would enable the government of Finland to pay off its investment in just eight years.

Other factors cited in the article include Thailand’s warm climate, delicious food and a respect for the elderly that is ingrained in Thai culture.

The plan, the article stresses, “will help Finnish retirees enjoy their golden years”.

But what about retirees being able to enjoy their “golden years” close to family, friends and the community where they lived. Family coming to visit or getting together to celebrate special occasions certainly will not be easy when folks are so far away.

Is the idea a great one or a more dignified approach to putting the elderly out to pasture?


All affordable assisted living communities managed by BMA Management, Ltd. are certified and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. All assisted living communities are licensed and surveyed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

“BMA Management, Ltd. is the leading provider of assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”

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Gardant Management Solutions has 20+ years of industry-acclaimed operational history in developing, managing and consulting for senior living, assisted living and memory care communities.