2007 Retirement Index

Ranking) Country, Real Estate, Special Benefits, Cost of Living, Culture, Health, Infrastructure, Safety, Stability, Climate
1) Mexico, 84, 71, 84, 78, 79, 48, 92, 87, 79
2) Ecuador, 90, 72, 85, 66, 73, 42, 92, 94, 78
3) Italy, 63, 63, 68, 100, 92, 66, 100, 85, 77
4) Panama, 80, 85, 82, 57, 75, 48, 92, 48, 76
5) Australia, 80, 55, 73, 72, 88, 70, 100, 89, 75
5) Malta, 71, 65, 70, 73, 88, 55, 100, 90, 75
7) Spain, 75, 49, 70, 83, 92, 69, 100, 80, 74
7) South Africa, 87, 23, 71, 68, 58, 44, 86, 97, 74
7) Malaysia, 92, 65, 86, 69, 71, 43, 86, 50, 74
10) France, 60, 42, 62, 98, 100, 77, 100, 80, 72
10) Thailand, 84, 50, 85, 71, 78, 54, 86, 50, 72

2007 Retirement Index -- by International Living Magazine

Worth noting that Thailand came in top 10 in the world (2nd in Asia) together with France . It loses to Malaysia (by 2 points) mainly due to Special Benefits that Malaysian government offers to foreigner retirees, but Thailand beats Malaysia in Infrastructure, Health and Culture categories.

What is not measured is friendliness towards Singaporeans, which Thailand beats Malaysian hands down.