Finland has hit on a novel way to cheer up retirement by building serviced apartments for Finnish oldsters in Phuket.

The website aamulenti.fi reports that the Finnish government aims to improve its people’s golden years by giving them a home where their pensions and savings go a lot further.

Thailand has been picked for the scheme as its cost of living is far lower than other contenders such as Spain. It also offers a warm climate, great food and an ingrained reverence for the elderly.

To enable retired Finns to take up a new life in Thailand’s top resort island, the Finnish parliament is set to adjust its rules paying out social benefits outside Europe.

The advantage for the Finnish Government is that housing for the elderly costs about €126 a day in Finland but only €40 in Thailand. The project should therefore pay for itself in just eight years.

Finland expects its people aged 65 or older to rise from 0.8 million now to 1.8 million within five decades.

Read about it in the Phuket Gazette.