This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Kane, 54, who moved to Koh Samui, Thailand, to retire. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in Orange County, Southern California, and started my career in restaurants before getting into software. Over the years, I worked in many different fields, from construction and real estate to sales and marketing.
I moved to Atlanta in 1990 and lived there for most of the next 30 years.
About a decade ago, a friend invited me to Thailand for a couple of weeks. I liked the place so much that I stayed for three months. After that, I began splitting my time between Thailand and the US.
My last business before leaving the US was a doggy day care outside Atlanta, which I started after struggling to find one nearby for my own dog. The pandemic hit just before it opened, but I was thankfully able to sell it. After that, I decided I was done with running businesses in the US.
For a long time, I knew I did not want to spend the rest of my life in the US. I had traveled internationally for much of my career, and I felt that spending the rest of my life appreciating other cultures, specifically Thai culture, seemed more appealing.
So, in 2020, I moved to Koh Samui, an island in Thailand, to retire. I bought a two-bedroom apartment in Mae Nam, in the northern area of the island, for $186,100.
I initially came on a five-year Thailand Elite visa, which has since been restructured into the Thailand Privilege visa.
When the Thai government announced the Long-Term Resident Wealthy Pensioners visa in 2022, I decided to switch to that instead, since it was valid for 10 years.
But I got bored with doing nothing
When I moved to Koh Samui, I was looking for a slower life.
I spent my first year and a half there doing what people imagine retirement on a Thai island looks like: going to the beach, getting massages, and enjoying the freedom of not having to work.
But there are only so many days you can spend at the beach and so many massages you can get. I started to get bored.
I don’t play golf, I don’t fish, I don’t paint, and I don’t write poetry.
My ex-girlfriend, a personal trainer, was making banana cakes in our kitchen and selling them around the island. I suggested renting a small space so we could put in ovens and turn it into a little business.
I also couldn’t find good coffee on the island, and we thought it would go well with the cakes. I started researching it and got really immersed, which eventually led us to open Izzy’s Coffee. We named it after my dog.
It started as a small outdoor kiosk that cost about 100,000 Thai baht to build. We then spent another 400,000 Thai baht on equipment and furnishings.
Being on the Long-Term Resident visa allowed me to get a work permit. My current partner, Yam, and I now run the café together. I developed all our drinks.
About six months ago, we questioned why we were standing outside in the heat, rain, and noise. We decided to enclose the kiosk and turned it into a café.
I’m around every day, talking to people and making sure every customer has a perfect experience.
Thailand feels like home
Thailand is not the panacea people think it is. It can be expensive and challenging to live here legally. But I have built a life here, and I am pretty happy.
I have only been back to the US once in the six years I have lived here — it was for a funeral.
But moving to Thailand has not meant losing touch with the people I care about. Even after our divorce, my ex-wife and I have remained close. She and her new husband have visited me in Thailand, and her father, who is like a dad to me, has been here twice.
Even though my life here is slower, I’m not one to sit still. The café gives me a sense of purpose, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully satisfied with retirement.
I took what was basically a box on the side of the road and turned it into something people seek out. I don’t want 20 locations or to franchise, but now that the café is on autopilot, I’m getting bored again.
I don’t think I will ever stop looking for the next thing to build. I just don’t know what that’ll be yet.

SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Share markets bounced in Asia on Monday as investors hoped for Apple earnings later in the session to provide some relief from AI cash-burn worries, ​while oil prices slid after talks continued between Iranian and Qatari mediators.
Brent futures fell 3.3% to $109.70 a barrel, though that follows a 13.6% jump in ‌October and tankers were still being attacked in the Gulf. US crude futures lost 3.4% to $100.58 a barrel.
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Analysts are looking for quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2 on revenue of $113 billion, up ​from $1.85 in the year-earlier period. The company might also offer some guidance on how early sales of the iPhone 18 are performing with pre-orders having started ​in mid-October.
The optimism helped S&P 500 futures edge up 0.5%, while Nasdaq futures rallied 0.9%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost almost 7% in ⁠October for its worst month since the ‘Liberation Day’ tariff rout of April 2025.
Some upbeat news is sorely needed after concerns about negative cash flow and the sheer scale of ​AI capex saw the cost of insuring against corporate defaults blow out last week.
An ​added wrinkle is the midterm US elections, where a win by Democrats in either or both houses could result in more political hurdles for data centres.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect capex by hyperscalers to almost double to $800 billion this year, and rise further to $1.2 trillion in 2027. At the same time, they see the S&P 500 EPS growth of nearly 30% in 2026 slowing to 18% next year.
“Earnings ​results have underscored the fundamental challenge facing equity investors — earnings growth is strong, but it is no longer accelerating,” wrote Ben Snider, Goldman’s chief US equity strategist, in a ​note.
“Similarly, Q3 results support our view that AI investment spending will continue to grow but that the growth rate of AI capex is peaking.”
Adding to the air of unease were withdrawals from Binance ‌as the world’s ⁠biggest cryptocurrency exchange went back online on Sunday after hackers stole billions from the platform last week.
In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures rose 0.3%, while DAX futures firmed 0.2% and FTSE futures were flat.
MORE RATE HIKES COMING
The retreat in equities last month provided a reprieve to safe-haven bonds, ​with investors wondering if a sustained selloff ​in the stock market could deter ⁠the Federal Reserve from hiking interest rates in December.
Futures still imply a 72% chance of a quarter-point rate rise, but now only have 55 basis points of total tightening priced in compared to more than 70 basis points a month ago.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries held ​at 4.931%, well off their October peak of 5.3645%, while 2-year yields stood at 4.612%. Treasury will announce its quarterly refunding ​plans on Wednesday, which ⁠could see more issuance at the shorter end of the curve.
Among central banks meeting this week, markets are wagering on hikes from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of England and Riksbank, while the Norges Bank is seen on hold.
Economic data due this week includes the influential US ISM survey of manufacturing for October later on Monday, while the all-important payrolls report is on Friday.
Median forecasts ⁠are for ​a 65,000 rise in jobs, after September’s disappointing 29,000 gain, with the unemployment rate holding at 4.2%.
In ​currency markets, the majors were pretty much sidelined while all the action was concentrated in stocks. The euro was a shade firmer at $1.1169 , while the dollar was barely changed at 157.75 yen .
Non-interest-bearing gold bounced 0.9% to $3,911 an ​ounce , having fallen 6.8% last month amid talk some investors were having to sell to cover margin calls on equities.
Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Muralikumar Anantharaman

“Compute campuses.”
That’s the latest AI newspeak.
This time, the proposed rebrand is coming from OpenAI, whose spokesperson apparently confirmed to Business Insider on Sunday that this was its new preferred nomenclature.
“Compute campuses better describes the scale and role of the infrastructure we’re building for AI,” they told Insider, adding, “These are long-term investments in computing, energy infrastructure and skilled work.”
Back in September, this emerging trend for rebranding AI-related concepts kicked off, starting with the term “artificial intelligence” itself. President Trump decided he prefers the term “Super Intelligence,” mandated its use among federal officers under his authority, and appears to have convinced many AI leaders to adopt it—although OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is notably absent from that list.
According to a Pew survey over the summer, few Americans have a positive view of AI’s future role in society—at only 16%. So there’s an argument to be made that changing the name makes sense, assuming one holds the American people in such low regard as to think a name change will help shift public opinion.
Americans’ opinions on data centers broadly have been trending downward in recent months, according to a September Pew survey. That survey collected views on data centers vis-a-vis the environment, utility costs, neighborhood quality of life, jobs, and tax revenue. Only 4% of Americans thought data centers impacted all of those areas positively.
Strategically associating political opponents with data centers has also become an important feature of electoral politics this year. Data centers are only starting to coalesce into an issue with partisans taking one clear side or the other, but calling an opponent a “data senator“—to cite just one recent example—has proven to be a great way to earn publicity. And calling someone a “compute campus senator” certainly doesn’t have the same ring to it.
OpenAI’s spokesperson told Insider, “We want the communities hosting that infrastructure to help shape it and share in the opportunities it creates.”
Gizmodo reached out to OpenAI for confirmation of the rebrand. We will update if we hear back.

A California classic, In-N-Out Burger, may be expanding to other states in the future.
In an interview with actor Terry Crews, Lynsi Snyder, the company’s president and granddaughter of In-N-Out’s co-founders, suggested Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi could be next.
Though California is definitely the chain’s home, its distribution hub is located in Texas. The chain is currently in 10 states with a New Mexico location set to open next year.
Snyder did not offer a timeline for the potential expansion.

Don’t get caught out by new Buy Now Pay Later rules
If you’ve bought something via Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) since the summer, then you’ll have been tested to see if you can afford it.
BNPL has always been a type of loan, usually paid back in instalments, but it’s only been officially regulated since July.
This means stricter background checks on your ability to repay.
If you fail, then your purchase via BNPL will be blocked. If there’s a chance of this happening to you, here are some ways to approach the situation.
What are the new rules?
BNPL lenders – such as Klarna, Clearpay and others – must now have regulator approval to operate, giving shoppers more access to refunds and independent rulings on complaints if things go wrong.
But new affordability checks on each BNPL transaction could also leave you blocked from services for the first time.
There are different affordability checks for different purchases, partially based on how much is borrowed.
But, with the expensive festive season approaching, here’s how to avoid being blocked when time and finances are tight.
How do I avoid being blocked?
Here are four things to consider if you find your account is closed or your borrowing limit has been massively reduced, from Sara Williams, a former volunteer debt adviser at Citizens Advice who posts tips as Debt Camel on social media.
Slow down your purchases: is what you are buying essential or can you postpone it?
Be more careful about what you buy to avoid needing a high credit limit to, for example, buy lots of clothes in different sizes
Cancel subscriptions to escape the trap of having to use BNPL to make up for the cost of previous payments
Talk to debt charities for help and access to food bank vouchers if you are using BNPL for essentials
Avoid getting into debt
If you are struggling to make repayments on any type of loan – BNPL or otherwise – you should seek help before things spiral out of control.
The government-backed, independent, MoneyHelper website has a guide to finding free debt advice near you.
It also suggests writing down exactly what you owe, to help plan how you will repay the money.
There are also tools to work out if you are receiving all the benefits and grants you are entitled to, and a bill prioritiser to show which payments to make first and what to do if you miss a payment.
You should also be sceptical of supposed debt solutions you might see on your social feeds.
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