Our story
Information and space to prepare, on your own terms
Eldernest was founded with one straightforward aim: make the retirement years easier to approach by providing solid information and practical organisational support.
Back to HomeHow Eldernest came about
Eldernest opened in 2019 at a small rented room on Chang Khlan Road. The founders — a former adult educator and a community organiser — had both spent years watching friends and family members enter retirement with no clear map of what to expect. Pensions were handled elsewhere; health matters went to doctors. But the everyday practical side — knowing where important documents were kept, understanding what a week in retirement might look like, finding other people going through the same shift — had no obvious home.
The first offering was a single half-day seminar for eight people. Word spread quietly through expat networks and Thai retirement communities around Nimman and the old city. By 2021 Eldernest had moved to a larger ground-floor space and added the filing-system workshop and the peer support circles. The approach has stayed the same: straightforward information, no pressure, and enough time to ask questions.
Today the organisation runs sessions year-round and works with people from across Thailand and the wider region who are at various stages of planning for retirement. Some attend one session; others return for all three. Either way is entirely fine.
Our guiding principles
No sales, only information
We do not refer attendees to financial advisers, insurance providers, or legal practitioners. What you hear in a session is educational background, not a recommendation.
Respectful, unhurried pace
Every session is paced to suit the group. Facilitators do not rush through material and always allow time for open questions at the end.
Privacy taken seriously
Personal details shared in support circles remain within the group. Filing-system sessions handle your private documents with discretion and respect.
The people behind Eldernest
A small, experienced team who share a background in adult education, community facilitation, and records management.
Margaret Lim
Co-founder & Lead Facilitator
Twenty years in adult continuing education. Margaret leads the readiness seminars and develops session content in plain, accessible language.
Somchai Nantakorn
Co-founder & Community Organiser
Somchai brings fifteen years of community programme work. He runs the support circles and coordinates the local volunteer network.
Patricia Walsh
Records & Filing Specialist
Patricia trained in records management and spent a decade helping small organisations with document systems. She leads all personal filing-system sessions.
How we maintain quality
Our standards apply to every session and every client interaction — not as a checklist but as the way we naturally work.
Confidential handling of documents
During filing-system sessions no documents are photographed, copied, or shared. The specialist works alongside you and leaves everything with you at the end.
Reviewed session materials
Seminar handouts and reference tables are reviewed annually to check that information remains current and relevant for the Chiang Mai context.
Post-session feedback
We collect written feedback after every session and use it directly to adjust the pace, topics, and handout format for future groups.
Data held minimally
We keep only the name and contact detail needed to confirm a booking. No data is shared with third parties. You may request deletion at any time.
Facilitator development
Each facilitator attends peer-review sessions twice a year, where sessions are discussed and facilitation approaches are refined as a team.
Accessible venue and materials
Our Chang Khlan Road premises is step-free and has large-print material options. Please let us know your needs when you book.
Practical retirement preparation in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai draws a substantial population of people planning or already living in retirement — both long-term Thai residents and those who have relocated from elsewhere. The city offers a relatively moderate cost of living, a well-connected community, and a range of social activities. What it has lacked, until recently, is a dedicated space for the organisational and informational side of preparing for a later chapter of life.
Eldernest sits in that gap. We do not advise on finance or health. We help people get their papers in order, understand broadly what retiring looks and feels like for others, and connect with a peer group that shares similar questions. These three things — information, organisation, and community — are the practical foundations that make the rest easier to navigate.
Our sessions draw on general adult-education methods: small groups, clear handouts, plenty of discussion time, and a pace that does not assume prior knowledge. People who attend tend to come back, which we take as the most straightforward measure of whether the sessions are useful.
Want to know more about what we do?
Send us a message and we will describe each session in more detail. There is no obligation to book anything.
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