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I like the freedom that having a motorbike gives me. Sure, you can always take a grab point to point or take a baht bus along certain routes, but you are still somewhat limited doing that and still end up living in a local walkable bubble a lot of the time. It changes how you live day to day and I prefer to just go wherever I want however far and out of the way it is, whenever I feel like it. Also, it's often easier to ride a bike somewhere than to walk a short distance, because of how some sidewalks are such a pain in the ass to walk on. Either because of obstacles or because they are narrow and you have to constantly dodge groups of east Indians or Russians with their baby stroller or whatever

It won't be a retirement destination for westerners until they have a retirement visa for westerners. They are talking about it but nothing concrete yet.

A million dollars isn't that much nowadays. There are probably quite a few people on retirement visas that have at least that much.

Are there any updates on what is going on with this? So far it still appears like nobody, not even the local accountants, know what is going on. Do we have to wait until 2025 tax season before we definitively find out how this is all going to wash out for the 2024 tax year?

I hate the new sidebar on the left. Please tell me there is some way to get rid of that. I've looked around in the settings but haven't found anything.

Da Nang is only good for maybe 5 months of the year. Hot season is pretty intense and rainy/winter season can be cold and miserable at times. Also, with all the development they are well and truly on their way to ruining that place. I give it another 10 years maybe. It's a nice getaway right now so enjoy it while you can.

Still quite impressed with the speed of Thaskin's recovery after being release from prison for medical reasons. Actually that is not quite correct. He was release from the prison hospital. He never actually set foot in prison.

Are you sure nobody is stealing electricity from you? Sounds like it happens a lot in Thailand. The thing about the fans always running sounds like you are talking about inverter aircons, which are considered more efficient. https://www.panasonic.com/au/hvac/air-conditioning/learn-more/what-is-inverter-air-conditioner.html

The biggest problem with Duma are the constant power outages. Often lasting hours. That is a deal breaker for me. Staying somewhere that has a backup generator helps.

AC may have been cheaper once upon a time but hasn't been for a long time now. About the only thing that is still cheaper in the PI is booze.

Lots of people use Wise for that, but mostly by transferring it into their local bank account. That avoids the fees you have to pay when using their ATM card to get cash.

Try sign up for a fully verified GCash account. It's very similar to a real bank account but easier to get. That will allow you to transfer money into it from abroad like you would a regular Philippines bank account. You can then get a card to take money out of ATMs or just pay for things directly using your smartphone. I believe there are ways around some of the info they might ask for like local address and gov't ID. Just need to be a little creative. I've heard mixed things about people using their passport as the gov't id so not sure if that still works or if only the ACR card # works now. You need a Philippines smartphone # to sign up so that means you pretty much need to be in the country before getting it. https://help.gcash.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017722393-Get-Fully-Verified

Surprised Da Nang and Hoi Ann beaches are not mentioned. I heard they were recently ranked #3 and #2 respectively by some other publication, and deservedly so imo.

Lol the guys here saying the PI sucks despite probably never having been there. ThaiVisa comments never fail to entertain.

Not up into the hundreds yet but never a problem. COD is too much hassle so I don't bother with that anymore. It would help if they gave more advance notice of delivery time but that doesn't seem to happen very often. The last two times I did it the guy phoned me like 5 minutes before showing up.

The AQI monitoring stations in both countries disagree with you. As I type this, AQI in Chang Mai is an eye watering 151. Currently 2nd worst in the world. Only slightly lower than Katmandu. Bangkok is not much healthier at 102. In Manila it's only 41. Those are all fairly typical numbers for this time of year. Here are some others. Of course it can vary from day to day and even hour to hour depending on wind and other factors, but they are all fairly typical. Pattaya 78 Cebu 26 Phuket 104 Davao City 45

Impressive self-control how you managed to get through that MAGA brain fart without mentioning Soros and the Clintons.

So another never been is my guess.

Air quality is bad all over Thailand during burning season. It comes from Burma, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Phuket is the furthest away from all of it and they still get lots of triple digit AQI days. They are also closer to Indonesia and there is lots of burning going on there as well.

You can get good fresh food at the markets. So if you like to cook for yourself it's not bad. Those fresh ingredients don't translate to good inexpensive food in the restaurants like they do in Thailand for some reason. Also, accommodations are more expensive in the PI for some reason. Typhoons are not really a problem on the western side. That includes Manila, Subic, AC. Cebu is somewhat protected but they did get nailed by that last one pretty good.

I remember when lots of guys were saying they were moving to Cambodia way back. I think it was because everyone thought Thailand was getting too expensive. Maybe because of more visa hassles too. Almost none of them did or all moved back within a year or two. Just sayin. Speaking for myself. I am taking a much harder look at the PI. This tax thing and more visa hassles are part of it, but the air quality is also a huge deal for me. Call me crazy but I like to be able to breathe clean air. I've been comparing and the PI air quality is much better during burning season.

What could possibly go wrong.

As opposed to before when it had a reputation for being a chilled out hippy hang out? 🤔

Lol.... So I guess just saying "Estimates suggest", which is peppered all through that article, makes it all fact. 🤣 How do I know this story is complete nonsense? Yes yes, marijuana is well known to cause addiction problems. 🤦‍♂️ But gambling. Nah, Thai's don't have a problem with that, so let's make that legal. 🤡 In the western world, where there are actual scientific studies, usage always goes down. Especially among younger people, who apparently no longer see it as a form of rebellion once it is legal.

Still amazes me that there are stable people who actually WANT to be around for this. Almost always newbies. Very few repeats.