yabs

statistics mean nothing

I look at the facts with my own eyes

infratsructure, food, security are all very bad in the Phils

maybe houses are cheaper to rent but quality is lower along with the security risks

hotels are way more expensive making holidays or short trips virtually impossible on limited budgets.

Dumaguete is really very boring and there are power cuts all the time and for a small town has a big traffic problem worse than pattaya.

also beaches in the Phils are generally worse than thailand

ie very narrow and rocky in most places

apart from the one now ruined beach at borocay I have yet to see the big wide sweeping beaches of white sand of say phuket or samui

in fact white sand beaches are few anbd far between in the phils

the main concern is security with crime seemigly rising all the time

dumaguete i hear is getting very bad for that as people move in from other provinces

would avoid phils altogether

food is terrible and as one poster says chances of getting sick are very high indeed

I have to go there for business sometimes and have been sick frequently.

crime rates get worse and worse

after thailand yiu will hate the phils I guarantee

cebu pacific really are bad

never even had a flight that was on time.

why would you want to go to the phils for fun anyway?

you cannot relax in cebu for risk of robbery or worse

Thailand is shangri la compared to the phils

most dangerous place in south east asia by far

Philippines just gets worse and worse

infrastructure in decay, crime rising all the time

and the beaches get more crowded with koreans

Food seems to get worse everytime I go

More threat of terrorism with abu sayaf getting stronger

Thailand wins hands down

you are missing the point jin

My point is they should sppreciate the foreigner more as if it wasn't for our countries providoing themn jobs they would have nothing

which is why it gets my goat that they won't grant us foreigners the same rights in their countries that they have in ours

yep still crap and don't ec=ven think of using the money chnager there

they ripped me off royally

i expect that on the street but not inside an airport building

yes a bad situation but good comes from all bad

good thing is with all ther trouble means mining companies and arabs acnnot rape the island

and tourist development stays away

can you imagine what would happen if this island found peace?

it would be raped in no time flat

muslim extremist are evil but i n some ways good for the enviroenment

filguy

its even more sad then that your country is still racist towards foreigners

You can come to my country and have all the rights that i have if not more

and you take our jobs but we cannot go to yours and ever enjoy the same rights as you

have a car crash and its my fault regardless, i pay i foreigner i have money

of course. I cannot own land and i get double charged

also don't think it would go down too well if I started taking jobs you can do

out of all countries the Phils should be different in this attitide as if it wasn't for us foreigners giving you jobs in our countries

the Phils would be even more of a basket case than it is

makes my blood boil

jens

I agree wholeheartedly

i have no issue with not being able to buy

even the mugs though manage to oush prices up for us hence this post

nah hitman for morons

gary

yes I had an icelandic bank but it is guranteed from the FSA

what guarantees have you got in Thailand?

<deleted> all

I've got loads of investments none of them in thailand apart from maybe a small part of an asian fund

two properies in the uk which i rent out for a good profit on my mortgage

lots of cash and lots in stock though obviously the latter took a battering

hopefully retire i n a year or so in my mid thirties

but perhaps i should take your advice na d buy an overpriced and poorly built property in Thailand which i can never own out right and

have trouble selling

hmm thats clever

guest

you start off quite well

of course thats why we all move there , for more freedom and excitemenet, but when has buying property been the ingrediensts of adventure and freedom

but I would also say that if one buys a house sett;les down etc

then if that is what they want then they are in the wrong place

by the mere notion fo them buying suggests that what they are after in life they will not find in thailand

if you want to remain footloose and fancy free then buying a property is not the eay to go

is all I'm saying

why buy when you can rent

buy in you r own country where you have protection and rent that out to subsidide your life here in Los is my advice

I would suggest by yiur response that you are the bitter one, not I

I'm just facing the facts and the facts are its A GREAt place for fun but thats about it

if you want tangible things in your life thejn I would suggest you are in the wrong place

yes or an ousted Thai PM guilty of corruption and human rights abuses

don

then i'll say it again unless you are prepared to lose it all

the I'm sorry you are a mug

if you want beach property do it in a place where you own it

not only is it a mugs game but it also pushes the prices up out the reach of locals

all in all i think its a bad move

I have three rules which i stick to

1 never get involved romantically with bar girls ie take them on as gfs.

2 never buy property unless you are prepared to lose

3 never do business in thailand unless its some sort of export

stick to those rules and you should be fine

if not beware

why on earth would anyone i n their right mind buy property here uinless they are seriously loaded and can afford to lose all.

I can never get over how dumb some people are.

I someone told that that what you were about to buy could

1)never 100 percent be yours

2)you are in a country that if something does go wrong you as a foregner have no real rights or legal recourse

3)The next govnt in can change all rules regarding foreign ownership willy nilly

4)it will be very hard ever to sell what you buy and in all likelihood especillay in the case of a condo it will fall in value

yes all this applies to buying property here so why on earth would anyone do it?

You see adverts all the time for exclusive units in phuket etc

my questions are as these are not condos how can foreigners possibly buy them

and 2 what sort of mug even considers the idea

really really unbelievable

opebo

your point about hotels i n especially true

it is unbelievable how much hotels in the Philippines up their prices

In bangkok hotels are still roughly the same price they were 7 years ago

each year in the Phils the hotels seem to go up at least 20 percent if not more

tyhe rates now are just scandalous but I'm sure all that wilol change with the currenbt crisis

they will have to lower artes again I ma sure

point 2 about being afr more dangeorus is also true and not just terroroism

crim ein general is higher

I think this is because of the latin influence and the american gun culture

there are no comparisons with the danger in thailand and in the Philippines

There is almost all out war in the Philippines right now on Mindiano with several radical islamic factions with international terror links

The problem in thailand is domestic and confined

there is always the danger of it spilling over in the Phils

There was a big explosion last year in manilla which everyone seemed to think was an al queda bomb

At foirst that was how it was reported

however everyone is of the opinion that there was a cover up to say it was a gas explosion.

There have been other high profile terror attacks outside of Mindinao in recent years

bombing of a large ferry and the tourists kidnapped from Palawan

There are not only islamic terrorists but also communist rebels in most areas

only last month there was a gun battle in negros not far from cebu

All in all its dodgy and a last resort if you want to live in SEA

somn eislands may have good beaches but if the food is crap and towns are dirty who cares?

You have to go to an established touristy island to get good food at foreighn owned places

all phil owned ones will have bad food.

Another downside is these islands are full of Koreans in large groups of 20 or more

so very crowded and noisy.

So with the crap food and danger its a no no really

I agree with Johnie bangkok

No comparison at all

only can be recomme nded over Thailand for diving but you can get that in Malaysia, and indo as well

plus more culture and better food.

its a one stop shop: diving only

girls are not as atttractive either i n my opinion ands generally less educated.

People may be thinking Angeles is an alternative to pattaya but there is no beach and after the volcano eruption, dust is evreywhere

with pollution to match bangkok

horrible place

plus with the rapidly strengthening peso ther is really no need to go there

chawng beats borocay anyday

White beach near PG used to be good 4 years ago

lat year when i returned it was really badly overdeveloped with buildings being buitl on the beach itself

which is a curse of the Phils

god help it if it attarcts even half the number of tourists as thailand it will be ruined in no time as there are less building laws than in thailand

nicely put jadie guy

having spent time in both

pros: less tourists, most speak english but don't undestand it as jadie says.san miguel beer

cons : terrible food, way more poverty and diabolical infrastructure 100 km can take 4 hours

much more dangeorous and all in all more like South america than Asia

not an alternative if you co mpare apples for apples really, just an entirely different choice

the other major con is that given it was an American colony it has way more americans there than thailand and crap junk food ie macdonalds and a poor mans local variety called jollibee

jens

where was the white sand?

borocay?

yeah but that is worse than samui in myopinion

way too overdevelpoped

i've never seen white sand like samui or phuket with the big wide beaches. Ph tend to be way smaller

and I like some culture along with beaches otherwise we could all go to miami

I really don't think its an alternative to thailand at all

it has no culture to speak of

infrastructure is 30 years behind and its much more dangerous

it really has more in common with latin america than asia given its long time as a spanish colony.

it may be a good alternative to south america but not to thailand

it also has a really big problem with terrorism

southern philippines is a haven for al queda and other groups

only comparison is the beaches

everything else is way different

no culture to speak of in PI

food is terrible and more expensive

hotels are also more expensive

infratrsucture i n the PI is way behind Thailand.

Beaches while some nice ones still in my opinion do not compare to thailand

they are often smaller and not as many white sand beaches

mostly grey or brown sand

also in many places they make a habit of building on the beach and don't really take care of them like in thailand

I would say malaysia or cambodia is a much better bet than PI