Thailand or Philippines? Who has been to both?

[Elkski]

So I am impressed by the prospects of  the physical qualities  of Thai ladies compared to American women... I have spend a couple months or more in Thailand over 3 trips the past 18 months.

I am considering retirement or maybe splitting time in both countries. 

I am wondering if I should take a trip to the Philippines to see which place I might like more. I'm not a drug user so the big drug crackdown isn't to much of an issue. 

I care about nice clean beaches and oceans.  I hope to enjoy scuba diving, sailing and hiking,  biking.  And of course a nice lovely dark haired lady.

I realize that if a gal was married  in the Philippines she can never get a divorce so I guess that means she can never get a fiance visa to USA? 

I don't like religions but many buddists are not real fanatics and my lack of belief doesn't bother them. I imagine this is the same for many catholics.  My ex went to  catholic  school but we  never attended church.   

T^his isn't a thread about which gals are better looking as I am sure there are many in all SE asian countries for me.  I am looking for guys who have personal experience in visiting both countries for more than a month. 

[Just Weird]

You didn't exactly make it clear what your question was, if indeed you had one, but to quote you, " T^his isn't a thread about which gals are better looking as I am sure there are many in all SE asian countries for me. I am looking for guys who have personal experience in visiting both countries for more than a month." 

Good luck in your search, hope you find a suitable guy.

 

I've lived in both countries and, literally and metaphorically, the Philippines stinks.  How can anyone in your situation seriously just "wonder" whether you should take a trip to the Philippines if you're thinking about retiring and getting a tart there.  Why would you not visit the place?

Edited November 2, 2017 by Just Weird

[Elkski]

My question is what are the pros and cons of retirement in each country? and why?

 Of course I would go visit any country many times including  taking a 4-6 month or longer look before I would consider a official move to  retire there. But so far I have only looking in Thailand and I wonder if I should expand my search to the Philippines. 

I was hoping to get more factual specifics than just stinks.. NYC and LA and Thailand stink compared to fresh mountain air of UTAH.

I do hear the food is not as healthy or tasty in the Philippines.

 

This may just be a Toyota vs Honda type preference for many.   I've read where some men think gals from certain Asian countries are better looking but I don't believe it is proper to make such generalizations. 

 

Edited November 2, 2017 by Elkski

[pgrahmm]

5 hours ago, Just Weird said:

You didn't exactly make it clear what your question was, if indeed you had one, but to quote you, " T^his isn't a thread about which gals are better looking as I am sure there are many in all SE asian countries for me. I am looking for guys who have personal experience in visiting both countries for more than a month." 

Good luck in your search, hope you find a suitable guy.

 

I've lived in both countries and, literally and metaphorically, the Philippines stinks.  How can anyone in your situation seriously just "wonder" whether you should take a trip to the Philippines if you're thinking about retiring and getting a tart there.  Why would you not visit the place?

Many years in many areas pf both - none in the "seedy" areas.....The Philippines is a "ripe sh!t hole" per my last friend that visited there - and he's right.....

Beggars are everywhere knocking on your vehicle at stop lights.....Gangs of kids 4-11 are patrolling the streets......Women are afraid to go out unaccompanied - literally no women drivers, they hire security of they own their own cars.....Hospitals are unfit, dirty, and overflowing.....Thieves of opportunity everywhere.....Hostile mano on mano drivers.....Tryke drivers with suicidal tendencies.....The 3 tier government/anti government (basically country wide militia type organized crime - thugs for rent)/and local "face" - for show government.....Taxi drivers afraid to take foreigners......The food stinks as does their habitual cleanliness.....Small houses with 10-15-20 people....

My ex has a bedroom with 2 30' closets & could fit 4 kingsize beds - the rest of the house is just as spectacular.......

I am a part of a wealthy family there....We travelled with our own drivers, cooks, nannies, security = they live very well there......And they are all planning on moving to Thailand now that they've visited me here....

 

If you spend the time driving around observing the conditions (including the expats it draws) & get to know the place it is not a good/quality/healthy place to be.....No checks & balances like here - people disappear......

 

Mix in the fact that many cannot communicate if outside their dialect area which compounds - codifies the independent (away from the 3 tiers) crime affiliations/boundaries it's a perplexing place......

 

There are many nice people there....

 

Unless a family event takes place there I'd have to attend I won't go back.....It is really a 3rd world country or worse......

 

And that's the glossy version......

 

[starky]

Here we ago again. This must be one of the most oft repeated threads on here. I agree with the other poster go find out for yourself don't ask other people where you should live. I have lived in both so in a nutshell strictly IMO... 

Phillos: Better Islands better beaches cleaner water.

              Girls now in the Phillos probably more loyal, less likely to stray. Workers and non workers ( could be the Catholic thing or maybe just their nature)

           Top 15% of the Phillos girls slay the Thais on looks but your average girl is better looking in Thailand.

           English is 1000 times better than Thailand.

           Dollar goes a little bit further.

 

Thailand: Better infrastructure,  better Airports (don't want to be going in and out of Manila all the time but if retired who gives a rats)

                Exponentially better food

                More to see more to do better set up to deal with expats.

               Not as poverty stricken

                Less guns (believe it or not)

                 Even though you don't take drugs no guarantee you won't get caught up in drug related violence. To which I will add never felt nervous at any place any time or anywhere in Thailand couldn't say that about the Phillos.

     Look there are quite a few things I have left out but you are seriously better off finding out for yourself. As in a couple minutes someone will refute and say the complete opposite of everything I just said.

[KittenKong]

If you want to talk to people then the RP is a much better bet than Thailand. Filipinos basically think almost the same way as westerners do, and English is their second (or sometimes first) language. This is why so many of them work in hospitals, hotels etc abroad. Thais on the other hand are almost completely alien in the way they think, and generally their command of English is poor.

 

However if talking is not high on your list of priorities then Thailand has better infrastructure (largely due to the great number of natural disasters that occur often in the RP: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes).

 

Both nationalities suffer from what is to me an insane obsession with religion, though Thailand has the edge on that.

 

Local food in the RP is often quite bland, with some exceptions, but Filipinos embrace foreign things more readily.

 

Apart from that it's a question of swings and roundabouts, with some things being better there than here, and vice versa. The same applies to prices. You will pay much less for beer (for example) there but more for some other things, so the bottom line may well be the same depending on how you live.

Try both and make up your own mind.

[MaeJoMTB]

I spend  time in both countries,

Philippines is very safe for foreigners, surprisingly more so than Thailand.

Beaches are way better than Thailand, many islands and long sand beaches with hardly any visitors.

Scuba diving, loads of American run diving resorts all over, I like Johanns in Barretto, but there's many to choose from in just that one place.

Sailing, not seen much in Thailand or the Philippines.

Hiking, Thailand is great for hiking, up North  in Chiang Mai you can hike a different trail every day, ZERO in the Philippines.

Cycling, The Vegan community tried it in Davero, but seem to have returned to Chiang Mai very quickly, too  dangerous in the Philippines for cycling IMHO, but I do it nearly every day in Thailand.

Divorce in PI, hardly anyone is married these days (surprised me), the excuse being divorce is too expensive. Loads of single girls to choose from. Religion in both countries, PI only on Sunday, Thailand only on Buddha day. The rest of the  time nobody seems to bother.

 

As an American you could consider the VISA situation, Thailand is becoming hard to live in as a foreigner, but in the Philippines you can arrive and stay for 3 years with almost no effort, and are not required to show any savings or income. PI has special VISAs for American service men.

Then you should consider the exchange rates, Philippines gets you way more money (US dollar dropped 10% against Thai bath in the last year)

Relative prices, booze and birds cheaper in the PI, food more expensive, accommodation more expensive short term, but the same price long term.

 

If I were starting from new, I would choose the Philippines and probably live in or near Barretto, Olongapo, Zambeles because of it's extensive expat community, availability of good foreign food, decent beaches and scuba diving, and extensive bar scene. 

 

Did I mention everyone in PI speaks English (and many speak Spanish, 30% of Tagalog is Spanish), and PI girls totally understand and embrace western culture. Thai  women are like beings from another planet.

Edited November 3, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[Old Croc]

39 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

. Thai  women are like beings from another planet

You were close to the truth:

 

Women are like beings from another planet

[torrzent]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

If you want to talk to people then the RP is a much better bet than Thailand. Filipinos basically think almost the same way as westerners do, and English is their second (or sometimes first) language. This is why so many of them work in hospitals, hotels etc abroad. Thais on the other hand are almost completely alien in the way they think, and generally their command of English is poor.

 

However if talking is not high on your list of priorities then Thailand has better infrastructure (largely due to the great number of natural disasters that occur often in the RP: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes).

 

Both nationalities suffer from what is to me an insane obsession with religion, though Thailand has the edge on that.

 

Local food in the RP is often quite bland, with some exceptions, but Filipinos embrace foreign things more readily.

 

Apart from that it's a question of swings and roundabouts, with some things being better there than here, and vice versa. The same applies to prices. You will pay much less for beer (for example) there but more for some other things, so the bottom line may well be the same depending on how you live.

Try both and make up your own mind.

Technically speaking Phils gets typhoons, not hurricanes.

[tigermoth]

The Phillipines stinks. It's like the wild west. I have been held up at knife point while stuck in traffic. Anywhere outside central manila is lawless. Forget the place.

[cnx101]

Go to Vietnam better than both

[rosst]

2 hours ago, starky said:

Here we ago again. This must be one of the most oft repeated threads on here. I agree with the other poster go find out for yourself don't ask other people where you should live. I have lived in both so in a nutshell strictly IMO... 

Phillos: Better Islands better beaches cleaner water.

              Girls now in the Phillos probably more loyal, less likely to stray. Workers and non workers ( could be the Catholic thing or maybe just their nature)

           Top 15% of the Phillos girls slay the Thais on looks but your average girl is better looking in Thailand.

           English is 1000 times better than Thailand.

           Dollar goes a little bit further.

 

Thailand: Better infrastructure,  better Airports (don't want to be going in and out of Manila all the time but if retired who gives a rats)

                Exponentially better food

                More to see more to do better set up to deal with expats.

               Not as poverty stricken

                Less guns (believe it or not)

                 Even though you don't take drugs no guarantee you won't get caught up in drug related violence. To which I will add never felt nervous at any place any time or anywhere in Thailand couldn't say that about the Phillos.

     Look there are quite a few things I have left out but you are seriously better off finding out for yourself. As in a couple minutes someone will refute and say the complete opposite of everything I just said.

Hi I am living in a province in the Philippines and I have a beachfront lot and house USFRUCT for 20,000 Aussie. 

Is it perfect?  No, too noisy and food not as good. 

I still have a house in Isaan I and the partner visit for 2 months each year and love it. 

The Immigration situation in the Philippines is much better and the better English is a bonus when travelling. 

Cebu or Manila, pox holes, get out into the provinces, not able to buy all the Western stuff but it suits me. 

[Rimmer]

A post with altered quote has been removed:

 

2. Please do not modify someone else's post in your quoted reply, either with font or color changes or wording. Such posts will be deleted and the user warned.

 

Please also do not post in caps, thank you 

[BernieOnTour]

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Filipinos basically think almost the same way as westerners do, 

I would subscribe to most of what you wrote, but that one -sorry- is a only a public myth.

 

Their whole value system, their believes and their behavior is decidedly Asian. And that in a very specific Filipino way.

The "westerness" is only a thin veil, covering their deep Asian-Filipino "culture". (Real Culture is btw. something they -different to Thailand- are totally missing. Their history is just a bunch of independent, unrelated clans/tribes fighting each other, sometimes headhunting until 1920.)

 

"and English is their second (or sometimes first) language."

IMHO that advantage, if it ever existed, is deminishing. For 99% of the Filipinos, English is not their first language. Their local dialect is their first language. When they start to attend school, they learn the official Filipino (which in essence is the Tagalog dialect). In parallel, they start to learn English. Unless they pay for a private school, the governmental education is lacking. As a result, outside of big cities, you will meet a lot of Filipinos, who cannot really communicate in English... just check some of the dating websites, and you will notice, how good their English "abilities" are.

In Thailand, especially in the bigger cities, things have changed a lot. Especially the better educated, younger generation is able to communicate quite well in English... of cause, if one is concentrating on those Isaan rice farmer daughters (with the average Isaan IQ of 86) in the redlight districts - well, that's another question.

[steven100]

The Philippines is crap ....   you can have it all. 

[superglue]

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

The Philippines is crap ....   you can have it all. 

I second that. It is an extremely poor country with the Marcos regime. 

There is an urgent need for birth control.

 

[portroyal]

For an american citizen, Philippines is a better choice

[EcigAmateur]

Philippines are worst than Cambodia !

Cannot even find a reason why living in this shiiitehollle.

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, torrzent said:

Technically speaking Phils gets typhoons, not hurricanes.

 

This is true. However I think that the rain from both is equally wet.

[mikeymike100]

Lived and worked in the Phils for around 3 years, lived and worked in Bangkok for the same, but have lived in Thailand a total of 10 years.

I worked in Makati city in Manila and I would say the people there nearly all spoke English. The food is generally quite bland in PI and I wouldn't buy any from the street vendors, even the locals wouldn't in some cases. Beer and food probably a bit cheaper in PI, but obviously depends what your budget is. They do have large supermarkets for shopping etc and the traffic is bad in the city.  I would say definitely more guns in the Phils, even at my local bank there, there is a security guard outside with a shotgun.

Some very nice girls in the Phils, pretty and I think, although poor, they are not so money oriented.

Weather can be a problem sometimes, in the Typhoon season.

Thailand food definitely better, obviously language is a problem and visas/immigration more difficult, in general. But I think its safer in Thailand. Definitely agree with other viewers about the Thai mentality,  difficult to understand.

 

[MaeJoMTB]

1 hour ago, tigermoth said:

The Phillipines stinks. It's like the wild west. I have been held up at knife point while stuck in traffic. Anywhere outside central manila is lawless. Forget the place.

Surprised, I've walked all around slums in Manila in the very early morning/late night, never any problems, usually the locals shout out stuff like 'Good morning Sir' and 'have a nice day'.

[KittenKong]

38 minutes ago, BernieOnTour said:

I would subscribe to most of what you wrote, but that one -sorry- is a only a public myth.

 

Their whole value system, their believes and their behavior is decidedly Asian. And that in a very specific Filipino way.

The "westerness" is only a thin veil, covering their deep Asian-Filipino "culture".

 

I have spent a lot of time in the RP and I have Filipino friends both there and in the UK. I find that they basically think like westerners and I have no trouble discussing any sort of concept with them. The same is far from true with Thais, with whom I struggle to find any common ground at all. In fact the only really odd thing about Filipinos is their extreme approach to Catholicism, but that is largely mirrored in parts of the USA also.

 

 

40 minutes ago, BernieOnTour said:

Their history is just a bunch of independent, unrelated clans/tribes fighting each other, sometimes headhunting until 1920.)

 

Really? You seem to be forgetting 330+ years of being a Spanish dominion, followed by 50 years under US influence. I would say that the RP has a lot of serious history that is reflected in its people. And whilst there I never met a single head-hunter, even in Mountain Province.

And are you implying that Thailand is/was not made up of clans/tribes/families fighting each other? If so, I think you are wrong. Clannish in-fighting is widespread throughout the world, even in the west.

 

 

44 minutes ago, BernieOnTour said:

"and English is their second (or sometimes first) language."

IMHO that advantage, if it ever existed, is deminishing.

 

It probably is. But even so there is no comparison at all between general comprehension of English in the RP and in Thailand. This is clearly indicated by the numbers of Filipinos one finds working abroad in various specialised jobs. You wont find many Thais doing the same. In fact you can even find Filipinos working here as translators because the general Thai command of English is so poor. Condo buildings, hotels and hospitals are all places where I regularly see Filipinos working here.

 

If you know English and a bit of Spanish then you can travel throughout the RP without ever learning a single word of any of the many local dialects if you dont wont to. I actually speak Tagalog fluently, but rarely need to. And all signs and notices in the RP are entirely readable as they are exclusively in Latin script. These are all major advantages as far as I'm concerned.

[lovelomsak]

Never been to Philippines but knew many Filipinas. My suggestion would be get a Filipina wife and live in Thailand.

 Filipina women win hands down in all ways. They are way more and better domestic,s. They take more pride in taking care of the home and family.They respect what you give them and  take care of what you give them. A perfect example of taking care of you give them is I gave a Filipina a pair of running shoes. 2 years later they still looked like new she cleaned after each time she wore them. I gave a pair to my Thai wife 2 months later they were wrecked.She never untied the laces and broke the back of the shoes. They were never cleaned and looked like rubbish.. Philippines country is a shithoole but the women are the best.

  Marry Filipina live Thailand.

  

Edited November 3, 2017 by lovelomsak

[MaeJoMTB]

1 hour ago, BernieOnTour said:

In Thailand, especially in the bigger cities, things have changed a lot. Especially the better educated, younger generation is able to communicate quite well in English... of cause, if one is concentrating on those Isaan rice farmer daughters (with the average Isaan IQ of 86) in the redlight districts - well, that's another question.

That just isn't true, my kids English teachers (school and university) can't speak a word of English.

Only (some) Thai prostitutes seem able to communicate in English (and Thai children of foreigners).

 

I also like the Filipino politeness which seems genuine, everyone says 'Sir' when speaking to me.

Compared to the fake Thai smile where everyone calls me 'farang'.

Edited November 3, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[Jaybott]

If you hook up with a Filipina she will want to leave her country as soon as she can. Quite the opposite for most Thai women. That should tell you something. PI can be a fun place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, tigermoth said:

The Phillipines stinks. It's like the wild west. I have been held up at knife point while stuck in traffic. Anywhere outside central manila is lawless. Forget the place.

 

Interesting. I wonder what some people do to attract violence in this way?

 

My personal experience is that I have never been a victim of violent crime anywhere (yet). However I have had things stolen by stealth in both Thailand and the RP. But of the two I would say that Thailand is much more stealthy.

 

And I personally knew one person who was murdered in the RP and two that were murdered here. Make of that statistic what you will.

[CGW]

3 minutes ago, Jaybott said:

If you hook up with a Filipina she will want to leave her country as soon as she can. Quite the opposite for most Thai women. That should tell you something. PI can be a fun place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

true, i have lived in both places, PI has good beer, lousy food and lots of guns!

[quandow]

I know MANY people who moved from Thailand to PI and regretted it. Not one said it was a good choice. The infrastructure sucks compared to Thailand. The Philippines is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't move there.

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, Jaybott said:

If you hook up with a Filipina she will want to leave her country as soon as she can. Quite the opposite for most Thai women. That should tell you something.

 

It tells me that Filipinos are outgoing and consider themselves part of the world whereas Thais are introverted and protectionist and ultimately extremely xenophobic with a deep-rooted fear of foreigners.

[KittenKong]

2 minutes ago, CGW said:

PI has good beer, lousy food and lots of guns!

 

And Thailand has very expensive bad beer, good food and lots of guns.