Thailand Vs Philippines?

[toybits]

Why on Earth would you like to live in a place that is like Pattaya?

Is there a place like Pattaya in Philippines?

[TommoPhysicist]

Is there a place like Pattaya in Philippines?

Angeles City

[PattayaParent]

Is there a place like Pattaya in Philippines?

Angeles City

It's like Pattaya for the bars, but certainly not like Pattaya for the infrastructure.

[AussieKenny]

I've lived many years in both Thailand and Philippines.

It's only my opinion but here it is.

Thailand is done, it's over.

Philippines might never get there in the first place.

Cambodia is the place for now.

Burma is the place in time to come.

Kenny

[ShanePashen]

I've lived many years in both Thailand and Philippines.

It's only my opinion but here it is.

Thailand is done, it's over.

Philippines might never get there in the first place.

Cambodia is the place for now.

Burma is the place in time to come.

Kenny

Aussie Kenny I don't doubt your words, however I just had a mate come back from Cambodia, said it was a horrible place full of the most damaged people.

He went there for dental implants, got his teeth knocked out in motorbike accident. he was there for a month. Said it was even cheaper than Thailand for dental work.

He said everyone was out to shaft him at every turn. He hated the place.

Just saying, haven't been there myself so can't comment.

[AussieKenny]

I've lived many years in both Thailand and Philippines.

It's only my opinion but here it is.

Thailand is done, it's over.

Philippines might never get there in the first place.

Cambodia is the place for now.

Burma is the place in time to come.

Kenny

Aussie Kenny I don't doubt your words, however I just had a mate come back from Cambodia, said it was a horrible place full of the most damaged people.

He went there for dental implants, got his teeth knocked out in motorbike accident. he was there for a month. Said it was even cheaper than Thailand for dental work.

He said everyone was out to shaft him at every turn. He hated the place.

Just saying, haven't been there myself so can't comment.

Well I guess everyone is different, which is just as well or we'd all live in one place.

But I have to say, I've never had anyone say any of the three countries were 'horrible'.

Some don't like one country or another, or favour one over the other but that's about it.

And as to damaged peple, where the heck was he?

Phnom Penh is full of younger male and female teachers.

I'm guessing average age of expats at about 35 to 40 and 95% of them working.

Who knows, maybe if I started in Cambodia in the mid eighties instead of Thailand I would be looking at things the other way around.

Like many expats who have been around a bit, I find Phnom Penh to be just like Pattaya was 25 years ago.

Kenny.

Just had a thought, was he in the back packer areas?

You know grass is not a crime in Cambodia right?

Maybe that's his damaged people?

Just a thought.

[ShanePashen]

I've lived many years in both Thailand and Philippines.

It's only my opinion but here it is.

Thailand is done, it's over.

Philippines might never get there in the first place.

Cambodia is the place for now.

Burma is the place in time to come.

Kenny

Aussie Kenny I don't doubt your words, however I just had a mate come back from Cambodia, said it was a horrible place full of the most damaged people.

He went there for dental implants, got his teeth knocked out in motorbike accident. he was there for a month. Said it was even cheaper than Thailand for dental work.

He said everyone was out to shaft him at every turn. He hated the place.

Just saying, haven't been there myself so can't comment.

Well I guess everyone is different, which is just as well or we'd all live in one place.

But I have to say, I've never had anyone say any of the three countries were 'horrible'.

Some don't like one country or another, or favour one over the other but that's about it.

And as to damaged peple, where the heck was he?

Phnom Penh is full of younger male and female teachers.

I'm guessing average age of expats at about 35 to 40 and 95% of them working.

Who knows, maybe if I started in Cambodia in the mid eighties instead of Thailand I would be looking at things the other way around.

Like many expats who have been around a bit, I find Phnom Penh to be just like Pattaya was 25 years ago.

Kenny.

Just had a thought, was he in the back packer areas?

You know grass is not a crime in Cambodia right?

Maybe that's his damaged people?

Just a thought.

Look he wouldn't be the easiest person to get on with anyway I think.

As you say everyone is different, He was in the capital.

and he travelled around a bit, did angkor wat, touristy things I think.

He is mid 40's Tradie.

I expected him to come back saying everything was great, fantastic, but it wasn't so.

I thought that was quite strange.

Just goes to show we are all different.

Life and places are sometimes what you make them.

[bluesky76]

i spent two weeks in phil 3 years ago, it was a nightmare to say the least,

i stayed in palawan which is the most beautifull island in phillipines but if your not very wealthy forget about it.maldives prices there,

i stayed in manila also, will never return, robbing going on everywhere,chaotic traffic..dirty overpriced hotels...nasty place

i also stayed in cebu and mactan island, there was 3 foreigners kidnapped by muslim lunatics just 1 kn away from where i was staying and the "army" was patrolling everywhere with road checks set up,and they was advising every white person not to go outside after dark!!

dont start me on the food! easily the worst food in the world.maybe german and russian food is worse..

as others have said, phil is very beautifull,but it is just a nightmare to get from one place to the next. thailand is far better imo.

and also most nice beaches are privatly owned by resorts who charge u $20 to stay on the beach for one day,thats without overpriced drinks and food.

all in all the people are very nice ,but the country is way too hard to get around unless u are very rich.

can i just say the filipino women are very beautifull and imo better suited to western men than thai women.

[Sateev]

I'm married to a Filipina from Mindanao, and she is the finest human being I know.

That said, neither of us would live in the Philippines at any price. Lies, cheating, rampant theft and general rip-offs are their stock-in-trade. The infrastructure is pitiful, both in Manila and in the provinces, the food is about the worst I can imagine eating, and as noted above, the hotels are ridiculously priced and disgusting. 100 pesos/night for an extra blanket.

No one will take the initiative to do ANYTHING. They are slow as molasses, and passive-aggressive. It is a culture of 'give-me-because-you're-rich'.

I briefly considered moving there, as it would have immigration advantages, and my wife would be more at home in her own culture. Then we looked at all the stories about Customs extortion on household goods: a family with $2000 of stuff being extorted for $6000 in 'fees', while port 'storage charges' increased daily; $35 in 'fees' on a $12 EMS package sent from the US, etc.

Then, as fate would have it, my wife's father passed away, and we had to attend the funeral in southern Mindanao. A week of the above left me even more determined to avoid going there again in this life.

Hell no.

Cambodia looks ok, but the rip-offs there are also a problem. However they seem to have not yet honed them to a fine art, as the Filipinos have done. Probably need a few more post-Khmer Rouge generations before they regain that cleverness..

I will always love Thailand, but, in spite of what the well-entrenched have to say in rebuttal, it isn't what it used to be. And it's nearly as expensive as the US for anything but the basic staples. Add the ever-more-frequently-shifting Immigration enforcement, and the rising crime, and I'm just about ready to head south and turn left.

Learning Khmer looks daunting, but so did Thai 25 years ago, when I had more game brain cells. I guess we'll make do.

[Arkady]

Many people comment on the awful food in the Philippines. It is indeed unbelievably bad. It seems to combine the very worst of American and Spanish cuisine with revolting local delicacies like adobo, unborn chickens etc. Foreign restaurants like Italian, Chinese, Japanese etc are also usually poor there, except the priciest ones like in 5 star hotels. Thai restaurants in the Phils are absolutely pitiful because Filipinos cry with pain at the mere sight of a mouse shit chili.

A good friend used to live there, arguing that while Thailand was better in many ways he preferred not having to learn a new language as he could communicate in English with everyone in the Phils. That is true but, if you do take the trouble to learn Thai, it is easier to communicate with all Thais than it is speaking English in the Phils. I find it very difficult to understand what most Filipinos are saying in English, except the fairly well educated ones but have little trouble understanding Thais speaking Thai.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Arkady