Retire to Philippines - Forget Thailand

[theoldgit]

Ridiculous troll post removed, along with quoted response.


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[theoldgit]

A number of off topic, and/or unhelpful posts removed.

[BritManToo]

On 2/18/2019 at 1:10 PM, JAFO said:

Most retirees living in Thailand moved here to live cheap and spend little. 

40k/month imported cash Vs average Thai household income of 126,000bht/year.

I would spend more, but as I am required to leave every 90 days my holiday spending happens in neighbouring countries. Like the Philippines.

Edited February 24, 2019 by BritManToo

[tabarin]

17 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

40k/month imported cash Vs average Thai household income of 126,000bht/year.

I would spend more, but as I am required to leave every 90 days my holiday spending happens in neighbouring countries. Like the Philippines.

That is so true, I always lose 10-15k on visa trips that I not even want to do most times.
I would otherwise spend it on short domestic holidays to islands in the south etc for sure.

Edited February 24, 2019 by tabarin

[Sonhia]

Personally, I found Thailand to be more glossy, hyped up, with far more false promises plus smoke screens. 

 

Thailand has issues with drugs, mafia, terrorism,

human trafficking / rights,

corruption, extortion,

dictatorship, lawlessness and so on...

 

Good and bad all over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AAArdvark]

On 2/16/2019 at 11:25 PM, whaleboneman said:

 

Crime is non-existent

Anything but.

[hansnl]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:45 PM, Pilotman said:

regular 'brown outs', poor to none existent 3G in many parts of the country, crumbling infrastructure, a homicidal maniac as a President,  an active drugs mafia, a near Civil War on the southern Islands.  Really?   

And what about the "thingy" going on in the south of Thailand?

What about the military government now and the possible outcome of the polls?

What about the infrastructure in huge parts of Thailand, the "iffy" internet, the drugs, taxi and motorcycle mobs?

Let's not forget the ever more restricting immigration rules seemingly changing overnight in Thailand which are bordering on the slightly insane?

On the plus side, English is rather widely spoken in the Phillipines and is an official language.

If I wasn't as old as I am now I would not even think about Thailand, which is getting more and more inward looking, xenophobic, like China.

[Pilotman]

11 minutes ago, hansnl said:

And what about the "thingy" going on in the south of Thailand?

What about the military government now and the possible outcome of the polls?

What about the infrastructure in huge parts of Thailand, the "iffy" internet, the drugs, taxi and motorcycle mobs?

Let's not forget the ever more restricting immigration rules seemingly changing overnight in Thailand which are bordering on the slightly insane?

On the plus side, English is rather widely spoken in the Phillipines and is an official language.

If I wasn't as old as I am now I would not even think about Thailand, which is getting more and more inward looking, xenophobic, like China.

Can't say that I recognise that characterisation of Thailand at all.  The road system and 4g/3g and upcoming 5G is far superior to even the UK and the US, outside the big cities.  I have sat on the banks of the Mekong with 5 bar Thai signal strength on my phone, try that on the banks of the Thames in rural Oxfordshire, or the Mississippi. Thailand is a constitutional Monarchy and that makes all the difference to the way that any government here can operate. Immigration rules are a matter for the host country. I have no issue with the rules here. My fibre internet, through ToT is fast enough to run Netflix on 3 devices at once, try that in the PI. All Asian countries are to some extent xenophobic, Thailand is no exception and neither is the PI. Thinking about it, neither is the UK. Too many people posting here seem to think that neighbouring countries to LOS are so much better in ever way; sorry to disappoint, but they are not, bar Singapore and Hong Kong, if you have that kind of money and if you think LOS Immigration law is hard, try those two.  

Edited February 26, 2019 by Pilotman

[bomber]

On 2/17/2019 at 3:22 AM, vogie said:

A big plus for the Brits must be the unfreezing of our pensions in the Philippines, I started to receive my pension here in Thailand in 2015 and I am already losing about £40 a month.

that was brexit

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Too many people posting here seem to think that neighbouring countries to LOS are so much better in ever way

VISA ease and cheaper beer is enough for me, and they're all better for that.

No need for me to ever visit immigration in Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines.

And beer for 50c/pint.

Edited February 26, 2019 by BritManToo

[Pilotman]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

VISA ease and cheaper beer is enough for me, and they're all better for that.

No need to be better in any other way.

Fair enough. 

[peter14]

Lived in Thailand  4 years. Were in Philippines for 2 yrs. Before close to retirement now.... bye Thailand.  I actually miss Philippines.  Thailand is a total cheating ar all level and too expensive now.... 

[steven100]

3 minutes ago, peter14 said:

Lived in Thailand  4 years. Were in Philippines for 2 yrs. Before close to retirement now.... bye Thailand.  I actually miss Philippines.  Thailand is a total cheating ar all level and too expensive now.... 

great  ....  don't forget to write  !

[HAKAPALITA]

Great place to loose weight, the Foods even worse than this Gastronomic Shithole.

[brokenbone]

i dont worry about food, theres always going to be some resturant around that makes some dish i like.

the issue is power-outs, i dont take that shit under any circumstance

[don long]

Be careful what you wish, the internet sucks, the phone charges will make u nuts...the infrastructure is ie roads are equal to cambodia. If you are there longer than 6 months you must apply for exit visa. They don’t tell you, it’s not published anywhere and you only find out upon departure at the airport. I lost a ticket to Thailand and waited with 50 people just like me, it’s sucks, never to return

[lopburi3]

22 minutes ago, don long said:

They don’t tell you, it’s not published anywhere

They officially advise it is required.  Google has 748,000 hits on Philippine exit clearance certificate a minute ago - including many YouTube videos.

http://immigration.gov.ph/faqs/emigration-clearance-certificate-ecc

 

[crazykopite]

My brother works and lives in Dubai he is 40+ and has never been married .he loves coming to Bangkok for his soapies and the buzz of the place but always tells me that Philippine woman are the best when it comes to having a good time and the Thai woman come a lowly 3rd he never mentions who is 2nd maybe it’s a ladyboy and he doesn’t want to own up ????????????????

[Deerculler]

You folks that have lived in Ph.

Can you tell us anything about healthcare?

[BritManToo]

Just now, Deerculler said:

You folks that have lived in Ph.

Can you tell us anything about healthcare?

Sorry, I was never sick there.

Really tired of all the sick old men obsessing about health care, if you're that ill stay at home.

 

Slightly off topic,

I often go on walks in the jungle alone and with groups, you wouldn't believe the old fools with serious health problems that think they're OK for a 10-20Km hike in the mountains, then complain when they're about to have a seizure or heart attack (men and women). 

[Deerculler]

Thank you for your reply.
I guess you have never seen healthy people get sick.


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[Guderian]

On 2/17/2019 at 10:22 AM, vogie said:

A big plus for the Brits must be the unfreezing of our pensions in the Philippines, I started to receive my pension here in Thailand in 2015 and I am already losing about £40 a month.

Absolutely. When I retired to Thailand 15 years ago I was aware that my state pension wouldn’t be indexed, but back then it was only forecast to be worth around £2K/year so who cares? Given the lack of safe and simple investments in the last decade I’ve topped up my NI contributions to the max, as I’d worked overseas a lot I only had 13 years credited to me. That had the benefit that I was hardly ever contracted out and so I’m mostly under the new system and the pension is now forecast to be worth around £8K when I hit 66 in four years’ time. I really don’t want to miss the index-linking on that amount, so I’m looking at two options: 1) move to the PI, or 2) cut down my time in Thailand to a bit less than 6 months a year and spend a bit more than 6 months back in the UK – the summer months, of course – so that I will be resident for DWP purposes and entitled to indexation. As I get older, I’m well aware that I’m likely to need more medical attention, and at least spending 6 months back in the UK would give me time to get things done free on the NHS. The downside is that I’m currently non-resident for UK tax purposes, which has probably saved me close on £200K since my retirement, and I’d lose that status.

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, Guderian said:

so I’m looking at two options: 1) move to the PI, or 2) cut down my time in Thailand to a bit less than 6 months a year and spend a bit more than 6 months back in the UK

Or you could just tell them you're in the PI, they have no way of checking how long you're there.

[Guderian]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Or you could just tell them you're in the PI, they have no way of checking how long you're there.

That would be fraudulent and I like to sleep at night, so they make up the dumb rules and I'll play by them. I've already heard of one Brit living a long time up in Isaan who's had his state pension stopped and received a letter from DWP asking him to explain why he's been living in Thailand but hasn't notified the authorities? HMRC and DWP already share the same databases, and they're working on a link to the Border Force database so they can tell who's coming and going and when, which I believe Australia already has.

[TDCNINJA]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:45 AM, Pilotman said:

regular 'brown outs', poor to none existent 3G in many parts of the country, crumbling infrastructure, a homicidal maniac as a President,  an active drugs mafia, a near Civil War on the southern Islands.  Really?   

Depends on where you live. In the countryside, there are, indeed, provinces that experience frequent brownouts. There are others that don't have the same frequency.

 

In the larger cities, Manila, Cebu, etc, you can get fiber internet, LTE mobile, and very good infrastructure. 

 

By the way, you don't need a retirement visa per se though that's nice if you have one. With visa extensions that are done in-country, you can stay 3 years on a single visit before jaunting off to a neighboring country and starting your 3-year visa all over again. 

 

I know many British, Aussie, Scandinavian, American and other EU expatriates who quite like the Philippines. 

I spent 7 years in the Philippines and never had a problem. 

 

Your mileage, however, may vary.

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, Guderian said:

That would be fraudulent and I like to sleep at night, so they make up the dumb rules and I'll play by them. I've already heard of one Brit living a long time up in Isaan who's had his state pension stopped and received a letter from DWP asking him to explain why he's been living in Thailand but hasn't notified the authorities? HMRC and DWP already share the same databases, and they're working on a link to the Border Force database so they can tell who's coming and going and when, which I believe Australia already has.

Link to newspaper article please or it didn't happen.

They may be able to tell if you're in or out of the UK (I'm doubtful as they don't seem to know if terrorists are in or out), but they can't prove where you went.

Edited February 28, 2019 by BritManToo

[ToddinChonburi]

Always nice to see what options are out there thank you for sharing.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

I must have been to the Philippines more than fifty times over the last thirty-five years. I love it as a refreshing change from Thailand, but it is most definitely not for those who have become accustomed to having their lives 'just so'. On the whole it is harder work doing the day-to-day chores that normal life demands. It can be frustratingly slow to do even the simplest task, and I've seen many Westerners explode after losing their patience there. However, for some at least, it could be an alternative to Thailand.

[DaRoadrunner]

On 2/26/2019 at 4:21 PM, hansnl said:

Let's not forget the ever more restricting immigration rules seemingly changing overnight in Thailand which are bordering on the slightly insane? 

My thoughts exactly. I am too old to bother switching country, but on seeing the way Thai Immigration are going I have looked at other countries as a back up exit plan. Da Phils tops the list with Bali and Cambodia after. Da Phils visa fees are higher and there is an additional first time application fee but the bank deposit is less. One also has to be able to understand people who speak English like Bugs Bunny. Though that still has the Thais beat. Bali requires no bank deposit and the visa is cheap. You do need a health certificate and a police clearance (anyone know if this has to be from ones country of origin or not? Which could be a bit inconvenient!)

Edited February 28, 2019 by DaRoadrunner
added more info

[Hardball]

The Filipino ladies are just lovely.  My lady is very low maintenance and looks after all my needs.  The Philippines has my recommendation.  Hardball