I'm DONE with these VISA policies!!! CEBU here I come!!

[BobBKK]

Just now, Olmate said:

Haha u too, no generally green I guess, but guns on hips of security in bars, folk living in horrible poverty, strong bar girl scene, flooded Manila all added up.Mind you I was 22 and solo.

Yea stuff seems different at 22. America makes me scared too with all those guns everywhere! I love Philippines but I cant live there due to the horrible infrastructure.

[Sticky Wicket]

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Isn't it a violent, crime-ridden hell-hole with shit food?

Sounds like Thailand

[SteveK]

8 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Yea stuff seems different at 22. America makes me scared too with all those guns everywhere! I love Philippines but I cant live there due to the horrible infrastructure.

I only need:

1. Low cost of living.

2. Good weather.

3. Internet.

4. Beautiful women.

5. Minimal hassle re: visas, banking, driving etc

 

Food is a moot point seeing as I cook my own.

 

So Phuket, Bangkok etc are out, too expensive, it's either Isaan (where I am now) or Philippines. But now that point 5 is rearing it's ugly head, I would say Cebu is a great choice!

 

Good luck, make sure you give us updates.

Edited July 20, 2019 by SteveK

[transam]

9 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

Yea stuff seems different at 22. America makes me scared too with all those guns everywhere! I love Philippines but I cant live there due to the horrible infrastructure.

There are guns everywhere in LOS too....

[Sticky Wicket]

1 hour ago, transam said:

But it is, all this reporting and TM30 stuff is a total waste of time, plus I doubt the paperwork involved is used for anything but storage...

no it's used for scrap or sold onto criminals to access your personal info.

I've been given paper at imm before with somebody's passport details on the other side!

[Sticky Wicket]

2 hours ago, vogie said:

I'm not an expert on The Philippines BB, never been, having said that Thai food hardly rocks my boat.

Once you get past the commercial Thai dishes, the stuff that the natives actually eat is pretty grim. 

Brown slops and inedible crap

[BobBKK]

Just now, transam said:

There are guns everywhere in LOS too....

Not standing outside FX booths holding shotguns as in Phil that was the posters point.

[marcusarelus]

39 minutes ago, simon43 said:

When I walked into the Lao Immigration office yesterday, all 3 officers waied me, (and I waied back of course).

I think you may have hit on the problem.  I believe the OP refuses to wai Immigration officers.  Good thing he didn't go to Laos.  

[SteveK]

8 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Once you get past the commercial Thai dishes, the stuff that the natives actually eat is pretty grim. 

Brown slops and inedible crap

YES - it's not just me! The wife has been boiling a cauldron of pig guts this morning - it smells absolutely awful, I had to go out. In the evening they all sit around eating bowls of cold brown slime with grey pieces of meat floating in it - bones, sinews, fat and skin still attached. It's utterly rancid.

Edited July 20, 2019 by SteveK

[simon43]

My Issan ex #2 used to give me raw buffalo placenta as a special dish.... 

[Pilotman]

5 minutes ago, SteveK said:

YES - it's not just me! The wife has been boiling a cauldron of pig guts this morning - it smells absolutely awful, I had to go out. In the evening they all sit around eating bowls of cold brown slime with grey pieces of meat floating in it - bones, sinews, fat and skin still attached.

my wife's speciality are weird fish from 5 miles down in the ocean, with eyes and gills where they shouldn't be and the tentacles of a Hollywood alien.  They smell awful too, but she is confined to cooking and eating outside when these monsters come here. 

[Pilotman]

3 minutes ago, simon43 said:

My Issan ex #2 used to give me raw buffalo placenta as a special dish.... 

must have been love. 

[Sticky Wicket]

7 minutes ago, SteveK said:

YES - it's not just me! The wife has been boiling a cauldron of pig guts this morning - it smells absolutely awful, I had to go out. In the evening they all sit around eating bowls of cold brown slime with grey pieces of meat floating in it - bones, sinews, fat and skin still attached. It's utterly rancid.

and then she kisses you afterwards!!????

[Pilotman]

30 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Rest assured, she's either got four kids or balls like a buffalo.

 

or both

[Isaanbiker]

2 hours ago, kellersphuket said:

shes younger and hotter than my ex wife. makes my ex look like a sack o spuds!

The big surprize will be when you unpack her. A chick with a di...you name it. 

 

Have a safe trip and good luck with learning Tagalogish! 

Edited July 20, 2019 by Isaanbiker

[Isaanbiker]

3 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

or both

Plus a whole family that wants to go to Europe, America, Australia, or New Zealand. Innit? 

 

 

[Don Chance]

22 minutes ago, SteveK said:

 

Food is a moot point seeing as I cook my own.

 

 

How to manage that?

[kellersphuket]

one quick final question if yall dont mind.

 

How much more of this immigration BS are yall willing to take? I mean, what would it take to make you leave? how about if you had to report your address every week instead of 90 days, would that do it? or if you had to take photos every time you went on vacation to prove what hotel you were staying in etc..

 

it seems to me they just make this up as they go along and too many foreigners are being wayyyyyy too compliant! 

[SteveK]

6 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

How to manage that?

Well what I usually do is go to the supermarket and buy some food. Then come home, unpack it and put it in the cupboards and fridge. Then, when I am hungry, I take out the ingredients I need and cook my meal. Then I eat it. Afterwards I wash my plates and cutlery and clean up any mess.

Edited July 20, 2019 by SteveK

[EVENKEEL]

The thing about the flip chicks is they really, really want to leave PI. Have fun, write when you can.

[Don Chance]

1 minute ago, SteveK said:

Well what I usually do is go to the supermarket and buy some food. Then come home, unpack it and put it in the cupboards and fridge. Then, when I am hungry, I take out the ingredients I need and cook my meal. Then I eat it. Afterwards I wash my plates and cutlery and clean up any mess.

Ok you could have just said i have an apartment with a full kitchen. Most of the apartment i have seen do not have a functioning kitchen.

[Tom59]

2 hours ago, kellersphuket said:

what???

 

having to report your presence to immigration everytime you return home from an overnight trip to another town is beyond ludicrous. enjoy it though yeah.

I used to think that but it turns out it is not the case. If you are on a long term visa, mine is a working one, then the 90 day report is enough as long as you return to your reported address. I just had a weekend in Isan staying in a homestay. My Thai friend booked us in so as far as immigration knows I wasn't there. Even trips abroad should not really be a problem. An officer at Jomtien immigration told me "no need to report every time, just do 90 report as normal".

That said, I think the Philippines and Cebu are a far better location than the land of smiles. Two pluses are, you can have an in-depth conversation with a Pinoy and, for us Brits, the state pension increases are not frozen as they are if you live in Thailand and, as the supermarket advert goes 'every little helps'!

[Isaanbiker]

4 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Well what I usually do is go to the supermarket and buy some food. Then come home, unpack it and put it in the cupboards and fridge. Then, when I am hungry, I take out the ingredients I need and cook my meal. Then I eat it. Afterwards I wash my plates and cutlery and clean up any mess.

What? I mean didn't you get married? I let my wife do that, the kitchen is only there for her.

 

  It's a fair deal, I make the money and she keeps the house clean, washes clothes, etc..

 

 

 

[Isaanbiker]

12 minutes ago, kellersphuket said:

one quick final question if yall dont mind.

 

How much more of this immigration BS are yall willing to take? I mean, what would it take to make you leave? how about if you had to report your address every week instead of 90 days, would that do it? or if you had to take photos every time you went on vacation to prove what hotel you were staying in etc..

 

it seems to me they just make this up as they go along and too many foreigners are being wayyyyyy too compliant! 

Not much has changed for me. I never had a day overstay and life could be worse.

May i ask you how long you've been living in LOS? 

[MeePeeMai]

Great thread!  I hope it gets 1000 posts. Laughter is good for the body, mind and soul.

 

Good luck to the OP, at least he’s gonna give it a shot!

[gusincebu]

. just got my 1 year visa for phils and been talking to a girl online for the last few months so got a place to stay [emoji846]
 

What 1 year visa did you get ??



Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

[kellersphuket]

7 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

May i ask you how long you've been living in LOS? 

first came here as a tourist in '83. got married to a local girl in '88. divorced in '93 and been living here on and off since then. been here permanently since 2010 with two recent trips back to the states.

[marcusarelus]

20 minutes ago, kellersphuket said:

one quick final question if yall dont mind.

 

How much more of this immigration BS are yall willing to take? I mean, what would it take to make you leave? how about if you had to report your address every week instead of 90 days, would that do it? or if you had to take photos every time you went on vacation to prove what hotel you were staying in etc..

 

it seems to me they just make this up as they go along and too many foreigners are being wayyyyyy too compliant! 

2005 I put 16k USD in Bangkok Bank.  I have gone to Immigration for 15 minutes a year since then to renew my retirement extension.  I don't do 90 day reports myself.  Nothing has changed for me and after 15 years of doing the same thing why should I expect it will change?  My Immigration office has never requested anything else.  Of course, I do wai the officers when I go there.  

[ravip]

Good bye and good luck to you. Tell us in a year or two how paradise is treating you.

[davidst01]

3 hours ago, kellersphuket said:

what???

 

having to report your presence to immigration everytime you return home from an overnight trip to another town is beyond ludicrous. enjoy it though yeah.

dont be daft. no one abides by that rule.. come one OP