Thailand VS Vietnam? Which one will be better in 5yrs?

[yogi100]

On 7/31/2019 at 10:41 PM, Genmai said:

Jeez what the heck is this? Old white men are a cancer? As opposed to old black men or old white women? Nothing truthful about your disgusting comment, I think you've gone a bit wonky from the heat.

When a 1000+ posts member writes something like this I really wonder if we have a problem in this community...

"Old white men are a cancer?"

 

That was not what he wrote. He wrote 'seen as a cancer.' Two entirely different observations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by yogi100

[Ventenio]

2 minutes ago, yogi100 said:

"Old white men are a cancer?"

 

That was not what he wrote. He wrote 'seen as a cancer.' Two entirely different observations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think this is ENTIRELY different, since the people who see Old White Men as a cancer do think they are cancer.  To me, entirely would be 100% different, and in this case there is a group who think they are a cancer.  Since White Men can't actually be a cancer, in the medical definition, that can't be debated.  So I'm a little lost.....yes, White Men are a cancer and seen as a cancer.  The real question is, What percentage actually believe this to be true?  In Thailand, very very very small percentage.  In Vietnam, I would still think very very small.  

[ThaiBrian]

3 hours ago, phkauf said:

Not to pile on, but I have been to Vietnam over 20 times (all over the country) and only once maybe 10 years ago did a taxi try to rip me off from the airport. Only use Mai Linh (Green) or VinaSun (White) taxis, make sure to avoid the copycat look a likes. GRAB has worked well for me the past three years, never had a problem. All my local friends pretty much only use GRAB and similar apps. It's up to you if you want to use it, if not you pay the premium. Heck the taxi situation in Chiang Mai is much worse than anyplace in Vietnam I have been.

Hanoi weather sucks massively in January and February (also July and August) so plan accordingly. There is something called the internet use it. Getting overcharged is pretty endemic worldwide - I've seen tourist in NYC get charged $5 for a hot pretzel, nothing to stop you from walking away. If the price seems fair to me, I have no problem paying it - especially if it's a small amount. 

Maybe you should stay in your comfort zone of Chiang Mai - just saying.

This isn't my first trip to SE Asia. I only planned on visiting Thailand for 6 months before moving onto another destination. I just so happen to get that South Korean experience in Chiang Mai. I did use the internet... in fact I do know about the copy cats. He may have turned on his meter 1/2 way to my destination but at this point I didn't care, I had a train to catch and the negotiated price was low enough for me not to stress over. Just because you had a good experience doesn't mean everyone else SHOULD have a good experience, that's not how the world works kiddo. Others have had bad experiences here in Chiang Mai, I've had nothing but the best. Who am I to say they are wrong or over-exaggerating? I had a decent experience with both apps in the city of Hanoi. Pay the premium? Using Grab is paying a premium....... I use BE, you should try it. Oh, and I did plan for bad weather. It rained the entire trip from Da Nang to Hanoi, and guess what, I PLANNED FOR IT ON THE INTERWEBz. I packed my umbrella. The Taxi situation at the Chiang Mai Airport is amazing. They charged me less than Grab to take me home. I knew about the Taxi situation in Chiang Mai because I used the internet and did my research.

 

Assumptions are getting so annoying. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by ThaiBrian

[BritManToo]

16 hours ago, ThaiBrian said:

He may have turned on his meter 1/2 way to my destination but at this point I didn't care, I had a train to catch and the negotiated price was low enough for me not to stress over.

It's 2.6Km from Da Nang airport to the train station.

I would have walked, less than 30 minutes ........... how tight was your timing?

[NanLaew]

On 1/12/2020 at 3:24 AM, Ron jeremy said:

.... Quite simple to get around any language issue in any country in the world. Even for us old guys.

next trip download the app, if you're having trouble, ask a young person to set it up for you.

case solved. ...

Just a quick point; if you are already in the foreign country, don't know the language and need an app, how can you 'ask a young person' to do anything for you?

 

Every foreign adventure is made easier with being able to ask the simple question, "Do you speak English?" You don't need an app.

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Every foreign adventure is made easier with being able to ask the simple question, "Do you speak English?" You don't need an app.

No need to speak any language, if you have a data SIM and a smartphone with you either use 'Google translate', or just search google for a photo of what you want and point to it.

 

Google translate has now reached the stage where if you point it's camera at any foreign text, it magically replaces the foreign text with English text without even needing to take a photograph.

Edited January 13, 2020 by BritManToo
typo

[NanLaew]

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

No need to speak any language, if you have a data SIM and a smartphone with you either use 'Google translate', or just search google for a photo of what you want and point to it.

 

Google translate has now reached the stage where if you point it's camera at any foreign text, it magically replaces the foreign text with English text without even needing to take a photograph.

...and you are within coverage of a mobile phone tower and have a date-enabled subscription. Didn't work for me in Indaw, Myanmar when my 4x4 suddenly went all 2x2 on me and got stuck in a river crossing did it?

 

I am old school and, being spawned when televisions has just been invented, this reliance on 'magical' smart phone and all the invasive stuff that comes with it is only so much brain-deadening overkill. Nobody bloody speaks to anyone or bothers to learn a language anymore. They all bask in this faux all-knowing smugness that only comes from being dependent on google, wiki, FB, YouTube and the like.

 

"How many languages so you speak?"

"Me? I am multilingual... (as long as I have cellphone coverage)."

 

I know, I know. Nomination for the "Bah! Humbug!" post of the day award goes to...

 

PS: I still make my own porridge from scratch. No time for that 'instant oatmeal' dross either. Too runny and seeps oot o' the corners o' ma sporran!

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

..and you are within coverage of a mobile phone tower and have a date-enabled subscription. Didn't work for me in Indaw, Myanmar when my 4x4 suddenly went all 2x2 on me and got stuck in a river crossing did it?

 

I am old school and, being spawned when televisions has just been invented, this reliance on 'magical' smart phone and all the invasive stuff that comes with it is only so much brain-deadening overkill. Nobody bloody speaks to anyone or bothers to learn a language anymore.

I can speak English, Thai (central and Laos), French, Spanish, and a bit of German.

But I'm betting if I broke down in some Asian tribal hinterland, no language skills I had ever learned would help me speak with the locals. Pointing at the immobile car in the middle of the river, would have probably sorted the problem.

Edited January 13, 2020 by BritManToo

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I can speak English, Thai (central and Laos), French, Spanish, and a bit of German.

But I'm betting if I broke down in some Asian tribal hinterland, no language skills I had ever learned would help me speak with the locals. Pointing at the immobile car in the middle of the river, would have probably sorted the problem.

Myanmar has 111 officially recognized regional languages before you start getting into the local dialects. And this is a country where buffaloes are still a farming necessity so there's none to be found in the jungly bits where I was where people walk 15 miles to do their 'shopping' and the largest group observed has consistently been only two people chatting.

 

If you got their attention and pointed at the car, they would probably observe, 'Yup, that's EXACTLY the same spot where that other truck got stuck around this time last year. He waited 3 days for a passing tractor.'

[Roy Baht]

This just in: New Vietnam visa rule--30-days only?
Looks like Vietnam is getting stricter on visas. Thailand VS Vietnam? Which one will be better in 5yrs? They may end up being much more similar when it comes to long-stay visas
 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by Roy Baht

[DaRoadrunner]

On 1/13/2020 at 12:25 PM, BritManToo said:

just search google for a photo of what you want and point to it.

This do present mind boggling possibilities for chatting up girls! Though I think I am gonna get my face slapped a lot.

Edited January 14, 2020 by DaRoadrunner

[Roy Baht]

https://vietnamnet.vn/en/society/police-profile-foreign-criminals-entering-vietnam-601182.html

[Roy Baht]

On 7/31/2019 at 9:45 PM, madmen said:

And this loose visa policy will get tight soon enough don't worry about that,

You were right about that. New rules go into effect 20 July 2020:

"Accordingly, the amended law stipulates that a foreigner will be allowed to remain for only 30 days in Vietnam when granted a 30-day or longer tourist visa"

https://vietnamnet.vn/en/society/police-profile-foreign-criminals-entering-vietnam-601182.html

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

On 1/16/2020 at 7:11 AM, Roy Baht said:

You were right about that. New rules go into effect 20 July 2020:

"Accordingly, the amended law stipulates that a foreigner will be allowed to remain for only 30 days in Vietnam when granted a 30-day or longer tourist visa"

https://vietnamnet.vn/en/society/police-profile-foreign-criminals-entering-vietnam-601182.html

 

Very worrying. If the law is enforced as conveyed today, then thousands of expats will be forced to leave Vietnam and look elsewhere. And I will have to trash my plans to return to VN to live. Granted, there are some new investor visas but it appears all the old methods are dead and buried. 

 

Some legal firms in VN are saying they are waiting for further "guidance" and "clarifications" before July. But there appears to be a strong government move to clean out all the foreigners working without a proper visa or permit. In fact, I think the 30-day-and-out rule is meant to discourage people (oh, just for example, maybe teachers and Chinese) from even entering.   

 

 

[Roy Baht]

This just in:

 

 

[james173]

Thanks to everyone who's been participating in this thread, which I've found very helpful on a number of occasions. As I write we're in the middle of the UK coronavirus lockdown but I'm casting my mind forward to future adventures in Southeast Asia ????

I just saw the video shared by Roy Baht above (The Vietnam Visapocalypse) from January 2020, so I checked the youtube channel it came from to see if there's been an update. Turns out there was an update in March 2020, here you go:

 

 

Summary:

Back in January it looked like people might need to do a visa run every 30 days, even if they had a longer duration visa, due to a new rule coming into force this July.

 

But this video from March seems to clarify that won't be necessary. Instead a stamp from the immigration office is what will be required every 30 days, costing approx $10 USD. Once your visa expires you'll need to do another visa run, as always.

 

(The author speculates it might be possible to pay a middleman to do that every-30-day run to the immigration office for you.)

 

Cheers

Edited July 5, 2020 by james173

[drbeach]

On 7/6/2020 at 5:39 AM, james173 said:

Thanks to everyone who's been participating in this thread, which I've found very helpful on a number of occasions. As I write we're in the middle of the UK coronavirus lockdown but I'm casting my mind forward to future adventures in Southeast Asia ????

I just saw the video shared by Roy Baht above (The Vietnam Visapocalypse) from January 2020, so I checked the youtube channel it came from to see if there's been an update. Turns out there was an update in March 2020, here you go:

 

 

Summary:

Back in January it looked like people might need to do a visa run every 30 days, even if they had a longer duration visa, due to a new rule coming into force this July.

 

But this video from March seems to clarify that won't be necessary. Instead a stamp from the immigration office is what will be required every 30 days, costing approx $10 USD. Once your visa expires you'll need to do another visa run, as always.

 

(The author speculates it might be possible to pay a middleman to do that every-30-day run to the immigration office for you.)

 

Cheers

Let's wait and see what Vietnam actually ends up doing. People speculating isn't going to help, especially when those videos were made before the corona related lockdowns started.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

^^^ The July 1 Tourist visa changes and Business visa expansions came and went without a peep from the VN government. I imagine there won't be anything further to say until they announce the resumption of general visa sales.

 

Wish I could be more optimistic but, well, I figure I'm going to have to stay another 3 months in Thailand, waiting for either Cambodia or VN to panic and re-open their borders.

Edited July 9, 2020 by Kaoboi Bebobp
Edit

[drbeach]

On 7/9/2020 at 4:02 PM, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

^^^ The July 1 Tourist visa changes and Business visa expansions came and went without a peep from the VN government. I imagine there won't be anything further to say until they announce the resumption of general visa sales.

 

Wish I could be more optimistic but, well, I figure I'm going to have to stay another 3 months in Thailand, waiting for either Cambodia or VN to panic and re-open their borders.

More than likely countries in the region will more or less open on a similar time scale. Vietnam originally announced a possible July 1 re-opening, but that has now been tentatively moved to September, which is similar to when Thailand plans to possibly re-open for tourism bubbles.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

3 hours ago, drbeach said:

More than likely countries in the region will more or less open on a similar time scale. Vietnam originally announced a possible July 1 re-opening, but that has now been tentatively moved to September, which is similar to when Thailand plans to possibly re-open for tourism bubbles.

 

Yes, I was thinking the same thing just recently, they will all open at a similar pace and time. Competition for the tourist dollar is a beautiful thing. And the high season, such as it might be, is beckoning.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[Thaiaddict01]

On 7/31/2019 at 7:41 PM, jessebkk1 said:

 

 

   Visa wise, those married to locals either real or arranged, get a 5 year visa. Which we all have to agree is fxcking impressive, while their counterparts in Thailand get 11 months and 2 weeks before they start running helter skelter for another 11month 2 weeks visa.

 

Arranged? Can you elaborate on that please?

[james173]

Hi all, I just learned about Thailand's Special Tourist Visa (STV) which can be extended up to 9 months: https://thaiest.com/blog/thailand-special-tourist-visa-stv

 

Do you guys think this significantly changes the answer to the question "Thailand VS Vietnam? Which one will be better in 5yrs?"

 

This article called it "game changing" for expats but I wondered whether people here see it as that significant?

 

Cheers

Edited February 13, 2021 by james173

[bshimself]

On 7/31/2019 at 4:34 PM, Ron jeremy said:

Thailand is cheap?? And Bangkok is a great place to live??????

<deleted>? 

Yes veitnam rocks , after 9 years based in Thailand, I started coming to Vietnam 2 years ago, won't be back in Thailand, drained my account and got the <deleted> out of dodge.

my friend lives in bkk, had to get a mask to breathe, he visited me in Vietnam last winter, he is there at the moment, he is also leaving bkk.

far better value for our money in Nam.

Yeah I dont see  Thailand as cheap and in turists spots they are rude  . gready and cheating

They are also in Vietnam BUT - its stil cheaper. I see thais on the country side as friendly  and

this is why I am going to Essan  - but its the goverment who treat you like a criminal a " dirty farang"  etc which  wil destroy Thailands reputation  - they stil think they can treat people. read: white people  as <deleted>  " you are not welcomed" -  I was in hanoi and HCMC  8 years ago  - and it was boring but what you can read on different forums its sems like Viet is gearing up.    am going there next time -  a couple of weks - easy from Bangkok . . 

[OswaldBastable]

On 2/13/2021 at 8:26 PM, james173 said:

Hi all, I just learned about Thailand's Special Tourist Visa (STV) which can be extended up to 9 months: https://thaiest.com/blog/thailand-special-tourist-visa-stv

 

Do you guys think this significantly changes the answer to the question "Thailand VS Vietnam? Which one will be better in 5yrs?"

 

This article called it "game changing" for expats but I wondered whether people here see it as that significant?

 

Cheers

Hi James,

Just arrived in Thailand (last week) from England on a STV, cost about 3,000 pounds (inc quarantine).

Would have considered Vietnam, but there appeared to be no way to get there from the UK at the moment. With the current COVID situation, who can predict what the reality will be in 5 years?

Edited March 14, 2021 by OswaldBastable

[Leaver]

On 3/14/2021 at 11:26 AM, OswaldBastable said:

Just arrived in Thailand (last week) from England on a STV, cost about 3,000 pounds (inc quarantine).

 

Bargain.  ???? ????

[Susco]

On 3/14/2021 at 10:56 AM, bshimself said:

I was in hanoi and HCMC  8 years ago  - and it was boring but what you can read on different forums its sems like Viet is gearing up.    am going there next time -  a couple of weks - easy from Bangkok . . 

 

Yeah, a few years ago it was also over all the forums that Myanmar would steal the tourism spot from Thailand. It was such a beautiful country, with everyone speaking English, everyone was to move there.

 

 

[madmen]

7 hours ago, Susco said:

 

Yeah, a few years ago it was also over all the forums that Myanmar would steal the tourism spot from Thailand. It was such a beautiful country, with everyone speaking English, everyone was to move there.

 

 

It's a forum of " gunnas"... Gunna move here gunna move there and in the end its, ain't gunna move anywhere ????

[Skypirate]

TH vs VN in future years.......all depends if you want to speak Chinese or English