Would you ever seriously think about moving to Cambodia or Laos?

[shoupy]

8 hours ago, WineOh said:

nice one mate.

 

Thailand sure aint the place it once was.

Oh to be here in the 70's! 

In my opinion, it was paradise on earth in 1972.  You could walk out of the Thermae at closing time and get mobbed by 50 girls who wanted you to take them home.  Gave an average guy a feeling of what it must be like to be a rock star.

[bermondburi]

2 hours ago, adammike said:

It's about running the air-conditioning 24/7.If I was going to move to the tropics it's something I would want to know about.

Really? Move to the tropics to live in a fridge. Seems a strange way of doing things.

[Thingamabob]

First came to Thailand in 1961, worked here from 1983 to 1988, retired here in 1993. Married my Thai wife in Taiwan in 1990. Almost everywhere has changed for the worse, including Thailand, but I still enjoy living here and have no intention of moving to a neighbouring country or anywhere else for that matter. Thailand has excellent healthcare, excellent food, and I still find most Thais charming and friendly.

[WineOh]

6 hours ago, vandeventer said:

The government is not making a lot of money from taxation as most Thais hate paying taxes so that leaves the infrastructure and hospitals in need of help

wrong mate.

The government are too busy spending Thai taxes on submarines, water trucks and rubber bullets. 

[BritManToo]

6 hours ago, vandeventer said:

 The government is not making a lot of money from taxation as most Thais hate paying taxes so that leaves the infrastructure and hospitals in need of help. Everything changes as time moves on and you just have to change with them or no matter where you live you will not be happy.

Did you forget VaT,  import duty  and business tax?

[khunPer]

If I for some or other reason could not continue to stay in Thailand, Cambodia would be on top of the list as an alternative place of residence in South East Asia.

[BritManToo]

I've got to say I'm happy enough in Thailand spending my 40k/month pension.

I'd only move if Thailand forced me to move, their choice, not my choice.

[ThailandRyan]

13 hours ago, zyphodb said:

Yes, if things go pear shaped here, I'd add Vietnam as well. Not the Phillies though, don't want to lose everything to a Typhoon much...

Cebu is the safest spot in the Phil's very well protected by other islands...lol.  Lived there for a year. Cambodia would be Plan B, but I would have to say No to Laos.  Spent many a time in Vientiane doing Visa runs back in the day when I lived in Udon. 

[Sujo]

I already made my choice.

 

between thailand, vietnam, malaysia. I chose malaysia.

but if my salary was a bit better for vietnam i would take it.

 

For me, vietnam would be first choice.

 

cambodia yes, i like it, laos not so much but could live with it if money was an issue.

[Sujo]

Just now, ThailandRyan said:

Cebu is the safest spot in the Phil's very well protected by other islands...lol.  Lived there for a year. Cambodia would be Plan B, but I would have to say No to Laos.  Spent many a time in Vientiane doing Visa runs back in the day when I lived in Udon. 

I havent been to cebu. Must go there when things open. Is it good for a holiday? Beers and girls.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, Sujo said:

I havent been to cebu. Must go there when things open. Is it good for a holiday? Beers and girls.

Angeles city for beer and girls.

Barretto, Olongapo for beer, beach and girls.

But in these days of COVID who can tell how much fun anywhere will be?

[ThailandRyan]

14 minutes ago, Sujo said:

I havent been to cebu. Must go there when things open. Is it good for a holiday? Beers and girls.

It does have an Area for that.  Bars, clubs and Filipina's.  As far as holiday things, plenty of diving and you can swim with the Whale Sharks.  They have some great places to see.

[ThailandRyan]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Angeles city for beer and girls.

Barretto, Olongapo for beer, beach and girls.

But in these days of COVID who can tell how much fun anywhere will be?

But that is off of Manila and not down on the Island of Cebu Brit.  Your right all good and fun, who knows what Covid has done however.  The Filipina's are very lovely, and speak English as well.

[simon43]

Well, it seems very few would consider moving to live in Laos.  I'm genuinely interested to know why.  Please tell. 

 

I can only relate to living in Luang Prabang.  I would not want to live in Vientiane - it has changed for the worse since I used to visit a decade or so ago. Other rural locations in the country are indeed, too 'rural' for my liking.  But LP works great for me ????

[bermondburi]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

Well, it seems very few would consider moving to live in Laos.  I'm genuinely interested to know why.  Please tell. 

 

I can only relate to living in Luang Prabang.  I would not want to live in Vientiane - it has changed for the worse since I used to visit a decade or so ago. Other rural locations in the country are indeed, too 'rural' for my liking.  But LP works great for me ????

I think basically people see it as a bit too rural, a bit boring. Okay if you're into nature, the quiet life, a bit of ganja maybe, touring empty roads in a bicycle, motorcycle etc Not much in the way of nightlife. Okay for an extended stay but not to live. The main thing for me is that the nearest beach is miles away!

 

I actually liked VT the times I spent there. Not been in ten years now but used to have some great nights out there, always ending up at some club or another.

[balo]

Not sure about that , I find PP attractive because it's not too big and Khmer people are very friendly, and I love French food , you can buy a decent Western meal for under $5,, fresh baguettes etc.  But after a while you get bored. 

Outside of PP and SR there's not much going on. 

Forget Sihanoukville , bought up by Chinese investors and completely ruined. 
 
  

Edited March 25, 2021 by balo

[geisha]

I m not living in Thailand full time , only October through to March, snowbird months. I’ve been coming since 1985 though. The change for me is in the attitude of lots of Thais, they come over to me as not happy anymore. Too many scams too, and a total disinterest in their jobs, waiters/ waitresses, shop girls, etc. I always go to the same restaurants, where the staff are nice and the food still good. Otherwise lots of places lacking in hygiene, and the filth on the streets is worse in my opinion, the  sea water and air polluted. Such a shame. I liked Cambodia and the people, I love Bali and the people. I might choose a winter in Siem Reap  and a summer in Bali, one of the  quieter locations tho. After the Covid crisis of course, and after a stop on Phuket to see my old friends.

PS, for beaches and scenery the Philippines is the winner, and the ease of speaking English. 

[SGD]

8 hours ago, simon43 said:

Well, it seems very few would consider moving to live in Laos.  I'm genuinely interested to know why.  Please tell. 

 

I can only relate to living in Luang Prabang.  I would not want to live in Vientiane - it has changed for the worse since I used to visit a decade or so ago. Other rural locations in the country are indeed, too 'rural' for my liking.  But LP works great for me ????

 

I lived in Buriram for a year. I had a nice enough house, a car, truck, home life was ok. So why did I hate it ?

 

Almost every foreigner living there was doing so because they were too poor to live where they really wanted and this was back in time when £1 got you well over Bt60. If a tin of beer went up 25 satang that was the topic of conversation for the day.

 

The locals were a mixed bunch. Some resentment, some amusement, little understanding and largely just uninterested. Very little English spoken and even less outside restaurants etc.

 

There was clear evidence of the girls who were working as "cashiers" and "receptionists" in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. Some oversized mansions built and often only half finished or left to rot; gold, cash and land far more useful than a large costly house to maintain.

 

I got bored, deadly bored. There simply wasn't enough of anything or anyone to make life worthwhile. In other places, it would be my choice to self isolate but up there, it was enforced because there wasn't anything else to do.

 

So I went to Bangkok a lot. Easy flights from Sateuk to Suvarnabhumi back then and often for Bt750 or so. Head back up when I wanted.

 

Contrast that with living in and around Ao Nang in Krabi and then moving to Koh Mook in the South Andaman. No electric, well, maybe 2 hours per day, so not hot water but didn't care. You ate whatever came out of the ocean and could be grown on the island. Occasional items came in from the mainland or you could take a trip or ask your restaurant guy to bring something when he went.

Beer was with ice and sure, you needed to get over seeing large blocks of ice being dragged along the ground and washed down. Never knew anyone get sick though. Food was ocean to table in hours so as fresh as could be. Evenings were spent without phones, TVs or internet and chatting, reading, listening to your fellow men and women was the order of the day.

I went back to Ao Nang and lasted 3 days before I turned around and went back to the islands.

 

Of course, time has changed everywhere and for the worse but why all rural places worry me is that I feel I would have nothing to do and have so little in common with those around me and probably not even a common language. Laos looks great to see but I suspect boring to live. I am not one for temple watching nor climbing this or that to view another paddy field or mountain. Been there, done that.

 

What would Laos give me over Thailand in any aspect ?

[SGD]

19 hours ago, golfpro47 said:

I have lived in Thailand 25 Years and Cambodia was my bolt hole when I needed a change , I visited many many times,usually for 1-2 weeks and always enjoyed my time there,the biggest mistake I made was moving over to Phnom Penh Full  time.Looking  for what I call a decent Condo/Apartment to Rent the ones I viewed were in the 450 600US,I had looked at what Barang were calling good Condos at 300-350US and they were shocking couldn’t believe how some Barang were living. I settled on a playyyce just over 2klms from the City Center,a brand new Building Furnished,they were looking for 650US I offered to pay 550US 6Months in advance and got it for that.

 I didn’t find the food to bad(except the street food)plenty of Euro Restaurants prices decent,but really missed Thai Food.

what surprises me are that most of the comments by people who have lived there  or have visited regularly is they nearly all say cheap beer,cheap and ready available drugs,I often wonder what kind of life they lead when they are the first 2 things they mention.

After about 6Months I was getting bored,relief was my Work as I was Working all around Asia,so at about 9-10 Months I decided I had had enough and moved back to Thailand.

Most of my friends I had there have also departed,some to Thailand,Vietnam and some back to Europe, I am told by people I still know there that they are also considering leaving,they are fed up with the usual things,dirty,attitude,Crime more prevalent and far to many Chinese now with there bad attitude,and of course getting more expensive.

Did I enjoy my long stay there no,did I enjoy my frequent visits prior to moving there most definitely,but my experience living there and the stories I am being told, I am glad I left when I did, I made a big mistake moving there and as such I have never been back.

 

Most guys reach for a beer with one hand and a girl with the other and they can apologise for anything and live in squalor if those needs are met.

 

I see guys living in Pattaya in rooms that girls today would be ashamed to live in. Cheap is good, cheap trumps all other questions.

[simon43]

I first came to live in Thailand in 2002.  I initially lived in central Bangkok, which was fine at the time.  Then I moved to north Phuket, building small hotels and living very close to Nai Yang beach. Various posters say that Laos is not for them, because it has no beach/coast.  In Phuket, I had the beach and rarely visited it - for me, sitting on the beach all day was simply too boring!  Plus the wonderful gestapo police then made it illegal to sit on a deckchair on the beach and banned the beach restaurants from placing their tables and chairs on the beach.  Huh????

 

I also lived in Ao Nang for a year, but found it too humid (the rain clouds coming from the west were stopped by the mountains behind Ao Nang/Krabi.

 

I guess if you don't have a hobby or job to fill your spare time, then living in any rural location will be tedious and boring.  I typically teach about 5 hours each day, with long breaks in-between my lessons to allow me to keep fit (6km walk/run every day).  I get up at 4.30am to 'play' with my ham radio. I meet my friends in town for breakfast.  The 3 main languages spoken in town are Lao, French and English, all which I speak well.  Most expats here seem to be working for NGOs, such as The World Food Program, or are volunteer teachers and doctors etc.  I see no sex-mongers/alcoholics etc...

 

There is plenty of lively nightlife and company ????  Remember that the railway from China is being built, and so there are many Chinese and Vietnamese workers who live on the edge of town, and who seem to enjoy karaokee and female 'company'.

 

I've watched YouTube videos about living in Laos, and almost all seem to concentrate on living in Vientiane, which is definitely not my cup of tea.  It's maybe snobbish, but LP is IMHO, a world away from Vientiane and the rural towns such as Pakse, Savanaket etc.

[JayClay]

16 hours ago, Pravda said:

 

You don't use aircon overnight? 

 

Do you sleep in your bathroom? My bathroom doesn't even have a/c.

 

Even if I did sleep in the bathroom, and it did have ac... What sort of temperatures are you sleeping in to turn the toilet seat cold? Maybe you should review your sleeping habits; they sound awfully unhealthy!

Edited March 26, 2021 by JayClay

[brewsterbudgen]

11 hours ago, simon43 said:

Well, it seems very few would consider moving to live in Laos.  I'm genuinely interested to know why.  Please tell. 

 

I can only relate to living in Luang Prabang.  I would not want to live in Vientiane - it has changed for the worse since I used to visit a decade or so ago. Other rural locations in the country are indeed, too 'rural' for my liking.  But LP works great for me ????

As my wife is Lao and we have a house in Ban Saphai (Pakse) I visit frequently, or did before Covid.  But I couldn't live there, for exactly the reason you state - "too rural"!  You seem to be suggesting that Luang Prabang is the only place a westerner should consider in Laos.  Perhaps you're right, but it would still be too rural and undeveloped for me.

[elgenon]

On 3/24/2021 at 7:16 AM, simon43 said:

After returning to Thailand, after working in Myanmar for about 5 years, I found the Thailand that I remembered when I first moved there in 2002, had changed too much for me to consider living there in my retirement.  I therefore relocated to live in Luang Prabang, a town where I briefly worked as the Headmaster of the international school, about 8 years ago.

 

The fact that it is a communist country actually seemed a bonus.  Here is a town where the kids go out and pick up litter from the streets each week, and the local adults do the same.  Unlike Thailand, the various authorities (police, immigration etc) don't have the slightest interest in sticking themselves into my life.  I don't have to do 90-day reports, nor inform anyone of my whereabouts and trips, nor even visit an immigration office to get my annual business visa, work permit and ID card.

 

(I guess things would be different if I were a Hmong activist etc, but without the slightest interest in politics or religion, I enjoy living here).  Sure, Laos is completely under the thumb of China, but again, none of this affects me in a negative way.

 

I'm not a sex monger, but 'compony' is readily available if one is discrete.  Don't sh*t in your own house of course, so use a hotel (I've done this many times).  Secret police?  Look, I have more radio transmitters and strange antennas than Goonhilly Down, but the police and authorities never bother me - well I've never had a visit so far ????

 

The food is excellent, with daily French baguettes, Lao coffee and local dishes.

 

Some people tell me that living in Laos is expensive.  I rent an old Lao house - 3 bedrooms,  just 100 metres from the Mekong river.  It has a beautiful garden and I pay under 11,000 baht a month, plus 100 baht for water and about 3,000 baht for electricity.  I find food cheap!

 

Crime?  Nothing affects me.  No pilfering or anything.  I learnt many years ago that security fences/cameras/dogs etc attract criminals.  All I have are the rusty metal bars on my windows.  Besides, I have little to steal.

 

My local bank account (with a Franco-Belgian bank) gives me 6 - 8% annual interest...

 

I guess the only downside are the lack of decent health/hospital facilities.  It's important to have expat/medivac insurance and to stay healthy!!

 

Forgot to add that my online teaching job needs fast internet.  I have 50 MB/sec fibre connections into my house from both LaoTel and Unitel, plus 4G mobile data as a backup.  I rarely have a connection problem.

 

I would have thought a communist country would have good medical care. Wrong again.

[canthai55]

21 hours ago, worldexpress said:

I really don't want to live under a communist or an oppressive authoritarian government

Better move to the Moon, or Mars

Where on this earth do you not find one of the above, or both at the same time ?

555

[Fairynuff]

As much as I like both countries and will always enjoy short visits I couldn’t live in either of them. I really don’t care about how much beer and sex cost, neither are on my shopping list. The reasons for me are lack of infrastructure, lack of sophistication (when I feel I want it) and capital cities that just can’t compare to Bangkok. Thailand is unique in its position. In normal times you can fly an hour or less and be in 5 different countries. That’s a huge draw for me because I need to escape often. Lao and Cambodian food don’t even come close to Thai and for me that’s a major factor for staying here. If/when I leave it will be most likely to Europe.

[BritManToo]

16 minutes ago, Fairynuff said:

Thailand is unique in its position. In normal times you can fly an hour or less and be in 5 different countries.

I think that will be "In historical times", I don't think the easy country hopping will ever be allowed to return.

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, simon43 said:

Most expats here seem to be working for NGOs, such as The World Food Program, or are volunteer teachers and doctors etc.  I see no sex-mongers/alcoholics etc...

Romance tourists really wouldn't be in a country that restricts contact with local women.

Enjoy the 'wokeness' of your fellow expats, it just sounds awful to me.

[AlfHuy]

21 hours ago, oobar said:

A Thai toilet seat is actually too COLD in the mornings?  Never heard of such a thing until now.

That's his old one.

[ThailandRyan]

8 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

That's his old one.

Makes log burning easy then....

[Jingthing]

14 hours ago, simon43 said:

Well, it seems very few would consider moving to live in Laos.  I'm genuinely interested to know why.  Please tell. 

 

I can only relate to living in Luang Prabang.  I would not want to live in Vientiane - it has changed for the worse since I used to visit a decade or so ago. Other rural locations in the country are indeed, too 'rural' for my liking.  But LP works great for me ????

Well I've been to LP as a tourist and it was a great trip but I couldn't picture myself living there. Seemed too backwards. I did talk to a numbet of expats there and heard nothing that persuaded me to be more interested. I don't even want to visit Vientiane and I can't really explain why. I don’t care if a country is "communist" as an expat. I would  be very interested in Vietnam if they had a retirement visa.

Edited March 26, 2021 by Jingthing