I have ruled the Phillipines out !

[LaosLover]

I keep hearing: Cheaper beer, less crime, more willing women.

[georgegeorgia]

8 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Why is Cambodia better than the Philippines for prostitution ?

I would say cheaper,I see the Korean have a lot of bars here in Angeles city  so I imagine the prices are not cheap, I didn't participate so can't say but I heard its around 5000 pesos

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, LaosLover said:

It seems like for P4P, the decades-long consensus on this board is Thailand first, Cambodia second, and the PI a distant and begrudged at best third. 

 

I'd say PI, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are about the same for loose women.

Saigon was the worst place I ever went for women walking up and 'cold selling'.

I couldn't even sit in a park or coffee shop without some lady trying her luck.

[rumak]

On 7/9/2022 at 2:12 PM, georgegeorgia said:

And be advised to get a gun.

I went to the boon as you call it, to visit my girls parents,all have guns 

We have all missed your terrific insightful posts questions :    such as " how much time do you spend quietly looking into the spiritual wonders of being human" 

 

guess you are pretty held back by the reality of having to keep little hands out of your pockets.

[georgegeorgia]

2 hours ago, LaosLover said:

It seems like for P4P, the decades-long consensus on this board is Thailand first, Cambodia second, and the PI a distant and begrudged at best third. 

 

Dominican Republic is worth a google. They have a Love Island thing where you get assigned your own Eastern Euro companion of appropriate blondness and breast size,

I would say Vietnam is now the third 

 

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I would say cheaper,I see the Korean have a lot of bars here in Angeles city  so I imagine the prices are not cheap, I didn't participate so can't say but I heard its around 5000 pesos

 

The Koreans are Dock workers from the Subic container port, not tourists. 

 

Talking to the girls, they said, "the Koreans want to haggle all night, young white guys want it for free, over 50s white guys are our main customers, they pay the asking price and don't cause problems" 

[georgegeorgia]

15 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I would say Vietnam is now the third 

 

Many expats now explore Vietnam as a retirement destination 

[Padthaigoong]

3 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Many expats now explore Vietnam as a retirement destination 

Not really a viable retirement option at the moment unless you want to do border runs every 30 days.

[Mike Teavee]

On 7/9/2022 at 6:33 AM, georgegeorgia said:

I think Cebu was the worst, no beaches

By the statement "Cebu doesn't have beaches"! - I take it you mean Cebu City (Which is like standing in Phuket Town & saying Phuket doesn't have any beaches).

 

Some of the beaches on Cebu (Island) are stunning go over to the other side (e.g. Moalboal) & there's loads of beautiful beaches, hands down Philippines beats Thailand for beaches (& babes). 

 

 

As for the Philippines not being safe, Davao is (or at least was until the mongers discovered it) one of the safest cities in Asia. but if you've only been to Angeles City you're going to think the whole country isn't safe.  

 

I dated a Filipina for 8 years, have been there countless times & visited >20 islands over that time + built a house in Davao but I chose not to retire to the Philippines not because of it's faults (food sucks!) but because I felt Thailand was a better choice for me... I still do  but if I ever change my mind it will probably be to move to the Philippines (& it will be to the Visayas so either Davao, Cebu or Bohol).  

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Mike Teavee

[georgegeorgia]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

By the statement "Cebu doesn't have beaches"! - I take it you mean Cebu City (Which is like standing in Phuket Town & saying Phuket doesn't have any beaches).

 

Some of the beaches on Cebu (Island) are stunning go over to the other side (e.g. Moalboal) & there's loads of beautiful beaches, hands down Philippines beats Thailand for beaches (& babes). 

 

 

As for the Philippines not being safe, Davao is (or at least was until the mongers discovered it) one of the safest cities in Asia. but if you've only been to Angeles City you're going to think the whole country isn't safe.  

 

I dated a Filipina for 8 years, have been there countless times & visited >20 islands over that time + built a house in Davao but I chose not to retire to the Philippines not because of it's faults (food sucks!) but because I felt Thailand was a better choice for me... I still do  but if I ever change my mind it will probably be to move to the Philippines (& it will be to the Visayas so either Davao, Cebu or Bohol).  

 

Stayed in Davao a week, lack of footpaths, extreme traffic, and basically only shopping malls and American fast food chains ,nothing to retire there for

 

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

Stayed in Davao a week, lack of footpaths, extreme traffic, and basically only shopping malls and American fast food chains ,nothing to retire there for

 

If there for 1 week or less we would catch up with her mates (usually at the mall) in Davao City & spend 2-3 days in Kapalong to visit her family.

 

Any longer & we’d do the above + a side trip (often to Samal but also to other islands further afield, on 1 trip we drove all the way up to Surigao City to visit her grandparents, nice place).

 

but you are right, there’s little to do in the Philippines outside of visiting beaches which is probably the main reason I chose Thailand instead. 
 

Some great Korean & Japanese food in Davao though ???? 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Mike Teavee

[bkk6060]

Thailand I think is still the best place for diversity and overall  retirement experience. 

Bottom line, I think many of these countries don't care about having the "hanging out" expats.  Pattaya is an example of so many rinse and repeaters.

Stay in cheap rooms, wake up at noon, eat a cheap breakfast, go back and take a nap, go out to the bars and drink until closing.  Rinse and repeat. Must be 1000's of them here doing this, same old faces everyday.

Edited July 11, 2022 by bkk6060

[FalangJaiDee]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Thailand I think is still the best place for diversity and overall  retirement experience. 

Bottom line, I think many of these countries don't care about having the "hanging out" expats.  Pattaya is an example of so many rinse and repeaters.

Stay in cheap rooms, wake up at noon, eat a cheap breakfast, go back and take a nap, go out to the bars and drink until closing.  Rinse and repeat. Must be 1000's of them here doing this, same old faces everyday.

That’s literally all I want to do when I retire lol

[rimmae2]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I'd say PI, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are about the same for loose women.

Saigon was the worst place I ever went for women walking up and 'cold selling'.

I couldn't even sit in a park or coffee shop without some lady trying her luck.

Some people would say best place, but depends if a person partakes.

[Padthaigoong]

When I consider the Philippines as a retirement destination it has three things going for it :

 

1) Language. ( English widely spoken )

2) Visa ( Three years hassle free and then leave for a day and come back and start again.)

3) Recipricol pension agreement meaning UK citizens can receive an annual pension increase. ( Rumoured to be in the region of 10% next year.)

 

As a bonus it is within easy reach of Thailand.

 

It's at least worth a visit although I have a feeling I would still prefer Thailand.

[1FinickyOne]

On 7/9/2022 at 6:33 AM, georgegeorgia said:

Please release me back to Thailand,I promised I will never say anything bad

wherever you go, there you are... 

[BritManToo]

23 hours ago, Padthaigoong said:

Not really a viable retirement option at the moment unless you want to do border runs every 30 days.

Marry or impregnate a local, 5 year VISA for $50.

[Padthaigoong]

12 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Marry or impregnate a local, 5 year VISA for $50.

That might prove to be a very expensive visa in the long run.

[dtag]

Where did you get the idea that the main cities and the bar girl town were going to be the nice places to visit? Slagging off the whole of the PI when your top place to retire is the biggest sh#*hole in Thailand is pretty funny. 

 

[shdmn]

On 7/8/2022 at 4:51 PM, BritManToo said:

You're just on the wrong place. Get on the bus to Barretto, Olongapo, nice beaches and restaurants. 

Barretto is pretty much a dump too imo.  It wouldn't be so bad if they put in a bypass road.  All those big vehicles constantly going through belching diesel just totally ruins the peace and tranquility of the place for me.

 

I don't mind the city of Olongapo so much.  The freeport area around the marina is nice enough to walk around.  Also nice up in the hills where it's a bit cooler and away from any potential flooding.  It can rain quite a bit in rainy season though, so July/Aug is a good time to go somewhere else.

Edited July 14, 2022 by shdmn

[shdmn]

OP highlighted a lot of negatives but there are positives too.  Most people can speak passable english so that's a huge plus. Also more similar culture to the west compared to elsewhere in Asia. Booze is pretty cheap.  Accomodation can be cheap if you get a long term lease of a year or more.  So it's just short term accomodation that is not such a great deal compared to Thailand.  Lastly, the girls love westerners and don't seem to care too much how old you are. 

[cdemundo]

Unavoidable problem in the PI...

Filipinos.

They are everywhere in the PI.

[shdmn]

On 7/10/2022 at 4:03 PM, BritManToo said:

I'd say PI, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam are about the same for loose women.

Saigon was the worst place I ever went for women walking up and 'cold selling'.

I couldn't even sit in a park or coffee shop without some lady trying her luck.

Oh the horror.  I better not ever go there if women will be offering themselves up to me. Must have been a nightmare!

Edited July 14, 2022 by shdmn

[steven100]

On 7/11/2022 at 7:01 AM, georgegeorgia said:

Many expats now explore Vietnam as a retirement destination 

I believe the visa for retirement in Vietnam is more difficult to obtain than PI or TH if my memory serves me correct. Although i still think Vietnam is the best of the three places.

[shdmn]

On 7/10/2022 at 5:01 PM, georgegeorgia said:

Many expats now explore Vietnam as a retirement destination 

No retirement visa is available for Vietnam.  Before you could stay up to 6 months (1 year for Americans) and do border runs every 3 months.  Right now you can only stay for 30 days without a work visa or being married to a Vietnamese.

Edited July 14, 2022 by shdmn

[Jingthing]

16 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I believe the visa for retirement in Vietnam is more difficult to obtain than PI or TH if my memory serves me correct. Although i still think Vietnam is the best of the three places.

Yes, very difficult indeed as there is no such thing as a retirement visa for Vietnam. There may be current workarounds (rules change and I don't know the current situation) that might involve frequent visa runs or better paying off agents to do the dirties in country. But it's clear to me Vietnam will NEVER have a retirement visa, it's not their style, and any workarounds you might be able to do are subject to changes on a dime. For that reason alone, I think trying to "retire" long term in Vietnam is crazy. Of course there are marriage and work options but those are a different path. 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Jingthing

[shdmn]

On 7/10/2022 at 8:51 PM, bkk6060 said:

Thailand I think is still the best place for diversity and overall  retirement experience. 

Bottom line, I think many of these countries don't care about having the "hanging out" expats.  Pattaya is an example of so many rinse and repeaters.

Stay in cheap rooms, wake up at noon, eat a cheap breakfast, go back and take a nap, go out to the bars and drink until closing.  Rinse and repeat. Must be 1000's of them here doing this, same old faces everyday.

If you keep seeing the same old faces every day then you are also one of those same old faces.

Edited July 14, 2022 by shdmn