What's good about the Philippines?

[proton]

59 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I got mugged in Chiang Mai 2007 three guys on motorbikes in a back street 11pm and a week later a Aussie backpacker was stabbed to death nearby in a robbery  so I never went back !

What do you expect in tourist dumps?

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, Trippy said:

The only thing good about PI is the girls, everything else is pretty bad compared to Thailand.

What I didn't like was the proliferation of hand guns in both Manila but more so at an industrial site operated by my multi-national coy, about 1.5 hrs outside manila on a very busy single lane 'h'way'.

 

Everybody on company site; CEO and all staff incl. labour openly carried hand guns.

 

A big complex, several internal gangs were well established and from time to time there was open shooting gang warfare between the gangs, with deaths and serious injuries. 

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, proton said:

What do you expect in tourist dumps?

I got mugged once, 11:00 pm in Sydney Kings Cross areaa. Three big guys,  appeared from nowher, 2 pinned me to the adjacent wall, third one took my wallet, removed the cash and threw the wallet into nearby ornamental bushes. All done and disappeared in 1 minute. No violence whatever. 

[proton]

5 hours ago, scorecard said:

I got mugged once, 11:00 pm in Sydney Kings Cross areaa. Three big guys,  appeared from nowher, 2 pinned me to the adjacent wall, third one took my wallet, removed the cash and threw the wallet into nearby ornamental bushes. All done and disappeared in 1 minute. No violence whatever. 

 

So what, the topic is the Philippines, not colonial backwaters ????

[pgrahmm]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Stayed with a family years ago so experienced none of above only read about it and they took care of me anyway didn't like me going anywhere alone.

Yes, if they care about you they make sure to guard you.....No matter where you go....

Also notice females do not go out solo - especially after dark....The ones that have cars hire drivers for safety.....

[Kwasaki]

7 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

Yes, if they care about you they make sure to guard you.....No matter where you go....

Also notice females do not go out solo - especially after dark....The ones that have cars hire drivers for safety.....

Yes lovely people but all countries have scumbags.

[Trippy]

36 minutes ago, scorecard said:

What I didn't like was the proliferation of hand guns in both Manila but more so at an industrial site operated by my multi-national coy, about 1.5 hrs outside manila on a very busy single lane 'h'way'.

 

Everybody on company site; CEO and all staff incl. labour openly carried hand guns.

 

A big complex, several internal gangs were well established and from time to time there was open shooting gang warfare between the gangs, with deaths and serious injuries. 

Yep, there's guns everywhere there. Even the guards outside the 7-11's are carrying assault rifles, which makes the whole country seem dangerous. 

[georgegeorgia]

31 minutes ago, Trippy said:

Yep, there's guns everywhere there. Even the guards outside the 7-11's are carrying assault rifles, which makes the whole country seem dangerous. 

What city is that in?

I didn't see any guards outside 711 not even unarmed ones 

What city ,you mean Manila ?

I didn't see them ,only outside banks , 

Certainly not in Davao City and Gensan .

Even in Angeles City I didn't see guards outside 711 and that's only early this year .

 

Maybe you live in the past?

 

[Trippy]

20 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

What city is that in?

I didn't see any guards outside 711 not even unarmed ones 

What city ,you mean Manila ?

I didn't see them ,only outside banks , 

Certainly not in Davao City and Gensan .

Even in Angeles City I didn't see guards outside 711 and that's only early this year .

 

Maybe you live in the past?

 

Maybe I am living in the past, I haven't been to PI since before covid and never been to Mindanao as I avoid muslim areas. But armed guards used to be all over Luzon.

Doesn't matter to me anyways, as I have no intention to go back till they decriminalize weed, which will probably never happen 555

Carry on.

[Jingthing]

* Deleted post edited out *

 

Well it is very popular with U.S. veterans.

The SRRV has very low requirements for veterans and there is a veterans health care available in Manila.

[Jingthing]

3 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

With the Philippines it all depends on exactly what area you live in and your goals 

 

Obviously if you want a quiet area you not going to live in Manila 

 

 I like foreigner areas such as Duamegette 

 

You have to pick the area that suits your goals 

 

Nicknamed Dramaguette.
I visited there long ago and wasn't feeling it.

I am curious about Davao, Iloilo City, and especially Bagaio.

[lopburi3]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Well it is very popular with U.S. veterans.

The SRRV has very low requirements for veterans and there is a veterans health care available in Manila.

And many served military time there - Subic and Clark were very large facilities until 1992.

[georgegeorgia]

9 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Nicknamed Dramaguette.
I visited there long ago and wasn't feeling it.

I am curious about Davao, Iloilo City, and especially Bagaio.

Davao is very safe ,I walked every night ,to gym 24hour gym 

It's very busy and tourist police everywhere 

[lopburi3]

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Nicknamed Dramaguette.
I visited there long ago and wasn't feeling it.

I am curious about Davao, Iloilo City, and especially Bagaio.

Believe Iloilo City would be best choice for you - it seems quite well planned and open with easy access everywhere as you age.  Bagaio would seem best for younger trekking crowd.  Davao good for married folks.

[lopburi3]

5 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

And what about healthcare ?

Seems there's more homeless in America than Philippines ????????

In PI most will be with family - just as in Thailand.  Homeless in US is often a choice to avoid family.

 

Medical is available in US with both private and government insurance and emergency care for all.  But many make the choice to use insurance money for other things - unlike countries that have free care paid for by high tax rates.

 

That said US is a country as are 194 others in our world today - none has a monopoly on either good or bad.

[Jingthing]

47 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Believe Iloilo City would be best choice for you - it seems quite well planned and open with easy access everywhere as you age.  Bagaio would seem best for younger trekking crowd.  Davao good for married folks.

Interesting comment but the cooler weather in Bagaio is a definite big plus for many. Also not that far to travel to a beach area occasionally if you want that. The trekking thing is something you might do once as a tourist outside the city. It's the city there that appeals to me a possibly great place to live, though of course we can't know anything much before visiting. 

 

His economic info about the U.S. is dated, but worth looking at for the Baguio content:

 

 

[Jingthing]

28 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

In PI most will be with family - just as in Thailand.  Homeless in US is often a choice to avoid family.

 

Medical is available in US with both private and government insurance and emergency care for all.  But many make the choice to use insurance money for other things - unlike countries that have free care paid for by high tax rates.

 

That said US is a country as are 194 others in our world today - none has a monopoly on either good or bad.

Most homeless in the U.S. these days are homeless because the rent is too darned high! They may become mentally ill or dead from being homeless though. I know I couldn't hack that.

[JensenZ]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Stayed with a family years ago so experienced none of above only read about it and they took care of me anyway didn't like me going anywhere alone.

You were living a very sheltered life. Their advice not to go anywhere alone confirms the ever present dangers. One of these dangers is the possibility of you hooking up with another lady.

 

There are many areas in the Philippines where you probably wouldn't survive a walk on your own. At the very least, you'd be mugged. Try walking around Tondo in Manila. Of course there are safer and more dangerous areas, but overall, it's MUCH more dangerous than Thailand. It's not even close.

 

One time I was talking on my cell phone and a guy ran up to me and grabbed it from my ear. I chased him around the corner and a gang pulled a gun on me. Another time I was extorted by the police, which ended up costing me 250,000 pesos. (an ex-gf told the police some lies about me and they jailed me with no charge. Had I not paid, I could have been there for months, even years). That was the month I moved to Thailand.

 

I could write a book about my adventures in the Philippines over the many years I lived there and I've lived all over the islands. Life in Thailand is boring by comparison, and that's the way I like it.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, JensenZ said:

There are many areas in the Philippines where you probably wouldn't survive a walk on your own. At the very least, you'd be mugged. Try walking around Tondo in Manila. Of course there are safer and more dangerous areas, but overall, it's MUCH more dangerous than Thailand. It's not even close.

I used to walk from the airport to Pasay bus station through the barrio in the early hours of the morning.

Never any trouble, never felt there would be any trouble.

 

Lots of old local guys sitting outside their shacks all night, they all used to shout "hello" or "enjoy your stay" as I walked past. Very friendly outgoing people (compared to Thais).

[ozimoron]

16 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I used to walk from the airport to Pasay bus station through the barrio in the early hours of the morning.

Never any trouble, never felt there would be any trouble.

 

Lots of old local guys sitting outside their shacks all night, they all used to shout "hello" or "enjoy your stay" as I walked past. Very friendly outgoing people (compared to Thais).

I don't find Thais to be any more or less friendly than Filipinos. Mind you, the trike drivers who held me up at knife point in AC weren't that friendly. I was also pretty shocked to see the gun shop selling home made guns just near Rosies Diner on my first trip there.

 

I used to get the Swagman bus from the airport to the Swagman Hotel in Manila and then the Swagman bus down to AC the next day. Now you can get a bus direct from the airport to AC which stops at SM Mall.

 

I have personally met 5 people who have been shot and 2 more kidnapped never to be seen again in Philippines.

[georgegeorgia]

57 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

In PI most will be with family - just as in Thailand.  Homeless in US is often a choice to avoid family.

 

Medical is available in US with both private and government insurance and emergency care for all.  But many make the choice to use insurance money for other things - unlike countries that have free care paid for by high tax rates.

 

That said US is a country as are 194 others in our world today - none has a monopoly on either good or bad.

Yes thanks .

Just as a question,and I don't know if it's State by State or it's federal government in the USA but my question is ,if I was working say at a low paid job do I get free healthcare in a government hospital say I had kidney stones does it cost me money there,that's the rumours we hear here in Australia.

[georgegeorgia]

13 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

I don't find Thais to be any more or less friendly than Filipinos. Mind you, the trike drivers who held me up at knife point in AC weren't that friendly. I was also pretty shocked to see the gun shop selling home made guns just near Rosies Diner on my first trip there.

 

I used to get the Swagman bus from the airport to the Swagman Hotel in Manila and then the Swagman bus down to AC the next day. Now you can get a bus direct from the airport to AC which stops at SM Mall.

 

I have personally met 5 people who have been shot and 2 more kidnapped never to be seen again in Philippines.

Omg ,no one wanted to kidnap my old bum????

I remember being in General Santos City ,it's a country city and I was walking back late one night along a quiet road ,up ahead was a Filipino guy who kept looking back at me scared 

 

I was thinking how can he be scared of a foreigner ?

When I got up close he stopped and let me pass ,he looked at me clearly in the face with a nervous look 

Had no idea why he got scared of me unless it was my panting and puffing  trying to walk that he heard

Maybe he thought I was deep breathing for him 

 

Of course anywhere can be dangerous even in some parts of Australia at night 

[JensenZ]

28 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I used to walk from the airport to Pasay bus station through the barrio in the early hours of the morning.

Never any trouble, never felt there would be any trouble.

 

Lots of old local guys sitting outside their shacks all night, they all used to shout "hello" or "enjoy your stay" as I walked past. Very friendly outgoing people (compared to Thais).

I'm quite familiar with the Pasay area too and have walked around there myself. I specifically mentioned Tondo as a place not to walk. I didn't mean to say you'd get mugged everywhere you walked, any time you walked, but if you did, you might not be writing about it here. It could happen on your next walk.

 

Most people are like you when they go there - happy go lucky - everyone is friendly blah blah, not realizing the dangers lurking around them. I've lived in Valenzuela (Metro Manila) - that's a very rough area. Also I lived in Cavite for nearly a year. A foreign businessman with plenty of money was kidnapped there, nearly didn't make it out alive. I know the story well as my gf at the time used to work for him. My gf from there was kidnapped when I was in Australia. They demanded cash. It was probably a staged kidnapping by my gf and her familiy. She even had injuries to show me.

 

I prefer to be around Thai people. I don't like people in public being too friendly and familiar - it's normally just a ploy to get something from you. You want to hear something strange. My wife is Filipino and she doesn't like Filipinos very much (lived in Thailand now for 18 years) - had too much trouble with them. My lawyer in Pattaya is married to a Filipino for over 30 years. She speaks and reads fluent Thai. When she's out and about and comes across Filipinos (quite a few here in Pattaya) she pretends she is Thai. I asked her, who gossips more? Thais or Filipinos? The answer - Filipinos.

 

When you've been married to Filipinos, and you've lived in the provinces, experiencing the real deal, you learn a lot you'd never know about as a casual visitor. Trust me on this -  they are not as nice as you think they are. 

[ozimoron]

1 minute ago, JensenZ said:

I'm quite familiar with the Pasay area too and have walked around there myself. I specifically mentioned Tondo as a place not to walk. I didn't mean to say you'd get mugged everywhere you walked, any time you walked, but if you did, you might not be writing about it here. It could happen on your next walk.

 

Most people are like you when they go there - happy go lucky - everyone is friendly blah blah, not realizing the dangers lurking around them. I've lived in Valenzuela (Metro Manila) - that's a very rough area. Also I lived in Cavite for nearly a year. A foreign businessman with plenty of money was kidnapped there, nearly didn't make it out alive. I know the story well as my gf at the time used to work for him. My gf from there was kidnapped when I was in Australia. They demanded cash. It was probably a staged kidnapping by my gf and her familiy. She even had injuries to show me.

 

I prefer to be around Thai people. I don't like people in public being too friendly and familiar - it's normally just a ploy to get something from you. You want to hear something strange. My wife is Filipino and she doesn't like Filipinos very much (lived in Thailand now for 18 years) - had too much trouble with them. My lawyer in Pattaya is married to a Fiipino for over 30 years. She speaks and reads fluent Thai. When she's out and about and comes across Filipinos (quite a few here in Pattaya) she pretends she is Thai. I asked her, who gossips more? Thais or Filipinos? The answer - Filipinos.

 

When you've been married to Filipinos, and you've lived in the provinces, experiencing the real deal, you learn a lot you'd never know about as a casual visitor. Trust me on this -  they are not as nice as you think they are. 

I was in Starbucks at central this morning and there were 3 women at the next table speaking Tagalog. One was younger and quite pretty, the other 2 nothing to write home about. When they got up to leave I said "magandang umaga po" to one of them. She immediately pointed at the pretty one and said "she's Thai" as they walked off. ????

[JensenZ]

2 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

I was in Starbucks at central this morning and there were 3 women at the next table speaking Tagalog. One was younger and quite pretty, the other 2 nothing to write home about. When they got up to leave I said "magandang umaga po" to one of them. She immediately pointed at the pretty one and said "she's Thai" as they walked off. ????

Well, everyone in Thailand thinks my Filipino wife is Thai until she talks. I didn't really want to get into the age old discussion of which is more beautiful as that has been done to death. My wife holds here own very well in that department.

 

A lot of the Filipinos you see in Thailand are working as maids, older with many children back home to support, so you don't see the cream of the crop.

[bkk6060]

DIsagree.  I have found the people especially recently less friendly and extremely desperate 3rd world attitude for money.  And, the women seem to want money more then Thailand.  It is not cheaper also things like groceries, rent, utilities.

People that live in Philippines wish they could live in Thailand but most probably just cannot afford it.

Bottom line; the place is very dirty and many more destitute poor people lots of drug addicts it is way below the standard of living in Thailand

[lopburi3]

36 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Yes thanks .

Just as a question,and I don't know if it's State by State or it's federal government in the USA but my question is ,if I was working say at a low paid job do I get free healthcare in a government hospital say I had kidney stones does it cost me money there,that's the rumours we hear here in Australia.

There are no government hospitals.  Care will cost but if you can not pay emergency care would be free to a point.  It is insurance that will normally pay for medical care.  Some jobs have insurance options - some don't.  But many people will have private health insurance of some type.

[georgegeorgia]

Just now, lopburi3 said:

There are no government hospitals.  Care will cost but if you can not pay emergency care would be free to a point.  It is insurance that will normally pay for medical care.  Some jobs have insurance options - some don't.  But many people will have private health insurance of some type.

No government owned hospital?

I had no idea 

What about if your unemployed or on a pension ?

[lopburi3]

8 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

No government owned hospital?

I had no idea 

What about if your unemployed or on a pension ?

Normally you would keep your health insurance.  There are also free and cheap Mecicade and Medicare government and private options (which may be supported by government).

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, JensenZ said:

You were living a very sheltered life. Their advice not to go anywhere alone confirms the ever present dangers. One of these dangers is the possibility of you hooking up with another lady.

 

There are many areas in the Philippines where you probably wouldn't survive a walk on your own. At the very least, you'd be mugged. Try walking around Tondo in Manila. Of course there are safer and more dangerous areas, but overall, it's MUCH more dangerous than Thailand. It's not even close.

 

One time I was talking on my cell phone and a guy ran up to me and grabbed it from my ear. I chased him around the corner and a gang pulled a gun on me. Another time I was extorted by the police, which ended up costing me 250,000 pesos. (an ex-gf told the police some lies about me and they jailed me with no charge. Had I not paid, I could have been there for months, even years). That was the month I moved to Thailand.

 

I could write a book about my adventures in the Philippines over the many years I lived there and I've lived all over the islands. Life in Thailand is boring by comparison, and that's the way I like it.

Well they told me they not leave me alone and I was their sisters Oz husband buddy so I wanted some of Philippines so my OZ buddy said OK but don't go anywhere without my wife's 5 bro's, so no problem with safety for they were great fun to be with.