What are the pros and cons for Americans wanting to retire to the Phillipines?

Ease of visas; owning land; opening a business?

Other pros and cons and any personal experiences?

Edited January 29, 201313 yr by HeijoshinCool

visa is easy and cheap, business is possible as well. But go for it the girls will like you. I lived there for more then 7 years and its great. People actually understand you lol. Where do you plan to go? The Philippines are also much cheaper then LOS

Edited January 29, 201313 yr by yannic

My friend moved there after marrying a Filipino. He lived here a while and just returned for a visit. He says he likes it here better in Thailand, but go find out for your self. Go for 6 months and check it out

only visa but go go for it the girls will like you. I lived there for more then 7 years and its great. People actually understand you lol. Where you plan to go?

Don't know. Someplace clean and quiet. I'd like to build a small bungalow and own the land. Maybe later build a few and rent them as long-term rentals. I'm just tired of LOS.

What about the visa?

My friend moved there after marrying a Filipino. He lived here a while and just returned for a visit. He says he likes it here better in Thailand, but go find out for your self. Go for 6 months and check it out

Absolutely, six months is minimal. I'd travel about for a year doing serious research before moving.

you can not own land only Filipinos can, if you have a Filipina wife, she could. Only way to own land is with a corporation where the majority of the company is owned by Pinoys. Usually like 6 Pinoys each 10 percent on paper the rest is yours, they should not know each other and are exchangeable

The Philippines are not as clean and as quiet as LOS but look at Dumaguete in Negros or South Cebu but there are many other choices

The Philippines are not as clean and as quiet as LOS but look at Dumaguete in Negros or South Cebu but there are many other choices

I saw the post mentiponing Palawan. Looked interesting. But then, so did Thailand six years ago . And Mexico before that.

But if I can't own land, I'll scratch it off my list. One of the many reasons I want to leave here. I want to move one more time, build, and die.

Nice place but Manila is like any other big rough city.

Got a mate who (his wife) bought some land on the beach in La Union but he is still to build the Bl+++y house and I wish he would get a move on.

Visited a couple of time ...last about 12 years ago and parts are beautiful.

Sitting in a beach bar/hotel with the waves lapping on the sand,cool breeze from the ocean,chef in the kitchen...whatever you want until 2-00am and help yourselves to the San Migs ...just score the beer mat and pay tomorrow.

Thai infrastructures is much better (and food) and Phils got a bigger corruption problem although heard things getting better.

Mate gets a 1 year Visa on arrival and no problems opening a bank account.

I asked a similar question on another forum - was keen to visit Cebu - and received a response from a guy who had lived there for many years and bailed for Pattaya. Always hard to separate facts from opinion, but he had posted a slew of photos of AC, Manila and Cebu dating right back to the early 80s, so I'm inclined to believe him. His words were 'they will constantly have their hands out' : it was enough to dissuade me, No shortage of beggars in Thailand, but most of them don't come running up to you : had enough of that in Cambo.

having just spent 2 months in the phills after 27 years of going to thailand, i was not impressed at first, bad infrustructure, crappy food, and millions of kids, 25 years behind thailand for sure, but after a while, it grows on u, in a strange sort of way,lol, one things for sure its easy to stay there, 3 weeks on arival, extend at any immigration, a futher 39 days, takes 1 hour, then after that extend 1 year with a 1 year alien registration card , easy, non of the nonsense u get in thailand..

having just spent 2 months in the phills after 27 years of going to thailand, i was not impressed at first, bad infrustructure, crappy food, and millions of kids, 25 years behind thailand for sure, but after a while, it grows on u, in a strange sort of way,lol, one things for sure its easy to stay there, 3 weeks on arival, extend at any immigration, a futher 39 days, takes 1 hour, then after that extend 1 year with a 1 year alien registration card , easy, non of the nonsense u get in thailand..

and by the way, get the card and u can open bank account, and get driving license no problem

I saw guns everywhere. The crime level is much higher. Manilla is ridiculous. A guard will come out of the bank and stand next to you while you use the ATM. It's not a peaceful place. Might be the Catholicism? I remember being in a supermarket where everything stopped at 6 PM to say the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary. The single worst thing about the Phils is the food. All the Asian nations have wonderful spicy food. The Phils big dish is pork adobo, a vinegar based stewed pork. I'll stick with Thailand as long as the baht cooperates.

I go to the PI a couple times a year for 2 weeks thats enough. The food sucks, the corruption is out of hand, its dirty and all of the girls want to get married. Marcos set the country back 30 years with is plunder and pillage routine. Thailand much better by far. OP get over the I want my little bunkalo and then die, start living geez.

Thailand much better by far.

Yawn. Same old Thai-centric drivel. This is your opinion. Expats living happily in the Philippines (not me, I hasten to add) have a different perspective. The OP will never know which one he prefers unless he tries both.

Find a nice Phillipina and move with her to Thailand, like many of us do and you have the best out of both worlds.

In Thailand :

1. the food is better

2. the banking system is by far better

3. the infrastructure and the roads are better

4. You have much more ATM's

5. The busses are better

In the Phillipines

1. The girls are better, because they speak more languages and are far more adoptable to other cultures

2. The banks are better protected by machine guns

3. The system is more corrupted

4. The prices are a bit cheaper, but the value for money is less

5. They have more islands, so it is easier to disappear

Security could be a concern - although depends where you go. Crime rates are often high, from what I understand, depending on location to some degree.

having just spent 2 months in the phills after 27 years of going to thailand, i was not impressed at first, bad infrustructure, crappy food, and millions of kids, 25 years behind thailand for sure, but after a while, it grows on u, in a strange sort of way,lol, one things for sure its easy to stay there, 3 weeks on arival, extend at any immigration, a futher 39 days, takes 1 hour, then after that extend 1 year with a 1 year alien registration card , easy, non of the nonsense u get in thailand..

Interesting visa info.

I go to the PI a couple times a year for 2 weeks thats enough. The food sucks, the corruption is out of hand, its dirty and all of the girls want to get married. Marcos set the country back 30 years with is plunder and pillage routine. Thailand much better by far. OP get over the I want my little bunkalo and then die, start living geez.

You were doing fine until you sarcastically assumed I wasn't "living" happily where I am.

Thanks for the opinions. That's what I was looking for, that and facts. Not assumptions.

Anyway, I'm thinking of one of the less populated islands. Not concerned about infrastructure or crime. Solitude is what I seek.

Been to both places. Extremely happily married to a Filipina and now have plans to move to the Philippines. I agree on most accounts of the Thai/Philippines comparison, Thai infrastructure, food, cleanliness better but the people make up for the those differences. The Philippine people are more genuine, open, speak great English, easy to understand. The different islands are a treat and an adventure in itself.

Is the Pinoy food really that bad ?

I think they have a mix of Spanish and Chinese food , must be something tasty there,

I saw guns everywhere. The crime level is much higher. Manilla is ridiculous. A guard will come out of the bank and stand next to you while you use the ATM. It's not a peaceful place. Might be the Catholicism? I remember being in a supermarket where everything stopped at 6 PM to say the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary. The single worst thing about the Phils is the food. All the Asian nations have wonderful spicy food. The Phils big dish is pork adobo, a vinegar based stewed pork. I'll stick with Thailand as long as the baht cooperates.

Guns are everywhere these days anyway,its the ones you don't see until its to late that should worry you and that can happen anyplace.

It is bad.

Fatty, lack of spice, cooked for so long that it is vitamin free.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

But if I can't own land, I'll scratch it off my list. One of the many reasons I want to leave here. I want to move one more time, build, and die.

I don't understand why you have to own land for your plans? Using land for residential and business purposes in Thailand is easy and safe if you do it the right way and as far as I know it's similar in Philippines?

I am there every 5-6 weeks for a week or 2 for current business, have a permanent place in Palawan, a crash pad in AC and have traveled around most of the county over the past 4 years.

The PI is a dirty, corrupt, dangerous, culinary and cultural wasteland that is a ex US colony whose 2 legacies left behind are fast food and a gun culture. It is cheaper to live in and English is more widely spoken than LOS and so attracts the real bottom of the barrel expats and retirees. As someone said earlier its infrastructure runs about 25 years behind LOS.

For me the most disturbing thing about the place is the subservience and "one day they will come back to save us" mentality that the citizens have towards the US. LOS stands on its own 2 feet as a nation whereas the PI is really just a beggar state. The citizens are always talking and planning and dreaming of getting out of the country to work and live overseas. That should tell you something.

I got about 3 more years of business left there and then I am done and for me good riddance to the joint.

i agree with some of the posts, yes phills is corrupt, dirty, the food sucks, and yes 25 years behind thialand in many ways, but get away from the big towns and cities, no different from thailand, and 1 thing i noticed was the dog problem, which thailand has and the phils don't, the one big issue for me was the ease in which u can stay there, , thailand is not an option for me with the "showing of money in the bank" and 3 month reporting, how can that be a retirment???

A friend of mine who lived there for a few years and had a business came scooting here very quickly and has never returned. His advice might be theat you should never marry there. You could never get out of it.

The PI is a dirty, corrupt, dangerous, culinary and cultural wasteland that is a ex US colony whose 2 legacies left behind are fast food and a gun culture. It is cheaper to live in and English is more widely spoken than LOS and so attracts the real bottom of the barrel expats and retirees.

IMO, this post really tells it like it is.

Edited February 4, 201313 yr by Ulysses G.

I am there every 5-6 weeks for a week or 2 for current business, have a permanent place in Palawan, a crash pad in AC and have traveled around most of the county over the past 4 years.

The PI is a dirty, corrupt, dangerous, culinary and cultural wasteland that is a ex US colony whose 2 legacies left behind are fast food and a gun culture. It is cheaper to live in and English is more widely spoken than LOS and so attracts the real bottom of the barrel expats and retirees. As someone said earlier its infrastructure runs about 25 years behind LOS.

For me the most disturbing thing about the place is the subservience and "one day they will come back to save us" mentality that the citizens have towards the US. LOS stands on its own 2 feet as a nation whereas the PI is really just a beggar state. The citizens are always talking and planning and dreaming of getting out of the country to work and live overseas. That should tell you something.

I got about 3 more years of business left there and then I am done and for me good riddance to the joint.

Havent bothered reading all the other replies, the above post is the only one worth reading.

The citizens are always talking and planning and dreaming of getting out of the country to work and live overseas.

And once they get out, the first thing they do is try and find a way to bring the entire family with them.

PI, same same as Cambodia, last refuge for Cheap Charlies who cant afford Thailand.

For me the most disturbing thing about the place is the subservience and "one day they will come back to save us" mentality that the citizens have towards the US

Yeah that came back to bite them in the ass when they got gobby about Subic and Clark, give Uncle Sam his due he told them to poke it.