Other Countries To Live In

[barryofthailand]

Angeles City is much cheaper than Manila. Their are quite a few Americans living in Angeles City.

Barry

[whynot?]

The Philippines was second on my list after Thailand. Good Food ??? Not that I found. The lack of infrastructure, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes not to even mention crime made Thailand an easy choice for me. Shotgun armed guards in KFC made me a little nervous.

[Totster]

The Philippines was second on my list after Thailand. Good Food ??? Not that I found. The lack of infrastructure, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes not to even mention crime made Thailand an easy choice for me. Shotgun armed guards in KFC made me a little nervous.

That was a good point well put whynot?....

totster

[whynot?]

The Philippines was second on my list after Thailand. Good Food ??? Not that I found. The lack of infrastructure, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes not to even mention crime made Thailand an easy choice for me. Shotgun armed guards in KFC made me a little nervous.

And the signs at the doors of bars: "please leave your firearms with attendents" What!? And the food blows...and very expensive considering what the place is like...and lets not even talk about taking a 20 min taxi ride when you can walk it in 5 min...the biggest plus I found was that alot more people speak english as compared to LOS

[whynot?]

The Philippines was second on my list after Thailand. Good Food ??? Not that I found. The lack of infrastructure, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes not to even mention crime made Thailand an easy choice for me. Shotgun armed guards in KFC made me a little nervous.

That was a good point well put whynot?....

totster

[whynot?]

The Philippines was second on my list after Thailand. Good Food ??? Not that I found. The lack of infrastructure, typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes not to even mention crime made Thailand an easy choice for me. Shotgun armed guards in KFC made me a little nervous.

That was a good point well put whynot?....

totster

And I did it again-sorry wrong key-but probably the brightest thing I'll say all day

[SoCal]

Axel- Yeah, been busy until recently, but a little slow lately, so started lurking, and one day decided to post. Moved to SGN in 2005. The VN government can be a pain, but supose that is true anywhere. If they think you have money to invest, they will definitely open the doors wide. Let me know if you ever want to meet up when you are in town.

Other posts:

Vietnam can be an expensive place to live, if you want to live by western standards. I think it is a supply and demand thing. They just don't have the same offerings as BKK, MNL, etc. so I think there is less competition and thus higher prices. Minimum wage in Saigon and Hanoi is $60/month, so obviously it is not that expensive. Property can be extremely expensive, but the solution is easy- don't buy. I live in a 2 bedroom appartment, don't really want for anything, support my soon to be wife, and I live on less than $1,000/mo. Previously I lived in a 3 story house, and paid $550/mo. Living in the house I had a security gaurd & a housekeeper, and paid about $160/mo for both.

It all depends on how you want to live.

[Nignoy]

Agree with most of what you say, but have to take exception with Philippines being number one. But that comes down to personal preferences and you have to visit the Philippines to see if it's your cup of tea or not. I found that there's lots of Yanks and quite a few Aussies living there, but not many Brits. Not sure why that is, but maybe some cultural clashes that many Brits find they don't like.

No brits? .. Sounds like heaven ...

Cambodia is dangerous as I have friends living there and lots of muggings carried out by young gangs recently.

This is on the increase where there are huge no go areas plus FARANGS are main target.....

Sounds very much like down town Wigan or Blackburn, always be on the lookout for Marauding Scouse Gits very dangerous when wet Nignoy

[Simmo]

...the biggest plus I found was that alot more people speak english as compared to LOS

This can also be a negative after awhile, every taxi driver gives you a sob story about how poor his family is and how he needs tips. Same thing at stores and on the street etc.

[Thaiquila]

Here's a cost of living chart for various countries around the world.

The Philippines seems to have a lower cost of living than Thailand. And I thought Thailand was pretty low already

Seems a bit strange how some cities changes from being very cheap one year to become quite expensive another. Rio goes from nr. 124 2005 to 40 within just a year. Many other cities does the same. I would really like to know how they work out these costs. I think they should be taken with a pinch a salt.

Well, it might be figured based on exchange rates versus western currencies. The Brazilian real has gotten ALOT stronger of late, so that probably explains it quite well. I was lucky to visit Rio when the real was quite weak, great fun.

from Wiki

the real has been getting stronger and stronger against the dollar and, since the beginning of 2005, most other world currencies as well (including the euro and yen).

[monochaser]

I ran into a guy in BKK on vacation from PI. He was retired there and from Austria. He raved about the place. He spoke of his great house for dirt cheap rent, women, great expat friends and maids. He was only here a day or 2 and was very anxious to get back. He said there was no comparison btw Here and there. I personally have never been to PI.

I agree with the poster above on Bali, which looks like a great spot to live

Cambo is greatness with loads of chicks, cheap living and easy visas

Viet Nam, forgetabouttit. as stated, high cost of living

Malaysia? could be

[Soju]

...the biggest plus I found was that alot more people speak english as compared to LOS

This can also be a negative after awhile, every taxi driver gives you a sob story about how poor his family is and how he needs tips. Same thing at stores and on the street etc.

A very good point. I think theres lots more scammers in the Philippines because they know English so well. There's probably lot's of Thais who would like to take advantage of a Farang but can't because they can't speak English. Sometimes it's nice to be able to go anywhere and be pretty much ignored due to the language barrier.

[Thaiquila]

...the biggest plus I found was that alot more people speak english as compared to LOS

This can also be a negative after awhile, every taxi driver gives you a sob story about how poor his family is and how he needs tips. Same thing at stores and on the street etc.

A very good point. I think theres lots more scammers in the Philippines because they know English so well. There's probably lot's of Thais who would like to take advantage of a Farang but can't because they can't speak English. Sometimes it's nice to be able to go anywhere and be pretty much ignored due to the language barrier.

This is true about the PI. Spend anytime there at all and people will try to involve you in their web of "business" dealings. Frankly, to me the thing that doesn't work for me about the P.I (not to mention the food, the crime, the natural disasters, the basketcase political system) is the Christian based culture. Too much like home.

[Soju]

Frankly, to me the thing that doesn't work for me about the P.I (not to mention the food, the crime, the natural disasters, the basketcase political system) is the Christian based culture. Too much like home.

Ignoring the "Christian based" part of your comment and taking their culture as a whole, I think lot's of Farangs feel comfortable with the Philippines because they think the culture is nearly identical to their own. That combined with the widespread use of English gives them a false sense of the Philippines being the same as back home. IT IS NOT! Their culture has many similarities, but making the mistake that it's the same will get you in a lot of trouble. In Thailand it's much easier to not fall into that trap because the culture is so very different as well as the language. I don't have any statistics, but would hazard a guess that far more farangs fall prey to scheming Filipinos due to feeling at ease with them than happens in Thailand. Never let your guard down no matter how friendly or familiar the people of a country seem to be.

[qualtrough]

You don't have to visit the P.I. as the scammers operate here as well. Many years ago I ran into a guy at a bus stop who introduced himself. When he found out what state I was from he went on about how the local baseball team was his favorite, his Mom went to school there, etc. Point at that time was to get you back to their place and involve you in a game of cards that you would invariably lose. It was pretty clear where the conversation was headed to I excused myself and moved on. It is too bad because most Filipinos are good people and very friendly.