Why is Thailand such a success compared to the Philippines?

[kutjebu]

The main reason not to stay in the Philippines are the typhoons every year.

[Serendipity24]

I'm Filipina but grew up here in Thailand(came here when I was 11).I must say as hard as it is to be slapped by truth,I have to agree that Philippines is now a huge disappointment.There's this thing called "crab-mentality" whereas Filipinos pull each other down instead of having unity.It's as if they don't like to see others above them or moving on to better lives/living.It's not about blaming the government,Spanish invasion or the Americans not to mention the religion...it is about not wanting to help each other as citizens/as regular people.If they were able to pull the People's Power back then why not reunite to push the country forward now?!

I apologize to the Filipinos reading this,I'm just calling out facts and that does not mean I'm disrespecting our country.

The Filipinos and Thais however have good relationship(my fiance is Thai and I have half Thai nieces and nephews;p) we are friendly to each other and no matter how the 2 countries are compared,we have respect to each other.It's rare you'll hear news Filipinos are fighting w Thais and vise versa.I am also a memeber of the Thai-Filipino community and very much aware of the society and how close Thais and Filipinos are...so it's pretty pointless to make us fight actually.

For those who want to visit PI,try Palawan/Batangas, it's a diff world out there;)

As for food, there are a lot of Filipino foods which are delicious but not promoted and it comes from provinces...I've met a lot of Thais who like Pinoy food and of course the other way around:)

Safety...no...Philippines can be dangerous that's why we came here.

To sum it all,visit/tour PI then live in Thailand but of course to each his own...that's just my 2 cents or satang;p

Edited December 28, 2014 by Serendipity24

[hawthorne]

Well the American Phillipine tie is much deeper than us and Thai relationship. The U.S. was involved with P.I. Since zone Spanish American war freeing P.I. From Spain. The U.S. had several large navy, Air Force and and army bases in the P.I. So these should have given an edge to P.I. But does not. The average Filipino and Filipinas are a lot more educated than the average Thai. Because English is well spoken in P.I. They have over 25% of their population working abroad. OFW overseas foreign worker. They easily migrate all over the world as well. I strongly feel P.I. Worst impediment for a strong economy is the awful infrastructure linking the thousands of islands. The roads are awful. Poverty is awful. Many more nurses in P. I. Than Thailand. Crime is multi fold worse in P.I. There us an armed guard in every 7-11, McDonald's, Starbucks and just about any other high traffic store inP.I. I went on business to Cagyan d'oro a few years back as one reader mentioned. It is poor and dangerous not a first time place to go in P.I. plus you have the southern part of Mindanao whic most know is the home of Varios Muslim terrestrial groups and much more dangerous than the group in Thailand but only because the groups are larger inP.I.

All in all I have to agree that corruption, violence and perverbial poverty follow the Catholic Church. That would be my biggest attribute to the endless problems of the Phillipines. I do however agree that Thailand is a better location for trading through land rather all by sea.

[AYJAYDEE]

Well the American Phillipine tie is much deeper than us and Thai relationship. The U.S. was involved with P.I. Since zone Spanish American war freeing P.I. From Spain. The U.S. had several large navy, Air Force and and army bases in the P.I. So these should have given an edge to P.I. But does not. The average Filipino and Filipinas are a lot more educated than the average Thai. Because English is well spoken in P.I. They have over 25% of their population working abroad. OFW overseas foreign worker. They easily migrate all over the world as well. I strongly feel P.I. Worst impediment for a strong economy is the awful infrastructure linking the thousands of islands. The roads are awful. Poverty is awful. Many more nurses in P. I. Than Thailand. Crime is multi fold worse in P.I. There us an armed guard in every 7-11, McDonald's, Starbucks and just about any other high traffic store inP.I. I went on business to Cagyan d'oro a few years back as one reader mentioned. It is poor and dangerous not a first time place to go in P.I. plus you have the southern part of Mindanao whic most know is the home of Varios Muslim terrestrial groups and much more dangerous than the group in Thailand but only because the groups are larger inP.I.

All in all I have to agree that corruption, violence and perverbial poverty follow the Catholic Church. That would be my biggest attribute to the endless problems of the Phillipines. I do however agree that Thailand is a better location for trading through land rather all by sea.

america didnt FREE PI from spain. they merely substituted one set of colonial masters for another.

[mat999]

There have been some excellent responses, I have not read them all though. One thing I recently learned is that the Philippines population has grown far faster then Thailand. I of course blame this on the religion which has brainwashed the country and gives people an excuse to sin, "Jesus died for our sins" and lots of talk of forgiveness. The TV channels run all day threatening people to follow their God or spend eternity in hell.

I also believe the country has less culture to be proud of. The Thais I have encountered have a very unique culture and I think they identify with their country, whereas the Philippines just acts like the female version of a dog to whichever country is in charge, currently the USA. The bohemian, artists, free thinkers and intellectual crowds in the Philippines are tiny.

Thailand is better placed for trade. Philippines is more at risk for disasters. But these aren't big enough issues. The filipino way is corruption. If you are not a mayor you try to pay for a family member to work abroad to send money home, there seem to be far less jobs in the Philippines.

The philippines has the worst international airport in the world. I was truly embarassed when my parents visited me when I was living there. Apparently there was a new airport built but corruption and/or squabbling got in the way.

The people of the Philippines seem many years behind western countries in many ways. The horrific massacre which was televised of the Hong Kong tourists on a bus is a great example, as is the influence that religion has on the law. People are very close minded because of religion which leads to a lot of nasty discrimination, for example here in Thailand transgender women can be seen in all jobs, in the Philippines they are mostly ridiculed. There seems to be a lot of unneeded red tape and a lack of common sense, for example trying to tax aid for the typhoon. They are just behind in many ways.

On the other hand the people are very easy to get along with and the country is truly beautiful. I can't wait to return, but I would never live in Manila again, it is an over populated concrete mess. Seeing security guards armed with shotguns at many stores is not very settling.

Edited December 28, 2014 by mat999

[metisdead]

An off topic post has been removed. Duplicate postings have been removed as well.

[Berkshire]

I'm Filipina but grew up here in Thailand(came here when I was 11).I must say as hard as it is to be slapped by truth,I have to agree that Philippines is now a huge disappointment.There's this thing called "crab-mentality" whereas Filipinos pull each other down instead of having unity.It's as if they don't like to see others above them or moving on to better lives/living.It's not about blaming the government,Spanish invasion or the Americans not to mention the religion...it is about not wanting to help each other as citizens/as regular people.If they were able to pull the People's Power back then why not reunite to push the country forward now?!

I apologize to the Filipinos reading this,I'm just calling out facts and that does not mean I'm disrespecting our country.

The Filipinos and Thais however have good relationship(my fiance is Thai and I have half Thai nieces and nephews;p) we are friendly to each other and no matter how the 2 countries are compared,we have respect to each other.It's rare you'll hear news Filipinos are fighting w Thais and vise versa.I am also a memeber of the Thai-Filipino community and very much aware of the society and how close Thais and Filipinos are...so it's pretty pointless to make us fight actually.

For those who want to visit PI,try Palawan/Batangas, it's a diff world out there;)

As for food, there are a lot of Filipino foods which are delicious but not promoted and it comes from provinces...I've met a lot of Thais who like Pinoy food and of course the other way around:)

Safety...no...Philippines can be dangerous that's why we came here.

To sum it all,visit/tour PI then live in Thailand but of course to each his own...that's just my 2 cents or satang;p

Thank you for your honest assessment. I've met many Filipinos back in the USA and they were by and large, good, decent, hard-working people. But none had any desire to go back to the PI for the reasons you stated. An educated, ambitious Filipino has almost no choice but to go overseas because there just aren't any good career jobs back in the PI. The brain-drain is even worse than what's happening in India. All the good ones leave. Contrast that with Thais. Even Thais that aren't wealthy, while they would love to visit overseas, would almost always prefer to live in Thailand. The only Thais who like living overseas are those from dysfunctional families, almost the opposite of Filipinos.

The only thing I could never understand is why the Filipinos prefer to speak Tagalog all the time, even when they can speak English. I've been at gatherings with Filipinos and even with me standing there, they'll speak Tagalog to one another.

[pgrahmm]

Here must be some local food that is tasty in the Philippines? All I hear about is how bad it is.

Garlic fried rice....otherwise pretty dismal.... have to choose carefully about eating there as the hospitals are 3rd world grim and grimey.....

[pgrahmm]

Language within PI is also a problem....have an ex there with a very successful business.....in the course of doing business she had to speak 4 different dialects....still very tribal in many ways/areas and with that comes division/distrust/power plays and alliances....tagalog and english are not as widely spoken as people paint it to be an many dialects cannot be directly applied to one another.....one way to keep their piece of the pie/power in many areas and does not lend itself to cooperative expansion or effort....

Edited December 29, 2014 by pgrahmm

[Serendipity24]

Filipinos are stupid. Daly City, ca has only 3 flip owned restaurants. No flip eats there, they like chinesd food instead. Who puts cheese on dimsum? Flips do.

There's 100 million of us,just don't generalize because not all of us are stupid and I haven't even heard of cheese on dim sum which is not common even in the Philippines...maybe it's fusion;)

[Serendipity24]

I'm Filipina but grew up here in Thailand(came here when I was 11).I must say as hard as it is to be slapped by truth,I have to agree that Philippines is now a huge disappointment.There's this thing called "crab-mentality" whereas Filipinos pull each other down instead of having unity.It's as if they don't like to see others above them or moving on to better lives/living.It's not about blaming the government,Spanish invasion or the Americans not to mention the religion...it is about not wanting to help each other as citizens/as regular people.If they were able to pull the People's Power back then why not reunite to push the country forward now?!

I apologize to the Filipinos reading this,I'm just calling out facts and that does not mean I'm disrespecting our country.

The Filipinos and Thais however have good relationship(my fiance is Thai and I have half Thai nieces and nephews;p) we are friendly to each other and no matter how the 2 countries are compared,we have respect to each other.It's rare you'll hear news Filipinos are fighting w Thais and vise versa.I am also a memeber of the Thai-Filipino community and very much aware of the society and how close Thais and Filipinos are...so it's pretty pointless to make us fight actually.

For those who want to visit PI,try Palawan/Batangas, it's a diff world out there;)

As for food, there are a lot of Filipino foods which are delicious but not promoted and it comes from provinces...I've met a lot of Thais who like Pinoy food and of course the other way around:)

Safety...no...Philippines can be dangerous that's why we came here.

To sum it all,visit/tour PI then live in Thailand but of course to each his own...that's just my 2 cents or satang;p

Thank you for your honest assessment. I've met many Filipinos back in the USA and they were by and large, good, decent, hard-working people. But none had any desire to go back to the PI for the reasons you stated. An educated, ambitious Filipino has almost no choice but to go overseas because there just aren't any good career jobs back in the PI. The brain-drain is even worse than what's happening in India. All the good ones leave. Contrast that with Thais. Even Thais that aren't wealthy, while they would love to visit overseas, would almost always prefer to live in Thailand. The only Thais who like living overseas are those from dysfunctional families, almost the opposite of Filipinos.

The only thing I could never understand is why the Filipinos prefer to speak Tagalog all the time, even when they can speak English. I've been at gatherings with Filipinos and even with me standing there, they'll speak Tagalog to one another.

You're welcome:)It's better to face or acknowledge the truth than act patriotic out of hypocrisy.

In the Philippines by the time you are 25 years old,finding a job can be really difficult.There's really no choice than to search for that greener pasture out of the country. Most of the hard-working Filipinos are the ones abroad but in the country itself people tend to bum around.It's either because they are graduates but can't find a job or lack of education.

There's also the attitude of being too "Proud to be Pinoy" that even with their fellow Filipinos they act snobbish and proud...trust me I've encountered some here in Thailand too.

It's funny how they don't speak English when you are around but they'll show-off among their own people.Even I grew up here, I still know how to speak the Filipino language and sometimes if there are events/gatherings and come across my fellow Filipinos I'll speak to them in Filipino but they'll talk to me in that "show-off English"...although Thais do that too particularly the ones from international schools.

There's a great potential for Philippines to move forward again but bec of being divided,I'm afraid it'll keep crumbling into pieces.

[arhama]

i guess other than the political stability of thailand that gave it an edge compared to the Philippines, the other reason is that, lets face it, thai girls are way more prettier, and that pulls in a lot of free spending perverts

[CPH]

During the eighties and nineties when production moved from Europe to South East Asia the Philippines were deep into political problems.Rebel groups fighting the government and kidnappings were rampant. Therefore all the factories in garment and later electronics were moved from the West to other SEA countries, including Thailand. Furthermore the Philippines had major problems with under investment in Electricity production and blackouts were common daily. Nobody in their right mind would invest in such a country. When the Philippines got their house more in order China had become the major place of foreign investments.

The Philippines have all the possibilities to become richer, they have good educated English talking people, the culture is more similar to western culture, but only recently things have improved a little. The Philippines will most probably be behind other SEA countries for many years.

[Ulysses G.]

i guess other than the political stability of thailand that gave it an edge compared to the Philippines, the other reason is that, lets face it, thai girls are way more prettier, and that pulls in a lot of free spending perverts

I think that they are on par with each other attractiveness-wise, but I have never been very far from Manila.

[CapraIbex]

Filipinos are stupid. Daly City, ca has only 3 flip owned restaurants. No flip eats there, they like chinesd food instead. Who puts cheese on dimsum? Flips do.

Insulting an entire race because of narrow-minded views, preferential eateries and eating habits sounds pretty low-browed to any intelligent human being!

One wonders what your call your Thai host when you are away in another country. You are a coward and really should be ashamed of yourself!

[slipperylobster]

Filipinos are stupid. Daly City, ca has only 3 flip owned restaurants. No flip eats there, they like chinesd food instead. Who puts cheese on dimsum? Flips do.

Insulting an entire race because of narrow-minded views, preferential eateries and eating habits sounds pretty low-browed to any intelligent human being!

One wonders what your call your Thai host when you are away in another country. You are a coward and really should be ashamed of yourself!

Yeah, shitzsshticks...... what's your beef with the dimsum cheese...and name calling.

[rgs2001uk]

As one who has lived in Asia for the last 25 years its nothing more than a way of speaking

Doesn't matter how many years you've lived in Asia. (Not enough, clearly.) Filipinos don't like it, and there's no reason not to respect that.

Really, which Flippers are you referring to?

The TEFLR types now to be found in Thailand that think they are better than their Pinoy counterparts?

Jesse my Pinoy foreman when I told him I wanted the job done properly he said, no problem boss, no Pakis no Bangla, Flippers ok?

Ask those same Flippers why they refer to me as a "Cano"?

Because you refer to them as flippers,personly i think your just a common ol chuck wower.

Wow, I am touched, how considerate of you to take time out your schedule at this busy festive time of year.

Its nice to know the milk of human kidness is alive and well on TV, not only is it well, its postively overflowing with compliments.

I shall wear your remarks like a badge of honour, it will adorn pride of place with my Blue Peter and Tufty Club badge.

Sorry, the Tufty Club badge is yours, how forgetful of me.

As for your observation, correct, at least 5 times a day.

[sensei]

Just shaking my head...

White men who would cry to the highest heavens when you call them FARANG call them Filipinos Flippers/Flips.

Rac!st p!gs are having a fiesta in this forum.

[mat999]

Filipino food has some good dishes, their BBQ (Bacolod) chicken is amazing, far superior to any BBQ chicken I have eaten in Thailand. They also have Bicol express which is delicious and probably closest one to a Thai dish, plus nice soup dishes like sinigang (very unique taste), tinola, nilaga and bulalo (the last two are very simple).

The difference for me is that I find street food in Thailand is generally very good, whereas it is generally awful in the Philippines imho. You will often find a big chunk of pork fat in pork dishes for example. Filipinos have some rather strange taste buds too, they love spagetti with lots of sugar in it.

They eat more compared to Thais when it comes to portion size, they can eat three servings of rice at once. They love cheap junk food like their version of MacDonalds and hotdogs are like a staple. They also eat luncheon meat which is basically like dog food. This means many are overweight and I think liver problems are an issue there.

[rgs2001uk]

Just shaking my head...

White men who would cry to the highest heavens when you call them FARANG call them Filipinos Flippers/Flips.

Rac!st p!gs are having a fiesta in this forum.

Never had a problem with Farang or 'Cano, its just the way the natives speak.

Flipper is just the way we farang/'cano speak.

Best you take your problems up with the flippers.

BTW, NEVER been asked by a Thai to give them my watch "for rememberance" as I have in Flipperland.

I remember the RACIST signs in the airport in Manila, written in Tagalog was one price for a trolley, written in 'Cano was another price posted in $$$.

It was a Pinoy friend who pointed it out to me, he actually apologised for the blatant corruption and rip offs in his country.

How many of your Thai friends have done the same?

[mrtoad]

Just shaking my head...

White men who would cry to the highest heavens when you call them FARANG call them Filipinos Flippers/Flips.

Rac!st p!gs are having a fiesta in this forum.

Looks like a Flipper has flipped

[Serendipity24]

Just shaking my head...

White men who would cry to the highest heavens when you call them FARANG call them Filipinos Flippers/Flips.

Rac!st p!gs are having a fiesta in this forum.

Never had a problem with Farang or 'Cano, its just the way the natives speak.

Flipper is just the way we farang/'cano speak.

Best you take your problems up with the flippers.

BTW, NEVER been asked by a Thai to give them my watch "for rememberance" as I have in Flipperland.

I remember the RACIST signs in the airport in Manila, written in Tagalog was one price for a trolley, written in 'Cano was another price posted in $$$.

It was a Pinoy friend who pointed it out to me, he actually apologised for the blatant corruption and rip offs in his country.

How many of your Thai friends have done the same?

Too much sensitivity is the reason why the race card is most of the time being raised/played.

My Filipina friend is married to an American and they call each other Kano and Flip as terms of endearment;)Sometimes it's Farang & Flipnay;p

[rgs2001uk]

Just shaking my head...

White men who would cry to the highest heavens when you call them FARANG call them Filipinos Flippers/Flips.

Rac!st p!gs are having a fiesta in this forum.

Never had a problem with Farang or 'Cano, its just the way the natives speak.

Flipper is just the way we farang/'cano speak.

Best you take your problems up with the flippers.

BTW, NEVER been asked by a Thai to give them my watch "for rememberance" as I have in Flipperland.

I remember the RACIST signs in the airport in Manila, written in Tagalog was one price for a trolley, written in 'Cano was another price posted in $$$.

It was a Pinoy friend who pointed it out to me, he actually apologised for the blatant corruption and rip offs in his country.

How many of your Thai friends have done the same?

Too much sensitivity is the reason why the race card is most of the time being raised/played.

My Filipina friend is married to an American and they call each other Kano and Flip as terms of endearment;)Sometimes it's Farang & Flipnay;p

Excellent post, be prepared to reach for the KY Jelly and be shafted by the PC brigade, the majority of which are probably posting from some scuzzy bed-sit in Brixton or Brighton, never having actually set foot in NON PC Asia.

The mrs told the Pinoy who was being shaffted by some Indian in the UK (a Thai resto my ass) as she knocked out Thai food, if he wants the recipes it will cost him.

Sometimes its a PC BS probelm.

Gotta love them Flipper Merx in the ME, Joey Boy, Baggio City, Jesus saves, Milk Boy Champions silk jacket, fake Ray Bans, smoking Marlboro, gotta have the latest up to date mobile, image is everything.

The "committees" talk about a patronage system, its like something out of Medieval Europe circe 1400.

[arhama]

i guess other than the political stability of thailand that gave it an edge compared to the Philippines, the other reason is that, lets face it, thai girls are way more prettier, and that pulls in a lot of free spending perverts

I think that they are on par with each other attractiveness-wise, but I have never been very far from Manila.

yeah ok, i guess girls are pretty everywhere. though i find thai girls to be slightly more cultured, kind, and refined compared to filipinos

[arhama]

My Filipina friend is married to an American and they call each other Kano and Flip as terms of endearment;)Sometimes it's Farang & Flipnay;p

My albanian friend is married to a filipino. I joked the other day that their kids could be called Albino (Albanian-Filipino). They didnt appreciate my sense of humor

[CapraIbex]

The word 'Farang' never was a racial slur.

There are several explanations as to the origins of this particular expression. One plausible one is that it was coined during initial contact between France (Farangse) and Siam (now Thailand). Alas this is not widely known by the average tourist or less educated masses of European descent.

Only the ignorant, bigoted and drunken white man would speak disparagingly of the expression 'Farang'!

[jspill]

The word 'Farang' never was a racial slur.

There are several explanations as to the origins of this particular expression. One plausible one is that it was coined during initial contact between France (Farangse) and Siam (now Thailand). Alas this is not widely known by the average tourist or less educated masses of European descent.

Only the ignorant, bigoted and drunken white man would speak disparagingly of the expression 'Farang'!

Origins of a word don't matter, it's how it's used. Negro / nigger derive from the Spanish word for black ('negro') and Latin for night ('niger') and at one time those were correct, polite terminology, whereas 'black' was more offensive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

I've actually met a few Thais who consider the the term farang racist. Others are vaguely aware that it's perhaps not the best term to use in formal / polite conversation with strangers, so if they aren't close to you will use kon dtaang chaat or refer to your specific nationality. If they're friends with you, know you won't get offended, have seen you use the term, or are talking about something positive then they'll use it, which is fine.

So it's a bit more complicated than that, you can neither say it's racist nor say that someone would be ignorant to get offended by it. Any informal, generalising word has potential to offend if used in the wrong way. Like if I just met a Thai and started talking about 'asians'. But in the right context its totally fine.

Just like flipper or cano is fine between friends or loved ones as some posters said above.

[MrWorldwide]

Philippines sufferd under Spain then America as a colony.

OK, so colonial occupation, distance from the rest of Asia and propensity of natural disasters have all contributed to the Phillipines current position among SE Asia's 'Tiger Cub' economies ?

Indonesia suffered under the Dutch for centuries, had to endure the Suharto regime and decades of endemic corruption and mismanagement. It's also seriously overpopulated given the amount of arable land spread over an island republic and facing massive infrastructure challenges in its cities, it has a lot in common with the PI, yet its the largest economy in SE Asia. And it also straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire - not promising for a country where the bulk of the population lives on the coast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Cub_Economies

Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs played a prominent role in the development of the region's private sectors. These businesses are part of the larger bamboo network, a network of overseas Chinese businesses operating in the markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines that share common family and cultural ties.^[4] China's transformation into a major economic power in the 21st century has led to increasing investments in Southeast Asian countries where the bamboo network is present

Say what you will about the Chinese - would Thailand be where it is without them ? I doubt it. Whatever the locals feel toward Chinese Thais or mainland Chinese, both seem happy to do business here - not so in the PI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinophobia#Philippines

http://thediplomat.com/2014/09/china-warns-citizens-to-stay-away-from-philippines/

It's certainly not the only place in SE Asia where the Chinese are unpopular, but combine that with the previously listed hurdles and it may go a long way to explaining why the PI isnt doing as well as Thailand or Indonesia.

Edited December 29, 2014 by MrWorldwide

[CapraIbex]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The word 'Farang' never was a racial slur.

There are several explanations as to the origins of this particular expression. One plausible one is that it was coined during initial contact between France (Farangse) and Siam (now Thailand). Alas this is not widely known by the average tourist or less educated masses of European descent.

Only the ignorant, bigoted and drunken white man would speak disparagingly of the expression 'Farang'!

Origins of a word don't matter, it's how it's used. Negro / nigger derive from the Spanish word for black ('negro') and Latin for night ('niger') and at one time those were correct, polite terminology, whereas 'black' was more offensive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro

I've actually met a few Thais who consider the the term farang racist. Others are vaguely aware that it's perhaps not the best term to use in formal / polite conversation with strangers, so if they aren't close to you will use kon dtaang chaat or refer to your specific nationality. If they're friends with you, know you won't get offended, have seen you use the term, or are talking about something positive then they'll use it, which is fine.

So it's a bit more complicated than that, you can neither say it's racist nor say that someone would be ignorant to get offended by it. Any informal, generalising word has potential to offend if used in the wrong way. Like if I just met a Thai and started talking about 'asians'. But in the right context its totally fine.

Just like flipper or cano is fine between friends or loved ones as some posters said above.

Well I think origins do matter and this particular subject is fairly straightforward without any ambiguities. But I concede that my last sentence may too specific and edit as follows:-

"Only an ignorant, bigoted person would speak disparagingly of the expression 'Farang'."

Trust we're all 'gay' now!

[tropo]

Flippers don't have the work ethic of Thais. Considering most Flippers speak English you would think this was an advantage but it isn't.

There's no need to use intentionally derogatory language. The correct spelling is "Filipinos".

Right now I'm living in a house full of FILIPINOS and only 1 speaks English. The same is true in most communities. About 50% of the population live in poverty and don't speak English.

The English speaking ability of high school graduates is usually very limited. Tourists get the wrong impression because retail businesses, hotels and restaurants select the best English speakers from a huge pool of job applicants.

A major problem is the large number of regional languages spoken. English is a 3rd language for all non-native Tagalog speakers, which comprises the majority of the population.