Philippines vs Thailand

[marko kok prong]

Hey,i have recently come back here after working away,it's too hot,and i have finished with the wife,moved out ,now i am going to go to Philippines,Bohol island,i have met with a lovely lady there,speaks perfect English,has never asked me for money,and is not an ex bar girl,qualities my ex wife was sadly lacking,it's cheaper ,cooler,easy with the language ,and immigration,so any of you guys can give me any feedback,and i don't mean the usual suspects who will no doubt be salivating at seeing a post from me and go all out to hammer me,i would like some intelligent thoughts on the merits of both countries.

[CharlieH]

Sad you had to take that step Marko and that you will be starting again. Wish you all the best in your "new" adventure.

[ivan96822]

Spent time in the Philippines but preferred Thailand. Bangkok, specifically.

Not enough white people in the Philippines. I was living in Boracay and had a great apartment, a woman, and a beautiful beach, but the nightlife was not nearly as good as BKK. I am in my 30s, though, so that may be a bit different.

PROS: Excellent local beer (Red Horse), no drinking restrictions, and a great beach.

CONS: Little to do and limited nightlife.

Wouldn't go back to the Philippines...

You could do a lot worse, though...

[lovelomsak]

Do not know a lot about the country.But the women are 10 times more domestic and caring for their husbands. Phillipinas really respect the man who provides a good life for them. If you can have a good wife and good home life,that is the most important. As you get older other things will become less important. I wish you the best of luck and a very happy future I feel you made the right decision.

[marko kok prong]

Thanks guy's and especially Charlie ,you have always been a good pal on this site to me,yes,i had to do it ,especially when i came back and found evidence of her extracurriculur activities,but now she is stuck with a Thai man who does nothing and expects her to provide him with money,a resturant she spent heaps on that never has any customers,i could go on,but as the old saying goes as you sow,so shall you reap,luckily i am young enough to make the move,and i will not repeat the errors i made here if it works out,the fact that the girl is not an ex bar girl should helpand before anyone ask's how do you know ,believe me i know.

[pgrahmm]

Having spent a lot of time (years) there it's a place I'd only visit - read support - family there....There are a lot of threads on this if you search.....Me and others have made comprehensive posts about life there....

ALWAYS watch your back...You'll learn more the more time invested there.....It's not anywhere near as free and easy - or safe as Thailand....

Good luck....

[sipi]

Hi Marko. Good to hear from you again. Was wondering...

I only dated a Philippino for a little while but she was all about money. Nothing else, it was an obsession. I guess ladies come in all shades no matter where they are from.

[marko kok prong]

Having spent a lot of time (years) there it's a place I'd only visit - read support - family there....There are a lot of threads on this if you search.....Me and others have made comprehensive posts about life there....

ALWAYS watch your back...You'll learn more the more time invested there.....It's not anywhere near as free and easy - or safe as Thailand....

Good luck....

Thanks for the input,okay i have lived in mexico in the past and that sure had it's challenge's,but thanks for the heads up,i guess i have to weigh up pro's and cons,like any place.

[xylophone]

Why not stay in touch from time to time to update us on your "new life" in the Phillies......there have been a few similar posts re moving there, climate, life, food, nightlife etc over the years and I for one would be interested to hear about the place.

Good luck with your move.

[Berkshire]

I've been to the Philippines several times and although I like Filipinos in general, I must say that it's more like Latin America than Asia. Maybe it's the Catholic thing. But if I had to use one word to describe the PI, I'd say "unsafe"....which again, is more like Latin America. Yes, they speak more English there and it's cheaper. Yet, it's still not a magnet for expats. I wonder why?

[sandmike]

Also you get the UK pension increases there, unlike Thailand ....

Edited March 3, 2016 by sandmike

[HooHaa]

Having spent a lot of time (years) there it's a place I'd only visit - read support - family there....There are a lot of threads on this if you search.....Me and others have made comprehensive posts about life there....

ALWAYS watch your back...You'll learn more the more time invested there.....It's not anywhere near as free and easy - or safe as Thailand....

Good luck....

It's <deleted>, I'm there. Now. Thailand is infinitely more civilised.

[mcfish]

Having spent a lot of time (years) there it's a place I'd only visit - read support - family there....There are a lot of threads on this if you search.....Me and others have made comprehensive posts about life there....

ALWAYS watch your back...You'll learn more the more time invested there.....It's not anywhere near as free and easy - or safe as Thailand....

Good luck....

It's <deleted>, I'm there. Now. Thailand is infinitely more civilised.

Where abouts?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

[HooHaa]

Having spent a lot of time (years) there it's a place I'd only visit - read support - family there....There are a lot of threads on this if you search.....Me and others have made comprehensive posts about life there....

ALWAYS watch your back...You'll learn more the more time invested there.....It's not anywhere near as free and easy - or safe as Thailand....

Good luck....

It's <deleted>, I'm there. Now. Thailand is infinitely more civilised.

Where abouts?

Sent from my SC-01D using Tapatalk

Metro Manila - Fort bonifacio Global city. Or BGC as it called.

[bangkapi]

Philippines is great for a visit, but Thailand is a better place to live.

[quandow]

I don't know too many expats living in the Philippines but 100% of them wish they were back in Thailand. I just returned to Thailand 2 days ago and am glad I did!

[chicowoodduck]

I've been going to the PI on and off since 1978 and it is the same shi*t hole it has always been......one rip off after another....actually cut my vacation short this time around....will be keeping Viet Nam on my escape radar from now on....???

[little mary sunshine]

OMG...Have you ever lived in PI? English is spoken, true,

But,if you think Thailand is unsafe, PI is 10X worse. Land of

Scams, bribes, filth, and Typhoons!!! These people go to

Church on a regular basis but. MONEY is their God....getting

It from Foreigners is their job......Good Luck in PI, don't get

Kidnapped!!!

[Goldbear]

Just as Thailand varies from place to place, the Philippines must also.

Good luck to the OP. Definitely keep us posted.

[HooHaa]

i certainly count the seconds until i leave.

as an aside, electricity and water in BGC and Makati, are more expensive than anywhere i have ever lived.

Internet is tragic, 3 and 4g are worse.

The ripoff starts at the airport, with people in airport uniforms selling coupon taxis for 2-5 times the going rate.

produce available even in the high end supermarkets is anemic at best, selection is ridiculously poor. give me a villa any day please.

meat counters are vile, ground beef is waterlogged, chicken slimy and they will hand you a bag of chicken breasts that is slimy on the outside because the person behind the counter is not careful.

every one, every where calls you sir.

mall cops have shotguns, 7-11 guards have shot guns. bank guards have shot guns. Parking attendants have empty holsters, because 3 or 4 guys share the same rusty pistol.

most condos or toilets do not have bum guns.

all food has been philipinized and outside more upscale eateries is awful. you thought kfc thailand was bad,you have no idea. try kfc phils, jollibee, or chow king. wretched.

while they claim is made that english is widely spoken it is essentially a tagalog bastardization and in comprehensible.

Nor can they understand any vaguely complex request.

taxi drivers speak rudimentary english if any and have no knowledge what so ever of the areas they drive. getting lost hopelessly despite a very logical grid system in the area i live. taxis are beat up over half have broken back seats. they always ask if you can pay "additional" due the trappics sir.

drivers are in constant use of the horn and far more stupidly aggressive than their thai counterparts.

taxis are impossible to come by at certain times of the day.

if you buy or rent a car, due to color coding it is unusable 3 days out of the week.

while i am most emphatically not in either thailand or phils for the women, the women her do nothing for me. there is no polish,

they are strangely shaped and all seem to have some sort of massive facial mole.

me no likely. 2 more months and im back in my thai house.

Edited March 4, 2016 by HooHaa

[mesterm]

I love the friends I have there because we always manage to have deeper and more meaningful conversations due to their level of English proficiency.

But yeah, it's the one place in Southeast Asia where I felt the most unsafe. Guns, lots and lots of guns coupled with a high crime rate, even every single McDonalds has an armed guard because gangs would just show up and stick places up.

In fact crime rate just went up by 46% last year: http://www.philstar.com/metro/2015/08/03/1483869/philippine-crime-rate-46

Of course what I'm describing is Manila, parts outside may be much safer.

Thailand still has the highest rate of gun-related deaths in Asia though, so what do we know? Anything's possible. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/thailand-has-highest/2527420.html

[chicowoodduck]

i certainly count the seconds until i leave.

as an aside, electricity and water in BGC and Makati, are more expensive than anywhere i have ever lived.

Internet is tragic, 3 and 4g are worse.

The ripoff starts at the airport, with people in airport uniforms selling coupon taxis for 2-5 times the going rate.

produce available even in the high end supermarkets is anemic at best, selection is ridiculously poor. give me a villa any day please.

meat counters are vile, ground beef is waterlogged, chicken slimy and they will hand you a bag of chicken breasts that is slimy on the outside because the person behind the counter is not careful.

every one, every where calls you sir.

mall cops have shotguns, 7-11 guards have shot guns. bank guards have shot guns. Parking attendants have empty holsters, because 3 or 4 guys share the same rusty pistol.

most condos or toilets do not have bum guns.

all food has been philipinized and outside more upscale eateries is awful. you thought kfc thailand was bad,you have no idea. try kfc phils, jollibee, or chow king. wretched.

while they claim is made that english is widely spoken it is essentially a tagalog bastardization and in comprehensible.

Nor can they understand any vaguely complex request.

taxi drivers speak rudimentary english if any and have no knowledge what so ever of the areas they drive. getting lost hopelessly despite a very logical grid system in the area i live. taxis are beat up over half have broken back seats. they always ask if you can pay "additional" due the trappics sir.

drivers are in constant use of the horn and far more stupidly aggressive than their thai counterparts.

taxis are impossible to come by at certain times of the day.

if you buy or rent a car, due to color coding it is unusable 3 days out of the week.

while i am most emphatically not in either thailand or phils for the women, the women her do nothing for me. there is no polish,

they are strangely shaped and all seem to have some sort of massive facial mole.

me no likely. 2 more months and im back in my thai house.

Your airport scam is spot on....just last week when I landed in Manila I could see my hotel from the airport, the guys out front said it was a 1600 peso fare to the hotel??? Got one myself for 75 peso.....?

[buythisdashcam]

What is the most famous forum about philipines ?

[HooHaa]

i certainly count the seconds until i leave.

as an aside, electricity and water in BGC and Makati, are more expensive than anywhere i have ever lived.

Internet is tragic, 3 and 4g are worse.

The ripoff starts at the airport, with people in airport uniforms selling coupon taxis for 2-5 times the going rate.

produce available even in the high end supermarkets is anemic at best, selection is ridiculously poor. give me a villa any day please.

meat counters are vile, ground beef is waterlogged, chicken slimy and they will hand you a bag of chicken breasts that is slimy on the outside because the person behind the counter is not careful.

every one, every where calls you sir.

mall cops have shotguns, 7-11 guards have shot guns. bank guards have shot guns. Parking attendants have empty holsters, because 3 or 4 guys share the same rusty pistol.

most condos or toilets do not have bum guns.

all food has been philipinized and outside more upscale eateries is awful. you thought kfc thailand was bad,you have no idea. try kfc phils, jollibee, or chow king. wretched.

while they claim is made that english is widely spoken it is essentially a tagalog bastardization and in comprehensible.

Nor can they understand any vaguely complex request.

taxi drivers speak rudimentary english if any and have no knowledge what so ever of the areas they drive. getting lost hopelessly despite a very logical grid system in the area i live. taxis are beat up over half have broken back seats. they always ask if you can pay "additional" due the trappics sir.

drivers are in constant use of the horn and far more stupidly aggressive than their thai counterparts.

taxis are impossible to come by at certain times of the day.

if you buy or rent a car, due to color coding it is unusable 3 days out of the week.

while i am most emphatically not in either thailand or phils for the women, the women her do nothing for me. there is no polish,

they are strangely shaped and all seem to have some sort of massive facial mole.

me no likely. 2 more months and im back in my thai house.

Your airport scam is spot on....just last week when I landed in Manila I could see my hotel from the airport, the guys out front said it was a 1600 peso fare to the hotel??? Got one myself for 75 peso.....?

standard rate is 440 pesos from airport to BGC, slightly more to makati. taxi touts generally ask 16. by way of comparison a pivate minivan from BGC is about 700

[soc]

There are some nice places in the Philippines & there are a lot of sh!tholes.

l find Thailand to be much better.

My ex is a Filipina so maybe l'm prejudiced against the women.

As other posters on here have commented, they worship money & have no shame in the way that they get it.

Be prepared for massive showdowns about money & of being accused of being "mean" because you won't give them access to your bank account to withdraw as they please.

lts like trying to fill a bucket with no bottom when you're giving them money.

And l also think that Thai women are prettier.

Plenty of nice beaches, just depends what you want.

[UNTOUCHABLE1]

ive been going to the philippines every 3 months for the last 8 years staying a month or longer but live in thailand---transportation and roads not good---food is over priced--hotels arent that great--- all these things compared to thailand --thailand is surely more advanced in many ways but at what cost---i find the people in the philippines nicer but desperate--thailand does not use biodegradable plastics the philippines does---a plus for them----its a great place to discover new places but always be aware of what your doing--thailand helps its people--the philippines does not---especially for the females---booze--smokes cheaper but all are on the rise--after all these years back and forth i still enjoy doing it---cheers

[HooHaa]

oh, and for those of you who hate songkran, pop by the phils for holy week/Easter. Malls, closed. restraunts, closed. No taxis, it was unbelivable.

the main restaurant street in BGC, the high street, closed AND TURNED OFF POWER for 5 days. A freinds condo had a 2 day shut down for Upgrading.

[dotpoom]

Thanks guy's and especially Charlie ,you have always been a good pal on this site to me,yes,i had to do it ,especially when i came back and found evidence of her extracurriculur activities,but now she is stuck with a Thai man who does nothing and expects her to provide him with money,a resturant she spent heaps on that never has any customers,i could go on,but as the old saying goes as you sow,so shall you reap,luckily i am young enough to make the move,and i will not repeat the errors i made here if it works out,the fact that the girl is not an ex bar girl should helpand before anyone ask's how do you know ,believe me i know.

Good luck from me too. I was interested in your remark "I'm young enough can move on". (or words to that effect)...I heard a lady (she is 70) on my home radio this morning complaining about the "scammers" going around our country forcing old people to give them money on the premise that their houses needed work doing on them...they are being bullied into giving up their money...and the police were doing nothing about it.

She remarked...."I wish I was younger, I would move away to a different country" (I thought to myself, don't expect the police to be any different anywhere else). But anyway, I was 51 when I moved to Thailand and often wondered about what you are about to do. I love it here but if I ever considered moving....the last thing that would "put me off" would be my age, it just simply would never occur to me that my age would have anything to do with it...If I wanted to go and had enough money......then off and away i would be......I am now 66.

[Nowisee]

I have been/was mulling over going to the phil also, as I did before I made the decision to move to thailand.

There are many aspects that are important to me, I'll spare you and list the top.

Safety

Food

Infrastructure (medical, transport, internet, housing, utilities, etc.)

Cost

Ease of living

Like it or not, thailand wins every time against phil.

I think phil has some great jungle, beaches and ocean spots, but it's fundamentally a poor, struggling nation fraught with unsolved problems and the progress to resolve them seems to be very slow.

There are other reasons, but they are mostly subjective and argumentative more than the above.

I get why some are drawn there. The language is comforting to many, the open friendliness of the locals and the countryside are also very alluring.

Anyway, happy journey to you and keep all posted on your progress.

[xylophone]

Just as Thailand varies from place to place, the Philippines must also.

Good luck to the OP. Definitely keep us posted.

Yes, a good point.............I went to Manila some 25yrs ago to attend a conference and found it dirty, smokey and full of rats!!! (many here also, two and four legged varieties!).

Have also read about some beautiful places such as the island of Palawan and have thought about going there, and there must be other places similar to this in the Phillies.