Alternative to Thailand??? HELP PLEASE!!!

[KittenKong]

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

To me, Portuguese is quite a bit harder than Spanish, but weirdly I find Brazilian Portuguese more approachable than old country style. 

 

Pronunciation of Spanish is indeed a little easier but as a native English speaker (and fluent French speaker) the main advantage of all these languages is that they use Roman script albeit with accents. To me being able to read the words is half the battle already won, unlike Thai where you have to learn the script and the pronunciation and the intonation. And even when you've done all that all you can do is talk to Thais. The same of course applies to some other nearby countries but not, for example, to Malaysia or the RP or Indonesia where the script is Roman and the pronunciation more or less as written.

 

The idea of learning Portuguese from scratch doesnt faze me at all.

[KittenKong]

14 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

How about Merida, Yucatan, Mexico?

 

I went to Mexico City once many years ago and found the food to be very boring. I left early because of that though the place itself and the climate and the people all seemed nice enough. I cant imagine ever going back unless there is some other part of the country that I dont know of which has better food (ie non-Mexican food).

[Jingthing]

25 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

I went to Mexico City once many years ago and found the food to be very boring. I left early because of that though the place itself and the climate and the people all seemed nice enough. I cant imagine ever going back unless there is some other part of the country that I dont know of which has better food (ie non-Mexican food).

OK, fine, I don't know where you ate there but I did a lot of research and found INCREDIBLE food in D.F. That said, Merida is in the YUCATAN, and they have their own specific regional cuisine that is quite different than more typical Mexican food. 

I wouldn't suggest moving to Mexico City unless for business reasons, etc. It's a great city of course but too intense for most, and yes, dangerous. 

If doing a food tour of Mexico, I would also recommend OAXACA for distinctive regional cuisine but I know people that have lived there and hadn't heard great things about that. 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Jingthing

[johninbkk71]

On 1/21/2017 at 5:26 AM, SaintLouisBlues said:

You must be reading the government-controlled press

Nope had a friend who lived there up until last year. Only moved because he needed medical treatment which he could get for free in the States as he was an ex-serviceman. He's in the States (Florida) now, says he hates every minute of it.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, johninbkk71 said:

Nope had a friend who lived there up until last year. Only moved because he needed medical treatment which he could get for free in the States as he was an ex-serviceman. He's in the States (Florida) now, says he hates every minute of it.

Depends on where and "how" you live.  I've got a friend in a $1MM oceanfront condo.  He's loving life.  He loves Florida compared to Thailand.  And yes, he has a Thai wife there. LOL

[zorro1]

Depends on where and "how" you live.  I've got a friend in a $1MM oceanfront condo.  He's .  He loves Florida compared to Thailand.  And yes, he has a Thaid wife there. LOL

1mill won't get much these days. Every returned expat in oz I know hates it especially after a few beers and reminiscing about LOS

[craigt3365]

11 hours ago, zorro1 said:

1mill won't get much these days. Every returned expat in oz I know hates it especially after a few beers and reminiscing about LOS

That's not been my experience.  With a guy from Colorado now who's loving it there and glad he's gone.  Got some friends in San Diego who are also super happy.  It all depends on what you want.

 

And yes, $1MM will buy you an excellent oceanview condo in Florida!  My uncle has one and it's stunning.

[zorro1]

That's not been my experience.  With a guy from Colorado now who's loving it there and glad he's gone.  Got some friends in San Diego who are also super happy.  It all depends on what you want.
 
And yes, $1MM will buy you an excellent oceanview condo in Florida!  My uncle has one and it's stunning.

True, USA was smashed in the sub prime crisis so you may be right.

1mill in Sydney Australia where I'm from you won't even get a pool let alone sea view!

[Naam]

12 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Depends on where and "how" you live.  I've got a friend in a $1MM oceanfront condo.  He's loving life.  He loves Florida compared to Thailand.  And yes, he has a Thai wife there. LOL

...and most probably another $5mm in the bank.

[craigt3365]

11 minutes ago, zorro1 said:

True, USA was smashed in the sub prime crisis so you may be right.

1mill in Sydney Australia where I'm from you won't even get a pool let alone sea view!

Prices for RE have risen dramatically in recent years.  Though Florida was hit very hard in the RE crisis last decade.  We're we talking about Sydney?  LOL

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, Naam said:

...and most probably another $5mm in the bank.

Agreed! What would the property taxes be for a $1MM unit in Florida?  In California, it'd be probably $15k/year or so.  Ouch!

[Naam]

2 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Agreed! What would the property taxes be for a $1MM unit in Florida?  In California, it'd be probably $15k/year or so.  Ouch!

where i lived in Florida (Volusia County Central Florida) taxes are presently 2.44% of assessed value which is usually 15-20% below market value.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Naam

[craigt3365]

20 minutes ago, Naam said:

where i lived in Florida (Volusia County Central Florida) taxes are presently 2.44% of assessed value which is usually 15-20% below market value.

Double OUCH!

[siam2007]

On 21/01/2017 at 11:33 AM, Bonefish said:

Yes, Uruguay is good, lots of expats there. 

 

 

 

I found Uruguay quite boring and the locals not particularly friendly compared to other countries in South America, but at least it is peaceful and enjoys a relatively low crime rate. In a place such as Colonia del Sacramento I would be bored to death after a few weeks and the many great ice cream parlours there would not make up for it

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, siam2007 said:

 

I found Uruguay quite boring and the locals not particularly friendly compared to other countries in South America, but at least it is peaceful and enjoys a relatively low crime rate. In a place such as Colonia del Sacramento I would be bored to death after a few weeks and the many great ice cream parlours there would not make up for it

A few weeks? I got bored there on a day trip. 

[craigt3365]

We spent a week in Uruguay.  3 days in Montevideo, 4 days with a rent a car driving up the coast.  No, it's not as dynamic as Bangkok.  But, it's absolutely beautiful.  Pretty good weather, cold sea water, good food, fairly reasonable prices.  We loved it.  But it's not one of our top 5 alternatives to Thailand.