Thailand vs Philippines

[hk blues]

3 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

To be fair sometimes once you've been here a while you adapt or tailor your expectations a bit, maybe even move around and change the scenery and circle of friends but one thing that did reopen my eyes was taking a short break to Cambodia, it makes you realise that the Philippines is a bit backward in certain areas which if it's one of your priorities could be a deal changer.  All the best back in Thailand. 

I'm interested in knowing in what ways the Philippines is behind Cambodia?  

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 6/24/2022 at 4:29 PM, ThaiWolf said:

I fully understand that my opinion is just that ... my opinion.

I wont answer all your posts but I think location is important. Your location is probably back woods type so you will have brownouts etc. 

Infrastructure, again its where you live. We have bike lanes, modern jeepneys, buses and everything else but I live in the second largest city. Hardly ever a brownout or water issues. 

Food cost probably higher since you arrived at a time when cost are increasing world wide.

You talk about visa cost, since you are married you can get a 13a which once done is cheap for a small yearly fee. Why your on a tourist visa I do not know.

Anyway both countries have for and against, I have never been to Thailand but follow a few vloggers so know what its like for most and in fact why many pack up and come to the Philippines is because of Thailand's limited visa options or hassles.  Stick it out for a year, move somewhere decent and enjoy. 

 

[RBM]

9 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I wont answer all your posts but I think location is important. Your location is probably back woods type so you will have brownouts etc. 

Infrastructure, again its where you live. We have bike lanes, modern jeepneys, buses and everything else but I live in the second largest city. Hardly ever a brownout or water issues. 

Food cost probably higher since you arrived at a time when cost are increasing world wide.

You talk about visa cost, since you are married you can get a 13a which once done is cheap for a small yearly fee. Why your on a tourist visa I do not know.

Anyway both countries have for and against, I have never been to Thailand but follow a few vloggers so know what its like for most and in fact why many pack up and come to the Philippines is because of Thailand's limited visa options or hassles.  Stick it out for a year, move somewhere decent and enjoy. 

 

I like many others have also spent time in Thailand and can appreciate most of the comments of the OP. Especially in the food line, fortunately for myself my partner is a foodie and always on You tube finding and cooking different wonderful exotic meals, most spices are available from local Indian shops here. The local food (at least here in Bacolod) is terrible, bland is an understatement. 

What seems strange is the OP is prepared to to sacrifice what is a excellent relationship in a short time to continue living in Thailand, just appears strange to me..

Two close friends of mine resident here have previously lived many years in Thailand but prefer living  here, the English being widely spoken plays a major part in their decisions.  Both state the Thais in general are more mercenary that Filipinos......What ever that may mean.

[hk blues]

11 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Infrastructure, again its where you live. We have bike lanes, modern jeepneys, buses and everything else but I live in the second largest city. Hardly ever a brownout or water issues

I didn't really want to get into disecting ThaiWolf's comments for fear of being accused of being defensive towards Iloilo (again) but we have all of those here in Iloilo as well.  Cycle lanes thin on the ground admittedly but there are some. Brownouts are running at about 3 a month and all under an hour , never had a water outage in the last year or more. All of this is in my area. YMMV.

As you say, it's all about location and not just within the country but within the province and even city.

For the avoidance of doubt, I know this reads as a defence of Iloilo, and it is, but I think ThaiWolf has maybe been unlucky in his choice of location and perhaps hasn't experienced other parts of the province.

The case for the defence rests M'Lud!

[Snowy79]

On 6/25/2022 at 4:31 PM, hk blues said:

I'm interested in knowing in what ways the Philippines is behind Cambodia?  

I only went to Siem Reap but it looked like the town planners had designed the infrastructure for 20yrs in the future allowing for growth. Wifi was excellent and everything was well organised. If they say they will arrive at a set time they turn up 5 minutes before.  If you ask for something and they don't have it they will admit to not having it but arrange with you there to get what you want with an accurate time frame. 

Waitresses knew what was on the menu and asked if you want a drink as soon as you sat down and started browsing the menu. The selection of food was excellent and good value.  They also knew how to give directions.

The only downside was their English was like a bad Chinese movie and at times hard to understand. 

[Colsie]

On 6/25/2022 at 12:50 AM, ThaiWolf said:

Sitting in Manila airport waiting for terminal transfer... Another negative! 

A retirement extension is so easy. In and out of the local office in 30 mins. Easiest way is 800k baht in a fixed acct. It can be done on income of 65k per month or a combination of the two. Cost 1900 baht per year. 

Marriage extension is slightly more complicated but financially less of a burden, only 400k to sit in an acct or 40k per month income. None of this 2 months at a time and cost malarkey. 

Easy to get I.D card valid for life if over 60. Cost 20 baht! Residence book is free. Drivers licence is easy as well. 

Check the Thai Bureau of Immigration website for other options. Many guys use agents which can do the lot for you, they even have ways of by-passing the financial requirements required. 

What a great post... Thailand is a wonderful country to live in and I'm talking from my own experience. But now I live here in the Philippines...

Hard to describe why I chose Philippines over Thailand to live as I enjoy both places so much. Even though I've lived here more or less full time for over 10 years, I've spent weeks and months in Thailand over dozens of visits during that time...until Covid. 

For me, both countries have advantages over each other, as do most. I guess, how you priorities those advantages determines where you lay your hat. 

The number one advantage of the Philippines is that English is widely spoken throughout. Which in itself isn't the main attraction, but our partners and loved ones can communicate with us on a level that we want and need, that's it. In comparison to Thailand, where Thai English speakers usually fall into a small group of very well educated and those that have worked in a bar and hung around foreigners for 10 years or more...did you say your partner is Filipina... Mine too...

Step outside any of the tourist hubs in Thailand and English is rarely spoken or understood. In fact it would be very hard to live in that environment unless you could speak some Thai or have your own interpreter (wife). 

Next advantage of the Philippines is visa extentions that allow foreigners to stay here unhindered. Sure, there's the Thai retirement visa, I had one for a while, but as I recall, you have to be 50yo or above to get and then have to show 800k baht (~26k usd) each year, a bit more than the Philippine retirement visa.. But living in Thailand as a tourist and doing visa runs was virtually stamped out 5yrs ago...

Thai driving licence, that made me smile, having to sit in the test centre with that wooden contraption and line the pegs up, oh dear, just to get a Thai license, no, two Thai licences. That's right, I had to pay for two Thai licences, one for car and one for motorcycle...glad I can drive in Thailand on my Filipino licence now without hassle from the cops there...

Travelling back and too between the two countries, I've always thought that the Philippines cost of living is way cheaper than Thailand, they used to be very similar, then around about 2009 things seemed to change and Thailand became far more expensive for basic food stuffs... But recently, prices have sky rocketed here and pushed up the cost of living, so I can't compare with Thailand now, as I haven't been there since end Dec 2019..

The things I miss the most about Thailand and for me, this is Thailands advantage over the Philippines. Thailand infrastructure is far more developed. The food is far better, from restaurants to street food.. and groceries... Hotels and accommodation is better quality and value. There's no typhoons, volcanoes, and earthquakes are rare (actual had an earthquake close to Chang Mia back in 2019). 

Like a guy with two lovers, I miss Thailand when I'm here and the Philippines when I'm there...anyway enuff waffle, otherwise I'll start on about Cambodia... 

I hope you're home safe and no worse off for your Philippines experience...

 

[Colsie]

On 6/25/2022 at 4:31 PM, hk blues said:

I'm interested in knowing in what ways the Philippines is behind Cambodia?  

For me, Cambodian banking has the advantage over the Philippines. This is partly because it has a dual currency system, the Cambodian Riel and the US Dollar. 

Cambodia was in past (not sure about now) an easy country to live visa wise. Also, a driving licence could be arranged within a few days by travel agents in Phnom Penh...

Phnom Penh water and sewage system was upgraded and improved over the last 20yrs and even won international acclaim. The city skyline has started to change more recently as developers build new modern high rise facilities. 

The telecom industry in Cambodia is much better and cheaper than the Philippines... 

The local foods (and beer) are delicious and the breads are excellent, in part to the French influences... (not sure about deep fried turantulas).. 

Cambodia also has land borders with Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.. 

The roads throughout the country are a bit of a nightmare, in the rainy season, some are just muddy barely passable roads and in the summer incredibly dusty... 

 

[BrettGC]

3 hours ago, Colsie said:

For me, Cambodian banking has the advantage over the Philippines. This is partly because it has a dual currency system, the Cambodian Riel and the US Dollar. 

Cambodia was in past (not sure about now) an easy country to live visa wise. Also, a driving licence could be arranged within a few days by travel agents in Phnom Penh...

Phnom Penh water and sewage system was upgraded and improved over the last 20yrs and even won international acclaim. The city skyline has started to change more recently as developers build new modern high rise facilities. 

The telecom industry in Cambodia is much better and cheaper than the Philippines... 

The local foods (and beer) are delicious and the breads are excellent, in part to the French influences... (not sure about deep fried turantulas).. 

Cambodia also has land borders with Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.. 

The roads throughout the country are a bit of a nightmare, in the rainy season, some are just muddy barely passable roads and in the summer incredibly dusty... 

 

I'm glad you clarified the Cambodia situation, the last time I was there was in 2009 and thought it was not the best infrastructure-wise.  Nice to see things are developing for the better there.  

Edited June 26, 2022 by BrettGC

[hk blues]

15 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I only went to Siem Reap but it looked like the town planners had designed the infrastructure for 20yrs in the future allowing for growth. Wifi was excellent and everything was well organised. If they say they will arrive at a set time they turn up 5 minutes before.  If you ask for something and they don't have it they will admit to not having it but arrange with you there to get what you want with an accurate time frame. 

Waitresses knew what was on the menu and asked if you want a drink as soon as you sat down and started browsing the menu. The selection of food was excellent and good value.  They also knew how to give directions.

The only downside was their English was like a bad Chinese movie and at times hard to understand. 

I see - so more advanced in terms of mindset, behaviours and attitudes than necessarily infrastructure etc - makes sense.  

 

[ThaiWolf]

13 hours ago, Colsie said:

Thai driving licence, that made me smile, having to sit in the test centre with that wooden contraption and line the pegs up, oh dear, just to get a Thai license, no, two Thai licences.

To acquire my Thai licenses I showed them my valid UK license and that was it, 30 mins later I was walking out. To renew my licenses 5 years later I had to do the co-ordination test ( line up two posts with sticks attached to string) colour blind test and brake reaction test then watch a video. No big deal.

13 hours ago, Colsie said:

Next advantage of the Philippines is visa extentions that allow foreigners to stay here unhindered.

I'll disagree with that statement. The SRRV has more hoops to go through than the Thai retirement extension (not a visa). From what I've read anyway.  

 

13 hours ago, Colsie said:

The number one advantage of the Philippines is that English is widely spoken throughout. Which in itself isn't the main attraction, but our partners and loved ones can communicate with us on a level that we want and need,

Totally agree with you.

I was in the fresh food supply industry for over 30 years, my interest in food has never waivered hence I have a keen eye regarding prices and quality. Just got back from a visit to the local wet market and a major supermarket. The Philippines is definitely 50% + more expensive on most items, especially meat and certainly more variety back here. As I said before utilities, even drinking water are far more dearer in PI.

Anyways, everyone can have a different opinion which is what makes life more interesting.

I'm back in my old stomping ground looking forward to my badminton tonight. The local street dogs are pleased to see me again (I always leave a bowl of water out). Great to be eating semi-spicy food and cooking a full roast dinner washed down with a watery Thai beer that's expensive and tasteless! .

I enjoyed my time in the Philippines but for me there's absolutely no way I could live there, I miss my Thai lifestyle too much! 

Cheers guys, all the best to you all.