Advise...

I have only visited Thailand but I have lived in the Philippines. Based upon my own personal preferences and observations moving from Thailand to the Philippines is not a choice I would make.

 

It would be nice if you could elaborate a bit there. Why would you not move?

 

I have a myriad of personal reasons but I'll keep it simple - Food, infrastructure, accommodations, barking dogs, roosters, and "out of stock". Purely subjective but I always get a much better vibe in Thailand.

 

About the same things that annoys ex-pats in Thailand (outside Phuket and Pattaya areas) then, maybe apart from "out-of-stock" in Thai restaurants. That never happen. I would not be looking at another Asian country unless the Thai currency had gone so strong. It has gone up around 40% compared to the Swedish Krona since 2013. The THB have even got stronger to USD and EURO over the last year. The VISA rules for retirement getting tougher ever since the military takeover and changing constantly. I might still chose Thailand though, I know their mentality, speak some Thai and have travelled around the country.

I have been looking at Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia too. As I see it, Cambodia would be my only other option since it is hard to fulfill requirements (Indonesia) or VERY hard (Vietnam) to obtain something like a retirement VISA there. But, Cambodia offer very few places to retire these days. If you want to stay near the sea that is. Sihanoukville has been turned into a mini-Macao by the Chinese and there are hardly any Westerners left. The islands outside are full of backpackers, Phnom Penh is a no-go city so that give me few options left.

So, The Philippines and Dumaguete is still on my roadmap in June/July...

 

I have lived here over 5 years on a tourist visa, it costs less than 1USD per day, just follow the rules and advice of the Bureau of Immigration. If you plan to stay more than 30 days, visit the Bureau of Immigration office in downtown Dumaguete around your 3 week in town.
Stay in a hotel for your 2 week visit, many to choose from, Go Hotel next to Robinson Mall is inexpensive, easy to navigate to and from, and a lot of places to eat and get coffee nearby.
If you are an experienced motorcycle rider, renting a motorbike works great, many rental places at Santa Rosa and Perdices street in downtown Dumaguete. Wait to buy any cars or bikes. It may not seem like it when you are on the road here, but we drive on the right side in this country.
Explore one hour north (Bais City) to one hour south (Saiton City) ,if you see an area you like, ask the local or neighbors if there are any rentals nearby. There are some online ads for rentals but many only known by word of mouth.
I visited Thailand before and liked it very much. The advantage of the Philippines is the people are very friendly and speak English, the culture is more western than any other Asian country, the cost of living can be low and the quality of life can be high if you make good choices. The are adjustments and annoyances to living here. There are many expats from many countries, many places to socialize, the Filipinos make good friends too.
Remain flexible and have the least amount of commitment (housing, vehicles, business, relationship) in your first year if you decide to stay.
Good luck.

 

Great post! Thanks a lot, very helpful indeed. Right or left side does not matter, Born in Sweden where we had both (changed from left to right 1967).

 

You're welcome. If you have more questions just post them here.

 

One more alert. If you are handsome like me, be ready to fight off the lovely ladies. If not, flash money if you want to quickly meet a girl.

 

lol

 

Particularly if it's their money you are flashing back at them.