Best Posts in Thread: Advise...

Well, I know I am not in Thailand, "tourist traps" were within quote marks, the expression came from a German guy I met downtown in a bar last night. And you are right, the differences in prices are not at all big. Got a fair deal on the bike too, they treated me very well. Hot spring and falls took about an hour to pass through. Spent most of the morning walking around in Valencia, afternoon in and around Bacong. Looking at apartments and houses in both places and between them.

Diving is not an activity for me anymore. So thats out of the question! Was thinking about heading along the coast up towards Bais tomorrow. I spotted some nice looking houses for rent in the area at the estate firm.

 

So, 2 days spent in town! Have checked out the "tourist traps" along the boulevard, food prices at Robinson, the market, the butchers, vehicle prices and virtually all the central parts of the city. I the f like what I see so far, even the food has been allright. Had better than decent porkchops, onions and mash @ Honeycomb and a first class breakfast @ Casa Blanca even if it was a bit over priced. Rented a motorbike and will head to Valencia and Bacong next 2 days to look for the famous bunch of wild ladyboys wherever they are now. Should the water falls and the hot springs be on the agenda too?

 

It is about all they do for us Expats

 

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 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.

 

I agree, I would at least ask about the "SRRV Expanded Courtesy Visa" if interested. Per the PRA, it applies to veterans from countries with "existing military ties and/or agreement with the Philippine Government". That may or may not apply to Sweden.
And the Philippines may be buying fighter jets from Sweden, that might help!

https://pra.gov.ph/srrv/ (and don't worry about the "retired" verbiage)
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1051097