Topic: I am currently country shopping. What are some good ones? - page 2. (Read 8048 times)

Cosidering Phuket (lots of expats there) myself on an education visa:

http://stayinginthailand.com/visa-information.html

^ Wow. Thanks for the detailed response. "Maybe if you are lucky a really crappy 3G signal that will be down and drop out driving you crazy."  That's my current situation in the US. DSL doesn't come out here. I think a semi-stable 100kb/s is pretty fuckin' awesome.

Are brides and grooms cheap and relatively safe to "rent"? Know if we get to move children? I think I'll look into the six-month tourist visa and see if someone would be willing to put us up on the cheap.

Any words on the tax situation there?

I was actually thinking about asking on the food, but didn't want to cause question overload. I'm a meats and cheese kind of guy, wife's a raw vegetables kind of person (we've never been legally married, so a marriage sham is relatively favorable to us). I'm not sure I could tolerate a 100% crops kind of place, though so long as raw milk and meats are available, we only eat out maybe four times a year, anyway.

I'm a fairly large and intimidating-looking kind of person, paranoid and without much shyness toward guns, so I'm not too worried about disorder (in fact, though I dislike people, I'm quite comfortable in disorder). Davao sounds quite enjoyable. We never go out except for groceries or if begged to by family. We live quite simply, and I don't imagine that ever changing. Out "silverware" is the cheapest stainless steel and will be no matter how much money we have. I was raised strict baptist, so I have no issues living among the hardcore Christians (or Muslims, really, though Idunno if I'd be nearly as accepted, there).

Warning there is a very high likelihood your filipina gf has a filipino bf. For example, we used to see "her cousin" holding hands with a filipina who was married to a guy from the Netherlands every time he was in Europe.

The reason is because foreigners don't love the way a filipino does. For one thing foreigners spend too much time alone or on the computer and filipinos want continuous talking and joking nonstop with the house full of noise and people. Secondly because the filipino can ejaculate 10 or 15 times and never gets soft (I don't know why, maybe it is the food, or the smaller size or just genetic, but I verified this by asking numerous females). The foreigner typically can not satisfy the filipina in all the ways, emotionally, culturally, and sexually (despite what she might feign). He might satisfy her need for stability and family, then he has a good chance of her sacrificing for him. but he will pay for this.

Of course some foreigners find someone that can corral, but this is a struggle and the filipina will sometimes sacrifice for the stability and the money. And some filipinas have adopted western culture too, especially in the big cities. Yet the filipino culture is still lurking in them.


If you marry a filipina, you can get permanent residency for $30. Show up once a year at immigration. Otherwise, you can attain this on a retirement visa without marrying by depositing $15,000 in a Philippine bank if 50 or older, else $35,000 if older than 35. You show up at immigration once a year and pay a few $100s per year. You can use the money to buy a condo, but there are some significant yearly fees if you do so.

If not that, if you proceed directly to Manila immigration, they can issue you a 6 month tourist visa. This is a brand new option this year. You can extend every 2 months for up to 16 months total, cost about $60 - 70 per 2 months.

A rental which most foreigners would find acceptable is probably no less than $400 - $500 per month in the city where I am, but it increases when you get into the cities and areas that the foreigners prefer more. Of course there are dirt cheap places, I am currently renting a small house (chicken cot) for $80 per month. I rent another nice house with real hot tub in the mountain (very difficult to find) for $300 per month.

Internet sucks in most places, at least in the past. If you are lucky, you can get a good DSL connection in the major cities up to 10 Mbps. But "lucky" is an important point, because the locals pirate the lines, and enforcement against competing electromagnetic interference is lax. So sometimes it just doesn't work and it isn't fixed. It may be getting better. I recently obtained a 5 Mbps connection from Globe and so far it has been excellent. But my past experiences were horrible. Fingers crossed.

You will get nothing for internet outside the city. Maybe if you are lucky a really crappy 3G signal that will be down and drop out driving you crazy.

Food is horrible in the Philippines. Absolutely horrible in terms of what foreigners like. I am warning, the food is horrible.

I have adjusted a bit to local food, but it is still my biggest problem. And it gets worse the farther you get from Manila and Angeles City. Cebu City has a little bit to offer (Ayala Mall area, etc), but in my opinion is a traffic and dust hell hole and getting worse. Mactan Island is getting overpopulated now, not like in past decades it was nice. The Philippines economy is starting to heat up with debt, so road and building construction every where, meaning mud, dust, traffic, jackhammers, etc.. After the debt bubble crashes (2017ish), you will see your short pants on a local boy if you hang them on the clothesline outside. Even your spoons will magically disappear.

Law and order varies a lot. For example, a Belgium friend and I tried living in the native areas of Bukidnon and they will steal even meat from your table if you go inside to take a pee. Whereas, I had no problems around Mt. Apo. But on the other side is Cotabato and I've known foreigners who lost body parts in that region. Davao is one of the safest cities in Asia, but you will be bored out-of-your-mind. They don't have the nightlife here and there is basically nothing to do (except the typical filipino thing of sitting around with family and friends talking and joking, very simple life), other than explore nature. And once you exit the city, as I described above, the law & order varies a lot even 50 - 100 kilometers away.

Outside the cities expect mud, lots of mud, I mean lose your shoe and never find it again mud. Or sticky mud (imagine human feces) that takes you an hour to clean off your shoes. Of course it varies and if you spend enough on development you can fix this, except you can't. Every foreigner who has invested money (to show off their wealth) in the Philippines outside the city has lost it all, or at least lost it to his family (which might be acceptable if you are close with them and trust them). Do I need to tell stories? The locals will take it from you, one way or the other.

Filipinos are not anti-immigrant usually. They are usually warm, smiling, and open arms. But you can encounter the odd ball, especially outside the cities because some native groups are more suspicious of foreigners (some love you more, but they also typically love your money more).

Bear in mind, the Philippines is developing rapidly lately with all the USA's QE carry trade debt pouring in as bond issues by the major corporations. And the banks are loaning at very low interest rates. Thus there is much new development, and so there might be new developments in rural areas that I don't know about. I traveled a lot in the past and less so lately.

If you need more specific info or clarifications, just ask.

Could you give some more info? There seems to be a bit of consensus on the Phillipenes. Family and I want out of the US, too, but haven't found much of a solution considering South Africa is high on the move-to list.

Is it difficult to get a residency license (any special restrictions)? Is the Internet infrastructure decent (bandwidth caps common?)? On the political stability issue, are there any significant anti-immigrant factions? How are the taxes? Is rural living comfortable, or is it basically "live in a city or don't expect modern comforts"?

Can look a good bit of this up, but info's usually pretty vague (or flat-out inaccurate), so even if you could only answer a couple questions, would really appreciate it.

What about Argentina along the south coast is not densely populated or Uruguay? Argentina is descending into hyperinflation again and will become dirt cheap again.

Most all of the developing countries will become dirt cheap after 2016 or 2018 (but not as cheap as 1970s and 1980s), because the QE ended up as debt in the developing world. The downside risk are the hungry masses caused by the coming crisis.

I agree that exploration is probably best because each person is different and has to find the place that fits to them.

I wrote an email to my Colombian friend (currently in Argentina) and I explained why filipinos are unique but many foreigners will not relate to what is important to the filipino as follows:


Culture matters. You don't know a place, until you know the culture.

Enjoy your travels. The world is still a diverse and interesting place in spite of that mayonnaise spread (cover the real taste) of "McDonalds and TV" broadcasting into every corner of the globe.

buy a yatch and sail from island to island, you are not getting younger, f*ck the job, f*k internet, there are poo load of paradise islands that nobody ever cares surrounding east malaysia, indo, philippines and what not, waiting for btc millionaires to explore

if we're talking about ladyboys, christ.. i want no part of them, but i felt kinda bad at how desperate they were. one even grabbed my crotch, and i tried to head in a different direction.. and he jumped right into my space.

the positive side about thailand is that, i believe, some form of magic mushrooms are legal 

Especially those who like a quirkie ladyboy BJ while kneeing in human waste.

there's probably no place to go to get away from human waste. i was in pattaya thailand, where many sex tourists consider it a heaven on earth.. except for the fact that i saw many starving people sitting by the curbside.

Hands down the underpants Homelove Security is prepared this time as their labeling of you all as terrorists in recent documents is the justification for their funding from Congress to purchase 2714 tank-like armored vehicles and 6 billion hollow point rounds (illegal in war by Hague Convention). All local law enforcement have been deputized as federal police since 2006 and are now under Homelove.

Recent developments on gun control such as an executive order from Obama show that just as in Katrina, they will come to confiscate your weapons in your home and handcuff you (see the videos on linked page, also links to related articles on right pane) even in wealthy neighborhoods to incite you to attack so they can eliminate the resistance.

Katrina was a dry run. There was another dry run during the BP oil disaster.

P.S. I was born in New Orleans. And we survived Hurricane Camile (perhaps as strong as the recent typhoon that hit the Philippines) without the nonsense they did for Katrina. My sister was instrumental in the Louisiana passing a law making it illegal in the future to force people to abandon their animals. My sister personally rescued thousands of animals.

at this point, i think the best option is central/south america or southeast asia.. low cost of living, and central/south america is full of spanish speakers, which is easy to pick up if you speak english. SE asia is probably a tad bit safer to live in though.

Philippines isn't really the best of plans actually with the floods as well and I can vouch for the Christian stuff because I have a friend who lives in a devout family but they clearly hate living with them lol I'd avoid any country with political instability and known crime areas unless you know a guy you can trade an RPG or a Tank for Bitcoins.

I lost my eye in Philippines due to an attack by a gang of youth (and the police were involved too) and it was in the area where all the bars are and the foreigners hang out.

More importantly, you will hate the Philippines for at least a couple of years:

http://liveinthephilippines.com/content/you-wont-like-living-in-the-philippines/

The only way you will really like the Philippines is if:

1. You like Christians, otherwise go to Thailand.

2. And you like everything to be incredibly inefficient and difficult.

3. And you like that your neighbors will put a 115 dB karaoke and male rooster next to your bedroom and home-office windows.

4. Or you are rich enough to live in a bubble so you aren't exposed to the real Philippines, in which case you will be exposed to the real kidnapping and extortion.

For the moment, the Philippines has improved a bit, but by 2016 the bad times will return and you will NOT want to be in the country:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2013/11/21/heres-why-the-philippines-economic-miracle-is-really-a-bubble-in-disguise/

I was in the Philippines during the 1998 Asian crisis and I left to the USA. It was just miserable. The people were so pissed off. Boys always yelling "hey joe, fuck you". "hey joe, give me your money". Then the jeepney drivers running me off the road into a tree when ever I would try to ride my bicycle on the road.


The QE did in fact ended up as massive dollars loans in the developing world. And there is now a huge overhang of corporate debt in the developing world. This is not FUD. It is a fact. It can be verified. I personally verified it by reading the business section of the local paper every day for a few weeks and seeing $billion dollar bond issues by San Miguel, FilInvest, etc.. every day! Every day! Every day!

You can see it here, there are condos, new malls, new subdivisions going up like crazy. Forbes identified all the points I had already wrote about this.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2013/11/21/heres-why-the-philippines-economic-miracle-is-really-a-bubble-in-disguise/