From Thailand to the Philippines: An Expat’s Honest First Impressions

From Thailand to the Philippines: An Expat’s Honest First Impressions

Hi guys. In today’s video, I got my friend Steve here. And uh Steve is going to kind of uh tell us a little bit about his background and why he thinks the Philippines uh might be a little too expensive compared to versus Thailand. And he just arrived here in the Philippines. Stick around for today’s video. [Music] All right. So, Steve, thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. Appreciate you. Thank you. Yeah, no problem. Now, uh, a little bit of your background. You You were ex army. We were talking about that yesterday. Airborne. Airborne. Airborne leads the way. Isn’t that what they say? All the way. Yeah. All the way to the ground. Now, you uh for as far as Asia, you have a little experience. Uh you went your uh out to Thailand and you lived in Phuket was it or Chiangg Mai? That’s correct. Uh Phuket. So started one year. One well about 10 months. 10 months almost almost a year. Um I was started off traveling around Bangkok. Okay. Almost same as you. Uh I was only in Bangkok for maybe about a week and a half though. Okay. Uh went to Corusan Corson Road I think is what it is. Some different areas that you were in. Yep. Of course, Bangkok is huge. Uh it’s city life, a lot of people. Uhhuh. Uh I’m kind of a beach guy. I was born and raised in Virginia Beach. Sure. Uh so so you went up to Phuket. I love the beach. Uh so I ventured down to Phuket and actually for RNR uh during one of my deployments, I went to was recommended Phuket. Okay. And uh did a RNR there for about 20 days. Fell in love with it. Okay. went back uh studied some Muay Thai. Okay. So, how how did you stay on the was it through a education visa or or what kind of tourist visa? You did tourist. Did a tourist visa. So, you would do how did you work that? Well, basically it was uh the 45day or whatever they give you for the tourist visa, 30-day or the 45day entry visa, then you do an extension. This was back when uh about 2 years ago now, year and a half ago. So I think it was before the 60 days that I believe so cuz they have changed it y once or twice there’s a lot of going on with the sure the visas in Thailand now back then it was pretty easy just check tourist visa right extend extend again and then you have to leave the country you could extend twice twice right for a total about 90 days for about 90 days which you can still stay 90 days but now it’s 60 and then extend I think you can only do two extensions now and then you have to leave. Right. Right. Um I’ve heard they’re getting a little bit tighter on it. Y um where you can leave the country on the tourist visa, come back in. Okay. Leave again and come back two or three times before they start kind of questioning it. Okay. Um so you But the big thing is if I do go back, it’ll be the education visa. Education. Okay. So you did this for uh 10 months. You went back and forth for 10 months. And how was your experience in Phuket? I loved it. Loved it. I loved it. Um the food was amazing. Yeah. Um the prices, I guess the ROI, return on your investment is unbelievable. Um but there is a high season and a low season in Phuket. I’m not sure too much about Bangkok so much because it’s such a bigger city. You have just more availability of sure condo and rents. Uh, of course, Phuket is it’s a really small city, a really small island. Uh, pretty much it’s built on a volcano, right? Uh, of course you have Oldtown, then you have Phuket, the Bangala Road party area. Yeah. And then you have some of the outlying areas. Uh, and I was north of the actual Bangala Road, Phuket. Okay. Place called Sirin, Bangttow, and Kamala Beach. Okay. Uh, absolutely loved it. Right on the beach. Everything is walking distance. Really don’t even need a moped. What would you say your cost of living was monthly there? See, during low season, you’re going to do I think I was doing between 250 and 300 a month rent. Okay. Uh and I was doing Airbnb. Okay. Um but you did Airbnb the entire time. Airbnb the entire time. The last time I got word of Facebook marketplace groups, so a lot of the Facebook marketplace you go on, same as in Philippines almost, uh, you can get on and do a lot of research, right? Um, AOD, you know, Airbnb, Facebook Marketplace, but like the Philippines, it really doesn’t matter until your boots on the ground here. Uh, because a lot of the places just don’t advertise and you can find really cheap. What would you say your whole monthly expens? I’d say probably about 15 1500 US, right? And I was doing um I was doing a Muay Thai course and that was about 200 250 a month. So I kind of horrible, right? But not adding that in sure to I guess my expenses. So I would say h you know a nice condo 400. Yeah. uh between three and 400 during the low season. High season and during the uh low season you’re about 3 to 400. Yeah. Nice apartment uh studio apartment or onebedroom and then during high season I mean it could get up to five six but if you were locked in on like a year lease then that wouldn’t different story right but the only problem with that was the visas. the visas. Right. Right. Right. Exactly. Right. And that’s being in the army. I’ve traveled almost all over the world. A lot of my friends and family, you know, ask, you know, how do you like traveling? You know, how do you like living in this country? How do you like living in this country? And I always tell them, every country is great. The people are amazing out here. They’re nice. Uh but you have to uh mind the visas. And that’s the biggest thing that I found with any country. It’s the visa. So, what made you say, “Okay, goodbye Phuket.” And you went back to the States for a while. Went back to the States for a couple years. About a year and a half. About a year and a half. Okay. Um, and I finished up some flight training. Okay. Uh, so I got my uh pilots license in general aviation. Okay. And went back just to do some more endorsements. Okay. Um, Gotcha. So went back and of course, you know, I had father and you know, he’s getting a little old. So, you know, travel around for 2 or 3 years and just go back and visit with him and uh you know, kind of miss the states every once in a while. Sure. Yeah. Um but like the biggest thing was just the visa over in Thailand, right? Um I know we were talking yesterday with the the different visa options for Thailand versus the Philippines. And you’re still under 50, so you can’t do the retirement. Exactly. Exactly. So I’m right under 47. I just turned. Okay. Couple years away. Yeah. So, you fast forward, you decide to come to the Philippines. What made you decide on the Philippines? Never been here before. Never been here before. Never been here before. Um, heard a lot about it. Uh, but I never been to the Philippines. And the other thing, too, is is the visa option, you know, easy. You can just keep extending. Just keep extending, keep extending. Uh, cost of living here, I would say it’s a little more expensive. A little more expensive. Uh, what have what are some of the things you’ve noticed? Like, let’s talk about uh Airbnb. Airbnb uh quite a bit more for what you get. Right. Right. And what I’ve seen is sometimes the Airbnb and the rentals, there’s rental sites that are here. Mhm. Uh one is Filipino Homes.com, I think it is. These are not big sites. They’re not like Mhm. Airbnb or go to the just little kind of almost like reality kind of realators. Yeah. Yeah. And from what I understand, those realers get a kind of a commission. Yeah. I think they get like one month, right? Uh so they get a commission or some of them even get a commission per monthly. So what you pay on your rent a month, they’ll get a portion of that every month. Um a little bit different in Thailand. Once you get an apartment there, uh that’s it. Now I was looking at a couple different places where you can do same thing. 3 month, 6 month year lease or even longer. Uh but again, it’s the visa that’s an issue now. Well, you can stay on a tourist visa easy here. Yes. Yeah. Yep. But in Thailand, it’s that it’s that not knowing if you’re going to be able to get in the country and then get back in. Right. Uh, for example, um, if you’re doing the tourist, if you’re doing the tourist thing, if you’re doing the educational visa or the retirement visa, uh, a lot easier, but like I said, I’m under 50, so I don’t you’re not there yet. There yet. Um, so, for example, you looked at a place here, just the studios, 25,000 pesos. Yes. 25,000 is $430, $40, right? And in Phuket, for example, like in low season, you would get something similar for how much do you think? 250, 300. Exactly. So, a huge difference. Almost half. And then let’s talk about food. You can see the look on his face. You’re not too impressed with the street food. I would There’s There’s no comparison. I mean, the street food here is street food. The street food in Yeah. Thailand, Phuket. Oh, you can just is that can be your daily and and I was in Fort Myers before I came back out. Mhm. And I mean it’s $30 a meal. Uh a hamburger at uh a nice restaurant. So it cost $25 $30 with tip. Not to you know if you add a beer into that it’s almost another $10. Right. Right. Uh Thailand’s uh it’s $10 a day including beer. Right now we we talked about Thailand is unique because you can be you can really go low, but you can also go really crazy high too depending on your on your on your income going adult fun or if you’re a drinker or whatever you Exactly. Um and you know I’m not too much of a drinker or too much of a partyier and don’t get me wrong, I do like to go out and Sure. Yeah. walk and you know and party but that gets expensive. Uh one thing about Thailand, Bangkok, Phuket, uh you really have to be disciplined. Uh you can lose yourself real fast. Uh I hear that all the time. Now I didn’t go Chiang Mai or Hian. Those are still tourist areas, but not as Mhm. crazy as Bangkok and especially Phuket. Um, lot of foreigners in Phuket. Uh, a lot of Russians. Mhm. No problem at all. Love them. Uh, they’re as nice as the Thai people. Sure. Um, but cost of living is just I would say it’s probably about about $500 or more according, you know, on what your level of of living is. Cheaper. Uh, but I could do it under 2,000 easily. Easily. Easily. Easily. I’ve already when I move to Bangkok, if I live the same type of lifestyle that I am here, I’ll save about 500 bucks a month. Yeah. Now, obviously, if I partake and uh going to Soy Cowboy and Nana Plaza, then of course, you know, you can blow you can blow your blow your uh blow your budget up pretty right. And we were talking about fruit and vegetables, too. like we were went to like the market. Uh we gave an example like the pomelo which is like a like a grapefruit type thing. I would say like a between a grapefruit and an orange almost. I mean it’s like a orange but it’s the size of a cantaloupe, right? And in Thailand you can buy it peeled in like a big package for like 30 bot which is like $1. But here a smaller package doesn’t look as good and it’s three times the price. Yep. Three times. notice that with almost all the kind of fruit um the fruit Thailand uh even the fruit stalls uh and the veggies it’s the quality is just a little bit better. It looks like a little bit fresher and and a little cheaper. Everything’s clearly marked. Clearly marked. That’s the other thing. And and Philippines, if you’re a foreigner walking into some of these markets, they’re not marked. And if they see you, you’re probably going to pay more than um Good example. Yesterday I went to uh to the Watson, which is the pharmacy to get some just some face uh Sure. water, you know, cuz it’s hot and you know, we’re Italian and we sweat. Yeah, that’s right. So, I just get some face water and I just asked the girl, I was like, “Hey, you know, where’s the Garnier face water?” You know, just cleansing water. Yeah. Well, she walks me over to the I don’t the high-end section and pulls out a bar of soap. That’s 8,000 peso or 8 800 peso for a bar of soap. And I was I said, “No, no, no. This is too much.” You know, this is not But they I don’t know if she saw that I was American or but just went right over to the high end. And I was like, “No, no, no, no, no. This is not this is too much. Too much too much. Uh, I’m just looking for the face. Of course, I just look around and I find the face off and it’s 100 peso versus the 800 peso bar. So, trying to up So, upsell, right? And I don’t know if they get commission off of it or something like that, but like you were saying, uh, you know, they just kind of see you and and almost try to upsell. Yeah. More at like the markets where things aren’t clearly priced. At least in there it’s it’s priced. Clearly priced. But if you walk into a fruit and vegetable market here and they see you, chances are they’re going to raise the prices. Raise the price. You have to know what the prices are. Yep. So, yeah. What What else are you noticing? Even visa extensions are kind of pricey here. We talked about that. We did talk about it. Um about 90 days here is about your first 90 days here is about $200. With your two extensions plus the ACR card, it runs about $200. Right. In Thailand, you can stay in 90 days for $50. Vietnam, 25. Malaysia, nothing for 90 days. That’s right. That’s right. Yeah. So, little bit different. Uh kind of wasn’t really expecting such a a high uh visa for the for the 3 months here, right? Um, I knew it was going to be a little bit pricey just by some of the other videos that you and some of the other uh uh u influencers were putting out, but uh right now I mean Thailand looks really good with the visas and the visas extensions and just the what they’re trying to do with the digital nomad, right? Uh that’s another thing that they didn’t have when I was there. They were kind of thinking about it. They I think they started it what a year or so ago or within the last year. That’s another option. Um but like I said, you still have to kind of leave the country at some point. Sure. Yeah. Uh Vietnam, I mean, you fly in, you pay the $25 and you’re there 3 months. Y problem is X and come back. But they’re not as stringent as the Thai immigration is being now. They’re a lot more um more lenient. They’re they’re starting to question people. Oh, they are they are starting to question people. Uh you know, they’re looking at coming into the country and leaving the country. Uh a lot of it has to do with overstays now, too. There’s a lot of overstay issues in Thailand, and they’re trying to crack down on that, which I can completely understand. Sure. Um and we were talking about some of the banking that there was some issues with the banking. I think you were telling me that. Yeah, I think it was with just one particular bank, right? Um, back to the Philippines real quick though. Uh, there’s one more thing we discussed. The area for example, you’re staying here in for the price point on your Airbnb. What’s the neighborhood like compared to the neighborhood you were staying at in Thailand? So, how much are you paying at this Airbnb right now? So, right now it’s I was going to go monthly uh and just for a right daily. So, I was going to go monthly and it was going to be $300. So, about I think whatever $300 was about 1,500 peso I think is what it was or excuse me 20,000 20,000 peso 20,000 peso. So, over 300, right? And we were talking about it. It was all good. The room was getting ready. They were cleaning it and then they kind of pulled it from me. So, now I’m doing dayto-day for a,000 peso. What I was doing, I was trying to get like a little base, okay, hub so I could travel to other places and travel within the Philippines. But what was the room like compared to the room you had in Phuket, which was less day and night? I mean, day and night, right? So I if I would have got the room for 300, uh it would have been the same as in Thailand. But you are getting a one room or or studio at at minimum one in Thailand. In Thailand. Yeah. For 300 you get a studio or a onebedroom for about 300. Shop around. Negotiate for sure. Okay. Uh here I mean it was bare bones. No kitchenet. It was just a TV, a bed and a shower. Uh and aircon and that was it. Wow. Uh no table, no chair, no like I said, no kitchenet, no washer in it. I mean, it was bare bare bones. Then I came and checked some of these residences around here. 25K, right? Uh 25K minimum. Uh and that’s, you know, it’s we were looking it’s about 440ish depending on the conversion rate per month. And what about the neighborhood? The neighborhood you walk out of your neighborhood here in the Philippines at 15,000 peso amount versus uh it’s it’s rough. I don’t know what I can right. I don’t know why I can say on video, but yeah, it’s brutal. Uh, it’s rough. Uh, in Phuket, completely different. I mean, clean, safe, no trash. Well, I wouldn’t say no trash, but considerably less. They usually clean clean it up. Right. Right. Right. Notice that. But down, of course, the city center down here, it’s it’s pretty rough. It’s pretty slum. I don’t know if we can say that, but it’s pretty rough down there. Um, how long have you been here in the Philippines now? I just got here about two weeks ago. Two weeks. So, so I’m pretty fresh. Uh, what’s your impression like? What do you What do you feel like after this experience so far? How do you feel about uh your plans now? That’s a good question. That’s a good question. Were you a little disappointed in some things? I think a little bit. You know, I thought it would kind of be a little more put together, I guess, a little more organized. Yeah, I hear that a lot. It is. Yeah. really kind of disorganized. It’s kind of Sure. I’ve done a lot of traveling. It’s the same as you. So, you kind of know different places, but I This is kind of your first time leaving the country. It’s kind of going to be a shell shock. Unless you’re in like a BGC or a Makatti in Cebu. Yeah. Uh I think you stayed in Maktown New Town, which is where I lived. So, tell me about that experience. You lived in It’s a very nice bubble. Oh, it’s it’s beautiful. Well, what’s your experience? There’s a lot of opportunity. Uh, but I was there for straight to Manila. Manila, straight to Cebu. Uh, Makan, I guess is what they call it down there. And I was there for a week and a little expensive too, right? Expensive for sure. Uh, but just small. Yeah. Um, I mean, you can walk it in a day. Uh and I just kind of felt I was like listen I said if this is it this is kind of too small in a couple an hour right so yeah easily and then what’s right outside of that bubble it’s brutal and that’s part of the problem is uh a lot of people will say well you know we have BGC but the problem is it’s a little bubble and you compare it to like a city in Thailand or Vietnam where it’s the whole city is pretty nice you know uh and then trying to drive around outside of that bubble. I mean, you’re taking your life in your own hands at that point. I mean, I would not drive a car. Uh, a moped is all right, but still, if you sure have never driven a moped or if you are unsure about that kind of, it’s going to be an issue. Uh, even here, um, I think it’s about 11:00 in the morning, it’s nice, you know, it’s not traffic is not too bad, but I tell you what, 4 or 5:00 Oh, yeah. It’s Yeah, totally different. Pretty rough. Different story. Uh, sure. I wouldn’t be on the roads on a moped in at rush hour. So, we’ll kind of wrap it up at the at this point by saying um or asking you where are you leaning towards now? Where is the Good question. Uh, so being here about 15 16 17 days now. Mhm. Uh, talking to you yesterday about some of the options, you know, and where you’ve been and your experience in Bangkok and Vietnam. Yeah. Um, I think I might go to Vietnam. Check it out. $25 for a 90-day. Uh, Right. It’s 25 or 50, but either way, it’s very cheap. 2550. The rent is comparable to low season Thailand. Yeah. Super cheap year round, great food. Uh, clean. Clean great food again. Uh, and the accessibility. Daang by the way. Daang or Mhm. Uh, yeah. Yep. and the accessibility, I guess, leaving the country and then coming back in without kind of the issues, um, is much more appealing to me. Um, like I said, Vietnam, I mean, excuse me, Thailand is an option, but like I said, it’s the visa for me because I’m not at that 58 50 year mark or the education visa, but like I said, you know, if they they test you on that, you know, especially if you leave the country and come back in, Yeah. You might sit down and they’ll start talking to you in Thai. Yeah. They may want to test you on your uh level of tie. Yeah. Yep. That’s true. And if you don’t meet their standard or their, you know, they think that their standard is Oh, because they do have those where you can sign up for the education visa, but you never actually go to class. They have those. So, yeah, you actually want to be participating. When I And and Exactly. And when I was there, they were stamping that out. So that’s when I got there. Before I got there, that was kind of the norm to stay in the country. Uh but now they’re they’re really cracking down on that. For me, it’s not so bad. It does keep out some of the roof raft. So Yes. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Anyway. Yep. Well, Steve, I appreciate you coming on the channel. Thank you very much. No problem. Thank you. Thank you. Hey guys, uh thank you for watching. I’ll see everyone in the next video. Let us know what your opinions are on uh Philippines, uh, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia. What’s your choice? See you next time before it’s too late. Time.

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