Vietnam or Thailand, Which is Right For YOU?

Vietnam or Thailand, Which is Right For YOU?

When it comes to tourism in Southeast Asia, it is no secret that Thailand is the mecca, but especially over these past few years, there are a couple other countries that are growing right alongside it. I recently just returned from Vietnam. So, in today’s video, we’re going to go over some of the differences that I noticed, some things that are similar between Thailand and Vietnam, as well as some things that are a bit different. That way if you are coming to Asia, you want to get out there a little bit. You want to hop around, maybe go to a few different countries, you know what to expect before you get there. So, let’s get into it. [Music] What is up, guys? Welcome back to the channel. So, if you’ve been keeping up with the videos, you know I got back from Vietnam a little over a week ago. And over these past few years, I’ve been able to travel to some other countries in Southeast Asia and kind of see the nuances, the things that are a bit different. Now, there are a lot of things that are similar between most places in Southeast Asia, but the cool thing about it is even though all these countries are so close together, today I’ve decided to narrow it down four or five things that I think a lot of people are considering when they want to travel. So, now a couple disclaimers before we get started. This video is not being made in a way of, oh, this place is better than this place. Everybody is different when it comes to what they’re looking for when it comes to their trips. And on top of that, I only spent time in Daang and Hoyan. I imagine Vietnam is much like Thailand in the sense that all these different places across the country are all unique in their own way. So, just keep those things in mind and let’s get into our first point. First things first, one thing that is very important to me when I am traveling and I assume it probably is for you as well, food. Of course, food in Thailand is absolutely amazing, worldrenowned cuisine. And it’s not just Thai food. You can find all kinds of amazing food in Thailand from all over the world. One thing that did surprise me about uh when it comes to Vietnam though, a common trend you will see throughout this video is me kind of not expecting too much and being very pleasantly surprised. Now, when it comes to the food in Vietnam, everywhere we ate, whether it be Vietnamese or Western food, everything was amazing. The food itself was phenomenal and there’s a couple other points that, you know, really helped me to enjoy my culinary experiences. A few of which we will get to later in the video, so make sure you stick it out for that. Now, when it comes to Vietnamese food, I was not brand new at all. There’s uh Vietnamese food is surprisingly pretty popular in America. And one thing I did notice is the Vietnamese food in America is pretty similar to the for the most part when it comes to the real Vietnamese food you’re going to get in Vietnam. When it comes to Thai food, Thai food in America is just generally not very good. That’s one thing that, you know, I loved about when I first got to Thailand. So, if I had to vote, if you told me, you know, Tempest, pick, you know, Vietnamese food for the rest of your life or Thai food for the rest of your life, I’m a bit biased. I live in Thailand. I love Thailand. I would probably go with Thai food. But that’s not to say the food, everything we ate, Western and Vietnamese food, was absolutely awesome. And although not technically a food, don’t even get me started on the coffee. I, you know, I had heard Vietnamese coffee was good, but I honestly had no idea. Everywhere we went, the coffee was phenomenal and very fairly priced. Section two, the scenery. Now, of course, like we mentioned, I only managed to go to Daang and Hoyan, but we did have a chance to go out and about, explore a little bit, do a little bit of nature stuff. Everything that I saw, I really enjoyed. I think this is also another thing that’s very similar to Thailand. It really depends on where you are, but I have seen plenty of videos, tons of blog uh blog posts about the Hajang Loop and tons of outdoor stuff to do. When it comes to Daang and Hoyen, that whole stretch of the coast right there, I really enjoy. They have very nice beaches. It was cool to see some waves, which doesn’t happen a whole lot in Thailand. If you like to surf or anything like that, that can be had in Daang and Hoyan as well. And then when it comes to the cityscapes, especially in Daang, I was honestly very surprised about how quote unquote modern everything was. Now, of course, you know, it really depends on what part of the city you’re in. Everywhere we went, uh, one, it was very clean. And if you are a nature type person, my buddy John that I was actually in Vietnam with the 2 weeks or so before I got there, he did a whole motorbike trip all the way down the country, he said he really enjoyed it kind of getting out in the boonies. So, I don’t really think you can miss with either of these. If you want to do outside stuff and be in pretty places, I think Thailand and Vietnam are pretty much on the same level when it comes to that. Although, I do think Thailand has a lot more options when it comes to islands. I’m not, don’t quote me on that. I’m not entirely sure. But beaches wise, I think Thailand is pretty hard to beat. But that’s not to say you can’t enjoy those type of places in Vietnam as well. If you watching this have been to Vietnam before and maybe you did some cool outdoor activities and went and saw some really nice nature places, please let us know down in the comments what you did, where it was at, what you enjoyed about it. That way, anybody watching this can get a little bit of insight of the places to go. Section three, the service and hospitality. Everywhere we went, everybody was very friendly, professional. This was also another part of, you know, the culinary experience that I really enjoyed. Every every restaurant we went, every coffee shop, whatever, people were very, very friendly. People, you can tell people are kind of just excited to have you there. They are excited to talk about where they’re working or what they offer. Now, I don’t really feel like this is a real difference when compared to Thailand. You know, everywhere you go in Thailand, people are super friendly, especially when it comes to service, whether you’re checking into your hotel, going to a restaurant, whatever. It I was just appreciative that this is one thing that seems to stay consistent across Southeast Asia. Pretty much anywhere you go, I’ve had great service, whether it be Philippines, Lao, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, you know, everywhere I’ve went, that has been really great. So that is something that you can rely on on your trip to Vietnam as well. Another thing that I really enjoyed when me and John were out and about. We got approached multiple times by locals. People just, you know, where are you from? What are your plans? How are you enjoying Vietnam? And you know, sometimes when uh, you know, you get approached like that. People are out there hustling. People are trying to make their money. They’re trying to, you know, promote their businesses. A lot of the time those conversations can lead to, “Oh, well, you should, that’s cool. You guys are from wherever and I’m happy you enjoy it. you should come check out my shop. Multiple times I was kind of waiting for that and it never happened. People were just genuinely curious about what we were doing or what they thought or what we thought about their country. So that was very very nice. Another side to this that honestly surprised me. Everywhere we went, I was very surprised by the level of English. I suppose it does kind of make sense with Vietnam’s history, but not only did people speak English pretty much everywhere we went. Almost everybody that we talked to, especially in those, you know, service settings, whether it be hotel receptionists, uh, shop owners, restaurant, you know, workers, whatever, everybody spoke very good English. Now, granted, I would imagine this is going to change when you get out of the big cities in Vietnam. Hoyan and Daang are both, you know, very tourist heavy cities, so it makes sense there. But everywhere we went, I was very pleasantly surprised by that. Not that I would have been disappointed if that wasn’t the case. It was just one of those things that’s kind of like an extra bonus. You’re like, “Okay, cool.” And that, you know, helps you have conversation with the locals, helps you get some insight on where you should be going or what you should be doing. So, that was really nice. Now, this next section is one that I know a lot of people are curious about. A lot of people want to travel in Asia because your money goes a bit farther. So, pricing in Vietnam compared to Thailand. So, one thing I’ve noticed um on my travels in Southeast Asia, rarely are you going to go to a place that just everything is kind of cheaper off the board, you know, across the board. Like, uh we’ll use Philippines for example. So, in the Philippines, like your day-to-day expenses are probably going to be a bit cheaper than they would be in Thailand, food, things like that. But when it comes to housing, for I don’t know why, maybe it’s due to a a lack of housing, but in the Philippines, you know, for what I pay for my condo here, it would be hard to find the same level of condo for that price in the Philippines, at least in the big cities. And the same thing goes for Vietnam, at least in Daang and Hoyan. I noticed that a few things were substantially cheaper while other things were a bit more expensive. A good example of this is hotels. I was my mind was honestly a bit blown when I was looking at hotel prices. They were so cheap. They looked really nice. A lot of these places to the point where I was wondering if it was a real listing. So, you can definitely get some really good bargains when it comes to hotel. Food a lot of the time ended up being a bit cheaper, not substantially. Certain things that you might want to eat might not be cheaper. They might be more expensive. Things like beef, dairy, stuff like that. But especially when it comes to Vietnamese food itself compared to Thai food. I felt like that was roughly the same most of the time. The only place I did notice a difference is when it comes to Western food. The western food ended up being maybe 10 to 15% cheaper in Vietnam. Now, I would imagine that’s another one of those things. Really depends on where you are. If you’re in the big cities in the busy spots, I would imagine those prices are probably going to balance out some more. But if you are planning on traveling to both Thailand and Vietnam, when it comes to Vietnam, you could probably save a little bit of money when it comes to hotels. But of course, when it comes to budgets, things can vary wildly. There’s a reason that I tend not to give, you know, specific numbers. I get asked about monthly budgets and stuff all the time, and it’s hard for me to say cuz the way that I live may not be the way that you live. So granted, my experience in Vietnam ended up being a bit cheaper in places. That’s not to say you couldn’t go to Vietnam and spend way more money than you do in Thailand. It’s the same thing with Thailand. If you’re trying to save money, you’re trying to budget down, it is totally possible, but so is the opposite of that. If you’re not paying attention, you want all the fanciest nice stuff, you can blow through a lot of coin. So, I do think they are pretty similar in that aspect. So, in a nutshell, what I noticed in my time is Thailand and Vietnam are kind of, you know, like those cousins you meet at the party, individuals in their own right, but there are a lot of things that are very similar. One thing I did notice was a pretty big difference. Now, once again, this is specific to Daang and Hoyen. The one thing that I noticed that Thailand does have at least Daang and Hoyen beat is when it comes to like the fullblown degenerate, you know, night life. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of bars everywhere you go if you want to go have some beers, cocktails, whatever. But when it comes to that full-blown degenerate night life, you know what I’m talking about. Don’t act like you don’t. Um, those type of bars and those type of establishments that there are readily available in Thailand, especially in Patea, Bangkok, Phuket, at least in Daang and Hoyan. I don’t think that is as readily available. So, if that’s a decider for you, live your life, man. I’m not judging. But at least when it comes to Daang and Hoyen, I noticed that is nowhere near as prevalent, if at all. So, in conclusion, if you are making a trip to Southeast Asia, I highly advise you go to both Vietnam and Thailand. If you can only go to one, I’m going to leave that up to you. Hopefully, this video helped you kind of narrow down a pick a bit better. I would choose Thailand for a multitude of reasons, but everybody’s different, so you’re going to have to make that decision for yourself. If you did make it this far in the video, thank you so much for hanging out. As always, I want to hear your experiences. If you’ve been in Thailand and Vietnam both, let me know what you think down in the comments below. We are coming up on 20,000 subscribers. If you would like to see and learn more about Thailand, Southeast Asia in general, that subscribe button is down below. Keep an eye out because in a couple weeks, we are moving to Bangkok. So, a lot of content. We’ve got a lot of exploring to do. So, if you would like to be notified when we get those videos up, all those buttons are down below. I hope you have a great day. We’ll see you later. Oo hey. [Music] Hey.

Just got back to Thailand after a trip through Da Nang and Hoi An in Vietnam, so today we’re breaking down the some of the differences I saw between Thailand and Vietnam. This isn’t a “which country is better” debate, just the honest stuff travelers should expect if you’ve been to one and you’re visiting the other for the first time

We’re talking food, prices, scenery, service, hospitality, nightlife expectations, and what actually changes day to day when you’re traveling around Southeast Asia

If you’re planning a trip to Vietnam or Thailand, thinking about moving to Asia, or you’re just curious how these two countries compare from a traveler’s point of view, this video will give you a better look into what makes these places uniquely their own!

Thanks for watching and let me know in the comments where you think the biggest differences are between Thailand and Vietnam!

Get your quality smoke in Thailand for QUALITY prices! 💨🌲
Delivery available here: bit.ly/3InAi84
Use code “tempustv5” at checkout for an additional 5% off!

The BEST Thailand clothing designs available:
https://tempustv.myspreadshop.com/

Join the Patreon crew for FREE for access to the real, 100% transparent insights into expat life! https://patreon.com/iantempus

Coming to Thailand but have NO idea what you’re doing? Click HERE
https://buymeacoffee.com/iantempus/extras

———————————————————————————————————————————————
Watch this video NEXT!

Support the channel directly?
https://paypal.me/tempustv
https://buymeacoffee.com/iantempus

Become part of the Tempus TV Squad!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQd1yMUVJjtSNdkVfIeRF4Q/join
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Social Media:
Instagram: @tempus.tv
TikTok: @tempustv
Twitter: @tempus_tv
Business Inquiries: tempus.tvcontact@gmail.com

#thailandorvietnam #asiatravel #vietnamtravel