Alternatives to Thailand

[the-monk]

[quote=Canman63 post_id=542278 time=1556118573 user_id=50506]
Just returned from danang, nicest city I have seen in 9 years in Asia. By far, clean, cheap, great people, easy visa( no 800k), international airport, 20 mile beach, river and boardwalk in the city centre, beautiful woman. $1 beer. Great expat and tourist base, no rift raft. The country actually wNts us there, unlike Thailand. Weather is fabulous also.
Goodbye Thailand.!!!!!!!
[/quote]
I like Da Nang, clean ??? no .... Easy visa...,??? . Great expat community ??? Would you please provide explanations....
Have a nice hot day....if in UD....

[tamada]

Just returned from danang, nicest city I have seen in 9 years in Asia. By far, clean, cheap, great people, easy visa( no 800k), international airport, 20 mile beach, river and boardwalk in the city centre, beautiful woman. $1 beer. Great expat and tourist base, no rift raft. The country actually wNts us there, unlike Thailand. Weather is fabulous also.
Goodbye Thailand.!!!!!!!

easy visa

what kind of VISA is "easy"?Retirement VISA or Tourist VISA?

Vietnam is very nice; been working there off and on since 2005. Da Nang has an increasingly good name, more so since the former coastal jewel at Nha Trang, despite having massive but well organized construction and being cleaner than anything Thailand can offer, has become large, crass with a fair helping of stroppy Russians and messy Chinese. Even the back-packers are giving it the body swerve. I just visited Cam Ranh where a lot of the 'build it and they will come' plots of land among the sand dunes from 5 years ago are now showing all sorts of 5-star digs. The golf course is supposed to be very good as well.

Regarding visa, the only thing that's easy is the Tourist visa which can be even easier for a select 9 European nationalities who can get a 15-day visa-exempt entry with only proof of a return ticket. They are included in this list of all visa-free nationalities. Note that the 15-day, visa exempt entry has a 30-day block in that you can't use this method again until 30 days has elapsed from the previous visa-exempt entry. However, a visa or visa on arrival is acceptable within that 30-day block. One could juggle, visa-exempt, visa and visa-on-arrival for long(ish) stays over multiple entries. More trouble than it's worth IMHO. Otherwise, get a single-entry Tourist visa and you have 30-days to explore or get a multi-entry Tourist visa and you have 90-days/entry to explore.

Vietnam visa exempt nationalities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Vietnam

I understand that Americans have the following choices for visas.

•One month, single-entry: You are allowed one entry into Vietnam and your stay may last up to one month.
•One month, multiple-entry: You are allowed to enter and exit Vietnam several times within a one month period.
•Three months, single-entry: You are allowed one entry into Vietnam and your stay may last up to three months.
•Three months, multiple-entry: You are allowed to enter and exit Vietnam several times within a three-month period.
•Six months, multiple-entry: You are allowed to enter and exit Vietnam several times within a six-month period. You may only stay up to 3 months per entry.
•One year, multiple-entry: You may enter and exit Vietnam several times within a one-year period. You may only stay up to 3 months per entry.

[Canman63]

I had a tourist visa, and got an extension easily. Yes danang is very clean, they have workers pruning , cleaning the boardwalk along the ocean, expats you can actually carry on a conversation with, something Thailand lacks.far more value for my money. Several teachers were in town from Chang Mai, they all agreed danang was a jewel compared to Thailand.
They made the move upon returning to Thailand. Udon Thani leaves something to be desired, it really isn't a very nice place to be, let's be honest.
Danang rocks.

[tamada]

^ Easy visa extension compared with? Can you share the procedures, costs and limitations?

Not sure where you're hanging out in Udon if the 'expat conversation' is lacking. You certainly haven't met me and my clique of like-minded, refined, enlightened, educated, eloquent, beer swilling, been-there, done-that, noob-disparaging, know-it-all snobs.

Chiang Mai teachers. Now THERE'S a glowing endorsement, eh?

By all means blow your trumpet about Danang; it is an exceptionally nice place but please leave the 'Jewel of Isaan' and why it doesn't float your boat out of it.

BTW, here's a quick squizz at the comparative cost of living.

same-same but different...

[Raoul Duke]

BTW, here's a quick squizz at the comparative cost of living.
udon thani v da nang.jpg

Where is this data from?

[tamada]

BTW, here's a quick squizz at the comparative cost of living.
udon thani v da nang.jpg

Where is this data from?

expatistan.com

[RLTrader]

https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-livi ... ni/da-nang

[tamada]

https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-livi ... ni/da-nang

Screen Shot 2019-04-26 at 17.21.58.png

And your point is?

According to expatistan, 16 people have input 125 item costs whereas the Danang fan has only offered it was "far more value for my money."

Excluding perhaps the Hanoi and the rural regions in north Vietnam where I worked in 2006 (cheap as chips but woefully low on choices) and more recently in 2015 (a bit pricier but livelier), I would say that Vietnam's cost of living is on par with Thailand's.

Anyway, you can always do your own research.

[Canman63]

Cost of living, cost of items is totally different than better value for my dollar.

[SJP17]

Thailand does get a fair bit of negative feedback these days, though i reckon a number of expats have left i dont think its been the mass exodus thats been touted around for a long time.

[tamada]

Cost of living, cost of items is totally different than better value for my dollar.

Once again, that's your dollar. It's undeniable that some things will be cheaper in Vietnam but without some specifics as to what these vastly cheaper 'items' are, who knows? Your comparison is quite irrelevant without some examples.

It's called tangibles.

[parrot]

I noticed my Toyota Revo costs about 150000 thb more there than here.......and there's a variety of taxes and registration fees that are higher than Thailand as well. VAT there 10%.

[Raoul Duke]

Thailand does get a fair bit of negative feedback these days, though i reckon a number of expats have left i dont think its been the mass exodus thats been touted around for a long time.

Agree.I don't think many people have left at all.

[RLTrader]

Thailand does get a fair bit of negative feedback these days, though i reckon a number of expats have left i dont think its been the mass exodus thats been touted around for a long time.

Agree.I don't think many people have left at all.

Hmm, seems there is a lot of things for sale with reason for sale is leaving country, and the extension problem doesn't start til after July 1. Some getting a early jump, maybe?

[tamada]

^ I think there's more people talking about jumping than actually jumping. Great excuse to ditch some unused stuff on bahtsold and get some extra beer money though.

Guy I worked with was all about quitting Thailand. Having lived in Bali before (guess the nationality!) he subsequently lived in Bangkok, then Pattaya and now down in Phuket. This was in 2017 when there was nothing to worry about apart from the boredom-infused restlessness that comes of being 'stuck' in one place too long. We did a job together in Vung Tau, Vietnam, his first and my umpteenth and he was super excited and convinced that VT was his new Nirvana and seemed dead set on making the move. Then he got back to Rawai, settled into his routine and it all went on a back-burner.

When the income letter/affidavit/stat dec method all unraveled late 2018, he was back on the Vietnam bandwagon as his Retirement Extension was due in April 2019 and depending on Phuket Immigration, he may need to jump sooner than later.

Last month, Phuket rubber-stamped him for another 12-months and the Vietnam research, even the trip to 'see it for myself again' has all been canceled. Again. Maybe when push comes to shove we'll see the lemmings en masse but right now, I think most have found some way to accommodate the new requirements and are quietly carrying on with life in LOS.

[RLTrader]

Great excuse to ditch some unused stuff on bahtsold and get some extra beer money though.

Good one someone selling their car for beer money.

[AlexO]

I lived and worked in Vietnam for nearly 3 years and was basically glad to get out and come back to Thailand. Some things are cheaper such as local beers in small bars etc, street food if you like baguettes and Pho, their version of noodles. Nightclubs and suchlike are mega expensive because the hostesses (while drop dead beautiful) are only there to get you to buy as many bottles of whisky as they can. Accommodation (rented) is even in the lesser parts of towns such as HCMC and Hanoi is very expensive. Danang was nice but it is a holiday resort with prices to match Hua Hin and central Bangkok. I never had any experience of trying to get a long stay non working visa but people I spoke too said very difficult. Vietnam, great for a holiday but to stay long term? Jury is still out on that one.

[pipoz4444]

Cost of living, cost of items is totally different than better value for my dollar.

Once again, that's your dollar. It's undeniable that some things will be cheaper in Vietnam but without some specifics as to what these vastly cheaper 'items' are, who knows? Your comparison is quite irrelevant without some examples.

It's called tangibles.

For every expat who pulls up stumps and leaves Thailand, I am reasonably sure there will be one coming along to replace him.

If my little part of the world is any example that some still prefer and like Thailand, there are eight of us Expats here that I know from work, who have or will be retiring to Thailand between now and end October this year. Two have recently left, three leave towards the end of May and the last three (including myself) will leave in the next 3-4 months. Nationalities are, Italian, Canadian, American, Irish, New Zealand and Australian. Three are married to Thai ladies and five are not.

Just an example from this "Pimple of a Place", on planet earth

Thailand running out of Retiring Expats, would be like Pattaya running out of Girls from Isaan. Maybe 50 years from now.

pipoz4444

[tamada]

Great excuse to ditch some unused stuff on bahtsold and get some extra beer money though.

Good one someone selling their car for beer money.

If one's pension no longer sustains one's driving into Soi Sampan for a Saturday night out, then despite being bought and paid for, the 4-door pickup or SUV becomes a faded symbol of one's former wealth, a quietly decaying reminder of one's former, fiscal profligacy. It needs fuel and road tax and tires and more frequent fixing. Plus it's been bloody impossible to find parking for it on or near the Sampan for upwards of three years already!

Meanwhile, the shaded mom and pop store at the entrance to the village has two big fridges chock full of cold Archa and they generally ignore the 2 PM to 5 PM sales ban and don't care if you smoke 2 packs a day. Those living in more remote moobahns may even have the choice of 1 or 2 such excellent, surrogate pubs. Might be lucky enough to have some like-minded and similarly cash-strapped retiree to sit and chat with as well.

It doesn't have to be beer of course but it was an easy pick. It could easily be a weekly round of golf or more seriously having enough money for the life-sustaining/enabling medications of the 'self-funded' health insured.

Or just making sure there's enough in the bank for next years extension?

[RLTrader]

Or just making sure there's enough in the bank for next years extension?

Or maybe they are actually leaving Thailand.

Just maybe the Embassy change was an Omen. It is sure too Hot for me this year and since climate change is Exponential, next year will be hotter.

So Vienam's central highlands for summer months and Da Nang for the remainder, is starting to sound real pleasant to me.