Be careful out in the Philippines

[stevewool]

Just be careful where you may be going if a holiday.

http://news.sky.com/story/tourists-warned-over-militant-groups-kidnap-plot-in-the-philippines-10871624

[Tawi2]

Just be careful where you may be going if a holiday.

http://news.sky.com/story/tourists-warned-over-militant-groups-kidnap-plot-in-the-philippines-10871624
They are getting ambitious,moving up country and flexing their muscles :cwm25:

[stevewool]

Frightening, but it could happen anywhere in the world these days.

[grahamw48]

Correct Steve.

I still feel safer in the Phils than I do in the UK... especially in the big cities.

Even in this large village I live in... don't think I've seen a cop on foot during the 2 years + that I've lived here... but plenty of street thugs hanging around.

[Slip]

My old workmate whom I have known since I was 16, he's 10 years or so older than me. He's just gone for the first time to the Philippines to meet someone he's been chatting to online. She's from, hilongos leyte tabunok.
Harlene told me to tell him to be careful there. She reckons it's not a nice area.
Anyway he flew out a couple of days ago, he asked me loads of questions beforehand. But I honestly belief he's in for a massive culture shock. He has only ever had holidays in the usual places like Spain and Tenerife before.

[stevewool]

My old workmate whom I have known since I was 16, he's 10 years or so older than me. He's just gone for the first time to the Philippines to meet someone he's been chatting to online. She's from, hilongos leyte tabunok.
Harlene told me to tell him to be careful there. She reckons it's not a nice area.
Anyway he flew out a couple of days ago, he asked me loads of questions beforehand. But I honestly belief he's in for a massive culture shock. He has only ever had holidays in the usual places like Spain and Tenerife before.

Yes eyes wide open, :omg:

[Tawi2]

But I honestly belief he's in for a massive culture shock.
My sis came back from a month in pinas last week,she was ready to come back to London after a few days there,she has spent considerable time in Thailand but didn't get the Philippine vibe at all :NoNo:

[stevewool]

My sis came back from a month in pinas last week,she was ready to come back to London after a few days there,she has spent considerable time in Thailand but didn't get the Philippine vibe at all :NoNo:

A friend went back last year for a holiday to see the family and had the usual break in Boracay for the week, and spent nearly a month over in the Philippines, its been a good few years since they went last time.
It was not the same as before she claims, everything is so expensive and it just does not feel the same.
Maybe too accustomed to the British way of living now.

[Tawi2]

She is used to Thailand steve,she compared it to there and pinas didn't stack up,filipinos don't understand queues she said :biggrin: and the food and service in restaurants,she used to have a thai restaurant,she sets high standards.

[stevewool]

On the few trips back to the Phils it does not take long for Emma to get into some sort of routine with the family, wake up eat rice, sit down and just chat, then its dinner time, eat rice, watch tv and talk then its tea time , eat rice then its bedtime around 8pm.
Thats why i like to spend time alone just me and Emma.

[Longweekend]

She is used to Thailand steve,she compared it to there and pinas didn't stack up,filipinos don't understand queues she said :biggrin: and the food and service in restaurants,she used to have a thai restaurant,she sets high standards.

We at one time had a place in Thailand and the wife loved it, if fact that was going to be our retirement home but when all the kids came along it was just too far away from them as they all want to stop in the UK. I lived there when I was single so knew the place well so was not overly happy when France became the designated place for us.....:NoNo:

[Tawi2]

We at one time had a place in Thailand and the wife loved it, if fact that was going to be our retirement home but when all the kids came along it was just too far away from them as they all want to stop in the UK. I lived there when I was single so knew the place well so was not overly happy when France became the designated place for us.....:NoNo:

My nephew whose girlfriend in Cebu has just had a baby (and was the reason my sis spent the last month in pinas) is half thai, he owns an apartment in Bangkok, he has a thai passport, to be honest Thailand/Cambodia/Burma are my preferred holiday destinations in that general area, Philippines doesn't cut it anymore.

[Longweekend]

Yes I tend to agree....

[grahamw48]

Agreed.

In fact I've never really thought of the Phils as a holiday destination... rather, the (interesting) place where my partner(s) grew up.

[fred]

It has always been just a bit too far for most Brits and Europeans that want to spend a week in Asia.
Fortunately for the R.P tourism industry ,it can depend just lately on the Chinese,Korean and Japanese tourists.
There used to be four fast craft trips between Cebu and Bohol..There are now 36 trips per day.
Every trip is packed full of Asian tourists.
Business is booming.

[Tawi2]

Yes, Chinese are everywhere. I mean everywhere, I even bumped into a few in the middle of a northern Thailand jungle :cwm24: and they are ADVENTUROUS I was in a hot air balloon over chiang mai,a microlight flew under us,we landed at the airstrip,two of the Chinese girls ran over to the hangar and within 15 minutes they were off flying in separate microlights while I sat drinking coffee :cwm25: I have just watched a news item on Xinjiang,the gateway to the old silk-road,the amount of industrialisation in the region since I was there is incredible :yikes:

[stevewool]

It has always been just a bit too far for most Brits and Europeans that want to spend a week in Asia.
Fortunately for the R.P tourism industry ,it can depend just lately on the Chinese,Korean and Japanese tourists.
There used to be four fast craft trips between Cebu and Bohol..There are now 36 trips per day.
Every trip is packed full of Asian tourists.
Business is booming.

:xxgrinning--00xx3::xxgrinning--00xx3::xxgrinning--00xx3:

[stevewool]

So what is it like in Thailand, and if you could where would you stay for a few months out there?
Safe and reasonable too.

[Longweekend]

We used to stay in Koh Samui, but Hua Hin is a decent place to live and not too far away from BKK. Also for some reason there are a lot of ex-pats married to Filipinas who live in Chaing Mai...

[Tawi2]

We used to stay in Koh Samui, but Hua Hin is a decent place to live and not too far away from BKK. Also for some reason there are a lot of ex-pats married to Filipinas who live in Chaing Mai...

Quite a few Filipinas in Chiang Mai,and in Bkk and around Pattaya,and there are quite a few bayot Gro's :cwm25: in Pattaya :cwm25: Thailand is great Steve, the tourist numbers speak volumes, Bangkok last year had around 21 million visitors,the country is geared towards tourists,and the food is unsurpassed :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[stevewool]

We used to stay in Koh Samui, but Hua Hin is a decent place to live and not too far away from BKK. Also for some reason there are a lot of ex-pats married to Filipinas who live in Chaing Mai...

Is it true you cannot buy, but only long term lease over there.

[stevewool]

Quite a few Filipinas in Chiang Mai,and in Bkk and around Pattaya,and there are quite a few bayot Gro's :cwm25: in Pattaya :cwm25: Thailand is great Steve, the tourist numbers speak volumes, Bangkok last year had around 21 million visitors,the country is geared towards tourists,and the food is unsurpassed :xxgrinning--00xx3:

I was looking on Rightmove at some places over there. Some amazing places and the price too is very good, but having never been, I have no idea about the places.

[Longweekend]

Well worth a trip...:xxgrinning--00xx3:

[stevewool]

Well worth a trip...:xxgrinning--00xx3:

You may be right on this.

[Longweekend]

Is it true you cannot buy, but only long term lease over there.

No you can buy, land is by setting up a company and the company owns it, or now they sell condos especially for expat ownership..

[Harry T]

If Jan cant get her Visit Visa, i think we may well take a trip to Thailand, its a place i have always fancied to visit, and Chiang Mai especially the nightime Safaris, i think i might need to look up some Homestays there.:biggrin: