One of the most frequent questions asked, not only on these forums, but everywhere on the internet and outside of it, is which is better, between Thailand and the Philippines. While my experience in both is limited, I had a good feel for both places during my recent mini retirement in South East Asia having spent 3.5 months in Thailand (90% of the time in BKK) and 3 weeks in the Philippines, mostly in Cebu City and Lapu Lapu. These are my views based on my own personal experience. Unfortunatley, I didn't make it to Manila, Boracay and other great places in the Philippines, so I'm inviting those who have been there to chip in with their experiences there in regards to the topic at hand here: to do an overall comparison between Thailand and the Philippines.
Safety
While I didn't have any problem in either Thailand or Philippines, I have to admit, there were quite a few times in the Cebu City, Phils where I felt a bit hesitant in walking in some parts of the town even during the day. For example, outside 99% of the stores in Cebu, there were guards with machine guns standing while in contrast, I never saw any of that in BKK. Even after leaving some bars/clubs, both locals working at the bar/club and expats there warned me against walking from the bar/club to my hotel which was about 5 minutes walk. Also, the hordes of beggar kids storming at any white guy is very disturbing there and they are very difficult to control as they all rush towards you, and start yeling "Dady, give me money". I saw that happen a few times, specially at night in Cebu in front of the bars/clubs area where these 2 white guys were attacked literally by 10-15 kids and early teens. Conversely, I never encountered any such thing in BKK. Sure, there are beggars and kids on the streets in BKK too, but they wouldn't come in groups after you. I walked at all hours of the day and night, both sobre and pissed drunks late at night or in the early hours of the morning in BKK and never ever had a problem. The only time I came close to any problem was with a piss drunk stupid English/Man U hooligan at a bar while watching an Arsenal match. In BKK and Thailand, your biggest source of trouble is other piss drunk tourists, specailly Brits. Some of the coolest foreigners there will be the Aussies. Another thing to really watch out, specially if you go to Phuket or Pattaya, be extremely careful not to rent a jet ski from those mofos. The jet ski scam is very well known and well documented and can get you in deep shit if you fall for it. Google and you'll see what I mean. Overall, safety, advantage BKK/Thailand.
Cost of Living
While everything is quite cheap in BKK, things are even cheaper in the Phils. I was going out all the time, every night, eating out all the time, buying drinks for me, my buddy and the girls with me at a particular time/day and I was struggling to spend $500/week or about 2k/month for an excellent and very fun lifestyle. In Cebu, I was doing the same, but I had trouble spending more than 300 bucks per week. For example, in Cebu, in front of Mango square, where all the bars/clubs are located, bars there were selling local beers for 50 pesos or about $1.20, liquor for about 80 pesos or 2 bucks. In other words, you could get wasted for under 10 bucks and that's for you and your girl's drinks. No kidding. Club entrance were 100 pesos ($2.27) which includes a beer. So you'd have a hard time spending 20 bucks for a night out, drinking, clubbing for you and your girl(s). However food was expensive. I mean good quality food, for which you'd have to go to either a mall or go to a foreign restaurant as the Pinoy food is one of the worst. Sure you can get cheap Pinoy food for a buck or two, but you'd have to be pretty brave to eat that every day, 2-3 times/day. Overall, I'd venture as far as saying that the Philippines is half the cost of Thailand however, quality can be questionable at times.
Girls (quality and ease of hooking)
Some of the finest Asian women you'll see are from BKK. Slender, svelte, extremely feminine, very elegant oozing a sex appeal that will leave you breathe less quite a few times a day. Hop on the Sky Train or the subway or go into any mall in BKK and you'll be blown away by the quality and quantity of the eye candy. Even regular girls, have a very high sense of fashion there. As mentioned before, they take care of their appearances and dress accordingly as well. The complete opposite of lazy, masculine North American women. In BKK, it's relatively easy to shore a pro or even a semi pro. However, to get a real non pro, from a good family, it's quite hard as they are very conservative. You'd need to invest the time for that. Having said that, it's not that hard to get a nice semi pro and have her become your girl friend for the duration of your stay there, whether it's 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or a whole year. But with the hordes of sexy girls all around you, you will very soon realize that and become a butterfly.![[Image: wink.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/wink.gif)
In Cebu, as that's where my Philippines experience was, I found it relatively easy to hook up, even with non pros. However, given the sheer level of poverty there, even non pros would expect some kind of compensation from you, whether it'd be a taking her to a nice restaurant, a nice club or simply give her some pocket money (1000 pesos or about 23 bucks). Girls in Cebu, would be smiling at you everywhere, in the malls, on the streets, in clubs, bars etc...The sheer easiness of hooking up there is truly mind buggling. Towards the end of my stay there, I had 2 or 3 fresh sexy, feminine 18 years old delivered to my door. And these were friends of the girls I stayed with the night before and they would show up with 1 or 2 of their nice friends, cousins or relatives. Only in the Philippines. Overall, ease of hooking up with the local girls, the Phils win this one hands down. However, quality wise, I'd say BKK wins that one hands down, at least IMO as the Thai girls are more beautiful and better in bed than their Pinay counter parts.
Nightlife
BKK has IMO, one of the most vibrant and incredible night life scenes not only of Asia, but of the entire world. The place is one big gigantic party town. At night, the entire town is out for a good time. Clubs, bars, lounges, restaurants and even the gogos, get jumping. I LOVED BKK and its night life. Tons of options, for all tastes and all budgets.
Cebu, in contrast, had a limited night life with 90% of the options gathered around Mango Square, which is one big square with clubs, bars and all. However, despite the fewer options there, you can still have a great time there as the people are very laid back and this is even more amplified by the fact that drinks are very cheap and th girls, extremely friendly and approachable. In all fairness, it wouldn't be fair to compare the night life of Cebu, which in its entirety might be as big as say just the Sukhumvit area of BKK with that of a juggernaut that is Bangkok. I'd venture as far as saying that even Manila can't compete with Bangkok in that department. In Asia, only Tokyo and perhaps Hong Kong can compete with BKK in the night life department.
Infrastructure
BKK is a world class city and in some parts, specially in the Sukhumvit area, is a first world city while in other parts, is a mix between 1st, 2nd and 3rd world. Infrastructures in BKK and specially in Sukhumvit, are equal if not higher than most places in North America. Transportation in BKK is top notch, you have the BTS or Sky Train, then the MRT or the underground, you have cabs, moto taxis and the infamous tuk tuks, which are more trouble than anything IMO. In Cebu, as soon as you leave the airport, it hits you very clearly that you're in a 3rd, if not 4th world city/country. While leaving the airport the first time in BKK, I was memsmerized as I didn't feel a difference between there and say, downtown Toronto. Cebu City, being a provincial city in the Philippines, no such thing as an underground metro let alone an elevated train. However, cabs are plentiful and very cheap. Jeepneys (spelling?) or mini vans, are also abundant and even cheaper, but you'd need to know the route you're going to. I'd rather stick to the cabs as they are safer and quite cheap. Not that the jeepneys are not safe, but I feel more comfortable in a cab, but that's just me. All in all, once again, unfair to compare Cebu, a provincial city with a world class city as Bangkok.
Food
Thai food is globally known and acclaimed as one of the best in the world. Filippino food, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of Thai food. While Thai food is considered among the healthiest, tastiest in the world, Pinoy food is among the greasiest and unhealthiest and blandest in the world. During my 3 weeks in Cebu city, was the only time in all my time in Asia that I would eat more frequently at a fast food joint than eat local. Compared to Filippino food, even a good ol' Big Mac combo is more appealing. Not only is the food awful there, but there seems to be an incredible lack of quality foreign food as well. And comparatively speaking, food was more expensive there than in LOS. In BKK, food is to die for, super tasty, healthy, fresh and very cheap. One of my fav activites in BKK was to eat and try new delicious Thai dishes. Overall, once again, it'd be totally unfair to compare Thai food with Philippine's food as the Thai food totally blows out of the water anything that the Phiilippines can offer in the food department.
Overall
While both countries offer relatively cheap living conditions compared to North America or Europe, the cost of living in the Philippines is about half of that of Thailand. However, quality is a lot higher in LOS. Also, a major factor to consider is that there isn't much else to do, specially during the day, in the Philippines, other than the beach and chasing girls. You'd get bored very fast there, after 2-3 weeks. After a week, I couldn't wait to return to BKK. The way I see it and that's what I'll be doing too as soon as I get back to Asia, is settle in BKK and then, every couple of months or so, hop on a cheap flight to Cebu or any of the paradisical beaches that the Philippines are blessed with and have a blast there and hooking up with 1 or 2 new girls each day. BKK is more of an overall and all around, much much more interesting city, with tons to do both during the day than at night. You want night life? You have one of the top 5 night life scenes in the world there. You want beaches? You're an hour away from Phuket, Krabi, Ko Phi Phi or other heavenly beaches in the south of Thailand. You want cool activities to do? BKK is full of them. Overall, Thailand is much more fun than the Philippines. At least, that's from my personal experience. I can totally see myself spending a year or 2 in BKK (and I'll do that starting in the next few weeks), however, the most I can stay in the Philippines, would be 3, tops 4 weeks before getting bored out of my mind. Work hard and play very hard in BKK and relax and lay as many girls as you can in the Phils on a vacation.
There you have, I hope this helps those considering going to these 2 wonderful destinations. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, as anywhere in the world. Personally, if I had to choose between where would I want to stay for a few months, between BKK and say Cebu City, I'd take BKK in a heartbeat. However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't make it to the Phils as there is a ton of fun to be had there too. I'd go there on 2 week vacation from BKK every few weeks or so.
Safety
While I didn't have any problem in either Thailand or Philippines, I have to admit, there were quite a few times in the Cebu City, Phils where I felt a bit hesitant in walking in some parts of the town even during the day. For example, outside 99% of the stores in Cebu, there were guards with machine guns standing while in contrast, I never saw any of that in BKK. Even after leaving some bars/clubs, both locals working at the bar/club and expats there warned me against walking from the bar/club to my hotel which was about 5 minutes walk. Also, the hordes of beggar kids storming at any white guy is very disturbing there and they are very difficult to control as they all rush towards you, and start yeling "Dady, give me money". I saw that happen a few times, specially at night in Cebu in front of the bars/clubs area where these 2 white guys were attacked literally by 10-15 kids and early teens. Conversely, I never encountered any such thing in BKK. Sure, there are beggars and kids on the streets in BKK too, but they wouldn't come in groups after you. I walked at all hours of the day and night, both sobre and pissed drunks late at night or in the early hours of the morning in BKK and never ever had a problem. The only time I came close to any problem was with a piss drunk stupid English/Man U hooligan at a bar while watching an Arsenal match. In BKK and Thailand, your biggest source of trouble is other piss drunk tourists, specailly Brits. Some of the coolest foreigners there will be the Aussies. Another thing to really watch out, specially if you go to Phuket or Pattaya, be extremely careful not to rent a jet ski from those mofos. The jet ski scam is very well known and well documented and can get you in deep shit if you fall for it. Google and you'll see what I mean. Overall, safety, advantage BKK/Thailand.
Cost of Living
While everything is quite cheap in BKK, things are even cheaper in the Phils. I was going out all the time, every night, eating out all the time, buying drinks for me, my buddy and the girls with me at a particular time/day and I was struggling to spend $500/week or about 2k/month for an excellent and very fun lifestyle. In Cebu, I was doing the same, but I had trouble spending more than 300 bucks per week. For example, in Cebu, in front of Mango square, where all the bars/clubs are located, bars there were selling local beers for 50 pesos or about $1.20, liquor for about 80 pesos or 2 bucks. In other words, you could get wasted for under 10 bucks and that's for you and your girl's drinks. No kidding. Club entrance were 100 pesos ($2.27) which includes a beer. So you'd have a hard time spending 20 bucks for a night out, drinking, clubbing for you and your girl(s). However food was expensive. I mean good quality food, for which you'd have to go to either a mall or go to a foreign restaurant as the Pinoy food is one of the worst. Sure you can get cheap Pinoy food for a buck or two, but you'd have to be pretty brave to eat that every day, 2-3 times/day. Overall, I'd venture as far as saying that the Philippines is half the cost of Thailand however, quality can be questionable at times.
Girls (quality and ease of hooking)
Some of the finest Asian women you'll see are from BKK. Slender, svelte, extremely feminine, very elegant oozing a sex appeal that will leave you breathe less quite a few times a day. Hop on the Sky Train or the subway or go into any mall in BKK and you'll be blown away by the quality and quantity of the eye candy. Even regular girls, have a very high sense of fashion there. As mentioned before, they take care of their appearances and dress accordingly as well. The complete opposite of lazy, masculine North American women. In BKK, it's relatively easy to shore a pro or even a semi pro. However, to get a real non pro, from a good family, it's quite hard as they are very conservative. You'd need to invest the time for that. Having said that, it's not that hard to get a nice semi pro and have her become your girl friend for the duration of your stay there, whether it's 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or a whole year. But with the hordes of sexy girls all around you, you will very soon realize that and become a butterfly.
In Cebu, as that's where my Philippines experience was, I found it relatively easy to hook up, even with non pros. However, given the sheer level of poverty there, even non pros would expect some kind of compensation from you, whether it'd be a taking her to a nice restaurant, a nice club or simply give her some pocket money (1000 pesos or about 23 bucks). Girls in Cebu, would be smiling at you everywhere, in the malls, on the streets, in clubs, bars etc...The sheer easiness of hooking up there is truly mind buggling. Towards the end of my stay there, I had 2 or 3 fresh sexy, feminine 18 years old delivered to my door. And these were friends of the girls I stayed with the night before and they would show up with 1 or 2 of their nice friends, cousins or relatives. Only in the Philippines. Overall, ease of hooking up with the local girls, the Phils win this one hands down. However, quality wise, I'd say BKK wins that one hands down, at least IMO as the Thai girls are more beautiful and better in bed than their Pinay counter parts.
Nightlife
BKK has IMO, one of the most vibrant and incredible night life scenes not only of Asia, but of the entire world. The place is one big gigantic party town. At night, the entire town is out for a good time. Clubs, bars, lounges, restaurants and even the gogos, get jumping. I LOVED BKK and its night life. Tons of options, for all tastes and all budgets.
Cebu, in contrast, had a limited night life with 90% of the options gathered around Mango Square, which is one big square with clubs, bars and all. However, despite the fewer options there, you can still have a great time there as the people are very laid back and this is even more amplified by the fact that drinks are very cheap and th girls, extremely friendly and approachable. In all fairness, it wouldn't be fair to compare the night life of Cebu, which in its entirety might be as big as say just the Sukhumvit area of BKK with that of a juggernaut that is Bangkok. I'd venture as far as saying that even Manila can't compete with Bangkok in that department. In Asia, only Tokyo and perhaps Hong Kong can compete with BKK in the night life department.
Infrastructure
BKK is a world class city and in some parts, specially in the Sukhumvit area, is a first world city while in other parts, is a mix between 1st, 2nd and 3rd world. Infrastructures in BKK and specially in Sukhumvit, are equal if not higher than most places in North America. Transportation in BKK is top notch, you have the BTS or Sky Train, then the MRT or the underground, you have cabs, moto taxis and the infamous tuk tuks, which are more trouble than anything IMO. In Cebu, as soon as you leave the airport, it hits you very clearly that you're in a 3rd, if not 4th world city/country. While leaving the airport the first time in BKK, I was memsmerized as I didn't feel a difference between there and say, downtown Toronto. Cebu City, being a provincial city in the Philippines, no such thing as an underground metro let alone an elevated train. However, cabs are plentiful and very cheap. Jeepneys (spelling?) or mini vans, are also abundant and even cheaper, but you'd need to know the route you're going to. I'd rather stick to the cabs as they are safer and quite cheap. Not that the jeepneys are not safe, but I feel more comfortable in a cab, but that's just me. All in all, once again, unfair to compare Cebu, a provincial city with a world class city as Bangkok.
Food
Thai food is globally known and acclaimed as one of the best in the world. Filippino food, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of Thai food. While Thai food is considered among the healthiest, tastiest in the world, Pinoy food is among the greasiest and unhealthiest and blandest in the world. During my 3 weeks in Cebu city, was the only time in all my time in Asia that I would eat more frequently at a fast food joint than eat local. Compared to Filippino food, even a good ol' Big Mac combo is more appealing. Not only is the food awful there, but there seems to be an incredible lack of quality foreign food as well. And comparatively speaking, food was more expensive there than in LOS. In BKK, food is to die for, super tasty, healthy, fresh and very cheap. One of my fav activites in BKK was to eat and try new delicious Thai dishes. Overall, once again, it'd be totally unfair to compare Thai food with Philippine's food as the Thai food totally blows out of the water anything that the Phiilippines can offer in the food department.
Overall
While both countries offer relatively cheap living conditions compared to North America or Europe, the cost of living in the Philippines is about half of that of Thailand. However, quality is a lot higher in LOS. Also, a major factor to consider is that there isn't much else to do, specially during the day, in the Philippines, other than the beach and chasing girls. You'd get bored very fast there, after 2-3 weeks. After a week, I couldn't wait to return to BKK. The way I see it and that's what I'll be doing too as soon as I get back to Asia, is settle in BKK and then, every couple of months or so, hop on a cheap flight to Cebu or any of the paradisical beaches that the Philippines are blessed with and have a blast there and hooking up with 1 or 2 new girls each day. BKK is more of an overall and all around, much much more interesting city, with tons to do both during the day than at night. You want night life? You have one of the top 5 night life scenes in the world there. You want beaches? You're an hour away from Phuket, Krabi, Ko Phi Phi or other heavenly beaches in the south of Thailand. You want cool activities to do? BKK is full of them. Overall, Thailand is much more fun than the Philippines. At least, that's from my personal experience. I can totally see myself spending a year or 2 in BKK (and I'll do that starting in the next few weeks), however, the most I can stay in the Philippines, would be 3, tops 4 weeks before getting bored out of my mind. Work hard and play very hard in BKK and relax and lay as many girls as you can in the Phils on a vacation.
There you have, I hope this helps those considering going to these 2 wonderful destinations. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, as anywhere in the world. Personally, if I had to choose between where would I want to stay for a few months, between BKK and say Cebu City, I'd take BKK in a heartbeat. However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't make it to the Phils as there is a ton of fun to be had there too. I'd go there on 2 week vacation from BKK every few weeks or so.
![[Image: banana.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/new/banana.gif)
Hoping this clarifies things, but cost in here is very relative. About 20 bucks for