23 Years Old - Philippines?

[anamericaninbangkok]

I agree. If you need clean streets, try Eastern Europe then or the FSU Central Asian Republics. Those countries are cheap with feminine friendly women who are very approachable.

Thailand though, is supposed to be cleaner than the PH, especially in Bangkok.

I've been in both places for lengthy periods and I think Thailand is no cleaner.

How is the weather during Dec - Feb?

Like I said, in December thru Feb. it's cooler than the rest of the year.

Is there a high rate of STD's there, cuz that would scare me? lol

Since you're asking this question, the answer is yes. Most are treatable but nevertheless, they're STD's and some are no fun. Chlamydia has no symptoms, BTW. Especially NSU - that's a pain in the ass and not always easy to get rid of.

What is the best way to exchange USD for PHP?

You can exchange dollars at an exchange booth or you can either open an account wherever and do a wire transfer (mine costs $3 per $2000) or withdraw via ATM - no charge via Charles Schwab account.

That's VERY BAD advice. Come on now. How often do you go to the doctor? Do you go a lot? Do you get sick a lot? How often do you get sick?

As far as the medical, I said $135 FOR ME AND MY TWO SONS. I MEANT IN-PATIENT, NOT OUT.

Believe me, it pays to have major medical care. What happens if you have a serious accident?

No you don't need any work visa to run an online business. That's only if you plan to get a job there. Even if you did, some employers pay workers under the table, which is common practice. If they get caught, they just pay a bribe or penalty to the department of labor.

In SE Asia, laws aren't written in stone. Money can easily be used to get around them. Everything can be bought there. People there don't have "principles" like we do.
Hope that helps.

He can say what he wants about the PI but here in Thailand, it doesn't matter if you're working online or off, work is work. Technically, you need a work permit. However, I did say you don't need a f***ing work permit.

Yes, you can bribe an official if you need to and you have the cash. I had to bribe one once - he wanted 400,000 baht. I paid 100K - that's what, $3000? My buddy paid $1250 for having Formula One shirts in his garage - someone ratted him out. He had to beg, borrow, and steal to get that money. If he didn't, he was going to sit in jail until he came up with it.

[AloneInAm]

Of course not. People in SE Asia aren't as cliquish as in North America. It is WAY easier and more natural to meet people. You can walk into restaurants by yourself and talk to people too. Even other expats there are more open when they are abroad.

In most overseas countries, you are not expected to mind your own business and be paranoid of strangers. Social interaction definitely flows much more smoothly.

However, in SE Asia and other poor nations, many people who talk to you will be opportunists that want to take advantage of you. So don't trust anyone til you get to know them better. And don't go anywhere with them if they get pushy and insist you go somewhere with them. The key is pushiness. People who want to scam you or lead you into a trap will often be pushy and insistent.

There will also be people who want to leech off of you and expect you to be generous to them simply because you're a foreigner. They will expect you to be Santa Claus to them because they are poor and jealous that you have money to travel and they don't, and will make you feel obligated.

This is really good news to me. I enjoy social interactions very much, but here in the US it seems fake. When people ask how I'm doing it seems like they don't actually care, and it's for the sake of small talk. Unless it's your family of course. I'm not saying this will be the case in SE Asia as well, but from my research it seems like people are genuinely interested when they ask these kinds of questions.

I just can't stand the feeling that I have when I talk to people here. They just are so damn fake!

I will definitely keep my guard up for the things you mentioned above. I would do that for anywhere in the world.

SE Asia is hot and humid year round. If you don't like that, you might not want to live there long term, unless you live near a beach with a lot of wind.

I don't mind hot and humid. I would prefer that over my current living. Here in Oregon it's constantly raining and it doesn't get that hot, which sucks. That is a big reason I miss California.


Yes, but let me qualify this. Most of the STD's there are treateable, such as gonorrhea or urinary tract infection. The HIV/AIDS thing is way overblown and exaggerated by the fear mongering media. I don't know even one person in real life there that has HIV or AIDS. They always seem to only be on TV or in the media. The media often lies and exaggerates, so you gotta be skeptical of them.

Most whoremongers in SE Asia have gotten gonorrhea or urinary tract infection, but got cured with antibiotics. So yes there are STD's, but it's not as deadly as it's made out to be. There is also sometimes Chlamydia, which will cause red eye infection for a long time. But this is treatable too.

This is also good news. I've never had any sort of STD's so I guess it's made me quite nervous even thinking about it. Knowing that they are easily treatable will help somewhat, but I will still be weary of it. Don't get me wrong, I like to f***, but not with some sketchy hooker. lol


That's wrong. In the PH, you can exchange dollars for pesos at any cash exchange booth, which you will find everywhere in the cities. Or you can go to banks. Hotels have them too but they don't give you as good of a rate. Malls have them too. I would imagine that Thailand has them too.

Should I purchase a safe for my room, and exchange only what I need for that week, month, or a couple thousand at once? Is there some sort of discount for exchanging larger amounts?

Yeah, but most of the culture shock will be positive early on. You will marvel at how "alive and soulful and normal" people seem, compared to the US where people seem like machines with no soul or passion. And you will be mesmerized at how easy and natural it is to talk to girls, who are not as stuck up or hateful of men, or closed toward strangers.

Later on, the culture shock will be when you realize that customer service and efficiency aren't as good as in the US. Also, they do not believe that the "customer is always right" and so if they screw up, they will try to pit the blame on the customer. Businesses in SE Asia don't like to take blame or compensate for mistakes. Their attitude toward customers will seem much more rude than in the US.

Here is a specific case in point:

In the US, if you went into McDonalds or any fast food place, and you ordered a meal, but when you take your tray to sit down, someone bumps into you and causes your food to spill on the floor, the cashier would tell you "That's ok, we will replace your meal". They will simply replace your food for free. That is the common practice in America for good customer service.

However, this would NOT happen in Russia or the Philippines. In Russia, they would not replace anything for free. They would coldly tell you "It's your problem, not ours." And in the Philippines, they'd be nice about it but would tell you "Sorry sir. It's not our policy to replace any food for free." They would not even replace your fries. The workers there can't reimburse you for such little things, or else they could be fired. They will be far stingier about such things.

To be honest, the customer service thing is probably going to piss me of really bad. I get mad even here in the US. Well I'm usually made before I even call them, or I would even bother calling unless something was wrong! Most of the time it's with my bank or Paypal charging me for shit. Ooooh Paypal gets on my nerves!

You will marvel at how "alive and soulful and normal" people seem, compared to the US where people seem like machines with no soul or passion. And you will be mesmerized at how easy and natural it is to talk to girls, who are not as stuck up or hateful of men, or closed toward strangers.

This brought a smile to my face man. I'm so excited to get away from this country where I feel most people just act like Zombies. Omg the DMV is the worst! It will be so nice to have a change.

Sorry but most things in life don't go as planned, and it takes far longer to grow an online business into auto-pilot than just a few months.

Not necessarily. I've built websites in 1 day and had them profiting in several days after. I've been doing this for some time now. Don't get me wrong, I've made a lot of mistakes and wasted a lot of money on bad ideas. But now I can confidently say that I know what I'm doing. As for making it auto-pilot, that it probably the easiest part. Most of my websites will sell digital or physical products. If it's digital it's auto-pilot from the start. If it's physical I'm only required to forward an order to the supplier and handle occasional customer support emails. Once I have my monthly profits up I just hire a virtual assistant in a 3rd world country like India. They will gladly handle customer support issues as well as forward orders. I can pay them anywhere from $2-$5 an hour, and they would only need to work a 1-2 hours each day.

That's VERY BAD advice. Come on now. How often do you go to the doctor? Do you go a lot? Do you get sick a lot? How often do you get sick?

Seriously though. There's no need for medical insurance. This isn't the USA. A doctor visit in the Philippines cost $10 for the clinical visit, plus more for medicine. There is NO NEED to pay $135 a month for medical insurance. If you only see the doctor several times a year, that would be a BIG WASTE OF MONEY. Do the math. You're better of using that $135 on rent.

Just go to the doctor when you need to. It's not that expensive, unless you need surgery. But if you just need a checkup, examination, or medicine, these things are very affordable. It's not the US where healthcare is astronomically outrageous.

I've never had any sort of insurance, so I'm not exactly sure about the benefits of it. I mean I have a general idea, and I know it wouldn't hurt to have it. Except my pockets maybe. lol

I rarely get sick, and I only go to the doctors if I have a serious injury, unless it's for an STD check up that I try to do every 5-6 months.

No you don't need any work visa to run an online business. That's only if you plan to get a job there. Even if you did, some employers pay workers under the table, which is common practice. If they get caught, they just pay a bribe or penalty to the department of labor. In SE Asia, laws aren't written in stone. Money can easily be used to get around them. Everything can be bought there. People there don't have "principles" like we do.

This is good and bad I guess. I would prefer to have things 100% legal. But in PH you don't need any sort of permit to work as a foreigner?

Hope that helps.

Indeed it did. I appreciate your answers Winston!

[AloneInAm]

I just want to say this.. I am so f***ing excited to take this adventure! I am 23 years young, and I have a good head on my shoulders. I'm already making good money online, and I can't wait to live like a boss in a foreign country, eating their food, f***ing their women, and have an apartment that's dope, while living in paradise perfecting my online methods.

Anyone that lives in Thailand and wants to learn how to establish an online business that pays your rent, insurance, entertainment, drinks, and anything else you desire, hit me up.

I've been having so much success lately that I really want to share it with EVERYONE! I honestly can't believe how much I've been making.

Big thanks to Winston and the other main contributors to this forum, especially BangkokInAmerica. I've been lurking on this forum for a while now, and they have inspired me to take action.

I'll be buying my passport, thailand ed visa, and plane ticket here in a week or two. It just depends on my website that's on auction right now.

Stay tuned. I'm young, tryna have fun, and I will conquer anything I put my mind to.

- Zackary Soto