How come Thailand vs Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam?

[Kunold]

What about the culture/people makes it a more popular place for xpatriots? Are Thais much different looking than Cambodians,Laotians, or Vietnamese?

[Rock]

Thailand is much richer and more developed than those places. Here's a very rough rule of thumb which is probably somewhat accurate.

Viet girls look like impoverished southern Chinese girls who's growth has been stunted. Vietnam is conservative communist controlled country so you kinda get stuck w/ straight hardcore P4P or marriage. The large bit between those two is challenging.

Cambodian girls look like poorer, smaller, and even darker versions of girls from southern Issan. But Cambodia is a cheap anything goes destination where sex is as easy as a cup of water. It is becoming increasingly popular with expats who are tired of the better known places like Thailand or Angeles. Cambodia is developing but decades behind. Males you see in their 50s and above may have been Khmer Rouge killers.

Laos girls look like poorer versions of girls from northern and eastern parts of Issan. Laos is kinda sleepy and dead, not a lot of action or fun to be had there.

Thai girls on average much less desperate. Thai has thriving hi-so niche and middle class segment. Thai has girls who look (and are by ancestry) Chinese, Khmer, Laotian, combinations of those three, and a smattering of more exotic types (mixed with white/black/Indian/etc.). Thai girls are more in touch with western world. Thai's P4P industry is a well-oiled monster, pretty much unrivaled on the planet. There's a niche for most tastes and orientations. The general infrastructure in Thailand is leaps and bounds ahead of those other countries. It has about any creature comfort the cushioned western expat could desire.

Cambodia and Vietnam are changing rapidly so youngest generation will be quite different from older ones in look, mentality, etc.

[The_Adventurer]

I heard the law has been seriously cracking down on the "anything goes" aspect of Cambodia. Lots of raids and attempts to clean things up.

[globetrotter]

It's all about Thailand being a staging area supporting the USA during Vietnam war. Then the guys would settle down in NE Thailand and elsewhere and the culture grew from there.

[YoucancallmeAl]

I heard the law has been seriously cracking down on the "anything goes" aspect of Cambodia. Lots of raids and attempts to clean things up.

Yes, I've heard the same. I even saw a TV news special recently showing a prison where western expats were serving life sentences for being caught with minors. Life sentences!?! And most had to wait years just to get their trial. Pretty scary. Makes me want to avoid Cambodia.

[ladislav]

Just avoid minors for sex when you go to Cambodia and at any time anywhere. That is the main rule. 18 year olds are a plenty and legal. Thailand has had no wars and it has a big population and many resources and a fairly democratic business-friendly government. Also, it has a large ethnically Chinese middle class that has been agressively promoting the country for tourism. Those other countries have had either smaller populations but mainly bad governments and wars. They have only recently emerged from a tightly controlled Communist system.
VN has had no US investment and no aid. So, it did not develop.
But people-wise all these three other countries have better and friendlier people than Thailand.

[Rock]

The only crackdown I've heard about is on sex with minors and that's been going on for awhile and western governments have cooperated or in some cases driven the process. Gary Glitter case was pretty high profile.

I really don't think there's any kind of pressure on regular P4P. I also think its one of the few places in Asia where smoking weed openly is pretty common.

[momopi]

There are 3 main (foreign) players currently competing for spheres of influence in Laos: China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Laos has stepped out of Vietnam's shadow and re-asserting its own national-political and economic interests.

[Repatriate]

There are 3 main (foreign) players currently competing for spheres of influence in Laos: China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Laos has stepped out of Vietnam's shadow and re-asserting its own national-political and economic interests.

China dominates Laos' military elite and economic infrastructure and they can pull the plug anytime they want on vital parts of Laos such as the Mekong. I'd say China is going to win this one hands down. Vietnam is an ancillary power trying to play shell games with China and the U.S. Thailand has no authority in the region aside from commercial bargaining power.

[momopi]

China dominates Laos' military elite and economic infrastructure and they can pull the plug anytime they want on vital parts of Laos such as the Mekong. I'd say China is going to win this one hands down. Vietnam is an ancillary power trying to play shell games with China and the U.S. Thailand has no authority in the region aside from commercial bargaining power.

China did not exceed Vietnam's investment in Laos until very recently (2010). If you look at the past political leaders of Laos, they were either pro-Vietnamese or part-Vietnamese in heritage, and many married Vietnamese wives. Vietnam's imperial ambitions of forming a Hanoi-dominated union of Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia crashed and the rest is history. Today the leaders of Laos are far more likely to be ethnic nationalists. IMO they're happy to play the regional powers against each other to help Laos develop, but trading one master (Vietnam) or another (China) is not in their self interest. From China's perspective, they see Vietnam as a regional rival and security risk (with territorial dispute), so building the HSR through Vientiane (to SG) is preferable to Ha Noi, even if Vietnam would offer better economic opportunities.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 51400.html

BEIJING—China and Laos will begin construction early next year of the first high-speed rail line between the two countries, a top Laotian official said, indicating progress in a project that symbolizes the growing economic ties between China and Southeast Asia.


Also, I wouldn't discount Thailand that easily. They moved in quickly to off-set Vietnamese influence, if not for the 1997 Asian financial crisis, I think Thailand would've had a much bigger influence in Laos.





Blessed is the mind too small for doubt. An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt. A plea of innocence is guilty of wasting my time.

[Jester]

But people-wise all these three other countries have better and friendlier people than Thailand.

Reading this old thread and giving it a bump.

[Jonny Law]

-NEWSFLASH-
You can visit all those countries on the same vacation.

That is correct. Those countries are connected and close to each other. You do not have to choose one. You could visit them all. And it is cheap to travel there by plane, train or bus to each of those countries.

I will be moving to Thailand in May (one way ticket to Bangkok). I plan on being in each of those countries.

[Winston]

Wow this is interesting. I didnt know Cambodians speak much better english than thais do. I would have thought they were less educated. And they dont scam foreigners as much. Ladislav said that too. The cab drivers there are more honest he said. See below.

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destina ... n-thailand

[Yohan]

Wow this is interesting. I didnt know Cambodians speak much better english than thais do. I would have thought they were less educated. And they dont scam foreigners as much.

Yes, Cambodians are quite different from the Thai people. It is true that they act more honest, more modest and are not into scamming foreigners, at least this is my experience when I visited that little country several times.

It is also true that they are fairly good talented in speaking foreign languages, elderly people are good in French, young people good in English.
Many poor Cambodian children are asking for some little money to attend some hours in school to learn additionally a foreign language.

However Cambodia is indeed a rather small area and living there is getting boring after a while. Nice to visit, but I prefer to keep my second home in Thailand.

[flowerthief00]

Thailand being a staging area for the US doesn't explain why everyone from all over the world loves to visit there.
It didn't become a top tourist destination without a number of things going for it -- amazing sight-seeing, amazing food, amazing nightlife -- which has appeal for men and women alike. I think people go to visit as a tourist and have such a good time that they begin to imagine that it might be a fun place to live. I almost fell for it myself.

Now I prefer Vietnam, where the people are nicer, more generous, and more genuine. It has been rare to meet a Thai person who I felt gave an actual damn about foreigners as anything other than a source of coin.