Happier Abroad Forum Community

You know, when we HAers (HappierAbroaders) spread our good news gospel that Western men and East Asian men (Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean) can have a better dating and social life overseas, we often hear the following one or two explanations from the mainstream crowd. These are cliches that attempt to invalidate our message and support their politically correct belief that people are the same everywhere:

1) You are a foreigner and have novelty appeal over a local, so they see you as a chance to practice their English and learn about your culture. Many also feel obligated to treat foreign visitors with hospitality too, so they try to be extra nice to foreigners so that they will have a good impression of their country. (e.g. white people in China and Taiwan usually get extra hospitality from locals)

2) They perceive some potential benefit from knowing you. If they are from a less developed country, they think you are rich and so your money gives you social value. Or they may be hoping to get a visa or green card to America or a more developed country, so they see you as a ticket to move abroad for a better life.

Most people give one or two of these explanations and assume that's all there is to it. Now I acknowledge that these are valid factors that apply. But they are not the only ones by any means. There are many more. The two above are superficial explanations that miss a lot of other significant factors, so they are woefully incomplete. I get tired of hearing such cliches, so I will list 10 more reasons below which are logical and make sense to help you see the bigger picture and broaden your understanding. Please read all of them with an open objective mind. I promise you will learn a lot from this. Please forward this article to anyone you know who spouts the above two cliches or who has any interest in this topic. Since reasons #1 and 2 have already been given above, I will start with #3.

Why Men Have A Better Dating and Social Life Abroad - More Reasons and Factors

Continued here:
http://blog.happierabroad.com/2015/06/w ... broad.html

How come average men in Russia, Latin America and Philippines don't have trouble getting dates? How come there are no dateless men there like in America? How do you explain that?

GOOD STUFF, Winston! Keep it coming!

Thanks Jester. I don't know why more people didn't comment on it. The 12 reasons I gave for why men have a better dating and social life abroad are very logical and make sense. It will broaden anyone's understanding.

Reminder: If any of you are told that the only reason why foreign women are friendlier to you is because they want a green card or money or because you're a tourist, then please forward the above article to them, so they will see that there are in fact 12 reasons, not just one or two.

Winston wrote: Reminder: If any of you are told that the only reason why foreign women are friendlier to you is because they want a green card or money or because you're a tourist, then please forward the above article to them, so they will see that there are in fact 12 reasons, not just one or two.

Of course there are also foreign women who are scammers, but the same can be said also about women in USA or in other Western countries.

Solely the way how it is done is different. Foreign scammers try to get money out before and during marriage, and Western scammers try to make divorce a big business for them.

About foreign scammers, there are often clear warning signs - and it is often the Western man who is acting stupidly, ignoring anything to protect himself, unwilling to learn about the legal regulations of her country, unwilling to listen to any advice from other men.

Foreign scammers in Asia are often NOT into green cards, they try to get money out for their houses, farm land, local businesses in their own country etc. which will all be registered in the name of the girl and her relatives. (no money, no honey!)

Thai women for example are very good with that. Even if married, nothing will belong to you, as a foreigner in Thailand cannot own land. - Don't be such an idiot and give money to a woman (my bargirl is different!) to buy a house/land in her name.

Better buy for yourself a condominium unit in Thailand registered ONLY in foreigner's (=YOU) name. Ignore her marriage requests.
In case of troubles, she will have to move out of your rooms!

If you are good informed about your legal situation, you can surely be in control of your situation with a foreign wife while living in HER country (=happier-abroad), in Asian countries laws are not feminist-friendly in general.

Within your own feminist society (something like USA or EU) you cannot control anything, as laws/courts are often considering men as 2nd class citizens.

Yohan wrote: Better buy for yourself a condominium unit in Thailand registered ONLY in foreigner's (=YOU) name. Ignore her marriage requests.
In case of troubles, she will have to move out of your rooms!

Good strategy for Thailand. But everyone please note that this will not work in Philippines.

Jester wrote:

Yohan wrote: Better buy for yourself a condominium unit in Thailand registered ONLY in foreigner's (=YOU) name. Ignore her marriage requests.
In case of troubles, she will have to move out of your rooms!

Good strategy for Thailand. But everyone please note that this will not work in Philippines.

What do you mean? Rock has bought two condos in the Philippines. Foreigners can buy condos in their name there.

Jester, what did you think of the 12 reasons? Did they make sense? Were you aware of all of them?

Do you get permanent residency when you buy condo in ph or th?

what about rental returns?

Banano wrote:Do you get permanent residency when you buy condo in ph or th?

what about rental returns?

I don't think so. Rock usually gets a tourist visa and extends it every two months as far as I know. You can only get a residency visa by marrying a FIlipina or by starting a business and hiring Filipino workers. You can also purchase a retirement visa too but you have to have a lot of savings and assets to qualify. I'll ask Rock about it though.

Banano wrote:Do you get permanent residency when you buy condo in ph or th?

what about rental returns?

You as a foreigner can use a condo you own in Philippines in in lieu of the required bank deposit to apply for a retirement visa. But you have to be at least 35 years old to apply for this visa and the condo value purchase price/value will need to be at least US$50,000 if you are 35-49 age or US$20,000 if you are 50 or more.

Net rental yields in Makati run about 6% to 10% per annum depending on various factors.

Foreigners in the Philippines can own units in buildings where total area of units in building is at least 60% owned by Filipinos or local companies.

Retirement visa:
http://www.pra.gov.ph/main/srrv_program?page=1

Basically if you're over 50 and have a pension you just place $10,000 in a local bank or if you don't have a pension it's $20,000 min.
if you're over 35 and under 50 then it's $20,000 for a SMILE Visa whatever that is and it's $50,000 min for a Classic, again I don't know what the different Visa perks are for either but I'm assuming the 50k is better than the 20k one.

If you're a former diplomat you only have to put in $1,500, go figure that one out...

You can buy a condo and still qualify for a Visa as long as the condo is worth over 50k, it's considered an investment so similar to just putting 50k in a local bank.

Otherwise marry a Filipina or start a business and hire Filipinos, but that could be more trouble than it's worth in both cases, ha, ha, ha!

PI sounds like a HA friendly country

No, marrying filipina is not an option for me, that is crazy idea, i'd rather buy my own condo and bang anything I like for the rest of my life than to be stuck with one woman who can screw me over.

Can I buy anything decent with 50K USD? Preferably not in Manila, I'd like smaller,cleaner and cheaper place

Banano wrote:Do you get permanent residency when you buy condo in ph or th?
what about rental returns?

I cannot comment about Philippine law.

I can give some advice about the legal situation in Thailand however.

In Thailand there is no connection between your visa status and buying condominium units.

In Thailand every foreigner, even a tourist with visa exemption 30 days, can buy a condominium and register it in foreign name.
The condominium building itself must be fit the Thai law for sale to 49 percent to foreigners, payment in foreign currency.

Such buildings which require a certain size of land and a certain number of units do not exist everywhere in Thailand and they are rather expensive, a reason why Thai girls often try to motivate a foreign man to invest in a much cheaper house/land in HER name.
If the relationship breaks down the foreign man is out, lost everything.

Some foreign men are tricked into creating companies/businesses Ltd. with the Thai girl and her relatives, in promise of a 49 percent share of the business. - However what many foreign men do not know is the fact that marriage overrides that company setup, and those 49 percent shares do not only belong to him, but to her as well in case of divorce.

Other foreign men made good experience with their Thai wife, but not with her relatives. The Thai wife died in a car accident, the relatives, including parents and siblings were taking over the land as inheritage and the foreign man was out.

Another foreign man put too much money into a local Thai bank in HIS name. Again, marriage overrides such limitation, such deposit is common property of the couple by Thai law. The wife noticed somehow the pin-code and took the cashcard of the husband while he was working abroad and took all money out.

It's nothing what Thai authorities can do about it if a Thai girl is scamming a foreign man 'legally correct' and many Thai women know how to do this. Horror stories are known up to USD 2.5 million (over 80 million baht)!

In Thailand which is good for the foreign man regarding property is indeed a condominium unit, registered in foreigner's name BEFORE marriage to a Thai girl. The very strong regulation regarding the landlord - land property law - clearly overrides marriage in this case. Real estate property in foreigners name, registered before marriage, will belong to the foreigner after divorce.

If you are 50+, there is no reason to marry, better apply for a long-stay visa (retirement).
Do not sign to register her address with your own condominium-unit, better insist she keeps the address of her home province.

In Thailand co-habitation is not considered similar to marriage, even if the girl stays with the foreigner in his rooms over many years.
The foreign man cannot be hold responsible in future for alimony/child support if she had children already and the relationship/co-habitation is breaking up.

I can only recommend foreign men in Thailand to act carefully, study the legal situation - horror stories can be avoided in most cases.

Banano wrote:PI sounds like a HA friendly country
No, marrying filipina is not an option for me, that is crazy idea, i'd rather buy my own condo and bang anything I like for the rest of my life than to be stuck with one woman who can screw me over.
Can I buy anything decent with 50K USD? Preferably not in Manila, I'd like smaller,cleaner and cheaper place

In Cebu, yes you can buy a small condominium unit which is not over USD 50.000,- / fitting foreign ownership in those large buildings - even now, considering the rather bad exchange rate, there are various offers below USD 50.000,- but keep in mind those rooms are very small. USD 80.000,- would offer considerably more space.

Except being small - like a hotelroom around sqm 22 only - these units are quite comfortable, secure, newly constructed, with swimming pool, centrally located and not in a 'nobody land', etc. etc.

Sales contracts are written in English. Nothing to worry to sign something you cannot understand.
If fitting the requirements, the ownership is 100 % foreign in the land title.

Just one example:
http://www.realestatecebu.com/condominiums.html

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.realestatecebu.com/house-and-lot.html

You will notice that houses/land are much cheaper than those large condominium buildings, but foreigner cannot own land.

It is said, that developers are very good in offering lease up to 50 or even 75 years, but keep in mind such housing villages are sometimes quite out of the city. Cheap ones are not really safe against burglary, foreigners might be a target of robbery etc.

I have seen fairly nice new small townhouses starting at USD 20.000,- (about 1 million PHP for 45 sqm)
I neer heard about complaints of foreigners regarding the land leasing contract when done with a constructor/developing company, it seems to work well.

What is important: You must check out the property yourself, without time pressure. In Cebu it will take you a while to look around, not such a small area. Do not invest anything in unfinished buildings, accept only what is ready to move in immediately.

Look also behind the building, some places behind such areas are nothing but a slum, and under water during heavy rain.
My opinion, rent something for a few months, before you decide to buy!

Winston wrote:You know, when we HAers (HappierAbroaders) spread our good news gospel that Western men and East Asian men (Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean) can have a better dating and social life overseas, we often hear the following one or two explanations from the mainstream crowd. These are cliches that attempt to invalidate our message and support their politically correct belief that people are the same everywhere:

1) You are a foreigner and have novelty appeal over a local, so they see you as a chance to practice their English and learn about your culture. Many also feel obligated to treat foreign visitors with hospitality too, so they try to be extra nice to foreigners so that they will have a good impression of their country. (e.g. white people in China and Taiwan usually get extra hospitality from locals)

2) They perceive some potential benefit from knowing you. If they are from a less developed country, they think you are rich and so your money gives you social value. Or they may be hoping to get a visa or green card to America or a more developed country, so they see you as a ticket to move abroad for a better life.

Most people give one or two of these explanations and assume that's all there is to it. Now I acknowledge that these are valid factors that apply. But they are not the only ones by any means. There are many more. The two above are superficial explanations that miss a lot of other significant factors, so they are woefully incomplete. I get tired of hearing such cliches, so I will list 10 more reasons below which are logical and make sense to help you see the bigger picture and broaden your understanding. Please read all of them with an open objective mind. I promise you will learn a lot from this. Please forward this article to anyone you know who spouts the above two cliches or who has any interest in this topic. Since reasons #1 and 2 have already been given above, I will start with #3.

Why Men Have A Better Dating and Social Life Abroad - More Reasons and Factors

Continued here:
http://blog.happierabroad.com/2015/06/w ... broad.html

Great post!!!