Thailand vs. The Philippines

I submitted a post a few weeks ago on the subject of the Thai girl vs. the Filipino girl and I got a lot of feedback from it – mostly positive, so I thought I would submit another, this time comparing the countries.

As I explained previously I have been to Thailand 10 + times and the Philippines 3 times.

The people

If Thailand is the Land of Smiles then the Philippines is the Land of Laughs – people are always laughing in the Phils.

Language – did you know the Philippines is the 3rd largest English speaking nation in the world. That surprised me too. Communication and meaningful conversation is so easy in the Phils.

Not that I’ve ever had any problem communicating in Thailand – even before I learned Thai I could always get by.

Not like China – man that place is so hard to get around – it's not just the language barrier but cultural. One time I’m in KFC and want a drink from pump 2. I tell the girl two, not understand, I show 2 fingers,
she still doesn’t understand. Eventually she go to each pump and turn and ask me yes or no. She gets to pump 2 and I give her a big thumbs up at which point she goes to pump 5!! After 3 or 4 repeats of this I give up and accept pump 5 contents
– later I find out a big thumbs up means 5 in Chinese.

Any way I digress –

The Filipino and Thai people are very similar in nature, both warm-hearted and with the same “face” issues. Filipino people appear more superstitious than the Thais but that might just be because you can have deeper conversations
with them.

Religion and culture

Boy do both Thailand and the Philippines love their religion.

I’ve visited many temples in Thailand and I find Buddhism a very gentle and comforting religion. I have even been to one temple, where according to an old monk had never seen a farang there before.

The only thing I don’t like is having to get up at sunrise to go to the temples before the monks eat.

When I’m in the Philippines my Kelly and I go to her church (Catholic) every Sunday. The service is in the evening, a much more sensible time.

I’ve never attended a Catholic service in the UK (but that will be about to be changed!) but I really enjoyed the service in Mindanao. People singing and holding hands.

One thing that definitely is the monarchy.

Everyone who been to Thailand knows how much the Thais love their royal family and their King in particular, until you visit Thailand this will really never hit home.

Filipino people don’t have a monarch and would appear to loathe their government.

Another difference is culture – Thailand is full of it with the temples, statues, parks. It's hard to go anywhere in Thailand without seeing some reference to Buddha or the King.

Thailand has never been colonised and this shows in how its managed to retain its culture.

The Philippines became a Spanish colony in the 16th century, and then a US colony after the Spanish-American war and the Philippine-American war.

And boy does it show. Nothing in the Philippines feels truly Filipino. It's sad in a way and I do miss the culture shock that amazing Thailand gives.

Bangkok and Manila

Manila reminds me, at times, of Singapore and, at other times, Bangkok.

There’s not the clutter of all the food stalls or people selling their wares.

I actually miss that coz in Bangkok you can get anything, anywhere. One time in Manila I spent 2 hours walking trying to find a shop that sold cigarettes – I kid you not!!

The bar scene in Manila is different from Bangkok – mostly gogo bars and very, very few open air beer bars.

To me there is nothing better that sitting in an open air beer bar watching the world go by.

Sitting in a packed bar with load music and trying to have a conversation with some little cutie is my idea of hell.

I’ve found a few bars in Manila that are okay but nothing like the fun you can have in Bangkok.

I’ve read that Manila’s traffic is meant to be worst in the world. I haven’t found that – it's better than Bangkok's I think. How many times have you sat in a taxi in Bangkok and watched the traffic lights
change 3 or 4 times before you even move!!

Island and beaches

Excluding Pattaya from this comparison – after all you can't compare Pattaya to anywhere else!!

Both countries have beautiful beaches and beautiful islands to explore and you will never tire of them.

But here is the main difference between the Thai and Phil beaches, and this is my main complaint – the food!!

The Food

The food in the Philippines is truly the worst I have ever sampled – it's bland, and completely lacking in anything.

Think of all the Tom Yam Koong, Papaya salad, green curries then replace that with plain rice and boiled chicken.

I’ve never had a meal in the Phills that I have enjoyed, same as I’ve never had a meal in Thailand that was anything short of magnificent.

Sitting on a Thai beach, watching the waves, drinking beer and eating Thai food in my idea of heaven.

Overall

I guess from my own conclusions Thailand wins as the best place to stay, but as I said in my previous submission I prefer Filipino girls.

Not that it matters any more because I’m married to Kelly now and intend to spend the rest of my life with her.

Here’s my problem – I intend to take early retirement in a couple of years and move to SE Asia.

Kelly and I have spoken about moving back to Mindanao but now I am thinking about living in Chiang Mai.

Hey that an interesting idea – I wonder how we would get on with visas etc.

Stickman's thoughts:

When it comes to Thailand vs. the Philippines, Thailand seems to win hands down.