Thread: Cheapest Health Insurance for Retirement Visa

Originally Posted by Stumpy

The initial extension application packet then return about 30 days later to have my Passport updated and done for a year.

For my last extension I applied a month early as soon as I was eligible to apply. It was processed before my current extension had expired, and since I was working up in Udon my Mrs took my passport along and they gave me 12 months without having to do the one month processing stamp followed by 11 more.

Give it a go next time.

Originally Posted by aging one

Topper you say the visa situation is much better in the Philippines, other than that can you think of one advantage in living there over Thailand?

I live in Bacolod City, it's about 600K in population, so it has all of the more modern amenities. As I lived in BKK, that's what I'll compare it to.

Filipino food is not the best in the world, though there are some standouts like chicken inasal and batchchoy, but I doubt every Thai dish is to one's liking. It certainly wasn't mine. However, foreign food is cheap and plentiful here, whether from Pakistan or Mexico and its pretty damn good. The best pizza and the best Mexican food I've had outside of the US are here and they do Italian very well here.

I've been to the dentist here and it was cheaper than BKK and good, though the medical situation is a tad scary. The ambulance will load you up and call the hospital to see if the hospital will treat you, depending on your financial situation. We've got insurance on top of insurance here.

Prices for things here are generally cheaper here for food and rent, but again we're not in a major city. One thing that Thailand has over the PI is the reliability of the electricity supply. Blackouts (not brownouts Katie!!!! ) are common. We live in an apartment that has a well and generator so when the power's out, we have electricity and water. When the wife and I buy a house, we'll have it wired for a generator. The internet is surprisingly good, I'd rate it as high as the True service we had in BKK, oddly enough. However, the 4G/5G service is shockingly shit. There's parts of the city here that still don't have cell coverage.

There's no traffic to speak of and no air pollution, I was shocked by the air pollution during my last visit to BKK.

The people are generally friendly and most can speak English. I've only ran into one trike driver that couldn't speak English.

I can't think of anything else. Any place is what you chose to make of it and we've chose to make this our home, so perhaps I'm bit biased.

Also, I spent most of my time in Thailand with legal difficulties, well over half the time I was there which required frequent visits to Chaeng Wattana. Having trouble free, easy visa stuff is kind of new for me.

If I want to do the big city thing, Cebu City is a 20 minute plane flight from here and it's pretty inexpensive to fly there.

To be honest, I do enjoy my life here, I work from home, chose my hours and have tons of time during the day. No more spending hours in traffic for me!

A few reactions re: topper's post:

Topper lives on a relatively big island, and he lives in the capital city of that province (Negros Occidental), so it's not the boondocks. As he's said - it's a large city, they have access to supermarkets, varied restos, etc. Very different than if he lives in the mountains or in the middle of nowhere. He experiences power outages but their apartment complex has a generator - good for them.

As I live near Metro Manila, power outages are rare, water supply is fairly constant (whether in my apartment/ work-town or in my hometown).

I've passed by/ visited some mountain villages during my hikes around PH - many mountain villages don't have power lines. If the family can afford it, they provide their own solar panels.

In a neighboring island (Panay island, where Iloilo and Antique provinces are located), standard of living may differ. I've visited a friend who lives in Iloilo city and the atmosphere is similar to Bacolod city.

I've also visited another friend who's from a small town in Antique province. All of them (3 siblings) are professionals and went to Manila for college/ studies. (Their mom worked as a seamstress in Saudi during their youth to finance their education.) In their town, power supply is inconsistent. As for water supply, they don't have municipal water supply - they had to dig their own well. When I visited in 2015, the town didn't have an ATM and ppl had to go to another town ~45 min away just to make withdrawals. When I visited again in 2017, there were improvements. They now had 1 bank with 1 ATM and there was also 1 Mini-Stop store (similar to a 7/11 or Family Mart). Businesses close at 6 or 7 pm. Tricycles stop going to the far routes around 5 or 6 pm. Many of the boys/ guys in that town become seafarers because for them, that's the only way to earn more money and escape poverty. Most of the girls become teachers or nurses.

In the mountains, I've been told that there are pockets of communist insurgents.

Pace of life is slow & simple. However, my friend and her siblings choose to live/ work near Manila since that's where the opportunities are. They just go "home" for holidays & special occasions.

Would I advise foreigners to live in such a small town? Up to them, I guess. If they like the slow & quiet pace of life, then they'll surely have it. However, the nearest big hospital is maybe 1 hour away (and the malls + restos) and some roads may be unpaved (if living in the boondocks).

There's the YT channel of "Aussie farming in the Phils" - he lives in a rural area in Mindanao. He's a "hobby farmer" and they raise pigs. Worth a look if anyone is interested in living in rural PH.