Hi, I'm after the community's advice with regards to the best place to move to. I have looked at quite a few places, but at the moment am drawn to Thailand and the Philippines.

My situation is this. I'm am due to be made redundant in September of this year, which will give me a lump sum of about £30,000 ($45,000). I also have a small photography business, where I take stock pictures and sell them on the internet. This currently brings me in about £350 ($500) a month. I plan to increase this, and anticipate that I cold quite easily be earning about £1000 ($1500) with a few months. I would anticipate my eventual earnings to be around £3000 - £5000 ($4500 - $7500) within a year or so. My plan is to concentrate on travel photography, and take frequent trips abroad, probably every couple of months, and maybe totalling 4-6 months of the year. I'd use my redundancy money to subsidise this, until the photography was earning enough to pay for these trips outright.

I'm looking for somewhere to set up home to use as a base when not away travelling. My main criteria are, cheap, safe, broadband internet connection (if not at my property then available somewhere closeby - I could get away with having only it once a week) and a nice relatively quiet location which isn't too touristy in terms of loads of bars and nightlife. Somewhere picturesque would be nice too :-)

So, my question is, do you have any suggestions? I'm confused by the visa situation. I would not want to set up home somewhere where I was not sure that I would be allowed to stay, particularly if I am leaving and re-entering the country at regular intervals. Would I be likely to be able to get some form of residence visa in either country? Or is there a similar alternative country where I would?

Finally, I should state that I'm a 34 year old single female, which may influence your answers.

Thanks in advance
Melanie

Wow, sounds like a great opportunity to me, how you take getting made redundant! This is the best time to change your life. Seriously!

Deciding between Thailand and Philippines is surely no easy task, both have their advantages and disadvantages. Costs of Living are similar also.

Best thing in the Philippines is the wide-spread use of the English language, Thailand has that in very limited ways in the tourist centers.

Thailand has a crappy visa system, if you plan to stay on a tourist visa. Philippines is better, just stay up to 2 (?) years in the country, renew your visa every 1-2 months for around 3.000-4.000 Peso. It's quite straightforward, but the fees vary every time, but there is an immigration office in almost every bigger town.

Thailand is surely better as a travel hub, as all other places in SE Asia are in easier reach flying from Bangkok or via overland trip than from Manila or Cebu (the only international airports in the Philies).

Thailand is more touristy, but depends on where you go. In the Philippines only Boracay is probably overly touristy and only during certain times.

Internet shouldn't be a problem in both countries. I lived 8 months in Phuket and had reliable broadband included in my rent (6.000 Baht/month for a furnished apartment, app. 70sqm in 2006) in Kamala Beach. Other places (Chiang Mai, Koh Tao) are cheaper than Phuket.

In the Philippines you could go with 3G for internet, e.g. Smart Bro for 999 Peso unlimited per month, which is almost everywhere available, where you have mobile phone access.

Myself I've been to both countries dozens of times for up to 2 weeks, so having tried to live for a couple of months in Thailand, Philippines is next. The islands around Cebu or Negros look interesting. You should be able to rent an apartment for something around 7.000-10.000 Peso/month, depending on your requirements.

That's it for now.

All the best for your further planning! ;-)

__________________
Cheers from Goa,

Chris
http://www.nomad4ever.com
Life is what you make it!

Sounds like a great opportunity! As nomad4ever said, though, the visa situation in Thailand seems to be going from bad to worse, especially if you're in your 30's. You almost have to marry a local to get a residency visa these days - or to be over the age of 55. You might want to consider Malaysia, which has a very liberal extended stay policy (as a tourist, you can get a free social visit pass that's good for 90 days, renewable indefinitely by simply crossing the border for a day), or Singapore (same rules as Malaysia), possibly Indonesia, or as you mentioned, the Philippines. With the exception of Singapore, all of these are very inexpensive countries to live in and offer many great photo opportunities. Singapore has a higher cost of living but has many other advantages and is ex-pat friendly.

Agree with tumbleweeds! India has a nice Visa system also. You can stay up to 6 months easily on a normal tourist visa and without any hassles.

Indonesia, you can stay up to 6 months also, but then you have to visit the immigration up to 20 times for renewals and extensions.

Not so nice after a while. ;-)

Melanie,

Your photo business sounds like a lot of fun, any chance of PMing me the URL of your site? If you can't PM me, may I PM you so you can return it?

TAI.

Rod