J1985

Morning everyone

First of all what a great forum you have here,Hopefully I can gain some help,tips and advice

Brief details on my situation and plans.

I am 27 from the UK,

Not well travelled in the slightest having only been abroad to Ireland haha

I have been planning on taking a year out and extending that time if I have the funds and want to see some more of the world.

I play poker in my spare time and plan on having £20k saved aside for my trip before I leave which gives me enough breathing room to live on aswell as earning money playing online during my stay which will hopefully put roughly £1.5-2k in the bank each month towards rent and enjoying myself.

Taipei
Originally this plan came up nearly 2 years ago after reading a thread on the 2+2 poker forum regarding Taipei and reading some of the stories from other poker players who had relocated there...

Having seen the women/nightlife/culture and scenary I had my heart set on taking a risk and seeing abit of the world and just really enjoying the moment.

Thailand

Having seen some of the amazing properties Thailand has to offer on the Siam real estate website plus the nightlife looks great,Good scenary and cheaper than Taipei etc etc Thailand became a reasonable second option.

My main goals for the change of scenary are to enjoy myself,be self sufficient,hopefully meet some nice girls or somone decent on nights out and to above all just relax and enjoy myself.
I am trying to convince my best friend to accompany me on the venture but its proving hard work lol

My main concerns on which one to choose would be for Taipei-The language barrier and whether they are quite welcoming towards foreigners who dont speak the native tongue?

And with Thailand,I see as a more dangerous place over populated with sexpats and women after you're wallets along with reading horror stories of Al qaeda targetting tourists down south which doesnt make it into the media (Not sure how much truth in that there is)

Can you give me a oversight on which place you would think is best and why? And whether my financial situation would provide me with enough to enjoy my time in comfort in either country?

Any tips or just general advice/comments on my plan are more than welcome!

Supernoodles

How are you planning on moving to these countries? On a tourist visa? If so how long are you able to stay in each place until you need to do a visa run?
You are comparing Taipei to Thailand, that is like comparing London to Australia! Where in Thailand? If you are comparing Taipei to Bangkok, then I would definitely recommend Taipei. Why? Because it is safer and not seedy, it isn't easy to escape the sex tourism in Bangkok, and you will need to be more cautious in bars and relationships. Also if I imagine being in trouble in Taipei or Bangkok I would definitely prefer Taipei as I believe it to be less corrupt and dodgy.

This is just my opinion, I've not lived in either place but have visited Bangkok 3 times, Taipei once and I live in HK. Although Thailand is a great place to visit, it isn't somewhere I'd live !
And as a single young guy who has never visited outside of Europe, I'd be worried for you, I think they might eat you alive!

Supernoodles

Taipei is also a bit more chilled than Bangkok, Bangkok is more exotic and bustling in that dirty back alley way. Both are fine in English but maybe better in Bangkok overall. Just be wary of scams and you'll be fine in both!

J1985

Finally a couple of replies
Thank you both for the input.

It would be on a tourist visa yes and obviously that would mean me making visa trips when required which im fine with.

In Taipei I would want to move close to the 101 or the main centre and in Thailand I have been looking at Phuket

J1985

Supernoodles...I am aware of the possibility of scams in Thailand but I guess its best for me to get as much info as possible on what to avoid to minimise the risk,Which I have been doing for quite sometime now

Supernoodles

Well what kind of things do you enjoy ?
Instead of having to leave the country every 3 months which is really obvious after the 3rd time btw, why don't you look into some cheap course that you can use as a visa cover?

Phuket, not been there but isn't it just mainly resorts and beaches, water sports? You should look into other sites to do more specific research, my common sense & experience tells me that living somewhere like Phuket might be more expensive and lonely as a young foreigner (I could be wrong), it isn't really the sort of place you will easily meet others like yourself (again just my assumption).
Also if you are doing visa runs, you will need to budget for flights every 10ish weeks remember so you should research the costs of flights to different locations in Asia (so it looks less obvious).

J1985

Thanks supernoodles.

It is something I will need to think about in regard to making Visa trips.
I would be looking at a tenancy for at least 6 months at a time which would make hopping places kind of awkward if I wanted to stay in another country for a while when doing visa trips (Something to think about)

In regards to interests just the same as 90% of other people in their 20's as far as partying and having a good time are concerned...I would also like to check out the local scenary and sites and basically discover a different culture

nonthaburi

Can't comment on Tapei as I've never been there but I did live in Thailand for a long time but I now live in Saudi Arabia.

I think you're stereotyping Thailand a little bit . Yes there are sexpats here but if you're not into the kind of places they go to then you wouldn't really have much to do with them . Each to their own anyway .

If a woman is after your wallet then she is obviously the wrong sort of woman , it's all common sense really .

Don't know where you;re getting this idea about Al Qaeda down south . Since the trouble flared up in about 2005 / 6 I think about 4-5000 people have been killed in shootings and bombings . This is the local muslims and buddhists . There has been no links between them and foreign fighters apart from some Malaysians . Having been to the three affected provinces years ago before the troubles started I can tell you that there won't be much for you to do there . Stay away and there is no problem .

Personally I don't like Phuket for many reasons and as a young guy I would get bored there very quick . Phuket for a holiday but Bangkok for a life would be my philosophy . Bear in mind that Phuket will be much more expensive than Bangkok and you won't have a lot of depth in the social pool of people because it's not that big . As a young guy you will have so many more options in Bangkok.

It's probably a lot safer then many places in the UK and if you choose where you live carefully you can have a great life . Both my children were born in Thailand and they were fine .

Money is all relative , so it depends what you get up to .

One last point to bear in mind is that gambling is illegal so I wolud keep quiet what you are up to .

petrichor

I live in Taipei, lived in Laos for a while and have visited Bangkok quite a few times. Personally, I way prefer Taipei. You're much less likely to get people trying to rip you blind here. I often take taxis and have never been overcharged (once or twice the drivers wanted to charge me less than was on the meter ) You won't get people coming up to you in the street trying to take you off to fake destinations that also include their auntie's souvenir shop. You won't get people not allowing you to leave a bar unless you pay them exorbitant costs for drinks.

Check out this site for expats' views on living in Taiwan: http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/

Lots of expats manage to live here without learning the language.

On the visa question, UK citizens can extend their 90 day landing visa by another 90 days without having to leave the country.

nonthaburi

The sort of things you mention about BKK are the kind of things that happen to tourists in tourist areas . I lived in BKK for many years and once you live away from tourist areas the sort of things you mention just do not happen .

I think we all know the type of bar you're talking about , and these scams happen all over the world .