RSee

Hello all,

I am slowly narrowing my search for the best place to settle in South East Asia. What cities or towns would you suggest I focus on that exhibit most of these qualities:

-relatively good "value for money" real estate to buy (house or condo)
-good infrastructure
-within 30 minute drive to relatively good beach
-within 30 minute drive to medium/large size city
-within 20 minute drive to international school
-within one hour drive to an international airport

Thanks in adavance.

photomagraphy

Manado, Indonesia matches all of your criteria
house cost start at £20k on a new development called Citraland Manado
Infrastructure is ok, hospitals are ok but for anything serious Singapore is best. New shopping malls are being built all the time but it is still a very small city, for example only one cinema.
Bunaken world famous dive area is twenty mins by boat
There is an international School 15mins drive from town center
The airport is 25min from town with daily flights to singapore and Jakarta

Disadvantages are
you will need to speak Indonesian, hard to obtain visas , being a foreigner you will stick out like a sore thumb, not allowed to own property, on second thoughts maybe not.
Good luck anyway

ex reg

Do you need to work.

If so that and schooloing and medical facilities should decide it.

The rest of your stuff are just add ons.

RSee

We do not need to work....but we may want to start a small business, or teach english to keep active.

Also, please assume that residency visa is not an issue.

Jockstar

ChiangMai Thailand. Though no beach. You can buy a condo but not a house.

ex reg

Not sure if you can square the circle with those statements.

Desert Dweller

Phuket springs to mind...........

venus28

Hi I came from Manila and live in UK for 7 years. I love my country Philippines and here are some guide with your queries.


A possible town to live in within South East Asia is Cavite in the Philippines

- good value for money. estimate house for £30-50K around 4 bedroom house large garden with swimming pool, a house within a subdivision which means it will be guarded by security.
- from 20 minute drive to a relatively good beach, further you go the better the beach. Batangas is a good place for diving one of the best in the world only 30 minutes drive from Cavite.
- 10 minute drive to medium city and 45 minute drive to north of Manila (depends on traffic)
- International School located in Manila, estimated more than 1 hour drive, although plenty of very good school around Cavite.
- Manila International Airport 1 hour and some for the traffic.

Filipino's are

-Friendly
-If UK love fashion, Filipino love to eat
-2nd language is English
-Family Orientated
-Everything is Cheap
-Majority is Christian
-Love Christmas (expect heavy traffic)
-After heavy rains, expect plenty of sunshine
-Hollywood Cinemas are everywhere
-Manila have plenty of International food, Shop till you drop, All Night Party.
-for retirement you could hire your own private nurse (£100-200 pounds a month)
-maids which will cook/baby sit, driver which will cut your grass and clean your swimming pool and some DIY to help, each of them cost you from £2-3 pounds a day as long you provide food and shelter.

Here are the Bad and possible solution:

-Storm, Flood, possible earthquake.
- no worries if you live in a good subdivision you rarely suffer from flood.
-Bussiness could be scary, be very careful
- Try to study about business and law of the country. UP is the best one its like Oxford/Cambridge, so the chances of students there are very educated and decent middle class, this is also your chance to meet right friends and will advise you most of everything.
-Be very careful on Real Estae Agent, no matter what dont say Yes, dont put any big amount of money ie: downpayment, if its to good to be true, then probably is. do a lot research of the company, have plenty of options.
- Traffic (like any city/town)

Anyway hope this help have to go, Hope you will find the right South East Asia for you.

shriver9

Kuantan or Penang in Malaysia.....

londonthai

Singapore - migh be not the cheapest, but has more work opportunities than the other towns

Kooky.

I think the person who suggested Manado was pulling your leg; Sulawesi is a lovely but very unstable island.

Yes, Singapore - once you scratch the surface it's nowhere near as sterile and boring as people make out, but property is not cheap and there are restrictions on what foreigners can buy. You could consider Johor Bahru, just over the Causeway in Malaysia. Personally I think it's a hell-hole where people get carjacked and mugged (and that's only by the police!) but there seems to be a lot of gated communities cropping up. You could be at Changi airport within half an hour, or drive up to KL in several.

How about Bali or Lombok? Sorry, I don't know about schools and I think you need to go into business with an Indonesian to buy land or property. I recently came back from a villa in Bali where the western owner had leased the land.

Koh Samui? Lots of villas cropping up there; I know somebody here who is building one to retire to. Tesco, Boots, what more could you want?

londonthai

yes, for some Koh Samui might be a good holiday destination but it's nowhere near the internationanal airport, doesn't have much infrastructure (gared towards turists only) and it's not really a city.

there are several (I know 3 of them) international schools - but theu are expensive comparing what they can offer. Larger cities do have more competition and better teachers and equipment.

Koh Samui is the third (after Phuket and Pattaya) thai holiday resort - and prices of houses are higher than in Bangkok itself.

RSee

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone! Much appreciated.

I would love to move to Thailand...but I must say that I am very concerned about some recent changes in visa rules which make it much more complicated to live there vs. what I had originally thought. A visa-run every 90 days seems like a major PITA. As well, I understand that you cant own a house in Thailand(unless you gamble on using a corporate entity to buy), which is also big negative.

I would definitely move to Singapore in a heartbeat...but far far more pricey to live there vs Thailand and Malaysia...and I believe it would be very very challenging to get a resident visa.

Philippines seems interesting...probably the cheapest place to live, but I have a perception(rightly or wrongly) that there the infrastructure there is crumbling and crime rate is higher than most other SE Asian countries.

I'm leaning toward settling somewhere in Malaysia for the following reasons:
-Its relatively easy to get a 10year resident visa there(MMSH program)
-foreigners can easily buy one or two landed properties or condos,
-relatively good infrastructure/health care/schooling
-home prices seem very reasonable(maybe lower price vs Thailand?)
-nice variety of food and cultures
-can easily go to Thailand and Singapore to visit anytime

Malaysia may not be the party capital of SE Asia, but perhaps it's a nice all around alternative to LOS?

Given my remarks above, any further comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers!

lifeouteast

Wow, you're asking quite a lot. I'm a Brit and my family and I live in Bangkok. Personally I would say Singapore is the best place but expensive, also I'm a big fan of Penang.

Bangkok is actually a good place. There's a lot here that will surely drive you mad but once you've settled and acclimatized to the way things work you'll probably be fine.

You can pretty much choose your lifestyle; spend 10 dollars a day or a 1000 dollars a day, you choose. Buying a property can be a sticky affair but rents can be comparatively low compared to the west.

Thais love kids and you'll find that their attitude changes once they see you with kids. Just about everything you will need is here. Shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants etc etc.

Our daughter goes to an international school/kindergarten and loves it. She's getting a really good education in a class with people from all over the world; Thailand, Japan, US, UK, Australia, Croatia, Germany, Africa, China, Denmark.... and that's just her class. There are loads of international schools to choose from and some are better than others. Personally I would select a school first and then find somewhere to live that fits in with the school location as the traffic can be hell.

I would say it is worth a visit first and a mooch about to see how you feel before jumping in completely. Obviously there are no beaches but there are plenty of beaches that are a short drive away. If Pattaya is your thing it is easy to get to. We live in north Bangkok but can still be on Samet island within three hours.

If you're considering Bangkok drop me a line if you want any more info.

www.lifeouteast.blogspot.com
www.lifeouteast.com

RSee

Thanks for the feedback.

Couple of follow-up questions:
Are you retired or working in Bangkok?
If retired, what type of visa are you using?
Do you own a house, or renting?
If renting, how do you feel about the problem with buying a house?
How long have you lived there?
What do you think is the yearly price range for a relatively good international school in Bangkok from Kindergarten through grade school?

Cheers