hello everyone, my name is Olga, my name is
Rene we lived for a month in Vietnam and now we are doing the same in Thailand. in this video
we will share our experiences about Thailand and Vietnam as foreigners. the first thing that we
usually research about the country before we go there is the weather. yeah overall it's great
if you don't go in the rain season and that's something you definitely should check out before.
Thailand and Vietnam they have regions where the weather most of the year is hot and humid, those
regions are like Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang and they are all in Vietnam. the regions in Thailand
that have the hot and humid weather almost all the time are Bangkok, Phuket Krabi and Koh Samui.
yeah right now we are in Phuket experiencing that hotness and humidity and also still a bit
of the extension of the rain season apparently December is , usually it should be pretty dry
but this time around we are getting washed away. yeah this year is a bit different so yeah check
that out before you go. so yeah if you cannot tolerate the heat, if you cannot tolerate the
humidity I would say the whole of Southeast Asia for you is maybe for a short trip but not for
long term stay. the second important thing that everyone looks into is the Visa situation and
of course for different passport holders people from different countries the situation will be
different but in general right now in southeast Asia they lifted all the travel restrictions
connected to Covid, but still for now in Vietnam you can only get a 30-day Visa which we did and
you pay 25 Dollar for itI think. -yeah. -yeah you apply online you pay 25 Dollar and how long? about
a week it took them to send it? -yeah about three working days so that's quick but you still have
to apply online of course. and in Thailand they made it till the end of March, so basically for
the high season now you can stay here 45 days, you get a stamp for 45 days, again not all
nationalities but many of them so check that out before you come. of course it used to be easier
to stay in Vietnam longer term like for months and people would just pay money and there it would
be extended, extended, extended, so that's how they lived there for a year but now I know that's
not really possible so now it's only those monthly visas. but in Thailand it's like before if you
want to stay long term like for a year or even six months you can apply to study at a language school
or I even heard like a kickboxing school or more at high school in certain cities like Chiang Mai,
Bangkok and Phuket I think too. somewhere if you live there and you apply for that school you can
get yourself a year long Visa, essentially a study Visa so that's an option, but that won't be of
course for free the school will cost you money of course. we did hear that for Vietnam they are
planning to resume longer stay visas from the 1st of January, but nothing official as far as we know
yet, so if you really like to stay in Vietnam keep your eye out on the price, keep it in check. for
now what you can do are Visa runs. so on to the next important subject and that's the cost of
living in Thailand and Vietnam. actually overall speaking, costs are pretty similar I think. -I
think in Vietnam we were spending a bit less, yeah so overall Vietnam seems to be a bit
cheaper. -there are some things that are different in the countries for example in Vietnam
the coffee overall is less expensive [Music] For anyone who can't live without the coffee, can't wake up. also you can get a good
coffee there. there are a lot of coffee shops, not the Dutch one. are there other things that
were cheap in Vietnam? -local cheap beers, cheap Heineken even Heineken that's produced
there is really cheap. -yeah the beer in Vietnam indeed is really cheap and also the grab,
grab taxis, but also to grab motorbikes are really cheap in Vietnam. they are more expensive
in Thailand especially here on Phuket. yeah on Phuket I recommend to not use grab,
but bolt. -yeah that's the app we found. -and also the apartments in Vietnam seem to be
cheaper. for the money that you pay you get a decent apartment there where here in Thailand
it seems to be that we are paying more money for basically less quality. and another thing is
the the barber, in Vietnam I could do a barber for two and a half dollars yeah so that's really
cheap and here in Thailand it looks like one of the cheapest I can find is about four dollars,
still really cheap. another remarkable thing is that in Vietnam it only cost about one dollar
to take out money depending on the ATM you would take out cash money with your cart, but here
in Thailand almost all machines will charge you about six to seven dollar that's a lot of money.
-yeah in general especially Thailand is still very cash dependent, so in the smaller shops, in
a lot of local cafes you still have to pay cash. -you still need a lot of cash essentially.-yeah
and if they do accept cards then European cards and probably American cards are usually not
accepted unless they are credit cards. what we have noticed is that on our credit card
the exchange rate is quite bad so basically Our advice is to take Euros or dollars in cash and
then exchange them in the country. in Vietnam it was a bit cheaper to just take out cash. -yeah
in Vietnam we usually took out cash with the card indeed, but here in Thailand not. here
in Thailand we have to run to the ATM a lot. yeah and overall food, groceries, well
I think in Vietnam it was a bit cheaper, but it does feel like Thailand has overall more
variety. it's more like shopping oriented, all those malls and big supermarkets are very common
you can find them easily where in Vietnam they are less common overall you spend even I think less
because of it because of less variety you spend less. and yeah even like local food in Vietnam
is cheaper, in Thailand it's still very cheap, still very affordable for someone from Western
Europe or Northern America it's still cheap in both countries, but in Thailand it's a bit more
expensive than in Vietnam. although we both I think like both Vietnamese food and Thai food so
we do eat local a lot. -yeah that's great although I must say that Thai food I do like a bit more
don't beat me up Vietnamese people, please. what, you are cheating on Pho Bo?!? with Tom
yum?!oh, yeah, Pho Bo is difficult to beat, but yeah well. I think Vietnam is better for
people who really like bread because a staple street food is the Banh mi sandwich,
it's like their inheritance from French and yeah it's very very cheap. here in
Thailand bread is considered more of a cake, it's more of a dessert so you can of course find
bread here everywhere but it will be noticeably more expensive than local food whereas in
Vietnam it is easy to get Banh mi, easy to get bread and satisfy your craving of bread. -the
cool thing is that I eat gluten free and Banh mi did not give me any problems and it
appears to be made with rice flour yeah probably the reason. well another factor is
the transportation of course which is important in Thailand. the cities, the islands they are
just more developed and there is more options for transportation usually. for example in a big
city like Bangkok there is a Metro, there is this, there is that. lots of Metro lines you can get
anywhere where Vietnam I don't think they have a Metro, maybe I'm wrong if you're Vietnamese or
you know it correct me if I'm wrong but I think in Vietnam there is no metro so that's a disadvantage
of course. but of course you will be riding a bike everywhere but yeah the traffic is hectic and for
someone like me for example who doesn't drive and doesn't want to learn in a hectic environment who
doesn't want to get into an accident or something yeah I prefer to have some form of public
transport. what about the bike rent by the way, was it cheaper in Vietnam or cheaper here in
Phuket? the bike rent was cheaper in Vietnam. yeah we were told that we got a really good rate
in Vietnam if you want to know more you can check out our video about our budget in Da Nang and
there we talk about everything. another important thing is where exactly do you want to live? do
you want to live by the beach, do you want to live in a big city, do you want to live closer
to the mountains? and of course both Vietnam and Thailand offer a really beautiful scenery
especially if you want to travel throughout the country not just stay in one place. you've
been in the northern part in how was it called in Vietnam? Ha Giang, so that was really Scenic,
yeah absolutely. in Thailand you have in the north also around Chiang Mai the beautiful scenery and
a lot of nature parks and down south and both countries you have beautiful beaches. near Hanoi
we didn't travel there yet. yeah, Ha Long bay is really beautiful and Scenic in Vietnam, here
in Thailand Phuket, Phi Phi Islands, Koh Samui you have it all it's just probably a personal
preference. I would recommend everyone to go to both countries for a holiday. but to live
long term if you want to live by the beach I think Thailand just has more options,
more developed cities on Islands than Vietnam although Vietnam Now is really
developing rapidly. but there I think you really need to know the season well in both countries you
need to know the season if you want to swim but I think in Vietnam especially because when we were
in Da Nang just now we couldn't swim because it wasn't the season. the waves were too strong and
it was stormy and yeah for Surfers it's perfect and we saw people surfing but if you want to swim
or even chill by the beach it would get a bit stormy. so if you're a traveler definitely watch
out for that. now what about language barrier and about the alphabet, the people in the countries
in Thailand and Vietnam? well actually in both countries especially where there are tourists in
the touristy areas they speak English. I must say that in Thailand it's a bit more, it can be a
bit more difficult to understand the English, but yeah that that might also be because of
the alphabet, in Vietnam they have a Latin alphabet and in Thailand they have something
else. yeah in Thailand unless you learned the Thai alphabet you cannot read anything, so for
example on the menu you cannot say what's on the menu. but yeah in tourism industry you can
get away with just the English and your hands. in Vietnam sometimes it feels like it's easier
but also again not everyone is speaking English. but yeah in general both in Thailand and Vietnam
people were very friendly towards us so we did not experience any harassment or if we needed help
there would be someone who was offering help so in that area we cannot say that Vietnam or Thailand
is better because for us in both countries people were really nice and helpful. yeah definitely
yeah. and about foreign communities before Covid we know that in Da Nang there was quite the
expat Community, yeah in Vietnam. and of course in Thailand too, Covid did make things more difficult
especially in Vietnam things were made a lot more difficult and a lot of people a lot of foreigners
left Vietnam because of that. yeah but now people are coming back well until the Visa situation
is not getting better in Vietnam it won't get much better but in Thailand I think many people
who used to stay long term here are now coming back. so yeah these days probably in Thailand the
foreign Community is bigger if that's what you're looking for. in Bangkok but also here in Phuket
we do see quite some foreigners with children and just the people who stay here long term and
especially if we compare it to Da Nang and Hanoi, or Hanoi we did see some tourists too but it still
feels less than here in Thailand and especially Da Nang we did not meet many tourists. in your
own country you are probably used to having sidewalks and that you can walk every were,
but as some of you may know in Asian countries sidewalks can be a real problem. imagine that
there either are no sidewalks at all and that you need a motorbike to get basically anywhere
even to a barber or the local supermarket shop. or there are sidewalks and then they use them as bike
parking so you can still not use the sidewalks. yeah because of that you have to walk on the
road with motorbikes and with cars going like this close next to you and they can drive
relatively fast. well we did notice that in Vietnam there are sidewalks yeah the
situation there is better with walkability although it's not, it's still not perfect
there can still be trees in the middle of the sidewalk or if a sidewalk goes next to
some residential buildings people would just park their bikes on that sidewalk, put their
boxes with their plants on it so essentially again you are pushed to walk on the road. so if
you're someone who likes to walk to places who doesn't like to always have to drive either
it's a motorbike or a car. for example us, we do like to just go for an evening walk just
to get some basic exercise and in Asian countries that can be an issue and of course this is the way
it is this is the way life is here and you either accept it or not. now to the interesting part
that Rene has been waiting for, it's the shopping. in the biggest city in Thailand, in Bangkok there
are really big, huge shopping malls where you can get anything you want. any foreign brand
not so many local Brands but other than that all Electronics, clothes so whatever you want
is there from luxury to more budget-friendly brands. in Vietnam there are also shopping
malls especially in big cities but it will be one or two and they will not be as big as in
Thailand. so basically I like the ones in Vietnam hahaha. yeah well it all comes down to when you
need something and you want to buy it and if you don't have a shop then you have to order it
from overseas and then you have to pay tax which can amount to quite a lot but if you can buy it
in the country it might be cheaper and faster. so for example when we needed to buy a new iPhone
at the official shop at the Apple Store in Bangkok they have two of them in Vietnam unfortunately for
now they don't have it but you can of course still buy an iPhone but it will be from a reseller
company not from official store, so if that's something that's important to you yeah you might
want to look into Thailand rather than Vietnam. another important thing is Healthcare of
course and well I've heard in Thailand that the healthcare is good they have big
International hospitals and things like that. a lot of people are going to Thailand for different
kind of things. well I myself had experience with International hospitals, it was nothing major no
operations or anything but just like a doctor's appointment it was always efficient there was
a translator even so yeah there is no shortage of that in Thailand especially in Bangkok a lot
of people find it more cheap to do the dentist work and to do plastic surgery in Thailand in
Bangkok then in their own country. so we're almost finished don't worry, be happy, we're
almost there just stay tuned. so then there is a issue of safety and you might know that recently
when we were in Vietnam my phone got stolen and that gave us a bit of a shock so we started to be
more careful about our belongings but other than that I myself was in Thailand before in Vietnam
before you travelled to Vietnam and Thailand too and both of us never had any issues. well I would
say that in both countries I felt quite safe even by myself and together we also feel quite safe
and we never got anything else stolen from us and overall we feel that people are friendly no one
is unnecessarily aggressive towards us or anything like that. people are usually really respectful in
Thailand and in Vietnam no hostility or whatever it feels safe. yeah we got a bit unfortunate in
Vietnam but it could happen anywhere in the world. I would still like to exercise just common sense
like don't leave your things unattended. this is not Japan you cannot just leave your phone on the
table in let's say Starbucks and just go away and then find your phone at the same place. I
mean you might be okay, you might find it, but yeah just don't do it intentionally. just
take care of your things don't walk alone at night somewhere where there is nobody else, just as I
said, exercise common sense and just be cautious. well there are a couple of things that you should
consider and that is that in Asian countries, most of them are developing countries. the salaries
are relatively low and an iPhone or a phone can be like six months or maybe even a year worth of
salary for a person and also but that's I think in every country that where there are tourists
there are people that want to take advantage and yeah especially after Covid. yeah I mean during
Covid things became more difficult for people, so just don't wear flashy jewelry, don't show
off on the street or something like that. just be careful and in general we do feel that it
is safe to be a tourist and to walk along and walk around the streets we don't feel any danger.
what's our recommendation? where is better to live or to go on a holiday in Thailand or in Vietnam
what would you say? on a holiday or to live I can and want and will in both countries. you can just
do that? and I recommend everyone doing the same, going on a holiday to Thailand going on a holiday
to Vietnam. yeah there are certain things that are better in Thailand, like Thailand is in general
more developed and there are certain things that are better in Vietnam like we had a better
apartment for less money so you have to evaluate what's more important, but yeah I agree with you
that before committing especially to longer term you should try both countries and for a holiday
I think yeah I agree as well that both countries deserve that you go there at least once. yeah I
would say that both countries deserve more times even but a lot of countries do and yeah there are
many countries to visit so I would give Thailand and Vietnam at least once. yeah for sure, and for
me, for myself I think I would like to live more in Thailand than in Vietnam just a little bit just
because Thailand is a bit more developed. yeah but so far we are still undecided if we want to live
in Thailand for example for a full year and we are still continuing living here in Phuket.
and in fact we will have a video about just the daily life here and we plan to do a video
about a food tour here so if you're interested in how it is right now in Thailand especially
on Phuket subscribe. and if you want to check out how it was for us in Vietnam, we also have
those videos on our Channel already so you can watch them right now, check out all the links in
the description. thanks for watching and please leave us your opinion which country do you like
more and why? we do want to know your reasons
