Hi there,

It's been a while since I've actively posted on this forum as I visit HK a lot less and as a result don't have as many opportunities to punt in a cost-effective manner (i'm based out of Canada).

I'm thinking of doing a solo-trip to somewhere in asia and was looking for suggestions on where folks would reco that balance easy of punt with safety.

I've been around asia generally a fair amount but right now in my head the best 3 places would be somewhere in Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines. (I also need to figure out a way to position this in a way that doesn't make me sound like a sex tourist to friends/family even though this is really a big part of why i'm going

I've been to Thailand before and although it's the easiest to position to others as well as logistically for travel (no visa requirement) I didn't really like Bangkok much when I last visited as it felt kinda shady, although I'll admit my exexperience with thailand is somewhat limited (never really punted there, and the two cities I've been to are Bangkok/Ching Mai <-- which i really liked).

Philippines I think has tons of hot chicks but I'm not sure if I'm going to cave with how easy (i perceive) for it to go in a BBFS direction, and I'm not the hugest fan of their food normally so realistically i'm not sure how much I'll enjoy the visit...

Indonesia seems intriguing - I haven't been but I do generally like their food, they have other non-punting activities that I think will be appealing, and the girls (from the interwebs) seem pretty hot/'easy'.

Malaysia isn't really on the list as the last time I went I found it a bit hard to find punting (and I got ripped off) so ... =\

What do you guys think/suggest?  

I'm thinking of going for around a week. Ideal would be join a yoga retreat for maybe 3 days to relax and then spend the rest of it eating/drinking/mongering.

TIA!

If you think Bangkok is shady, the Philippines, which I've now visited a few times, will appear to be worse. But despite the grotty exterior, if you can get beyond the surface, it can be fascinating and fun. But for what you want: some sightseeing, some good meals and some "fun", I think Thailand will be a better option.

If you go to Thailand or Philippines without any family to go with you they will think it a sex party no matter what. I would like to suggest Vietnam for you. The E-visa is easy,cost 25USD only and can be done in a day if you want. The girls are beautiful also and the cost of living is very cheap even cheaper than China. I will be going on my trip there for the whole month this Jan if you do want to come and have someone tell you the best apps to get around and what to avoid. Also the spot with the pretty girls.

I kind of want to check it out - i'm not actually against run down places.. it's more the people and how in Bangkok I felt like people were always trying to scam me.

I went through Laos nearly 10 years ago and liked it (and that's definitely the poorest place I've traveled to on my own) but it's not super high on my list to return as the food was so-so

I feel like maybe somewhere outside of BKK has more promise somehow... but it needs to be easy-ish to get there as the flight (to BKK to start) is basically going to be 20 hours even in the shortest

Thanks - I'll keep this in mind. Right now my work schedule is probably going to mean I'll go on my trip to wherever in March but appreciate the offer for places/apps etc. I've definitely read some epic reports of civvies etc. in Philipines on this forum, and I know that while I've heard a lot of mugging/scam stories from Thailand I actually can't really think of any in the Philippines (other than the one's where it goes super south but that is usually outside of the major cities)

Filipinas are definitely really hot and service oriented in the very limited experiences I've had mongering with them in HK and here in Canada. Hrm..

Also wasn't aware of the e-visa thing so thank you... one less thing to think about

Side note - Surprised indonesia didn't pop up for any suggestions. Haven't had any experiences myself but they have some hotties too

When I applied my Vietnamese visa, there were 2 options (at least what I then thought) :
1) apply at the the Vietnam embassy in person,
and I chose
2) apply over a website which looked every bit a genuine govt agency.
Both cost the same ~US$25 and I happily paid up

Soon after, I received my "visa" via email where my name was in the chart, one among 40 or 50 names, with full name, DOB, passport number, flight no, date of arrival, full address, ....  Talking about privacy.... I was cursing the Viet government but nothing we can do.

Fast forward to immigration at HCM, given I had a flight connection but with a 3 hours layover, I felt pretty relaxed.  To my dismay, i was directed to the visa application desk after I showed them my "visa" and was asked to sit and wait, waiting to be called.  After like eternity,  my name was called and I was asked to pay the visa fee which I think was the same US$25. So my "visa" wasn't a visa.

I only had a $100 bill on me, so they gave me change, at a convenient rate of $1=VD20,000 where the going rate was 23,000.

I almost missed my connecting flight.

Don't trust their "online immigration office".  Spare a few hours and go to your local Vietnam embassy.

The exact $ amount might be off a bit, but they are the same among the three places.

Yea......hate to be the bearer of bad news but that wasn't the E-Visa. What you did was the invitation letter bullshit which will cost you a extra 25dollars for no reason and added a extra extra for no reason. The real E-Visa doesn't let you skip the extra step of the invitation letter because it never existed in the first place unless you do that route. The E-visa just pay the 25 online and skip the bullshit long waiting line and go straight to the immigration line instead which you still have to wait but not as long. It immigration everyone have to suffer the wait line.

My friends who traveled with me had a proper visa and went through immigration in minutes and had to wait for me for 1 hour and a half.  If I had gone to the embassy for the visa, I would have passed through immigration like them, saving me an hour and a half and $25.  I might as well get the visa on the ground for that amount and that's it. The website name and its contents suggested that it was a govt agency and it was for visa application.

Not technically Asia, but consider Sydney.

Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese women aplenty for RnT or FS. All safe and pretty decent pricing (will be slightly more expensive than the countries posted above).

Also easy to go with a tourist cover story as it’s not a known mongering city.

Try Hong Kong and its walk ups. You can knock on doors and reject them as you like.

Protest wise, I personally think it is dying down so it wouldn't cause too much disruption I hope. I live here so I know.