Concerning Thailand, it is very easy to open an account at Kasikorn there. It took me about 10 minutes and then I had the Visa card too. You can find more about this in the Thailand thread.

In the Philippines I have an account at BDO. Dollar account and pesos account, however the rules changed in beginning of 2009, so now I think you need work permit to open an account there.

Maybe you should try to transfer smaller amount. If you have been transferring like 10-100K usd at one time, that might be why you have troubles with your bank accounts.

What do think of the beach vendors in Boracay, are they ruining your stay there?

Concerning Moneybookers, I have used it to transfer to my Filipino account and transferred to Betsafe without any problems. I do not think it is forbidden in the Philippines. Neteller on the other hand is totally illegal, so do not try to access your account there from the Philippines, then they will block it till you are back in your home country. Solution for Neteller is to use Teamviewer. You need to install it on an online computer in another country and here.

Hey everyone,

I may be interested in moving to Manila soon, and I've got some questions about it.

How easy is it to rent a decent apartment there with just a passport (on a tourist visa.) ?

How about opening a Bank Account? What documents do I need to show? Are there any banks I can open an account with, with just my passport and a paper from my apartment ( once again on just a tourist visa.) ?

Poker is, more or less, totally fine there right? I mean I can go around telling people what I do and not expect to have to deal with any negative legal **** because of it later down the road, right?

How easy is it to withdraw to a Filipino bank account from a poker site?

Can anybody give me a rundown of some of the Casinos in Manila. Info on stakes (what levels do they have at low stakes,) as well as overall softness and time to go to find the most fish/softest games?

Best

RE your questions

So I can open an account with HSBC with just a passport, receipt from my apartment and only on a tourist visa/visa on arrival?

Would it be equally as easy to deposit onto a site from an HSBC account?

So does that mean the majority of apartment buildings will be willing to rent to me even if all I show them is a passport, and pesos as well of course ? or
Is there a specific area in Manila or name of apartment building the would be more likely to rent to me if this is all I have and am on a tourist visa?

Do you really need more than that anywhere else? Passport and money, that is all that is needed. They do not care if you are here permanent or on a tourist visa, as long as you pay your rent, pay the deposit and sign the rent contract.

Okay, good point! so what about a Bank Account?

Is HSBC the recommended Bank to open an account with, and can open one with just a passport, some paper from apartment and on a tourist visa?

I have travelled to places where vendors are a way bigger problem so maybe my tolerance is a bit higher. I don't think they are a huge problem, the just bother you at daytime when you walk down white beach. I thought it would be worse.

When I tried to get money vom MB to Stars I got a message from MB that I tried to send money to a gambling site and that this is not allowed in the Philipines.

Can someone plz comment on my visa problem?

Visa is easy think it cost approx 3000php to extend it to 60 days.

Try visiting some travel agents in Boracay and ask them to do it all for you. They will probably charge you around 500php for this service.

Its totally fine. But with everything regarding large amounts of money over here be wary about who you speak to. Loose lips sink ships and all that

I am looking for an unfurnished 2 bedroom appartment close to rockwell (long term).

I dont want to pay more than 20k Pesos. A pool would be nice.

Any recomendations?

I live since a year in a poor area of Makati in a 4 br appartment for 13k.

can you buy in the shopping malls clothes of good quality ?
are the prices cheaper than in Europe for good quality clothes ?

in the last couple of months i was desperated trying to figure out where i could find a place where i feel comfortable with my live and where i could imagine to live.
I got a really good indication to the philippines that seems really an amazing country for me.
Nothing seems to me so lovely and beautiful than this country...

Im fairly certain that there are some poker players on the philippines and i would like to know more about the living there/girls/food etc...
It would be fantastic to know someone before arriving and maybe go for a drink if im there....


Im looking forward hearing from you. Thanks in advance

gerald

There's an entire PI thread man.

A whole bunch of 2p2ers as well.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/92...lippines-1799/

yes

Brand clothes are cheaper and non-brand clothes are a lot cheaper. Quality of brand clothes probably the same.

The shopping malls are amazingly big and modern. Probably better than in most European countries.

Yeah, you can in Greenbelt. They have both very high end designer clothes (ferragamo, bally, etc) and good quality but somewhat less expensive non-designer clothes. The non-designer clothes are less expensive, but the designer stuff is about the same, still ridiculously priced.

Yup. It's really ridiculous - almost more expensive than in First World. Also, the designer stuff isn't really 'great'. Shopping for clothes in Manila is a real battle.

I overstayed my visa in 2008 and just paid a small fine at the airport and it didn't affect any future visas at all - but I'm uncomfortable with 'recommending' such a line obv. They may have changed policies etc since. But I think if you just make out that it's an accident, they'll just fine you a small amount - innocent mistake etc. But make sure you arrive at the airport an hour earlier than otherwise.

For Moneybookers, you can get around the no-Asia rule but you'll need a VPN so your IP is from home. Try www.strongVPN.com if you are desperate - they are god for VPNs.

Also EcoCard is god. But I don't think Stars accepts it yet.

Moneybookers and NETeller are definitely blocked in Philippines. Not sure how RealOmahaKid got around the no-Asia block.

TeamViewer is far inferior to a VPN - VPNs are relatively painless and cheap.

I actually look at my Moneybookers account with my Filipino IP yesterday, and I have transferred from it to my Thai and Filipino bank account this year, without any problems.


"Yoyo", I have some questions about strongVPN..
1. Which package is best for the Philippines?
2. Do you use open or PTPP
3. Do they have servers close to here, so speed is high?
4. Do you have to open the pokersoftware in an another window?
5. Can you play at Full Tilt with Filipino IP and another site with another countries IP at the same time by using the strongVPN
6.Will hand history etc be downloaded to the server location or to my computer?

x

Oh I just had a realisation re: Moneybookers - you can use it in Philippines to P2P to other MB accounts and other banking. You can't deposit / withdraw from gaming sites with it since they brought in the "no-Asia" rule mid-2008 or so...

Thanks so much for the help YOYO, I will dump Teamviewer and let my server back home rest from now on I actually thought it worked kind of like Teamviewer hence question number 6.

I transferred into the Thai account and Filipino account in 2009, not this year. and I made a withdraw from Pokerstars to Moneybookers in November/December, but I were registered with my European country at both places at that time, so maybe that is why it worked.

hey guys

i have discovered this threads couple of days ago. Well im looking for some advice about cebu. Have some of you been there/are there currently 2+2 members?
It would be interesting to know who is there and whats up...

Im seriously considering moving to the philippines /at least spending a trip this year.

What would be a good estimation about the cost of living in cebu city/area.

(including rent, food, electricity, other costs) ...

regards gerald

A great site for cost of living, and a lot of other stuff: http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/housing.html

What is the live poker scene like in various parts of the country?

Is there a legitimate enough live poker scene outside of Manila?

I am thinking about moving to the Philippines and I was just going to move to Manila, but I've heard a lot of people saying, go somewhere else in the country, NOT Manila.

Is there enough action, traffic, good games and such at Casinos in other parts of the country (Cebu, Angels city,) or if I want to be able to play live poker whenever I want should I pretty much be going to Manila.

I would be playing lowish stakes (which live probably means like $1/$2 or something like that,) so if Casinos in other parts of the country have enough traffic at that level and a little higher, that's more then good enough for me.

I guess I should also ask, are there even Casinos outside of Manila and if so how many, (how many in Cebu, How many in Angels city, how many in wherever?)

In AC there is 1 casino, but at least 4 poker rooms beside that one. One negative thing here is that they allow smoking. Stakes are usually 10-20, 25-50 pesos, sometimes higher.