CONCLUSION
Paying Western standard prices for a vacation in one of the poorest countries in the world didn’t set well with neither my wife nor I. At one point my wife, in her usual insightful manner made the comment to me, "Damn! The Philippine government is like a thief constantly picking your pocket." I had to laugh, but she was right. Considering we traveled nearly eighteen hours just to get to the Philippines we felt very let-down and certainly will not visit the Philippines for leisure again…ever.
We have traveled countless times to Thailand for both work and leisure and if we are going to travel half-way around the world for a vacation in the future, it’s going to be the beaches of Thailand. The people are much friendlier, more sincere and you get haggled far less. It’s also much more affordable with the traveler getting a lot more mileage for his/her dollar (or Baht). I guess the biggest difference between our experiences in Thailand and the Philippines, in my opinion, relates directly to the pervasiveness of Buddhism in Thailand. The general acceptance amongst Thais that bad karma will eventually catch up to you if you cheat or wrong another human makes it a much more enjoyable experience. In the many years of traveling to the Philippines I have come to the conclusion that "grab what you can and run by hook or crook" with little consideration of sustainable clientele is the rule of the day when doing business in the PI.
My personal assessment, based on traveling the world for twenty years, has brought me to the conclusion that the Philippines is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good people there, it just means you need to be aware of this if you are planning a trip. Unless you have close friends or family living in the Philippines, I wouldn’t recommend voluntarily spending your time or money there. My wife and I hope you find this article useful. Cheers.