@Rob ******

he obviously didn't break any rules

@KO *******

My pleasure. If you're willing to escape SEA and feel more adventurous, I highly recommend India and Nepal. Taiwan as well, but it's first world prices.

Danang is very appreciated. Since you mentioned Saigon (huge city, far from beaches) I can suggest Siem Reap (small town that shoots way above its weight in terms of restaurants and nightlife + the spectacular Angkor Park) and Hanoi (also huge but more charming than Saigon). Penang is great… Foodie heaven and ok beaches. I enjoyed La Union, which located about 200kms north of Manila.

No apology required… it was clearly indicated on the image the shared.

@Why****

Thanks for the rambling. But being visited a 2am by a cop who informs me that it will be “better” for me to drop a case after being robbed by a hotel owner isn’t fun. You can keep on wearing rose tinted glasses, but I will video every interaction with the police.

Not turning on my phone camera when a cop threatened me

I lived in 3 of the countries you’ve mentioned: South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Vietnam would be my first choice, by a long shot. But it’s a bit of a challenge. South Korea is an interesting place but socially difficult and Thailand is the defecto expat country in Asia, especially for retirees. It’s easy and inexpensive. Btw… People rave about Kuala Lumpur.

@Robert *********

The government has data. Non U.S. related but my mother used to work for immigration Canada and it was the same. The cases of foreigners from non western or rich Asian countries like japan, Taiwan or Singapore skipping their return flight was high on tourist visas. My ex wife (Thai) managed to get a U.S. tourist visa (she was a millionaire (in dollars) and real estate investments) and did exactly that. Skipped the return and went through the entire process to become a U.S. citizen ´the painful way’. My reasoning is this: every illegal case costs a fortune to the federal government to process. From what she told me, it’s countless fillings and court appearances. All of that represents significant man/hours.

@Jorge ****

Yep. It happened to an acquaintance of mine. He attempted to do what I guessed was his 15th or 18th visa run. He had been on back to back visa exemption stamps for more than a year. They told him to get a retirement visa, or else, he'd only be allowed 4-5 months per year. The funny thing is that he was in his late fifties (at an age when he could qualify for retirement visa) and was an ex fireman on full disability after a serious accident (no problem with money). But he preferred to stash his £4-5K monthly disability pension in property back in the UK rather than do the same in Thailand. He left for Cambodia and never came back.

@Tobben *******

they just don't want people living for several months on back to back exemption entry stamps.