[fernandes]

The reason why rio is more expensive is because of simply supply and demand. More people want to go to rio then Bucharest or Bangkok, not that the later 2 are boring cities, but rio has just got more glamor and overall a more attractive city.
But ya, $3400 a month is expensive.

[DirectDanger]

(08-20-2013 10:11 AM)fernandes Wrote:  

The reason why rio is more expensive is because of simply supply and demand. More people want to go to rio then Bucharest or Bangkok

Whaaaaaaat?

"This year, Bangkok will become the most popular city for tourists, beating out perennial favorites like London and Paris.
The Thai capital is expecting 15.98 million international arrivals this year, according to the Global Destination Cities Index forecast."

http://www.businessinsider.com/bangkok-m...013-6?op=1


The complexity of why some place is more expensive goes way beyond a popularity contest.

[fernandes]

Maybe it's the level of tourists.
The tourists that go to rio is willing to spend a lot more than tourists who go to Bangkok.

[Prosal]

(08-20-2013 10:11 AM)fernandes Wrote:  

The reason why rio is more expensive is because of simply supply and demand. More people want to go to rio then Bucharest or Bangkok

You're attempting humour I guess.

Brasil has priced itself out of the market and Rio and SP are the two most expensive cities in the Americas.

I've been last year on a business trip to Sao Paulo, the Hilton Morumbi that was 100 € per night six years ago is now 420 € per night (a room at the Times Square Marriott is about 300 $ per night by comparison). And even at those rates you need to book well in advance to ensure you can get a reservation. It is undoubtedly by far the most expensive in the Americas. I then wanted to spend a few days in Camburi (Sao Paulo Litoral Norte beach), but couldn't find any nice pousada for less than 200 €/day (off season) ..... a fucking pousada in Brasil is nowadays more expensive than the Grand Hyatt Jakarta or the Four Seasons Bangkok. Go figure !

And if it was just the hotels, but everything is overpriced.

[fernandes]

Yes it's overpriced. But they won't be able to charge these prices without people paying them, like you said, you need to book in advance. It who is forcing the people to pay? No one. This was what I meant by supply and demand. Foreign tourists may not like to paybut there are people who will.
I see restaurants hotels all doing very well here.

[Prosal]

(08-20-2013 11:03 AM)fernandes Wrote:  

Yes it's overpriced. But they won't be able to charge these prices without people paying them, like you said, you need to book in advance. It who is forcing the people to pay? No one. This was what I meant by supply and demand. Foreign tourists may not like to paybut there are people who will.

Hmm. For your information, cost of life is a major problem for brasilians.

[fernandes]

It is a very major problem here. You can't save much, transportation is bad, cars are overly taxed, education is expensive, supermarkets charge ridiculous prices.

Hence you seen the recent protests I guess.

[Prosal]

(08-20-2013 11:10 AM)fernandes Wrote:  

It is a very major problem here. You can't save much, transportation is bad, cars are overly taxed, education is expensive, supermarkets charge ridiculous prices.
Hence you seen the recent protests I guess.

I don't really understand your logic. First you say that Rio is expensive because of "simply supply and demand, more people want to go to Rio then Bucharest or Bangkok" (which is pretty absurd), and then you agree that it is also outrageously expensive for the brasilian themselves.



Let's leave it there anyway.

[Technics]

(08-20-2013 03:07 AM)Prosal Wrote:  

(08-19-2013 10:58 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Ambition/Intellect/Curiosity of the Women

Rio: 7/10
Bucharest: 5/10
Bangkok: 2/10

I found most middle/upper class Cariocas to be socially, and intellectually sharp. I was in Rio at the height of many of the protests, even being caught in the middle of a particularly violent protest, and was impressed with the eloquence and understanding most women had about the issues their country faced. They understood the history of their nation, had clear ideas about where they felt their country was going, and were deeply proud of their Brazilian culture. Many had traveled and made keen observations of the world. In a completely non-game aspect, I enjoyed many of my conversations with Brazilian girls.

What I really dislike about brasilians is that they are fanatical about their own culture. And they don't have [b]any proclivity for self-deprecating humour about the ridiculous sides of the "brasilian culture" (like the ridiculous habit to cover themselves head to toe with clothes displaying brasilian flags when they travel abroad). I had an exemple recently ...I was talking with a brasileira friend of mine and wanted to tease her a bit about how silly are the lyrics of most pagode, funk and axe songs (which is only true). She became berserk. Brasilians never accept any criticism about their "culture", whatever it is. For them, anything brasilian is necessarily great. This is the huge difference with Russians for exemple, who are very patriotic but do have a lot of self-irony, especially about their own country, they love to laugh about themselves - in fact, Russian humour is, most often, self-deprecating. A brasilian will never laugh about himself. Also about humour, as I already said, try to make humour with a brasilian girl and most often you'll get the same stare than you get from your dog when you try to explain him quantum physics.[/b]

I'd wish BTW that someone could explain me what is "brasilian culture" - from what I know, Brasil has never produced a Dostoievski, a Tolstoi, a Shakespeare, a Zola, a Kant or a Victor Hugo.

That said, I pretty much agree with your comparisons, except for quality of food (food in Brasil is awesome and incredibly diverse - I've made a post about it, and there is in Rio many good regional restaurants), and your 8/10 for beauty of women - there is gorgeous women in Rio, but the streets are not paved with them, far from it (I also dislike the arrogant "sou carioca" frame of mind of Rio's women, like if Rio was the only good place on earth to live in).

So true. If a brazilian speaking about his/her country were to be believed, you'd think they are talking about heaven itself. No problems whatsoever.

I tend to think this type of absurd nationalism shows itself most often with countries that are either newly existing (Pakistan, Israel for example) or just finding their own identity.

[luggage]

Great Comparison MaleDefined!

Will you be in Bucharest any time soon?

[fernandes]

All I am trying to say is that the prices are dictated by market forces. The government wants the prices to come down, but it's difficult. It is expensive yes but this is brazil.
Lets hope for a day where exchange rate is 1:4 to the dollar

[TheBulldozer]

(08-20-2013 12:14 AM)bacon Wrote:  

Great write up

Could you expand on the language issue, which place did you get by easiest on just english. Also how much of an effort did you make to speak thai, romanian and portuguese?

I am familar with the Thai visa rules, but for Brazil it is difficult for Americans to stay longer than 180 days in a year on a tourist visa. I am unclear on the visa situation in Romania, could you touch on your visa experiences?

I understand Bucarest is a much smaller city so I imagine things are less expensive since its not an international city but could you briefly discuss your opinion of a cost of living comparison between the three cities? Thanks

I'd say the easiest to get by with just English is Rio. As noted in my original post, I missed out on the most beautiful girl in my life while in Bucharest largely because I couldn't communicate with her well.

I'm not very versed on visa rules because I wasn't there for long enough to care about them. There are others on the forum who are much more qualified to answer visa questions than I am. I've heard property ownership in Brazil to ease visa restrictions considerably, but at this point I have not investigated this thoroughly.

Rio is by far and away the most expensive. Prosal claims it's the most expensive in the Americas, but I found cheap entry points in Rio if you're looking for a deal. Personally, I marvel at how expensive NYC is every time I arrive back to it. Bangkok can be done easily on a tight budget, but I love that if you have a Rio or NYC budget you can live like a fucking king there. Suits, bottle service, penthouse apartments, etc.

[TheBulldozer]

(08-20-2013 03:07 AM)Prosal Wrote:  

(08-19-2013 10:58 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Ambition/Intellect/Curiosity of the Women

Rio: 7/10
Bucharest: 5/10
Bangkok: 2/10

I found most middle/upper class Cariocas to be socially, and intellectually sharp. I was in Rio at the height of many of the protests, even being caught in the middle of a particularly violent protest, and was impressed with the eloquence and understanding most women had about the issues their country faced. They understood the history of their nation, had clear ideas about where they felt their country was going, and were deeply proud of their Brazilian culture. Many had traveled and made keen observations of the world. In a completely non-game aspect, I enjoyed many of my conversations with Brazilian girls.

What I really dislike about brasilians is that they are fanatical about their own culture. And they don't have any proclivity for self-deprecating humour about the ridiculous sides of the "brasilian culture" (like the ridiculous habit to cover themselves head to toe with clothes displaying brasilian flags when they travel abroad). I had an exemple recently ...I was talking with a brasileira friend of mine and wanted to tease her a bit about how silly are the lyrics of most pagode, funk and axe songs (which is only true). She became berserk. Brasilians never accept any criticism about their "culture", whatever it is. For them, anything brasilian is necessarily great. This is the huge difference with Russians for exemple, who are very patriotic but do have a lot of self-irony, especially about their own country, they love to laugh about themselves - in fact, Russian humour is, most often, self-deprecating. A brasilian will never laugh about himself. Also about humour, as I already said, try to make humour with a brasilian girl and most often you'll get the same stare than you get from your dog when you try to explain him quantum physics.

I'd wish BTW that someone could explain me what is "brasilian culture" - from what I know, Brasil has never produced a Dostoievski, a Tolstoi, a Shakespeare, a Zola, a Kant or a Victor Hugo.

That said, I pretty much agree with your comparisons, except for quality of food (food in Brasil is awesome and incredibly diverse - I've made a post about it, and there is in Rio many good regional restaurants), and your 8/10 for beauty of women - there is gorgeous women in Rio, but the streets are not paved with them, far from it (I also dislike the arrogant "sou carioca" frame of mind of Rio's women, like if Rio was the only good place on earth to live in).

You've been in Brazil more than I have so your insights always make me think a bit. Much appreciated.

I suppose I was not put off by the 'eu sou carioca' vibe because my 'eu sou new york' vibe at times is equally as strong. In fact, I wish more people were proud of who they are considering it shapes one's personality so strongly.

On the food aspect, I suppose I did not try enough regional variation of cuisine in Brazil. Where as I had to seek out good, correctly priced food in Brazil, I could not avoid amazing and cheap food in Thailand.

[TheBulldozer]

(08-20-2013 04:10 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

Would you admit to some slight bias in favor of Rio because it's so fresh in your memory?

I thought about this considerably when I saw how much more I rated Rio as opposed to the other two, especially Bangkok. However, the overarching 'could I live here?' question played heavily, and for me Rio is easily the most livable city for me.

[Cattle Rustler]

(08-20-2013 11:28 AM)Technics Wrote:  

I tend to think this type of absurd nationalism shows itself most often with countries that are either newly existing (Pakistan, Israel for example) or just finding their own identity.

I find the problem with people from "emerging economies" such as BRIC countries. They think their country is the shit and the west should bow down to them. But yes, Brazilians waving their flags and Chinese dressed in LV head-to-toe are the worst.

In many OKC profiles they write "WESTERN GUYS, I'M NOT LOOKING FOR A GREEN CARD. I HAVE USA/EU VISA AND CAN TRAVEL ANYWHERE FREELY". Caps included from their behalf, not mine.

At that point I just troll them and say, "You seemed like a cool person until that point. I could care less about your visas, at the end of the day your country can default and have your visas revoked."

[TheBulldozer]

(08-20-2013 11:51 AM)luggage Wrote:  

Great Comparison MaleDefined!

Will you be in Bucharest any time soon?

At the moment no. However, I am always a text message away from setting up a time to come visit my friend.

Unfortunately, I've got some other travel lined up that will limit my time and budget to get to Bucharest.

[Clint Barton]

Went to all three. Awesome comparison by MaleDefined. None of them are perfect in all facets. Best thing that a man can do is visit all three cities.

[Aliblahba]

(08-20-2013 01:36 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

At the moment no. However, I am always a text message away from setting up a time to come visit my friend.

Good call. Romania is a train wreck right now and on the brink of civil war. If you do decide to go, text me also. You'll need a wing to help traverse the travesties that might befall. I know the mean streets of NYC toughened you up, but this different.

[fernandes]

I dont see why 1) high prices dictated by market prices, and 2) cost of living being a major problem, cannot be mutually exclusive.

This is the reality, so what? What can you do to solve the problem if you live in the country?
complaining is the last thing you want to do.

[ravzanpat123]

I have been to Thailand for a long time, however I haven't spent much time in Bangkok. And when I was there I felt so hot and ill that I couldn't do much. From what I have noticed about Thailand, the non pro's tend to be good girls and know basically no English and are curious about Westerners but don't/can't talk to them and are too shy to go anywhere with them. The only exceptions to this are the 'Westernised' Thai girls that may have had fairly wealthy parents and have gone to an international school or had connections to a Western person and know English and about Western culture. The 3rd type of girls are the pro's (ladyboys and pro's that are real women) who will be easy and not fussed about what you look like.

I'd never banged a non-pro that was your typical Thai girl. I have done it with a girl who spoke perfect English, knew a lot about the world, lived in a decent home, and wasn't even a semi-pro. However never a non-pro that is a Thai girl that has been around Thai people her whole life and never interacted with foreigners. I tried it with 1 'good girl' by going on a date, treated her nice, never made any sort of physical move on her at all during the date (you just don't do that in their culture) and I didn't think she thought much of me, but next thing I know she was sending me loads of messages the next day and had just fallen in love with me instantly. I planned to make date number 2 but I couldn't. It would have probably taken 3 dates to get a kiss out of her (would have to be somewhere private). I would be surprised if I could sleep with her on the 3rd date as she was definitely a good girl and almost certain a virgin. She was probably expecting me to be her boyfriend forever and live her life with me rather than just a ONS.

I didn't think you could have a ONS with a normal Thai girl, but maybe in Bangkok it is different. As I said, I wasn't in Bangkok for long and was sick when I was there so couldn't do much (plus the heat was unbearable).

[fernandes]

If you want to complain about brazil, you should not go there in the first place. No one is forcing you to stay at th Hilton morumbi, also no one is forcing you to go to camburi.
I love brazil and I love our culture.

[Cattle Rustler]

(08-20-2013 07:45 PM)fernandes Wrote:  

If you want to complain about brazil, you should not go there in the first place. No one is forcing you to stay at th Hilton morumbi, also no one is forcing you to go to camburi.
I love brazil and I love our culture.

^^^ Proves the previous point about Brazilians getting offended when someone criticizes their country. Every place has its cons, learn it and accept it. High CoL ≠ culture.

Tourism does not increase housing prices, insufficient housing and a real estate bubble does.

Interesting note about hotel prices next summer...Brazil's tourism board has asked world football governing body Fifa and hotel operators to try to bring down hotel prices – which have reportedly sky-rocketed for the World Cup period.

Quote:

In some hotels featured by the Fifa-appointed agency Match, room rates will be up to five times higher during the tournament, a recent study suggests.

If regular rooms are going up to 5x the price....I can't imagine how much they'll cost.

[WanderingSoul]

(08-20-2013 03:40 PM)ravzanpat123 Wrote:  

I have been to Thailand for a long time, however I haven't spent much time in Bangkok. And when I was there I felt so hot and ill that I couldn't do much. From what I have noticed about Thailand, the non pro's tend to be good girls and know basically no English and are curious about Westerners but don't/can't talk to them and are too shy to go anywhere with them. The only exceptions to this are the 'Westernised' Thai girls that may have had fairly wealthy parents and have gone to an international school or had connections to a Western person and know English and about Western culture. The 3rd type of girls are the pro's (ladyboys and pro's that are real women) who will be easy and not fussed about what you look like.

I'd never banged a non-pro that was your typical Thai girl. I have done it with a girl who spoke perfect English, knew a lot about the world, lived in a decent home, and wasn't even a semi-pro. However never a non-pro that is a Thai girl that has been around Thai people her whole life and never interacted with foreigners. I tried it with 1 'good girl' by going on a date, treated her nice, never made any sort of physical move on her at all during the date (you just don't do that in their culture) and I didn't think she thought much of me, but next thing I know she was sending me loads of messages the next day and had just fallen in love with me instantly. I planned to make date number 2 but I couldn't. It would have probably taken 3 dates to get a kiss out of her (would have to be somewhere private). I would be surprised if I could sleep with her on the 3rd date as she was definitely a good girl and almost certain a virgin. She was probably expecting me to be her boyfriend forever and live her life with me rather than just a ONS.

I didn't think you could have a ONS with a normal Thai girl, but maybe in Bangkok it is different.

The heat in BKK sucks. Probably my biggest complaint. The heat and humidity here makes you (or me at least) very uncomfortable a lot of the time.

You can definitely have a ONS with a "good" Thai girl, but not a very reserved and traditional Thai girls. It really comes down to your definition of what a good girl is. I've had ONS with girls from RCA and Thonglor. Educated University girls who spoke varying degrees of decent English. They are not hookers or semi-pros at all, but they are not traditional good Thai girls either.

They are chicks who have good families, have money, education, etc. that like to party. They mostly hide it from their parents, just as many Western girls do. I would compare them to the girl at the club back home who isn't a straight slut, but also isn't a 3 date type of girl either. Just a normal University girl out having some fun. So I'd consider them good girls compared to a semi-pro, but they are not marriage material good. Just your standard college chick.

The only Thai girl I can think of that I banged that spoke almost zero English and hadn't interacted with farang before was a girl I met at Route66. Her and her long term boyfriend has just split and I pulled her from there back to her house. Very Thai, virtually no English, never been with a farang before (as far as she said and I could tell, who really knows) and was definitely 100% Thai. However, she wasn't a good girl by any means. She was a little tramp, but god damn was she a lot of fun to fuck.

I'll take the slightly slutty University chick over a good traditional Thai girl any day of the week.

[TheBulldozer]

I doubt I'll be there, but my advice would be to make some sort of connection with a person down in Brazil now, and see if you can stay with them on the cheap if you're serious about going to the WC.

[Innuendo]

Great writeup,
I lived in Bangkok and I'm a Bucharest local. I was planning to visit Brazil but given how expensive it has become I would rather spend my money elsewhere for now.

(08-20-2013 07:04 AM)Que enspastic Wrote:  

The reason I ask is because Romani gypsies are probably the greatest pickpockets in the world and it's Romania from where they originate.

They originate from the Indian subcontinent, get your facts right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_t...ple#Origin