I guess my needs are few and my job options have been reasonably good.
plus you can choose where to live. and there’s Internet shopping, so nowhere is really too far from creature comforts.
The mofo wouldn’t stop. What an utter dickhead.
2 Likes
Kind of agree, not completely untapped cos there are people making a full time living from it but just a few.
I often thought about if I was retired, just buy a van and do some day tours, specialty tours. It isn’t difficult but you’d need a tour guide licence maybe .
But now…There’s no market whatsoever for any foreign tourists.
You barely live in Japan though. 
2 Likes
I’ve had the opportunity to potentially move to Japan and the work culture there really turned me off ever seriously considering it even though I love visiting it for work (briefly) and vacation . Yes it was Tokyo and I quite like Tokyo too.
The problem is that Taiwan doesn’t effectively market itself to Western tourists. There’s also the issue of language. Outside of Taipei, getting by without English is more difficult, especially for the non-intrepid tourist types.
Japan has huge cultural and language barriers, but because it’s a prime destination, there are more solutions available for those.
Yeah good point. Japan is incredibly popular with tourists worldwide with massive growth of western tourists also.
Couldn’t believe it when I visited Tokyo, always jammed the last few years at immigration .
It wouldn’t be hard to grow western tourist numbers to Taiwan but making good money from them is another story. That’s tourism all over though isn’t it, quite an unreliable business to be in.
I went to Bali last year and it was completely dead and that was before the covid crisis (volcano and off season maybe). Same with Phuket a few years before .
Taiwan has great potential but the government would need to invest in branding. And the infrastructure for Western tourists needs to improve. HSR is great but some of the most beautiful spots aren’t easily accessible via HSR. And many of the accommodations aren’t up to snuff.
In some ways Taiwan is in a bad spot. It’s not SE Asia, but it’s not Japan either. So it’s hard to calibrate expectations when selling it as a tourist destination.
2 Likes
That’s exactly why I liked it. Didn’t work or really interact with locals more than once or twice. Everything else was really comfy, and I spent less on food than in tw. Gonna go back there later and suck it up for a year or two while I try to get PR and then bye bye local work environment.
What do you mean its not South East Asia? I mean, it very clearly is part of it. Not only that but there are plenty of remnants which scream South East Asia to me. Crowded pathways, bustling street markets, humid tropical environment, old run down buildings from yesteryear, 10 scooters for every man, survivalist mentality amongst the people, polluted skies, hidden spots, noisy, loud and full of life. For better or worse it’s an experience that’s for sure. Not like the sterile and polished streets of a place like Seoul in South Korea for example.
For me Taiwan is the very personification of South East Asia. Sometimes I sense that Taiwan would love to be seen in the same light as Japan and Korea, which they idolise but the differences are just too vast for that to happen anytime soon. Taiwan should be proud to be itself. Nothing wrong with being a part of South East Asia
Taiwan promotes itself as the “Heart of Asia”, not SE Asia.
While Taiwan might share some similarities with SE Asian countries, SE Asia it is not. It’s not considered a part of SE Asia geographically, and in terms of economic development, it’s more developed than almost all SE Asian countries.
For comparison, the per capita GDP here is more than double that of Malaysia, which has the highest per capita GDP of developing SE Asian countries (read: countries excluding Singapore and Brunei).
Taiwan’s per capita GDP is closer to South Korea’s than it is to Malaysia’s. And don’t even look at Taiwan’s per capita GDP compared to Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, etc. It’s in a different world.
But I agree that Taiwan should be proud to be itself. It’s a really unique place. How you market that to Western tourists is the challenge though.
3 Likes
Absolutely, really would be the hard part.
So I have a new plan aimed at Tourists including Taiwanese.
1 Like
I’m sensing some snobbery here. Geographically speaking it is part of South East Asia. As even some parts of China are considered part of SEA technically speaking. It seems to me you think that due to Taiwan being wealthier than its SEA neighbor’s, that Taiwan is too good to be associated as part of it. Not at all.
We all live in Taiwan, and we’ve all seen the blatant daily discrimination against those poorer countries migrant workers here that occurs on daily basis, but to dismiss geological fact as you do so simply because it is wealthier than them reeks of discrimination. At the end of the day it’s all in a name but the name right now is part of South East Asia. You deny that very fact? For what? To not be associated with those poorer countries? Taiwan has bigger problems to worry about.
Yes, really not good guy. Wonder why he even posted the video, makes him and Americans look bad in Taiwan. He seems think Americans are top of the world and others that do follow his orders are rude.
I’m not condoning any belief that some Taiwanese have about their superiority to SE Asians. I dislike discrimination wherever it is found. I’m an American and even though I have chosen to be in Taiwan for the time being, I love SE Asia. Pre-COVID, I enjoyed frequent travels in SE Asia and count many friends in SE Asian countries.
But Taiwan is geographically considered East Asia, not Southeast Asia. There are substantial economic and cultural differences between Taiwan and SE Asian countries. Recognizing that again does not mean I am making a judgment as to superiority, etc.
4 Likes
I wish the food was as good as many SEA countries.
9 Likes
Yes the food here is overrated IMO. The novelty wears off quickly.
4 Likes
Isn’t it both ? North and South Taiwan aren’t exactly the same .
2 Likes
And also Pacific Island-like, with Indigenous folks sharing Austronesian languages and some parts of their cultures with Pacific Islanders.
Guy
Okinawa