Both Quito and popular spots in Thailand make great vacation choices, and now one of our Expat.com brothers who has visited both countries is deciding between them for a stay of at least two years.
I had an exchange of PM's on this with that traveler, The Largisimo, and arranged to move our discussion onto this thread for the wider audience of the Ecuador Forum.
The Largisimo (T.L.): I've gained back a lot of weight since my Expat.com avatar-photo was taken, and I'm concerned about living in the heat of Thailand -- Bangkok, Pattaya or Isaan.
cccmedia: In all three of those Thailand locations, it's hot and humid year-round. I visited Thailand eight times (always arriving in 'winter' with one exception) and mostly was in northern Thailand -- Chiang Mai. Even there it's brutally hot March through May, followed by humidity and heat that is at most only marginally more bearable through till October. Pattaya has the beach and all areas have swimming pools. But just walking around most of Thailand during the daytime is a schvitz-and-a-half after about three minutes. After spending July and August in Chiang Mai one time, it was clear to me that I could never live in Thailand year-round.
T.L.: I'm concerned about the high level of crime in Quito.
cccmedia: I kept getting nicked in so-called "crimes of opportunity" during my visits to Ecuador -- namely, thefts of a pickpocketing or snatch-and-grab nature. There was never any violence and I didn't take it seriously. Then on a visit in 2009, four malditos accosted me when I casually wandered onto their turf in South Quito at 4 p.m., stealing money and my computer-type bag after pushing me to the ground. (No computer was inside the bag; no weapons were involved in the incident). After that, I educated myself on crime-prevention and am more alert. I've had no violent incident since then, nor since I moved to Quito in June 2013.....I never encountered a whiff of trouble in all those visits to Thailand and felt safe walking around even late at night.
T.L.: It's my understanding that health care is quite basic in Ecuador.
cccmedia: You should be fine in Quito, given that outstanding care is available here at top clinics and at the two top-rated hospitals in La República: Hospitales Metropolitano and Eugenio Espejo. I have also experienced outstanding care in Thailand which I successfully used as a medical tourism destination for elective and minor surgery: liposuction at Chiang Mai Ram Hospital (2004) and a lip procedure in Bangkok (early 2013).
T.L.: I've experienced some holiday romances speaking Spanish in Ecuador and Mexico. However, I doubt it would be worth the effort to learn Thai since I may only be at my next destination a couple of years. I doubt I would ever reach a level of comfort in intimate conversation with a Thai lady.
cccmedia: I learned over a thousand words in Thai and for a while I was more fluent in Thai than in Spanish. But Thai presents special challenges. The language lacks similarity to English because it is not Latin-rooted...it has a complex system of tones...and the alphabet is completely different from what a Gringo has seen.
cccmedia in Quito
8 trips to Thailand, 1999-2013, 6 trips to Ecuador, 2001-2010 and moved to Quito, June 2013
Notes: The Largisimo is also considering a couple of places in Mexico that I'd never heard of, but specifically was asking about Ecuador and Thailand....Some of The Largisimo's comments from PM messaging were adapted for this Q-and-A format.