Re: I'm really leaving the U.S. for a 3rd world country because of politics
Well personally I really don't think this is a bad idea. Thailand and Philippines is easier for western guys because people there can understand and talk English very well.
People speak English well... but at the same time, the expats must be cautious. There are quite a few guys out there, who would attempt to trick the expats with various ponzi schemes and offers.
You better believe it. If you decide to buy land in Central or South America, you need to find a lawyer. There isn't any Title Agency, in any of these lands. It is very difficult to determine who really owns a chunk of land being sold.
I don't have much knowledge about the Philippine laws, but in India foreigners can't purchase land. If you want to buy land, then either you must take the Indian citizenship (which require 12 years of residency, plus a fluency in one of the local languages), or you should create a private company and register it with the authorities.
When India was governed by the British, common law was the basic law of the land, although few Indians realized it or understood it. Within the last few years, the changes in India from common law to customary law have overridden common law. Probably there is enough influence of common law, still, so that anybody could use it if he wanted.
What is common law? Common law is essentially jury rule, where one man/woman has a claim of injury done by another man/woman. The jury decides who is right and who must pay. Probably, the jury in India would be free to decide, if the people pushed it. But they don't know this, so they submit to customary law, if there even is a jury invoked.
The updated (within the last 3 years, or so) Wikipedia map below shows that Pakistan and Bangladesh have common law governments, while India has moved away from common law to customary law. Since this map has only been updated in the last 3 years (or less), it might not show the true, underlying, legal law.
Click the map to open it to a larger size.
Legal Systems of the World
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Map_of_the_Legal_systems_of_the_world_%28en%29.png