hopdafru

Thanks everyone for your post. Really helps. I just panicked because I might do jail time and right when I was getting cash to get my startups up and running. Ill ask my probation officer if it is possible however it is more of a 5% chance of being accepted. Look, I work hard and I'm stupid for the dui. I've made mistakes but I took being stupid for being creative and adventerous. So this is my solution, please keep the comments coming bad, good, even the guys who think there better than everyone else. Since I can't start my business and I can't make money at a job. If I am going to do time, I plan on investing my money so it can grow while locked up. The only thing keeping me here is not fear of being caught in the future but fear of not being able to see my family and visit. Go to my parents funerals when they pass. Meet my nieces and nephews when my sisters have kids. I guess I'm a coward for not going but I can also be a coward for not staying. Its easy to judge when yoy have none of these problems. Ill keep you posted on this in the upcoming months. Hopefully I don't panic and leave. Lol

Is it really possible in your case (felony + probation officer) to just purchase an airplane ticket and leave the country? If so there must be some procedure beforehand and the trip must make sense to the authoriies...

If you can't make it out of the country you're better off using you intelligence figuring out what to do in the US for the next 2.5 years (a previous poster has a few ideas - you could also reflect on what got you where you're currently at). You can always come to Thailand then and compare the reality here with your current expectations.

Good luck and I hope you at least find a way to drive around in CA, not fun for sure riding the bus.

So how did it go roykeanz? Supposing yo are in Savanakhet by now or have you returned safely to LOS?

You say in the first paragraph that your wife "is a lovely girl and a great mother".

Leave it to her. You mention that she worked in the Head Office, is this relevant to working in a branch? Whether she was a cleaner or an accountant is irrelevant to being a good mother. Intelligence, job, level of society etc don't make a good mother.

Communication is the main issue with my wife in bringing up our kids.

Fair, firm and consistent.

My wife wants to do things the way that she knows(how she was brought up) and I the same.

Some things I didn't like, like chilis in the mouth as a deterrent' or 'the knitting needle across the legs'. Similar to parents of my parents' age. We have the added benefit of child psycholgy in our countries so remember that Thailand is behind in this area.

Some things I did not allow to continue - "what you allow, you condone".

On the other hand, I'm a lazy, selfish **** and ideally would have spent more time with the kids.

A word of warning - don't talk to your kids about the Thai way as being inferior. This will instill a feeling of not being whole in your kids. I've seen a friend's kids turn out to have sever psychological issues. The father didn't allow Thai language in the home, talked about Thais being inferior etc. Your kids are half Thai and they should be proud of this.

Can you really see a big difference in 2 year old kids from your country an Thailand?

I bet your mother is filling your head with what is right.

Talk with your wife and work as a team. Forget International nursery and all that bs. I've seen kids go down that route and end up total wasters with drug, alcohol, and psycological problems.

Love is all you need and they will end up fine. If you push them to be a brain surgeon, they might just rebel.

Really well said; i'm currently visiting family in paris and nephews/nieces live in stress and the teenagers are dealing with addictions and drugs although parents have highly 'respected' jobs and education.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

With 6 grand of savings you can get yourself a 6 month return ticket (about 2 grand) and have enough for 6 months in LOS, especially if you live with your GF and avoid Soi Cowboy, Nana and the likes (which I assume you will...)

I've seen people who barely speak english and landed teaching jobs, in your case, being an american with a teaching degree and with a litle bit of courage going out there sending resumes and making appointments, you should have several options, and it should be easier and more pleasant with support and love from your GF, definitely something to look forward to and get a sense of purpose from! :-)

On your next visa run, after a month in LOS, do it in Vientiane where you have several schools looking for diplomed teachers starting in September, I'm thinking in particular of both VIS (Vientiane international School, great salaries) and Lycee Hoffet, the French school (used to have a teacher from England so you should be eligible) - I would send both a resume before leaving/upon arrival and arrange an appointment a month later, nothing to loose and there's definitely a need for people like you. (many other schools as well, google is your friend.)

If things don't work out, which is unlikely unless you drown even deeper in your stupor and/or fall into alcohol/sex dependancy/abuse, you have a ticket back home with your father waiting for you, so you won't end up stuck / a bum in BKK streets. Thailand is a gamble, it might work, it might not, but it's always better to do something than nothing, especially with opportunities definitely available there if you go after them, and a loving GF which has been waiting for you a year and is willing to help.

This puts you in a much better position than many, you actually have a lot going for you; just get over the fear, or put it aside: the positive shock you'll get after a few weeks should take care of it - no need to stress too much once there, enjoy your time with GF, good food, smiling people etc. set yourself reasonable objectives, don't raise the bar too high, don't rush and as they say, don't tink too mutt ;-).

If you're depressed, be nice to yourself, get the rest you need and it should all fall back into place, you do have time (if this semester doesn't work, 15 days being a short time, the next will)

Good luck ben, you'll be just fine!

6 years back upon arriving in Laos i had developed a beer gut, 1m75 & went from 68 to 75kg and moved to beer lao which is made from rice. beer gut receded 80% and I was back to 67-68kg in about 6+ months. No exercise whatsoever but must admit I changed my diet somewhat to 2 meals a day, less restaurants / more asian food (60%) - & I still eat bread.

It just went away to my surprise as I drink almost daily 1 liter+ (I do add ice which helps avoid dehydration ;-) ) - way more at weddings, parties etc.

Nowadays when I have lager beer I don't drink as much for some reason...
My personal conclusion: rice beer + less food intake and less meat made it happen - maybe worth trying if you don't want to quit drinking and exercise a lot just to get the gut back as soon as you stop the regimen.

I don't know how much time you guys have spent in Lao / Isaan, but I can assure you that carrying gold is still a cultural way of having money available at all times as it is carried at all times, lao/isaan representing over 25 million people.

Also, the buy/sell price difference for gold is about 100 baht (was a few years back and cannot be much more nowadays), which is less than 1% as long as gold 1 baht is above 10k THB, this is less than most of us pay when exchanging money or going to the ATM - and every market has a stall where gold can be sold / bought.

Definitely not nonsense or excuses, it's simply the way things are done there, hence the 'difference' as OP perfectly undestood and his lady confirmed as well.

It's not because we foreigners do things differently than how locals do it makes it nonsense... if one is more attentive to the local ways, better understanding will come out of it thus avoiding paranoid reactions and/or conflictual thinking...

As they say in isaan: sokdee der ;-)

Yes I lived in Isaan and I know that people would rather buy gild and leave it under the pillow than put it into a bank.

However, if you bought a 1 baht block of gold then you could possibly sell it back for a few hundred baht less. However if you buy jewelry, such as this instance, then you have to pay the makers fee of about 700 to 1k baht and then, when you sell it, a smelting fee and whatever wear weight the gold has lost, which the gold shop will over exaggerate. So I don't see how you are not apologising for some very selfish behaviour here.

So are you really saying that if your child was due an operation and you left money for said operation while you went away to make some more money for your family only to find out that the minute you left the country your wife had spent all the money you left on jewelry to show off to her friends, then when the time comes and your child needs the operation your wife comes to you asking for the money again because she has already spent the money you left with explicit instructions that it was to be used to help the child and now she cannot get back enough of the cost to pay the hospital, that you would be totally fine with this?

Ok, we both agree that Lao/Isaan people prefer buying gold than putting the money in the bank.

As to your example, of course I wouldn't agree if I left her with money/gold in case of emergency and she would then have me pay twice, I didn't mention any of that in my post, simply the difference in culture. My wife usually keeps about 1 baht on her and in at least two occasions sold part of it to pay for hospital expenses for family members and I would then replace the gold if I am confident that was the purpose of the expense, which I am (she shows me the exams which I send to my BIL in europe for medical advice)

from my experience, when she exchanges gold jewelry, she exchanges the bigger one for an existing smaller or different 'model' and pays a small fee 2-300 baht, 1-3%.

To return to the OP's thread, my thinking is that understanding the differences in culture is certainly helpfull in discussing and deciding how to raise kids in a multicultural environment (the gold issue if understood being one less subject of discord), and the post above by fletchsmile definitely brings sensitive ideas which I believe could be helpfull to the OP in regards to his issue.

Just sharing my experience and not pointing any fingers; I certainly accept that experiences may differ and we should share them amongst ourselves for our common benefit ;-)

The gold thing is nonsense.

It should have been put in the bank as directed..not a one sided decision by the mother. Does she ignore all input from the father..

You don't buy gold to possibly sell it tomorrow. It's a complete show off thing nothing more nothing less.

More excuses for differences..that's not a difference that is just doing what the mother wanted.

Why didn't she ask if it is ok to the buy gold? The answer is obvious.

Too many guys interpret stuff to avoid the obvious ..they make excuses for the wife's action.

Clearly the op is an intelligent father..and has rationalized the situation..he really knows what he needs to do

^^^This.

If you buy and sell 1 baht of gold on the same you will lose about 1500 more baht of what you paid, so about 10% of the cost.

Gold here is a silly investment for the short term but that's not why she bought it. It was probably just to show off with no intention of selling it and he has every right to be angry that she spent money intended for his child's hospital bill was spent on gold for the mother without permission. I'd be livid myself.

I don't know how much time some of you have spent in Lao / Isaan, but I can assure you that carrying gold is still a cultural way of having money available at all times as it is carried at all times, Lao/Isaan representing over 25 million people.

Also, the buy/sell price difference for gold is about 100 baht (was a few years back and cannot be much more nowadays), which is less than 1% as long as gold 1 baht is above 10k THB, this is less than most of us pay when exchanging money or going to the ATM - and every market has a stall where gold can be sold / bought / exhanged.

Definitely not nonsense or excuses, it's simply the way things are done there, hence the 'difference' as OP perfectly undestood and his lady confirmed as well.

It's not because we foreigners do things differently than how locals do it makes it nonsense... if one is more attentive to the local ways, better understanding will come out of it thus avoiding paranoid reactions and/or conflictual thinking...

As they say in isaan: sokdee der ;-)

OP: don't listen to all the negativity here as no one has met this beautiful young lady and no one is in your skin either. If you feel it's right and can afford 100k thb then go for it, listen to your heart and see for yourself. Take your time and if it works out it's all good, if not, learn your lesson and move on.

Whatever you do take your time, there's no need to rush; enjoy the ride and when the time comes, make sure any important decision is realistic in regards to your personæ and situation. At 33 your certainly have time to Live, build usefull experiences for yourself and perhaps contribute something to the 21 year old and her child.

Good luck!

At 33 he should have a career, not <deleted> around unless he is a trust fund baby , has a good work option or a 6 month millionaire of limited means.

it depends, if he is the entrepreneurial type he could benefit from her help in starting a small business somewhere.

Although when he wrote earlier that he was getting the 'better side' of the deal, I'm assuming he doesn't care if she gets the 'lesser side'... so I guess he'll be renting her for a few months unless they really have something going on and can realistically work out a living.

up to him eh!

OP: don't listen to all the negativity here as no one has met this beautiful young lady and no one is in your skin either. If you feel it's right and can afford 100k thb then go for it, listen to your heart and see for yourself. Take your time and if it works out it's all good, if not, learn your lesson and move on.

Whatever you do take your time, there's no need to rush; enjoy the ride and when the time comes, make sure any important decision is realistic in regards to your personæ and situation. At 33 your certainly have time to Live, build usefull experiences for yourself and perhaps contribute something to the 21 year old and her child.

Good luck!

I am not legally married, but we have been together six years and have a 4 years old daughter.

I return to England a lot on business.

Our daughter developed some asthma like symptoms whilst I was away and needed hospitalisation. This cost.

The day before I left last time I gave her (my common law) twenty thousand baht on top of my usual imput to look after the little girl should she fall ill again.

She immediately went out and bought herself a gold ring at 18,500 baht. I guess to show off to her friends and family.

When I played up she cried and I fell for it dousing my anger and accepting it without mentioning it again.

I emphasise with the OP and am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I may have to, somehow, put more into the raising of my child. Income is necessary though.

There is such a massive gap in the Thai thinking to our Western ways. All is not bad of course but some mystifies me to distraction yet we will never win.

I'm not sure in which direction the gap is but perhaps your lady simply thought wearing the money was better and gold could be resold any time to pay for your childs care (in addition to expected 'higher' status as she is with falang and possible gain from resell value)

in any case I believe it was a smart move and a guarantee the money would be available in case of emergency instead of being spent over time, in the interest of the child vs. temptation to spend the cash.

Maybe you should ask your lady what her intention was when she bought the ring, as we sometimes have difficulty understanding / translating ones actions and often being mistaken given the huge difference in culture.

my 2 kip worth ;-)

Laos is USD10k under which no questions asked. over which simply explain use of money (ie buy land / car)

Btw good place to store your money if you have difficulty taking it out of LOS (no problem taking money out of Lao to EU)

"The manufacturer of the underwater locator beacons (ULB), that were mounted to the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of MH-370, specified their ULB would transmit ultrasonic pulsed sounds at 37.5kHz +/- 1kHz at 160dB (re 1µPa). After a period of 30 days the ULB would still transmit at that frequency at 157 dB. The manufacturer did not publish any data beyond 30 days (certification criteria). Other manufacturers specifying their ULBs also at 160dB initially and 157dB after 30 days state the ULB would still transmit after 90 days though at around 150dB, the frequency drift may exceed 1kHz."

I'm tired of hearing from every news source that the pings suddenly stop after 30 or so days, according to aviation herald and other reputable technical sources this is not the case and adds to the impression of being mislead (along with all the other discoveries which ended up unrelated)

(the above info should be commented to various news sources as they obviously didn't do their research or 'simplified' their reporting)

The deep Indian ocean, along with it's bad weather, silt bottom, huge distance from Australia and 'ping Doppler analysis' (traveling @ 300 m/s is 1ppm of light-speed thus Doppler effect on 1.5 Ghz is only 1,5 Khz... why would anyone bother to apply Doppler correction even with 20 Khz spaced channels?) defining SAR areas the size of entire countries etc... make it a convenient place to loose such an aircraft for ever, not to be found again.

A commercial 777 flying unnoticed for 7 (!!!) hours after last contact is absolutely unheard of and makes no sense what so ever...

But I'm not going to add to the speculations here, but instead suggest that information such as the one above be sent to news media to be verified so they stop misleading the whole planet, unless today's reality about being an intelligent journalist is a choice between intellectual prostitution or unemployment?

(added note: Reuters writes today, april 15: "The batteries in the plane's black box are now two weeks past their 30-day expected life", which is almost a week off! amazing!)

Last year we had 3.5 tons per hectar. Sticky rice, in Vientiane, Laos

This year we are expecting about 4 tons which is average+

A neighbour only got 2.5 tons per Ha last year but he worked pretty much alone

We grow once a year rainy season as no irrigation

1 Ha=6rai

Bag sizes vary so difficult to compare.

We have 12 Ha but not enough people so some families work part of our land and we get free bags but I can't tell what percentage of the crop.

Some people grow more by adding chemicals or natural living stuff (fungi, bacteria etc.) such as green-EM

I'm curious to know what the OP has decided to do, or which options he sees as most viable, it would be nice that after asking for advice, he share a bit more with TV.

Thanks!

http://menwithpens.ca/money-matters-part-1-of-6-declaring-paypal-income/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24135021

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-08-09/americans-giving-up-passports-jump-sixfold-as-tougher-rules-loom

FATCA is an interesting new headache for US citizens residing in LOS (and elsewhere) to look into...

Easy Peasy, deposit the said dosh into your paypal account. Next, once you reach your destination, open a bank account. Withdraw your paypal monies into your new account. Bingo, what's wrong with that?

They will invoke the not so new terrorism laws or accuse him of human trafficking or simply initiate one of the following:

they might fine him for not disclosing an account in his IRS form (a guy recently got fined 1500 Euros in France for not disclosing a pp account with $20 on it... and France can't be worse that the land of the free...

And I don't know if transferring $30k from Thai Bank to pp is easy peasy, maybe it is, I don't know, but something tells me it's not, just doesn't pass my smell test IMO.

Being a US citizen can really be a headache. The US is one of two (or 3?) countries in the world (about 200 countries...) which taxes its citizens wherever they live. Thus creating the need for double tax treaties to avoid double taxation.

If my memory serves me correctly, there were about 40 of those countries 10 years ago, so if you live in a non-treaty country, you pay twice and I don't think the IRS cares that much.

There are a bunch of Americans returning their passport and abandoning US citizenship for this reason alone, but new laws are into effect to make sure people still pay Big Brother.

ONE word;

BITCOIN!

Can you contact me directly explaining the bitcoin and how it works?

Bitcoin is very volatile and I'm not sure how to transform bitcoins back into US$.

The swap idea is a good one, used by offshore banks to move money for their customers, without moving it, basically invisible... expensive think and usually for large sums of money (ie much more than $30k)

Also, be very careful with transporting money or wiring it without proper declaration here AND in the US where the IRS could make the thai tax authorities look like nice kids playing in the park. Money now has metallic ink which will show up on airport scanners, try putting a magnet over a $100 bill & see for yourself.

Chokdee

Yes you can... Emigrate to LOS and take wow etc. (once Ajahn has allowed u to do so)
But will you still like it after a few weeks?
Maybe try Suan Mokh for 11 days and see what happens first.
Chokdee ;-)

Nottacus... If that is all you can say then you should SAY NOTHING. This shows what's you are.., itis never too late to change.

I commend the Thais, and their instant selfless response.

Imagine the grief of having to deal with such a terrible tragedy.

Sent from my RM-892_apac_laos_thailand_219 using Tapatalk

Yes, never too late...

There are currently Lao and Thai people writing songs and posting them on the internet as a direct response to the grief and to wish the deceased good luck in their next life. I've rarely seen so many postings / online activity, especially in regards to the loss of foreigners.

Owk Phansaa / Loi Kratong is on Saturday, there might very well be more and bigger floating rafts on the mekong as a result of extra effort and money spent to pay respect to all the victims (about half foreigners). Maybe something to check out and verify first hand what the true nature of most Lao and Thai people really is?

_{Hope the Thai divers aren't pilfering items from any bodies or baggage they find. Remember Lauda Air?}

The divers risk their life to go there and i doubt they take that risk in the hope to steal something valuable.

Ambulance crews do it. Fire brigade does it. Why won't the divers do it?

Because, unlike ambulance crews and fire brigades, divers operate under water, and there is a very strong current, especially this time of year.

And what makes you think Thai or Lao rescue teams are more likely to steal found items than say French or English teams in a similar situation? It could very well be the opposite!

Also, it is clear from the pictures & video's posted so far that items such as bags have been found and most likely stored for identity verification and will be given back to the family of the deceased. The scene you may be imagining, where Lao / Thai rescue teams, police and military get together and go through dead people's stuff to take soaked dollar bills and drenched iphones/laptops, and then agree on how to share the proceeds, is very unlikely in my eyes and for a whole bunch of valid reasons linked to this exceptional event.

If you ever go to Ubon in the next couple of weeks, and see a 1.000 baht bill laying on the ground, what would you do? There are probably hundreds of bills which fell from the sky or were blown by the wind, spread across a huge area. Would you simply leave it there, take it to the police (555!) or pick it up and buy yourself a steak with lauded money?

**** Foreign language edited out ****

There's a free app by logMeIn called LogMeIn Hamachi that does just that; install on computer in the UK and your computer in thailand and you're all set.

Instructions on their web site, super easy and works great.

quote:

It may be up to the Americans and the British to decide how they handle questions of freedom and the protection of their citizens from government intrusion. But they have no right to subject the citizens of other countries to their control. The shoulder-shrugging explanation by Washington and London that they have operated within the law is absurd. They are not our laws. We didn't make them. We shouldn't be subject to them.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/jakob-augstein-data-spying-programs-threaten-german-security-a-907577.html

It looks more and more as the US is trying to impose its laws / view of society outside of its territories... Reminds me of when the privious president said 'if you're not with us, you're against us'... wow!

I would simply take the motherboard/hard drive/video card out and pack them with my clothes in the suitcase.

Leave the bulky tower in LOS and buy a new one back home...

I'm retired here, and not concerned with any of the above. Next

I'm retired here as well, and I don't know how you can say it doesn't concern you unless all your retirement money is tied up in Thai baht you are going to be affected by the strong baht. When I transferred money from Australia to here a month or so ago I was getting 32 baht to the dollar, now it's 29. Doesn't mean I'm panicking, but it does mean I'll hold off a while before transferring any more from Oz.

My retirement income is 4x what I need to live the way I want. How strong would the baht have to get for me to be concerned?

@kennedy,

From your previous comment I had figured you must be getting much more than you [currently] need - which you now confirmed.

5 years ago I felt the same way until I recently realized that combining inflation and exchange rates, my purchasing power had gone down 50% - much quicker than I had originally anticipated.

I don't know the details of your financials (or how old you are), but if you don't feel a bit concerned about the 2 issues above, perhaps you could share with us how you plan to maintain your enviable situation over the years to come?

Flexible panel technology is out as well, easier to transport and install.