OneMoreFarang

It's not only you who has to be cool. Imagine she has a lover in that other place and imagine she told that lover that he beats her up. Then look what happens. Do you have a gun with you? Are you prepared to use it? If not, then better think twice.

In part I agree with you. But I disagree with your conclusion about him going away and she staying where she is. I.e. if I would get a great (time restricted) job offer for a year i.e. in Singapore, then I would think hard if it would be a good idea to take my Thai gf with me. I am sure it would be difficult for her to adjust to another country. And what would she do over there when I would be at work? Being separated for a limited time, with visits, might be a better option, at least IMHO.

I think many of us lie from time to time, not just Thai people. But constantly lying to our partner, family and friends is not acceptable.

Maybe that would be a survey here, but I wonder how many people who work in Thailand were ever asked to present their work permit. I work here for >20 years and nobody ever asked me at work (in my office, in any customers offices, or at home). I needed the work permit from time to time i.e. to open a bank account. But that was obviously up to my own timing. If there is nobody out there who wants to bring you into trouble, then I think the chance is very low that anybody will check.

One more thing just came to my mind: If you look anyhow at her Google timeline, what does the past, maybe several years, show? Did you visit that place also before? Maybe over a long time? And/or are there other places which she visited regularly "unexplained"? I am not sure that is the way to go forward with this. But if you are already looking at that data, then look at it.

Or maybe your lawyer will think: If that stupid farang thinks he can win this then I am happy to do all the work and charge him for that. One day, maybe after my 10th invoice, he will realize that some things are impossible...

Coming back to the question in the headline: "Is it okay to lie to your partner of 5 years?" Even after more than 10 years I wouldn't want to answer all possible questions with the truth. Like: did you ever have sex with another girl while we were together in the last 10 years? Of course not! And if I would have done that 5 years ago, I wouldn't be so stupid to admit to it now... So maybe your first question should be if you want to stay with her together if she would not disappear anymore. And if that is the case, then ask yourself if you really want to know what happened. Or can you accept that she did something she shouldn't have done and now she does not do it anymore. Can you say or tell yourself: Forget about it. That's the past. ?

I wrote what I heard from my accountant, and what two other lawyers told me who regularly open companies with farangs who need visa and work permit. Now my VAT registration is in progress and soon the employees will be registered. I will find out in the next couple of weeks how long it takes. IMHO one big issue in Thailand is always that what is officially required is not necessarily what is really required - for any official business. Some time ago I wanted to get a Thai driver license. I read about all the requirements on their website. And then I spend time and money to get my original driver license translated and that translation certified. And then I actually visited that office. They were not interested in the documents which they said on the website they needed. In my case they preferred the expired English version of my international license instead of the official translation of my original not expired license. I know this thread is not about a driver license. But it's about which documents are required. And maybe the regulations are not as strict as you think. Or maybe I will find out in 2 months that it takes at least 3 months. Let's see.

It depends on those facts. If the facts would be that my gf gambled away "my" house and now f#%$% with a loan shark so that he gives her more credit, then I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to know the details. There is some truth to this:

Maybe, just maybe this is (part of) the problem. Maybe she just wants some time without you. I am most of the time together with my gf at home. But sometimes I visit customers in their offices, sometimes I meet friends for a coffee or a beer. And sometimes she sees friends, or she visits her family up country for a week. We enjoy our time together but it's also nice to have a break from time to time. Maybe it's simple like that. Maybe.

Maybe he should ask himself first: What difference would it make how she spends the time she is lying about? If all possible answers are bad, then there is no point to find out which answer it is.

I am not sure if that is what you are looking for. It might be helpful: Official Wat Thamkrabok Homepage – Rehabilitation (wat-thamkrabok.org) I heard good things about that place (but my info was from years ago).

It seems the 3 months are no fixed requirement. I am in a similar situation right now and my accountant told me there have to be social security payments for the employees (and maybe tax, I am not sure). But according to that accountant she should be able to prepare the documents for me to apply for a Non-B visa and work permit about 1 month after the employment of the employees start. For me this is in the middle of Bangkok.

I wouldn't go to that special place. Because if you are there, then spontaneously bad things might happen. Avoid! First, I would tell her in no uncertain terms that you don't believe her BS stories. Ask her to tell you what's going on. And maybe add some words like: Or I will find out what is going on. I.e. you could ask other people if they saw her somewhere, you obviously don't want to mention Google. If she admits something or from then on, she doesn't disappear anymore, then maybe all can be fine again. If she continues to go there and tells you BS stories, then maybe send someone over there and look what is at that place. But obviously be careful. But also ask yourself: Do I really need to know if she is with another man, or in a casino? Or is the fact that she consistently lies to me reason enough to end this? Maybe ask yourself: What would I do if I find our she gambles (and loses money)? What would I do if I find out she has sex with one guy or different guys? Do you really want to know?

It seems you think you can hear the difference. So just to confirm, you say you will hear the differences between 128kbps and 256kbps MP3 and FLAC (lossless), correct? Do you hear that with any setup? Or just with very good headphones? Or 5k speakers? Any music? Or only your favorite tracks? I agree these days there is no reason for compression anymore, disk space is cheap, and bandwidth is no problem. But is that a reason to delete all those old mp3 files and start from scratch? Personally I don't think so.

If the source is very bad, then obviously nothing will make it good. But 128kbps MP3 is already good. Not excellent, but good. Nobody would have used it for years if it would have been so bad. When MP3 emerged about 30 years ago lots of people compared files with different bitrates. And people tried to save disk space. Most people at that times were happy with 128bkps. This is why lots of files are in that format. I am sure also today most listeners wouldn't be able to hear a difference with ordinary speakers in ordinary rooms (maybe with AC running). There are only few people who have the high-quality devices and the hearing to differentiate between good and very good.

I recently saw a video from a professional fire fighter. He showed a couple of ways which are not successful to stop those fires. His summary: Just let it burn. And try to make sure nothing else catches fire.

Sure But then there are those people who think they are smart and who buy cheap. And then they are surprised when bad things happen. How could that possibly happen? ...

And people should remember their passwords. I met lots of people who had backup of their phones online. But they were never able to access those backups, or continue with their accounts, because they entered once some passwords, probably short after they bought their phones, and then never used those passwords again. And then there are consequences. It seems too many people don't understand the consequences or can't be bothered to think about them and make sure they don't end up without their own data.

Maybe he can convince the mother that there is more to life than only good grades. At least I think that is what he should try.

You have a point. And in a way it is good when the mother looks that the child gets a good education. But there is something like too much learning. For proper development kids also have to play with friends and alone. And when kids didn't have that over the years when they develop nothing can make those kids "healthy normal" again. He should try to find a solution where the kid learns and plays.

I share your concern about Lithium battery fires. But electronics can be cheap and without any regulation the batteries would die on the first charge. There will be some electronics. How good or bad or reliable is a different question.

I imagine that decent teachers and decent schools know that a child should not study 24/7. If a school and teacher and mother insist that your child lives like that then they don't have the best interests of the child in mind.

And then other tourists go to other places in Thailand and complain that the locals don't speak English, don't offer proper (western) food, that the food is too spicy, etc. For most tourists it's a good idea to go to tourist places.

With your not existing knowledge about phones (and prices) I suggest go to a proper shop. And if you think you don't want to spend a lot of money then buy a cheaper phone - and not a cheap knockoff.