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Plenty of places in Nong Khai at reasonable rates. Porntip Exchange in Thasadet Market offers reasonable rates. Even a few hotels offer the service because of the high volume of shoppers from Laos.

Have two kids here who are fluent in thai and english. As well as having a working knowledge of a third and fourth.

One is 16 english, thai, okay in mandarin & vietnamese.

The other is four and can flip effortlessly between thai & english and is showing signs of a basic understanding of french (which neither my wife nor i speak).

We started early with both kids! Day one. Speaking to them both. Wife - thai, me - english. 

We have taught thru songs, stories, everyday conversations. 

The oldest was using books, flash cards etc as we did not use or have internet back then.

The 4 year old i use the internet and has proved to be the better of the two methods. Using it in a controlled manner with time limits in conjunction with hands on activities i anticipate no "learning" or behavioral problems. In fact I feel having a child in this day and age not having a working knowledge of a tablet or smart phone will be a disadvantage.

I worked with a linguist a few years back and they stated most children can handle as many languages as they are exposed to. Children will work out which language works best for them. Just think almost every child is bilingual. Just the other language is numbers, which in itself is a form of language. And we never doubt that a child will learn their abc's and learn the language of mathmatics.

It is believed the best time frame for learning 2nd or 3rd languages is between birth and age 3. This is believed to be the optimal age range. This is then followed by age group of between 2 thru 7 and finally early teen years to be exposed to a second language. 

Thankfully every child is different and it is never too late to keep learning.

1- parent should only use their native language

2 - there should be some sort of motivation for the child to learn a second, third, or fourth language

3 - there should be some form of reinforcement to using a second or third language (friends outside of the home environment) maybe playing a sport outside of the home using only a secondary language etc.

Good luck. 

For a Tourist Visa to enter Canada the number one way to ensure approval is to be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt of her returning back to Thailand.

Strong ties to Thailand like family, work, owning land, vehicles etc.

Just having money helps but is not going to get you a TRV.

She must submit compelling proof she will return back to Thailand.

Although married when my wife applied for her first TRV we listed out all of her assets and then listed out all the counter reasons to them for being denied a trv. Our application took about two weeks to put together with some help from a professional visa agent. We were successful in our first attempt.

If she is looking at permanent residence it is a more difficult and lengthy application process.

I would suggest gathering all the application forms and start building a file with all and every important piece of imformation you can get and start from there if serious. Randomly filling in the form and sending it off showing 500,000B in the bank will not be sufficient, in my opinion.

Good luck it is a bit of a trying process but with a thorough and well thought out application there is a good chance of success.

Some Canadian airports can be a pain about having a proper Visa or onward ticket. Major international airports like Vancouver & Toronto I have always had to show an onward ticket within 30 days when using visa exempt method. 

Otherwise you should have no problems with your moving around.

I am sure you already have it, but make sure you have a good travel insurance plan. 

Enjoy.

It is the responsibility of every parent to participate in their children's upbringing. This includes their education.

Unfortunately it seems that after about grade 3 many of the parents I see here have difficulties in assisting with their child's homework.

A proper mixture of home schooling is recommended anywhere. Both my children receive constant review of current classroom studies along with additional studies at home covering current events, world sciences, and language. 

Leaving plenty of time for football, dance, cooking, and swimming. All extra curricular activities my children love. 

Just an FYI...I am more exhausted than my children at the end of the day. I am too old for this stuff now but I keep at it for my children.

Sorry to hear of your issues. As a parent here with two children can understand your concerns. 

I have not had any issues and really have no idea of all the legal matters. However there are rules of law here even if some do not believe it. I would suggest to find a Thai person you know and trust to help if you do not speak fluent Thai. Then proceed to the local cop shop. In all of my experiences I have always met local police willing and wanting to help. Asking for a good family lawyer as well. 

It is the same as in the US or UK, Canada etc it is difficult for the Father to get full custody no matter how shitty the mother may be. If the child is old enough to make her opinion it may help. 

Don't know your circumstances but if you live full time in Thailand you may be looking at years of this going on. If you are not able to make some arrangement with the mother I would look at making plans to get your child out of Thailand back to your home country.

Both of mine have dual citizenship and multiple passports. I have them registered in programs in my home country (medical programs, registered school etc) they are registered with Embassy of my home country in Bangkok and could get them out of Thailand on short notice. Number one item you need to work on is getting a letter done up giving you permission to travel with your child out of the country. 

But for the time being I would get a translator you can trust, get yourself down to the police station to explain the situation. I have even used the people from immigration in some situations. I was just at the local amphore were my wife and I got married to get copies of death certificates and several of the people all spoke excellent English and would be another good resource.

Remember not all Thai people dislike foreigners. Many will help if they can. You just have to ask sometimes.

Good luck.

It is very unfortunate to go to these lengths to draw attention to such matters.

What always worries me having children here who are being raised in both Thailand and North America, is in Canada she is taught to reach out to the police for help as needed. Then teaching them to avoid the police here in Thailand. 

After spawning two children here, boy and a girl, it has been interesting to see some responses from local ladies both married and single.

You see, and not thru my good looks, our daughters DNA mix up produced a rather startlingly beautiful child. 

Somehow the mixing God got it right and blended her with my wife's softer Thai roundish face, my American chin, nose and Irish Pearly white skin.

My wife is always asked by Thai women if she is the step mom as they can not believe this dark skinned Isan woman produced this remarkable creature.

To the point I have been lucky enough to be able to have acquired decent Thai language skills and can carry and understand some conversation. 

At many functions we go to at some point in the evening my wife is usually asked about the possibility of using my swimmers for a family member etc..

I find it rather amusing at times. But goes to the point of the .. desire of some women or family members searching for that certain look of child that can sometimes come from a mix of Thai & Caucasian blood lines.

Never carried it further than a good laugh but on occasion have hinted to my wife how much we could charge for a good specimen. Never really get an answer. I am thinking not much.

Not sure if the upload worked but here should be a copy of a standard consent form any country's government website should have. It has been widely known for at least the past 30 years that children under 15(possibly 18) should have this letter either travelling alone, with a single parent/ guardian, or other friends and family.

consent-letter_lettre-consentement-eng.pdf

I looked at putting my child in here and after visiting and meeting some of the staff & teachers, including Westerners, I came to the conclusion that my $10,000 per year fee would be better spent elsewhere.

Not sure of your qualifications but if you can speak a little English, are a good looking female, and have never taught in an International School you should have no problem getting a job. 

Does salary really matter? Looks like an easy gig.

Have not seen what they include in a rape kit in Thailand, but in general they look for the following:

foreign hair (ie, not the subjects)

Blood

Semen

Skin fragments

Other foreign debris such as clothing, man made fabrics, twigs, leaves, grass, paint, wood fibres, soil and so on

Bruising

Nail marks on the skin, both external & internal

Sweat

Saliva 

And more...

All of which combined with the victims statement will lead to one initial result. In this case the victim, it must be assumed, either provided an original statement to a nurse or Doctor that she was raped or could not remember giving consent for a sexual act or acts.

Authorities should conclude in the initial stages of the investigation to treat this as a suspected rape case.

Some types of similar cases in North America have taken weeks, months or even years to come to a conclusion. 

If this young lady was intoxicated to the point that she was unable to make a coherent decision to have sex with someone then it should be treated as rape. Even if the suspected perpetrator or perpetrators were under the impression she consented.

If unfortunately she was coherent enough to make a decision and made a bad decision by agreeing to have sexual relations with a person or people this should be found out in the due course of the investigation. However unlike some posters who wish to demonize this lady she should be afforded the benefit of the doubt till all the information is gathered.

The bigger issue is when you begin to borrow on a credit card to live here in Thailand you are living on dangerous money.

It becomes a difficult cycle to break. I assume your next salary is at least 60,000 baht to pay off your card and then some left over to live on.

If your salary is a teacher salary at 30,000b then you are in some trouble.

Unless you absolutely need it for an emergency I would suggest riding it out until payday. Even it means no Christmas, parties at new year's etc.. 

Living on debt in Thailand should only be done in dire circumstances...my opinion only.

It is a good idea for him to meet the parents. Have a good look around at the place. What it has, what it doesn't etc. Because the fact of the matter is that in under 5 years this is where his child will be living out the rest of their life. It will be of some comfort to know the place is reasonably OK. Issue arises if he sees it is a shit hole then knowing his child will be in for a lifetime of poverty. At this point pray to whomever you follow the kid is a boy. If it is female and a half breed and resembles him in anyway (skin tone etc) she will live a pretty miserable existence. In fact if he is still around in 20 years he could possibly run into her in Pattaya.

Heres hoping they are indeed nice people and perhaps when the child becomes an adult they may seek you out. But be prepared to answer those questions... Why did you leave me there? And so on.

Racism does exist usually will never see it to your face or bother you if you are here for a short while. You will probably not even notice it. 

But more than race is smell. Although my family are all down to earth farm people they are religious about their cleanliness. During hot season we can shower 5, 6 times a day. Always washing their feet, hair etc. Always amazes me when my wife will be out with a group and most of the conversation will be about food and how people smell. 

Unfortunately she will stereo type people based on their background. Part of why she is not fond of people from India region, French (but mostly the smoking backpacker group), surprisingly the Japanese (claims they all have stinky breath) and any Westerner who she claims don't bathe...ever. She says they have a smell of sour vinegar...

With the visa direct service thete is a fee involved between 8.95 & 12.95 depending on the amount sent. Still like the ease of use though.

12 hours ago, jvc said:

 

 

Do you remember which bank was used on the Thai end?

12 hours ago, jvc said:

 

 

Do you remember which bank was used on the Thai end?

Goes to the receivers visa/visa debit card account. My wife uses KTB but heard it works with kasikorn and others.

14-18October - mekong fireball festival is probably the largest festival in the region for the year. Many places may be full mostly with Thai travellers coming see this event. Have a look at www.mutmee.com nong khai related events and for a place to stay. There are however quite afew hotels around but they will either full or getting there quickly.  

Right now my wifes trv extension request is sitting at 141 days to process. That time line grows and grows every week. They do not have 5he resources to handle all of the requests. Canada.

So i wish good luck.

Sorry meandered a bit there. To answer your original question, NO. The banks etc have no recourse in going after family members for outstanding debts, unless they co-signed a loan or are in some way listed on the original loan applications. Any assets listed to garner the loan are fair game for banks. 

If the loan was made unofficially by money lenders or local village money managers that is another matter all together. 

My wife being the only daughter in the family has the responsibility of looking after the parents in their old age. Lonnnng time ago this was brought up by my wife (prior to us getting married) letting me know this is how it was going to be. she wanted me to know the situation prior to me making the commitment. The two brothers are not under the same responsibility as they have left the family home to raise their own families albeit they still send money home to help out. The flip side is that when the parents pass on my wife inherits the land (is already in her name) and house for the next generation to live in and on.

Is it the Thai girls responsibility, no. But I believe we all have a "debt" to pay rightly or wrongly. As for me my parents are both dead but my wife made no bones about it that we would help look after both sets of parents if that was to be the case. She has traveled to North America to help her father in law (my father) when he was sick and I was working. To say I would turn my back on my in-laws, even if it was something terrible like a bad loan or whatever, it would be almost impossible for me to look into my wifes eyes and say no. 

Call me a sucker or whatever but I owed it to my parents to help them just as I feel I would help my wifes parents. 

Although younger than OP i left two years ago with wife and children and have not looked back. Wife loves it. Kids cringe when we talk about moving back. 

Schools top notch, excellent restaurants, friendly neighbors who want to talk about all things. My wife still misses family but whenever we talk about going back she just shakes her head, no. She has met some good friends, enjoys driving here, still has Thai restaurants around to enjoy some food but now enjoys going out for a good steak now and then.

But each to their own. You may hate moving back. Bad weather, grumpy old farts sitting around the bar talking crap etc. 

Lets see. He gets home wife starts to unpack his bags...lo and behold she finds diamonds! Are these for me she says. Him..no idea what they are, that is not my bag.

Wife...okay, lets throw it away and pretend we never saw it. Here let me take it and lets go eat.

Next thing you know shes making a call and he gets pinched for theft.

There is no way in hell if I picked up the wrong bag and it looked like mine we would not make a quick look to make sure.

But me thinks there has been a long term scam going on here and he was taken advantage of due to his condition.

Living in North America now and have quite a few foreigners in my little town. In the middle of nowhere really. Oil town. The Filipinos, Jamaicans, Mexicans all have been routinely checked out by immigration and believe me what they put them thru is a lot worse than what I experienced in Thailand.

So to say it does not happen in Western countries is a lie.

In fact before my coworker received her PR status she lived in fear for 4 years because any little incident could set of another round of inspections. Some locals would get upset about something claim there was some illegal workers etc and the next thing you know immigration was around asking for papers, ID, status, taking photos and videos.

I have seen in both Canada and the US. To tell the truth I would much rather deal with Thai Immigration officers than an American or Canadian border agents.

Interesting, i use a service out of Canada called Visa Direct and the transfer happens immediately. Person on Thai side just needs to have a visa card or a visa debit card with active bank account.