NeverSure

Hawaii. What you're looking for doesn't exist in Thailand.

^^^ That makes sense. Thanks for coming back and clarifying.

OP, are you an American? I surmise it from your writing style?

If you are, you know what "being taken for a ride" means, right? Be sure to make your contribution for gasoline.

Cheers.

PS and Edit: I'm American and no slam intended. Cheers.

I must have jumped over the part about the sick buffalo.

-snip- Why should Thailand make it easy for those economic migrants who are just looking to stay long term somewhere cheaper than their home country?

Hi, I don't consider those people economic migrants. The difference is that they don't move to Thailand expecting to receive monetary benefits. Those moving into the UK do expect that and that may be the primary reason they are moving.

Western Expats know they have to support themselves in Thailand or they will fail and perhaps have to go back home, if they are lucky. If an expat can meet the requirements to stay in Thailand he may well have more money than many Thais even if he's poor by our standards.

I would agree that at least part of the reason many expats are in Thailand is because they perceive it as cheaper, but they still have to pay their own way.

Cheers.

Arrived in Bangkok this afternoon and already home in Korat with her daughter. I'll get the full story in a few days and relay it here but I do suspect her lack of sufficient funds convinced Immigration that she planned to work. The person meeting her there was neither a relative or boyfriend.

Not Muslim.

Please do report back. It's curious considering how hard it is for a Thai to get a visa in the first place. I would think there would first be some kind of relationship - fiance, spouse, business - that was the reason for the visa. In other words it seems strange that she didn't have a contact in the US who could have fixed this.

Cheers.

Was no one meeting her? Is there no contact person in the USA? She must have had something going on - someone, something, to get a tourist visa?

What really happened here?

Housing Internet

Yes, It does appear that they've separated business from IT and now have two major groups, but the groups are one after the other on the home page.

Cheers.

I don't see a lot of emphasis on the clear fact that the children are US citizens. If I'm wrong about that, the rest of my post is also wrong, LOL.

I would try with the hope that a sympathetic immigration officer would believe the mother should stay with the children who will waltz into the US without a "by your leave" once they have their passports.

Would US immigration truly turn the mother back?

OP, if the business end of what you need to do is this time sensitive, could you consider going by yourself to wrap that up, while working on the passports etc. for next time? I don't make the connection as to why this trip requires the wife and kids... ??

Cheers.

I'm not one of the experts here and I'm happy to be corrected. I speak up to say that if you haven't been to Cambodia or Laos you might take advantage of the opportunity.

Deleted... I'll let someone who knows for sure tell you about your back to back visa exempt entries and where you might go to get them. I only "think" I know, LOL.

Have a good trip.

Cheers.

Not very specific so for 1 month you will need...

Room 170,000b per month

Skooter just buy one 140,000 Honda forza

Food 1000b per meal 3 meals a day.. 90,000b per month

Partying.. Not sure on you party style assuming hookers and blow and hookers.. 100,000 per night x 6 = 600,000b

So 1,000,000b should cover you for a month.. But I did not include fuel.. Enjoy.

Why do you even bother posting if your just going to post nonsense?

because it's fun

I thougjt it funny because of the absurdity, but a moderator may see it as trolling, particularly since you think it 'fun'.

If i was you, I'd take it eady or you may find yourself on TV posting vacation.

Gimme a break. A mod will chuckle at that. That's not the kind of "trolling" they knock in the head. FWIW it made me laugh and I hope it sticks.

Cheers.

If 200 baht, or $5 usd is going to break you...you should probably stay home and think about why you are so poor, and living in a foreign country!

Nobody has said 200 baht was going to break them. That's is not a rational standard to judge every expense.

People hate the policy because it's RACIST because your race determines the price you pay. It is especially indefensible now that showing a work permit or Thai driver's license doesn't work.

I don't have the right to be racist to people in California just because they're not from California. That is <deleted> crazy and so are you.

California. Lessee. As a senior citizen, I have a lifetime pass to get into your beautiful Yosemite National Park (and any other US national park) for free. You, because you are discriminated against due to age, will pay $25 per carload every time you visit. Or, you can buy an annual pass.

In Anaheim California where Disneyland is, the locals can get a cheap annual pass to Disneyland. That's Disney's way of saying "thank you" for the infrastructure that surrounds the park. The locals pay the taxes that build the roads and other necessities that even make Disneyland possible. There's your dual pricing in your California.

I could give you a lot more examples of dual pricing in the US. I hope your mind isn't made up to reject the notion that the Thais own these Thai parks, can charge whatever they choose, and you can choose whether to go.

Cheers.

Hi Willie,

I have to be the dumbest guy on this forum, LOL, but I can't tell what the nationalities are of either you or your wife. The experts will be along to help but they will need to know those two things for sure.

Cheers.

Go to the nearest metal shop get them to weld on a metal handle onto the Thai head.

The head your'e looking for is available at Thai Watsadu

I would reconsider. The handles are wood to absorb the shock to your hands. If it's all steel and you hit a rock the vibrations over time can cause nerve damage.

Cheers.

OK for others, but I can't imagine marrying again much less to a Thai woman. There's enough strife between men and women without introducing a different culture and language. I'll stay single and run my own life, thank you. I'll also be happy to hold onto my money.

If I just had to get married, LOL, I do know of one situation that's not too risky. I have a school teacher friend who owns a new house on the government employee's scheme and a car on the new car scheme. If a guy moved into that all he'd have to do is make the payments to be a big help, then help with a few other expenses and he would be in a position to walk if it all went sideways. It's a very nice if smallish house and a nice 4 door pickup, too.

But still I like my freedom and it isn't enticing to me.

Cheers and good luck for those who give it a go.

Florida seems to come up quite a bit in threads. A popular place to leave. Or relocate to.

I think this is the reason that more Americans aren't expats. With America having 5X the population of the UK for instance, one might expect that Thailand would be overflowing with Americans but it doesn't seem like that to me. It seems to me that Brits and Aussies are over-represented based on populations.

The topic is "What would you do different". I tried being an expat in Thailand and I lasted a little less than a year. I've made numerous trips but months, not years is long enough, just for me.

I'm doing what "I would do differently". I'm thinking of moving to the SE US and perhaps Florida but at the least a nearby state such as Georgia. If I do I will still keep my home and car where I am, and all legalities running such as driver's license, car, home and health insurance valid and so on.

Giving it all up for a place that's insecure where I don't even qualify for health insurance much less can I own land and a house is now out of the question. I gave up my rented condo at the Riverside Apartments in Chiang Mai last year because I don't want to be tied down when I travel.

When I step off that plane and onto US soil I know I have a right to be here and I know there is the rule of law. People obey traffic laws and pick up don't drop litter. I really get tired of the litter. Americans have a choice of so many different climates and scenery and local food and...

To each his own but I did change and "do it differently". I'm happy with my choice as I can get onto a plane to almost anywhere, almost any time. I really feel free when I am in Thailand because I'm not stuck there.

Cheers.

Cute!

I have reduced the size of this video clip (was taken with my S5) so not sure what the quality is going to be like. If you can't speak Thai that well, ask your missus to translate.............

Edit: It won't let me upload the video (mp4 @ 3.7Mb)??

Did you try uploading it to YouTube?

Good job with the lizard.

Well, that's an awful lot of people, including the urban poor in the US, and they've more chance of getting shot or stabbed...

Let's stay real, OK? The gun murder rate in Thailand is the 5th highest in the world and is about 10X the rate per capita as the US. Yes, you are about 10X more likely to be murdered by a gun in Thailand as in the US. Link

Now, let's not even start on highway deaths which statistics aren't kept honestly in Thailand but are still atrocious.

Oh, and then there are those balconies...

It's amazing how people will sit in Thailand which is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and talk about how safe they are.

Now, what were you saying about your "casual grooviness?"

Cheers.

I won't drink anything unless it came from one of these.

Ryan, I'd jump in with all four feet and try to shut that other place down.

As for buy 10 get one free, the owners just have to sign it to avoid fakes and I think it's a good idea. All of the large American hair cut franchises that I know of do that, for instance. The annual rebate idea sucks due to bookkeeping, and gratification takes too long.

I would have daily or weekly sales on certain items. I'd have a chalkboard out front advertising them. "Beer, 20% off today." Retail businesses have what they call "loss leaders." They advertise a sale price that loses them a bit of money but it gets people in. Once in it becomes a habit and they usually buy other things that make a profit. It's a traffic builder. It's cheap and available advertising.

If you lower prices overall to try to beat the competition, once you've beaten them it's hard to get prices back up. Not so with temporary sales.

I'd get a Slurpee method and an iced coffee method as those are high profit items, and would draw people.

I'd improve my stock until I had what people would actually buy. Stores value shelf space and calculate sales per square foot of shelf. If a certain item is taking up shelf space but isn't a good seller it gets replaced with something else. Put the low sellers out front on a 1/2 price rack and try something else. Keep every square foot of shelf space moving or make changes. This is also how you learn what sells.

Yes, put some money into it, get that chalkboard and have continuous sales, increase stock as people have mentioned, get rid of things that don't move and add things that do. Add high profit items. In the restaurant biz, pizza has one of the lowest percentage of sales price food costs of all meals. I don't know if it would sell.

I'd seriously like to be right there with you. We'd kick some serious tail. I love this stuff.

Cheers.

As a last resort you could contact your Senator. It's amazing the power they have. Each state has two senators and there's one for your district. If you have trouble with immigration that's a last resort but it might work. I've known of two cases where it did.

You and your son are US citizens and your wife is the mother of the child. You have health issues that demand you stay in the US. I've never heard of a more compelling compassionate reason for allowing her to stay.

I wish you the very best with this. I believe it will all work out.

Cheers.

I'm not European or knowledgeable, but a British friend got a Thai to those places with a Schengen visa when he couldn't get her into the UK.

??

^^^ Beat me to it.

If someone is concerned about murders or traffic deaths per capita he should stay the heck out of Thailand. Every country has its dangerous areas and they tend to get the press. Thailand has as much danger to me in a small village as in Bangkok. Thais are "unique."

Thailand has one of the world's highest gun murder rates per capita and the same with traffic deaths.

Most Mexicans and Central and South Americans are nice people. They are mostly Catholic and usually pacifist. The danger everywhere is that outlier and we tend to focus on that because it makes the news.