Guitar God

I have a place in Bangkok with the same problem. I'm convinced the majority of the sound comes in through the windows and balcony doors. Good double-glazed doors and windows would really reduce the amount of noise but so far I haven't found any places which sell them. I think if you found a source and replaced the widows it would be enough. I hate earplugs, it sounds like I'm underwater, I hear my heartbeat and blood flow in my ears and it's harder to swallow. I just lost a nice pair of active, in the ear noise canceling headphones that I used on airplanes. Those might be another option.

I think the problem lies with her going with me to a country where I have citizenship. Their only concern is letting someone into a country where once she's in, it's difficult to get her out.

They're not protecting me from anything in this case, we're just going there on vacation just like the last dozen times we went on holiday together.

I believe that, her sister with less ties, less income and no significant other applies for a tourist visa the same day and was approved. They only asked her three questions. Why she was going, what work her aunt did and when she was coming back. She is planning in visiting a Thai aunt and had all their paperwork, that he probably only glanced at.

I wonder what percentage of Thai women who travel to the US for holiday, who own land, vehicles, are finishing an advanced degree in Thailand, have family here, a government job and interest in a Thai business they are a director of and just bought a new house here overstay their visa or never return? 0%, .001%?

The difference between the situations as reported by TM and GG is that in TM's case the Thai citizen seems to have acquired all those listed assets before meeting TM while in GG's case it seems she maybe acquired much of those assets as her reason to return to Thailand subsequent to meeting GG.

Thanks for the information TM. I've heard that having a relationship with someone who has citizenship in a country that a thai citizen is applying for a visa for raises the suspicion that they're trying to sneak them in.

I think the key will be to show we both have strong ties here and that I haven't lived in the US for 2 decades and have no residence there nor any inclination to move back there.

I'm hoping I finally have the 1 year soon, the government closures delayed things so much I had to go to KL to get a second 90 day visa. This will be based on business.

Including a copy of the bank check for the house and specifying the type of my visa are good ideas I hadn't though of.

She did have a signed and stamped copy of the purchase agreement which had tax stamps on it.

More is better though probably.

The problem was the officer never mentioned anything, he only said she could apply again and supply more documents. She asked "what kind of documents" and he said "more".

JL

It's a Consular Officer at the Embassy that did the tourist visa rejection, not an Immigration Officer at port of entry.

Guitar, I'd suggest waiting for another application until you have your one-year extension. BTW, what will the extension be based on, "retirement?" If so, include that in your cover letter for the re-application.

Also include a document or two, like a bank transfer, for the funds for the house purchase, even tho it'll be in her name.

These could be the "additional documents" the interviewing ConOff mentioned.

Mac

Mac

I think the issue was her not having a copy of my visa page combined with not leaving the US contact person blank on the application and supplying a copy of my US license and European residence permit. I think If she'd had my pasport or a copy of the visa page and expained that I had moved here and didn't have a residence in the US the immigration officer wouldn't have been so suspicious.

When she applied for a Schengen visa and I sponsored her I supplied as much info as possible about me and our relationship and it was approved without a problem.

JL

It's a Consular Officer at the Embassy that did the tourist visa rejection, not an Immigration Officer at port of entry.

Guitar, I'd suggest waiting for another application until you have your one-year extension. BTW, what will the extension be based on, "retirement?" If so, include that in your cover letter for the re-application.

Also include a document or two, like a bank transfer, for the funds for the house purchase, even tho it'll be in her name.

These could be the "additional documents" the interviewing ConOff mentioned.

Mac

Mac

When someone supplies list of activities as copious as in post #1 --even if completely true -- it is possible that the US Immigration, post based upon past experience, may believe that it is not credible and they do not have the time and/or inclination to investigate further.

(Edit) Maybe what the US Imm officer's smell-detector honed in upon was that she lists that she is half owner of a business but she does not list who is the other half? Would that other half be the contact person? (Reading elsewhere on the Marriage & Divorce forum, it is.)

It may also be not credible that a single Thai woman would travel to the USA alone for 2 weeks and have no personal contact other than the manager of the hotel she has booked.

She brought what she had heard was usually requested and wanted to be prepared. I think she only showed what they asked for.

She wasn't traveling alone, we were going to be traveling together. I wrote a cover letter saying that I'd be paying for our expenses. Yes, we're business partners. I assumed they would look on that as a stronger connection to Thailand for both of us.

Yes I live here but I'm a few weeks away from having my 1 year visa, I'm on a (2nd) 90 day B visa now. I gave her a copy of my passport but didn't include a copy of the visa page. I explained my situation in a cover letter. Only the applicant is allowed in during the interview. I was there with her but neither of us thought for her to bring my actual passport with to her interview. Having that or the visa page might have helped. Or they might have wondered why I traveled so much and made an issue of that.

I understand the reasoning but we're not going there to visit anyone and the application was truthful. The only people I know in Maui are Mick Fleetwood and Woody Harrelson but only casually. I've been there before and liked it and wanted to go there with her for vacation. Surely Thai citizens can get a visa to vist the US without having friends there?

I was listed as contact person in the US and name of person paying for the trip.

I have an address there but don't reside there, I'm inclined to have her leave the contact person blank on the next application.

My gf applied for a B2 tourist visa to go Hawaii for a 2 week vacation and was declined. The only thing they said was to come back with more paperwork and didn't specify what.

I'm looking for suggestions on what she should or shouldn't bring and should or shouldn't say at the next interview.

She has a letter from her manager at her government job saying she has the time off and needs to be back at work.

She brought a copy of her bank book.

She owns land here.

She has a purchase contract for a fairly expensive house she/we just bought here.

She has transcripts from her university where she is finishing a graduate degree.

She is half owner of a Thai business.

All of her relatives and family live here. She has no friends or relatives in the US.

The only hints as to why they weren't convinced she was going to come back were:

He asked what other countries shes been to and she showed him her old passport and he thought she traveled a lot. She went to Aus a few years ago for two weeks and has been to Europe and a few Asian countries on holidays with me in the past few years and a few trips for work to surrounding countries.

She changed her first name a few months ago for good luck as many Thais do.

I don't live in the US and have no plans to move there but for some reason they had doubts whether she would come back.

To me it seems obvious that she has strong ties to Thailand. Any suggestions?

You're only as farty as you feel.

I'm mature but a long ways from identifying myself as an old fart. Nothing wrong with old farts, I have friends who are and embrace it. I'm more of a root beer drinking, jeans and tennis shoes wearing, guitar-playing kid at heart.

I could win so much crap at carnivals, nobody can ever guess my age.

It's going to suck getting carded all the time if I ever get an AARP card...

Congratulations, you're the first person to ever say ( or probably even think) that I'm full of myself. I'm just tired of cynical keyboard warriors like Fiftytwo who just assume I'm some old fart fresh off the plam truck who discovered that you can rent friends in Thailand. My point wasn't to brag but to point out that if I have young female friends outside of Thailand, that it's not unbelievable that Thai women of the same age can like me for more than just money.

In a previous post you claim to have female friends in the EU who are 30 years younger than you.

We don't need to assume you are an old fart, you already admitted it.

(I am also an old fart, and accept my "old fart" status)

Sorry but your posts, essentially claiming, "she loves me for myself", are just not credible.

Congratulations, you're the first person to ever say ( or probably even think) that I'm full of myself. I'm just tired of cynical keyboard warriors like Fiftytwo who just assume I'm some old fart fresh off the plam truck who discovered that you can rent friends in Thailand. My point wasn't to brag but to point out that if I have young female friends outside of Thailand, that it's not unbelievable that Thai women of the same age can like me for more than just money.

When my manager's nephew died in a scooter accident and she took 3 days off and my gf took off work to fill in for her, someone here assumed it was part of a scam and didn't even believe her nephew died. My gf did it to help me, she didn't make anything and would rather been at her office.

I've never seen the level of suspicion and cynicism that I've seen here.

I realize some Thai women have a reputation for lying and ripping off gullible farangs but I think I know her well enough, have done my due diligence and I'm not gullible.

I have three friends who married Thai women, two couples live here, one in the EU. All the men paid for the majority of the house and other major expenses. All are happily married with children and have been together for 6-15 years so far.

Not dissimilar to my situation.

Your mileage may vary and evidently a lot of farang males here does.

Your obviously full of yourself, I say go for it. I will await the future post where she bleeds you dry and tosses your ass out on the street. And you, with your stunned attitude will be asking us what happened. Been here too long, I'm jaded.

Your psychic powers are underwhelming.

You could easily fill the shoes of the late Sylvia Browne who recently died, unexpectedly.

I'm not an old, fat, bald grampa throwing money around in return for false affection.

Give it a rest gramps, you're 55 (with a ponytail 555), fat and bald are just around the corner.

I'm putting down a downpayment on a car, she's financing the rest, the car will be registered in my name. I'm paying for less than half the house, she's getting a mortgage in her name. It seems as even as other relationships.

If I married a European or American woman who made a tenth as much as me, we wouldn't be living in a house based on twice her income there and I nor she would like to live in a 25k house here either. I only want a house as nice as I have in the US and Europe. Nothing fancy and a whole lot cheaper here.

I must be, I've always attracted younger women. I've dated fashion models, actresses, the daughter of the VP of Citycorp who was 14 years younger than me and she insisted on paying whenever we went out. I had a long term gf who was 15 years younger than me and my best friend in Europe is 30 years my junior. I've never bought her anything, we see each other twice a week, trade off paying for dinner or we cook for each other.

I have a 30 yo woman in the US who would drop everything to see me if I told her I was in town,

None of my friends back west ever suspected any of my younger gf's of having ulterior motives but since this one is Thai, everyone here assumes she just another bg or scam artist.

I'm not an old, fat, bald grampa throwing money around in return for false affection.

I'm sorry if a lot of people here have had bad experiences with some Thai women but to paint them all with the same brush seems racist to me.

Some of the warnings I've received were laughable. I'm sure there are some Thai women who are married and scamming farangs but absolutely impossible in my situation.

I've talked with many western men happliy married to (usually) younger Thai women who paid for the house, paid for the car and a few have little or no contact with their in laws.

Rather that call me a sucker, tell me about your situation and what qualifies you as a relationship counselor or psychic?

On another thread someone said they'd never heard a Thai admit they were wrong or apologize. My gf has told me, "I'm sorry, I was wrong " a few times. One poster said "she was like finding a diamond in a pile of broken glass. She's a treasure, keep her". I think she is and I will.

If she's exceptional in that respect I don't know why it's so unbelievable that she's not the same as some other bad girls some people here have ran into.

Thanks for the advice but I'm but I'm not out bride shopping. I met someone who I like and love and we want to be together.

One of our best friends is a thai woman in her 50's, she has a Norwegian boyfriend who comes here often to visit. Although she owns a home here, when he visits he stays in a hotel because she doesn't think it would be proper for him to sleep there since one of her adult children lived there with her.

My gf and her parents have similar values.

Of course she's concerned about security. She'll probably outlive me by 30 years and by the time I'm dead her chances of remarrying will be slim to none. She's smart, beautiful and very popular and could have any man she wanted. She could marry a wealthy man her own age but she chooses to be with me. Along with that come conditions which I accept.

She's willing to sing anything I want to guarantee I have as much rights as I can in Thailand.

If I married an American woman in California and we eventually divorced , post marital assets would be split the same as here, 50/50.

In spite of how much she respects her parents, she thinks they wouldn't accept our relationship but she chooses me over them. Rare in Thailand from what I hear.

I would advise against getting a unit larger than what's needed for the size of the room. I bought too big of an air conditioner once and although it did a great job of cooling the place, it had to run for such a short time that it didn't reduce the humidity as much as a smaller unit would have.

My gf and I both had DTAC, she had coverage problems and switched to True. We did one test in Ubon and my DL/UL speeds were a tad faster but she generaly has better coverage and more reliable connections that I do with DTAC, I'm considering switching.

I have True cable and at 2k a month it's not cheap but I have 200 channels and at least a dozen of the English ones have decent programming.

I guess it depends where you live.

I'm stll waiting for the 100MB internet connection I saw advertised on one of those huge airports on the way to the airport claiming to have the fastest fiber optic internet connection in the country, I'm luck to get 15MB DL speeds.

If you're even scratched by a monkey you need a series of rabies shots. The sooner the better,

Even if the injury didn't break the skin, even if there wasn't a drop of blood or a single puncture wound. Any warm blooded animal can be a symptomless carrier of the disease for months or years. There is no cure for rabies, if infected, once you exhibit symptoms the prognosis is certain death. 4000฿ is a small price to pay.

It must be incredibly difficult because every night I see at least a dozen scooters driving down pitch black roads without any headlights.

I wonder if I've ever seen the same one twice?

What's the status of the CW complex? I drove around the detour on Tuesday and it appeared they were busy taking down all the tires and sandbags but when I drove to DMK on Wednesday the highway in front of the building was still closed. I heard that the government offices were supposed to be reopened on 3 Feb, now it's the 7th. Would should I expect when I return? Where is the definitive source of which offices are reopened? I need to go back to the ministry of foreign affairs and CW is much closer for me than Central Bang Na.

I went to the Amphur we plan to go to on the 14th, Bang Rak. When I showed them my documents they said the copy of my passport needed to be signed so they handed me a pen and I signed it. No mention of needing the copy certified, translated and legalized but my lawyer says it needs to be.

I didn't hire a lawyer specifically for this, I was at his office for an unrelated meeting and asked him to review my papers.

I realize if one Amphur required a legalized copy that I could probably find another one that wouldn't care but we want to specifically go to the Bang Rak office and on the 14th it's going to be an all-day affair and I'd hate to waste an entire day for us and two witnesses.

I've already gone through the certification/translation/legalization process once and that also takes two full days. I'm out of the country now until Saturday and have a full schedule until Thursday next week so although I could spend two days getting a copy, just to be sure, I was hoping that someone had been though this recently and could tell if it was indeed a requirement or not.

I have a certified , translated and legalized copy of the affirmation of freedom to marry document and the Amphur looked over all my documents, including a signed copy of my passport photo and visa page and didn't say I was missing anything but now my lawyer says I also need certified, translated and legalized copy of my passport too.

Nowhere have I ever read that a certified, translated and legalized copy of my passport was required and the Amphur looked over my copies and said nothing.

I'm assuming my lawyer knows what he's talking about but I'm getting conflicting information.

Has anyone gotten married in Bangkok recently and was required to have a certified copy of their passport?