dclaryjr

Congratulations Bina.

Btw, am I the only-one that felt the paperwork wasn't that hard to deal with at all? Or maybe my memory is just going foggy...

I found it to be a real pain. But in my case it was 31 years ago and I was working in USAF intel with a high security clearance. I had to do a ton of paperwork and wait for "permission" from the government to get married and keep my clearance. One day I said "<deleted> it" and we went downtown and did the deed. My supervisors found out and yanked my clearance but my waiver came in two days later and all was well. I still have copies of all that stuff--it's a pretty thick stack.

ANd BTW.....CONGRATS!!!

The Cowboy performance today was one of the best examples of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" that I have ever seen.

From my perspective the US dollar has definitely dropped.

It's definitely dropped from my perspective. The amount of the wire transfer I'm doing every month to pay for the house I built is going UP!

The multi entry is not likely to be issued for less than the expense of a multi re-entry permit of 3,800 baht which provides free travel. The documents required are bank account passbook with 800k or more for last three months on deposit, letter of account balance from bank branch, TM.7 with current photo and 1,900 baht, copies of passport data pages and entry visa/permitted to stay stamps (I would take all pages just in case) and copy of arrival card front and back. You apply at a major immigration office anywhere in Thailand.

I'm just doing some catch-up after an extended absence from TV. Is annual income versus money in the bank still an option for the retirement visa??

The Atlanta/Pittsburgh game looked like it was fantastic.

It was!!

I'm hoping by the time I retire, NFL Sunday Ticket wil be available in LOS!!

I read TV by clicking on "view new posts" and then going through the pages looking for threads of interests. If I pick a thread and then go through several pages of posts, how can I get back to where I was prior to starting that thread without using the "back" function several times?

Thanks!

So, back to the topic at hand which is, if I'm correct, Thai perceptions of Farang men & their Thai wives in the Isaan region. Not Bangkok, not the South, but how Isaan people feel about it. It would be interesting to hear from those men who live in their wives villages in the Isaan region and if they feel as accepted as this article appears to suggest.

Read CheekyFarang's blog!

about the direct, non-stop flights having to divert for fuel.

"Direct" flights, in airline parlance, mean your flight number doesn't change, but you can expect to make at least one stop enroute -- and an aircraft change might also occur.

"Non-stop" is just that -- the equipment and crew rest criteria say you'll only have one takeoff and one landing -- and this is what should happen 98% of the time. BUT, your advertised 'non-stop' flight might become a 'direct' flight should unusual headwinds, etc. dictate a fuel/crew stop. Fine with me in such a situation -- if the situation is, indeed, out-of-ordinary (ie, the 'non-stop' is the usual rule, and not the exception). But I'm sure some faulty advertising along these lines has occured, just as the airlines haven't gone out of their way to define "direct flights" to the novice traveling public.

I'm with George Carlin on this one--I want any flight I take to have at least one stop!

Well now - does this mean anything? Is there another hidden forum? Do I get a t-shirt? is there a hall of fame?

Or do I just spend too much time on tv?

All the best to all of you. It's been fun (for the most part!)

Geez...You joined a month before me and i'm still going after my 100th post...

I'll try to catch up with you @ your 2000th..

Congrats for the free Chang...

My Member No. is 15,492 less than yours, but I only just recently broke 200.

On the other hand, I'm approaching 7000 posts on rec.sport.golf !!

A Gmail account is only available by invitation. If you would like an invitation send me a personal message with your current email and I will send you the invite.

Cheers,

John_Betong

Looks like G-mail is going to beta forever! Whassup with that??

There is world-wide wave of ATM-Debit card fraud, therfore big US banks shut down most foreign ATM operations in countries known as ATM fraud heavens.

Unfortunately it seems that LOS is one of those.

see

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125053,00.asp

or search google news for ATM fraud

http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&q=atm...aud&sa=N&tab=wn

Well that's just great news!

For years, my brother-in-law was using an ATM card from my credit union to retrieve money from a special account I set up just for that purpose. The card went bad so I decided to go with Wells Fargo because they have a special military account that allows four withdrawals a month from any machine world wide. They should be getting the new card just about now. Hopefully it will work. In the interim I did a SWIFT transfer that I was told was going to cost me $35 but when it processed they only charged $15. I sent a second one and the same thing happened. So I just may end up staying with the wire transfers and telling my b-i-l to just chop up the plastic.

Interesting avatar CF...

Does that come in a Deep Woods version?

Will it also double as Rat Dog repellant?

So, basically, white rice is as good, if not better, for you than brown rice??? Is that what this says? Can my eyes be right??!!!

I think one of the things that some nutritionist like about brown rice is that it has a lower glycemic index (carb content absorbed slower).

I havn't actually witnessed it, but have heard many tales of older thais that squat on a western style toilet.

I know some real young ones that tried it. My kids were 7 and 5 when they came to the U.S. and the first day in our house I found the youngest perched up high. I positioned him correctly and left the room. Then I heard some strange sounds. I went in and found he was filling a glass from the sink and trying to flush the toilet with it! Now he's 37 and still comes over to my place when he feels the need to make a particulary odiferous deposit!

I didn't have a heck of a lot to say about the design of our house in LOS, but I did insist on one thing:

It rained last night.. I counted three drops....

It hasn't rained here in my chunk of Texas since Nov 24. The only good thing about it is that the fairways on my golf course are so dry that I manage a 300 yard drive from time to time!

. How about trying Lanna, they have 27 holes to choose from there, you can hire clubs there and just play 9 holes.

Here's some pics:

Lanna

My Thai wife and I are planning a trip overseas with our two kids and she wants to bring her teenaged son (from her first marriage) who presently lives upcountry with her sister.

His last name is the same as his father's - who hasn't been supporting him for more than 5 years now. The father lives in another province for about 6 years.

Does anyone know if the father (who we may not even be able to contact now) must jointly attend the passport office with my wife to get the boy a passport? Apparently both parents must sign because the boy (14) is a minor and to prevent separated parents trying to 'kidnap' their estranged kids.

For obvious reasons, neither my wife - nor I - want contact with the ex-sami.

This isn't directly related since you are obviously talking about a round trip, but I always wondered how my wife pulled off getting her kids here. When I got married WAY back in Dec 75, my wife came back to the U.S. with me. Six months later she went back to Thailand. She went to her ex mother-in-law's house and got her two kids (ages 5 and 7) and told them she was taking them to Bangkok for a visit. A week later, I met all three at the airport in San Francisco. I don't know how she pulled it off. Then a few years later, the father's paternal rights were stripped by a district judge in the U.S. (imagine--the guy didn't respond to legal notices in the Las Vegas Review-Journal) and I adopted them.

I am bringing the 7 year old boy (and the rest of the family) to Pattaya/Jomtien in August.

Been there many times myself, but always viewed the place from an adult perspective.

What's happening, apart from sea and sand, that might interest a 7 year old?

I brought four grandkids (ages 4-9) with me on my last trip and they had a blast. They actually spent most of their time in my wife's village outside of Korat, and despite the language problems, they had a great time playing with the other kids. We also took them on some side trips--water parks, elephant rides, visiting temples and ruins, etc--but the little ones seemed to have the most fun chasing chickens in the village (maybe not the safest activity at this time ).

Love golf?

With a passion!

Have the gift of gab?

You bet!

Want to live in Thailand and still be seen by over 2.5 million readers?

Sounds right my alley..errr...fairway! I'm not availbable until around 2014 but I'll keep ya in mind!

I was just wondering does anyone, when visiting outside the tourist areas, get nervous or feel threatened. I know this post will lead to thailand not being as dangerous as blah blah or thailand is the same as blah blah, but do you ever feel that, when visiting these poor areas, some thais could see you as the rich farang and take advantage ie muggings ect.

Do you feel you have to watch your back more than normal or are there things one should look out for? How do you feel when travelling out into the sticks?

When I stayed in my wife's village back in '89, I went for a fairly long walk that took me away from her village and past a few small pockets of dwellings. I felt great and enjoyed the walk and most of the people I ran across smiled at me--especially the little kids. When I got back, my wife read me the riot act and told me that I shouldn't be out there alone. I haven't done anything of the sort the last couple of trips--saved my long walks for the golf course!!

Pats

You are blinded by jealousy. The PI call was clearly the right call, but I will admit they probably would have not called that in the regular season. Also big Ben did cross the line, he just got knocked backward before he landed.

He admitted on Letterman that he didn't score on that play. But he insisted he would have scored on 4th!

Nice photo's Mike , thanks for sharing .

Ditto--looks like you enjoyed your visit to my future back yard!

My future backyard as well, bought a house near the main road from Pakchong to khai yai entrance.

Maybe we can have a beer when we settled in

cheers, rono

Sounds good!

I haven't had any luck pinpointing my place on a map but it's on the Phupimarn resort.

Nice photo's Mike , thanks for sharing .

Ditto--looks like you enjoyed your visit to my future back yard!

I do like what ThaiPauly said about leaving a house for his wife; a cool thing to do for someone you care about.

When I first considered retiring in Thailand, and after viewing what was available as rental property on the web, I thought renting would be the way to go. I eventually gave in, however, and agreed to buy property and build a house, even though it will be several years before I get to live in it. I console myself with the fact that I'm getting it paid for while I still am earning a good living, and it will be paid for when I retire (around eight years out). Meanwhile I have a real nice vacation house to use on visits, and my in-laws are taking care of it and sometimes use it on weekends. So I'm ok with the decision but as others have said a lot depends on one's situation.