Asheron

I think I may have confused race and nationality. I understand the difference. Loosely speaking people who don't accept people from other countries as their own are referred to "racist". The point I was interested in sharing was, let's stick to Thais, a Thai person can gain citizenship of most western countries but people from western countries cannot gain Thai citizenship. I found it interesting when someone here said women can.

It's far easier for a westerner to obtain Thai citizenship through their own merits than it is for a Thai person to gain Australian citizenship. I suspect most other western nations are similar.

Where things differ are through marriage, in Australia after a 1 year application, plus one year residency, a Thai person married to an Australian citizen can apply for citizenship, while in Thailand no such system exists.

So what you're trying to say is, in Thailand it's easier for foreigners to gain citizenship on their own merits, while in the west it's easier to get citizenship through marriage - therefore Thai people are racist.

What do you mean by "their own merit"?

Getting australian citizenship efter just two years is pretty damn nice. In Sweden it's 3 years married to a swedish citizen, 5 years if married to any other citizen. If you are already citizen of any nordic country (Iceland, Norway, Denmark or Finland) then you can get swedish citizenship after 2 years of residence.

Expats an 'asset to Thailand'?

Funniest thing I've heard all week.

Of course they are as they cost the Thai state 0 baht for upkeep (if not convicted but then they just get sent back "home" after a few years in jail) and they have more money to use than the majority of the thai people.

"A lot of immigrants in western world complain that we're racist. Our laws welcome people in, grants them citizen ships, voting rights and all the entitlements that natives enjoy. However when we immigrate to say Asian countries such as Los we can never become one of them eg citizenship and the like. Our laws forbid racism but these countries don't. Just wondering what others think. "

Los you can get citizenship, no matter what race you are. Not granting people citizenship is not racist. We the western countries don't protect our culture. Letting in uneducated people or people with culture we don't want is plain stupid.

Thinking someone with different skin color is stupid is racist. To think that some religion/culture makes problems in our society isn't racist. There is no catholic, muslim, buddhist race.....

And how are we different from foreigners in our own countries ? We don't have the same culture as the Thais.. and if you read this board we want to change things in Thailand for our good. To expect foreigners to completely assimilate in your home country while we as foreigners here in general retain our own culture is a bit hypocrite.

You even got foreigners here trying to convert Thais to Christianity, just imagine the uproar if Muslims would do the same standing on the streets trying to convert Christians back home.

Foreigners back home should respect the original inhabitants (often heard complaint) Anyone reading Thaivisa knows how much foreigners here respect Thais.

The only difference i see is an economic one we don't cost Thailand money.

I guess this argument goes over the head of many.. and many just don't want to see the parallels. <deleted>

Sure its not totally the same.. but just think about it a bit.

I of course am not for loads and loads of freeloading immigrants.. but I don't have much problems with those who work and build their own life without support of the state. They are in fact much the same as us living here.

Don't know what country you are from but in Sweden there are massive issues with immigration as on an average it takes 7-8 years for an immigrant to get a job. That's 7-8 years of being a *very* high cost for the taxpayers. In my eyes that is a huge problem with foreigners.

And what is the issue with foreigners wanting to change how things are "done" in Thailand? Surely you agree that corruption, nepotism, traffic, crime and RTP are "problems" in Thailand that should be dealt with?

I said I am not for loads and loads of freeloading immigrants, but if they have a job I could not care less.

Of course I agree about corruption, nepotism, traffic, crime.. ect.. but this is something the Thais should solve.. and not foreigners. Its their land and their choices. But just imagine if immigrants want to change your land.

And tell me do you speak Thai fluid ? I believe we expect immigrants in our country to do so ?

Did you assimilate and become a Thai.. or did you keep your old Swedish values ? I think the latter (same here) then why expect immigrants in your home country to assimilate.

As I said.. on pure economics I am against immigrants but if they have a job.. i really don't care if they go to a Most eat halal food and stuff like that. Same as that I don't expect us here to turn into Thais.

I didn't "become" a thai (i'm ethnic finnish, i can't be anything else but finnish) for the sole reason being that my culture/heritage is far superior to the thai culture/heritage. Now, if thai culture had anything that i truely viewed as something desirable i would in a heartbeat incorporate that value into my life but i can't honestly say that i have encountered such value after almost 15 years of connection to Thailand.

Western values and civilization are by far the most successful and best working societies yet to exist on this planet. How do i know this? Well, there is a reason why millions upon millions of people really want to get to EU, Australia and USA and no one wants to move to Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Afghanista, Iran, Saudiarabia, Yemen, Pakistan, India and so on for ~120 countries.

But to be fair... socialist bastions such as Sweden do have it's issues with "Big Brother" actually thinking they own you and your children.

"A lot of immigrants in western world complain that we're racist. Our laws welcome people in, grants them citizen ships, voting rights and all the entitlements that natives enjoy. However when we immigrate to say Asian countries such as Los we can never become one of them eg citizenship and the like. Our laws forbid racism but these countries don't. Just wondering what others think. "

Los you can get citizenship, no matter what race you are. Not granting people citizenship is not racist. We the western countries don't protect our culture. Letting in uneducated people or people with culture we don't want is plain stupid.

Thinking someone with different skin color is stupid is racist. To think that some religion/culture makes problems in our society isn't racist. There is no catholic, muslim, buddhist race.....

And how are we different from foreigners in our own countries ? We don't have the same culture as the Thais.. and if you read this board we want to change things in Thailand for our good. To expect foreigners to completely assimilate in your home country while we as foreigners here in general retain our own culture is a bit hypocrite.

You even got foreigners here trying to convert Thais to Christianity, just imagine the uproar if Muslims would do the same standing on the streets trying to convert Christians back home.

Foreigners back home should respect the original inhabitants (often heard complaint) Anyone reading Thaivisa knows how much foreigners here respect Thais.

The only difference i see is an economic one we don't cost Thailand money.

I guess this argument goes over the head of many.. and many just don't want to see the parallels. <deleted>

Sure its not totally the same.. but just think about it a bit.

I of course am not for loads and loads of freeloading immigrants.. but I don't have much problems with those who work and build their own life without support of the state. They are in fact much the same as us living here.

Don't know what country you are from but in Sweden there are massive issues with immigration as on an average it takes 7-8 years for an immigrant to get a job. That's 7-8 years of being a *very* high cost for the taxpayers. In my eyes that is a huge problem with foreigners.

And what is the issue with foreigners wanting to change how things are "done" in Thailand? Surely you agree that corruption, nepotism, traffic, crime and RTP are "problems" in Thailand that should be dealt with?

OP, may be you want to say that "We" pretend not to be racists and yes, you are right to say that "We" have got laws in our countries that do not allow us to be racists.

By reading comments about the Thais on TVF, including mine, then you can see if "We" are racists or not.

Immigration rules in Thailand are not racist but they are trying to safeguard their own people.

Also there are quite a few foreigners that have been awarded Thai citizenship the same as back in our own countries.

Also using the term "We" shows that we differentiate ourselves from the natives.

Is that racism?

Just stop it.

In Sweden if a white gang beats an immigrant it's an hate crime. If an immigrant gang beats a swede it's assault. And no, this is not a joke or exaggeration.

My shitty "multicultural" municipality in Sweden had more people getting a citizenship (they have a "party" each year for them) than Thailand gave total citizenships to the entire WORLD.

I understand what you mean Sir Charles. More than 220 different nationalities are represented in oz, when they immigrate / emigrate (whichever one it is) and gain citizenship we accept them as our own, embrace the multiculturalism and are better off for it.

Thais on the other hand shun anyone who isn't there own. "That is Racism at its finest"

Local council and federal government positions are open to those of all nationalities (with citizenship). How many non Thais hold these positions here ? I would say none.,,,

Thailand needs to learn how to accept others and embrace them if they ever want to move forward in this world that isn't just Thailand but Earth as we know it and full of many different cultures, nationalities, ethnicity's and races.

You do realize that for instance Australia (or why not my fake country Sweden and my true country Finland) was almost purely "white" nation not very long ago (not more than 50 years)*? Isn't it "funny" how this multicultural thing is only a one-way highway?

*No need for "blah blah blah" about aboriginals and sami people.

As the topic says, what's the average cost to build per sq. m. for a room if the standard is the "normal" for thai tenants? With "normal" i mean a water heater in the shower that also has a "farang" toilet but not much else in the way of "technology".

Where do you guys get this "thais like touchy feely"? No one in my ex-wifes family was all "touchy feely" with me as it was quite obvious, both ways, that that kind of behaviour was not acceptable. And i have never witnessed nor heard of such behaviour from other farang-thai relationships since my first trip to Thailand about 15 years ago.

I'm fairly certain that either BIL is secretly gay/bi or he feels "threatened" by the OP in a deeper way (alpha).

And i think some in this thread should "show" some cojones and stop accepting all the crap their extended thai family come up with.

More statistic nonsense!!

So the highest ranked Finnish University ranks better in the world than it does in Europe??

Makes sense.

Don't understand the Thai fashionation with the the Finish model, okay they have good schools, but no better than the Scandinavian countries.

And are no doubt the worst English speakers among the Nordic countries.

You have no clue what you are on about but i do as i'm finnish by ethnicity but born in Sweden (and 3 years in finnish school in Finland). Now, i don't know details about danish or norwegian schools but i can assure you that swedish schools are far, like lights years, behind finnish schools.

Making a new licence category will do absolutely nothing for road safety as thai people in general have no clue what that round thing infront of them inside the car is for. Same thing applies to motosais.

Until there are legal requirements to attend driving school and mandatory 3 months in jail for driving without licence and 5 years mandatory jail for corruption there wont be a change. So in other words, there will never be any change to road safety.

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29 is not a bad place to be, but i would probably prefer about 27 C with a fan to circulate.

It never fails to amaze me the number of people that treat their air cons as refrigeration plants. People who can't see that coming in from an ambient temperature of say, 38 C into an air cooled room of 18 C really isn't good for you, need to reconsider. For your own good.....................

Sure, everyone has their own comfort zones, but for aircon to work, it only needs to be a few degrees below the outside ambient.

And what's the problem with entering a cold room from outside where it is hot? I really do hope you aren't talking about "but you get sick"...

I just have to laugh when I hear someone say a fan is all they need in this heat. I respect that statement just about as much as I do when you say you love the cheapest street food, enjoy taking the baht busses, and relish living in that one room slum dwelling. Are you sure the cost of something better isn't the real reason for your frugality? I do hope you convince yourself with your professed content.

I don't have any problems right now infront of the computer with only a fan on me and i'm in "hot as hell" Ubon right now. The issues start when i have to move more than 3 meters from the fan... then i start to sweat like a stuck pig. And not everyone has 40-60k baht to "waste" on rent for a 3 bedroom luxury apartment in say Bangkok, Phuket or Pattaya.

Why would anyone use illegal drugs inside Thailand? If you got that severe issues with drugs then maybe you should live in a nation where you can legally use say marijuana or do the sensible thing: quit using.

I purchased some land in a ladies daughter's name thinking it secure but her mother has found a way of getting it transferred back into her name and has since taken out a mortgage on the land she will not tell me how she did it

Shouldn't you like.... visit the famous RTP or atleast a lawyer?

OP - when are you going? I shall be crossing to Vientianne on the 10th, 11th or 12th April

Already made the trip (without car).

In my experience any kind of irony or sarcasm is very "lost in translation" even when the thai person know english quite well. And i have not many times in my life seen more boring "comedy" shows as i have in Thailand, i just don't "get" the humour in them. Could be of course that i'm not a fluent thai speaker but then again... i don't see why i would need audio help to make something funny (you know the bling, blong, ding, shhhwooosh sounds?) if it truly was funny.

I have a hard time believing that any thai would understand or laughing at say Eddie Izzard...

I'm a citizen of two different Schengen countries (Sweden/Finland) and i have exclusively used my swedish passport to travel in/out of Thailand. What i'm basicly asking is if the immigration will give me a "hard time" travelling in with my finnish passport in the future (from Europe)? I assume the computer system is smart enough to notify to the imigration officer about my previous entries to Thailand on my swedish passport so they would see my picture and swedish passport and now i was using a finnish passport...

If your salary is between 300-500k baht each year you as a employee have a tax rate of 10% (that i know of) in Thailand. But is there any other fees or taxes to the employer/company? If yes, how high would it be for someone with 41k baht salary each month?

After pondering about the traffic in Thailand i have come to the conclusion that it's bad, and it really is very bad, because of one (or two) thing(s): rote learning and authority "issues". Rote learning is like brain cancer for any children that are forced into it and basicly all schools in Thailand have that kind of teaching. Now what does rote learning have anything to do with traffic? Well, people who drive car/motorcycles in Thailand haven't actually learned to properly to drive a motor vehicle and more than likely they have been "taught" to drive by their parents, or even worse by no one, who are just as clueless about driving as anyone else in Thailand...

So in short: "papa said to drive like this.... who am i to question his authority"?

The fact that you are divorced has no bearing on the case. You were married to the mother at the time of birth so are considered the legal father and have parental rights (unless a court decision says otherwise).

Ok, thank you very much

You could go to the drivers license office here to see if they give you a form to have signed. I have seen a report on the Isaan forum that the tourist police will sign them here in Ubon.

If not Pattaya may be your only choice.

This seems to be "the way" to get drivers (car and motorcycle) licence in Ubon...

I went to DLT (i guess it's called) and the nice lady working at the counter told me, after checking my swedish licence, passport and visa, that i can visit tourist police and get papers (one for car and one for motorcycle) from them. So i went to the tourist police and got the papers but didn't have time to get the medical certificate as the clinic near the DLT was closed so i'll go back tomorrow.

I'll post tomorrow what the verdict was

Divorced from my childrens mother but both children were born in Sweden while we were still married and in Sweden i have sole parental rights over daughter (looooong story, not taking that up) and 50-50 over son. Marriage was never registered in Thailand. Both son and daughter have swedish and thai citizenship and they are in the "house book".

So my questions...

Who has the parental rights over my children in Thailand (she has not remarried)?

Do i have to legalize my parental rights in Thailand at amphur (not a problem as ex-wife and i are still good friends)?

If so, what do we need to take with us to amphur and how much is the fee to register?

The foreign divorce stands, the situation about who has legal rights over the children in Thailand is more complicated.

You already have parental rights through the marriage with the mother. The situation regarding your son is the same, you share it with your ex-wife. Regarding your daughter a Thai judge might not recognise the sole parental rights decision and then you will also have shared parental rights with the mother.

If having a good relationship with the mother, I would not try and get sole parental rights confirmed in Thailand as well. It might only sour the relationship and the longer the situation is as it is right nw, the stronger your position becomes anyway. A judge doesn't like to change things that are already in effect for years and would disrupt the childrens lives.

Forgot to meantion that in tabien baan my name is registered for both children as father. So does that mean both of my children are already legalized as my children in Thailand even though i'm not married to the mother anymore? This has me wondering as to my knowledge if the sole legalized and custodial parent dies then the "extended" family (say grandparents) get the custody of the children...

So my "only" option is to wait until i go to live in Pattaya and fix the issue there? As i have heard it's "not a problem" to get one at Jomtien.

Which immigration office "near" Ubon is "guaranteed" to give a residence certificate? Or do i have to get it from the closest immigration office? That is a problem as the immigration office at Ubon (Phibun Mangsahan) refuses to give me one even though i have a non-o visa (child connection) and i have asked three times now. I need the certificate to get a thai drivers licence.

So to get a 1 year car licence in Pattaya i need:

Copy and original of passport and visa

Residence certificate from immigration

Medical certificate

Valid IDL licence

And as i understand it i do not have to do that written test as i have a valid IDL?

Did i miss something?