KMartinHandyman

Her family likely knew about her 2 year relationship that failed.

Who would want to tell mom,, here I go again,, another relationship with another foreigner too soon?

If mom is old school she expects things to work out and lead to marriage.

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You're quite welcome and appear sincere so let me elaborate just a little and leave it at that.

By disappear I didn't mean only wander off. My Thai in-laws stopped keeping a family pet dog after theirs "disappeared" and they know it wouldn't wander off and forget to come home.

They are convinced someone took it and they doubt it was taken to be kept as a pet. You don't see soi dogs fed very well like yours too often.

Lastly when I said keeping the peace I meant it wouldn't seem right if your dog killed someone's chicken which you were a little dismissive of saying (whatever).

Personally I would give equal weight to a chicken or your dog and by your indifference towards the ladies chicken I assume you would be OK if someone's pet 200 pound Tiger came in the yard and ate one of your dogs. Even after you'd spoken to them about it.

Please take this well as I am only making the worst case points with you which we always hope won't happen but that's why they sell insurance because you never know.

Best to you.

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I understand your wish for them to stroll about.

It doesn't sound like a good idea. Listen to your wife.

They are retrievers as in birds,,keeping the peace and liability down would be my thought.

Also they could easily disappear and you speak of them highly. Odd to me you would consider putting them out on their own.

Just my thoughts as they are purebreds not soi dogs.

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Hoping for lucky

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We had a full on traditional Thai village wedding at mama and papa's home in Issan. Including pre wedding pictures on display the day of the ceremony.

Her parents are old world traditional Thai farmers, rice, fruits and vegetables, chickens, cows, cloth weaving etc.

The most wonderful day of my life.

200+ family and friends including 4 men who came from the states to be there with me.

My wife and I, her family and friends did much of the decorating with palm, banana, bamboo, reed and balloons. Many people stayed awake all Saturday night to be ready for the 9am Sunday ceremony.

We hired out the food, drinks and flowers to known and trusted individuals.

Her brothers and their many friends handled the big tent borrowed from the temple and set up the sound system,,complete with speakers 8 feet tall in the back of a dump truck.

We had the grooms procession of my friends and villagers with 6 of papas friends playing drums.

I gave envelopes with a few hundred baht to her girlfriends to pass by the ropes and claim my bride.

Her brothers father in law took off my boots and her niece washed my feet.

The village headman performed the ceremony in the living room while 50+ people from babies to 90+ years old looked on. The other 150 listened over the sound system at the reception pavilion.

It was wonderful to see the children learn the tradition and the old men and women see it continued,, nodding and smiling,,maybe for the last time at their age.

She and I handed out bride and groom refrigerator magnets with our names and date on it to everyone while they ate. I brought some reserve whiskey from the states and went around meeting people and pouring a nip for those who wished to try it. That was a lot of fun!

My wife was late 30's and never married. She put together the wedding she wanted and did it well under what I would have gladly paid.

When a Thai lady marries a foreigner she is rejecting Thai men and by extension Thai women married to a Thai.

She is putting that baggage on her family as well.

It was my choice and insistence that we follow custom completely and send everyone the message that I value my wife highly and respect her, her family, the villagers and their culture.

And yes I gave her a decent amount of brides gold jewelry which she quietly keeps safely put away and rarely wears.

It is fashion and a small bit of financial security you are giving her.

And yes I happily gave her parents an adequate cash Sin Sod. They were appropriately thankful and allotted the money for a much needed roof replacement, some fencing and a few new implements.

The guests all returned the invitation envelopes with cash inside. I chose to give 50% to my wife and 25% each to mama and papa as it was their friends and family who they had given money to over the years attending and returning the money. (Mama keeps a ledger of how much they have given and how much their friends have given, reciprocation is expected)

By marrying this way she has realized her dream wedding, brought her family respect and joy to the village, if only for a day.

We have repaid

"the mothers milk"

and by doing so improved her parents living conditions in their old age.

They now worry less as every parent would about their daughter being alone and still being a bit of a liability for them.

Most of all for her it fulfilled deeply rooted expectations of the only daughter to marry in Thai tradition and began a new chapter of her life.

She is now able to begin the process of being a wife and her own woman, not only mama's rebellious daughter always having to give strong consideration to what mama thinks or wants her to do.

Mama continues to assert her opinion but my wife seems better equipped to make up her own mind now and not always give in to keep the peace as in the past.

The Thai village wedding takes a little or a lot of money,,up to you but it is not all about the money it is about the tradition and respect of the culture when dealing with the older generation in my experience.

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Did he do a runner or not?

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I only wonder why people put up these type of questions.

No pots to stir at home I figure.

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Trump is self financing his campaign and stated recently he will not run ads.

Funny stuff...won't really put his money where his mouth is. He says the media is giving him enough coverage. Estimated $1 billion so far.

So without ads he's likely to lose,, but he knows that and just having a Cheap Charlie go at the nomination process.

Priceless

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He is winning in his opinion by driving the talking points of the election so far.

He's touching third rail stuff that career politicians avoid.

He has nothing to lose and will spin his participation to improve his "brand".

U.S. Elected a peanut farmer not so long ago so

a political outsider is not so far fetched.

I think Putin in Syria has only bolstered his opinion that Obama is weak and we have idiots running the government and U.S. Foreign Policy is a disaster.

I think many people love to hear him say what they are thinking and saying amongst themselves.

He is breaking the equivalent of LM laws here,,

Politically Correct speech at all times or suffer the wrath of pitchfork and torch carrying mobs.

He's making the election entertaining so far and I'm enjoying watching the "the talking heads" (on the left and right) heads explode trying to explain his poll numbers and discredit him all at the same time.

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The way you behave and the way you treat people, if you are a good person, will indeed, change the perception of some Thais.

I explained

1) when in Thailand I'm representing my country

2) when I'm not here I know these same people will remember she is my wife and take care of her well

So far so good. When we are apart she often relays people's mention of me and she now tips a little here and there because she "knows I would want that"

When I clean up in front of her shop I see over time other shop keeps doing the same when they didn't do this before.

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The green wires coming through the btm left of the box may be an independent ground running through the building. One is bonded to the breaker box.

Only guessing on my part.

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SIM card registered to someone ?

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One begins and one ends

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Noise cancelling headphones might be worth trying.

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World news,,I need to look closer

Your in laws may have the wish/belief that these items will protect you or bring you luck/good fortune. Just an idea?

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Article 44 ?

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Motor vehicle operation under the influence is no longer overlooked by police here but I think if it involved a bicycle your outcome could vary depending on the circumstances and the individual officer.

In the U.S. one could be charged with public intoxication.

Excerpt:

Public intoxication charges, often called being "drunk and disorderly", is a legal charge alleging that a person is visibly drunk or under the influence of drugs in public. It is usually a misdemeanor crime under state and local law.

50 states with varying laws

Excerpt:

In any case involving an allegation of drunk bicycling, the first place to look to is the DUI/DWI law of that state. Some states exclude bicycles entirely from their definition of "vehicles." Other states limit the application of their DUI or DWI laws to "motor vehicles." But some states treat bicycles as just another vehicle on the road, regardless of the language used within their DUI laws. In these states, drunk bike riders face the same potential legal landmines as any other drunk driver.

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Reduce my U.S. debit card usage to bank location ATMs only and credit cards at hotels and online transactions. Cash for everything else. So far no problems in Thailand but have had all plastic card accounts compromised in U.S. No less than 4 times.

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Time was lengthy curled up in a sweaty ball with the a/c on the other side of the wall. Luckily it wasn't her coffee scrub, yogurt splash, lime juice in hair or some other beauty regime night.

I do enjoy the proceeds of her efforts!

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Did they poll any ham sandwiches?

America has a functioning democracy and as the saying goes you get the government you deserve.

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A genuine newcomer to Thailand, welcome and enjoy the delights of Thailand's most famous invention.

I really need to question that it is "Thailand's most famous invention". My first encounter with a bidet sprayer was in a hotel in Ivrea, north-western Italy in 1973. I had been in Thailand for ten months about 4 years prior and had seen no evidence of such a device. The state of the art then was a cistern beside the squatter. with a ladle in it for splashing the water onto your nether regions -this had not changed when I was again in Thailand in 1975.

Same ladle at mama and papas today.

I try and go before we visit or leave after dinner before its "time"

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Save the original box and packing until you are sure the item is acceptable.

Lazada refused to pickup a defective item without the original box despite the manufacturer telling them they would accept and refund or replace the item.

The run around between Lazada, factory and my wife went on for 5 days until she asked me to let her stop and keep the item which was usable just not as designed.

If we had the box I don't know how they would have reacted as it was a cash on delivery while we were away.

Lesson learned.

Many other purchases have gone smoothly as the items were as expected.

I would make the driver wait now if needed until I am sure no return is required before paying.

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"and the survey says,,,,,UP TO YOU"

I only carry mine to and from the airport, travel within Thailand until check in, U.S. Embassy, Thailand government or attorneys offices.

Always paper copies on my person and pics on phone.

Expired passport stays up country for identity proof and quick replacement if current one is lost.

Not interested in a replacing a lost passport.

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She waited to startle me when I opened the bathroom door after showering one night.

We had a great laugh and I walked towards the bedroom as she went in to shower.

I waited until the bathroom door closed and hid in the smallest space behind somethings near the bedroom door and waited to return the prank.

When I quietly said "Hi Honey" she hit the deck laughing and crying at the same time.

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