jing jing

Absolutely love it for the freakshow quotient... it is without question a cesspool where the dregs of humanity shamble about hoping to fulfill the basest of human instincts, but for some reason I can't stay away for more than a few weeks at a time.

I can't fathom wanting to live there - something about not sh!tting where you eat - but I reckon those who don't have the wherewithal to live in a more upscale area (i.e. lang suan/lumpini park, silom), or the language skills to hang out in a more "real Thai" neighborhood (i.e. Pathumwan, Pahonyothin), lower Suk might be the easiest most convenient place to seek refuge.

Sometimes you just need to rally the mates, stroll the Suk and have a gander at the underbelly of society on display, grab some quick counter chow at Foodland Took Lae Dee, go check out the young hotties fresh off the bus from Udon or Buriram live on stage at Rainbow 4 etc., make a sweep of the Nana parking lot at closing time, and finally watch the nonstop erotic cabaret move past from an open air bar on the Suk at 3 AM with a Sangsom soda in hand.

If I did that scene every night it would definitely get old quickly - pure sleaze is downright boring as a steady diet - but once or twice a month it's great for shats and cackles.

hi, darling...didn't see your advice until now. Did you make it to Santa Monica or Venice Beach?...my old stomping grounds...

tutsi, are you one of the Z-Boys???

Lords of Dogtown...

I still have a place a block from the beach in Santa Monica if the expat life here in Thailand ever gets old. Besides the cost of living, it doesn't get much better than SaMo local.

Bambina, hope you enjoyed your west coast/southwestern US vacation and survived the lack of humidity (and humility) with all mucous membranes intact. Looks like you managed to see a few of the interesting sights. I'll be interested to read the blog, for sure.

If under 50 and using the marriage for extension of stay the family proves it can support itself. That proof is now set at a combined income of 40k per month.

...And from what I gather, that income need not be generated in Thailand, i.e., income from investments abroad will suffice if supported by bank statements and/or a certification from your Embassy.

My question is - if anyone knows - have the rules changed for support of a Thai citizen (my son) changed as well? For me it would be preferable to show income from abroad than to put 400K in a non-income generating account here in Thailand...

Fiancee visa is generally considered to be a quicker process than spousal visa.

Some folks just weren't cut out to be parents... problem is, those folks don't always know who they are.

Our first baby was a boy (one year old tomorrow!), which certainly pleased me although I don't think my wife cared too much either way. He's been quite a handful, so when my wife found out she was pregnant again she was hoping for a girl this time around. I would've liked a daughter too - one boy, one girl has a certain symmetry to it - but we found out from her ultrasound today that it's another boy. We were a bit disappointed, but that's life and as others have said, at this point we will just hope for a healthy baby.

In response to Neeranam's question, I would rather know in advance so we can be prepared... I think the emotions might be overwhelming if my wife had her heart set on a girl, then went through pregnancy, labor, and delivery only to have her hopes dashed... this way she can have time to adjust to the idea of another little testosterone-fueled terror around the house.

We have a pretty good idea about how much !

(I hear a certain brewery is installing a pipeline directly from the plant into your home. They figured it would be cheaper than making those daily deliveries !)

Nah, they were just taking the piss.

As a relative newbie around here I find myself wondering why so many of the fellas seem to know the details of LovelyCutie's life...

Anyway, to have a crack at the topic:

- something different, maybe a little exotic to them

- a chance to visit or maybe even live in a western country

- unless they're already hi-so, a bump up in status

- dating someone with over 100K a month income might be nice for a change

- a guy who won't open a can of whoopass on them after a few whiskeys would be cool

- after getting over the initial jep maak loei, a nice big unit could be fun to play with

- cute, light-skinned babies with round eyes and big noses that could become models or actors

- maybe farangs are responsible and will support their wife and kids

Those are a few of the possibilities.

Jim, have you ever actually asked your fiancee why she doesn't want to move back to Roi Et and take care of her kids?

If you're interested in finding out why, that might be a good place to start...

It was already mentioned in the first post as to why she didn't want to go back to Roi Et . I haven't asked why she doesn't want to look after the kids .

I assume that she thinks that when the children are around that she will have less time fuss over me . And of course , I can go along with that .

She told me today that the eldest daughter finishes school this year ( Other than going away from the village and continuing ) I am waiting to see what she has in mind here . I am all for putting the children through a decent education , and giving them the best possible start in life , she is aware of this .

I think I will have the answer to this question over the next couple of weeks .

Cheers ,

Jim .

Interesting assumption...

Bottom line is, Jim, that life is more interesting in Bangkok than it is in Roi Et, and if the child rearing duties are already being handled by family back in the village then there is naturally little reason for her to want to move back there.

Most guys will tell you that relationships with ex-BGs have a better chance of succeeding if you can get the girl as far as possible from the old bar environment, but if you can't make that happen then so be it.

Have you mentioned how much time you spend away from Thailand? If you're here most of the time then it's less likely she has a husband back in the village she's hiding from you (and I know you don't even want to consider that possiblilty, but let's face it -- it wouldn't be the first or last time something like that happened in Thailand).

Have you ever stayed in the house you built? Who lives there now? How much did it cost?

The answers to these (and other) questions might help determine what is really going on up there, which is something I'd be interested in knowing if I was you, but then again, ignorance is bliss as they say.

We had several prenatal exams with Dr. Sankiat at Samitivej but when he informed us the previously advertised package price of 39K was no longer available and the price would likely be between 80-100K for a normal birth with no complications, we decided to consider other options. My wife never got a very warm fuzzy feeling from Sankiat, anyway.

After investigating every place we could from Phaya Thai to Bumrungrad to BNH and several others, we finally decided on Paolo Memorial, which is located just off the Saphan Kwai BTS station on Paholyothin Rd.

Our experience there was very, very positive. We had a young female OB-Gyn whose name escapes me at the moment, but she was everything an expectant mother could ask for and more, and although she looked young enough to still be a uni student, I was in the delivery room and watched her in action and she was just phenomenal every step of the way.

The room was much nicer at Paolo than at any other hospital we visited - more like a good hotel than a hospital - and the package price was around 25K sans epidural and circumcision. Total bill was just over 30K including an extra night for the baby to recover from his "snipping."

I highly recommend checking out Paolo Memorial. The only drawback, if it even could be considered one, is that English is not as widely spoken there as at Bumrungrad or Samitivej, but that didn't matter to me as the wife was happiest there, and that's what counts.

Jim, have you ever actually asked your fiancee why she doesn't want to move back to Roi Et and take care of her kids?

If you're interested in finding out why, that might be a good place to start...

unforchanatly

you could do an English course.

Hey, cut him some slack -- he's from Austallia.

I'm a fool to do your Dirty Work...

I wonder how much this wrist-slap is because Dubya and Thaksin were buddies, sorta, being cut from the same crony-capitalism cloth so to speak, and Dubya is all sore that his little buddy was so unceremoniously ousted.

The parallels between the Dubya and Thaksin administrations are many, including vote-buying tactics amongst the less-educated country folk ("look Marge, we just got us a $200 tax refund while the country is going trillions of dollars into debt, isn't that Dubya fella wunnerful?" And he loves Jesus and hates homos just like we do!), and blatantly handing out plum government jobs and no-bid contracts to well-connected cronies and political contributors.

Wouldn't it be interesting to read the love letters being written between Dubya and Thaksin right about now?

Yeah, I reckon this suspension of American aid to Thailand has something to do with Gee Dub's affection for the ousted former Sam Houston State University grad, Mr. Thaksin.

I've learned that the best answer to simple questions like these - which don't involve spending large quantities of my money - is, "up to you, sweetheart..."

There are good ones there are bad ones.

There are virtuous ones there are non virtuous ones.

It happens everywhere.

If the relationship is good and honest, there is no need to doubt. If the relationship has not yet reached that point, don't be paranoid, look and learn.

...One more thing that just came back to me. My GF has had debts since I first met her. What with the usual demands of family and, as someone said here, teachers not being that well paid (about 10,000 baht a month). The debts amount to about $1000. I offered to pay them off for her to relieve the pressure some weeks ago. She politely refused. For the hardened sceptics here, no ... that didn't put me off my guard. I'd be a 5% sceptic in Utopia. I distrust first, and wait to be proved wrong. But it's a step in the right direction. Or maybe I really am naive

[hardened skeptic]

A step in the right direction or just a well calculated step?

At this point I wouldn't lay odds against you paying off that loan... sooner rather than later.

[/hardened skeptic]

That relationship with the "brother" raises a large red flag for me, even if he really is her brother. In my experience, male and female family members don't normally show much public affection for each other in Thai culture. What you described in the OP sounds very unusual indeed.

It was obvious from the get-go to anyone with at least half a firing synapse that this would be the case. I mean, even under the strictest interpretation of the new regulations, there were a number of viable options for even the most lazy and incompetent beer-addled sexpat (hey, I'm not beer-addled ) to reside indefinitely in the LOS. A strategy as simple as obtaining 1 (one) single entry 60 day tourist visa followed by an extension and 2 or 3 border runs, then repeat, was never out of the question.

It has indeed been amusing to read the reactions of the punters, ranging from sanguine to full cardiac arrest, over the past few days.

hi guys..

so why do people want multiple tourist visa's anyway?

surely 30 or 60 days is enough for a holiday - and thats what these tourist visa's are for.

if you are working or staying in thailand why dont you get a work or retirement or dependants visa?

i dont think that there is anything wrong here with the new visa requirements - just people trying to get around the law - for whatever reason - probably tax or insurance or just simply black employment ....

so what do such people ( multiple tourist visa ) do for a living? how do they get money? one assumes its all illigal?

so i guess thats why the thai authorities are trying to tighten up on them?

amarka

Some people need these visas because they are retired, under 50 and don't trust investing money in the country which seems to make since taking all of this into account. They need a retired visa for the young people. You don't have to be old to retire.

correct, and there are a lot of idiots who can't grasp this concept that there are 48 year old retirees out there with no options

No options? OH, THE DRAMA! I reckon scrounging up a tourist visa once every 180 days or so must be beyond your capabilities.

Poor Moonchaser

What are other patterns or experiences other people have with security guards or building people overstepping their bounds?

Once I was living in a serviced apartment in BKK with a girlfriend. We'd been there together about 6 months. One of the young doormen was always very friendly and as is typical of Thais always asked how we were feeling, where we were going and where we'd been. One day I was on my way out by myself, and at some point during the pleasantries he asked me if I had a wife back home... I thought that was a bit odd.

BTW Kat, never mind the flamers. Your OP was bound to attract some of those types of responses. I know exactly what you mean about being watched... I notice the same thing happening but I'm a man and might not get quite the same feeling about it as you do. At this point I've just learned to ignore it.

Kat ... I didn't bash ....

you said the guy smiled .... and appear to know exactly what is behind that smile! Makes you a mind reader!

The security guards at my places in BKK would smile on occassion late at night too! Sometimes because I was obviously intoxicated and sometimes because they were a friendly lot!

Difficult to know what meaning may lie behind a smile here in the LOS.

A single woman coming and going late at night may have different implications in this culture than it would back in New York. As a single foreign woman you will attract more attention than usual from the locals anyway. Agreed, it is a little creepy, but I really doubt you're in any physical danger.

Yaa khit maak... don't think too much.

The younger and prettier the gurl, the less chance she'll offer to pay for anything I reckon. Older and/or not so pretty she may have to pick up the tab now and then. That's the way of the world I'm afraid.

Oh please. Perhaps the more high-maintenance the girl, or the more she associates dating, relationships, and her time as money

I was speaking in generalities... there are, of course, exceptions to the rule.

The younger and prettier the gurl, the less chance she'll offer to pay for anything I reckon. Older and/or not so pretty she may have to pick up the tab now and then. That's the way of the world I'm afraid.

i have lost too much weight since moving to thailand. i used to be a nice voluptuous 130 lbs... now i am at about 108. rice just doesn't do it for me.

Sounds just perfect as you are right now, unless you're taller than 5'6" or so. Actually, to give a more accurate assessment we would need pictures...

I have a US customer who requested a routing number for my Thai bank so he could make the international wire transfer to me. His bank told him the SWIFT code, account number and bank address was not enough.

Since I have never provided anyone with such a routing number before, I doubt his bank knows what they're talking about...?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I think your customer is mistaken, as your Thai bank will only have a SWIFT code - not a routing number - unless they have a branch in the US.

I'm almost 100 percent sure you're female now... just a tiny bit more evidence required...

same here, go on, get yer tits out for the boys

[austin powers voice]EEEeeeeeoooow beehaaaaaaaave!![/austin powers voice]

That's not what I meant at all... youse Pattaya boys are so randy.......

(besides, you know katoeys always have the best ones anyways )