Smithson

I don't know the product you refer to. Quality dry food are expensive compared to fresh stuff. If you want something simple and cheap, Marco has chicken carcasses that still have quite a bit of meat on them. Only problem is you they need to be refrigerated.

Has anyone suggested checking the dead guys hands for gun shot residue? Would seem to answer a lot of questions. The enactment is good to watch, luckily the hand cuffed the Swiss guy. I imagine they realized the four armed police were no match with his Ninja fighting skills. The comments are good also, lots of thumbs up and 100% from Thais cheering old Swiss matey.

Can someone be reprehensible when they're dead? That's a very old fashioned attitude. In these days of gender equality it's not fair to put such a financial burden on males. This is especially true for farangs in Thailand, who don't have equal rights to employment, citizenship or owning assets. Thai women will say it's Thai culture for the man to take financial care, but looking around this is clearly untrue. It's up to individuals to take care of themselves, this is particularly true for farang residing here.

Which National Park?

It's your relationship so the choice is yours, but it sounds one way rather than sharing family relations and assets. Not all of us are retirees, some are still working and making ends meet. In this case it's a two way street, a couple is a partnership that needs to plan and work together. The idea that a man is responsible for his spouses financial security is out dated and sexist, to me anyway. Thai women are very good at making money, I would never be in a relationship with one who didn't contribute financially. A friend is recently divorced, he's looking after two kids and says Thai women run a mile from this. Yet there are no shortage of women (and their families) who are desperate for farang spouses, provided they pay the bills, be responsible and fix any problems that arise.

Maybe it's just the reporting, but there seems to be a lot of killing among couples in Pattaya. Usually stabbing after a drunken argument. An actor stabbed his GF to death and a woman stab her BF to death not long ago. I'd be interested to hear any follow up on these two cases? I wonder if covid and the economic situation is a factor.

In the interests of equality and because death is inevitable. What arrangements have ppl's Thai spouses made for them in case of their death? Especially keen to here from family orientated members who are happily married and don't spend time hanging out in bars.

So after the husband dies, the widow goes straight to another farang with her problems. The farang is not a citizen, has limited rights, hasn't spent most of his life here and probably doesn't speak the language. Why don't they go to other Thais for help? Especially the family who are a priority at other times. Pathetic indeed. It's up those likely to be left behind to ensure their burden isn't too great. They are adults and should behave as such, they should initiate discussions around this, because it will be their problem. The culture of expecting outsiders to come to the rescue each and expect little more than a smile in return is well out of hand.

Lucky with business maybe, otherwise it's a mixed bag. It sounds like your friend didn't have a WP and didn't make a substantial investment. The idea is to help the country, not make it easier for foreigners to live here. Over the last decade I've met more people who think they should be able to arrive here and be able to work without limitations. Maybe this is because of the amount of migrant workers in their countries. The rule of having to employ Thais is a good one and in line with other countries. Ideally the jobs would involve training or skill sharing. This is an example of developing the country and not just bringing in lump sums. If Thailand had an immigration policy similar to other countries then after being married here for a certain time people may be able to work without restrictions. Possibly a path towards citizenship even, which would allow them to buy land. This would be similar to policies in Western countries.

It's a desire, not a decision. Our opinions shouldn't count, it's up to Thais, but generally countries make an effort to accept and integrate people. Besides money, migrants bring new ideas...

0% tax rate on all income and capital gains personal or corporate is a pretty big incentive. What would be the gains for the Thai people? I pay income and company tax, as do many Thais. I doubt they'd be thrilled by your suggestion.

I already did that, 51% owned by my Thai partner, but we built the business together from scratch with tiny investment. There's many people I know who have done similar. For them the biggest problem is visa/WP laws, which are expensive and time consuming. It seems the govt wants more money from foreigners but still wants to keep them separate from Thai society.

Charming. Well there's no shortage of former sex workers who have married and gone to live in the West. There's no questions about previous employment when applying for the visa. Some governments try to make life better for the people, while still having programs to attract investors. Speaking to Thais, they generally have a positive opinion of expats raising other people's children.

Maybe a good investment, not sure about the best. There's also working age people here who have families and have set up businesses, as these are usually business targeted to other expats, tourists or export. They are a much greater stimulus to the economy and often bring in new ideas. Thai people need to be considered more in this, it's fairly transparent that it's about lump sums, rather than developing the country. Other countries target people who invest in businesses, as this is on going and not a one off payment.

Actually it says served time in 2013. Was that the only year? At the end of the vid a family member is justifying the attack by saying Thai law is weak. I wonder if this was a reference to the short sentence?

The tough and the lucky. I've survived financially, but I've had several staff get infected and there's been lots of associated costs. Psychologically it's been tough, but others are much worse. I only know of one expat forced home, but am sure there's many.

Yes, they aren't that difficult, but on top of the non O it adds another layer. Many other countries just issue a work visa. The whole process takes time away from being productive, it's not good for the economy.

And hardest of all is the non B and accompanying WP. This doesn't help investment or efficiency.

I agree with almost everything you've written, but not all retirees supported the backpackers crack down. It was a bad policy, wealthy countries want backpackers. They spend a lot because they stay so long. Rich people didn't get that way by giving up their money.

Are you suggesting sex workers should have lesser status with the govt then regular Thais? What matters is if the relationship is genuine, plenty of farang marry ex sex workers and taken them to the West. Their previous employment is irrelevant.

It's still illegal, many government schools here hire teachers illegally as it's easier than getting a WP. The system that allows some to get away with things while others can't is something Thais often complain about. Plenty I know have been kicked out, denied entry or had a visa refused. When looking at the issue, we shouldn't just think what suits us or even what suits other expats, ultimately it should be what helps the Thai people the most and I think the current system is not making their lives easier, especially those on the lower runs. That's just my opinion anyway.

So 20 years ago you worked illegally. If you were caught, fined and deported then I would have sympathy because the WP rules are unfair. This is the something else I wanted, it's called compassion.

I would be interested in seeing that thesis. A previous government decided women married to expats were a valuable part of Isaan society and gave them recognition for such. A real nastiness has crept into expat life here, when someone is negatively affected some other expats rush to say, not my problem, I couldn't care less, tough luck. It's almost as bad as posters here who need to tell the world their wife never worked in a bar.

Thanks for letting us know how it affects you, not all of us are the same, many work here. The unwillingness of the govt to give security to Thais with expat family is a big issue for them, often these expats are breadwinners. Attracting rich foreigners will do little to help Thais on the lower echelons and these are the ones hurting most at the moment. When you worked unofficially for a large NGO did you have a work permit? They are required even for volunteers. Making employing farang easier, especially teachers, would help the country. They are not taking Thai jobs.

A friend married a bar girl, took her to Australia. It was about ten years ago. She now has a Australian passport, her Thai son stayed a few years and got permanent residency or possibly citizenship. Meanwhile people who have been here decades, have wife and kids, have set up businesses still have to report 90 days and go through annual extension requiring photos in pyjamas on the bed. It's got worse over the years, in the future they may want vids. It's not just farang, what about Thai families who can never have a sense of security about family members who are usually bread winners too.