sampson

1 hour ago, Cabradelmar said:

You think it's about being lonely and wanting company? Stop it. It's about basic survival and making a living. It's always about the money. And if they could make as much money not selling their bodies they would. 

Looking for company was a polite way of looking for a punter. Not about being lonely 🤣

But the point is they don't have to sell their bodies, and what they do with the money usually doesn't have much to do with basic survival. 

Opinions and <deleted> and all that 

11 minutes ago, Cabradelmar said:

Thailand has built up an entire industry around sex workers. It's the reason tourism is what it is today (otherwise tourist numbers wouldn't be anywhere near 30-40m per year). Is it good? Not really, not for the women that have no other choices or better opportunities. Few of them want to do it as a living, if at all (stop kidding yourselves). They'd do something else almost immediately, if they could make a living at it. They do it to survive. And that's an unfortunate predicament. But it is the world's oldest profession. And for a reason. Sex always sells. And the business leaders and government officials of Thailand are okay that THA has such a large per capita share of sex workers. In fact, they disrespect the sex workers when they pretend they don't have, want or need sex workers.

 

It's not survivalist prostitution & you certainly don't need to feel sorry for them.

These figures seem low.  The Thai scene dwarves the foreign scene.  When I lived in Bangkok, pretty much every Thai bar, live music restaurant, night club had loads of girls who were obviously looking for business.  Many of them have day jobs and go out a few times a week/month looking for company. Many of them seem to become someone's paid mistress, does that still count? Then there are all the massage shops with extras, KTV bars, side line girls on social media.  Pretty much every random Thai town I've stopped in for the night has massage shops or karaoke places. 

First of all thanks to the OP for his PM's and not to hijack his thread but I thought I would update on my post above.

I spent 90 days in Thailand on my METV, went to Cambodia for 6 nights and then came back into the Thailand at the Cham Yeam crossing.

I travelled from Phnom Penh to Trat with the same company called Virak Buntham, who I would recommend.  Not perfect but OK.  Road from Phnom Penh to Koh Kong is rough, mostly dirt and gravel but I guess it's nothing that should put you off.

 
It is a very quiet border, there were around 10 people on the minibus and maybe a couple of other people who made their own way.  1 unofficial guy trying to take over who was friendly with both the Cambodian side and Thai checkpoint crew but I fobbed him off. It took 2-3 minutes to stamp out of Cambodia then walk over to the Thai side, fill out TM6 and then was stamped in without so much as a word from the IO.  7/11 and Amazon on the Thai side and then a 30 minute or so wait for the van for the hour or so trip to Trat.  Virak Buntham will take you all the way to Bangkok if you want though.

I'd recommend it as a place to cross, it was very easy.

I did this with a Thai lady in 2019 and the price was around 400 baht, no more than 500 baht, so does seem to have gone up a lot.  The guy actually dropped us off at her house way out of town for that price too.

But you can always say no and walk away if you don't like the price. It's pointless to agree and complain later.  

I'm pretty sure at the corner where soi farang meets the road that has the hotel Ayotaya that they have the fares published 

Congrats on getting back in and not to high jack the thread but ....

I am on an METV.  Coming to the end of my 60 days + 30 days extension.  I want to go to Cambodia or the Phillipines for a week before returning to Thailand for 2 months before going home.  I am worried about what might happen on the return to BKK. I stayed around 6 months last year on regular tourist visas too and did get some grilling coming into BKK this time.   Am I best returning to Thailand by land or by Chiang Mai or a week out and back to Bangkok by air on my METV will likely be OK?

33 minutes ago, freeworld said:

 

The report did not state if he was on a balcony, only that he was shaking a gate, fleeing, climbed a condo wall and vanished and then fell from the 8th floor.

Maybe he didn't have a keycard and tried to climb to his room.

Sounds more like an accident than somebody who jumped anyway 

On 10/22/2023 at 8:31 AM, Kenny202 said:

Sounds like a pretty A typical farang / Thai women (village born?) relationship to me. Lazy, entitled, selfish, greedy etc....Probably the full seven deadly sins all in one package. Even without their 11yo attitude / intellect / anger issues they usually have very little to bring to the table apart from usually kids, needy family and a lot of issues / debts. No world / real life experience, no initiative. So even if they were happy thoughtful, agreeable, helpful with their husband / kids they would still be next to useless, though most of us would be happy with someone that at least tried to contribute. Not act like everyone owes them something. They wont do anything by themselves and hate being asked to do anything. No interest in learning or personal growth. Hobbies include scrolling through Facebook liking posts and reading other peoples comments, various other social media, watching inane drama shows and sleeping. As far as cleaning, cooking or helping in anyway I assume you are probably doing that yourself including most of the children's care and paying for everything of course. Yet she still walks around with a shetty look on her face and an attitude like she is the down trodden one lol. I hear you and I think just about all the friends I have in Thailand are in similar relationships to some degree. Most of them stuck there and tolerating it because they are on the pension and house in her name...

 

As for your dilemma only you can work that out for yourself. What about the financial situation in Germany? Does she have the rights to half or more of everything you own like in most countries? Can you afford to bare that loss and start again? In any case sounds like you are in an intolerable situation and she has no interest in doing anything to make amends. By the way not all Thais / Thai women are like this by any stretch. Got some really good Thai friends and they live very much like we would. Tidy homes, structure in their life, have goals, work as a team together etc. The women we seem to be attracted to and indeed seek foreigners out are usually as you describe....bottom of the barrel, at the end of their road and looking for a free ride. These traits aren't cultural to Thailand....they are traits of a typical type of person found all around the world. The kids well, I guess you wouldn't be comfortable with her taking care of them....nor should you be by the sounds of it. She probably doesn't even want them but will play on that for sure. I would try and find out what it is she actually wants....if it is just exit stage left and leave the kids with you, and not suck you dry probably your best option. I got left with 4 kids in Australia and the first two weeks was hectic then it all worked itself out. You have to make the decision first that you are really going to finish it up with her, then start taking steps. It gets easier after you start moving. You didn't mention if she is working or solely dependent on you? Will be a lot of things possibly that can come into play even if she seems ammeniable to separating....one of which is her friends getting in her ears as to the financial possibilities. And you can bet they have their own forum in Germany with plenty or women giving out free (often ill informed) advice just like Asean now. I know it is not in our play book to use kids as pawns etc but they have no such qualms. I got left with a child here, very similar situation to yours but in Thailand. She had me dancing around on a string for three months manipulating me with my child. In the end I suggested to her she may be the one that gets "left holding the baby". That straightened her up 5000% and her whole attitude changed. They use your concern / love for the child actually against you...as they have no such feelings themselves.     

Great post this.  Very good summary of so many Thai village women who seek out foreigners.  I have been with women like this myself and I am sure many of us see this everyday with our friends in Thailand.  The wife of the OP sounds like she ticks a lot of the boxes.  It's so exciting being in Thailand and starting a relationship with somebody totally different to what you have met before, it really is a different world and it masks a lot of the problems for a year or two then all heads south very quickly when you realise the reality.

It won't get any better so it is just about doing the best for the kids and self preservation. 

She probably doesn't want the kids but she will definitely use them to gain a financial advantage.  Seek legal advice, I doubt there are too many Czech experts on the forum to help you out.  Do not send the kids back to Thailand with her, they will have a very poor future waiting for them.  They will grow up with a poor education and the same crappy life skills your wife has.   In the cold light of day, when you look at your wife and her family what do you see?  That is what your kids will be if you send them to Thailand with her.

1 hour ago, mike111 said:

There's a massive project at Jomtien up ahead Thappraya road with huge signage "Riviera". It's glowing bright red at night and can't be missed on Jomtien skyline.

 

Is that a hotel or a condo? any first hand experiences what's its like (hotel or condo) and how's the management?.

 

Looks flashy from the outside but not all that glitters is gold.

Riviera condos seem to have a good reputation and are expensive.  Expect very small rooms but high quality amenities.  I think you are talking about Ocean Drive here on second road, which is pretty much brand new.  There are very few lights on in there at night.  If you rent a room in there then there is a good chance it will never have been lived in

4 hours ago, noobexpat said:

In said example, he can't be a director of his uk company because you have to be resident. 

 

Anybody of any nationality can be a director of a UK Ltd company and they can be tax resident wherever they want.  The only requirement at all is that it has a UK address

There has been a rise in digital nomads setting up businesses in Dubai, some US states (as a none US citizen) and a few other countries then living in Thailand tax free on elite visas.  This setup was promoted in various groups online. The grey area I guess was they weren't supposed to be working but the nature of the work meant if they kept their mouth shut they were OK.  The devil will be in the details but sounds like with the double tax treaties in place, most won't caught up in this but those taking advantage of the previously lax system will.

The Elite visa was probably too cheap to truly serve it's purpose.  Once you throw in all the agents, visa runs and general messing about, it wasn't that much more expensive go Elite as long as you could front the cash. 

Took less than 2 weeks from the appointment to delivered to my condo for my Thai lady.  Mid August it was.

A friend of mine is very close to his Thai nephew who is dating an Isaan university graduate with a good job in Bangkok.  I believe she makes around 40k a month.  The sinsod they were asking for was 350k (it was around there if not that exact number), which was a sticking point as they simply didn't have the money.  The solution was they lived together without getting married, as they had done for the past 7 years.  

That might be a solution for them.  I know it's hard to agree with sinsod and I wouldn't get involved with it myself, but I do recognise it's not just a scam to rip off foreigners but something that seems to be deeply ingrained in village life especially.  The family would probably feel they'd lose face in the village if they married their daughter, who has amounted to something and has good standing, off to an American for less than what a Thai might pay.  There are a lot of cross cultural relationship struggles in Thailand and these seem to go on speed if the Thai's are from Isaan.  Buyer beware I guess.

Genetically they tend to be smaller and of a slighter build.  Some of the Thai guys at my gym are in fine shape, low body fat etc but they struggle to build muscle mass almost to a man.  My GF's sister eats like a horse and is 38kg, she is drinking 2 litres of Pepsi most days as well. She is oblivious to any negative health effects this might have.

Many of them are getting fat though and when I pick my step daughter up from school seeing obese kids and kids with completely rotten teeth is just normal.  They live at 7/11 and the markets selling almost exclusively fried foods, deserts and high sugar drinks.   When I walk around these markets with my partner I usually pass on everything, it is just utter junk. They can drink an awful lot of calories and are oblivious to it.  Those bubble tea drinks that are everywhere can have 300+ calories and mountains of sugar and are available as little as 20 baht.    The lack of education and the convenience of it all is going to really cause a lot of health problems.

There are a lot of fat people in the UK but I'd say there is a much higher % of very healthy people too 

I don't know the name unfortunately but a friend of mine was "hung out" on one of the large groups after he cheated on his missus.  The story wasn't that simple however.  He was taken in by her charms but she was fond of a little extra cash on the side if you catch my drift and once he found out he took out his own revenge.  She took it very badly and wrote a long post about him which had an enormous amount of engagement on it - running into the tens of thousands of people "liking"/commenting and sharing etc. 

You have to be very careful if you're messing around these days, in Thailand I think it's more like 3 degrees of separation and if you're hanging around with girls in tourist areas I just assume they all know each other

Had problems today with my Tourist e-visa.  Wanted me to fill in all the supporting document requests, most of it which weren't necessary for a Tourist Visa like an ID card for the Thai national who invited you?? Wouldn't let me proceed without putting something so had to create a PDF saying I was coming as a tourist.

Awful website!

On 8/17/2021 at 1:16 PM, Delight said:

You are correct. I misread the statement by the OP

The buyer must pay into the private bank account of the OP.

Suspect  that the only reason why a typical Thai company -set up for this purpose-would need a bank account would be  to pay for the annual audit.

 

Maybe the company has never been audited.

 

The purchaser should have no say as to which bank account  will  receive the money.

Maybe the OP wishes it to be paid into a UK account.

 

I feel sure that the OP is not telling the full story.

 

 

The buyer is purchasing the property from say XYZ Ltd not John Smith.  John Smith might own some of the shares in XYZ and indeed have put all the money into the business to buy the property, be the Director and the man in control, but he doesn't directly own the property.

Thus the buyer, likely on the advice of their lawyer, wants to pay the Ltd Co. directly to buy the property to ensure best practice, security and compliance.  It isn't a difficult concept to grasp.  

Thailand has escaped the red list this time around.

Cuba, Indonesia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone added

16 hours ago, Geordieabroad said:

My mother in the UK passed away 2 years ago today. I needed an emergency visa for my Thai wife to attend the funeral ( she has been to the UK with me 9 times ).

I called the visa service to ask what was the best way of obtaining the visa quickly, they weren't interested. After 5 days of trying to make headway i gave up and went on my own.

Not sure why they were unable to advise you, but the option has been there for quite a few years for a 5 working day and 1 working day option.  Costing 9300 and 40400 baht respectively (on top of the price paid to the UK Gov at the end of the application)

The details are on the VFS global site https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/th/en/premium-services.  On completion of the application you are directed to VFS global to book your appointment and these services can be selected.  Obviously no help to you now, but might help others looking in future.

I used the 5 day option once and it still took 8 working days.  It is not guaranteed, which is quite poor given the amounts charged.

I believe it was a proposal by TaT.  Not anything remotely concrete.  As for keeping up with it, presumably it will be plastered all over Thailand related news sites like this if it rears it's head again.  Wouldn't get your hopes up!

14 hours ago, Havenstreet1940 said:

Maybe this thread is more about Covid and the implications on personal decisions andshouldbe moved,  Nonetheless,

I am planning to return to UK after September when I have completed (Hopefully?)my second vaccination.  I appreciaate I need to wait the appropriate time for the immunity from AZ to kick in.

 

To the point.   I would like to travel with my favourite airline QATAR, but I am concerned that the aircraft stops in Doha and passeners from that country or elswhere nearby may embark,   Sinopharm and Sinovac appear to be the vaccines favoured in the Middle East, and given the recent experience of Stephanie of the Phuket 'Sandbox' saga, am most reluctant to do so.

 

Think it will be lufthansa, KLM or Finair where the risk is smaller.

If you were to fly from Thailand to UK right now with Qatar you would have to do UK quarantine at £1750.  Of course things can change in the next 2 months and Qatar may come off the red list.  Even a transit through a red list country = quarantine.  So the Government probably share some of your concerns about people being around others who have spent time in that part of the world at the moment

If the situation in Thailand carries on like this then there has to be a fair chance it will go on the red list fairly soon.  If I had to return home, I would be doing so without delay.  Thailand may never move to the red list, it is speculation, but I think the fears of this happening are not without merit given the decline in Thailand

The option for the priority visa is on the VFS global page that they direct you to after completing the application.  It was there a few weeks ago when my GF applied anyway.  VFS are only doing Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the looks of things, but they were not busy.  GF was the only person there and all time slots were available even for the next day.  Appears they are only doing passport collections Monday and Wednesday if you don't trust it being posted. 

But I agree with your thought process regarding it potentially going red list.  Looking at the Visa group the Thai girls use for the UK on Facebook, anything done on 21st and 23rd June has come through this week - so about 2 weeks at the moment.