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gary and kids
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Posts posted by gary and kids
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We’re leaving late June(1 adult 2 kid’s). I’ve had good luck in the past with travelocitys “fare watcher program” but that seems to have dropped off for now
. I’ve gotten R.T tickets for 675.00 from Seattle to BKK. I did check the search in the travel forum.Any ideas help………………Thanks much G.
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Malaria isn't a big worry.
Think Dengue Fever if you want something to worry about!
Thanks for the reply---
should(can) we get shots for Denue fever? is the rain constant (all day) ?
You cannot get shots for dengue. You would be considered very unlucky if you contracted this disese.Just make sure that the kids have mozzie repellant to be on the safe side.
It does not rain all the time.Somedays no rain, some days it can bucket down for half an hour and that's it.....
Sounds like Seattle sometimes, we get a lot of really cold rain. -
I’m traveling to Phuket with my kid’s in July and wondering what to expect weather wise??
?Do we need to take meds For possible malaria or anything else ???
?? Any ideas on places to stay while we’re there?
------------Thanks to all that can help
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No, I am not american.
But I want to humbly thank you for giving me the opportunity to state the fact publicly that I am not american.
I am not into conspiracy junk.
I have met several cia operatives and Thailand is an 'active' country for americas hidden agendas.
Did you notice the increased flights over thailand around the last election ? Did you know there is a warehouse full of cash from iraq kept under armed guard ? Did you know that there was nowhere near the thousands of deaths from the tsunami and that the americans shipped in bodies from irag and afghanistan that they could not explain and dumped them at sea the next day ?
Did you know that there's a fleet of black helicopters hidden away at Don Muang? Did you know that Thailand is the world's largest producer of tinfoil hats?
Do you have a web address for the tinfoil hats?? My kid's want one
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Hi Gary,
I don't know that anyone takes malaria tablets here. There's always a small risk all over the country but the tablets are nasty to take. The weather is likely to be hot and humid with some days of rain. I'd bring rain jackets cos it gets cold when it rains. Come over to where I live and have a drink, I have an 11-year-old son. It's an hour from Krabi and a great place for kids to be free of fears and roam free.
Seonai
Thanks for the feed-back it all helps, I'll e-mail when we get close and visit for a while
Thanks again
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booster shot if you remain in a high risk area.
Samui is high risk for typhoid?
Thanks for the feed-back everyone, it all helps
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Wow----Fight At Nai Yang Beach, Thai husband and wife die
^^ looks to be the full title of the thread ...
You are wrong. The title of the post was : Fight At Nai Yang Beach
the content of his post was : Thai husband and wife die
So taking his advise, ie <try reading the title of the thread> (sarcastic twit) actually means ,read this - Fight at Nai Yang beach. Which of course gives no indication of the race of the victims. That info (which I missed was in the body of his post, and not the title of the post.
. Go back and look again, you'll get there in the end
maybe change title: stupidity thread
It always ceases to amaze me what people do with all the extra time on their hands ??????
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Malaria isn't a big worry.
Think Dengue Fever if you want something to worry about!
Thanks for the reply---
should(can) we get shots for Denue fever? is the rain constant (all day) ?
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I’m traveling to Krabi with my kid’s in July and wondering what to expect weather wise?? Do we need to take meds. For possible malaria???
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I’m traveling to Koh Samui with my kid’s in July and wondering what to expect weather wise?? Do we need to take meds. For possible malaria???
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I’m traveling to Chiangmai with my kid’s in July and wondering what to expect weather wise?? Do we need to take meds. For possible malaria???
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CIS accreditation process takes several years and the paperwork is HUGE (having just gone through it). Khun Jean you need to stop being so negative about places like this (which you are in all your posts that I've read). I've never worked there but I've never heard anything that bad about it .... in fact I have a friend working in a very good job at a very good school in bangkok considering moving and working there.
Gary&kids ... I think you are right to find out all the information first and ask other's opinions. I'll second what lots of others have said and do try and find out ways to be legal here (rather than on a tourist visa) and investigate all schooling/living options for your family and make sure that moving here is 100% definitely what your kids want as well as you.
When you come out in July, arrange some visits with some schools and make sure your daughters go along too.. Any international school would be happy to show you around - the only downside is that the pupils will be on holiday so you won't get to see the school in action, although you should be able to get a 'feel' of the school by looking around the classrooms and displays of pupils work. Try and arrange visits at Thai & private schools (not sure if how easy this is to arrange). I've only been to a few Thai schools, but my impression is that they are very different to western schools .... I can't imagine girls of your daughter's age feeling comfortable being thrown into this situation (older exchange students are a different story).
Also, be aware that, while at first having a 'farang' in the class will be a novelty, this novelty may soon wear off and unless your girls are very confident and pick up the language quickly, they may soon be left alone and possibly friendless. This even happens in international schools where the majority of children are Thai. Many teenagers at my school find themselves lonely and depressed without the circle of friends they are used to back home. However, just as many fit in perfectly and love it here and are exposed to so many more opportunities and experiences than they would ever have had back home.
Probably the best thing would be to have an open mind when you come and make sure your children all understand that, if after a giving it a reasonable go they are not happy living in Thailand, then you will move back to the States. Maybe make a plan before you come and decide how long a 'reasonable' length of time would be and what sort of things/feelings would constitute the decision to move back. That way, you can come and it won't matter if it doesn't work out, as your kids will know they can always return home if things get bad.
That is all great advice Sylvafern …………….
Thank you very much
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Once you come here, and settle, a tourist visa is just wrong. My neighbor is here with her two teenagers, and one mistake on her kid's visa cost her about 19,000 baht. You'll have three visas to keep up with, and three passports. You would not believe how many adults have trouble with their own visa and passport here, in spite of being reasonably diligent.
As on the other thread, I'll pretend to play angel's advocate and say no, don't bring them here. One thing I learned in raising six children to adulthood is that some moves are very traumatic.
One more thing: your name is "Gary&Kids" which is great. But are you sure this is what the girls want, or primarily what you think they want?
Anyway, good luck to you all.
---------Good question Peaceblonde. Both my kid’s and I really loved Thailand. My oldest daughter (13) is not quite as sure as my youngest (12) about moving anywhere, but she really liked Thailand a lot. I am moving them from the school their at now because it’s just not a very good middle-school and high-school at all even though we live in a good school district
just out side of Seattle. She has expressed that she would rather move to Thailand than to Seattle or most any other place we’ve been.I do realize when living somewhere it’s easy to pick out all the negative points of any city, just like I would not recommend you raising your kids here. I’ve traveled a bit and never saw such unity before, family’s eating together weather it be at their shops they own, on the streets for an event, or at their homes. A Thai friend said to me “family is much more important and respected their” unlike most of the U.S., what I saw of this was not just show for tourist either (unless the whole of Thailand is in on it) and I believe my girl’s picked up on this, as well as how differently they treat each other (better, we think).
Again, we are traveling there this July for another (1 month) visit to check it out more, I will look much closer this time to see through the “tourist act’ they might be putting on for me, as I’ve heard “most of them are”?? as well as seeing passed my "rose-colored glasses".
I appreciate yours and everyone’s advice peaceblonde….. thanks so much.
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These parents you speak of who genuinely remove their children from international schools the caliber of ISB, Patana, Ruamrudee or NIST for these reasons sound quite insecure in their own ability to turn out their children properly.
What you think they sound like, is irrelevant as parents they (and we) make decisions on what is best for their/our children.
But let us not loose sight of my contention, it is not that Thailand cannot provide a good life for young people, rather the life options Thailand offers young foreign children are limited compared to those that they would enjoy at home.
[/quote
----It sounds like Skylar is one of the few farang here that really grew up in Thailand. It sounds to me that skylar may have even liked it?? Any thing you could add about living in Thailand as adolescent would be of great help to me (me being a troll and all).By the way I’m not sure what most men do there?? But I am not the kind of father (or troll)that will just leave his kid’s to cruise girl’s, I watch out for them better than most “two parent”(troll) teams I’ve seen. I have a girlfriend here in the U.S and not in need of a concubine (or lovelies as ElGrande put it) and if I choose to date it will be some one close to my age (as it is now).
I do have friends that own land in Samui, but I don’t think we’ll be living there and not because of crime, were surrounded by that now. I’m planning on staying in Phuket or Bangkok for that is where more schools are and my daughters liked it most.
It is also my belief we are all limited only by are own “blinders”(“set your limits… and sure enough their yours”), if after a year of living in Thailand all we find out is how much more we appreciate the U.S then so be it. Most kid’s here in the states do not realize what they really have. I don’t think that a year or so in Thailand will destroy my daughter’s future. I do believe they will come away with much more than that though.
--------Never the less all your views are very much appreciated and continue to help me in my decision, thank you all for helping (a troll).
----P.S driving a tuk tuk could be fun(for a troll like me ). -
At the end of the day, one year is not the end of the world.
First off if Thailand was such an awful place, these farangs wouldn't live here. Instead most of "us" arrive here and are touched by the people, want to interact with them, got married etc.
The same people who this nation is capable to "produce".
Good for them but not for you and your daughters Gary?
Ah yup and naysayers are usually prone to spread their negativities, content people usually don't bother.
It's not my intention to show disrespect to the opinion of the other posters , just my thought.
------WOW you guy's are the best, I truly respect all your opinions very much and "thank the computer god's for forums like these"
-It seems to me I'm judged where ever I go, and that's o.k because I always say "what ever people want to do with their spare time is up to them" I just need to be concerned how I act. Again - Thank you all very much for your opinions they help a lot
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... From my own experience and observation, most professional expatriates in Thailand, that is those who are assigned to work in Thailand by their employers and who enjoy the benefits of funded education, health care programs, family support groups etc (The full expat package) return home when their children enter their teens. They do so for all the social, educational and personal development reasons that are important to the development of young people.
If parents (myself included) who have access to the very best education in Thailand make that choice, you need to ask yourself why? ...
Finally, I’d like to pass some of my own observations on Thai life for growing children, not to counter your own views, but to add some balance.
I have lived in Thailand for over twelve years, I am fluent in Thai, I worked for a major international corporation and I had the privilege of working with some of the brightest and best educated Thais (male and female) that the Thai education system produces. I have a daughter and a son.
My wife and I were constantly bothered by the subliminal messages that Thai society passes to boys and girls, defining roles based on a culture that is not that of our children. Worse still at work I listened to the constant banter, women (and I’m talking the top of the Thai educational tree here) seen and treated as objects. As a department manager I had to deal with two cases of sexual abuse, one of which was extremely serious, an experience that was more worrying, not just because of the attacks, which happen the world over, but because of the systematic abuse of the victims and their good name. Every part of our Thai organization and management turned on the victims (women) to protect their attackers.
I had a very senior member of our Thai staff tell me that a rapist should be forgiven and allowed to continue in his job because he has a family of his own and that his victim should be ‘moved out of the office’ to prevent embarrassment for the ‘good family’ of the rapist.
That might be extreme, but it was educated Thais expressing the values of Thai society with respect to men/women and their roles. Not the smiling holiday faces, but real attitudes of real Thai people. Not what I want my daughter, or son to grow up with.
Again, I urge you to talk to a grief councilor, your children’s school, aunts, uncles, grandparents. There is a whole lot more at stake than you perhaps realize.
...I do realize Thailand is not a perfect place, and I could tell some boy's/men are raised to think their better than girls,A lot of the stories I've heard about the downsides of Thailand are still prevalent( if not more so) here in the states ...
You really have no idea what you're talking about here, Gary. How can you make that kind of comparison if you've never lived in Thailand, and obviously know very little? You can't, and are simply making a generalization based on what you perceive to be similarities, without accounting for, or even being aware of, degrees and scope. I am an American woman who has lived here for 4 years, and I can attest to the veracity of what Guesthouse has stated to you.
*edit: btw, Guesthouse, can you tell me when this sexual abuse incident occurred?
---Your absolutely right KAT,
I have never lived in Thailand so I don't know exactly how all Thai men treat woman.All I do know is how they are treated here in the U.S and Canada and the month we stayed in Thailand, and in my view they were treated (for the most part) with much more respect while we were visiting Thailand.The Thais seemed to have more respect for families by far than they do here in the states,and maybe it's because my girls are quite self-confident and don't take a lot of crap from people (especially boy's).
But never the less it's something I (and they) would have to watch out for if we move there (or any where).I do know two american woman who have lived in Thailand who really loved it for the most part (One still doe's),and it seems there's a few here on the forum (you included) that are doing o.k for themselves in Thailand.
-- I know Thailand is not a perfect place, just one that we would like to live and experience for a little while. Thank's for your views kat
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P.S any info on what kind of visas would allow us to stay in Thailand for up to a year would be greatly appreciated
Your only real option is tourist visas and visa runs. Not ideal and certainly not acceptable for settling.
In response to your reply above, I still feel your talking around the issue. Go talk to some about your plans - If your plans are sound you loose nothing but the time confirming your views.
---Thanks again Guesthouse for views and info-
do you know anything about the "multiple entry non-immigrant O visa" is it possible to do that, instead of tourist visa?
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----I am considering moving my two children and I to Thailand for a year or so from the U.S.
I have read the multiple entry non-immigrant O visa the best way to go? anyone have any other thoughts on visas for us?? all thoughts are appreciated
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I take a slightly different view on this.
My first question is, what do your daughters want, where do they want to live?
You have just lost your wife, they have just lost their mother, but importantly at the very time in life when daughters need support from their mothers. I hope you are addressing this question, if not I implore you to seek some help and guidance on this issue.
Can I make an observation.
From my own experience and observation, most professional expatriates in Thailand, that is those who are assigned to work in Thailand by their employers and who enjoy the benefits of funded education, health care programs, family support groups etc (The full expat package) return home when their children enter their teens. They do so for all the social, educational and personal development reasons that are important to the development of young people.
If parents (myself included) who have access to the very best education in Thailand make that choice, you need to ask yourself why?
One of the reasons is of course their/our/your children are not Thai, their future is very unlikely to be in Thailand and remaining in Thailand/moving to Thailand at a age critical to education and personal development greatly limits the choices these children would have in later life.
In your particular case you would also be removing your children from their own culture and the links they have with their culture and their recently lost mother.
Secondly I think you need to examine your own motives for moving to Thailand, an odd choice, yes you had a great holiday there, yes you have some friends their, but are your able to cope with the move, are you able to manage life for your daughters. I think this is an issue relating to grief and I would urge you to at least talk to someone about that.
Again, from my own personal experience of being an expatriate (I’ve lived overseas for 19 years - I’m overseas now). Very common indicators of people who fail to make a success of their move overseas are:
Moving overseas to escape a problem (Debt/Family Strife)
Moving overseas immediately after divorce (in the first two or three years)
Moving overseas immediately after grief (in the first two or three years)
Moving overseas with any kind of an addiction (Alcohol/Gambling/Drugs)
I haven’t written that out for your specially, it is straight out of my employer’s overseas assignment manual and something I have both observed to be correct and frequently posted here on TV.
I really do urge you to talk to someone about the decisions you are making and the part your recent grief is playing in those decisions. – Please do, if your decisions are sound you will, I am sure receive help and support in sorting out your ideas, if they are affected by grief and are in need of examination, then the help available might save you and your daughters a great deal of trouble – All gain and no loss.
Finally, I’d like to pass some of my own observations on Thai life for growing children, not to counter your own views, but to add some balance.
I have lived in Thailand for over twelve years, I am fluent in Thai, I worked for a major international corporation and I had the privilege of working with some of the brightest and best educated Thais (male and female) that the Thai education system produces. I have a daughter and a son.
My wife and I were constantly bothered by the subliminal messages that Thai society passes to boys and girls, defining roles based on a culture that is not that of our children. Worse still at work I listened to the constant banter, women (and I’m talking the top of the Thai educational tree here) seen and treated as objects. As a department manager I had to deal with two cases of sexual abuse, one of which was extremely serious, an experience that was more worrying, not just because of the attacks, which happen the world over, but because of the systematic abuse of the victims and their good name. Every part of our Thai organization and management turned on the victims (women) to protect their attackers.
I had a very senior member of our Thai staff tell me that a rapist should be forgiven and allowed to continue in his job because he has a family of his own and that his victim should be ‘moved out of the office’ to prevent embarrassment for the ‘good family’ of the rapist.
That might be extreme, but it was educated Thais expressing the values of Thai society with respect to men/women and their roles. Not the smiling holiday faces, but real attitudes of real Thai people. Not what I want my daughter, or son to grow up with.
Again, I urge you to talk to a grief councilor, your children’s school, aunts, uncles, grandparents. There is a whole lot more at stake than you perhaps realize.
--Thank you all for your advice and opinions they help a lot.I would like to say again, my girls really seem to like the idea of moving to Thailand, and we don't plan on staying forever only a year or so (depending on visa restrictions and what THEY want).
I do realize Thailand is not a perfect place, and I could tell some boy's/men are raised to think their better than girls,A lot of the stories I've heard about the downsides of Thailand are still prevalent( if not more so) here in the states.I could see wanting my children to return to the U.S if they had been living there for a long time in Thailand.I do agree one should not move any where to escape the situation they're in, whether it's debt,grief,divorce,or any other outside force.My daughter's and I have gone to grief counseling and just counseling, witch they finished with the blessings of their counselors after a year and a half.
They really seem to like Thailand! but we are visiting there again this summer to see if it's a place we really want to move to for a while.The girl's apparently like the Thai kid's and people in general, they seemed to get along well with them despite the language barrier sometimes.Moving to Thailand i don't believe would be a crisis for them, or I would not do it.
I believe moving to Thailand just might open (not limit) their possibilities in personal development, I'm not sure what your experience is but most people I have met that have traveled seem more open to others views and opinions than their counter parts who haven't.my girl's would also be able to keep link to their counter parts through the computer(my space ect...)just as they do now,it seems kid's these days use the computer more than the phone or face to face to socialize with each other.
I do agree with much of the advice given here,visit as much as possible,talk with as many people as I can about it ,don't do it for the wrong reasons,make sure the kid's are all right with it.
-----Thanks again for all the advice and views it's all a great help .
--P.S any info on what kind of visas would allow us to stay in Thailand for up to a year would be greatly appreciated
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Not 'can', 'will' be an attraction.
Especially when you look at the areas he said he was thinking to live with them, phuket and samui !!
I know from fact the young guys down these ways pride themselves in bagging the white girls, the surf guys, the dive guys, the tour guys. They brag about it relentlessy the free white pussy they get because they are considered the 'cool' guys it is just something the OP needs to think about. He said he wants the devils advocate, here be me !!
Nawtils---
I do agree my girl's will be an attraction,But that can happen where ever we go.Although it seems to happen here in the U.S a lot more than it did in Thailand.They got a few looks from boy's (not from older men though) and one young Thai boy did tell me he wanted to marry my 13 yo. when she got older, but he and I were joking around a bit too (he had a girlfriend).In all I find Thai boy's much less aggressive than American and european, the Thais seem to look a lot but don't really try to do as much.I believe" From what I have seen in Thailand I have to watch out for the french and Italian men even more"(witch I'm half French and 1/2 Italian)they seemed to be the most aggressive.
My girl's seem to have a good sense of what some boy's are really interested in and can stand their own ground quite well(they are not a push over by any means).Never the less I'll have to keep a close eye on them where ever we go.
As far as the schooling go's I talked about that before in my other post.I think the experience of living and traveling in Thailand will help educate my girl's beyond what most schools can do here for them here in the U.S.
-----Thank's again for all your input, it's all helping me a lot
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Thank you for your posts,I appreciate all your views, even the(not so) Harsh ones.
First I do realize Thailand is not perfect and does have crime and yes yaa baa(Meth here in the states) and murder ect... Although if you check these rates against cities in the U.S it's much lower than Thailands.I did much walking around Bangkok and other cities at night while we were there and from my experience found it much safer than Seattle,no one offered me drugs,sex,or seemed overly intimidating which happens all the time here in the states (a friend of mine was recently hospitalized just for saying hello to someone downtown here,EVERY morning I wake up hearing about another shooting,rape or abduction this list goes on and on....).I know there's crime in Thailand I believe it's just not as prevalent as it is in the here, it seems most Thais don't appear to be as "hel_l bent on killing each other".
I also realize kids learn respect(and more) from their parents. I'm blessed my girls have respect for others, although living in a place where elders are cast aside like an old pair of shoes,your not cool unless you have the newest car, i-pod,or cell phone ect..doesn't make it any easier.
Our experience (and some good Thai friend's) from talking to kid's there they are not as caught up in this vicious cycle as they are here in the states, although I know this happens to some degree every where.It seems Thai people (even the very poor) are much more grateful for what they have than I've seen in the here in the U.S,Canada,and most of Europe.
As far as schooling go's, unless your in one of the top privet schools here in the U.S most of our schools are failing our kids(according to our own statistics) collage is another thing.
my children and I are coping with the loss of their mother(almost 2 yrs.ago) quite well,they really seem to want to move to Thailand for a while (not forever)and we are taking it slow traveling there a few times before making any real decisions.
I do appreciate the devil's advocate roll (i do it myself often)that's why Im trying to get as much feed back as possible from all kinds of people.I appreciate any other advice on schools,Visas,and other?
Thank you all soo much-- GARY and KIDS
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could be but in other posts of his others responded the same (i only saw today)...
sorry for your loss gary (only read that today also)
but i still think that a move like this after tragedy just makes the move more difficult especially if your girls are getting any kind of outside help for coping (social worker psychologist etc) or if htey may need these services etc in english....
i always play the devil's advocate and choose the worst case scenarios first; israelis say: difficult in the practice, easy in the fight....
i am assuming of course that their mother was thai?? there is family in thailand (aunts etc?) etc etc...
Thank you all for your posts,I appreciate all your views, even the(not so) Harsh ones.
-----First I do realize Thailand is not perfect and does have crime and yes yaa baa(Meth here in the states) and murder ect... Although if you check these rates against cities in the U.S it's much lower than Thailands.I did much walking around Bangkok and other cities at night while we were there and from my experience found it much safer than Seattle,no one offered me drugs,sex,or seemed overly intimidating which happens all the time here in the states (a friend of mine was recently hospitalized just for saying hello to someone downtown here,EVERY morning I wake up hearing about another shooting,rape or abduction this list goes on and on....).I know there's crime in Thailand I believe it's just not as prevalent as it is in the here, it seems most Thais don't appear to be as "hel_l bent on killing each other".
I also realize kids learn respect(and more) from their parents. I'm blessed my girls have respect for others, although living in a place where elders are cast aside like an old pair of shoes,your not cool unless you have the newest car, i-pod,or cell phone ect..doesn't make it any easier.
Our experience (and some good Thai friend's) from talking to kid's there they are not as caught up in this vicious cycle as they are here in the states, although I know this happens to some degree every where.It seems Thai people (even the very poor) are much more grateful for what they have than I've seen in the here in the U.S,Canada,and most of Europe.
As far as schooling go's, unless your in one of the top privet schools here in the U.S most of our schools are failing our kids(according to our own statistics) collage is another thing.
my children and I are coping with the loss of their mother(almost 2 yrs.ago) quite well,they really seem to want to move to Thailand for a while (not forever)and we are taking it slow traveling there a few times before making any real decisions.
I do appreciate the devil's advocate roll (i do it myself often)that's why Im trying to get as much feed back as possible from all kinds of people.I appreciate any other advice on schools,Visas,and other?
Thank you all soo much-- GARY and KIDS
P.S their mother was not Thai -
I've heard conflicting reports on Thailand's weather, and I'm just trying to get a good idea what to expect when we visit in July- thank's again.
The conflict is because Thailand stretches +2000km from north to south and the weather is quite
different depending in where you live.
I live in the middle quite near Bangkok, so cannot really comment on Phuket.
Try posting your message again in the Phuket forum.
The locals will be able to give better answers on specific months,
however hot and humid is a good general description.
Good advice Astral I'll do that.We come from Seattle,so we don't mind the rain so much.
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See Which Visa Should I Apply For? and also List of Schools.
Vinny,
Thank's for the info on schools and visas. -gary
. I’ve gotten R.T tickets for 675.00 from Seattle to BKK. I did check the search in the travel forum.
Any Ideas On Cheap Flights Leaving U.s (west Coast)?
in Thailand Travel Forum
Posted
Thanks for the info it all helps