Lannig

Why would I want a Thai woman to love me in a western sense? I'd much rather make an effort to understand the eastern sense.

Easier said than done I'd say.

This might well be the right way to deal with it indeed, but it's not easy to go against all the fundamentals of love as we have learned it from our parents since early childhood.

Whomever you love in Thailand, in whatever meaning of the word "love": girlfriend, boyfriend, relatives of said, the children in the family, be they yours or not, you're up for quite a few culture shocks that not meany of us overcome easily.

How many purchases within the said 180 days? I'll all a question of ratio I guess

I had 23 purchases in the last 180 days. Please take note that Paypal didn't even have to step in with the 2 disputes.

As for buyer's protection, I have used it twice over the past year 1/2 or so and frankly I can't complain. They did quite well.

How many purchases within the said 180 days? I'll all a question of ratio I guess

The mobile phone waterproof pouches that are sold everywhere during Song Karn come handy for my passport too.

Here's an education for you, OP: most Thais would not expect you to pay (...)

Well, I don't deal with prostitutes, but still...

Trying to control adult's behaviours is at least a challenge and possibly unwelcome.

As for children in my Thai family, yes, on this particular topic I've tried over the years to teach them to finish their plates with reasonable success.

It's even become a gimmick, a private joke in my Thai family to repeat my usual statement that "anyone who does not finish his plate will walk back home" when we go out eating in my small town.

I usually insist that we limit the number of dishes ordered in the first round, and add more later if anyone wishes so. It kind of works but this is with people from my first circle. Wouldn't do it with anyone beyond this.

By defintion, no.

Different culture, different way of loving.

And I'm not even thinking of the many things that can interfere with genuine feelings in a thai-farang couple. Such as money, of course.

I had parked my car at Talad Thai (Pathum Thani) to go buy food.

When I returned, another pick-up truck was parked behind mine, blocking me.

I sat in the car waiting for at least 20 minutes before a Thai guy walked to his car, briefly turning his eyes at me so he couldn't possibly ignore that I was stuck here waiting for him. Not a word. He sat into his car, started the engine so I thought that I would be able to take off soon, but he didn't move.

Becoming seriously p.ssed off, I walked to his window and started to tell him (in Thai) without raising my voice but firmly, that I had been stuck here for a while and that the very minimum I would have expected would be an apology and him freeing me quickly.

The guy then opened the door with great violence, making me taking a few steps back, got out, titled his seat to grab a machete that was behind the seat and started threatening me. I ran away to my car and locked the doors. After shouting a few insults he went back to his car and left.

What I find strange is that Thais like to put on more clothes even when the temperature gets higher , watch the locals on their scooters , They wear big jackets , shirts with long sleeves and jeans. They don't seem to mind , compare it with all the foreigners on bikes . some of them are even shirtless.

Thais do suffer from heat too. Don't be fooled by people saying "they're used to it / their metabolisms are adapted" etc.

I was in the LOS in the middle of the very unsual heat wave we've had this year and I really noticed the tired looks of the people in my village. Well, those who don't have a/c at home at least.

The talk of the town was sleepless nights.

I don't think any human being can really "adjust" to what the hot season has had for us this year. Be it farang or Thai.

Maybe you are being far-sighted ? While we can't know what the future holds, the odds do seem to be against Thailand going through it's present stage and emerging as a better place to live and bring up a family. More factions seeking power here than in Game of Thrones.

I really can't envision a scenario towards a "better place" as of now. Not for us, for sure.

The country is more deeply divided than ever and the junta is slowly spreading ideas that foreigners are the source for much of Thailand's trouble. When things turn very ugly, and I predict that there's a very high chance for this to happen when all Thais will have lost their only common moral reference, then I wouldn't like to be in Thailand, because angry mobs will seek scapegoats ... have you people seen the movie "No Escape"? Just fiction... but becoming more and more a possible scenario as time passes IMHO.

I am not going into politics here. But!!. She foresees big trouble.Increasing poverty and debt, increasing violence and "control measures", maybe increased climate and agricultural problems.She thinks the police/military rivalry maybe insoluble and also the royalist/democratic divide She thinks the problem of Islam in France and the UK is by comparison a small problem!

I wouldn't call problems with islamists in France "small" but I do agree on most of these grim predictions for Thailand.

I have made the same decision in 2007 (roughly after the coup) and the reasons that made me leave then are even much, much more true today.

Do I regret this decision sometimes? of course I do. Do I still think that it was the wisest thing to do? Yes, I still do.

Giving children a proper education in Thailand costs a lot too. Really a lot. Agree with WishWashMan.

Visas can only be obtained from Thai Embassy's /Consulates.

Sorry for the candid question, but if so what are the "visa on arrival" booths at Suwa?

Coming back to this thread a bit late... just to say well done, boys. PSG really wasn't C1-class this time.

Now laughing at all my fellow compatriots who were saying that getting past ManC would be piece of cake.

Very magnanimous of you, and I hope you enjoyed the games.

Thanks for your appreciation but that's easy to say for me, I'm really an O.L. (Lyon) supporter.

Of course I support PSG when they're our only representative in the C1, but watching them lose isn't nearly as painful to me as when OL was pityfully sent home in the first round

Did I enjoy the matches? well honestly they weren't really C1-class either IMHO. PSG has really failed but ManC hasn't been stellar.

Coming back to this thread a bit late... just to say well done, boys. PSG really wasn't C1-class this time.

Now laughing at all my fellow compatriots who were saying that getting past ManC would be piece of cake.

I'd definitely get a visa. You're tracked in their computers and there's definitely a flag next to your name saying "must have a visa at next entry". Having two passports from two different countries might confuse their tracking a little bit, there's a small chance that you might have two separate identities in their system but really, I wouldn't bet on this.

Shouldn't it be "if you have back-to-back visa exempt stamps"?

If one stays abroard 1-4 months between entries, it shouldn't be any problem to have many of these stamps, should it?

People working a rotation outside the country and doing an entry every 2 months have been pulled to the side. A recent one was working 4 weeks outside the country and 10 days here and got questioned and was told to get a visa.

Thanks for the tip. Well, hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm usually in Thailand only 2 to 4 times a year, exceptionally 5 times, my time spent abroad usually is much over a month so I guess that keeps me below the radar.

I can reply to these questions and prove that I'm a real tourist anyway, I have more than enough income in my home country.

Shouldn't it be "if you have back-to-back visa exempt stamps"?

If one stays abroard 1-4 months between entries, it shouldn't be any problem to have many of these stamps, should it?

Pathetic... how can folks lose their self-esteem up to this point?

A lawyer might be overkill indeed, but if you decide to offer cash along with a public apology to calm her down and avoid trouble, don't do this yourself. Do it the Thai way, go through a trusted Thai 3rd party.

Two of my colleagues successfully did their reports online, using IE. Seems most of the issues have been ironed out.

About time, isn't it?

A case of the first batch of boxes going out before they got the Google certification, hence without Play Store installed?

Then they've got it and the next batches go out with Play Store aboard.

I've seen this happening a lot on cheap no-name tablets.

I confirm: Haier is made in China.

I've had a Haier fridge (bought new) and it was complete crap:

- totally deficient regulation, depending on the day it would either freeze food hard or let it rot. I had to adjust the temperature control knob all the time

- lasted for less than 3 years before the internal stuff (trays etc.) started to lose paint, develop cracks in plastic...

- it was an electricty hog

Haier? never again for me.

I'd say very minimum risk. Encryption is not any weaker than with a site using a real certificate. The only thing is that you can't be sure that you are connected to an actual immigration.go.th web site because the domain name present in the encryption certificate sent by the site has not been authenticated by an authority that your browser trusts.

So in theory yes, it could be a web site posing for extranet.immigration.go.th at the other end, not the actual one.

Now considering that the most sensitive information you send is your passport number, I wouldn't consider this more risky than writing it on an arrival card anyone could take a glance at.

Summary: in my humble opinion, no risk but this looks terribly unprofessional.

Oh well... maybe it's just broken (I'd say that wouldn't surprise me, but that would be construed as Thai-bashing so I won't ), maybe you could try with IE indeed. Can't try it because I'm not willing to input my real data in there.

As sunnyjim5 wrote, VOA can be obtained at the airport, I'm not quite sure what this online registration brings you and whether it's worth the efforts.

No other ideas, sorry.