mgjackson69

We live same village as family no problem. I want to be close to my mum husband happy with that. We look up to family when they get ill/old. It's our way. As for houses trashed maybe in city not here and never seen in any village.

It is the Thai way, but not necessarily the farang way.

If it works for both of you, that is good.

I am the same, but my definition of "close" is different.

I cannot live next to my wife's mother, same as if I was in USA I could not live next to my mother.

In the same town/village, yes...but not next.

"So popular"...does that translate to a statistic?

LIkewise...."...most Thais are lactose intolerant." ??

Didn't I read that they vowed NEVER to return?

I read that same thing...

Look, your kid has a ridiculous advantage over the other kids. Maybe there is a Thai kid with no native English speaker at home who is putting her heart and soul into learning English. Sure she may not anywhere near as competent in English as your kid, but she is deserving of being recognized for her achievements and your kid does have an insurmountable advantage that should be considered a disqualification in such a "contest". Be happy that your kid enjoys the gift of the gods, languages. And as someone else mentioned, at some point you will need to get the kid out of the Thai public school system.

It is not a "ridiculous" advantage. It is an advantage, yes.

Do we not try to teach our children to use what advantages they have to better themselves?

Or would you rather every kid received a first place trophy for participation?

Have you ever heard what the school kids learn as "English"? I have, from a bunch of nieces and nephews.

"Hello my name is <name>. I go to <grade> in <school name>. Every day I practice English. I want to say now my life is English."

They can regurgitate the words, but have no idea what they mean.

I taught the kids more English in 30 minutes with a picture book than they learned all year in school...and they taught me some Thai as well.

...Thailand neatly ignores the massive Chinese/Khmer/Other immigration and ethnic mixing in its simplistic national view...

Which is why we are currently in "Thailand" rather than "Siam"

My mother-in-law offered us a piece of land right next door to her, to build a house.

I said, "Thanks but no thanks." After about 10 seconds of thought, my wife agreed with me.

We ended up building an 8-unit apartment building on a piece of land my wife had in the village, and kept the last unit for ourselves. That gives us a place to stay when we go up to Loei to visit the family...our home is in Chok Chai, Korat.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Mighty?

Never heard of the guy.

If the only problem is sweating then a prescription medication is available ie.from a doctor to reduce this.

After surviving 5 years you are obviously aware of hydration and potassium/magnesium importance - drink water before you're thirsty.. Use a sachet a day of a pharmaceutical grade electrolyte mix which covers it.

If you take any other medication check if 'profuse sweating' is a recognized side-effect. If yes there may be an alternative.

Some blood-pressure meds are diuretics...they will definitely make you sweat.

A lot of people think, wrongly, that bigger injectors will give you more power.....but as other posters have said: start with intake and exhaust.

...along the same line as those fools who, back in the day, thought that simply putting some monster carburetor on an otherwise stock engine was going to accomplish anything meaningful.

One should certainly be aware of their surroundings, and the possibility of violence.

But to say one should "fear violence"...why go through life being scared?

"What can I do to return to Thailand?"

Change of name and new passport. Illegal entry.

Otherwise find a job in Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos?

I have a new passport with a new passport number but same name . Can that help?

The new passport is linked to the old passport.

How did the school get away with destroying your passport?

Aspect that bothers me is that government with dual pricing sets the standard and the tone regarding taking foreigners for all they can get, so businesses follow the leaders..... hence mom and pop overcharges. At Chiang Mai rail station they tried that once at snack kiosk. Had charged 15 baht for Coke for local, then wanted 20 from me, so I questioned that. "Hee, hee.... ok 15 baht".

When I am in that situation, I don't buy it. I'd rather do without than give my money to a cheater. He only offered the real price because he was caught.

Yeah but what's the point of even buying a drink from a local vendor? 7-11 probably has at least one or two stores at the Chiang Mai railway station and only charges 13 Baht for a can of coke that's constantly cooled in a proper refridgerator, not just a box of ice.

The point is that at the 711 you might endup behind somebody coming to pay a bill which takes ages. Mum and pap stores don't have that.

And now they even do visa-services for burmese in the 711. I do like the shop but i hate to be in a long qeueu in there.

I hate that sh1t...whoever came up with the bill-pay scheme at 7-11 should be shot.

One would think that it would be a simple process...but it always seems to take lots of talk talk talk, lots of looking at the bill, lots of scanning and keying things in, lots of time.

Here in the village, the PEA office right across the street from 7-11, and three major banks are within a couple hundred meters either way...but I still see people with those bills in the 7-11.

Then please enlighten us mg, how does every wife everywhere pay the bills and provision the home?

I was responding to your statement "Like any wife anywhere I give half my salary". (strange syntax there).

I took that to mean that you give half of your salary to your wife...perhaps I misunderstood your meaning.

I give my wife a set amount every month to "run" the household...pay electric, water, internet, buy groceries, etc. There is some extra there for her for discretionary spending as well. Some might call that a "salary"...I call it a budget.

And it sure as hell is not half of my salary.

I used to do the same mg. apparently that makes my missus a prostitute though so instead I now give her nothing and have employed a maid to take care of the household stuff.

According to some here, I guess it does.

So I guess all of those stay at home moms of days gone by in USA and other countries were prostitutes also, according to some here

Right......a visit to the embassy. As I said, "pesky" paperwork, including a trip to Bangkok. No thanks. Lump sum is far more convenient.

I find keeping a sizeable amount of money in a foreign bank to be more pesky than a trip to the embassy...but to each his own.

Both methods work.

Then please enlighten us mg, how does every wife everywhere pay the bills and provision the home?

I was responding to your statement "Like any wife anywhere I give half my salary". (strange syntax there).

I took that to mean that you give half of your salary to your wife...perhaps I misunderstood your meaning.

I give my wife a set amount every month to "run" the household...pay electric, water, internet, buy groceries, etc. There is some extra there for her for discretionary spending as well. Some might call that a "salary"...I call it a budget.

And it sure as hell is not half of my salary.

Sooo... glad I go the retirement/lump sum route.

I am not sure what retirement/lump sum means.

Do you mean retirement vs marriage? Because each has an income or "lump sum" qualification as financial qualifier.

Yes. Retirement over marriage and 800k rather than 65k a month with the pesky paperwork to support that.

I am on marriage extension using the income method (40,000/month minimum).

The "pesky paperwork" consists of a "income statement" from my embassy. All that entails is a visit to embassy and filling out a form in which I state my monthly income and the embassy notarizes my signature. No other paperwork is required.

Like any wife anywhere I give half my salary. She pays bills and runs the household. I pay for kids school fees and save the rest.

Not like any wife anywhere.

Could they not run the wheel around to where the car that was on fire was at/near the ground?

Or would that be too simple?

Sooo... glad I go the retirement/lump sum route.

I am not sure what retirement/lump sum means.

Do you mean retirement vs marriage? Because each has an income or "lump sum" qualification as financial qualifier.

Sometimes when I am in an introspective mood, I envy the (majority of) Thais for their simplistic view of the world.

Then I consider the ignorance of the world that coincides with that view, and the envy melts away pretty quickly.

 

"Commander Wuthi Liptapallop joined with other senior officers in assuring the public that everything would be done to try and ensure the safety of tourists in the wake of the shocking attacks that caused uproar throughout the world."

this is such a god damned lie. i was in Soi Bintabaht the night this happened. there were no police anywhere.

funny, for some reason this story does not mention the attacks took place about 150 yards from the police station.

there were drunk Thai kids SITTING IN FRONT OF THE POLICE STATION.

Soi Bintabaht was packed with people, you could hardly move, there were many times people were panicking to get off the streets as people began pushing and shoving.

"Wuthi said that this was an important case as it involved tourists and police had worked hard to resolve the matter quickly and efficiently. Following a news conference in which tourist organisations and business leaders presented floral tributes to thank the police for their work on the case, Wuthi went to visit the site of the April 13th attack in Soi Bintabaht, central Hua Hin."

What work? siting on your ass a block away while someone gets beaten?

but everything is OK now, here are some flowers.

I've been part of Songkran in Pattaya a few times. Only police I've ever seen was the one token cop there allowing himself to be a target for water. Walk down the other streets, none.

A few years ago, we had to make a hasty retreat on second road as we were headed home, walking. A fight broke out, bottles where being thrown. Absolute mayhem.

On the drive home, it was like a war zone. Scooters going back and forth across Sukhumvit. No helmets. No lights. Speeding. Drunk. And NO police.

What do you expect??? Pure mayhem.

This is why I avoid Pattaya at all costs during Songkran. I made the mistake of going there one year just after Songkran ended in Bangkok. I was unaware that Songkran went on for an additional 4 or 5 days in Pattaya. After that experience, I vowed 'never again'.

Why any casual Western tourist would choose Songkran as a time to visit The Kingdom is beyond me.

It seems like worst time to visit, especially if one is visiting Thailand for the first time. A bunch of drunk people lining the roads throwing water around is not any sort of accurate representation of what Thailand is about.

If I am going to be here during "the holidays", I come in a few days before. If we have enough lead time (read: beat the northward migration), we might go up to Nong Hin (Loei), where most of the wife's family still lives, and stay until well after the southward migration has ended. Usually, we just stay at home in Chok Chai (not Farm) Korat, visiting some family nearby, but generally just avoiding the stupidity.

Hmmmmm.....my re-entry permit and extension expire on the 22nd May.

I flew into Bangok today and insteqad of getting a 90 day entry, I have to leave on the 22nd May.

No problem this time, as I have plenty of time to renew. But if you fly in a day, or two before expiry, you could be stuffed.

No mistake as I also double-checked with the immigration supervisor.

Why would you expect to get a 90 day entry ?

Extensions of stay are normally valid for one year if issued on the basis of marriage/retirement. A re-entry permit has the same expiry date as the extension it relates to. When returning using a re-entry permit you will be stamped in according to the date on the permit.

Exactly correct - all extension only last until the expiry date stamp. A re-entry permit only allows you to preserve that expiry date. Surprised you don't know that KB as you are an old hand here.

Nope. Only ever had the one extension. About to renew an extension for the first time, so, it was a complete surprise to me.

I can see where, if one had been doing visas and visa-exempt before, where this would catch one off-guard.

What is a bit strange, is being in the "under consideration" period for an extension based on marriage (the month following the expiration of the current extension), and being able to get a re-entry permit for that month. A re-entry permit for that month costs the same as one for a year.

That is the way my extension (based on marriage) tends to go....I fly in, make the visit to Immigration for the extension, get the "under consideration, return on mm/dd) stamp. I typically fly out for work during that month, so I immediately get a re-entry permit (single or multiple-entry depending on work). Fly out, fly back to make the "return on date", go to immigration, get the extension for 11 months and a multiple-reentry stamp for the same period

....repeat 10 months later.

I never read anywhere that the Thai's attacked the foreigners just for the 'fun of it' ???

you blame the foreigners for not walking away, they had already pushed their son to the ground,

so why did the Thai's not just walk away ??

and the guy that king hit the woman came running in from out of now where...

Watch the full video. It is crystal clear that the son stumbled and was not "pushed to the ground" as you state incorrectly.

The Thai guy that hit the mother didn't come "from out of nowhere", he came directly from the clutches of the son who had him in an arm lock. Watch this 16 second segment from the video to see this clearly too and watch the dad swinging a punch in his direction. Mazungu's description was correct.

https://youtu.be/zw4pfwjNis4

Nobody on here has tried to justify the beating that the three foreigners received. There are no so called 'apologists' who condone the Thai violence. However many people (on here and other threads) have pointed out correctly that all three foreigners committed assaults on Thais before any Thais lifted a finger against them. It is perfectly justified for someone to question their judgement and to say that they could (should) have walked away. They instigated the aggression and they escalated the aggression. You would have to be blind, or possibly racist, to deny this.

But why did he hit the woman

A slap by an old 'woman' justifies a full punch to the head and then kicking her when she is lying on the ground ??

big tough hero.... NOT !!!

I have seen nobody post that the beating the Brits received was "justified"....only that the Brits were not blameless in this whole mess.

And muslims too.

Been there, lived within it, and have T-shirt to prove it. The Muslim world? Absolutely no way, is there the remotest comparison

I can back this up, for the same reasons