Maha Sarakham

Have been coming to CM for years and never seen any impressive nightlife outside of Warm-Up and Good View, both of which are mainly frequented by Thai youths. Definitely not the scene you are looking for. Would suggest heading down to Bangkok...

Just a matter of time.

Traditional Thai culture dictates that a woman shouldn't live with a man until married, granted its a bit old fashioned, but some still abide by it. Additionally, it's just not common, it's a different cultural perspective entirely. Housing in Thailand isn't as unaffordable or out-of-reach in Thailand as it is in the West. A woman might live with her family, boyfriend, in a dorm if studying, or with a same gender roommate until they have the funds to buy their own condo, but anything outside of that is very rare as Upnotover suggested above. Really depends on the woman, her situation, and her family to be honest. But in most instances I wouldn't count on it.

Very true, most food, brand name clothing, cars, pretty much anything other than housing is cheaper in the US than Thailand now. The real value of Thailand lies in the extremely affordable rental or housing rates, which is a large chunk of most monthly expenditures.

Yes. Check their Facebook, schedule and prices are posted through the end of November and you can book via Line or FB.

Grass is always greener...

A lot of people you meet in your journeys may originally be from Isaan. The laugh is usually their way of being pleased you are visiting.

That's true, just want to let people know there are other options to consider as well, that didn't exist previously. Back to the scheduled programming ????

In most cases I would agree, although bringing the car or bike down from Pattaya, it seems like a decent option instead of driving the whole way down.

Check Kayak.com, they compare multiple companies and you'll have your answer.

There is a new Seahorse Cruise route that connects Pattaya directly with Koh Samui for 2500 THB and up depending on what kind of seat/room you want. Sleep on the ferry overnight and you'll wake up in beautiful Samui. www.spcruise.com, if you book directly through their Facebook page you can get set up with a trip over.

Most people come to Thailand for an affordable retirement, where they can get more value from their money than they can in their home countries. I'd imagine very few people are sitting on 40 mil baht let alone looking to invest that aggressively at this stage in their lives.

Tale as old as time...

That's correct, but for their husbands that likely did not have Thai passports, it provided an undesirable complexity to entry. It's all gone now and winter is coming in their home countries, I suspect Suvarnabhumi will pick up quite a bit of entry traffic in the next few months. It already has begun. In my opinion, coming this year before the Chinese are allowed back will be the best time to do so, the exchange rate is also excellent at the moment.

Most stay in Chaweng (E) or Bophut (NE) as tourists. Maenam (N) and Lamai (SE) have a more local or long-term stay vibe to them. Granted, the island is still recovering from the last few years of basically being shutdown, so many businesses are still closed or slowly reopening in some areas. Temper your expectations and you'll be fine anywhere you end up, although I might suggest visiting the areas in person and seeing what you like best before you rent. There is plenty to choose from as the recovery is still underway.

My wife has noted a sharp increase in the number of Mia farang's living abroad returning home after all the covid entry restrictions were dropped. Gonna be a busy high season this year I suspect, good for the businesses in Thailand.

Too many lads in speedos ????

No good, not looking forward to smelling this rubbish, already have to deal with it at home.

You know her better than we do, however if you are already losing trust in her over trivial matters like this then I would say it's probably not going to work out.

Another quality tourist.

Best way to stay safe in crypto is not to partake in crypto.

In the Thai Facebook visa groups, many Thais recommend cheating the system to get to the US or Korea with tourist/visitor Visas instead of using the proper methods. This has contributed to a big crackdown on Thais going abroad as tourists. The most important thing that you have to demonstrate is your wife's ties to Thailand, preferably through a stable job that she WILL return to, in this instance, the PTO approval from the employer sounded like a good proposition and any other documentation that shows you two have traveled internationally before and returned to Thailand on time each time. Good luck, the bad apples have ruined it for the rest of the population unfortunately, always seems to go that way. Guilty until you can prove yourself innocent.

I have not found anything more reliable than hipflat or fazwaz market trend data in Thailand. It is all over the place depending on location and age of project. Asians don't like to buy second hand properties, especially once they reach 8-10 years old, unless they're in absolutely prime locations.

My wife is much the same, 99% food items in 6 different suitcases... Just take whatever is expensive to import and doesn't violate customs regulations in your country.