chatette

Thai embassies and consulates abroad can renew her Thai ID card (since a year or so ago); they can also issue temporary Thai travel documents if she lacks the paperwork needed to renew the ID and passport.

They are very helpful and have a lot of experience in this. You should consult with your nearest embassy or consulate.

She shd leave the U.S. on her U.S. passport and enter Thailand as a Thai. There's no issue re stamps.
I have two nationalities (one is Thai) and routinely switch passports at check in and immigration to suit various countries entry requirements.

Sheryl, No quibbles with your advise to Francis other than the first point.

Not all govt hospitals bar/don't have facilities for partners/companions in the delivery room. You do need to check with each hospital. Please do check my posting above and reference to Childbirth and Breastfeeding Foundation of Thailand on this.

My daughter was born at a govt hospital, King Mongkut in Bangkok, and we had a private delivery room with my husband present for the duration.

Also, quite correct to note that the baby of a non-Thai unmarried mother wouldn't automatically qualify for Thai citizenship -- and thus health-care cover in the public system.

It may be worth considering a district office registration of marriage beforehand as this would be considerably easier and cheaper than the DNA testing required to confirm paternity. Also, should you have a change of heart at any time, registered marriages in Thailand are very easy to annul while the citizenship will remain.

Frances, I also experienced the frustration of failing to find the information you're looking for when I was pregnant in Bankgok.

In the event, my daughter was born at Pra Mongkut Klao (King Mongkut) hospital, a government (military-run) facility in Bangkok. The doctor spoke English and I had a private delivery room with my husband present and stayed in a private a/c room afterward for a day or so. The price was extremely reasonable compared with the relatively enormous cost of similar services at Thai private hospitals, many of which are likely to whoosh you off for a cesarean whether you need one or not.

On the basis of my experience, I would most definitely recommend a govt hospital, but you really need to do your research to find one that is accommodative of your circumstances as not all will/can offer a private labor room or allow a partner or friend to accompany you. Given the nurses likely won't speak much English, you really will want someone to be with you to help you through the labor process.

In the event that an emergency C section were required, be assured that Thai doctors are more likely to intervene than not so you would not be left until the last minute, so to speak. The op itself is quite straight forward so you should not be unduly worried about it.

I suggest you contact the Childbirth and Breastfeeding Foundation of Thailand, an NGO, to help you identify hospitals that might suit you. It does a lot of work with such hospitals in helping them manage birthing plans, natural birthing processes, formula-free environments, etc. Meena Sobsamai is the CBFT coordinator. I don't have her contacts but a good starting point is Bangkok Mothers & Babies International, which also distributes a CBFT-produced book entitled Guide to Having a Baby in Bangkok. It has a good website with contacts.

I have several friends whose children were born in govt. hospitals in Bangkok and beyond and none of them had a bad experience.

Hope the above helps.

Well if you look at his web site, every second posting includes bank account details for donors to deposit funds for this or that. It reads like business rather than dhamma, whether we `like it or not.'

As for the flight footage, which I watched sometime before it went viral, just reinforces my query as to why these guys aren't paying tax like any other business people? (It's rhetoric, before you respond they're exempt while I'm not).

Massive stakes. Sheltered workshop.

Come on people. This Egyptian couple are shaking Thailand down for compensation. Believe me, the Thai woman was assaulted, too. This is a bar room scrap by a couple looking for cash.

I wonder if it's routine for this couple to launch this propaganda trial-by-media on everyone they have an altercation with?

Reads like a stitch up by a vindictive couple.

Wonder what the real story is?

I'm not vaguely confused about anything here.

I personally find it obnoxious that any govt official should dictate a dress code for an ID photo that I carry, and I consider it a massive human rights issue - and somewhat more important than wardrobes - that Thailand doesn't acknowledge sex changes on ID documents.

This is not just about ladyboys, it's about anyone who chooses to change the gender that they were identified as when born. The ID card may now depict someone who was born a man dressed as a woman, but Thailand will continue to be identify them as a man on that card, drivers license, passport, household registration etc., and send them to a mens' prison, until the day they die.

To be quite clear, this may be seen to be humane on the surface, but it's pure trivia. What needed, rather than the imagery, is to acknowledge a gender change on the ID documents, and Thailand does not allow acknowledgement of that.

I personally had an expat friend who switched sex, got a new passport from home country with the revised gender but held a Thai PR book, drivers license, household reg that identified her as a man, and allowed her to held to ridicule by any small minded idiot she encountered.

It'd be more sensible if people who've had a gender change were labelled accordingly by the Dept of Interior, rather than some obnoxious dictat being issued allowing them to choose their clothing
Utterly absurd that anyone whose gender's changed from male to female (or the other way around) isn't identified as such by Thailand.
That would be a more useful change than the wardrobe.

I handed my shopping bag to the check out girl at BIGC yday and she put it in a plastic bag....

Another mouth-before-mind idea that's impossible to implement given many people don't need visas to enter Thailand and buy air tickets online. Blah blah balh.

`Pol Maj Gen Supisarn Phakdinaruenart, chief of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), Thursday indicated he might decline to take action against those who sheltered Somchai or doctors who treated him.

`He said doctors are duty-bound to treat patients while efforts by relatives or children to shelter their father are considered an act of gratitude in the Thai context.'- From today's BP front page.

So, harboring convicted murderers is an act of gratitude, according to our crime suppression chief.... Carry on.

Have you tried a local hardware shop?

I have it in tiny plastic bottles and use it for cleaning veges for juicing or salad.

I'm looking for a local product called Buverin (written in Thai but I don't have Thai fonts), which is basically a biological pesticide containing spore of Beauveria Bassiana, a fungus that destroys sucking insect pests.

Would anyone happen to know where I can find it or an equivalent brand in Bangkok?

Presumably organic farmers would favor this, but I have no contacts.

Boots has diplatory cremes, altho I don't know how effective they are on pubic hair (regardless of their packaging claims).

Waxing is much more effective; does anyone know of a reputable waxing place in Rachadapisek area around BigC. My daughter went looking yday and just got a series of `mai dai's all the way to Central World with offers to laser remove (at massive cost over multiple sessions)

Neeranam, a taxi driver that doesn't want a fare can turn OFF the red light that says `Wang', or Available. I leave the door wide open. It is not a trick, it is a statement in response to drivers' cherry picking fares. I work long hours, too, but it doesn't mean I can pick and choose what I deliver my employer or my clients. I can quit and do something else if I don't like it.

And to note, the report that kicked this thread off was about a taxi driver who physically removed a passenger from the cab; that's assault, altho I'm sure he'll never be charged with it.

These drivers refuse foreigners and Thais alike.

The first step to ending this utter nonsense with taxis would be for the coops to honor bookings. How often have you booked a cab and got a call 30 mins beforehand to say there's no car when there's hundreds if not thousands plying the streets for fares of their choice?

Bookings are fares, are they not? Yet there's no a single taxi company in Bangkok that you can reliably book a car with....

The express train itself is great. But...getting to and fro. The lack of signage to the exit closest to the airport link at Petchburi MRT is astounding, as is the appalling route to get to it from there: no pavement across the railway tracks, massive curbs between road, pavement, loose paving stones on the pavement itself. Just awful.

Petchburi is fine, as is anywhere in the city as long as you take usual precautions.

Yes Santi Suk, you are quite right in your geography.

Mooru_Uk asked for reasonably-priced van contact references.

Along with the contact, I have given him a price-formula that he can use to decide if the price to his location is what he considers reasonable, a subjective measure that we may not necessarily agree on.

Price/km is the formula; price differs based on vehicle type while the km variable is based on the destination.

I'm sure Mooru_UK can work out the price per km charged by my contact based on readily available data and decide whether it's one that he considers reasonable.

I hope you now understand why Ban Phe was mentioned. It could have been anywhere as long as ex-Bangkok involving a van.

>100 views and not a single contact...

So none are reliable, I take it.

Surely a business opportunity....

Howa canceled my `booking' last night yet again 30 mins before the scheduled trip, resulting in carting a heavy bag out to the main road to try and find a scouting taxi willing to go to my destination. This is the third time in as many bookings, and it's enough. Radio Taxi will also cancel bookings when it comes to the time should a car not be available. Only AOT seems to actually really take bookings, altho only to the airports -- and its service was booked out from early morning until late night yday.

Would most appreciate contacts of companies that honor bookings for trips to a variety of locations in Bangkok, whether a daily office run, airport or schools etc. I don't mind paying the premium to avoid dealing with some of the scoundrels that are licensed to drive taxis in this city.

Thanks in advance.

I use Khun Suvit regularly and his service and drivers are very reliable. His cell is 081 206 7337. Not sure what a trip to the drop off to Koh Chang would be, but VIP van to nearby Ban Phe costs ~ 3500 baht including tolls.

The vehicles are very comfortable and have DVD system and the drivers will make detours for pickups, shopping and restaurants without any complaint.

I've used the service ~ 4 times in the past month so my recommendation is recent.

Click on the English flag and then click thru the top banner until you get to the scheds and prices for Bkk-Phnom Phenh and Bkk-Siem Reap. The banner scrolls but you just click thru until you get back to it. Don't think it makes much diff if you look in English or Thai, actually. There's a 24hr call center number there, too.

http://home.transport.co.th/th.html

That the op-ed piece didn't mention a particular rape doesn't have relevance when the point of it is that attitudes need to change for the incidence of rape to decrease. There's no shortage of examples to cite.

Its failing to my mind was that it didn't nail down the best way to reduce crime: increase the risk of being caught, as Marco2008 notes in his post.

This report citing NYPD and London experiences in reducing the incidence of rape really hammers it down: http://tinyurl.com/bt5ywd8

Forget about changing the way people think and improve the policing.

Gross misuse of state resources and tying up courts with political retribution instead of legitimate legal cases.

Great thread, and I've read it from the start.

Totally agree with the suggestions that you give yourself a more structured, time-zoned stay here. 6mths - 7 now is just a long vacation. It's really not long enough for any opportunities to emerge, whether a business or lifestyle (ie your lack of friends). Give yourselves at least a few years to try to make a go of it, if you're serious about it. Rome wasn't built in a day (sorry, that's so cheesey).

Get a job. You mentioned you've worked as a teacher. Do it. You will meet people and will stop feeling so isolated. Engaging with people outside of you family - immediate and extended - will really make a difference.

Apply for citizenship. It is easy for women who've produced a Thai (your son) and there is absolutely no downside other than the waiting. Your husband may have an issue with the military service requirement since he was likely out of the country, but it's not a game changer. There are solutions.

Do not worry about schooling. Your son will do well whereever he goes to school if he is happy, engaged and capable. I dare say a private Thai language school may offer a better and safer education than many govt. schools in London and other UK cities.

Don't worry so much about money. It will come. You are both quite young and qualified. Your husband is at least bilingual; that's worth a lot in itself. You can learn Thai, too. It's not rocket science.

Thailand can be great and it can be horrible, just like anywhere. Most of the greatness and horribleness is in our heads. It's your state of mind that will make or break you.

I really don't buy into any of the posts that have banged away, so to speak, about the uniqueness of Thai men's sexual behavior. They are people, men, husbands, fathers, parents. I have not found anything at all odd (although I have told him otherwise at times) about the behavior of my, erhm - Thai- husband of ~ 16 yrs. His 'Thainess' has absolutely nothing to do with anything, other than he's happy, and we've lived all over the world and have a now 14yr-old gorgeous daughter who seems to doing great guns on the education front.

Frankly, I think the notion that Thai men are some weird sexual predators probably speaks more of individuals' personal horror shows than any peculiar race. I see some rather predatory males prowling Sukhmuvit Soi 3 at ~ 6:15am when I'm enroute to work, and none of them appear to be Thai, although one shd not judge by appearances.

Give Thailand a go. The weather at least is much, much nicer :-)