Iamloki

Yeah... but MY fat and wrinkles are beautiful and oh so manly...

Man.. you do that really well... 555

Fair enough.

Congratulations... just curious... how many non-English speaking foreigners live in your state?

I followed the link just for the heck of it... not really looking for a desk now... I said, cool a video... sadly it was in Chinese... 555

Your opinion is of course welcome BMT... How many Thai wives have you had, and for how long? Do you live in "Thailand" or in one of the "farang enclaves"?

Actually, I had the same thought. Of course, we are all limited by our means. I'm a little older, so when I think of marrying a Thai woman... she is not 18 years old, she is not a virgin, she probably has kids, she is probably divorced, she has already had her "bride price" paid in the past... The sin sod is a negotiation... I would ask myself, regardless of my Western reflex of holding onto my money at all costs (including the relationship with my future wife)... from the Thai perspective... what value can be attached to the family's "loss of a daughter"... Is she a 2mil thb princess, a 200K hottie from a wealthy family, or a 10K mother of 15 kids none of whom look alike.... The thing I would be looking at is my wife to be... in 10 years will she look at me as a guy who found a way to respect her culture (and the culture of country I chose to live in), or... will be I the person who "blew off her family" and was "too cheap and bull headed" to even try... She may say, and even think she believes, that she is of like mind with you today... but she is Thai, will always be Thai... I would walk very carefully through this quagmire and try to find a balance between Western and Thai sensibilities... Finally, forget about the 2K baht... use it as a bargaining chip, but you know - and so does everyone else (farang and Thai alike) - that it is really insignificant... especially against future familial peace and happiness.

Technically the K1 is a fiance visa and not a marriage visa. 24 years ago the K1 (K2) was easier, faster and cheaper. I forget the timeline, but if not married with in the specified time, the fiance and dependents (K2) would have to return to their home country. After getting married, they had a temporary permission to stay for one year. After that they got Green Cards. There were two or three meeting at immigration, and a commingling of funds needed to be shown... Her name on a joint account and maybe a debit card (or authorized user on a credit card???) don't really remember. Anyway, it was a pretty painless process - though time consuming sometimes. Of course that 24 years ago... I do not know what it's like now... Knowing the US, they have not made it easier or cheaper. I did all the paperwork, forms etc by myself... I remember thinking at the time, that if I ever had to do it again, I would pay the attorney... again things were much cheaper in 2020. No idea how much an attorney would gouge today...

Down da home... Around the shuffleboard table?

If the top of your head looks anything like mine... I am sorry for you loss...

I think the insurance question is dependent on which Visa Type you wind up with O-A requires insurance, O doesn't. If it were me... I would one of two things: 1. Have a conversation with Rex. He made the whole process for me super easy. - https://www.siam-legal.com/legal_services/thailand-visa-services.php 2. If you know where you will be living, call that immigration office directly and ask.

You can write either.

I'm an American on a retirement extension or many years. I don't think it is necessary, but I have my Social Security direct deposited into a BKK Bank "deposit" account. Those deposits are automatically coded as FTT. This is important because only FTT transfers are counted as income by Thai Immigration. The "deposit" account can only be accessed by physically going to the bank. So it could be inconvenient if you are not in Thailand. That said, yes you can create a FTT transfer into the bank, and once posted remove the money. My routine is every month I go to the bank and transfer the monthly income from the Deposit account to the account I live out of. Each year at extension time, my bank letter, statement and copy of my bankbook pages only contain the monthly in the transfers and the out transfer... short, sweet and easy for Immigration to follow. If you know which IO you will extend your permission to stay (retirement visa), I would suggest calling them and see if they prefer 12 monthly FTT transfers before moving to Thailand, or the 800K baht method... Hope this helps.

That's really good advice.

I find Agoda tacks on 17% to 19% of their posted rate by the time I get done with payment... I use them to get a list of hotels... but never book with them. Always, always call the hotel directly.

"don't need a virus protection anymore (which is free on most sites)"... First, nothing is free, anywhere... but especially with software. If you are not paying for service, you are the product - and you are being sold (or at least everything about you is). VPN, does not replace anti-virus or malware - it is just a different type of protection. Every time we go online, we risk having the data we transmit being intercepted... just like the cops in the movies listen in on cell phone conversations by snatching the microwaves out of the air.... A VPN prevents your transmissions from being sniffed and stolen by sending everything through a sort of tunnel that is hard to detect. Do you need to worry about this sort of thing... perhaps not. But, what if... you are doing online banking? Or, using your credit card... Or, live in America and are talking about taxes (just kidding)... but do you really want your government, or other criminals, having unfettered access to everything you do?

Yes.

You can get California and Chicago pizza anywhere - though I don't know why anyone would want to... But.... you can't get New York pizza if you aren't in New York - has something to with the Hudson River water...

Believe me! I'm not one either. lol

This is the link I use = https://tm47.immigration.go.th/tm47/#/login Note yours is to register... the one I use is to login. I then land on this login page: Don't know if this helps... but thus far, I've had no problems. (knock on wood).

Fyi George, the correct spelling is "Rhodes Scholar".

Are they there legally?

It's not that they haven't heard it... they don't know what ounces and pounds are... grams and kilos maybe...

Not so down on the abstruse... but Donovan is something else. Though, now that I think about it, Season of the Witch does mention beatniks and rabbits in a ditch... I do not remember any mention of dogs... Perhaps "still kicking" is on to something?? lol

1. I meet the financial requirements, but still consider myself an "economic migrant"... I can't live the life style I have here in Thailand in the US... 2. Just because someone can't put the money in the bank, or can't reach the required income... does not mean they can't support themselves otherwise. As long as they aren't causing trouble, and stay in Pattaya... who cares?