bangkokrick

"... to marry their Thai girlfriends, most of whom are from the Bangkok middle-class and obviously have no intention of deceiving anyone for money."

This and at least one reference to Thai women as "Thai girls" in the OP makes me believe that this is a sarcastic article written by a white man.

I think that you will find that the author Prae Sakaowan is actually a Thai female,

Thanks for the link, so I guess I was correct since the profile says that Prae is a fictional character. It should really be highlighted in the article, even though it's obvious from the writing style.

I did not actually see that link, but did visit her Facebook site. She looks anything but fictional on there. I take your point on the writing style.

https://www.facebook.com/stylishkitty

"... to marry their Thai girlfriends, most of whom are from the Bangkok middle-class and obviously have no intention of deceiving anyone for money."

This and at least one reference to Thai women as "Thai girls" in the OP makes me believe that this is a sarcastic article written by a white man.

I think that you will find that the author Prae Sakaowan is actually a Thai female,

There's no believable defense of the practice.

The western custom is much closer to reality: the bride's family presents a dowry to the groom's family for providing them with a protector and source of livelihood for their daughter.

It's especially irksome that any family would expect a bride price when the daughter has already produced one or more children who will become the financial responsibility of the new husband. Thai men want nothing to do with such a situation, and the only taker is often a foreigner with a more generous attitude toward other people's children.

Sin sot deserves to die off as a cultural norm. It may have a traditional function among Thais, but makes no sense to those of us who aren't born to the culture. I certainly don't equate gifts of money with respect, and I doubt many Westerners do.

Although I understand to a certain degree the hesitation (or refusal) of a non Thai (european) man to pay a dowry, I resent the remarks made here, as they show utter disrespect to Thai culture. Let's face it - nobody is forced to live in Thailand, to marry a Thai girl, or retire here. Obviously there are parts of the Thai culture which are foreign, or even offensive to non Thais. We, non Thais, have to accept that some of our culture may be as strange and even offensive to Thais and make up our minds, do we or don't we, are we prepared, or aren't we, to accept Thai culture if we want to connect to Thailand or Thais. If we are not capable of doing so let us draw the consequences, instead of permanently offending the Thais and their culture.

I personally, have a Thai wife (for over 25 years) and two daughters, who were born in Europe, but we have been living here for over 10 years now. Both our daughters are over 20 and when my wife told me that she expects our future sons in law to pay a dowry, my immediate reaction was " I am NOT prepared to sell my daughters" ("we don't need it, and even if we did, I wouldn't do it"). After my wife explained the whole cultural background to me, I accepted this. The main part is that if the bridegroom in not prepared tp pay a dowry, he, according to Thai culture, does NOt respect either his bride nor her family. If one looks around the world, or even back to our own history, there are, or used to be, worse cultural customs than a dowry. One last thing. Although we Europeans are not used to pay our future parents in law, it is normal for us to buy Jewellery (diamond rings for the engagement, as an example) for our brides. So we also have our customs, which come close to a dowry, don't we?

An excellent response. I will marry my Thai lady soon and will pay a dowry and conform with Thai tradition and culture. The simple reason being her family is Thai and this is where we live. For those of you who don't like to conform with this culture, just don't marry a Thai and it might be better still if you don't live here if it upsets you so much. Oh just so you can really get your nuts in an uproar my bride is an ex bar girl!

That is very much your choice. If you want to go shopping for a wife that is your business, but many Western people including myself find the idea abhorrent.

Chocolate and watches spring to mind and maybe catch a World cup qualifier.

Any updates on this. I thought the court case was on the 2nd September?

Great news for Japan securing the 2020 Olympic games. We will be able to watch the athletes glowing in the dark.

Is it not tradition that the sin sod be returned to the groom following the wedding. Thought that it was just for show, showing face as is apparently important in Asian cultures

Of course in inter cultural marriages the rules often change.

There have been some unwarranted and nasty comments directed at Russians on this thread. Here is the rule:

7) Not to post slurs or degrading comments directed towards any group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

This guy does not hold a monopoly on misbehavior. I know a lot of 20 year olds from a lot of countries that could make this guy look like an amateur.

Please keep your comments civil and follow the rules.

blimey, if you apply that rule consistently it will be very quiet on here

I am a Brit and we have taken our fair share of bashing over the years. I welcome the Russians as it takes the heat off us. Lol

Yep paid at 7/11 today! One year sub. Dead easy took 2 mins. Email confirmation with new updated player software and password etc... Arrived immediately afterwards.

Nice One, Blue.

If they send you new updated player etc should I therefore uninstall the one I have now that I used for the trial?

Pat

Yes its always best to do that Pat, although in most cases it will overwrite the old player with the new or at least give you that option.

Not too sure Pat. This is from the mail i received today.

WARNING: All 365 Sport TV FREE trials end at midnight Friday 6th September 2013

If you haven't already purchased your subscription & wish to continue receiving our service after the cutoff point tomorrow night, you will need to purchase a paid subscription.

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER!

3999THB for 1 year subscription << that's under 11THB per day!!

I highlighted the red text.

I just got the email from 365Sport saying that the 'free trial' ends today. Has anyone paid their subscription at 7-11 yet?

I can confirm that the offer ends today, so not much time left.

You have until the end of September to decide, correct?

Not correct Pat

WARNING: All 365 Sport TV FREE trials end at midnight Friday 6th September 2013

I just got the email from 365Sport saying that the 'free trial' ends today. Has anyone paid their subscription at 7-11 yet?

I can confirm that the offer ends today, so not much time left.

I have just mailed support to ask if it can be watched outside. I will post the answer. Given that it is accessed by Internet I don't see why not, as I can get Thai Visa, Expat TV and other Thai sites from China.

if not VPN for Thailand might work.

Good point BB do you know of a good one?

google search for "my private network VPN" I used this to get english commentary from BBC during the TRUE farce for 2010 World Cup.

Thanks BB I will check it out.

The reply from 365.

Our service only works in Thailand at present. This will change later in year, we will email you once this is possible.

As I thought. I haven't even had a reply.

Yes you were right. I am going to leave it until the service is available. I have CTH at home now and will just have to stream when away. Strange you have no reply yet.

The reply from 365.

Our service only works in Thailand at present. This will change later in year, we will email you once this is possible.

I have just mailed support to ask if it can be watched outside. I will post the answer. Given that it is accessed by Internet I don't see why not, as I can get Thai Visa, Expat TV and other Thai sites from China.

if not VPN for Thailand might work.

Good point BB do you know of a good one?

I have just mailed support to ask if it can be watched outside. I will post the answer. Given that it is accessed by Internet I don't see why not, as I can get Thai Visa, Expat TV and other Thai sites from China.

Ok, but I do remember reading that the system only works using a Thai IP.

I emailed them over an hour ago on another matter but no reply as yet.

Yes Pat I remember reading about users having trouble when using UK VPN's. Lets see what they say when they get around to replying. I also mailed about an hour ago, but no reply.

I have just mailed support to ask if it can be watched outside. I will post the answer. Given that it is accessed by Internet I don't see why not, as I can get Thai Visa, Expat TV and other Thai sites from China.

First of all and one more time I can see Russian bashing ...... This guy is UZBEKISTAN citizen , so why they put Russian ???????????????/ ridiculous !! How come he could take a boat out of the marina ? there are guards at the entrance asking question ( I know I have a boat there) , then you need a key to start , you need knowledge in sailing .... sounds very strange to me !

wel the key was inside the boat , he had no knowledge about sailing cos when the gasoline ran out he could not go anywhere

The arrest probably saved his life then if he knew nothing about sailing. He was going to use it to sail to Indonesia &lt;deleted&gt;.

First of all and one more time I can see Russian bashing ...... This guy is UZBEKISTAN citizen , so why they put Russian ???????????????/ ridiculous !! How come he could take a boat out of the marina ? there are guards at the entrance asking question ( I know I have a boat there) , then you need a key to start , you need knowledge in sailing .... sounds very strange to me !

You seem to be a bit touchy on the Russian bashing front. Are you Russian? I did not mention anything about Russians in my post.

Is idiot bashing ok? we'll be bashing all day on every thread...

Bashing on idiots would take too long ...... and would be a total waste of time , specially virtually.

' After tracking down the sailboat they also found a young Russian citizen 20 years old,' Read again he is Russian.

Nah, we don't play by the rules on this thread...this is where the street wise people of Thai Visa hang, real football men, no noodle eating nerds around here...besides, Alfie and I just have a friendly 'rivalry'

Anyway, to update, 365 much better now for some reason...when watching a chat show or the like it is fine, but when watching a game it's like it's being played in slow motion, it's the same with uk-tv but uk-tv is slightly better I'd say....I'm still on the fence on whether or not to take a subscription...

There is something wrong there Pat, mine streams perfectly on both. Something worth considering is how often do you maintain your computer? it might be a good idea to run something like 'windows advanced care' to get it in top condition and get rid of any malware. This is a free program and easy to use, I have been using it for years. Maybe you will see an improvement.

http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare/3000-2086_4-10407614.html

Ok, thanks. Not too bad for the football today.

As you predicted I've had the email offering me 1 yr for 3999 got until end of month to make a call.

Good to hear that Pat. I am leaning towards the discounted package myself because I like that fact that it can be watched anywhere. I travel a lot.

Nah, we don't play by the rules on this thread...this is where the street wise people of Thai Visa hang, real football men, no noodle eating nerds around here...besides, Alfie and I just have a friendly 'rivalry'

Anyway, to update, 365 much better now for some reason...when watching a chat show or the like it is fine, but when watching a game it's like it's being played in slow motion, it's the same with uk-tv but uk-tv is slightly better I'd say....I'm still on the fence on whether or not to take a subscription...

There is something wrong there Pat, mine streams perfectly on both. Something worth considering is how often do you maintain your computer? it might be a good idea to run something like 'windows advanced care' to get it in top condition and get rid of any malware. This is a free program and easy to use, I have been using it for years. Maybe you will see an improvement.

http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare/3000-2086_4-10407614.html