Highlandman

No, you can apply literally as you're standing in front of immigration if you want.

You're getting boring. I forgot about the part where he said the incident unfolded. It's not relevant. I'm talking about the Thai being used, which me and him understand but you clearly don't as all you speak is bar girl Thai. I'm saying that guy must have been the first Thai person in Thailand to call a white person a "kon piu kao" (lit: person skin white) rather than a "farang", which is what 99.9% of Thais use. Now "kon piu kao" is 100% correct, but as a term, it hasn't caught on very much in Thailand. It is generally used by Thais only in the context of differentiating between whites and non-whites in western countries.

Oh, but you do. Teenage gangs roam high schools in bad neighborhoods in many US cities. Bullying is a huge problem in schools and it could be due to something as minor as being white in a majority "minority" school. I remember the time I was stared at and nearly attacked for being a white dude (my Thai wife, then girlfriend) was with me as well by several angry looking Hispanic males just behind Thaitown in Los Angeles. There is a ton of crime in New York, most of it isn't going to make the news. Yes, there is a bit of Thai on Thai crime here and there (much of which DOES make the Thai news or at least social media).

Possibly. Unless you're wearing a mask. Masks are a sort of "get out of jail free" card in Thailand and Anutin can't accuse you of being a "dirty farang" if you're wearing one.

Possibly. Unless you're wearing a mask. Masks are a sort of "get out of jail free" card in Thailand and Anutin can't accuse you of being a "dirty farang" if you're wearing one.

No. I am pointing out that I've never heard a Thai saying "piu kao". No one ever uses that term, except maybe Thais in America, because it's a direct translation from "white person" and that's how people talk in the States.

So let me get this straight. You went to a policeman's party one week and the next he didn't want you to be at his party in Phattalung? Sounds like you shouldn't be associating with such a creep.

You should have threatend to call the police and videod them. I've never heard of a Thai doing something like that to a foreigner unprovoked. At the bare minimum, I would have moved past them. I don't engage with strangers nor listen to them. You should have done what I suggested above or moved past and ignored them.

No. Unless you're suggesting Thais deliberately kill others using motor vehicles which I doubt.

Hmm, strange that they would have said "kon kao" (white person) rather than farang. Almost never heard a Thai use the expression "white person" either in Thai or English. Speaking of gas (petrol) stations in Thailand, most of the busy ones have far too many people around for any such incident to occur.

Sorry, should have read this post before asking a question you already answered. I find it unbelievable any Thai would dare say such a thing to a foreigner, much less someone who is with a middle aged Thai. Why would a 20 year old Thai man want a 40 year old woman?

Well Indians aren't Thai, so unless I knew a particular Indian happened to be a Thai citizen (there is a small community but it's tiny) I'd just speak in English. I'd find it odd that an Indian or anyone else would care what language you speak with them. I get mildly annoyed when Thais speak to me in English, but so few farang speak Thai, they just assume all farang are equally clueless.

Can you explain what happened? What did they say? How did you respond? I speak fluent Thai and Lao as well (Lao as in the Lao spoken in Lao PDR) but anywhere in Thailand especially somewhere like Khon Kaen, you use standard Thai as that's all that most young Thais can speak anyway. It is absolutely useful and in fact essential. I find that farang who only speak English get into trouble much more quickly and easily due to misunderstandings.

Might also help to be very picky about where you choose to live. Like in every other country, there are good and bad neighborhoods. Poor neighborhoods tend to be noisier and full of less well mannered residents. They also tend to be home to more drunks, more drug abuse, more domestic violence. If you as a farang have chosen to live in such a neighborhood, do yourself a favor and move out immediately. You'll thank your lucky stars you did. If you can't afford to live in a better neighborhood (unlikely, though you never know) you might want to ask yourself whether Thailand is right for you. Think of a bad, noisy neighborhood full of drunks in Thailand as being the equivalent of some gang ridden neighborhood in America (for instance, east St. Louis, Missouri). A white person should NOT live in such areas.

Totally agree. Most westerners come from countries where most laws are strictly enforced and obeyed by the population. This leads some to expect the same everywhere they go, including in countries like Thailand. I think Thais do strictly follow some laws, the ones that are or were enforced. During Covid, Thais obeyed mask mandates much more strictly than westerners did back home. So obedient were Thais, it took many months, almost a year following the end of mask mandates for a visible number of Thais to stop masking on board public transportation and other indoor settings. Even today, in some areas, we're talking well above 50% mask wearing and still near 100% compliance in hospital or other medical settings. Thais also self censor when it comes to political topics and obey whatever rules are in place for example at MRT and Skytrain stations such as no eating or drinking, no chewing gum, no smoking etc. In fact one of the things I like most about Thailand is that Thais absolutely obey no smoking rules; most Thais don't even smoke anymore anyway, but like Australians, New Zealanders and Singaporeans, Thais strictly follow non-smoking ordinances and have done so for many years, ever since these rules were introduced. This contrasts with China, where non smoking rules are only obeyed in the few settings they're strictly enforced; basically, the authorities need to use force and the threat of draconian penalties else there'd be no compliance. Airports, on board airlines, on board high speed trains and shopping malls are about the only settings where no one smokes. However, when push comes to shove among foreigners trying to tell Thais what to do, it's when we're talking about rules that aren't enforced or adhered to, including 1) traffic rules (that's probably the biggest one) 2) rules regarding parking, such as people parking in disabled spaces who aren't disabled 3) disobeying no littering or "no dumping of garbage" signs (granted, from observations in my own area, a lot of the litter bugs are Cambodians, especially groundskeepers). The last one drives me mad. However I always remind myself that I'm not a police officer or in enforcement of the law. I wish people had more self discipline, but it's not my job to instill that in Thais. It's the job of the education system/government. I think it will happen one day, but we're not there yet. I have also observed the difference between how cultured, well educated middle and upper class ethnic Chinese behave and how the masses of rural Isarn farmers behave and there's quite a difference. I personally don't get upset at those who drive fast or break traffic rules as I do that myself (within reason of course). Nothing worse than the nanny state road rules we have back home.

How can they hate foreigners when Khao San road is full of farang, Israeli backpackers and Koreans/Chinese?

America is far more dangerous than Thailand. Walking the streets of most parts of Thailand at 3am is perfectly safe (though I'd stay away from areas where lots of shifty/strange foreigners stay, such as Bangla street in Phuket, Nana Soi 3 and surrounds in Bangkok and Soi 6 in Pattaya), though even these places are generally safer than downtown LA/Chicago's west side/Washington DC during the day.

I miss western women too, but I sure don't miss the self-hating liberal types. They're the worst, because they feel so much guilt for being white you can't possibly want to be with someone like that. A farm girl who wants to have 5 children, is against the whole woke agenda and lives out on a ranch, making roast beef and key lime pie every weekend, that's the type you want but where do you find those? At a bar in the middle of nowhereville, South Dakota? Chances are, they're married by the time they reach 21 and then have their first kid when they're 22, so at your age you'll only be able to find a divorcee with tons of baggage or you'll find yourself scanning ads for hot young Kazakhstani or Russian women, which will mean several years of back and forth travel before you apply for her K-1 finance visa.

You're talking about public education here. No self-respecting farang would send their Eurasian child to a Thai public school. Instead, they're going to an international school, most of which are diverse and offer a decent education that is very much outward looking. Just seeing all the Thai school students continuing to wear masks is enough of a deal breaker to say NO to a Thai school (this includes many private schools too).

"Safe streets"? Unless what you're getting at is that Thailand's roads are dangerous (which most us can agree upon, although I will say if they got rid of all the scooters and most of the motorcycles, it wouldn't be too bad), then you're not going to find them anywhere in the west. American streets are riddled with crime. Most of the offenders are non-white (Hispanics are often lumped in as "whites" but they're not) and it's only getting worse over time as the demographics is diversified. It's the same story throughout Europe (even traditionally safe Switzerland isn't as safe as it is made out to be) and Australia, which is in the midst of an Aboriginal crime wave up in the towns/cities of Alice Springs (which is considered more dangerous than Mexico City), Broome and Katherine. Brisbane and Melbourne have been affected by an uptick in crime caused by Sudanese refugees, including the murder of a 70 year old white Australian woman by a 16 year old refugee. Thailand on the other hand is extremely safe. You'd be unlucky to have anything stolen from you by a random Thai. Unattended stores at JJ Mall don't encounter any theft. Thailand is safe. So wherever you're going, it probably won't be as safe as Thailand.

The consensus is either a Thai or foreign bank account is fine.

In what country are you in? I thought every western country now imposes a financial requirement to apply for a marriage visa. In fact, Savannakhet was one of the last ones to impose it.

Not at all, don't be surprised. China is very different to Thailand. Vietnam also eliminated the vast majority of dual pricing against foreigners too. Communist countries are quite different to their military, democratic and/or constitutional monarchy counterparts such as Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Malaysia, all of which practice widescale dual pricing.

Well, maybe because such cases aren't reported by AseanNow.

It will if she puts up a sign on the front door, which mentions the kicking incident and warning of serious consequences for not taking off your shoes when entering her business.