ChicagoExpat

So, your argument is you WANT to have to go to the Embassy and pay $50 for a worthless piece of paper? You WANT them to scam the public by charging as much as they want so you can cough up a stamped letter? What the Americans and Brits have done is called "BS" on Thai immigration insanity and said they won't play their game anymore, as they can't verify Joe Blow's income. Good on them. We're all a bunch of crabby old guys who hate everyone, but even we should be able to see that REDUCING Thai crap rather than ENCOURAGING it is a service to everyone.

I can answer that. Because the passport money you pay online goes to the government in USA, and the $3 needs to go to the Thai Post Office. Two different recipients of the money -- in America it's just part of the price I think.

It's astonishing to me that Trump would want to be seen as "the apple of the eye" of a murderous dictator. Well, not as astonishing as it should be. He really admires those guys who just do what they want, and don't let silly things like "laws" restrain him. And, the love of Russia and Putin that has surged on the Right is incredible to me, having grown up watching the Left who, at the time, loved Russia.

I can confirm Missing Burro IS good! Run by Mexicans, as you say -- it was first recommended to me by a Mexican friend.

Thailand for sure has a duty to protect its women. I like that too -- Lord knows enough of us here are total b@stards. However, stupid crap like a self-sworn affidavit done at the U.S. Embassy does zero to protect Thai women. You can also swear out an affidavit that you're the King of France. Same goes for "authenticating" your marriage/birth/academic docs all by self-sworn affidavit. Much of Thailand's bureaucracy serves ZERO purpose, and that's a problem.

Bureaucracy here is FAR worse than any of the other 7 countries I've lived in.

That was nice of you to say that. I have a friend who works there and he said mostly all they get is hate (usually from the minority of people who screwed things up themselves)... Nice to see it worked out.

That's interesting info -- wow you have the long view. Let's hope the new place has an enclosed waiting area -- however nice the view of the klong is.

If you drive past the building now you can see a construction site -- looks like they're finally building a new building.

It makes sense that they would want to see that the American husband is here long term and not, as others have said, trying to shortcut the immigration process by using a tourist visa. And I'm glad some slimy visa agent doesn't seem to be able to inject themselves in the immigration process beyond application help.

So, TomKorat, in the end what happened? I'm also curious about visa agents -- seem like a scam to me, but if anyone has good info on the value they provide, I'd appreciate it.

....and nowhere is the "famous tattoo artist" named.

You say that about everything. But Taiwan says it IS the U.S.'s business. Being Chinese and always promoting the Chinese agenda on this forum, you'd like to force a false, binary choice... but neither you nor your Chinese leaders can do that.

So strange that people get worked up about "The U.S. supports a democratic outcome in this election." I guess if you're for the ruling junta, and truly don't care about democracy, or you are Chinese, this would upset you.

Exactly! We agree on something ????

The U.S. did. And did more than that, it suspended military aid. The interwebs can be your friend if you know how to use them.

You know nothing about me, the media I read, or my education. I'd put my education and understanding of world affairs against yours anytime. Especially because you're either intentionally setting up a straw man or you're just too bad at reading comprehension to accurately comment on what I said. Pretty ironic for someone setting themselves up as a superior intellect here.

All these guys like ThaiFelix supporting China and hating America while comfortably enjoying all that America provides for them. They probably won't live long enough to see in the next 20-30 years what a China dominated world is like, but I wish they would.

Wow. just wow. Deployments of troops in friendly countries is worse than invasions of Ukraine (3x), Moldova, Georgia... China building fake islands to get more territory and actively threaten their neighbors.... Incredible to be an apologist for those countries even if you don't always agree with U.S. actions.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

You can retain your passport if you request it... Maybe not comment when you don't know, despite being so "civilised"

With many people the answer is "everything"...

Thank goodness some of the embassies are taking a stand against the stupid crap the Thais make us do.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm on a special list! And call the spelling police again on QUAKE THE NEWBIE!!!! EMOJIS and FLAN for EVERYONE!!!!???? ????

We were talking specifically about the Book of Genesis. And I quoted neither that NOR the Bible, as you claimed. And, you are actually trolling me. Again, you're not very good at this. Finally, if you think "Newbie" is some kind of insult, you derive WAY too much importance from having been a member TWO WHOLE YEARS. Golly, what an accomplishment? Hilariously, what EXACT WORD does it say under YOUR name, "quake"? Yes. NEWBIE. Time for some emojis, don't you think? ???????? A bit of advice, "Newbie" -- better to keep silent and be thought an idiot that open your mouth and remove all doubt. As you do over and over again. More emojis!!!! ???????????????? SO EDGY.