ChicagoExpat

A farmer is a "zionist Jewish oppressor"? Here we have retarius fully in support of Hamas -- ANY civilian qualifies to be killed as they are, after all, ALL "zionist Jewish oppressors." Putting aside all the Jewish deaths, I'm amazed you'd side with the murderers and kidnappers of 30 or so Thais -- over the people who employed them and apparently gave them good wages. Disgusting.

You accuse them at the same time of both blind nationalism and cowardice. Going into Gaza urban combat takes far more courage than you'll ever have. Especially as we know what happens to a Jew who is captured by jihadis. Your anti-Israel sentiments aside, I do appreciate, however, that you put the onus of danger on Russians, when it comes to the risk of participating in their war on Ukraine.

The really newsworthy part of this affair is a Russian trying to stop a fight, not start one.

Sorry, Cheech, it's true that almost no one in those kibbutzim had a gun at home. The few that did made a huge difference.

Well, they'll do the usual as required by consular officials -- what are you expecting?

Chaiya and JoeBuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz should hear this but they won't. Neither has any idea what he is talking about but that's no deterrent.

If you're not even American how do you know if I'm right or wrong about the U.S. system? One of the many ways you're wrong -- Thailand DID Change for America. Four years ago. So take your America hating attitude and shove it. Better to keep silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Guess you don't understand how the Government works. They CAN'T do it. It requires a Social Security office to be open. Social Security is not the State Department. Do you think a consular officer has access to citizens' personal info held by other branches of government? Do you think the Army can access Department of Labor files? Do you think the Department of Labor can look at the Bureau of Prisons info? Do you REALLY want ANY of the millions of government workers to be able to see your stuff? For whatever reason they don't have it. And your criticisms make no sense -- in the same sentence you condemn them for charging $50 for the fake letters, implying they're soaking the public, you condemn them for not looking to make more money. I get it, you hate the Embassy. And, clearly, America too. It's good you're staying here -- America has enough toxic anger as it is.

In accusing him of working with the Dems, they seem not to have noticed that the entire Democrat caucus happily voted for their proposal. Recognizing irony is not the Clown Caucus' strong suit. Good job Gaetz et al, you just handed the Dems a bigger win than they could have hoped for.

Who mentioned crybabies? It's incredible that 4 years later, people are still whining that they want fake income verifications from the Embassy. Time to move on, Joe.

Again, screwed up priorities. The point is -- not to spend YOUR time and money on this, and not to waste the Embassy's time on this. I've seen that this embassy and the others I've been in contact with do so much for U.S. citizens that I know you, like all of us, are just a crabby old man determined to spread your bile. Not perfect, and not always as much as we'd like, but for sure not what you say. What this comes down to is you and the other guy constantly arguing that you want to spend more time and money on this process, and you deeply resent the Embassy making it better. Thank God you guys aren't calling the shots.

Uh, not me. I'm not the U.S. Government. Again, still pretty lame because you're arguing for more work and expense... from you.

It DOES need a secure database. You really think something that can confirm the financials of millions of people shouldn't be secure? And again, you miss the point completely. WHY DO YOU WANT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS EXTRA WORK? You're literally arguing that you want to pay more and work harder to achieve the same goal. You are correct! A guess IS like an assumption, only less confident. Actually, let's upgrade "guess" in my previous comment -- I was trying to be polite -- to "assume." You ARE saying the Chiang Mai officer is lying. You never asked me to get it? That's why you argue with me and the others in this thread? So, your score for the day is 1 out of 2. You kind of correctly defined "guess", while totally bombing out on "get it". You can do better! Keep trying!

Assuming we're talking about a US Government source of income and not private sources, the answer is that for better or for worse, it seems Uncle Sam hasn't seen fit to give the Bangkok consular officers alone (and ONLY this Embassy, as only Thailand has this stupid system, per my knowledge and experience) access to the hundreds of databases you'd need to be able to provide official income verification for any Joe Blow that walks in. I don't see how this is hard to see -- the guy told you he didn't have access to all this. Based on the stuff you said about them earlier, I guess you think they're lying. Again -- the American Embassy has forced the Thais to move away from this worthless system and take financial documents at face value, saving you a trip to Bangkok from wherever you are and subject to getting an appointment, as well as $50 plus travel costs, and you're still complaining. I. Just. Don't. Get. It. You seem to want the other way just to get your way, in spite of yourself.

But you were told they weren't readily verifiable, so the premise of your argument falls apart. Uncle Sam isn't going to create a system where the Embassy in Bangkok is going to be able to check into the 1000 different kinds of USG pensions just because the Thai government demands it. I've lived in 6 different countries for the past 20 years and no one, not even Russia or Nigeria, had the garbage bureaucracy Thailand has. And spurious insults toward the people who told you that aside (and everyone else in American Citizens Services), your argument is still that you want the Thai way (go to your Embassy for everything we demand, and pay $50 or more per you) over the Embassy way, which is "take the documents on their merits." So, yes, the Thai way is crap and I appreciate the Embassy for saying no to it.

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.