luisparis

I thought that was funny too! The wife's first loyalty in Thailand is to her family i.e. mother, father etc. Her husband is secondary in most cases (not all).

Must be different in China, so why are we talking about China?

Henryalleman was talking about thai chinese families it seems, but they don't seem to hold very different values from tiochew mainland families. Suspicious assertion that was ( " Its also a fact that the bride first loyalty is her husbands family). Need some more input.

Its also a fact that the bride first loyalty is her husbands family. Its even happens that when divorce she is persuaded to leave her children with her husband family(happend in my Chinese family also, they paid her off)

It's a fact that the bride first loyalty is her husbands family ??

You're sure about that one ? anyone care to elaborate ?

In your instance you think that if the wife's family was wealthy enough they would sell one of the kids ?? How much did they pay ?

I suspect some extra kilos caused some of the cynism in this thread...

Ark comes fresh out of the plane in Samui, rather than looking aside floors two thai guys before doing a well inspired runner, than goes on holiday with a freebie, probably not any sexier than her sister (are there any sexy thai girls available on the islands , but quite likely no particular drama if he just steps away when she becomes more complicated. All looks quite as simple for a 23 y o well built guy in Thailand. It sure sounds familiar ( when I was younger, and fitter )

II had Kobe beef and it was truly excellent.

Funny... so had one of my guests during last dinner in Mezzaluna. He also reckoned it was excellent -but small. 6000up after service charge and VAT though for the Kobe beef only. Nice place, but be prepared to a consequent bill.

I went there for my 50th on Friday. 9 people, drinks 3 bottles of wine (monthly choice) main courses and a few starters as we provided the cake was just under 30K. But great so worth it

I keep wanting to go, but for the expense I could eat at a Michelin starred restaurant in London. Is that food that good?

RAZZ

Mezzaluna has decent italian food but small portions. Debatable wether it's worth the price but the setting is great. I seem to spend less than 5K per head in Sirrocco (but more in Mezzaluna) including a couple of drinks, same I would pay in Paris for a trendy but non starred restaurant. Yes worth it, quite unique setting as well although less exclusive/private than Mezzaluna. Been a few times to Vertigo for drinks and once for dinner, and somehow for similar prices I prefer Sirocco. Probably because of the more impressive layout and a welcome jazz band.

I am interested to know what real effects TV members are seeing in their day to day life? I don't really see many changes to be honest....

Our income plummeted, Bangkok based companies in a similar field are talking of 75% to 90% loss compared to last year on the same period. I see a huge diffence. Not fun at all although for various reasons I start to like our life in BKK more, but not sure it's viable financially. Other countries are faring hardly better at the moment so we are looking for ways to go through the crisis without fatal damage.

but seems Phuket is moving up on the danger scale

( sounds like a bad joke hehum)..

Nah, it sounds like scum who knows he can get away with it.

I've no idea why my post was removed.

However I reiterate the fact that this incident is old news. It happened over 6 weeks ago on 7 January.

Case closed.

So any update on the guy?

QUOTE (girlx @ 2009-02-21 22:13:36) *

can't drink coffee/tea/red wine/coke or smoke for a while though as they will stain the teeth again.

And that's the problem. A BIG problem.

well the way i look at it it is a good time to drop some of my bad vices... plus i love my new white teeth!

With laser you're supposed to avoid smoking and coffee for 24 hours only, after the coloration will supposedly come back slowly. I'm back drinking a lot of coffe and smoking cigars once in a while and will consider a new whitening session when necessary.

Did the tray whitening a few years back and it worked. Left my teeth quite sensitive for a while. Recently had a laser whitening in Central World, abt 10000 including a scaling. Very noticeable result in abt 75mns ( including the scaling ) . Missus did the same in Siam Square, it worked also well and cost a few hundred baht less but I find that place run down. Tooth sensitivity was minor, and only on treatment day.

There are also a few posts on this forum claiming that minors don't need to pay for overstay, basically that they don't need a proper visa to stay in Thailand, no matter where hey were born, as long as they are under 18 I think it was. Thought about it a few minutes but didn't want to go through any kind of explanation on the topic with staff at the airport and got our kid a non im O. It should be very easy if yourself have proper documents to reside in Thailand and will avoid all misunderstanding when you leave or reenter the country.

The least of my worries about rasing a child would be that music in the morning, which is the same music on TV at 8 & 6, at the movie, on the BTS, etc., doing some sort of damage. I have trouble seeing danger or taking offense in this.

And the fact this music is everywhere at the same time doesn't ring any bell to you ?? Besides at the movie it's a different song, but also there with obvious propaganda intentions.

So the question would be : Do international schools have students sing the thai anthem in front of the national flag in the morning ? Which ones ?

One of the things I appreciate in Thailand is expats can live comfortably while rather insulated from both overly exotic local flavours and overly flavoured kinds of expats. I would definetely expect the same for my kid's education.

The years I lived in Thailand as a child I had two live in nanny/housekeepers,they are sisters and from Issan.When I lived in Bangkok I went to ISB as did my sister and brother and we had a good education and good memories of that time.I think that is why as an adult I could never get my love for Thailand and its people out of my mind.So I guess that is my curse,I married a beautiful woman from Issan and had kids and am living a beautiful and happy life.So there.

Glad things turned out well for you.

I am Thai, born in Isaan, actually, but grew up in the States and travelled much. The first few years of my life was in the care of two Isaan nannies. My parents were busy professors. You got lucky. My two nannies were so mean I can remember them 38 years later. Once my parents were gone, I was yelled at, pushed, pinched ( the liked to grab a fold of skin and twist till you scream ) and ridiculed in coarse Isaan language. I was too little to know how to articulate what was happening to my parents. The other nannies around our neighborhood were the same.

I know it is debatable, but little or no education, coupled with a hard life, IMO, DOES make a difference in people's treatment of others. I soiled my pants as a small child and instead of helping me go potty, they stood me there and mocked me, parading me around for ridicule, without cleaning me up. Refused to let me bathe. Kept away food. etc... The only Isaan nannies I've seen were coarse and didn't care about dangerous situations, like most in the west. Nannies come cheap. Just go elsewhere if fired.

I know others out there have had great nannies from Isaan but as an Isaan born woman, having been there and seen it myself as a child, I would never consider an Isaan nanny. Luckily, I don't have to.

That said, good for you! I probably got the worse of the bunch.

Jwicklund,

Not that I would contemplate the idea to let any wannabe nanny coming from Issan take care of my kids, but it's possible in your case your parents didn't take look into it intensely enough. They should have noticed if you were feeling really uncomfortable with your nannies.

As of kids learning a bunch of languages... it sure does look challenging... As we live in BKK, thai would be about the 4th language for our daughter -at best-, but I feel 3 would be more than enough to begin with... wrote on his topic to the Ministry of Education, the ministry of tourism, and even to the Palace, see if they would consider switching the national lingo to a more universal language, preferably catalan or at the very least french. No reply whatsoever, when I told you this country is so inconsiderate of its guests

Do you need a reservation for Sirocco and Vertigo?

Much safer, especially during the dry season, Sirrocco always appears full. They've opened recently a middle eastern restaurant on the pool level of the State Tower, forgot the name. Found the food very heavy but you might have a look for a change. As of Mezzaluna, it's also my fav of all the restaurants mentionned in this thread, but 4000 per head is definetely on the low side to dine there, several of their main courses cost more than that.

Then again, all these people complaining that he ran away are probably direct descendants of Bruce Lee and would have dissolved the situation with a roundhouse kick, a few "wooooosss", "haaaaaasss" and "ooooooosssss". then continued on with their night out like nothing ever happened. Am I right?

All this people ?? Chill out, only a couple of posters did so. Derfinetely the safe defensive move to run away, although machine gunning the lot of them couldn't have hurt anyone too much.

You know there is a saying that arranged marriages actually have a lower divorce rate than people that actually fall in love and dated?

Many elders say marriages should be arranged due to their birth date, horoscopes, status of both families, blood types, etc. Also that if two people live together long enough and start a family they will love each other in the end.

I doubt it's only a saying, I deal with quite a few indian and nepali and their divorce rate is ridiculously low compared to my western friends. I'm not so sure about the relevance of the horoscope but heard that's one of the first thing indian family check when working over a marriage. The rest makes a lot of sense.

Actually the lenght of the visa might depend on his situation in Thailand. I got very recently a 6month multiple in BKK but have a 1 year visa in LOS. You can ring travel agents in BKK that arrange those visas for their customers, they should be able to reply you.

Everytime my wife gets pissed off, she barks for me to return her parents' money, than regulary when we're getting along better, they transfer some more. Lol. One should avoid marrying into a poorer family.

Congratulations on your hand outs luisparis. But seriously - choosing marriage based on your partners / partners families wealth puts you in the same category as a BG (no disrespect to BG's). Call me crazy but I think a better basis for marriage is love.

Did you meet your wife by standing out the front of a bar screaming 'you so sexy lady' at the passers by?

Well, ever noticed how indian arranged marriages worked well ? You think it's because the couples love each other or have terrific sex while hardly talking to each other before wedding?? Nah... it's because they match eachother. Not that we match particulary well, but when you're working over a long term relationship, you should think over the practical details rather deeply... taking a girl that has to support her family and see you like a jackpot ain't gona help you much through tough times( Besides I had a good socioprofessionnal situation when we married, Missus is also a practical kind of girl)

[

In 2001 & 2002 I burned 1.2 mil FF miles on SYD-BKK-SYD in iny available class, thanks to my employer.

TTM, in two years, even in J, that's abt 1 SYD-BKK every 4 days without vacations... slavery I'd call it... and with the jet lag and time in the air and the airport... did you have time to work in any office at all ??

As of flying 6hours in Y, well, I wouldn't do it, to each his own, and the business class old config on TG planes is noticeably less comfortable and less spacious than the new one. I prefer F of course, but we are in a very dire period

Everytime my wife gets pissed off, she barks for me to return her parents' money, than regulary when we're getting along better, they transfer some more. Lol. One should avoid marrying into a poorer family.

Many have a problem being mono-lingual , bilinguals speak a form of bastardised English and have a problem understanding the spoken word , never mind the written version .

Uh?!? you're advising monolingual education ( and from bi/multilingual parents at that...) ?? You ever heard about quality schooling ? It helps spelling ya know... Know many executives who are not multilingual, especially in non english speaking countries ?? Guess how many of them grew up around nannies, particulary in Asia ??

Do you have kids seriously ?? If you had what would be your ambition for them ?

I'm afraid you missed the boat here...

"raw beef and raw vegetable"

Do I miss raw beef as well... and cured ham... the pork leg hanging in the kitchen... the well stocked wine cellar underground... but for raw food there are plenty of japanese restaurants in BKK, some quite fancy who offer kinds of sushis not widely available back home...hhhmmm... might go for some red whale tomorrow....

Such a painful thread... food in Thailand... such a disaster... go all the way to Paragon to only find a handfull of basic french cheeses and a few bland dutch dairy products , go to a posh western restaurant to be faced with a clueless local waiter... the beef , as someone mentionned and this sugar they seem to pour grossly over every dish...put abt 8kgs since we moved here and I don't even enjoy the food...than the girls even uglier than the beef the tasteless oysters the smelly hot dirty streets...argh... no ... I've learned about Kharma in Thailand... figured out that in matter of taste... ending up in BKK meant we must have done something terrible earlier on. As of living upcountry ... at least the twelth circle of hel_l

Starbucks has a decent coffee BTW, much better than most 5 stars hotels around. Without starbucks and the riverside hotels, condos and restaurants I doubt I could stay over here.

What I couldn't do without, it's probably a trip to Paris every few weeks... and Hong Kong of course...

there was 4 of them. what would you have done?

Gotta love nightlife... there was 1 than it's become 4 guys... quite likely it might have end with a few more on you. You did good on hiding, and hats off to lay one or two on the way out. I don't know how agressive you were but I can quite figure out the girl going mental on you... Why I feel Samui is not for me ??

Really?

I booked C (well in fact D) on Etihad Bangkok- Paris, paid 65K + tax = 75K

Thai airways always much cheaper in C/D, really?

When did you get this fare ? Even cheaper than Qatar. Big difference with TG on this route, abt 130K last time I checked (but abt 90K from Yangon, which is another reason to keep on going there)

Luis, don't think I'll buy many F tickets this year...

Nothing to worry about. The only major difference is that you would need to keep a good lawyer on retainer.

At 250euros+ VAT per hour, I can see my Paris lawyer happy to cook a bit and crash at our place Nah... we really have to teach the sweet daughter to refrain from murdering poorer folks in countries with a legal system so disrespectful of the simple pleasures of those nanny raised youth ...