buffcoat

The last one I met (in the UK) was jabbering on about their book being the literal word of God so I asked him if he agreed that urban rape victims should be executed since that is what it says in the OT....he made a few incoherent noises and then left.

I only feel sad when I see these creatures trying to save the Thais...the implied arrogance in their behaviour is astounding.

the special status for ministers of religion is a good example of Thai tolerance.....perhaps if I ever hit problems with the visa authorities I will start up my own mission.

Seriously I would be very happy if the Thai authorities had a very close look at how genuine these individuals are.

Desperately sorry to read this story, my sympathy to the husband and I hope his wife pulls through.

As to those who think the husband is in the wrong I find your views to be incomprehensible if they are your genuine views and if you have posted as a TROLL then I am disgusted you would do so on such an issue.

I would be very surprised if any Thai wearing a swastika was doing so in anyway to support the Nazi agenda for the simple reason that the Nazi's regarded Asians as sub-humans.

As others have pointed out this symbol has been in use for thousands of years to symbolize good and it makes no sense to me that the Nazi theft of this symbol should be allowed to impinge on it's modern use.

No doubt some young men will wear it to look cool/shock but in a Thai context it really is not a symbol that will generate a strong reaction. The problem is that farangs have a different historical experience and conditioning and we react accordingly.

WW11 for Thailand was focussed on the Japanese/Allied struggle and I am not surprised that it is not of major interest to Thais generally,with their very limited involvement and minimal impact on the country despite their limited (in time) territorial gains from Indo-China and Burma.

With 100,000 Japanese troops in Siam the govt trod a very fine line with their 'ally' and managed to persuade the Allies in 1945 that they were friendly and had to be restrained from attacking the Japanese by the Allies.

The railroad was entirely under the control of the Japanese and not the Thais who will therefore not regard it as something directly related them as such and they certainly will not feel responsible for it as indeed they were not.

Context is really key with all symbols,if I see a young Thai male with a swastika I think nothing of it...exactly the same item on a young English male and I think he is a rascist degenerate.

I stand corrected...very interesting

I do not regard the word farang as being anymore than descriptive.

If my history is correct on first meeting with French traders the French introduced themselves as Francaise...which the Thai's converted to Farang-see and I believe this is still what they call the French.

On contact with further European nationalities the Thai's simply adopted part of their word for French to apply to all Europeans (Caucasians )therefore Farang is no more than a handy label on a par with Caucasian.

I will use the word farang if I wish to refer to Caucasians in a Thai context as saying Caucasian sounds like a textbook quote to me.But if I only wish to refer to a sub-group such as Europeans then I will not use farang.

I'd say the real "fukc-wits" are people who accept such idiotic nonsense, ie belief in ghosts as legitimate "Thai culture". Such culture belongs in the dust bin, along with belief in fortune telling, witchcraft & black magic masquerading as religion.

As opposed to <deleted>-wits who know they are right about everything and therefore everyone who does not conform to their view is a moron?

Healthy scepticism is a fine thing but based on my own direct experience I have a strong sympathy with the beliefs within Thai culture.

Some religions despise magic and fortune telling when others use it but embrace it themselves by changing the descriptions to miracles and prophesy.

Anyway sliding off topic. Light on to spot the creepy crawlies only, the most powerful spiritual force in the bedroom is me.

I believe that the farang reaction to being described as fat i.e. that it is an insult because of Western views regarding health is very different to the Thai perception.

If you are fat to a Thai this means you are wealthy enough to eat well and will probably be healthier than a farm worker who lives hand to mouth.Turn back the clock in Europe to the time when Reubens was painting and you see larger women were the ideal against a background of a large population living on poor incomes.

Thai's do not seem to differentiate between fat ,meaning a well built healthy woman/man and fat meaning someone who is obese.

Since Thai's generally shy away from confrontation I doubt that they are using fat as an insult,it is merely an easy way to say that farangs are generally physically more robust, which is of course true.

I am not surprised that Thai men react with enthusiasm to well built farang ladies since we (men) generally like variety and it is nice to get 'friendly' with someone who has additional assets particularly if you have only been sampling the petite section.

Whatever your basic body shape you are going to be of 'interest', accept what you are and enjoy it. If you feel yourself to be different to the majority around you,then be grateful for it as it means you are not another clone in the crowd.

In my case I agreed to BHT 200,000 and 20 Baht of gold,the same amount of sin sod as was paid by her cousin the year before.

In addition the car I bought for her here in the UK was 'included' as part of the sin sod...lots of face for that (took ages to find a scale model in red for the display).

Some time after the sin sod was agreed her family told me they did not need/want the SS and we could have it all back.I think they were trying to make sure I was genuine and was prepared to demonstrate my desire to support my wife and respect her culture during the negotiation and once they were sure of me were more relaxed.

For the sociologists out there she is Thai Chinese,was at the time 27,uni degree,not previously married,no children.

NHS will provide Hep A for free and at my local surgery they happily give the combined Hep A+B for free as well so just ask for the combination shot.

In my office in the City of London watching the tv which runs all day set to the news channel.

Very bad feeling in the office as most of us regularly went their for business reasons and we knew a lot of people who worked their,some of whom we later discovered did not get out.

Since the standard response to 'I prayed/wished/cast a spell for X and it then took place' is 'that was just coincidence' it is of course impossible to prove.

Some of us know that what we do can make a measurable change, your unbelief will not change that and it does not matter to me that you do not believe, everyone has the right to their own belief or lack.

If you need proof then as you rightly state that cannot be forthcoming.

I have been on tablets for years and will have to stay with them till I kick the bucket.

Good news is that high BP takes a long time to do damage so you have a lead time to identify and deal with it.

There are various factors that give rise to it an various factors that can help.

Everyone is different.If you are concerned then the only way to allay your concern is to go to a professional for a total check.

Thailand has a set of rules for all foreign nationals not just farangs.

There is clearly a policy of ensuring that only those who have a certain economic standard/value to Thailand can obtain the right to stay.

In this they are not unusual by international standards...try flying from London to New York and telling the immigration people there you have decided to settle in the US and see what reaction you get.

The standard for those with a Thai wife is lower than for those without on retirement for example so the authorities do make an effort to ameliorate the requirements.

The bottom line is that if you are not a Thai national you do not have the right to live there,again the same is true across the globe.

Yes it is a major frustration for those there or wishing to go there but the Thai authorities have every right to set what ever immigration policy they wish.

All farang countries are currently grappling with the issue of immigration policy and have set various requirements suitable to their own national position.Immigration policy is based on the perceived national good and can be described as nationalistic but not rascist unless race actually becomes a part of the legal framework.

Tourism and the question of longstay are different issues and I fail to see how the visa rules for a one month stay are comparable to the question of multi-year residence.

Compulsory purchase is alive and well in the UK as well but the operative term is purchase.

From what you have said the authorities have not at this point seized the land but are warning you they might and could therefore demolish any structure on it (they have done this to avoid a compensation claim in the future because you now know the possibility exists?????).

I suspect this is legal as all Govts as far as I am aware hold the ultimate title to all land but most certainly go to a good land lawyer and find out.If you cannot stop the compulsory 'purchase' then your only recourse is to achieve the best price for the forced sale.

Sorry to read of your difficulty

The UK pension system is not generous in my view but it would not make any difference to UK pensioners if 'foreign' wives were excluded.

The fundamental reason that the system is poor is that our govts (of both parties) adopted the pay as you go system for pensions,that is pensions are paid out of revenue received in NI and general taxation contributions from the people currently working.

When you pay NI none of your money is set aside for you to fund your pension in the future.

You will see if you get past the red tape that your NI contribution guarantees you absolutely nothing.No guarantee of any benefit in terms of pension arrangement,healthcare is given which is why Govt can change the age at which you can receive pension,the amount etc. as it wishes.

NI contributions are not ringfenced in anyway,they do not have to be used for pensions etc. and are in fact simply another tax which is added to the total treasury income.

Just in case you guys still not see it:

Marriage is ONLY

about

SEX!

Now guys, give me a big hand please! I am sure I have said something no one is going to disagree with!

That would be a very sad marriage indeed if it would only about sex. Marriage is at least as much about partnership, in which communication abilities and some sort of common ground are integral. Raising children is an additional plus.

An entirely sensible reply from Colypat in my opinion with which I heartily concur ...sadly sensible posts on this topic are rapidly becoming hard to find.

i do agree that this comes down to the male ego. every person on this planet wants to view themselves in a different manner than they exist. so an old man is now young and handsome. people ask 'how could he have been so blinded?' the answer is self-delusion. the men use excuses about the culture being different to explain why young women in their new habitat adore them while others back home loathed them.

Your opinions are interesting but if you would bother to read the data I have given from the UK Govt you will note that your statement regarding the position for English farangs in their own country is factually incorrect...the only deluded individual is the one who holds to their opinion/prejudice despite the facts that are available.

By the way,there is not a linear relationship between age and libido,studies of causes of sexual dysfunction between couples make this very clear.

OK, it is another slow day in The City so the stats geek in me has escaped again and I would rather do this than hurricane clustering extrapolation for the Gulf of Mexico (I bet you are really jealous of me now).

As a reminder the 2001 data stated that 10,000 (4%) of males marrying in England & Wales during 2001 were 15 years or more older than their partner at marriage date.

Some more exciting facts for you from the source data.

Of married (from one day before the census as far back as the oldest surviving married man)white british males (9.237m)0.19%(17,550) were married to ethnic Asians (Pakistan to Japan including the Phillipines,Thailand,Malaysia etc).

45% of Asians were born in England & Wales therefore 0.1045% (9,652) of white british males were married to Asians who were not native to the UK at some point in all years prior to the census day in 2001.

The relative and absolute numbers tell you all you need to know.It is more likely that you would win the national lottery every month for the rest of your life than that the 15+ disparity group has a statistically significant proportion of white british male/asian female component.

You can accept or ignore this data (it is apparently a free country,so the Govt. tell me) but to me it is crystal clear that the incidence of age mismatched marriage in England & Wales is NOT a result of farang/Thai/third world relationships.

No doubt someone will say 'but it could be this factor, and until you prove it is not I don't have to accept the facts',this is an endless and pointless spiral and I will not waste my time with it.

My response is simple,if you wish to argue your case then the onus is on you to prove it,merely saying X or Y could be the cause is intellectually dishonest in the face of hard data (and yes this is hard data before anyone tries the cheap cop out of saying it is not).

So what does this prove?....It proves significant numbers of age mismatched marriages exist in England & Wales and they are not the product of interacial marriage.

That the same thing occurs in Thailand is not therefore an obvious abberation until proven to the contrary .Since the premise that has been raised in this forum is that farangs in thailand are able to act differently than they would in their home country this is significant.

If you have opinions as to why this occurs by all means state them but unless you can back them up with factual analysis please have the courtesy to acknowledge that.

My opinion on the issue as I have stated previously is that some of the age mismatch couples in Thailand are purely financial relationships and others are genuine emotional attachements but I think the same about couples in the UK.

Every couple is different and to my mind to try and say all couples of this type are X or Y is a foolish oversimplification...but that is just my opinion.

Right back to the exciting world of cluster analysis--cutting edge stuff! yummy!

You have only to see the number of programmes on US and UK tv that feature video of people having accidents in various situations with a really classy laugh track over the top to know that laughing at other peoples distress is not a Thai only 'pleasure'.

The Germans even have a word for taking pleasure in someone elses misfortune..schadenfroide (the spelling is almost certainly wrong).

another important point and i think relevent to this thread.....

dont u think glasses on pretty girls just makes them look even hotter anyway?

I'd be interested to hear your views on this point...

Oh yes

When my lady tilts her head forward and looks at me over the top of her glasses it always gets me

It makes interesting (humour) reading but what is significance to this discussion is that of the 250,000 marriages in England in 2001 4%=10,000 involved men who were 15 years (or more) older than their wives.

In 1981 it was 3%,in 1991 it was 3%.As these figure are rounded it is likely the apparent increase in % from 3 to 4 is misleading but it does demonstrate a measurable continuing situation where thousands of such marriages occur every year.

Since the original OP was talking about re-marriage then the relevant figure is that 11% of remarrying men were 15 years (or more) older than their wives (can't find the number of remarriages quickly so no absolute number).

What does this prove?

As you stated it - it proves nothing other that it is a statistical minority.

And - does that statistic show ethnicy/nationality of the younger partner? How many of those 3% to 4% (11% of remarriages) are between English men and women from underdeveloped countries?

Yes you are quite correct they are a statistical minority but since no one has maintained the contrary position what is the relevance of the observation?

A statistical minority is NOT the same as being statistically insignificant,this is a common error made regarding analysis of stats by those who have not been taught to appreciate the correct interpretation of relative and absolute numbers.

To judge the relevance of a particular set of numbers you consider them as a percentage AND as an absolute number,one measure by itself is not necessarily valid to justify inclusion or exclusion from an analysis.

This subset is in the range of 3-4% and you appear to wish to dismiss it on that basis but it represents over the last 20 years in England & Wales 150,000 to 200,000 such marriages.I can promise you my actuarial team would not regard that as something it was sensible to ignore (or if they did they would have some explaining to do!).

As a cross measure I would observe that the Muslim population of the UK in 2006 was 2.1m out 60m (3.5%) I do not think anyone would dismiss them as irrelevant because of the small percentage.

The report does not break down the ethnicity of partners for one of three main reasons (I assume.)

1/Data not available.

2/Data available but was not significant.

3/Data available and significant but withdrawn from the analysis.

In such an academic paper I know which I think is most likely but I do not know and therefore it is not valid for me or anyone to attempt to mask these figures or sideline or press an interpretation of them by expressing opinion which is not verifiable.

What would be of genuine interest as a comparison to this debate would be the same data over the last 20 years from the Thai Govt. if someone has the ability to search in Thai for these stats (and they are a big enough anorak to do it) .

IF they are available and if they are expressed in the same form you might or might not find the Thai/farang situation is different to that in England.

At this point it is impossible for anyone to give an accurate answer to the question :-

Is the % of farang men who remarry to a Thai 15 years or more their junior in age less than,equal to or greater than 11% of all farang men who remarry to a Thai.

Unless you can demonstrate factually that the position in Thailand is different,or demonstrate that the position in England & Wales is not in anyway representative of other farang countries the only conclusion you can readily draw at this point from available data is that age mismatched marriage is a long established fact in England and Wales in statistically significant numbers and the fact of it's existence in Thailand (though distasteful to some)is not unique to Thailand.

All other comments and statements regardless of the vigour with which they are presented are opinion and nothing more than that.

Politicians,advertisers and the media use stats a lot,usually skewed by the selection criteria to give a spurious result .

They really hate straight stats as do most people who don't wish to recognise their validity particularly when they do not accord with their own position,inconvenient facts are a real pain like that .The usual response is to try and undermine them with some spurious statement or come out with the classic...you can make stats say anything .

Usually I am amused by some of the stats presented but occasionally I get very annoyed particularly by politicians whose duplicity results in real harm to peoples lives...sliding off topic.

Anyway that was an extract from Stats And How To Use Them Honestly Chapter One.

I will just get my anorak,the nice blue one with the reflective stripes and go and look at some trains.

OK here I am again,I have dug up some stats for you all to look at if you wish.

Dr. Maire Bhrolchain of the University of Southampton produced the following statistical analysis from the Govt. records of England and Wales up to the year 2001.

The Age Difference at Marriage in England and Wales:A Century of Patterns and Trends.You should be able to find it by searching the net and from www.statistics.gov.uk

It makes interesting (humour) reading but what is significance to this discussion is that of the 250,000 marriages in England in 2001 4%=10,000 involved men who were 15 years (or more) older than their wives.

In 1981 it was 3%,in 1991 it was 3%.As these figure are rounded it is likely the apparent increase in % from 3 to 4 is misleading but it does demonstrate a measurable continuing situation where thousands of such marriages occur every year.

Since the original OP was talking about re-marriage then the relevant figure is that 11% of remarrying men were 15 years (or more) older than their wives (can't find the number of remarriages quickly so no absolute number).

What does this prove?

This analysis only refers to those actually married, it excludes all civil partners,live in boy/girlfriends,long term relationships etc.I hesitate to guess how many more relationships this would add.

Age gap marriages of 15+ years are not uncommon (I would extrapolate at least 100,000 existing marriages in England & Wales of this type after stripping out a portion for divorce and Death).

The report makes some interesting references to the biological and socialogical factors involved.

England & Wales is in the top ten richest countries of the world so the arguement regarding impoverished younger women from the farm being abused by rich older men really looks paper thin (to me) in this context.

Age mismatch marriages are clearly not something special to Thailand.

Sound like SUV has been advised by the US immigration Dept

Well the level of vitriol has certainly increased and the possibility of reasoned discussion has faded away since too many posters on here are certain that their own views are absolutely correct and apply to everyone without exception in all situations.

Reminds me of the late 70's when the feminist movement was aggresively attacking existing institutions such as marriage.

One of their memorable posters was a picture of a model bride and groom on a wedding cake under the slogan...The union of a Wage slave and a Sex slave (neatly putting the boot into capitalism as well).

These were the same people who proclaimed that all penetrative sex between males and females was rape, as women on a global basis were forced into sexual relations with men through financial or social pressures....sorry ladies but you are just fooling yourselves if you think you made a real choice to get into bed with that man/rapist.

Any attempt to talk to them about their views was met with the same,I am right and you are wrong response,which was justified in essence by...I am right because I say I am.

Personally I feel that there is no point discussing anything with individuals who adopt this absolute position whatever the subject they get excited about,it just gives them an exscuse to make a lot of noise and demonstrate that a closed mind and ignorance are constant companions.

I have been involved in airline insurance for longer than I care to remember and it is true that if you survive the journey to the airport the most dangerous part of your trip is over.

Are all airlines as safe as each other ? Absolutely not!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So your choice of airline does impact your probability of safe arrival.

The low on fuel issue is very common but often misunderstood,it does not mean your plane is flying on vapour just that it is in the safety reserve range and therefore has a priority landing (not emergency),newspeople like to embellish the story.Genuine out of fuel cases are extremely rare and are not necessarily lethal.

The official language for pilots world wide is English and they are supposed to be fluent in the technical aspect of flying and communicating with air traffic control.

The plane that was lost was relatively new and the fact that the engine exploded is unusual and indicates a manufacturing problem or poor maintenance,without seeing the details I can't say but I can guess.

I have never flown with this airline,my top five from the region are Cathay,Singapore,Malaysian,Thai & EVA.