jfchandler

Yes, but the two ladies apparently were able to get their mouths around it....

I can't get my head around this somehow! - so she was forced to give him a bj in exchange for a better grade, or else she would get a bad grade if she didn't? The two are quite different configurations.

AGRRED!!!! Nothing new to report....

Well I think we all can lelax now ,.........seems like the op is handling the case well

Just a personal recommendation here to everyone who contributes.... If you're going to recommend a restaurant to the OP and to others, please take a moment of time to explain here WHY you're recommending someplace.

You may have gone there and like it. But for everyone else who hasn't gone there and doesn't necessarily know any particular place, some elaboration would be really helpful and informative.

Everyone has different tastes. Some like upmarket and pricey, some like downmarket and cheap. Some have Thai tastes, and others have western tastes. By explaining about why you're recommending someplace and a bit about it, you help everyone make better choices.

Ventianne Kitchen is a nice restaurant, specializing in Isan food (Northeastern Thailand). And it's not a far taxi ride down Sukhumvit Road from the Landmark Hotel.

There are going to be some familiar Thai dishes, and a lot of exotic ones your family won't recognize or probably want (including ant egg soup).

That said, they have Thai dancing and live music at night, you can sit on the floor with cushions or sit at wooden tables in a rustic Thai style environment. It's popular with tourists, and the food is pretty good, including many Isan choices.

But, it's not going to make it onto a fine/elegant dining list for BKK, depending on whether that's what you want or not.

I think careful readers might have taken a clue from the OP's TV ID: NYCBOY!!!!

Just to clarify. I'm also a guy ;-)

I've been reading about the Thai Elite card here, and the flames back and forth about it, for seemingly years... I don't have any personal dog in those fights.

But out of all that...I have a question... I know the card makes the 5 year claim. But from what I remember, it ends up still being a one-year rewewable visa... like the O or Bs...

So, were the ever flexible Thai govt. to pull the plug on the card as some people fear, would someone having bought one really still have the guarantee of a 5-year visa... or... would their 5-year guarantee end with the next renewal after the death of the card???

And, given the way things go around here, can any of us really answer that question with any degree of certainty???

I would go with the Thai Elite card. Worst case senario you get 5 years out of it, and then you just need to make up the other 5 years before you turn 50. Maybe you could study Thai on an ED visa for a few years first?

Actually, I think I'll need to keep a tighter leash. All these comments have given me a lot to think about.

Tighter leash? If that's your current thinking, then you shouldn't marry her. Answer this question: do you want a wife and lifelong companion, or a pet trophy? Sounds like you're marrying the trophy. Not good. Additionally, leashes are for dogs, not for spouses!

Dunno about spouses, but I've known some ladies who rather enjoy being on a good leash now and again...

I know the 2M was the request for sin sod..but I didn't think...especially after hearing from all of us...that the OP was heading toward giving in to pay it...

So... what's the plan OP??? What are you going to do about the request???

Here's a go at a top six...

-- do a Chao Phraya dinner/river cruise for the BKK river experience and good food.

see the web site below for some of your dinner cruise options.

http://bangkok.sawadee.com/canals.htm

-- see the city from on high with dinner at either Vertigo or Sirroco.

--pick one of the top-end steak houses for great food and service and views, including at the Landmark or Marriott.

-- sample one of the top end Thai restaurants recommended earlier in the thread like Blue Elephant or Kinnaree... I'd be partial to including one that includes traditional Thai dance like Kinnaree..but there also are others.

-- something that would be fun for your family, but not mentioned already yet, is a dinner show experience called Siam Niramit... The food alone does not qualify...but the experience of the show and dinner would be something your family would really enjoy. You can find reviews and descriptions on the Internet. It's typically purchased as a package deal through tour operators or hotels.

--then that leaves another choice for one of the really good other ethnic food choices in BKK, so pick Italian or French or Indian (based on family preferences) among the various good choices mentioned above in those categories.

Here the guy gets it on the front end... In the states, he gets it in the rear end...so to speak...

Given my druthers, I'd rather get it up front here... I'm not much on rear end deals... hehehehehehe

Guess that's why I'm living Thailand!

Very sorry about that... I certainly didn't intend to be ill-mannered..... If I was, please forgive...

In fact, of the 5, only one of them actually "belonged" to me... (Well, maybe two -- if I'm lucky...) The others were friends of the main lady with me...

But a couple of the others I know are/were definitely in the market for meeting some nice guys.... When we came back to the pub after going to Soi 7 for dinner, a couple of them were looking around the pub, and talking to me about some guys there.... (not the pum pui guys, tho.... ). But they were too shy to go out and speak up... And I wasn't about to help them...on that occasion.

For the record, none of them are/were bar ladies or anything like that... They're all pretty nice, sweet, young and reasonably single... The majority of the group, including the one with me, work in accounting at a hotel out near the airport. A couple of the others are friends of theirs. Dunno if you noticed, but the one with the biggest chest was in fact a very lovely katoey.... age 20. (And no, she WASN'T the one with me....)

In truth, I felt a bit out of sorts.... I had invited my TGF to come with me, after explaining to her what was going on that evening with the football game (which she likes to see) and the TV meeting. But then she decided to invite along all her friends to my home, because they were planning on going dancing later. So suddenly we became a big group.

There wasn't a lot of space at the TV tables, and I kinda felt we'd be barging in with such a large, not really related group. But then again, who wouldn't want 4-5 pretty attractive and young Thai ladies to join the table. If we have another TV meeting in BKK and the stars are right, I'll try to do better.... But honestly, I was kind of afraid of being ill-mannered...especially on my first venture into a TV gathering...because none except for my TGF even knew anything about the TV gathering. The others were just along for the ride.

I promise... I'll try to do better next time!!!

Nice post... Always worth keeping mind...there are some very good Thai ladies out there... The trick is finding them... among all the chaff and sin sod miners...

I have some personal good news to report, as relates to yung....

I was having a big problem with them before..in my apartment. All the windows are screened...but every time I opened the main entrance door even briefly to go in or out, I'd get a seeming swarm of them coming in from the hallway/stairwell outside... So I had taken to regular hunting with the electric tennis racket, etc etc. And every time I checked my inside curtains, I was zapping a half dozen or so morning and night.

But lately, my landlady had one of those ultra sonic pest repeller devices sitting outside on the stairwell, and not using it most of the time... So..just to try, I started plugging it in in the outside hallway during the daytime...and bingo... the episodes of me finding and killing any mosquitoes inside my apartment dropped to near zero.

So, I went to Big C the other day shopping for a device of my own, just in case the landlady's one disappears or stops working someday. Now at least I have a backup, that's plugged into a wall outlet just inside my front door.

The one I bought at Big C cost about 350 baht. They had a double-sized unit, also for plugging into the wall, that cost about 800 baht and claimed to cover about 80 sq mt. They also had a battery powered one, that I took a pass on...

I've never read or seen anything bad about them, in terms of health effects for humans. And...at least in my apartment, the addition of one seems to have done wonders. My ankles and thighs are actually beginning to heal from all the recurring bites of the past.

PS - I also had previously tried the flourescent blue light device inside, and while it did catch and kill some mozzies, it never was particularly good at keeping my apartment free/clean of the dam_n things... It was just taking a drop out of the bucket..so to speak.

Yes, but the ladies like those tightly padded buns... so much!!!

OOOhhhh ohhhhhhh.....

Whippets... stuff the scum.... virgin mai tai and soy bean spaghetti....

I think I'm gonna BARF!!!!!

And isn't Chelsea the name of Bill Clinton's daughter..or something like that????

Give me the NFL any day... PLEASE!!!!!

I heard of this "game".... this is the "football" game played with hands using a rugby ball whilst wearing so much padding they make the Michelin man look small

Uhhhhh.... I think... Young Farang13 was being a bit sarcastic here.. taking a swipe at the relative young age of your lady..compared to yours.... (Mind you, I personally don't have any problem with it... in fact...have been known to like it myself...)

But..in the odd chance I'm wrong... you're seriously talking about your future 20 something wife going out to party with teenagers in L.A.?????

What school did you earn your MBA from... I sure hope it wasn't my old university in Los Angeles!!!! If it was...I'm calling the dean tomorrow!!!

just curious, if she is in the usa and some of the other teenagers invite her to a party is she allowed to go?

Yeah, she can go. I'm not going to tie her down and have her miss being young. That would be mean. I will have to accept the inherent risks associated with marrying a younger lady..... I may have to tag along if that kind of thing happens often Given the age difference, the risk is absolutly there. A good pre-nup, that's the ticket. Without that, I wouldn't even consider doing this.

Wanting...perhaps... but clearly not getting...

So, now we see how the future goes... All I can say is, since she and I had our talk the other night, she's been great... And I haven't heard peepers of anything more from the family...

So for the time being, I'm a happy man... Nothing to complain about...in this neighborhood.

3 months and she/her family is already wanting 1 million baht out of you...........

Try to see it from an outsiders perspective..

By the way, to the OP... welcome to the club...

If you haven't already, please read the following post relating to my own experience....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...184597&st=0

A couple of general observations here:

1) Thai country families don't have a particularly good reputation for doing well in handling large, one-time windfalls of (marriage) cash. More than likely, it'd be gone to the winds before you can pocket the bank withdrawal slip. So, for your personal reasons and in the likely real best interests of your future in-laws, spreading out the money as monthly payments over a long/longer period of time is probably the best way to go for everyone involved.

2) Particularly upcountry, there is a strong sense of needing/wanting to keep up with the neighbors, particularly if there's another farang/Thai marriage in the area that people know about. The trick is...sometimes the $ amounts you will hear may be a bit imaginary. Or, in reading the responses to my post, you'll find a story where a house was promised, then the existing house demolished, and then no new house ever built, with the husband disappearing. So, while being sensitive to the family's desire to keep face, I'd be very careful about being subjected to the "well the neighbor's daughter got this", particularly when you're talking about taking your Honey to the USA...

3) you didn't say much at all about the age or background or prior marriages or children of the lady involved.... other than not being a virgin... or about whether she had any BG background. All of those factors would play into a reasonable calculation of sin sod and/or monthly support.

I'm hoping... assuming... you mean 8,000 baht per month, not $8,000 (which means U.S. dollars).

The $500 U.S. per month you're giving her is a VERY good salary for Thai people in BKK...many folks would love to earn that. And for living upcountry in Petchaboon, it's a windfall. So, you might think carefully about that...

Lastly..let me advance a new thought here... One reason for sin sod is the idea of guaranteeing future security for the girl and her family... Because in Thailand, if you get divorced, they don't have the same community property laws regarding income, spousal support and child support as in the U.S.

However, if you're going to move back to the U.S. and get legally married there, then you can figure she's legally going to be entitled to half of everything you earn now and in the future, half any house, half of retirement proceeds, etc... for everything earned post-marriage. You might take those economics into account when deciding what kind of sin sod and monthly support to venture.

My guess is Thai people, in general, don't have any notion of the way marriage/divorce laws work in the USA and how different they are compared to Thailand.

She lives in Petchaboon and I don't know how much her family lived on before along I came along. I wish I did!!!! Her Farang uncle who lives there in Petchaboon says he can make it on $8,000 per month.

As stated, Kinnaree on Soi 8, an easy walk from the Landmark, is a very classy, quality food Thai restaurant in a lovely house type setting. They also have some classic Thai dance performance during the evenings (check with them on the timing) that your parents might like. In a city that's NEVER quiet, the interior of Kinnaree is peacefully calm and quiet, which can be very refreshing at times. The service is good and attentive in a very low-key way. It's a bit pricey, but worth it for entertaining purposes.

A bit further down Soi 8 is a reputedly very good French restaurant, name Le Banyan. Also expensive, but I've only ever heard good things about it. But can't vouch personally, since French food is pretty much the only cuisine I go out of my way to avoid.

Web site: http://www.le-banyan.com/menu.htm

And WOW...I just see now in checking their web site, it says Le Banyan is going to be evicted next year (during 2009) to make way for a new condo project, one of several going in on Soi 8. The web site says they're now looking for new places for their future home.

We will be staying in the Landmark. Are there any nice restaurants in this area?

Thanks

I'm personally not a fan of 'Hotel' restaurants (unless it's for a buffet pig out) so my suggestions are -

Cabbages and Condoms on Soi 12.

Kinnaree on Soi 8.

Both are within walking distance of The Landmark with 'Kinnaree' being my pick of the two. Verrrrrrrrry Nice.

Yes, your parents with be AMAZED by the Beer Garden... just as Zorro1 said...

Maybe he's joking, or maybe just feeling frisky... But the Beer Garden is Soi 7 is principally known as one of the main freelancer bargirl pickup places around town. And, while it's easy to get a beer there, it's hardly some place I'd be itching to take my parents...unless of course... they are bar mongers in search of a lady for the night or the evening. I know it's been changing a bit lately to become a more mainstream venue, but still, it is what it is... Not a place for the folks...

If you're staying at the Landmark, which is near my home... their restaurants are very good, including the buffet in the Orchid Cafe... For an easy lunch, the Bangkok Baking Co. just down the street at the Marriott is very good for sandwiches and salads and deserts. The other Marriott restaurants are good also.

For Thai food nearby, in a better environment, a very good place is Rosabeang restaurant on Suk Soi 11 just across from the Ambassador Hotel. They have indoor air con dining, as well as a lovely outside patio area with live jazz or other music at night. The menu is HUGE, with just about every possible Thai dish you can imagine available.. Nice deserts and drinks. Reasonably priced and good service. For a beer garden experience, that is a much better choice than Soi 7.

The Blue Elephant on Sathorn Road near Silom is a mixed bag. It's one of the more popular, higher end Thai restaurants in town. And, the interior house setting, the ambiance and the service are consistently great. It's a lovely place to go. But, because of its market, the food is a bit too refined (tame and bland) for my tastes, though very nicely prepared. If your folks are Americans not accustomed to serious Thai food, then they'd probably enjoy it very much. But if they, or you, are looking for really authentic Thai food that will set you palate ablaze, then Blue Elephant's not the place.

We will be staying in the Landmark. Are there any nice restaurants in this area?

Thanks

Don't be put off by the name but The beer garden in soi 7 is a very popular restaurant particularly if price is no concern for you. The wine list is a tad limited to house red and white but Its got a great ambiance and you will see many people waiting for a seat after 1pm so do arrive early. Your parents will be amazed I guarantee it

I agree... a river cruise dinner is a very good choice for one night...

Dairy Queen Restaurant (no, not the fast food/ice cream place from the U.S.), located riverside in Thonburi, also does a cruise where you simply order from their menu and then the food is served onboard during a two hour or so cruise....

In general, I'd say the river cruise dinners are not up to the standard of the higher end regular restuarants listened in this thread... either in ambience or food quality. But the setting and the scenery along the river are a must for visitors... It's also cool and a respite from the heat, though don't get caught in one of the nightly rain and thunderstorms we've been having this week.

Riverside

Went on one of their cruises last week - was very good.

Ya, the TGF and I did Crystal Grill a few weeks ago, mainly because she wanted to take some photos from the top of the tower. I had never been there before, as I'm not prone toward touristy places...

But, I was surprised in two respects:

1) For the price of the buffet, as mentioned below, they really do have a very large and good selection of good food, particularly considering it's a buffet, and at a much better price than most larger hotels. If you think of the tower interior as one big circle, with tables at window-side around the outside, then the whole inner circle is counters displaying all their food offerings...and that covers a lot of space. American, Italian, seafood, meat, sushi, western and Thai deserts, cook to order pasta, stir frys... etc etc. Everything was reasonably fresh, well presented and pretty good in taste.

2) But, as often is the case with tourist destinations, the interior restaurant ambiance was pretty much non-existent. Serving staff pretty much just to bring drinks and clear the tables. Basically cafeteria style square tables with standard chairs, all lined up along the windows. And at night, because it's dark outside but very well lit inside, you basically can't see much by looking outside the windows...because of the glass reflection. You can, however, go to the other floor to look out from the exterior deck. That, however, is marred too by the entire circle being enclosed in a thick metal mesh fence (for safety and security, I suppose), which pretty well obscures trying to take good outward photos.

So... bottom line.... I wouldn't travel all the way there just for the food, because there are other better and nicer buffet options in other closer parts of town. If I had a guest in town, and they weren't particularly fussy but want a low-cost sightseeing option, I'd consider it. But if you really want to see the town from on high, Vertigo and Sirroco at the places to go for great, unobstructed views. Just be prepared to shell out the baht. Two drinks at Vertigo are about the same as one buffet dinner at Baiyoke....

If you fancy trying a bit of everything, and want a fantastic view, then I'd strongly recommend the Crystal grill restaurant on the 82nd floor of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. It's a grilled and seafood buffet restaurant. I think it's about 650bt a head which includes free admission to the observation deck and the sky walk.

I needed to do the same thing, so I went yesterday to a place at MBK that had been previously recommended here, but without the OP providing any supporting details.

The place I went, and got good service and product from, was the Instant Print shop on the second floor of MBK, just a small shop about halfway down the mall on a cross aisle. Right next to it is another similar printing shop.. And there are a couple more on the second floor, on the main long aisle, toward the far end, right hand side.

Instant Print told me their minimum run was 100, which is want I wanted. They had 4 or 5 books of available paper samples in different colors and weights. I went with a glossy coat, 260g stock, which is pretty heavy. Color design/type and photo on both sides, one in English and the other in Thai script. The price, including design, was 800 baht. For the same card and stock, it would have been 500 baht for just one side.

This shop is run by a couple of Thai ladies, two with short hair and one with long hair, and the latter pretty attractive. Fortunately, she spoke passably good English, and we didn't have much trouble working out the details of what I wanted.

They also have books of past card samples, so I looked though the books and found one that generally resembed what I had in mind for mine. I showed her, and then we went through the detail of her creating my design on her computer using Adobe Illustrator, and typing in the text info I wanted. I asked if she would have preferred a Word file with the text, but she said for a business card, she didn't mind just typing it.

The whole selection/design/and proofing process took about one hour as I sat there, working with the lady. When we were finished, she said it'd take them about one hour to finish the printing and cutting... But it was late in the day, so I chose to come back this morning for pickup... I believe they are open from 10 am to 8 pm daily....

I happened to run into a Thai business owner friend of mine this morning, after I had picked up the cards. I showed her the product, which is very nice and good looking, and she wanted to know how much. I told her, and she replied "pang mak mak" meaning expensive. So....when I see her later today or next time, I'll ask her where she had her cards printed.

Instant Print also has a pretty good and useful web site, which shows their 3 locations at MBK, one at Central World and another at another mall....

http://www.instantprint2000.com/location.html

I didn't shop around for this job, because it was a small quantity and I wanted to just finish it... not spend hours and days going from place to place... But for what I needed, they did a good, quick, quality job with lots of possible options, depending on what the customer wanted.

If anyone has recommendations for equal or better quality and speed at better prices, please do let everyone know. --John.

Don't forget....

W for Withdrawal....regarding what came after the first two liaisons....

and

I for Incomplete, which seems to be the case at least for the last lady who blew the whistle

And for the lecturer, the academic rank of somma cum loudly....

Krub adds a good point about the vagaries of opening new Thai bank account..

It seems...being able to show the bank you're talking to that you already have an account with some other Thai bank (via producing their bank book) can sometimes be helpful in swaying a recalcitrant bank boobie....

No guarantees, but it has been known to help on occasion. Likewise, try another branch of the same bank that's giving you trouble, usually a larger branch that's accustomed to dealing with farang customers.

That sometimes produces the opposite result, though. The SCB branch nearest the Nana BTS station is TERRIBLE about accomodating farang customers, and they're right in the middle of farang land on Sukhumvit... I was told it's because they had had problems with some farangs passing bad or counterfeit bills....but who knows... Could just be a dick-head local manager.