jfchandler

I knew somebody from some out-of-the-way place was going to ask that question...

Are you joking, man... or what???? U.S.A. National Football League... REAL FOOTBALL!!!!! hahahahaha

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

What's that?

Yep..,,, hotel or similar address would suffice....

None of the Thai banks actually paper mail almost anything to your address, anyway, in my experience.

But as best as I recall, BKK Bank did paper mail the PIN for online banking to my address... If I didn't request online banking with them, it wouldn't have mattered. They also wanted, which most people have, a Thai mobile number that they can send SMS messages to, as part of the account set-up process (I think that part also was related to online banking and/or getting their ATM card).

I don't recall SCB ever mailing anything home. But, the officer at the BKK branch where I went did want to see a copy of my lease or rental agreement for my home. I actually have such a document, but hadn't brought it with me to the bank that day. So I explained that, and asked if I could bring it into the branch the next day. The guy agreed, but they went ahead and opened my account that initial day anway. I never got around to going back....since the branch isn't the closest one to my home.

At BKK Bank, I got a windbreaker jacket for opening a new savings account. At SCB, they gave me a nice battery-powered wall clock that hangs on my bedroom wall..to this very day.

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 assume, you mean, for someone physically living in Thailand...

Assuming that's the case, I'd absolutely disagree... You just need to have a non-post office box mailing/mail forwarding address in the U.S. that the bank can accept as your address of record... Such things are easy to obtain, and useful for other purposes, including the forwarding of U.S. mail (like bank statements for existing accounts) that typically cannot have a foreign address...

One such service is the following... There certainly are others.

http://www.usa2me.com/

It is almost impossible to open a new account with a bank that does not already know you in the US. If someone knows of any please share, as I have had no luck.

Hmm..... maybe the investigating officer is feeling unloved here... Maybe he's thinking...gee...if it's good for the teacher, how about the police lt......

Police wants details from girls

.... Case investigator Pol Lieutenant Kitti Cherdkiat said the investigation had not included fellatio. ....

- Daily Xpress / April 26, 2008

I can't speak to the consulate issue...

But I can speak to the banks' policy issue, on opening new accounts for farang. It seems there is no consistently applied standard/rule about this in Thailand, and it varies by bank company and even branch to branch within the same bank.

In general, though, for someone holding only a tourist visa, Kasikorn Bank is widely resported to have among easiest times for opening news accounts. BKK Bank also will do, with greater success often reported at their main branch on Silom Road or their branch at Suk Soi 10. When I opened an account at BKK Bank, they wanted to see my passport and some local address, but didn't care about a work permit.

Siam Commercial Bank is more difficult. Depending on the location, the branch may ask for a work permit even when you have a long-term, one-year visa. But I spoke with the SCB Call Centre, and they assured that bank policy is to NOT require a work permit to open a new account when someone has a one-year visa. (I can't speak to their policy regarding tourist visas). After being turned down at one branch, I followed the Call Centre's advice, went to a larger different branch, and was able to open. But again, they wanted some evidence of a local address.

There's another thread on TV today wherein it's reported Tee Sud has been long closed, and replaced by a new restaurant....

Many/most of the common medications that require doctor's prescriptions in the U.S. are available without prescription at Thai pharmacies.

I've never been asked at a Thai pharmacy for a prescription. I've only been told, in a few cases, that the pharmacy doesn't stock a particular item and that it needs to be obtained from a hospital pharmacy/doctor.

Some more rare medicines, it seems, are not available here at all... but that seems to be pretty limited in scope.

thanks a lot on that.

i was also wondering. can one buy medication from farmacies without perscription in thailand?

thanks

a.

I'm just guessing here....but they may be "closing" their scheduled visa interviews in BKK for that period of time to do some re-tooling or changing their policies, and thus bumping back all their scheduled sessions during that period.

The bust in London of the prostitution ring may be having some ripples here.

But that's a far different thing than temporarily "closing" the embassy..... which seems rather improbable.

So, if I and a lady guest/football fan wanted to come Sat for the Soi 8 pub TV gathering, do we need to do anything else other than show up around 6 pm in good spirits and with a healthy appetite for beer??????

(same question posted in the other related thread on this subject...)

So, if I and a lady guest/football fan wanted to come Sat for the Soi 8 pub TV gathering, do we need to do anything else other than show up around 6 pm in good spirits and with a healthy appetite for beer??????

In all seriousness...I say... good for the lady who "blew" the whistle on this guy....

Besides, as anyone who has ever worked at a university would know, the engineering department is not the best place for those kinds of extra-curricular activities.... The guy should have been teaching in the physical therapy program.....

Let me correct myself, upon further investigation...

BBCO does sell loafs of their own baked breads, cut into square sandwich slices. It's good bread, but sliced like regular toast, so not exactly ideal for a big/heavy sandwich preparation.

The half loafs of bread at Au Bon Pain are cut thicker, toast very nicely, and would easily stand up to substantial fillings...

But at the supermarkets, Villa lately has begun selling a line of fresh, locally produced breads by a bakery called Zgi that also are very good. They had a cafe on Suk that closed some time ago, but apparently are still turning out sandwich bread, raisin bread and others. The Villa folks showed me a 3 or 4 page items list of things that can be ordered, upon request, in addition to what they stock on their own.

I'd "third" the vote for the BBCO at the Marriott, also for other reasons including

But, as far as I can tell, they don't really sell full loafs of bread like what they use for their own sandwiches. And, much of the loaf bread in the local stores is pretty crappy. So when I want to buy good bread for making sandwiches at home, the best option I've found is the half-loafs of wheat bread sold by Au Bon Pain. Toasted or fresh, it's good....

Of course... silly me!!!!!! You must be right...I was dreaming when we spent from 9 pm last night to 3 am this morning talking about all these things, in depth, nonstop....

Or.. maybe..just maybe... could it be you're seeing the wrong kinds of Thai ladies????

About the job thing... time will tell... I'll find out about that... long before my one-year timeframe for deciding about marriage arrives... So...I don't think... I'm taking any risk there....

PS - You might consider more carefully, before you go blithely throwing around the kind of indictment of Thai women you laid out below. Some of them, I'd venture, are a whole lot sharper than many farang guys!!!!

I don't care what anyone says but it is impossible to have such a in depth conversation as you describe it with a Thai lady, i don't care how educated you say she is. This business of her changing jobs is bullsh1t. A Thai will NEVER put you before her family. WAKE UP

I'd propose conducting an in-depth, "undercover" investigation to get to the bottom of this sordid practice. And I'd be happy to conduct it myself in a thoroughly professional manner.

Remember quiet a few of these bangkok uni girls also work in Bangkoks finest adult establishments..... maybe it was also an offer made on her part to excel herself?

Perhaps teaching their sex ed classes?????????

Soi 8 (the street, not the bar) is my home...

But, speaking from the American perspective, could we skip the "Meat Pie, Mushy Peas, Black Pudding and Cloggs" and just go straight to the beer?????

Tables booked from 6.00pm as first game at 6.45. Check out link below and it will give you an idea of members turning up etc.

BT

"Bangkok Football, Beer, Meat Pie, Mushy Peas, Black Pudding And Cloggs Night.". The topic can be found here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...view=getnewpost

Just doing an ACH (Automated Clearing House) transfer in or out of the account very periodically will keep it alive and free of dormancy fees...

With the way financial and banking markets are going, I don't close my U.S. accounts. I just transfer all the money out, and keep a buck or two in as a placeholder. There have been times then when I've had reason to go back into some account and begin using it again.

A whole lot easier than trying to open a new account from scratch while living in LOS.

To the OP...I have nothing of cheer to say in response to your question...

When I was living in the USA, and making 4 times a year visits to Thailand, I tried to make a go of long distance relationships, but they never worked out. For the ladies in question, I don't really think they were cheating....tho I can't say for sure... But, it's hard to maintain intimacy, especially in a new relationship, when you're physically apart for 3, 4, ? months at a time. The telephone and Internet only go so far...

Now I live here full-time, and all of those past problems are distant memories. I don't envy your situation, and would suggest the odds of keeping your ship afloat over that long long long period of time may be pretty slim... But..I don't know you and the lady involved.

I do concur, though, about Thai ladies and their mobiles. They can be doing virtually anything, and will in a heartbeat stop that activity and check their phone when it rings, and leave it on for ringing even at the MOST inconvenient times. I had one lady in the past who not only let it ring in the middle of romance, but then went ahead and wanted to answer it while we were engaged.... Happily, not together with her anymore.

Yesterday, I was having a long talk with my current Thai GF here in BKK, who tends to be a bit insecure about our relationship (for no good reason).... She was talking to me about feeling nervous when SHE goes away to work during the day and I'm staying at home alone doing my own work. When we later got to talking about my annual upcoming two-week "visit the parents" trip back to the USA, she nearly went into a coma.... Dunno what I'm going to do about that...when the time comes.

But I surely know...my first night back in Thailand upon returning will be a dam_n fine one...

Sorry for picking nits here.... but as a longtime journalist, it's in the blood...

From reading The Nation and Thailand Outlook accounts, I see only language about he demanded.... but never any direct acknowledgement that he actually received...

Whereas, the BKK Post article uses language that suggests the act was consummated....

Maybe what is required here... then...is a blow by blow account of what really occurred...

As quoted in a message to me: "No matter what your tilak tells you, her family will always come first.........not you."

OK, I promised an update, and now I have one after a six hours long talk-meeting last night and into the early morning hours with my TGF, the lady in question in this post... And, while this is still an evolving story, all I can say to all the "dump her" and "scam artist" advocates is... AMAZING THAILAND!!!!

We spent most of the early going talking about what had been happening with her since we returned from KK almost a week ago. And I discovered, by her account, that she'd been really upset, crying, depressed about two things: 1) fearing that I was going to leave her because of what her family had said about 1M baht for the new house, and 2) gossip she had started hearing second-hand from people in her village saying she must have been working as a bar girl in BKK or Pattaya because she'd been seen with a farang (me) in KK (and since the few other mixed couples in her village began as BG-monger matches).

We talked our way through those things, and then I got the first of two shockers.... 1) her family for some time had been pressing her to return to their village in KK to take a government job near there, a job her father had helped arrange for her. And, she informed me that just after we had left KK, the employer had contacted her father and told him, and he then told her this week, that they were now offering her the job near KK. I felt my heart falling at that point, but then the real bigger surprise came... She informed me that she had no intention of moving back to her village, and despite her family's/parent's wishes, that she wanted to stay here in BKK and continue working here in her office job. So, while understanding that her family may still continue to pressure her and nothing is final yet, at least I began to think...Hey, this young Thai lady is showing some signs of resolve and independence.

But, we weren't done yet. By now, this was some hours into the discussion, and we hadn't talked at all about the house issue, so I began steering our talk in that direction. And I found that, apparently, of all the things she'd talked with her Mom about in the past week, the issue of the house wasn't much among them. It was all what was happening with her, and me, in the wake of our visit. So, at that point, since I wasn't going to hear more from the family on that point, I began talking to her about my own ideas, as shaped by all the advice and discussion here.....

...that I'm prepared to get married in the future if she and I stay happy together, but not any sooner a year from our original meeting; that I'm committed to taking care of her; that I'm perfectly capable of buying a condo or a house in BKK or elsewhere for she and I after we are married, as may fit with things in our life; that I'm willing to have a wedding ceremony and some reasonable sin sod; but that I'm not willing now or in the future to build a 1M baht house for her parents that basically she and I would rarely live in.

At that point, I got my second and even bigger but good shock of the night. She proceeded to repeat for me that she really was more interested in us staying together and getting married eventually, and that her parents were more interested in the house issue, as I already knew. But she then informed me that, when she really loves someone, she needs to do the right thing for that, that that's the most important thing for her. And that if we were married, she'd see her responsibility to be first toward me as her husband, and second to her family. So, she said to my great surprise, that she was fine with my general ideas as mentioned above, and she was prepared to go against her parents' wishes on the house issue, and that she planned soon on talking with them and explaining the situation and what she wanted to do about it. To which, I said to myself, AMAZING THAILAND......

So, as I said above, this is still an evolving story. And, maybe what she promised and pledged last night will fade or she'll be collared by her family on their the job/location issue or the house issue. But for now, this lady is showing me the kind of spirit and commitment that made me believe since I met her, for many other reasons, that she's a keeper. And if she's willing to stand by me, and keep the focus on our future together, then I'm prepared to stand by her also....

Time will tell....

I concur... thoughtful...perceptive...accurate view of the woman's mind from a youngster.

I don't recall I was thinking that way...in my early 20s....Back then, it was... "Women what???"

So kid... use those smarts to get your "broke ass" on track and moving!!!!

Cheers....

I think you'll find that a good portion of the people on this isaan forum DO have genuine romance with their partners. Correct me if I'm wrong guys? I for one am 2 years younger than my isaan lady and we're both in our early twenties, G-d knows my broke @ss couldn't have 'purchased' her even if i wanted to!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but female romance IS money and power (power being defined as broadly as possible)... that is the majority of what makes a woman attracted to males no matter where they're from. Sometimes being attracted to "power" can be broken down into being attracted to 'confidence', which is what makes teenagers attracted to eachother when there's no money involved. Physical appearance matters too for women, but if it's not supplemented by an attraction to that person's power or resourcefulness, no woman will be attracted to them for long.

I responded with my intentions more broadly above... But suffice to say here...after the latest comments.....:

In principal, I'm fine with the idea of putting money into a future home for my wife and I, once we are married...preferably a condo rather than a house for ownership purposes.

But, after the spectacle with her family last week, (which Paddy has accurately summarized below) I'm not inclined to do anything for her family at this point, and am seriously re-evaluating the relationship with her.... Because, if her family's going to be a pain every day in the future, the chances of a good marriage are BAD!!!

The TGF and I have our first face-to-face post-KK meeting Wednesday afternoon, where SHE very urgently now wants us to get together so she can talk to me... What she plans to say, in the wake of all this, I'll only find out tomorrow. I'm waiting with baited breath...

Paddy.

After meeting him for 2 hours they told their Daughter to dump him unless he builds them a 1M Baht house.

My Isaan Wife has worked them out.

Want to say thanks to everyone for your advice and comments. They have helped me think about the situation...and with all of your experiences at hand.

I think it's pretty simple at this point: I will not be building a house for her family any time soon, and am not even sure I would if we had a good relationship in the future (because of the legal pitfalls of farang property ownership in Thailand). Buying a condo or something for she and I might be a different question...down the road, if everything worked out great.

However, the way her family acted really put me off, and it's been said before, when you marry a Thai lady, you are also marrying with her family. So that's always an important area to consider.

As I told someone in a personal message, it went following our first family meeting together roughly like this: a) that night, the GF said her family liked me and she was happy; the next morning after talking with Mom, she said her family didn't think I could take care of her; c) later that day, she told me her Mom wanted her to go back to BKK right away; and finally d) the following day, she told me her family would be fine about us, if I built a house for the family. To me, that's CRAZY!!!

So, if she stays with me now, then, I will know the score. And if she bails, I'll likewise know the score. Either way, I'm fine with the outcome. As various folks have said, I do honestly believe there is a lot of pressure to keep up with the Samaks, as someone put it, when there's already a farang-Thai marriage in the village. And likewise, I believe her family is putting a lot of pressure on the lady, and she is, like many Thai ladies, very beholden to her Mom and family. So honestly, I wouldn't expect her to cross them, though it's possible I could be surprised...

About the comments below, she has told her family we are not sleeping together. And, the commenter below doesn't know if we are or not... So, don't presume to know something you don't know. She and her family specifically didn't want us to visit or stay in her home because, they said, they didn't want to start more gossip in the village unless we were getting married. So, that's why we stayed in the hotel in KK. And true or not, I was fine with that. More comfortable for me, and in keeping with the request of her family. Likewise, I think everyone can pretty much assume 1 million baht for a house would constitute a request of sin sod. So, that's exactly what her family was talking about...

Likewise, about the second comment below "farang who had nothings..." you likewise unfortunately don't know me or what you're talking about. If you want to throw opinions about, please at least base them on some semblance of knowledge and fact... In this case, you have neither. That would be much appreciated.

I am 100% sure that this is a shakedown. Issan parents want to see there daughters married because there is still shame in traditional families when their daughters sleep with men outside of marrage. If this was ligit they would be talking about sin sot and marrage not building a house. The daughter would not be staying with you in your hotel either.

..............

I would move on now before she figures out what your soft spot is.

I'm 100% agree with your opinion schooner and on the other hand i find that hard to belief that a thai's woman 20's something with university degree and a good job would going out with farang who had nothings never mind that sleeping in the same bed before they even engaged. just my two pennies....

Read my lips...and words...please....

"Nor was/am I planning to get married with her any time soon, or haul off and fork over 1 million baht for their family house. But I am trying to decide how best to respond to their request, and what to do about my relationship with the lady."

Thanks again...