rick75

Its something I don't understand, so long as they are not back to back to back visa's whats the problem?, they seem to want to force people into rushing into a more permanent settlement situation ie: partner visa as apposed to just letting a couples relationship progress slowly and at a normal pace and thus giving the couple a genuine amount of time to be sure its the right thing for both parties.

If you are of working age and trying to hold down a job and life in Australia you can't keep running over to Thailand for extended periods, why not allow a couple to use a higher number of Aus vistor visa's.

Just my thoughts.....

Yeh I understand that Sean, but a lot of people place themselves in harms way without really thinking it through, we are human, we all make mistakes, but some guy who spends two weeks here and then goes home and burns all bridges, by racking up debts etc. places themselves in that position knowing full well what they are doing.

If you are in that position I feel for ya, but another option may have been to work hard for another 10- 15 years or so and make a calculated judgement when the time was right to make the move and at that time move to LOS without a genuine care.

I can't imagine being in a position of being stuck in another country with so little, I guess a lot of people throw in the towel in there home countries and move to the bright lights of Thailand without really thinking of what is involved.

There has been in the past some very good threads by some very intelligent people breaking down the real costs of living in Thailand now and in the future, if one reads these it is scary to see just how expensive life in Thailand really is and more so what the real costs are going to be in the future.

One guy broke down the costs of starting with $1 000 000 us in the bank and it worked out that you would eat through the entire amount in 20 years, what it shows is that when you start to eat into your principle amount which I think was in year 12 then there is a very quick slide to poverty, i think if more people sat down and really thought through there plans they would change there minds.

Best of luck to those in a terrible situation.

Stopdarot

I think it has to do with the quality of the girls most wind up with, first time round you meet someone from a tourist area, typically She will speak English, so she speaks English because She worked in a Bar (Girl A ) or is well educated (Girl B ), if you meet in a tourist area its likely she will be (Girl A ). Learn some Thai go hang out in Thai nightclubs, stay in a Thai area and you have a chance of meeting (Girl B ).

Its not rocket science, if you choose to ignore all the advice, do it at your own peril, its guaranteed to end only one way, Her a lot richer and you a lot poorer. Squandering your inheritence on a short time romance is not very smart.

Best of luck.

I am currently going through the same thing with my wife, in regards to an Aussie visa though. I am of the opinion it is the government just causing more headaches for the sake of it.

I was thinking why don't they just require a sputum test for all long stay visas, many many people seem to fail the chest xray, so make a sputum test a requirement. Partner tests to Aussie take 2-3 months so why make people go through the stress of freaking out about T.B. just test everybody properly in the first place.

...if he abstained and took his meds he was fine...

Gotta think a whole lot of that is the latter part,

likely he gets too stoned and ignores his meds, and so off the cliff again.

Seems he was a schizophrenic who happened to smoke pot.

I am not poo pooing the probable connection as a trigger,

but not staying on your meds makes the case for not maintaining proper medication levels.

Now if you told me he stayed on his meds and was fine

and ONLY went bad when he smoked AND kept up the meds,

I could find that a more complete rational.

Dropping the meds when smoking invalidates that it is solely the smoking that is the cause.

I think it is agreed that schizophrenics should not smoke pot.

He never had any symptoms or was diagnosed with Schizophrenia until maybe his early 20's he had been a daily smoker since maybe the age of 18, normal well adjusted dude who suddenly started hearing voices, voices that would tell him to do crazy things like turn all the furniture upside down, stuff like that.

By saying he was right so long as he took his meds, his schozophrenia still went off the rails if he smoked and stayed on the meds. For him dope was the catalyst 100%.

I have no problem with pot, I do have a problem towing the line that pot is in no means harmfull, most on the market now is hydro, what happens when your local grower would rather have the money in his pocket a week earlier than flushing the hydro system with clean water, all those nasty residues that are left in the plant, anti-fungals, fertilizers and other nasty chemicals that you in turn light up when you smoke.

But as the natives say, up to you.

Well as a person that smoked and no longer does, I have seen a pot smoking friend with schizophrenia. It is a proven trigger for mental illness, maybe something else might have triggered it but the evidence heavily said pot, if he abstained and took his meds he was fine but if he so much as looked at a bong he would go down hill again. Even when I was a daily smoker I always new that there health side effects that I accepted, it never ceases to amaze me that people are willing to fool themselves that there are no side effects. I can't touch the stuff now as I get paranoia, which is a shame because I still feel it has benefits... but they do come with certain risks.

I had a mate that had schizophrenia and he was a pot smoker. I am pretty sure the links between pot and schizophrenia have been established. They beleive that it can trigger the mental illness in people that have a pre disposition to it.

Neverdie

You and I both understand the consequences of playing with drugs in Thailand, Maybe a 30 something from the back of Burke does not, remember the first time you came here swept up in the the euphoria that is Thailand, people do silly things here, get married, buy houses in others names, jump of balconies. All I am saying is a lot of people throw down on tourists when things go wrong and this sort of attitude is a double edged sword things can go pear shaped here for anybody anytime.

Is he still on talking terms with anybody in his old job, he should call them to see if anybody has stopped by asking after him.

I would go with the skip the country never to return option, but hey thats just me.

I feel sorry for the guy, He was silly to have done what He did....But

How many of you people have procurred the services of a prostitute in Thailand and broken the law, or ridden a motorbike without a helmet, or drink drove or......... the list goes on.

People like living here because they believe it is not a over policed enviroment, that is untill you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What a load of rubbish. Why do people constantly try to defend one set of laws by referring to a completely different set of laws to get their point accross?

Because its the truth, you throw down on the guy for his stupidity, yet most of you break the law, if He is an Aussie he would get in as much trouble back home for the dope as he would for hiring a Whore. You have to keep things in perspective, I don't condone His behaviour and I am certainly not of the opinion that Dope has no side effects. But each to there own.

I would stick to shares that are in "your" name, buying land or property in others names is a mugs game, you keep the asset and give them an income, if your circumstances change you will still have the asset and the income.

I think the old saying "lay down with dogs and get up with fleas" rings true, they are by in large a very rough bunch of people. Understand that doing the odd toy run etc is part of there efforts to convince people otherwise.

If you want to read a good book on the topic an Aussie by the name of Steve Utah wrote a book "dead man running", have a read then tell me the bikies are a nice bunch of people.

I feel sorry for the guy, He was silly to have done what He did....But

How many of you people have procurred the services of a prostitute in Thailand and broken the law, or ridden a motorbike without a helmet, or drink drove or......... the list goes on.

People like living here because they believe it is not a over policed enviroment, that is untill you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There is a specific form/stat dec they have to fill out, its form 888, its on the immi.gov.au website.

About the photos, I just printed mine two to a page on plain A4, I am not sure if they accept them on disc or usb drive.

Ah YanTree the contradictions you don't consort with Farang trash, yet you hang out at Nana and Cowboy.

I think TV has been invaded, back in the day the call in Australia was "reds under the beds", is that whats going on here?

Someone went to a lot of trouble to write a piece with that many clichés, I just don't buy the story.

No I have not lived in one, they were pretty clean, I have not seen any Farang living in either of these two blocks, they are essentialy shop houses converted into units.

Yeh one of the blocks would only be a two minute walk to the BTS, as the crow flys it is under 150m from the station. If I was broke and could put a mobile air con or an in window type air con I could live in it. But they are very basic.

In the same Soi is Aiya Apartments, you can get a serviced room that is a 5 minute walk to the BTS for around 9000bht a month. Just to give you an idea.

Yeah, that's fine for one day. Try living like that for the rest of your life. And as for your 5000 a month in bangkok...I know plenty of thais who earn double that and really, really struggle. So, how long did you live in bangkok on 5k a month and how did you do it? Where are these 2k rooms? How much did you pay for your electric, water, laundry, internet, phone, transport, drinking water, food, entertainment, clothes, beer?

The 2k baht rooms will be found in any Thai area, for instance Krungthonburi, near to Wong wan Yai BTS station walk up Soi 1 Krungthonburi first Soi on the left 200m down and you will see a sign on a building advertising rooms from 1400bht/month, walk up Soi 1 another 200m and you will see a soi on your right adjacent to the 7-11 down 100m there are rooms for rent for the same money, keep in mind all these rooms are within a 10 minute walk of the BTS. If you walk around a Thai area and can read Thai you will see an absolute Jit Load of rooms for under 2000 bht a month. They are clean and basic, no air con, shared "bathroom" and most would be 20-30 Sq meters in size.

My wife has never lost her temper with me, nor I with Her(well maybe a little) she has not even raised an eyebrow in my direction. She would have to be the most level person I have met. It works for the both of us, but I know some Men that could never handle it, they need the fire they need the fights they need the arguments........ me i can live without them.

So a guy that puts nothing in the wifes name but gives Her 5000bht a month spending money is more of a fool than the guy that builds a house gives her a car pays all the bills and still spends money on Her every month, Have I got this right?

Come on I am only a young fella in my thirties but I still understand wether they cost money upfront or in the long run they still cost money.

I think most if not all relationships in Thailand are based on money, you are rich by there standards and she is poor, she looks at you as a means of financial security, that doesn't mean she doesn't love you, but if you were dirt poor and could not provide for her would she still be with you?, would any woman in any country be with you?

I would go with the "international business" angle, eg: she had many customers from around the world.

In Australia back maybe 20 years, the Man would go to work and the wife would stay at home and look after the kids, at the end of the week the husband would take his pay packet and give the wife Housekeeping money, mostly he would control the cash and give her the money for bills etc, this is no different IMHO. Times change and now a lot of ladies work and have financial independance but, I still have friends that maintain independant bank accounts from there wives. Keep in mind we are talking about people my age in there 30's. If your choice is that you would rather your wife stay at home at look after you rather than work in a somtam stall or laundry for 4000bht a month whats wrong with slinging her some cash.

I am Aussie but I assume the process would be the same,

1. go to your embassy in Bangkok and get an affirmation of freedom to marry stat dec,

2. take it and have it translated into Thai,

3. go to Thai foreign affairs department at Don Mueng they need to certify the documents 3 hours service 800bht 2 day service 400baht,

4. take these copies along with your passport and partners relevant docs to the local Amphur of your choice,

5. hang around for two hours, bribe local officials as needed and you are married.

Did this a few weeks back, I think the bribery is an optional extra lol..

Forgot to mention at no time did I show my Aussie birth certificate, which is a good thing as I did'nt have it in Thailand.