rick75

Onnut I can't sell you anything as I am out of the country, but you are more than welcome to PM with what you plan on purchasing and I can let you know if what they are telling you in regards to quality, price etc adds up.

Cheers Rick

So you guys respect Thailand, its people and traditions yet you speak about not buying into supporting the family etc. I just don't get it, there is an onus on the daughters to support the parents whether they are working as prostitutes or Doctors, I have a Thai friend now working here in Australia she sends money home to the parents, when my girlfriend was working in Bangkok she sent money home long before I was ever on the scene. So are you against your partners supporting there family or just the idea you might have to fork out a little cash now and then, for the most part that is what we are talking about "a little cash" are you guys that stubborn or hard up you are happy to see your partners loved ones starve.

Threads like this just show why Thais look and Farangs with amusement, it has nothing to do with our gullibility it has more to do with Farangs perceived superiority over Thais.

I would not even think about it, you are young and your ability to work and save money in New Zealand will be much better than in Thailand, add to that the level of education your kids will receive in Thailand and I would not bother. Thailand is a country to go to enjoy whats left of your life when you financially secure and your kids have had the benefit of a good education.

This is only my opinion of course

Best of luck

I can't understand the posters that say don't buy into the "its Thai culture", if you are marrying a Thai you are buying into Thai culture, the same as She is buying into the culture you were bought up in, if you are not prepared to buy in, <deleted> are you doing go home and marry a girl form whence you came, or try to understand and educate yourself on whats going on around you. I am not saying play the role of the ATM, but if you are well off by Thai standards and the family you are marrying into is poor, you are going to be expected to help out get used to it, or expect your wife to be miserable because deep down she resents you for not ponying up and Her having to put up with the guilt Her family puts on Her.

If you are marrying a Thai you are marrying the whole family

Now Flame away.

I am in the process of getting married and sin sod was discussed a couple of weeks back.

I bought my girlfriend a diamond engagement ring, she was in a similar position to your girlfriend and the family asked for 20 000 baht sin sod, but said up to me if I choose to or not pay, if they are asking a ridiculous amount of money get out, if not pay and be happy.

I would love to buddy, but I am back in Australia and I am only getting over in Febuary and don't think I will be heading up to Issan, would advise getting on the Khorat board and fishing around I am sure there will be golfers on there.

I have stayed at Aiya residence and would highly recommend it, I stayed in building B up the back its a bit more expensive but the rooms are big and well worth the extra, I stayed in the front rooms for only one night and it was a little crappy, I would get in there as now the BTS is open they have already started putting prices up. Has a really wide variety of people staying there and probably a couple of dozen farang. I have fond memories of the place I met my girlfriend while staying there a couple of years back.

You should take it up, Thailand has the bonus of gorgeous caddies to take care of you as well, the only down side is the heat.

Happylarry I take it your not a golfer, Korat has some great courses.

Fishhooks I bank with NAB in Australia and you can't do a T/T over the internet to Thailand is on a list of countries excluded, you actually have to go into a branch to transfer the funds what bank are you with that allow it to be done over the net....Cheers Rick

Martin there seems to be a lot of people taking pot shots at you at the moment, take solace in the fact that you are a welcoming host who really went out of his way to help me and my mates who swung by the pub a few months back. I can’t imagine the type of gutter trash that seems to be happy to take pot shots at you when they know you are not in the best of health.

Thanks Mr Burns, so you don't apply for a spousal visa, why then if you are married don't you apply for a temp res visa, or is that what a spousal visa is?

Do they really frown on more than two visitor visas even if time spent in and out of the country is the same, ie 3monts Au 4 months Th, 3 months Au four months Th.?

I thought the government would be happy some of us don't rush in and get married the week after we meet our Ladies and treat the relationship like we would any other, take our time get to know them properly before making a life long commitment.

I think the issue with multiple visitor visa's would mainly be time spent in and out of the country, they see back to back visa's as dodging the system, I have known my girlfriend for nearly two years and in that time she has had two 3 month visitor visa's to Oz, she is now back in Thailand and I assumed we would do one more visitor visa and then look at something more permanent. I was looking at the prospective marrige visa at a cost of roughly $1700au if we marry and then we are go for a spousal visa do we then get slugged the application fee for this another $1700, or is it just rolled over? Bridge you might know the answer to the previous question.

Cheers Rick

People have looked at the issue of large charities and how much actually sees the ground in some cases it can be as little as 50% of the money reaches the ones who need it, the rest is "administrative costs".

I can't believe this thread is still open, me thinks the mods are playing games and purposly leaving this thread open for a while.

My choice would be leo, do not mind the rest of the Thai beers, not a big fan of Heineken at all.

As JD has said I would look at a farmers type market, you are selling at a retail level and not wholesale.

I think its a great idea as this stuff can also be hard to find in Australia as well.

Also as JD said, look at going organic its a higher value product.

He is spot on, Thai will not allow you to pay by card over the net and not be present at check in, I went through this only a month ago, there solution was that I could go into there office and book and pay there, only problem was that they wanted to charge twice the net rate for the ticket ($1200au vs $2400au), way to get around it is to book through an agent. I used Thai Visa travel and found them great.

Has anybody managed to find a link to this program, the BBC website won't allow me to view it.

Cheers Rick

Marry Her, I am sure she is a real catch

Chunkton. Thai airways are very hit and miss, sometimes the flights are very reasonable or even cheap, other times they are way over the top.

I can't figure out how I can be quoted $760au BNE - BKK and one week later it be $2500au

Seems Crazy

They are crap, the main problem I had is they are a point to point carrier, that means they are not responsible for connecting flights, even if those flights are with there own airline, from the gold coast to KL they are consistantly late which means you miss the connection to Bkk (yes even 3 hours late), so you get to Kl and get shafted into buying another flight from Kl to Bkk at higher prices. This has happened to me on two occasions, so what was a cheap flight soon becomes expensive.

As other have said don't waste your money, I just got BNE to BKK return in September for $760au with Thai, you can fly with Qantas or British for around $1000 just about anytime you like, pay the extra few hundred and don't waste your time.

I know one thing, I have experienced racism in Thailand and My Girlfriend has not experienced it in Australia.

The apologists are either very lucky or very sheltered to have not experienced Racism in Thailand, two tier pricing just for starters.

Wake up people.

I am 33 and found Surin nice, it has a nightlife both night clubs and girly bars. Nice friendly people.