seethreepio

I am a Thai lady educated and worked in USA so maybe you will find this interesting. I am from a poor farming family, but I won a scholarship to go to university. When I married my family never considered asking my American husband for money. It is like prostitution and not very honorable to do it. Decent people are too proud to ask. Any way, how could a poor farmer guy pay 100,000 baht or more? Even 10,000 baht will take years to save.

However it is true that some people want it just to make their face big and then to give it back as a wedding present after showing it everybody in the village. Some want it to show their daughter is not marrying a no-hope guy with no money or job and they usually give it back also.

Why do people want such a lot of money? I can tell you the answer easily because there are so many girls from my village working as hookers in Bangkok. Most of them when they bring a farang home they tell everybody they met him somewhere else and they don't work in one of these places. But everybody knows they don't tell the truth because so many families have someone do the same thing already. So you should know most people in my village have no respect for farang, who they think only come to Thailand for sex with hookers. They only tolerate it because they can get a lot of money from the farang. But everybody laughs at the farang when he visits the village and calls him a Buffalo (meaning they think he is stupid).

This has given me and my husband a lot of problems but there's nothing we can do about it. Probably every village in Thailand is the same as mine.

But anyway the bride price should not be so high as some people here say they pay. Farm families who have such big money will only use it in a bad way, get drunk and gamble and visit brothels. They really have no use for such a lot of money and have no idea how to spend it wisely - I've never seen anyone do it. Many stop working on the farm because they think the money will keep coming. So no body should pay more than 100,000 baht.

As for family support after - unless the family has a big problem and really need help dont send any more money. Buy them farmland and a new tractor or things for the farm which will help them, if you want to, but if they ask for a new big house or a car you know they are taking you for a fool.

Have any of you guys ever TRIED to send large amounts of money in or out of Thailand? It's a bigger gamble than the casino as to whether or not you'll ever be able to collect it.

I also would like to ask the farang in these forums if all they care about is prostitution and having a good time? Didn't you ever grow up? Don't you CARE about Thai women at all?

This is quite true. I have many friends in Thailand working for charitable organisations. They support themselves, work tirelessly for the benefit of Thailand's AIDS victims, for the poor and orphaned, yet have no special visa exemptions and are also working "illegally" as stated. They appear regularly on Thai television and are not exactly "low profile"

Most of them have thus broken the law and face deportation or worse if they should be caught.

It's all a can of worms. I'm afraid.

You must leave the funds on deposit until you have got the visa extension. I can vouch for the fact that your bank account will be checked up to 2 months after your application.