ThaisGood

Could be a Russian job, since those guys probably have a taste for the spectacular and loves the movies.

It looks Israeli to me. Look for a Mossad angle.

Restaurant owner pleads not guilty to charges of setting up "sham marriages"

The owner of the Thai Ginger, a local chain of popular Thai restaurants, pleaded not guilty this afternoon to federal charges alleging she paid her employees thousands of dollars to enter into "sham marriages" with her relatives from Thailand so they could stay in the U.S.

By Ian Ith

Seattle Times staff reporter

The owner of the Thai Ginger, a local chain of popular Thai restaurants, pleaded not guilty this afternoon to federal charges alleging she paid her employees thousands of dollars to enter into "sham marriages" with her relatives from Thailand so they could stay in the U.S.

A federal grand-jury indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Varee Bradford, 43, of Issaquah, who operates five Thai Ginger restaurants in Seattle and the Eastside. She was arrested this morning.

Bradford is charged with four immigration crimes, including conspiracy to commit immigration fraud.

She was released on personal recognizance after her initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court.

Also named in the indictment is an associate of Bradford, Porramin Tangchaiwanna, 32, also known as "Golf." He is charged with assisting Bradford in arranging a sham marriage with a man who turned out to be an undercover immigration agent. He also pleaded not guilty.

Bradford's husband, Michael, the co-owner of the restaurants, declined to comment this morning.

The charging documents specify four marriages that Bradford arranged between her employees and Thai relatives between 2001 and 2007.

Both male and female employees were offered between $10,000 and $20,000 to marry the Thai immigrants to make it easier for them to obtain permanent resident "green cards," and stay in the country, according to the charges.

In February 2008, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent went undercover and met with Bradford and Tangchaiwanna, the court documents say. Bradford offered $20,000 for the undercover agent to marry a woman named Nikki, the prosecutors charge.

Bradford told the agent that he should "communicate with Nikki on a frequent basis to get to know her and prepare for the immigration interview."

The agent was to receive $5,000 payments, with the last delivered when Nikki got her green card, the documents charge.

Bradford is also charged with helping to fill out the immigration paperwork that fraudulently claimed the arranged marriages were real.

Bradford's Thai Ginger restaurants are at Pacific Place in downtown Seattle, Madison Park, Redmond Town Center, Issaquah and in Factoria in Bellevue.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/loca...iginger23m.html

A big issue in my opinion has also been the fact that the Baht has been held artificially high

I'm not sure if the baht is artificially high. Thailand has a successful agricultural export industry. Unlike many countries. Thai rice prices are very high, nearly double what they were two years ago. Thai food exports are strong. Perhaps global food demand is keeping the Thai baht strong.

and the black may 92 was seen all over the world as well as the foreigners ( mostly journalists ) that were shot or killed when the army opened direct fire with REAL bullets on peaceful demonstrators seated at democrazy monument ... the airport blockade and the aborted red-volution are kiddy games compared to what happened back then and i don't think it has any impact on the tourism slump which started like 5 years ago ( even before the tsunami )....

I disagree. I was living in Bangkok during May 92 (I was there 1991-1994). That event occurred fairly quickly, and the royal intervention put a nice spin on things.

Recently closing the airport for a few weeks, that really killed the tourism a lot more than May 92. A lot of tourists are serious people with important careers. Getting stuck on vacation, locked out of an airport, is just too much risk to take. I believe a lot of tourists may not visit Thailand for years because of that airport closure. Perhaps many people who get stuck in a habit of visiting Thailand year after year, will change and start going elsewhere.

Airport closure was HUGE.

Bad economy is the main reason.

Closing the airport is the other big reason. The persons who arranged for closing the airport should be put on trial, including the pooyai.

Visa problems are a big reason also. I can give one example. I know three people who earn a good living in Alaska. They have spent about 3-4 months in Thailand each year for the last 10 years or so. I was talking to one of them recently. He said now the entry visa (people on this website will know a lot more about it) is only for fifteen days!! Is that true?! He spends a ton of money on extended vacation in Thailand each year. Now he spends most of his time in Vietnam. His friends who used to go to Thailand are traveling elsewhere also.

I am returning to the US in 2 days for the first time in 4 years (I am only going for a month though). I am pretty nervous going back because I have heard that reverse culture shock is often worse than regular culture shock. Does anyone have experiences of returning home after a long stint in Thailand? Did anything really stick out? Was it difficult?

Interesting topic. I was 3 years in Thailand without returning to US.

I immediately noticed that the landscape is so much prettier in Thailand, the bright greens I never paid attention to now I missed because the dark and bare and brown trees of home were dreary.

As a lover of women, I found a lot of really sexy non-Thai women all over. I had always thought Thai women were the most beautiful. Now I found sexy farang, mixed, Mexican, Vietnamese, all of them. I just wanted to get some non-Thai women for a change, which did not take long fortunately. Alas, I ended up going back to Sao Thai exclusively.

Milk problem. I grew up drinking a lot of milk. In Thailand the milk was so bad I drank none, for years. Upon return to US I just guzzled that fresh milk I'd missed, but it made me sick (gas, etc). All the time away from milk ruined my ability to enjoy it again. I still don't drink much milk, wish I could.

I got a job in US that paid great money. Not sure how many of those jobs are around right now, but I loved the "culture shock" of being a citizen that could buy a home! I bought one right away and settled down in that home and fixed it up and built a happy life.

As for longterm shock, I did develop a distaste for American-raised Asian women. They have identity issues and it's not just me. They do not like it when you find them attractive. Even though most Asian women end up dating farang in my area, they consider it a badge of honor if their farang has never dated an Asian before. If you express that you find Asian women attractive, they think you have a problem. Imagine that.

Lived here 6 years and can write a book on how bad farangs are.

At the same time though, of the years I spent in Thailand I made the greatest friendships, beyond compare with any friendships I have in my own country. Swedish guy, Aussie, Canadian, a few Americans. Best of friends for life, we were in that Muang Thai together. Partying, working, paying the rent, getting by and sharing stories. Those were great years.

Missed how bad some farangs treat thai women in general

True story here. My wife became acquainted with a Thai lady in my area. She had not been here long. She had been living in Thailand with her farang husband, then moved here (USA). She hated his guts. He was a real puke. Drank beer daily, a lot of it. Never put food in the fridge, even though they had a newborn and a toddler. My wife did not believe it until she went to the house and looked in the fridge. Empty. Never opened a door for her, showed any interest, even beat their kids a little bit. Couched this as being great at discipline.

My wife put her in touch with a local relief agency and a Thai lady who runs a successful restaurant and knows a lot of people. She just ignored the advice and kept living with this jerk. He had been married to a different Thai lady before and divorced, now has a new victim. It seems that there is a certain percentage of farang who only want to marry Thai women so they can enjoy a certain style of wife.

Nicaragua is a close ally of IRAN. Ortega can do what he wants, but coddling criminal Thaksin is yet another strain on Nicaragua's international reputation.

Not sure how close little Nicaragua is to Iran. But only sheep of the controlled media without the ability to think critically, or strict devotees of the diabolical government of Israel, would consider Iran a threat. Iran is a strategic country rich in resources, with a sophisticated and decent people, being ruthlessly manipulated by certain powerful global interests. Being an ally of Iran is like being an ally of any decent country, in my opinion. Scratch the surface and look into the history of the region, and learn the perspective of the people, from the people. You will likely agree.

I like this guy. I like his spirit. Call him eccentric, crazy, wild or whatever. I like him. May he rest in peace.

Thaksin is learning what it feels like to be a farang in Thailand. He has to hunt around constantly for a visa, and that hunt never ends no matter if married with kids, etc.

"reap what you sow",comes to mind.

The dark side of me wishes all resident Thai living in USA would need to to to Canada or Mexico every 90 days for visa run. Married or not. Kids, who cares. Buy your bus ticket and do it.

I am not retirement age.

I have a personal problem with the Thai immigration system. I have been married nearly 15 years, legal marriage. I spent years in Thailand as a kid. I am fine with Thai language, I can pass a test if need be.

My wife and I have kids, all of them have Thai passport. I am offended, personally, that I am not granted a longterm visa to stay in Thailand, along with permission to work legally. The same benefits are granted to my wife, in my country. These are basic human rights, in my opinion. My friend in Europe also, his Thai wife got a job right away when she moved there.

I have the resources to make a deposit in a Thai bank, but I am offended by this requirement. I just continue to work and make good money in my country, and accumulate what I can.

I don't like it when I take my kids there, and people make a big deal about them, their skin and appearance. I want to tell these people to just "go to hel_l" when they start the big interview about where we come from and the leuk krung. Asians themselves get really offended when they are overseas, and people get in their face with personal questions. In Thailand I can not walk down the street with my family, without drawing a lot of attention. When I am older I will just get the over 50 visa I guess. Until then, screw it. I don't want to even go to Thailand unless necessary.

I think the Thai system is challenged because there are so many perverts who will do anything to live in Thailand and get the young boys and girls, so there is no choice but to have the endless circus for a visa. I have a problem with the perverts too.

Thanks for asking.

I think the 25.000 are too high...we often imported like 1/3 Container amount and I can't recall of payment something much more than 1000 Euro.....

I don't see too many superior quality products beside food. Electronic devices are usually worse than the Chinese Exportqualitaet. Not even to think about Japan or South Korea.

Interesting. Based on my experience shipping one 20' container is around US$3000 in shipping cost, often a bit more than that. Then the cargo is always about US$25,000 for that container filled. I have never dealt with partial container.

I am biased of course. I don't like to buy "Made in China". I like to buy "Made in Thailand" when shopping in local stores. I find Thai furniture, toys, electronics, and especially clothing, is always of a higher quality if made in Thailand. But I am biased.

Thaksin is learning what it feels like to be a farang in Thailand. He has to hunt around constantly for a visa, and that hunt never ends no matter if married with kids, etc.

Trading products, from Thailand, is always run by Thai Chinese. The children of the Chinese/Thai traders are highly educated and are always in position of dealing with international trading partners. The general belief is that only family should have knowledge of trade line partners, otherwise somebody will work for the company then go start a company of their own to compete. It would be unusual for a guy Poland to get a job in Thailand with a Chinese family company, shipping products to Poland. Well, I could be wrong.

I highly suggest you find partners in Poland first. Then start small. Poke around Thailand figuring out what you can ship to Poland. Take a chance on a container shipment, it will cost about US$25,000 or so.

You may already know, but products from Thailand are usually superior in quality to most other Asian products. Good luck.

Thank you for the video 2long. It was a joy to see. Are there any more like this? If not, there should be.

Yes there should be others, of much better quality.

With his passport cancelled and the Interpol on his trail, there will not be many places for Thaksin to go.

Another question I would like to posse is. Why do Thai's suffer fools like Thaksin so gladely? All comments welcomed.

Is Interpol "on his trail"? I don't think so but I could be mistaken. Is it true?

He has a Nicaraguan diplomatic passport so he can go anywhere, I believe. I wonder if someone can clarify just where Thaksin can not go with that passport.

As for "why do Thais suffer fools like Thaksin" I think fool is a poor choice of a word to describe Thaksin. In the grand scheme of things, I believe Thaksin is not much different than various elected politicians around the world.

It seems to me that local Thai media propaganda is successful in vilifying Thaksin but careful examination of the entire story suggests that perhaps there is a reason so many people voted for him. Healthcare, expanded assistance programs for the poor, economic progress, etc. Those kinds of things...

This is a nice attempt but really lacks creativity. No rhythm here and just annoying to watch. I've seen much better at an old company I worked for with about 100 people, someone did a rap of an outgoing boss, with just a few still pictures. Of all the material online for Thaksin, this is a really lame effort. The same pip and squeak over and over. zzzzzzzzzzzz.

I can see all of those except for eggs.  I think Thai eggs are much better tasting than eggs typically available in the West.

Hi. My wife and her mother love American pancakes, with Canadian maple syrup of course. Made with local butter, milk and eggs. We also live among a lot of small farms, we have a farm of our own too. We have neighbors with chickens, beautiful big healthy chickens, and they produce these gorgeous fresh eggs. So my wife has taken all of these pancake materials. She buys a lot of different mixes too. She has taken all kinds of foods to Thailand. These are things with not much value. I have never considered that it is necessary to declare $75 worth of food. The maple syrup does get expensive though. We always buy the best for our Thai family. She also takes various cooking oils. What else... Pistachios. 5, 10, even 20 lbs of pistachios. My mother in Thailand likes "Honey Nut Cheerios" too. Sometimes I look and there are three or four big Honey Nut Cheerios boxes getting packed up. The other thing that comes to mind are coffee flavorings.

My wife has become a master chef of different common American cuisines. Her Thai cooking is pretty lousy but that is a different story... Her mother has visited us as well, and old grandma has developed a taste for a few things. My wife always fills two big boxes of food and takes them with her to Thailand. Everything from eggs, cheese, cookies, jam, honey, bread, cereal, etc. Never had a problem.

Related comment. My daughter has a Thai passport. She is a straight A student. We have raised her in USA but from the moment she was born we taught her Thai sounds, music, letters and words. She is by no means fluent, because her mother usually used English. I speak Thai ok. My daughter went back and forth at least 10 times as well, twice spending 2 months in Thailand. She can speak Thai.

I wanted her to become totally fluent, by immersing her in a Thai school. As a kid, my family hosted exchange students. This is the way to learn. In my local community, kids appear from all over the world in local schools and taxpayers fund ESL education for them, for free! They go right into schools with the other kids.

OK so when my daughter was 11 years old I took her to a Thai catholic school in a Moo Bahn where her grandmother lives. She has a cousin in this school.

I asked if my daughter could become enrolled in that school for one term. They looked amazed at such an idea. Why would I send my daughter there for one term? What kind of crazy father would want their kid immersed in Thai language like that? How to do?

They pulled out a 5th grade test. If my daughter could demonstrate that she can pass that test, they would let her join the school! Alas, she could not pass that test. They gave me a pamphlet for where foreign kids can go to school in Thailand, and learn in English.

I think it was a big failure for the Thai education system. They lost a chance to have a bright, young international student in their class. My daughter would have aced Thai language within one term, with her background she would have got there. But "stupid" won the day.

As we left I noticed that this "school" was just packing kids in like sardines anyway, no facilities other than packed classrooms. It was just a money factory for the owners, in my opinion.

I think it symbolizes how backward the entire education system is.

I was speaking with someone who spent some time in Thailand years ago, and now has a lot of friends in his local Thai community in USA. He said that there is currently an exodus of Thais to USA, from all kinds of channels. They are coming via Thailand direct, or via Singapore, Mexico, etc. Getting into US to escape current crisis and perceived future instability. It doesn't sound correct to me, the crisis going on now wouldn't create an exodus of Thais. Just wondering if others have comments on this.

very popular, too popular... someone got jealous and a bit scared.

Here we have the answer.

An excellent question.

Thailand advanced a great deal under Thaksin. I was very impressed with the way he handled the international financiers in 1997 (IMF) after the Asian financial meltdown. Books could be written about the genius of Thailand's leadership maneuvers during that time. The same sophisticated bankers are, ironically, now focused on other countries who offer much less resistance to banking control.

During the Tsunami in 2004, more great leadership from Thaksin.

In between all of that I've seen extraordinary advances in the Thai infrastructure.

I with he'd get elected in my part of the world.

My missus is telling me that it is similar to the killings in 1992 when the army would kill lots of people at night, then spray down the streets to wash up the blood and then come morning people were clueless, including the media. I'm hearing that it is many more than 2 people but I can't confirm. It will be interesting to see what is uncovered in the weeks following all this madness.

I was there in 1992 and walked behind Chamlong's truck as it drove past that infamous hotel, I don't recall the name of it now. Where people ran to escape the bullets. I don't know what I was doing there, just thought it would be interesting to be part of the history. Then hijacked buses came into the scene, protesters drove them up near the military and burned them. I almost went up there to have a look too. Bullets flew everywhere. I believe on Aussie was killed, and one American teacher as well. There were bullets everywhere. I ran for my life. In following days Bangkok Post had a feature showing one guy who collected tons of shoes from the scene, shoes nobody knew where they came from. It was reported that around 180 died. All of the people who hijacked the bus were killed, as I recall. There was a large group of parents and relatives who reported around 1000 people went missing that night. Rumors were that 1000 were killed, loaded into trucks, and dumped in Kanchanaburi.

As usual, excellent coverage from Al Jazeera. I can not comprehend how Al Jazeera is not allowed in USA, it just proves that American media is totally censored.

I wish the protesters well. Citizens should have a right to protest. I believe Thaksin won popular election many times, and those elections were fair. Not a good idea to kick the guy out. What you get is mass protest.