grim_marmazet

Ive looked at the new rules for getting a non 'O' based on supporting a Thai wife, and ive been told that the money requirements are only for people over 50. If your younger you just have to be employed, with a valid work permit.

I was wondering if this is true, as the pdf file with the new regulations, doesnt make it all to clear. Im worried as to what this will spell out for me and my fiancee. Im 22 and dont have a degree. A family member may be able to employ me but if not i wont have money to open my own business till january, and dont want to be apart from my fiancee that long.

Maybe i should take her travelling?

Well im way under 50, getting married when i return soon, may have employment out there, but not certain, and i wont have 400k in the bank till next year. Can i still get a multiple entry non O and do 3 month visa runs, or is that a thing of the past now?

The lesson of the day;

If you can avoid driving, avoid it! I prefer to walk anyway, and after these stories, i think i'll stay this way.

Thanks, as ever your a great help

I want to go back to LOS on either a single or multiple entry tourist visa to start with. Is there a minimum time you have to apply before leaving?

Thanks for any info.

Excellent, just what i wanted. 

Thanks for the info, been a great help.

Im going to be setting up a venture, a bit of a surprise for now, but its definitlye something Phuket doesnt have yet. 

Hey,

it's not a bar with ladies that will have sex with you for money is it?

Bash

Jeez ... if we hurry, we might beat him to it

######, i'll have to think of something else now! Aw, and i had my heart set on it. lol

I got lucky, my gf wants to send me money! I refused, being a gentleman, but i take it as more proof that she really does love me. Ive found myself the one.

grim

no disrespect mate but a thai girl cannot afford to send you money, she's just trying to show you how honest she is. (i'm not saying she is'nt honest)

I know she doesnt even earn in a month what i can in a week in the UK, so i wouldnt let her send me money. I wouldnt feel right. She wouldnt let me spend a penny (or should i say Baht) on her. I just know she's honest and thats enough for me.

Excellent, just what i wanted. 

Thanks for the info, been a great help.

Im going to be setting up a venture, a bit of a surprise for now, but its definitlye something Phuket doesnt have yet. 

Hey,

it's not a bar with ladies that will have sex with you for money is it?

Bash

Wow, what a good idea, i dont think i saw one of those! lol

Na, its quiet for now, but all will be revealed soon.

Excellent, just what i wanted.

Thanks for the info, been a great help.

Im going to be setting up a venture, a bit of a surprise for now, but its definitlye something Phuket doesnt have yet.

I enjoyed Patong while on holiday there, but i agree it would be hectic living there. A bit like trying to live in Brixton, lol.

I'll have to travel more, because i didnt get to see more of the Island last time. My dad came down with the 'flu (the British winter just doesnt want to let go of you, lol)

Thanks for the info, im moving there this year, and wanted to find out where was a good place to settle. I agree that Patong is a place for a holiday, no more. I will take the advice, thank you.

Would I be correct in saying the Nai Harn/Chalong areas are the best places for a not so loaded expat, who wants a bit more of a real Thai experience, and not too much hassle from tourists?

Im just curious as to where people think is the best spot in Phuket to live. Be it either, to run a business, just general living, for the beauty of the area, or the the nightlife. Whatever you reason, post the place and why.

It just takes a bit of common sense.

But to be fair, there are some who arent just after a lot of farang's money. There are honest, nice girls out there, and some do work in bars because they know its better pay than other jobs.

My gf i know is honest and loves me. She has never asked me for money, infact offering to send me money. Were in love, and i know it, so does she.

after she closed on a house I wasn't needed.   Lessons learned.

I guess she knew how to keep the blood from getting to your brain..

Yepp---Hopeing she sells the house & the car and calls me this month

Good luck on that one! lol

I got lucky, my gf wants to send me money! I refused, being a gentleman, but i take it as more proof that she really does love me. Ive found myself the one.

Yep. I would even say: "do what your heart tells you, as it is right for you, and you shall never regret it."

Words to live your life by. And if your in Phuket this summer, i'll buy you a drink!

for some people

it's easy to cheat on other's feelings

it's hard to talk about feelings

it's indeed brave to share feelings in public

deep from the heart...

bravo

let the rivers of feelings flow

and all things will heal my friend

Good, and very true, words.

I can only say do what your heart tells you is right and never regret it.

grim marmazet - sounds good for you. Just to understand you correctly - she is a girl from a go-go bar, essentially selling sex for money...or what does she do, exactly?

Anyway, a word of advice. Never ever underestimate the risk that she may be 2-timing you.

In fact, my experience of the girls hanging around tourists in general (Before I got a steady girlfriend I used to do a fair bit of translating e-mails for some of these girls, would never consider getting involved though), is that a lot of them run a few "boyfriends" at a time.

Since many farang bounce in and out of the country, this is an easy thing to do. They will not always be after money, in these younger circles there is a certain status attached to having a good-looking and nicely tanned farang backpacker to show off to friends.

Some girls will be on the lookout for a man to marry, but generally not at age 20, unless she sees you at a possible ticket to the west.

Have you actually met her family, or is she the one who has told you that they don't mind? I don't want to make you paranoid, but you should try to verify things for yourself...  Better safe than sorry.

good advice.

a bloke i know who's been in thailand for a good few years now has just kicked his wife out after finding out her trips to bangkok for friends and family were really to see the thai boyfriend, he was married to her for 2 years, lived together for more and have a kid together. working girls are fair enough but girls like this are little sluts, now she's back in walking st selling her arse again living a harder life. som nam na

not everybody can be trusted, you never know

grim, be careful

Nope, she isnt a go-go bar girl, and doesnt sell herself, she finds most farang unattractive, although she love Beckham, Typical girl. She works in a bar where the girls arent allowed to hang around with customers, as there are enough sluts drinking in there anyway!

Dont worry, i dont plan on rushing anything at all, im gonna take it nice and slow, and get to know her well before anything serious.

I know with all long-distance relationships theres a chance of 2 timing, but she may think that about me. I dont know her past, and can never know it, just as she cant know mine. I havent met her family yet, but she wants me to come meet them in may with her, which must mean something?

She may be scaming me, or looking for a way out, but im willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now. I cant lose loads of money, because i dont have much, lol. She has no intention of wanting to leave Thailand. She may have alterior motives, but i have seen more of it in British girls than her.

Im always one to have a back-up plan, so im not gonna rush out there and find myself stuck. If it goes bad ive always got the option of coming back, and the other option of family and friends coming out soon as well. I may only be ickle, but i think things through.

Im normally a good judge of character though, and i havent had any bad indications so far. I know BG's have a bad rep, but they cant all be like that. Maybe i got lucky with a good one. Im always a little paranoid, a downside to living in London, so i look at things from all sides first. Im a cynic too, so i dont fall in love easily, and at the time didnt even want to be with anyone. But it just feels right. Sort of ment-to-be thing. She's a great, innocent and sweet girl, unlike any other girls ive met anywhere else. Maybe its not true love, but then isnt it worth the risk? What if it is? Id rather not have the regret, just because of paranoia. Im probaly young and foolish, but i'll take that risk. Life isnt worth living it if you never have any challenges and risk.

So, if i get this right. Americans pay taxes, to America, even if you live in another country all year round?

That seems just a tad crazy to me.

Im not sure, but when in there a few times as my brother cant go a month without Fosters, lol.

Nice place, prefered Tai Pan though.

Ahh St. Paddy's, People everywhere drunk on Guiness (well, just drunk), having fun and cheering a lot.......

......Hold on, thats every night on Bangla Road!

If you honestly want stupid tourist stories, look for a Brit, were world renowned for being nasty, drunk and particularily stupid tourists (well maybe not all of us, but quite a few! lol).

Ahh, the British passion for drinking and making a tit of yourself abroad. We do it like no other nation!

Well as the new adverts here in the UK say;

"Look out for the driver that didnt see you"

meh, im 22, my gf is 20, i still got dodgy looks when i was about with her. Age is a factor, but not the only one.

I wont judge someone else's relationship, if thats what they both truly want. But just because i dont judge, doesnt mean i like it. I just have the patience to let people live their lives the way they want to, unless they try to shove it in my face.

On the money scam side tho. My gf works in a bar, but isnt what you'd typically consider a bar girl. She has never asked me for money, and wouldnt let me spend money on her. She knows i dont have a pot to piss in, and she's kool with it. Even her family know that, and there ok with it too. Were just happy and thats all that matters.

I dont nessersarily believe everything about her past, but then i dont disbelieve it either. For instance, she said she's never had a bf before. It may be true, it may not, but i'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Just as she could never know the truth about my past really (honest, im a good boy ).

On the subject though, do whatever makes you happy. But be aware of the risks. Take those risks, enjoy yourself and make the most of life.

And i think im getting old before my time... lol

Just for an Idea. Renting a motor bike might end your holiday.  I spend alot of time in Patong and I can tell you that a common site is bandaged up farang from motor bike accidents and that doesn't account for the ones in their room or hospital.  Additionally if you have an accident it will be YOUR FAULT!  Legally you need an international DL for motorcycles or you are operating with out a lic! 

Save money in the long run and take a Tuk or use the Bus system to get oyu to Big C/Lotus and Phuket Town.  Those little two wheeled putt putts and holiday wreckers!

I totaly agree, i have a nice 4 inch scar on my arm from a motorbike accident in Koh Samet. I was lucky, it could've been a lot worse.

As for getting about, take a taxi or tuk tuk, or even better, make friends with a tuk tuk driver, trust me it gets you around cheap

Bangkok, for all its faults is a wonderful city. At least you can feel remotely safe there. As well as getting far too drunk and not worry bout getting dumped somewhere by a cabbie because you look like you might puke in his cab. Now try getting drunk at 2am in central london, and count in minutes how long it'll take to get mugged.

I wouldnt hand over my passport for anything, unless official. A US or UK passport can fetch a nice bit on the black market. Not that all people will scam you.