Eggmeng

I also believe that in order for the thai side to agree, you would need to be married to her mother.

I'm beginning to think there is a better way to achieve my purpose. Assuming my daughter's mother wants her child to experience life and study in the US, she will want to be with her during her adolescence, and with good reason.

Mother has highly specialized culinary skills that I believe would qualify her for a visa to work in the Thai food related business I am launching, or in another, married to me or not.

If they stay long enough to get green cards my purpose is achieved. If they don't perhaps it was not meant to be.

As stated you have no legal rights in Thailand, however I don't see why you can not have a legal guardianship created in the US, but this would need to done with the help of a US lawyer, nothing what so ever to do with Thailand. This would make perfect sense as if she is a minor living in the US and she needed urgent medical attention for example you would want to be able to grant that.

Interesting, and if this is the case perhaps being married to her mother isn't even necessary, as long as they both have the visas they need to remain in the US.

Forget it.

I'm legally married to the mother of the little girl who calls me Daddy ( for the last 7 years) and I tried to do this. We all went to Bangkok to the department that handles such things and it was a complete waste of time. Thai law states that if I wanted to adopt her daughter, she ( the mother) would have to give up custody and I would have sole custody. A completely ridiculous, discriminatory law. On top of that if we even went ahead with this we would be subjected to at a minimum 2 -3 years of scrutiny before it would even be able to be considered. I contacted a well respected law firm in Thailand and they said that they had tried to help others in the past and because of the draconian, xenophopic Thai law they were no longer handling any adoption cases.

Discouraging but not altogether surprising.Thanks for that.

If I marry her mother although she won't legally be my daughter, could mother grant me the guardianship needed for her daughter to live with me in the US while she is a minor?

What about this scenario.

I marry mother.

I get mother and daughter a US visa.

Mother and daughter move to US and daughter enrolls in school.

Mother awards me guardianship so she can come and go.

For what it's worth, mother and I have a long established business in Thailand that she largely runs (and is ready to give up), and years ago she got a 10 year multiple entry US visa. I think she could easily do so again, with or without being married to me.

Thanks guys.

My daughter's mother would never give up her parental rights and I would never ask her to. If I have to marry her to adopt our girl I guess I would be willing, especially if we can then divorce and I still retain legal parenthood.

The point of this is, I am moving back to the US after 20 years in the LOS. My daughter is now 9, and when she is a little older I want her to be able to visit me freely with or without her mother, and study and live in America for whatever length of time she wishes.

I guess I need to talk to a lawyer.

Why what?

I am an American in business and friendship here with a Thai woman since 1999. Her daughter was born 9 years ago and since then has known only me as her (non legally) adoptive father. My daughter carries her mother's family name as the real father (to whom she was never married) was legally dissociated from her birth by her mother a few months after she was born. She has not seen him since, nor have we.

The mother has agreed to formalize my adoption of her daughter, but she knows nothing about how and where to proceed. She has asked me to initiate the process and I'm willing to do that, but I suspect this is something she will have to spearhead, at least at the beginning.

Can someone here advise?

I have some large video files I need to upload using an Aspera account. Anyone know a place in Bangkok where the upload speeds are far better than average? Ideally it would be open on Sundays.

My reason is specific to my business which is the manufacturing and export of Thai food products. But I think I was given the stamp mainly because I was speaking politely, deferentially and in Thai.

Eggmeng, Did you have to show 20, 000 baht ?

No, I offered to show them some documents that legitimize my business reasons for being in Thailand so long, and they didn't even want to see that.

I'm back from Ranong, with another 90 day stamp.

I have a good (and legitimate) business reason to be here, but I was both lectured and warned by immigration at the Andaman Club, who told me they were bending the law and would not do so again.

I don't think I would recommend trying this to anyone who doesn't have considerable powers of persuasion (and charm), and I won't be trying it again with the expectation of being let back in with more than a 30 day tourist stamp.

I'm driving from Samui (via the ferry) to Ranong next weekend to stamp out. Anyone like to join me and share expenses? I lived there for 2 years and know the route and the place well.

One day up and one back. Send me a PM if interested.

I'm driving from Samui to Ranong next week to stamp out. If anyone is interested in sharing a ride and expenses, send me a PM. I lived there for 2 years and know the place well.

Right, and that would be me in my current situation.

I think I just got an overly zealous officer down at the river. Next time I plan to go by way of the Andaman Club.

Thanks guys.

For most of the 20 years I lived here I had a work permit. A couple of years ago I went back to the US for a while. No more work permit needed or wanted.

I'm back in Thailand spending time with my kid and doing some research for a product I'm launching in the States. I came in last December with a one-year multiple entry visa I got in New York. My US passport was renewed last year and hardly has any stamps in it.

I stamped out at Ranong a couple of months ago and when I went to stamp back in, immigration asked me why I didn't have a work permit. I explained I wasn't working. He grumbled but let me through.

I'm not quite ready to return to the States, and now it's time to stamp out again and re-enter. My non B stamp is still good until December, but I am a little nervous.

Has anyone heard any stories of someone in my situation being denied re-entry for lack of a work permit?

Thanks, it's an interesting idea.

I've worked with machinists who mill aluminum parts, and some of them are excellent. But what I need is a thermoformer that does the molds for prototyping in-house, or works closely with a third party mold maker who understands the specific requirements.

I've done a Google search and it turned up just one company.

Does anyone know of an established plant who can CNC some aluminum molds and run off some prototype food trays?

They don't need to be English speaking, just located in Bangkok or the environs.

[media]

We're seeking an established Bangkok based export agent experienced in shipping food products to the USA, and with Stateside counterparts who are familiar with USDA requirements and procedures at the Port of New York.

Please post or send me a PM if you can help.

Does anyone have any recent experience with getting an IDP at the Chatuchak Land and Transport office?

I've done it three times in the last 5 years, and recall having to show my work permit for at least one of those applications.

I still have a non B visa and a 5 year Thai driving license, but no more WP, so it would be helpful to know, before making the trip there.

Of course I suppose I could try calling...

I read the thread on how a foreign father gains parental rights, but I didn't see an answer to my particular situation. So with apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere, here is my question.

Seven years ago my daughter was born out of wedlock to my Thai business partner and a Thai man. He was asked by the mother to leave three months after her daughter's birth, and she does not carry his name. She has not seen him since.

The three of us live together and my daughter knows me as her father. I am not married to her mother and as our relationship is platonic we don't intend to marry.

My daughter goes to an international school and is fully bi-lingual. Our hope is that when she reaches adolescence she and I can move to the States so she can go to school there. Her mother will likely remain in Thailand, run the business, and come over to the US for visits.

Assuming I can be recognized by the Thai authorities as the legal father with both mother and child's consent, will this be enough for me to get my daughter the US immigrant status she'll need to live and be schooled in the USA?

Thanks Steve, the material we're looking for is the kind used in jewelry making, by hobbiests. I think it's made from polyester.

I paid a visit to Chinatown yesterday, where I often find what I'm looking for, but most shops were closed due to the holiday.

Here's a reference video. We're also looking for the kinds of decorative molds you'll see them using.

I have a friend in the jewelry manufacturing business here in Bangkok so I'm checking with her now.

My daughter saw some crafts projects on YouTube that require clear casting epoxy, also known as liquid resin.

Anyone know where I might be able to buy a can in Bangkok, preferably somewhere along Sukhumvit?

Anyone already writing or interested in collaborating on a blog about the future of the Myeik Archipelago, and especially the development of sustainable tourism there, is invited to contact me.

I have a vehicle for promoting that conversation, and resources for involving responsible investors and corporations seeking worthy CSR initiatives.

This may be of interest to those posting here

http://www.dvb.no/news/immigration-officials-relax-restrictions-for-tourists-travelling-overland/31227?goback=%2Egde_4537987_member_261817101

Yes, avoiding fatal errors is the main thing.

And thank you.