KunMatt

@ stevenl

My point is, times have changed, and Thailand would do well to review, and overhaul, their outdated visa system.

Why should I be "glad" I'm living here on tourist visas? Like I said, they have purposely created a whole money spinning industry around these old visa laws. Many benefit from it, financially.

My question is, after 60 days, why can't I go to the immigration office in Phuket Town and pay a fee and extend for another 60 days, instead of 30 days? The same policy is in place, why not just extend the time frame and fee involved?

The Government gets their money, directly, and I do not have to leave the country, just to come back the next day.

What does the current system achieve, other than to provide employment for taxis, exit tax for flights, and employment for dangerous buses/minivans, and overwork the staff in neighbouring country Thai Embassies, which are now taking as long as 2 to 3 days to process. That's also a loss of consumption for Thailand in this time.

I've never overstayed, and continute to do my visa runs, but it's a ridiculous system.

Just look at all the dodgy "Thai language schools" set up as Education Visa factories.

I dont see where you are abusing the system if you are staying in Thailand and not working.<snip>

Living here on a tourist visa is abusing the system.

Well that's what I do too. It's not my fault the current system is irrational and unfair and leaves me no other option to be here and support my children.

seems if you are in thailand under 65.. and you dont have the cash or are not married to a thai..is ED VISA..OR TOURIST VISA...

Or come in one an visa exempt stamp and do a visa run every 15 or 30 days, or if you have children here get a 60 day extension one time before doing a visa run and repeat.

Actually trying to live here as a young expat with kids is a bit tricky now for me, especially as I never travel back to the UK to get another 6 month tourist Visa every 9 months.

To be honest, it serves them right. They knew the risks they were taking and also knew it to be illegal to overstay. They have been caught and now most likely have to pay more than it would have cost to do their visa runs + the cost of the airfare back home.

I overstayed by one single day years ago. Since that time I have always done my 90 days border runs to Cambodia. It was a nuisance at times but something that had to be done. Better than wondering if you have let slip about your overstay and wondering if you might be grassed up or simply caught.

Well by your own logic you deserve to have been locked up until deported, fined and blacklisted from Thailand for the crime of overstaying by one day. You are no better than these strangers you are judging. If not then please tell me how your crime is any different from the rest of the overstayers?

because he intended to leave. these guys didnt

Oh right, so there's a grey area of this law that allows some leniency based on good intentions then, is there?

To be honest, it serves them right. They knew the risks they were taking and also knew it to be illegal to overstay. They have been caught and now most likely have to pay more than it would have cost to do their visa runs + the cost of the airfare back home.

I overstayed by one single day years ago. Since that time I have always done my 90 days border runs to Cambodia. It was a nuisance at times but something that had to be done. Better than wondering if you have let slip about your overstay and wondering if you might be grassed up or simply caught.

Well by your own logic you deserve to have been locked up until deported, fined and blacklisted from Thailand for the crime of overstaying by one day. You are no better than these strangers you are judging. If not then please tell me how your crime is any different from the rest of the overstayers?

Smiling like it's a joke. Put the Brit behind bars! God, they are smug, pompous, arrogant individuals.

Again, tell me about your life here and I guarantee that we will soon find out about laws you frequently break in Thailand that are far worse than just "being here for too long".

"Put them behind bars!" - a lot of expats, probably yourself included, come here because of the looser laws compared to your home country. Do these overstayers really deserve to be locked up abroad for the crime of just not walking outside the country and then walking back in??

Laws are made for the greater good of the majority and intelligent members of society demand that they be adhered to. Choosing which ones to obey and which ones not, is not an option in any country that I have visited. Most sentient people would stand on the sidelines and cheer if BIB actually enforced the laws of the country - all of them.

I disagree. SOME laws are made for the greater good and some laws are made simply to generate money and cause as much inconvenience to others as possible. Which category does having to jump through hoops every 15 days to be allowed to stay in one country fall in to compared to getting a 90 day VISA on entry for entering it's neighbouring country?? I jump through these hoops every time so I can be here to support my children, so I know the answer but I don't patronise anyone who decides to take the risk.

Where I live there is a 6 lane highway with a speed limit of 60 Km/h. I break this limit every day because I feel and I know that if I drive 60 Km/h on it I am more dangerous to others than if I drive the speed that I feel appropriate. Just for an example, one time I had a truck load and felt it appropriate that I should drive 60Km/h for the weight I was travelling with, and during this one single 70km journey 2 cars almost smashed into the back of me while I was driving 60 Km/h in the middle lane avoiding suicidal moped drivers, one of them almost fishtailed off of the road as he tried to avoid rear ending me. Should I now always drive at 60 Km/h on this road or am I right thinking that a higher speed is safer for everyone thus making your point moot?

So no, I do not agree that people who choose not to abide by the rule of wanting to stay here should have their lives destroyed just because they felt it unnecessary that they should walk outside of one border and back into the same point they just were because someone somewhere unrealistically decided that THIS YEAR that is the way it should be done.

Smiling like it's a joke. Put the Brit behind bars! God, they are smug, pompous, arrogant individuals.

Again, tell me about your life here and I guarantee that we will soon find out about laws you frequently break in Thailand that are far worse than just "being here for too long".

"Put them behind bars!" - a lot of expats, probably yourself included, come here because of the looser laws compared to your home country. Do these overstayers really deserve to be locked up abroad for the crime of just not walking outside the country and then walking back in??

 

Do you think that Thaksin is not going to allow another election. I see you reefer to it as a prospect. I was under the impression it was a sure thing.

 

Also if your going to insist on telling porkers I would suggest you do it on a red shirt forum. They will believe any thing you want to say against Abhist.

Every one with the sense God gave a goose knows that it was armed opposition illegally firing rockets at transit terminals and invading hospitals from behind barricades they had built to hide behind on public property.

 

Since when do protesters come armed?

There is no objection to getting wasted on a Friday night but on the whole, in this eventuality, it makes sense to leave the computer alone

Not able to counter any of his very true and reasonable points you have to use a weak personal attack. Maybe you should try to sue him for defamation it whatever other tactics your beloved redshirts would do.

Perhaps you could launch an M79 rocket at him as he is commuting back from work on the BTS completely minding his own business and then plead that you are just and innocent protestor, that worked well before for the scum you support.

 

 

Firstly, I must admit, I didn't read the whole thread!

But what is the big deal? Why apply for a "marriage"visa in your homecountry? Fly in on a visaextempt, gives you 30 days, straight to immigration to convert into nonimmigrant "O" based on marriage, show them the 400k in your Thai bank account. If your immigration is "friendly" it will give you an extension based on marriage of 15 months, some offices will do it in 2 steps: 3 months first and within the last month the rest.

Seems like most posters are not aware of, that they can have a non O issued in Thailand??

Feels strange to quote myself!

But I would like to hear the visagurus comments on the above solution!

 

You forgot the 40k baht income option.

You get non immigrant visa entry they don't call it a non-o.

Not all offices do it. For many it will be a trip to Bangkok for first 2 steps.

At most offices it will be a 4 step process (including Bangkok). Apply for visa with proof of 400k or 40k income and get 15 day under consideration stamp, return and get visa/entry stamps, wait 60 to 90 days, apply for extension showing new financial proof and get 30 day (at most offices it is 30 days from current permit to stay date meaning if you go 30 days early it will be 60 days) under consideration stamp and then go back and get extension stamp.

If in the northeast it would be best to make a trip to Laos for a non-o.

Anybody that is reading this topic that is not getting a visa in the UK can still easily get a single entry non-o with no financials needed.

 

in canada you can get a MULTI ENTRY non O with no financials needed

Just like you could in the UK until last year when they changed the requirement to 400k baht.

I'm sure the rules will change for Canadians just like they did for Brits, and by then the Brits will need 1.5m in the bank just like Perth...

I travel on seamans tickets and have a discharge book (that sounds real dodgy).. Never have any issues due to this.

I also travel on a Seaman's book and frequently get asked about my onward travel at check in. I've been denied boarding once and had to buy an ongoing flight ticket from BKK to Dubai that everyone knew I had zero intention of taking just because an airline jobsworth enforced the official rule. They didn't care that I had kids in Thailand and could get a 60 day extension as that is not part of the conditions on your travel to Thailand. You need an onward travel plan or you could be denied boarding.

Now I usually buy an Air Asia ticket from somewhere in the most Southern part of Thailand to KL for about 1000 baht just to present to check in if they ask me. I've needed it a couple of times too.

Isn't it all crazy crap.

It is, and this brings me back to my first post in this thread of one of the bigger reasons why I'm not chancing being allowed to stay in this country for the next 18 years to raise my kids here when in a couple of years somebody one day decides something more obscure like expats are not allowed to stay in Thailand for a certain amount of days every year.

I am 41, married and travel abroad for work several times a year. I don't go back to U.K very often so applying there is not likely for me anyway. So a realistic option, without abusing 'soft' rules, would be to come in on a visa exempt stamp and then change to a Non O based on marriage in country. Then apply for extension based on marriage (with 400K) and then obtain a multiple re-entry permit for 3800 baht.

Would that be correct ??

Without a visa the airline might not let you board the plane unless you have proof of onward travel within 30 days of arrival.

I travel on seamans tickets and have a discharge book (that sounds real dodgy).. Never have any issues due to this.

I also travel on a Seaman's book and frequently get asked about my onward travel at check in. I've been denied boarding once and had to buy an ongoing flight ticket from BKK to Dubai that everyone knew I had zero intention of taking just because an airline jobsworth enforced the official rule. They didn't care that I had kids in Thailand and could get a 60 day extension as that is not part of the conditions on your travel to Thailand. You need an onward travel plan or you could be denied boarding.

Now I usually buy an Air Asia ticket from somewhere in the most Southern part of Thailand to KL for about 1000 baht just to present to check in if they ask me. I've needed it a couple of times too.

I predicted this was going to happen and cited it as one of the reasons that we will move back to the UK when our kids are of school age because as an expat you are really at the mercy of the next year's visa changes.

I'm 35 and have 2 children with my partner, I was mulling over the option of raising our kids in Thailand because we are very close to our Thai family, however I knew that over the next 18 years that anything can happen to the visa rules and I would be forever at the mercy of whatever was decided year to year.

4 years ago I could get this visa just for visiting a Thai friend. Then it changed to you must have a baby with a Thai. The next year you needed to be married to a Thai, and then you had to be married and have 400k Baht in a Thai bank. This coming year it's upped to 800k, so just in the space of 4 years it's gone from visiting a friend to needed to be married with quite a hefty wedge of cash sat in a Thai bank. How much stricter are they going to make it over the next 18 years? All they need to do is make some rule like any expat is not allowed to spend more than say 90 days of any year in Thailand and that would destroy any life we built here after how ever many years our kids were growing up here for.

So either I forever live in fear of whatever visa conditions I need to fulfil next year and be treated as a national security risk and a 2nd class citizen for the rest of my life with my family here, or we all move back to the UK where my partner will have all of the rights and privileges I am entitled to.

Hope you are able to meet the UK financial requirements of moving the family to the UK

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/can-you-apply/financial/

As per that website, yes I qualify the condition for having 2 children 3 times over. Thanks.

Soft cheeses (Camembert, Brie) are fine to freeze. Harder cheeses like Cheddar will go crumbly once defrosted, so fine for cooking but not for slicing. I have Stilton in my freezer that has been there for ages and only seems to improve with time.

With the harder cheeses if they are vacuum packed at origin they will last for a long time just in the fridge.

 

Several people echoed this but I have had a different result.   I buy the large blocks (2 1/2 or 3 kg?) of cheddar from Makro and cut it up, wrap it in simple bags closed by a rubber band, and freeze it.   So far, over about 2 or 3 months, all of it has thawed and retained the consistency it had when I bought it.   

 

 

Same here. I buy the 2kg blocks of Anchor cheddar and mozzarella cheese for about 700 baht each from Makro, cut them into 10 blocks each and freeze whatever I wont use soon for cooking with later. Defrost them by moving a block into the fridge.

Works out at 35baht per 100g instead of the extortionate prices at the regular supermarkets.

I was looking for a compost bin in Ubon the other day and the best I could find was a large plastic 115 litre waste bin which had a locking lid and also a smaller 6 inch lockable lid that would be perfect to dump waste in. It was only 499 baht. I was going to buy it and drill holes in the bottom.

Unfortunately they only had one in stock and it was broken! They said they will get more in stock within the next 2 weeks.

I bought this bin to use as a compost bin a few weeks ago. It is a 30 gallon drum.

I guess it will work, we'll wait and see. I filled it in about a week with just all the leaves and some grass cuttings from my lawn. I keep adding the fruit/veg cuttings every few days. It's either breaking down or just compacting as the level of the contents is lower every few days.

With it being a bin it's easy to roll it around and tip upside down every few days to mix up the contents but it's not easy to break up or stir everything inside. I'm considering emptying the contents onto the road, cutting it up further and completely mixing it all and then putting it all back into the bin again.

I think it would have just been better to make a compost area using 4 wooden pallets in the corner of my garden, but being rainy season it would probably get too wet.

Anyways, for a compost bin this one from HomePro for just 499 baht is the best choice I could find. The smaller compartment door on the top is ideal for just dropping in more contents instead of opening up the lid each time.

Neeranam

 

If i was to live in Thailand  i'd be worried (for my child) about the drivers who are some of the worst in the world and have been proven not to care less about killing people. Hardly neurotic it is a fact that crossing roads in Thailand is like putting ones life in the hands of others.

 

Its aspects of this mindset that is accepted by Thais that is one reason for her spend minimal time there and to be brought up thinking like the English.

 

Though to be brought up nowhere near the new English underclass who are an embarrassment to themselves is obviously a prerequisite.

 

It's not just the drivers that are a danger here, pedestrians and scooter drivers don't seem to care in the slightest for their own safety. I don't know how many times just this week I've been driving full speed down a highway and a pedestrian (or group of) have decided that they need to cross in the middle of a main road and even though there are no cars behind me they decide that it is worth being hit by a speeding pickup and run out in front of me instead of just waiting 5 seconds for a clear road to walk across.  I will never understand that mentality and if I didn't expect it and take precautionary measures to avoid them I would have killed somebody by now.

 

The same goes for scooter drivers who seem to think they are in an armoured tank.  I know that 100% of the time that when I see a scooter coming down a side road at 50km/h to join a main road that they are not going to give way at the junction or even slow down, they are going to pull straight out, come out of the scooter lane and encroach into the inside lane before turning and then checking over their shoulder to see if any cars are coming. 100% OF THE TIME. Again, I make it my responsibility to not kill these people which is ridiculous.

 

I don't think that this is all about bad drivers. This is about a mindset here of one-upsmanship and people are willing to cause a horrific accident and potential kill themselves, their own family and mine, just for the win of getting in front of me and saving themselves a few seconds in traffic.  If anyone drives here you will know exactly what I mean. Selfishness doesn't fully cover it as it is just another extension of this face system where somebody doesn't want to give way to another because it means they've lost. Every time I signal to change lanes the car who has been behind me for miles in the lane I want to go into will all of a sudden speed up so I cannot change lanes and get infront of him (even though I am already infront of him in another lane), what is that if not just pure bloodymindness? That happens every time I try to change lanes.

 

I see the difference between the UK and Thai drivers as this: In the UK if you flash your lights at someone it means "I am giving you way and letting you go first", in Thailand it means "I am coming and not going to slow down or avoid you so get out of my way".  When I do give way to someone and do them a favour in traffic it just confuses people and has nearly caused me accidents because drivers here are not used to selfless acts on the road. If you don't drive selfishly here then you are a danger to others. How ridiculous is that?

 

That's not to say there aren't bad drivers here,  I don't think I've ever seen a woman driver who is not talking on the phone with her right hand holding the phone to her left ear.  I've almost been rear ended multiple times by some idiot who has no idea how to predict a few seconds in front of him.

 

All of this is ONLY the driving side of things in this country, there are many other dangerous aspects to this country.  I don't want my kids to have any of this mindset as a driver or as a pedestrian.

Maybe 'your'real fear is seeing your half thai kids being more Thai than your nationality.

Think a minute about the psychological effect of telling your kids that half of their being is no good. I'm no psychologist but seen the results - low self esteem, depression, drug addiction etc.

You can do this in many ways - for example taking them to playgroups that speak English, shielding them from Thai TV, and general racist comments based on your own ignorance of the society. Remember, whether you like it or not, your kids are 50 % Thai.

No. You keep trying to over analyse this and apply some deep psychological misgiving on my behalf but I can assure you, I literally am afraid that my kids will be injured or killed here before they reach school leaving age because I see the dangers everywhere. Do you ever read the news here?? That's just what is reported. My partner's cousin's 3 family members who were killed by a drunk hit and run wasn't in the news, the police didn't even make a report about it until her family complained. The 13 year old shot in the head in this small village was also not in any news. The deaths and accidents here are much higher than reported and what's reported is already horrific enough.

If I had some problems with having half Thai kids because I hate Thai people like you are insinuating then I wouldn't have had 2 kids with a Thai girl and we wouldn't spend all of our days with all of her Thai family.

So no, its much more simple than you are trying to make it. It is exactly what I have explained here.

It is a big decision for you to make and maybe I am over analyzing. But your children's mental well-being should also be in the picture.

Have you thought of moving out the village. I agree with you that they are dangerous places.

One thing my kids don't have is the freedom to go where they want to play like I did. I walked to school with friends when I was 4 years old. Having 2 beautiful white-skinned daughters with brown hair means I can't let them out my sight for a second.

My eldest wants to study in Scotland when 15. I plan to send her there for a couple of months per year for a couple of years to help her/me decide.

Well obviously they wouldn't grow up in this village which is why I was referencing Bangkok international schools before. But even so, is Bangkok any more safe? I always see turf wars on the news between rival schools and high school kids being shot and stabbed to death by a gang of kids from another school.in Bangkok.

I'm guessing being half farang is going to work against my children when it comes to bullying in and out of school, something which would be much less prevalent if we lived in the UK. In fact the minority kids were revered in my schools growing up. And incidentally my children look more European than Thai so it would be a factor if we stayed in Thailand.

I grew up in a lovely big village in the UK on the coast. Our village had a beach, a wood, farms, a huge road of amusements, local sports teams, swimming pools, cubs and scouts clubs, a first, middle and high school and I just remember biking and skateboarding all around the village growing up knowing everyone. I am prepared to move back there and hope my kids have a similar upbringing that I got. I cannot see now how it can be any better chancing it in Thailand given everything discussed so far in this thread. We can just come back every summer holidays and stay in our house here to visit everyone.

If what I'm saying is total lunacy then please help convince me otherwise.

Many years ago my friends' kids went to the best international school in Bangkok.

Cost him over 1 million baht a year for 2 of them.

One day, whilst taking to the 17 year old a Thai woman walked in the front gate. I asked who it was told her grandmother but she never talked to her. She lived in a house next door.

why not speak to your gran?

She is thai.

But you are half thai.

No I am American.

But you live in Thailand and your mum's thai.

But my dad's American and I've been brought up that way.

Then I thought these kids were going to have problems.

Now in their mid - late 20s, both attend 12 step groups, for different conditions.

Their dad is the nicest guy you could meet and sacrificed everything for his kids. Foreign universities etc.

One thing I think he missed was to educate them in their thai roots.

OK. Is that story supposed to apply to my situation somehow?

I said from the beginning that we are extremely close to my partner's family, there are 7 of them and 4 kids sitting in our house having lunch right now, and I also said from the beginning that the biggest reason for staying in Thailand or not wanting to move to the UK is that I don't want to break up our family.

So you're trying to make me out to be something I'm not and I'm telling you are wrong with this assumption.

Neeranam

 

If i was to live in Thailand  i'd be worried (for my child) about the drivers who are some of the worst in the world and have been proven not to care less about killing people. Hardly neurotic it is a fact that crossing roads in Thailand is like putting ones life in the hands of others.

 

Its aspects of this mindset that is accepted by Thais that is one reason for her spend minimal time there and to be brought up thinking like the English.

 

Though to be brought up nowhere near the new English underclass who are an embarrassment to themselves is obviously a prerequisite.

 

It's not just the drivers that are a danger here, pedestrians and scooter drivers don't seem to care in the slightest for their own safety. I don't know how many times just this week I've been driving full speed down a highway and a pedestrian (or group of) have decided that they need to cross in the middle of a main road and even though there are no cars behind me they decide that it is worth being hit by a speeding pickup and run out in front of me instead of just waiting 5 seconds for a clear road to walk across.  I will never understand that mentality and if I didn't expect it and take precautionary measures to avoid them I would have killed somebody by now.

 

The same goes for scooter drivers who seem to think they are in an armoured tank.  I know that 100% of the time that when I see a scooter coming down a side road at 50km/h to join a main road that they are not going to give way at the junction or even slow down, they are going to pull straight out, come out of the scooter lane and encroach into the inside lane before turning and then checking over their shoulder to see if any cars are coming. 100% OF THE TIME. Again, I make it my responsibility to not kill these people which is ridiculous.

 

I don't think that this is all about bad drivers. This is about a mindset here of one-upsmanship and people are willing to cause a horrific accident and potential kill themselves, their own family and mine, just for the win of getting in front of me and saving themselves a few seconds in traffic.  If anyone drives here you will know exactly what I mean. Selfishness doesn't fully cover it as it is just another extension of this face system where somebody doesn't want to give way to another because it means they've lost. Every time I signal to change lanes the car who has been behind me for miles in the lane I want to go into will all of a sudden speed up so I cannot change lanes and get infront of him (even though I am already infront of him in another lane), what is that if not just pure bloodymindness? That happens every time I try to change lanes.

 

I see the difference between the UK and Thai drivers as this: In the UK if you flash your lights at someone it means "I am giving you way and letting you go first", in Thailand it means "I am coming and not going to slow down or avoid you so get out of my way".  When I do give way to someone and do them a favour in traffic it just confuses people and has nearly caused me accidents because drivers here are not used to selfless acts on the road. If you don't drive selfishly here then you are a danger to others. How ridiculous is that?

 

That's not to say there aren't bad drivers here,  I don't think I've ever seen a woman driver who is not talking on the phone with her right hand holding the phone to her left ear.  I've almost been rear ended multiple times by some idiot who has no idea how to predict a few seconds in front of him.

 

All of this is ONLY the driving side of things in this country, there are many other dangerous aspects to this country.  I don't want my kids to have any of this mindset as a driver or as a pedestrian.

Maybe 'your'real fear is seeing your half thai kids being more Thai than your nationality.

Think a minute about the psychological effect of telling your kids that half of their being is no good. I'm no psychologist but seen the results - low self esteem, depression, drug addiction etc.

You can do this in many ways - for example taking them to playgroups that speak English, shielding them from Thai TV, and general racist comments based on your own ignorance of the society. Remember, whether you like it or not, your kids are 50 % Thai.

No. You keep trying to over analyse this and apply some deep psychological misgiving on my behalf but I can assure you, I literally am afraid that my kids will be injured or killed here before they reach school leaving age because I see the dangers everywhere. Do you ever read the news here?? That's just what is reported. My partner's cousin's 3 family members who were killed by a drunk hit and run wasn't in the news, the police didn't even make a report about it until her family complained. The 13 year old shot in the head in this small village was also not in any news. The deaths and accidents here are much higher than reported and what's reported is already horrific enough.

If I had some problems with having half Thai kids because I hate Thai people like you are insinuating then I wouldn't have had 2 kids with a Thai girl and we wouldn't spend all of our days with all of her Thai family.

So no, its much more simple than you are trying to make it. It is exactly what I have explained here.

Neeranam

If i was to live in Thailand i'd be worried (for my child) about the drivers who are some of the worst in the world and have been proven not to care less about killing people. Hardly neurotic it is a fact that crossing roads in Thailand is like putting ones life in the hands of others.

Its aspects of this mindset that is accepted by Thais that is one reason for her spend minimal time there and to be brought up thinking like the English.

Though to be brought up nowhere near the new English underclass who are an embarrassment to themselves is obviously a prerequisite.

It's not just the drivers that are a danger here, pedestrians and scooter drivers don't seem to care in the slightest for their own safety. I don't know how many times just this week I've been driving full speed down a highway and a pedestrian (or group of) have decided that they need to cross in the middle of a main road and even though there are no cars behind me they decide that it is worth being hit by a speeding pickup and run out in front of me instead of just waiting 5 seconds for a clear road to walk across. I will never understand that mentality and if I didn't expect it and take precautionary measures to avoid them I would have killed somebody by now.

The same goes for scooter drivers who seem to think they are in an armoured tank. I know that 100% of the time that when I see a scooter coming down a side road at 50km/h to join a main road that they are not going to give way at the junction or even slow down, they are going to pull straight out, come out of the scooter lane and encroach into the inside lane before turning and then checking over their shoulder to see if any cars are coming. 100% OF THE TIME. Again, I make it my responsibility to not kill these people which is ridiculous.

I don't think that this is all about bad drivers. This is about a mindset here of one-upsmanship and people are willing to cause a horrific accident and potential kill themselves, their own family and mine, just for the win of getting in front of me and saving themselves a few seconds in traffic. If anyone drives here you will know exactly what I mean. Selfishness doesn't fully cover it as it is just another extension of this face system where somebody doesn't want to give way to another because it means they've lost. Every time I signal to change lanes the car who has been behind me for miles in the lane I want to go into will all of a sudden speed up so I cannot change lanes and get infront of him (even though I am already infront of him in another lane), what is that if not just pure bloodymindness? That happens every time I try to change lanes.

I see the difference between the UK and Thai drivers as this: In the UK if you flash your lights at someone it means "I am giving you way and letting you go first", in Thailand it means "I am coming and not going to slow down or avoid you so get out of my way". When I do give way to someone and do them a favour in traffic it just confuses people and has nearly caused me accidents because drivers here are not used to selfless acts on the road. If you don't drive selfishly here then you are a danger to others. How ridiculous is that?

That's not to say there aren't bad drivers here, I don't think I've ever seen a woman driver who is not talking on the phone with her right hand holding the phone to her left ear. I've almost been rear ended multiple times by some idiot who has no idea how to predict a few seconds in front of him.

All of this is ONLY the driving side of things in this country, there are many other dangerous aspects to this country. I don't want my kids to have any of this mindset as a driver or as a pedestrian.

Neeranam

 

If i was to live in Thailand  i'd be worried (for my child) about the drivers who are some of the worst in the world and have been proven not to care less about killing people. Hardly neurotic it is a fact that crossing roads in Thailand is like putting ones life in the hands of others.

 

Its aspects of this mindset that is accepted by Thais that is one reason for her spend minimal time there and to be brought up thinking like the English.

 

Though to be brought up nowhere near the new English underclass who are an embarrassment to themselves is obviously a prerequisite.

^^^ This

Well it's not an opinion I've come to easily, I've lost many night's sleep over it for the last few weeks and my son isn't even 2 years old yet!! I don't want it to sound like a negative rant against Thailand because I love living here and if it was just my missus and I then we would be much better off staying here, but with kids involved now if we stayed I would be gambling a compromise of their upbringing just because I want to live in Thailand rather than doing what is best for them. Obviously I want my children to have the best upbringing I can give them, and that definitely would not come from growing up in Thailand.

If anyone can give me the other side of the argument then I'd like to hear it so I can decide how right I am.

Here we go then,

Until high school/Comprehensive the kids in the west just learn the basics of reading and writing and times tables.

In Thai government school, it's exactly the same and the quality isn't far different. Most of the day is play.

Put em in the Thai government school to learn the Thai language, home school them for English reading and basic math.

Then decide what to do when they reach age 11, ready for high school.

So if it is the same (although you admit the quality is worse) then why would I upheave my kids at age 11 to move to a country for them to start all over again with no friends, no background experience of the culture??

Also, I think my previous post highlights more of my worries about staying in Thailand: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/648824-raising-kids-in-thailand-or-uk/page-3#entry6649232

KunMatt hit the nail on the head

Which part??