waxon

Reading the article it is pretty clear how she got to the US - a fiancé visa. Why doesn’t your friend re-read the CNN article more closely. Getting a visa for a non-wife Thai woman is pretty difficult. She has to show convincing proof that she will return to Thailand. That includes things like having a good job (which the article says she did), money in a Thai bank account, home ownership, et cetera. Having a US citizen as a sponsor helps considerably. Telling the visa people at the embassy that you are engaged doesn’t mean anything. I met a guy in the waiting room (while my not yet wife) was interviewing and he was there with his 6th Thai fiancé. Her visa app was rejected based on his history. There is no mystery in the article. She applied for a visa and was accepted.

Hmmm. Haven't heard about the Swedish person yet. Is it similar to this Swiss guy?

Departed Suvarnabhumi on 05 Feb in the mid-morning. It took 45 minutes to get up the escalator and through security to finally reach the down escalator to immigration. They had an airport employee metering the flow on the escalator. That long narrow hall just before going down has no a/c and was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people. Once down to the immigration level, only half the lanes were staffed. It was taking a minute 50 per person to get through. Total time through security and immigration: 1+30. Seems that the leadership of Immigration Division 2 cannot identify they have a staffing problem until the PM tells them. Two issues here. Staffing - 200 extra officers (at what time of day?). But most importantly, ineffective leadership at Division 2. Why does it take the PM to tell them there is a problem? What is so much more important that they cannot spend a few moments resolving the BKK issue? Technology aside (it will take years to install, breakdown (made in China) and be ineffective anyway), get someone who knows how to think on their own without adult supervision.

Should they be looking for him in the canal? “Supot Juinark, the director of Khao Sok National Park, reported to officers at Ban Ta Khun Police Station around 12:30pm yesterday, February 11, that 24 year old Englishman Gowribalan Shanghman had gone missing after kayaking in the Warng Canal, located 50 to 60 kilometres away from the Cheiw Lan Dam.”

It took RTP 5 years to find them. Isn’t there a statute of limitations for GTA? “…then sent to Thailand with fake documents stating they were new…“ Must of been pretty good forgeries to fool the experts at Customs.