Hubbygot His Wp!long Term Stay. Now Comes The Test.

[bina]

general update and wondering thoughts:

well, we finally got anon's wp/long term stay stamp (for six months) ; then has to be renewed and he is on the road to a five year trial towards getting residency (here he cant get citizenship but permanent resident only unless he converts to judaism, bla bla bla);

BUT , he has to renew his passport as they require a five year lenghth on it. and then we have to pay again ! to transfer the permit . so am checking out what the procedure here is (probably not a normal procedure, just hope it doesnt involve having to go back to thailand).

so, we are off looking for basic work for him as he is officially released from 'slavedom' (being bound to an employer keeping him in sub human conditions).

we had a two week 'vacation' as his 'owner''s goats were stolen so no work and hubby was able to move in with me. he immediately put in a huge veggie garden, set up a three hen coop for me, and re adjusted to living with teenagers et al in a real house and not in a dirt basement on his own.

funny, seems like most thai men that i know (all farmer types from issaan area) adjust no problem to not having work. it doesnt seem ot make them nervous or crazy with lack of what to do at home. he watched tv, fixed house things, took apart a dvd machine thing, played with the dogs (we have inherited a lhasa apso puppy spoiled and non socialized needing a lot of work), cooked etc.

i kept the beer available in the house to a minimum (yes, draconion i know, but he treats beer like my son treats coca cola).

we are now working on getting him an atm card and YES, teaching him how to deal with banks, money budgets and a limited amount credit card. he has no clue. i have to say that as a kibbutznik, i really dont have a clue about 'real life' in the city either. i dont really even know what salaries are here, or how to read a salary page with all the tax info. so we are equally on the same learning curve here. we are staying on the kibbutz as i am still a member, he is my partner with no kibbutz rights.

he is also adjusting to being a 'real' part of the surroundings as opposed to 'thai worker' status; unforutatnely, his circle of thai friends here are disappearing as most of them go back to thailand when their work time is up. the local thai married to farang types are mostly women who 'forgot' that they were once 'workers' (in whatever business, legal or otherwise), or women that came over when husbands brought them over after meeting in thailand.

there are few men that have married farang women and apparently, the majority of them are now divorced!! alcohol seems to be the major divorce factor here. i suspect most of the marriages were younger israeli women or other younger farang women living in israel -russians mostly- that liked the exotic looks and 'sweetness' of the younger, newer type of thai worker, those coming more from thai cities, less 'bannork' , with long hair, pierced ears, sort of 'cool' sexy types, rather then stolid fresh off the farm types like anon. these guys are fun, exciting and are a lot different then the older groups of thai workers we used to get . i guess they are second or third generation of thai workers from fathers who worked here in the 1970's and they are looking for a lot of money, not so much for supporting parents or wives as for new cars, etc., for themselves.

anyway, in general the 'local' thai community is not very big or available, and anon doesnt seem interested in finding /networking with anyone. we did find one shop in tel aviv that seems to be a thai food store/money exchange black market/lottery/money lending/ etc type place run by some thai women married to israeli men. there is no thai newsletter and the embassy activities are apparently geared towards the hi/so diplomats and professionals, not my husband's cup of tea.

so this is just a general update for all; now starts the real test for us also; living as a full time couple with teenagers, dogs, upcoming army for one child (anon has to learn what this means, not the same as thai army, at least for the parents of army kids), up coming bat mitzva, meeting my folks, learning new language (a requirement for getting residency), and dealing with his new (old) country as a person in his own right, w/o me or an employer running interfereance for him. still most people see me with him and tell me to tell the 'thailandi' to take the packages, or whatever, as if he was my servant. he will have to deal with that a lot also.

well off to our first adventure: getting joint bank account, a requirement by immigration, however one that the banks do not allow. have to find a loophole somewhere....

bina and anon :D

israel

[helicoptor]

I hope it works out for you - good luck

The road ahead beit it challenging will also have its rewards

[Jimmyd]

Thanks for sharing your story and I hope things are great for you and your husband.

[samran]

fantastic news Bina. All the best for the future. You have worked really hard just to get to this point!

[rainman]

well off to our first adventure: getting joint bank account, a requirement by immigration, however one that the banks do not allow. have to find a loophole somewhere....

Loophole for what? A joint bank account? I have joint bank accounts with my wife, my mother and even with my two dogs. All of them opened without a WP, actually even way back when I was still on a tourist visa ..

[sbk]

Good news bina

[Boo]

rainman bina & anon live in Israel where the laws are a lot different. It has taken them nearly 6months to get their legally registered in thailand marriage recognised in Israel.

Good luck with it bina, if you managed to get the near impossible WP for anon then I am sure you will find a way around the bank account

[leisurely]

Fantastic news. Maybe one day you'll reveal his name . Brilliant, good for you and good luck.

[kayo]

wow bina! great update!

it is hurdle after hurdle for you guys, and i admire your courage to keep knocking those hurdles down.

Chok Dii, B.

Kayo.

[terry57]

hello bina,

is anon having any regrets yet of going to israil, and how does he feel about the vibes he's getting about being your helper.

just curious as most people would jack up at this sort of vibe.

i suppose he gets looked upon the same as thai women do with farang husbands in the west.

i imagine it would be hard for him to adjust to life in israil after coming from up country thailand also missing his family i suppose.

anyway,

good luck with it.

[bina]

hi thanx all;

three hours in my local bank,and a zillion forms later and he is on my account . he can open his own account as a foriegner or join my present account .... with intervention of efficient and nice (rare in these parts) lady...since i'm from the kibbutz close by and most people know me from when their kids come to play at the amusement park. i suspect this helped us with the visa/wp part also.

we got him an atm only card (my specification for that)

liesurely, his name really is anong! he prefers anon since anong is a girls name.

its a bit wierd now to be sort of a normal couple (apart from the slightly racist type comments about eating dogs, or working for me sort of thing)

i'm having to help him find work, and as i'm also not a city person (on kibbutz we dont deal with salaries taxes forms insurance etc, i'm pretty much as ignorant as he is ) its a bit wierd. also, i lack that israeli chutzpa of just walking up to people and asking about work, or approaching friends' families about that. (israelis woudnt hesitate to ask and manipulate or do 'combinot' i.e. favors for favours type thing).

ahve found a place that specializes in tractor licsenses for thai workers, in thai, that is geared for the guys employed as farm hands etc. , the place is above board (!), they take the guys through the eye check, physical, testing etc. , they offerred me a temp. job for translation once in a while too!

terry, its not that it is difficult since most thai workers leave for five year/ten year stints abroad, however, they know they are going back after sending money home. here, he is staying here, and merging into my life which is already organized (including teenage children), and no longer involves living with groups of thai men in a thai only situation (in bad conditions but that usually doesnt bother them as they know it is temporary, as long as they send money home).

although he has been in israel for five years in varioius situations always as a farm hand, i suspect that the realities of iraeli life style, family/shopping/marriages/funerals holidays/strikes(!) /responsibilities havent yet really hit him.

also, until now, we were very short term goal minded i.e. getting from illegal worker to legal bound worker, and then from bound worker to unrestricted work permit, moving in with me full time and not sneaking around back to his basement or caravan etc.

now we got what we were aiming for, and now have to rearrange goals. thai dont seem to be very goal oriented (discussed this in the past im sure on the forum), and i'm not too goal oriented, however, now its a settling in period w/o aiming for something more then jsut getting on with life (and getting him a steady if low paying job). i suppose we will have to start thinking about saving money for dual living (israel/thailand); as well as dealing with my kids, their up coming army services etc.

anyway, step by step i guess is the way...

i'm still always ready for an other set back, or missing document, or some other unexpected problem that suddenly will change his status. (he is still not listed on my id card as me being married to him; we are under 'examination' until october. so i am neither married nor single which on our id cards is very critical for many official things, including benefits for kids in schools, salary benefits for him, etc.). the joint back account is one of the requirements needed to prove he is my husband (how that can prove that he is my husband i dont know but This Is Israel which is similar to arbitrary rulings of thailand TIT.) the rule of thumb inthe middle east is: never assume anything ever. check check and double check again, and get the name of the person who told you. )

anyway, thanx for all moral support etc...

bina and anon

israel

[Maigo6]

Bina,

One of my wifes uncles lives in Israel, I'm sure he got married, I saw him once, but when he came over to Thailand with the Israeli women and her Son I was working away from Thailand.

The chances of it being you are very slight, but, have you ever been to Phu Kradung , Loei ?

[November Rain]

Really pleased for you both, bina. Hope the transition into your "new" life together is smooth & very happy.