"guest" Or "resident" Or "ostrich"?

[CosmicSurfer]

I'm so tired about being misclassified, misidentified and Pigeon-Holed... Especially when all I have is the best interest of all at heart.

Now First some background, I was posting in another thread and others kept referring to the fact that I was a guest here.. When I certainly don't feel like a Guest. Nor am I an Ostrich with my head in the ground....

So I thought I should start a new Thread on the question, in order not to hi-jack the topic in the other Thread...

I think before I vent, I'll just Define The Argument:

Guest

Merriam-webster Dictionary

Main Entry: 1guest

Pronunciation: \ˈgest\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English gest, from Old Norse gestr; akin to Old English giest guest, stranger, Latin hostis stranger, enemy

Date: 13th century

1 a: a person entertained in one's house b: a person to whom hospitality is extended c: a person who pays for the services of an establishment (as a hotel or restaurant)

2: an organism (as an insect) sharing the dwelling of another; especially : inquiline

3: a substance that is incorporated in a host substance

4: a usually prominent person not a regular member of a cast or organization who appears in a program or performance

Resident

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Main Entry: 1res·i·dent

Pronunciation: \ˈre-zə-dənt, ˈrez-dənt, ˈre-zə-ˌdent\

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin resident-, residens, present participle of residēre

Date: 14th century

1 a: living in a place for some length of time : residing b: serving in a regular or full-time capacity <the resident engineer for a highway department>; also : being in residence

2: present, inherent

3: not migratory <resident species>

Ostrich

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Main Entry: os·trich

Pronunciation: \ˈäs-trich, ˈȯs- also -trij\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French ostriz, ostrige, from Vulgar Latin *avis struthio, from Latin avis bird + Late Latin struthio ostrich — more at struthious

Date: 13th century

1 a: a swift-footed 2-toed flightless ratite bird (Struthio camelus) of Africa that is the largest of existing birds and often weighs 300 pounds (140 kilograms) b: rhea c: leather made from ostrich skin

2[from the belief that the ostrich when pursued hides its head in the sand and believes itself to be unseen] : one who attempts to avoid danger or difficulty by refusing to face it

— os·trich·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

It's all So Confusing???

Just Which am I?? Who Am I ???

If I wasn't an English teacher and a stickler for the Literal meaning of words and their proper usage, I would just have to give in to all the PEER Pressure.....

But I'm NOT... And I Won't.... I'm NOT A GUEST here.. I Live Her, I'm married to a Thai national, I pay Taxes, I have a Thai Driver's License and a Thai Tax-ID Card.. I was NOT invited here... I chose to come.. If someone can find a definition of Guest that applies to me I could accept the label.. But until then I reject it.

I'm a resident, even if due to repressive, racist and discriminatory government policies I'm certainly not legally entitled to call my self that.. But by Definition.. That's what I am... and I have the scars dealing with the Thai Bureaucracy to prove it.

And as such I claim all my rights as a resident, same as if I was in the USA or any other Country.. I may still be an "Alien"..a Resident Alien to be sure, but I do have the right to Bitch and complain.. and no.. I don't have to like or love every rotten thing about this place, (Is any place perfect???) but I do have a responsibility to try and make it better, to leave it a better place then how I found it.

Which means that as a Teacher, I will never stop agitating for a better system.. I owe it to my students and to my adopted homeland... and mostly to my future kids (I can hope can't I?) and of course to myself... The day I stop caring I must have become a "Bushie" Republican.. Or a Thai politician. (Same Same)

This is my manifesto. I proclaim it loud and clear.

So Be it !!!!

CS

PS... OK, Guys & Gals... Take your best shots !!!!

[Neeranam]

I'd say you're an expat or temporary resident.

Do you have Permanent Residency?

They can't go giving any Tom Dick or Harry residency because they got a tefl from some seaside cowboy outfit and marrried a bargirl(I'm not saying you did)

[mr_hippo]

If I wasn't an English teacher and a stickler for the Literal meaning of words and their proper usage

PS... OK, Guys & Gals... Take your best shots !!!!

Do you really want me to take my best shot? OK, if I weren't a retired teacher then I would not point out your very strange use of capital letters, verb tenses and punctation!

[CosmicSurfer]

I'd say you're an expat or temporary resident.

Do you have Permanent Residency?

They can't go giving any Tom Dick or Harry residency because they got a tefl from some seaside cowboy outfit and marrried a bargirl(I'm not saying you did)

Expat or Resident...

The definition doesn't leave room for any quantification or qualification...

Temporary or Permanent is Irrelevant.. A Resident is a resident.

But Not a Guest.. Which is my argument.

Expatriate

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Main Entry: 1ex·pa·tri·ate

Pronunciation: \ek-ˈspā-trē-ˌāt\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): ex·pa·tri·at·ed; ex·pa·tri·at·ing

Etymology: Medieval Latin expatriatus, past participle of expatriare to leave one's own country, from Latin ex- + patria native country, from feminine of patrius of a father, from patr-, pater father — more at father

Date: 1768

transitive verb

1: banish, exile

2: to withdraw (oneself) from residence in or allegiance to one's native country

intransitive verb

: to leave one's native country to live elsewhere; also : to renounce allegiance to one's native country

— ex·pa·tri·ate \-ˌāt, -ət\ noun

— ex·pa·tri·a·tion \(ˌ)ek-ˌspā-trē-ˈā-shən\ noun

Well.. as long as the definition refers to a resident, Then I guess under definition #2,

I'm an Expat from my native country, now resident in Thailand.

CS

[CosmicSurfer]

If I wasn't an English teacher and a stickler for the Literal meaning of words and their proper usage

PS... OK, Guys & Gals... Take your best shots !!!!

Do you really want me to take my best shot? OK, if I weren't a retired teacher then I would not point out your very strange use of capital letters, verb tenses and punctation!

Language

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Main Entry: lan·guage

Pronunciation: \ˈlaŋ-gwij, -wij\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French langage, from lange, langue tongue, language, from Latin lingua — more at tongue

Date: 14th century

1 a: the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community b (1): audible, articulate, meaningful sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs (2): a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings (3): the suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings <language in their very gesture — Shakespeare> (4): the means by which animals communicate (5): a formal system of signs and symbols (as FORTRAN or a calculus in logic) including rules for the formation and transformation of admissible expressions (6): machine language 1

2 a: form or manner of verbal expression; specifically : style b: the vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or a department of knowledge c: profanity

3: the study of language especially as a school subject

4: specific words especially in a law or regulation

I have always tried to impress on my students that communication was not dependent on correct grammar or an extended vocabulary.. the object of communication is to make the other guy understand...

I take it my original post was understood even as this comment refrains from making any meaningful or relevant contribution to this thread...

As to my "very strange use of capital letters, verb tenses and punctation!" ...

I claim the Literary Rights of an Author to Capitalize, Punctuate or Stylize as I feel emphasis is required to illustrate my points.

I take it that this in no way has hindered my ability to Communicate!!!!!

... and the games go on...

CS

[mr_hippo]

I claim the Literary Rights of an Author...

"Literary Rights of an Author" refers to copyright and is part of copyright laws. Are you referring to either artistic or poetic licence? Your piece is not an example, just an example of laziness and lack of knowledge.

... the object of communication is to make the other guy understand...

You haven't!

I take it my original post was understood even as this comment refrains from making any meaningful or relevant contribution to this thread...

I have re-read your original post, what are you trying to say?

[Loaded]

The Merriam Webster dictionary can make whatever definitions it wants, but Thai immigration call you and me guests. Continue calling yourself a Resident if you wish, just don't forget not to describe yourself as Resident to the Departments of Immigration, Labor and/or Education because they'll think you're silly. I once called myself Napolean, but it didn't turn me into a short fat Corsican with a massive inferiority complex.

[PeaceBlondie]

Okay, this IS a semantic argument; the usual forum rule against being a stickler for detail is rescinded only for this discussion.

Cosmic Surfer, I quote Joan Baez's words to Bob Dylan: "my poetry was rotten, you said. Well, give me another word for it, you, who were so good with words." You have taken the wrong definition of expatriate. It is the noun we use here, not the verb.

As with most semantic arguments, there may be more than one correct answer, or no answer. By having been allowed in the country, we are guests. By having left our homeland, we are expatriates. By some of our national tax definitions, we are residents. By Thai immigration law, we are not permanent residents; almost all of us are no better than non-immigrants, and a few of us are tourists (even as English teachers).

Some of the English teachers on this forum are married to Thais; university professors or lecturers; ajarns in the normal Thai uses of the term; headmasters or heads of departments; perhaps a language school co-owner. Notably, we are not Thais and we have no significant input into the decision making process at the national or even regional/provincial level. Our sphere of influence seldom extends past the fourth row. We should do our best, without thinking we will change the system. And unless we are permanent residents, our 'stay' here is extended by their grace and whim.

[CosmicSurfer]

I claim the Literary Rights of an Author...

"Literary Rights of an Author" refers to copyright and is part of copyright laws. Are you referring to either artistic or poetic licence? Your piece is not an example, just an example of laziness and lack of knowledge.

... the object of communication is to make the other guy understand...

You haven't!

I take it my original post was understood even as this comment refrains from making any meaningful or relevant contribution to this thread...

I have re-read your original post, what are you trying to say?

Duhhhhhh........ Why is there no "Hitting your Head against a wall" Emoticon when you need one???

... Maybe this will do.

CS

[mr_hippo]

Cosmic Surfer: if you had not said "If I wasn't an English teacher and a stickler for the Literal meaning of words and their proper usage." I would just have ignored your post. Your statement is like me saying that I played pro football for the Miami Maple Leafs and in the final of the Hollywood Bowl I faced the Green Bay Jazz who had Jane Fonda playing for them as point guard! We all know that is a lie because Jane Fonda was third base and designated hitter.

I have neither time nor inclination to engage in a slanging match and it is against forum rules.

[CosmicSurfer]

The Merriam Webster dictionary can make whatever definitions it wants, but Thai immigration call you and me guests. Continue calling yourself a Resident if you wish, just don't forget not to describe yourself as Resident to the Departments of Immigration, Labor and/or Education because they'll think you're silly. I once called myself Napolean, but it didn't turn me into a short fat Corsican with a massive inferiority complex.

Well, as of this moment, the poll stands at

Residents - 6

Ostriches - 1

Guests - 0

So I guess you don't define yourself as a "Guest" either. Did you choose one of the other 2 ???

For the First Time I agree with you.. Just being a fat Hairy Corsican doesn't make you Napolean.

Just as Immigration calling me whatever they Call me doesn't make me a "Guest" either....

BTW.. Just how do you KNOW that Immigration calls you a "Guest"... Or is this just your Educated Guess???

Maybe they call you a smelly Farang sex-deviant failure... (Not intended as a personal comment.. just an example.)

My point being that we have no way of KNOWING exactly what they call us in the privacy of their lunch room.

I grant you this... Being a "Non-Immigrant" does not make me a Permanent Resident... But it also certainly doesn't make me a Guest...

It just makes me feel Unwelcome when there is no easy path open to to assimilate me.. as there would be in almost any other country in the First World.

Or is calling yourself a Guest more an interpretation of your feelings being put into words, due to the Unwelcome attitude surrounding us.

It really doesn't matter...

A Guest I'm not.. A Resident I am... any sub-category of Resident that you feel comfortable applying I'll probably accept.

(I retain the right to reject it on Nit-Picking grounds.)

CS

PS... Are you really going to stake your Academic Reputation on your Quote above regarding the Merriam-Webster Dictionary??? Are you actually accusing them of changing the English language to support my own position??? FYI.. I used Merriam-Webster only as a convenience for "Cutting & Pasting" here... But Every other Dictionary I checked.. Including Oxford... had exactly the same definitions.... (I do my research before shotting off my mouth.)

My original challenge still stands.. Show me just ONE reputable definition of "GUEST" that applies to my situation and I'll buy you a steak dinner at Outback. - Uneducated, illiterate Thai immigration officers that are not Native Speakers of English don't qualify as reputable.

CS

Edited February 28, 2008 by CosmicSurfer

[aussiestyle1983]

I'm neither. I'm aussiestyle1983. I do what I want and I go where I want. When I was in Thailand I was there for 2 reasons; 1 - I chose to be and 2 - I was allowed to be there according to Thai law. When Thai says 'you are here because we let you be here' I say they are only half correct. Regardless of Thai law, no one comes to Thailand who doesn't choose to in the bgininig. I say they might allow us to be in Thailand, but they don't force us to come there. We come to Thailand because we want to. If we wern't allowed there, we'd go elsewhere. The equation is quite simple, we first choose to come to Thailand, find out we can, and then end up there; only by our choice to begin with. But being foriegners, I guess we would be classified as guests without getting to technical. Once PR comes along and even citizenship, we would then be residents. Having said that, working and living their legally on a temporary visa like a non immigrant visa would make us "temporary residents". So there, I classify myself to be a "temporary resident" when living in Thailand.

[Loaded]

I didn't vote. Seems a silly poll. I would love to be a Resident and have certain rights such as property ownership but that isn't the reality of living here. I'm a guest, or temporary resident, without any recognizable input to the system. I accept it. Some don't.

CS

Maybe you could start a Farang Rights movement similar to the Feminist movement of the 60s and 70s. PB has even provided some Joan Baez for us. Let's march on parliament - 'residency rights for farang', 'we can improve your country because you don't know what you're doing and we do'...

[ilyushin]

Guess you're just passing through.

As long as you are legal what does it matter.

[CosmicSurfer]

Guess you're just passing through.

As long as you are legal what does it matter.

I'm not "Passing through", as my intent when I came here was to stay until I die.

I came here to live.. and I left nothing behind, aside from immovables (Kids and Family).. I have no property, investments or other assets "back home".. I moved everything here...

Thailand is my Home...

and staying here legally is always an uphill battle, as you all are aware.

CS

[mr_hippo]

Please click the link guest

guest

visitor, as in: Thank you for treating me so well while I was a guest in your country.

Also see Roget's

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus

Main Entry: guest

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: company

Synonyms: bedfellow, boarder, caller, companion, company, confidant, confidante, customer, fellow, frequenter*, habitué, inmate, lodger, mate, out-of-towner*, partaker, patron, recipient, renter, roomer, sharer, sojourner, tenant, transient, visitant, visitor

Antonyms: host

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)

Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

* = informal or slang

Or is calling yourself a Guest more an interpretation of your feelings being put into words, due to the Unwelcome attitude surrounding us.

I and quite a number of other posters here have never felt 'unwelcome' in Thailand - perhaps you need a change in attitude!

Uneducated, illiterate Thai immigration officers that are not Native Speakers of English don't qualify as reputable.

If this is an example of your attitude, it's no wonder that you feel unwelcome!

[aussiestyle1983]

Guess you're just passing through.

As long as you are legal what does it matter.

I'm not "Passing through", as my intent when I came here was to stay until I die.

I came here to live.. and I left nothing behind, aside from immovables (Kids and Family).. I have no property, investments or other assets "back home".. I moved everything here...

Thailand is my Home...

and staying here legally is always an uphill battle, as you all are aware.

CS

When people accept that the legal way is not the norm in Thailand, and live according to the norm, that feeling of an uphill battle gets relieved. It would be nice to do things legally if it were easier and straight forward, but I'm am starting to think that the illegals that live there on visas that have been expired for decades are the ones doing the right thing. When in Rome......................

[Loaded]

and staying here legally is always an uphill battle, as you all are aware.

CS

because we are guests and Thailand doesn't want us to have Residency or Citizenship.

We are not living in a country that experienced the 800 years (since the magna Carta) of the fight for the rights of man that we in Western socities now benefit from. Thailand has been isolated all through that time and not surprisingly they have an insular view of the world and us. We may paint it as racisit, they don't as they don't have a concept of racist behaviour unless they are the receivers. Bless 'em.

[CosmicSurfer]

But being foriegners, I guess we would be classified as guests without getting to technical.

We are not "Guests"... We are Foreigners.

Guests are invited.. we weren't invited...

But even foreigners can be residents... Guests can not.

They are not in the same category.

That's it... and no amount of argument can change the facts.

No one is stipulating the residents are citizens or entitled to the benefits of citizenship...

But not having the right to vote, or 30 Baht Health care, doesn't deny my right to Bitch...

Or my responsibility to try to do the best job I can as a Teacher...

Even if it means that Thais hiding behind a Cultural Wall of excuses have their feathers ruffled before they are forced to wake up and join the reality of the 21st century... dragged kicking & screaming if necessary... or crawling on their knees in surrender.

If they don't, only the path downward will be their destiny.

Some people like to be ostriches, but while their heads are in the ground reality swirls around them.

CS

[Loaded]

Some people like to be ostriches, but while their heads are in the ground reality swirls around them.

CS

you keep using this phrase but for the life of me I cannot make the connection with being a guest, resident, visitor or not in Thailand.

[wangsuda]

I classify myself to be a "temporary resident" when living in Thailand.

I like this, and I hereby vote for "temporary resident." And this is what I'll be until Thailand kicks all us foreigners out.

[CosmicSurfer]

Please click the link guest

guest

visitor, as in: Thank you for treating me so well while I was a guest in your country.

Also see Roget's

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus

Main Entry: guest

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: company

Synonyms: bedfellow, boarder, caller, companion, company, confidant, confidante, customer, fellow, frequenter*, habitué, inmate, lodger, mate, out-of-towner*, partaker, patron, recipient, renter, roomer, sharer, sojourner, tenant, transient, visitant, visitor

Antonyms: host

Source: Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)

Copyright © 2008 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

* = informal or slang

Or is calling yourself a Guest more an interpretation of your feelings being put into words, due to the Unwelcome attitude surrounding us.

I and quite a number of other posters here have never felt 'unwelcome' in Thailand - perhaps you need a change in attitude!

Uneducated, illiterate Thai immigration officers that are not Native Speakers of English don't qualify as reputable.

If this is an example of your attitude, it's no wonder that you feel unwelcome!

Context!!! Context!!!! Context!!!!

PLEASE remember the context of my argument... I will try one last time to be Clear:

I'm NOT a Guest, because I LIVE here..

I did not come to Visit.. I moved here...

I did not come here as a transient.. I came here to stay...

I did not plan to return to my home country... I came to make Thailand my home.

I did not come by invitation... I came by Choice..

I did not plan to leave here.. I planned to die here.

Yes, I feel Unwelcome, not as a resident, even though I'm made unwelcome by the draconian Immigration Laws which makes it difficult to retain my residency status.

I feel Unwelcome, because all my best efforts to do the job I came here to do, and to help improve the situation in my new adopted home have been received in an unwelcome manner. Frustration has it's Limits.

I now plan on leaving not due strictly to any of the above, but due to my desire as a potential parent to provide a proper educationally oriented environment to the kids I hope to have and to provide them and my wife with a comfortable future life when I am no longer around to help and provide for them... a situation I now perceive as highly unlikely if we don't escape the negative, downward influences in this country as it now exists.

As I age, staying resident here will be increasingly more difficult to retain legal status, my health will deteriorate and health insurance/care will become unaffordable, and my desire to provide a better future for my family will become more paramount... and I see no evidence that the situation is likely to change in any meaningful way within the next few decades.... The changes required are too disrupting, long-term and expensive for the Elites in Thailand to support.

Life Changes, Circumstances change, Context changes...

Even a buffalo knows when it's time to find greener pastures.

CS

PS.. I may not reply to any more posts for a few days...

I have a complicated time-sensitive project to get finished.

Time to make some Baht.

But I will catch up with you later.

Edited February 28, 2008 by CosmicSurfer

[Nibor1945]

what should I be?

A guest in residence, or a resident guest?

whilst I'm in query mode, what is the meaning of the OPs original statement "I live Her"?

[mr_hippo]

This is like trying to nail Jello to the ceiling!

Comic Surfer - You are a guest! You say that you were not invited but you were! Before reading further - go and get your passport or a copy of it. What was your last entry in your passport? Could it possibly be a visa? I mean any type of visa or entry permit. Could you legally enter Thailand without one? You say "I did not come by invitation... I came by choice" You did come here by choice but you were invited to stay by the Thai government. No visa (invitation) = No entry!

Your main problem is that you have looked at definitions in a dictionary or dictionaries and decided that their version(s) of the word 'guest' does not suit you and did not delve further into any of those meanings. Take your cut and paste for 'guest' "a person entertained in one's house" so therefore by this definition, it can only mean 'house', not 'condo', 'villa', 'tent', etc. but only 'a house'.

Edited February 28, 2008 by mr_hippo

[aussiestyle1983]

Sorry my friend CS but you are wrong. We were also invited. Invited in the sense that anyone who wants to come to Thailand can, as long as the get their RSVP in the form of a visa. We are also foriegners, like you said. Being a foriegner does not mean that you can't also be a guest or fall inot another catagory. But like I said, as long as Thailand has it's door open and allows us there on way or another, they are in a sense inviting us thus making us guests, as well as tourists, temorary residents, whore mongers, etc. And also, guests can turn into residents if they say 'Hey, i like this place, I wanna stay here and i found a way that I can". as you can see, foriegners will always be foriegners, but there are foriegn guests, foriegn temporar yresidents and foriegn residents. All permanent residents are foriegners as far as I am concerned, however, once PR in converted into citizenship, the foriegnen part is gone and you are now a Thai. Me thinks that you want to become a Thai.

But being foriegners, I guess we would be classified as guests without getting to technical.

We are not "Guests"... We are Foreigners.

Guests are invited.. we weren't invited...

But even foreigners can be residents... Guests can not.

They are not in the same category.

That's it... and no amount of argument can change the facts.

No one is stipulating the residents are citizens or entitled to the benefits of citizenship...

But not having the right to vote, or 30 Baht Health care, doesn't deny my right to Bitch...

Or my responsibility to try to do the best job I can as a Teacher...

Even if it means that Thais hiding behind a Cultural Wall of excuses have their feathers ruffled before they are forced to wake up and join the reality of the 21st century... dragged kicking & screaming if necessary... or crawling on their knees in surrender.

If they don't, only the path downward will be their destiny.

Some people like to be ostriches, but while their heads are in the ground reality swirls around them.

CS

Edited February 28, 2008 by aussiestyle1983

[PeaceBlondie]

I did not vote because, like Loaded, there were not enough options. Putting aside the option of ostrich, we were left with the false dilemma of guest or resident. Not even "visiting scholar" or "retired but still trying to teach if they would only let me," or "roving minstrel now stranded in Siam."

I would accept 'resident' if it were an official term, but it is not, although 'permanent resident" is. Mr. Hippo has a point, that having been granted a visa by the Thai government, we were invited.

When I tried to settle myself permanently in Mexico, I applied for a no-inmigrante visa and they did not quite even give me that. But they did not kick me out (though they wanted to and could have gotten away with it), Being pedantic about participles, Spanish has categories that translate roughly to "migrated," "migrating," "non-migrating," and others.

Cosmic Surfer, I sympathize with your plight about not wanting your babies to grow up to be nakrian. Or durian.

[0Mix1up]

Our sphere of influence seldom extends past the fourth row

lol

[warfie]

So long as we're arguing semantics, I'll throw my 'spuds' in the fire too.

I think of the situation as being analogous to entering private property, like this:

I phone you and ask to stay for a while. (apply for visa at Royal Thai Embassy in my country of origin)

You say "yes, certainly James" (visa granted) I was not invited, my request was granted

So, a week later I arrive on your doorstep and you check that; "yes, this man has requested and received my permission to stay in my home" (pass Immigration at the airport)

Am I now a resident? No, I am a guest.

I apply for and receive permission to extend my stay. Am I a resident now? No, still a guest.

To my mind, at least, no matter how long I stay in your home I am your guest.

I'll contribute to the bills (pay tax) it's only fair, does that make me a resident? No.

I share some chores (get a job) only fair, resident? No.

I smoke you don't, I like loud all night parties, you don't. Do I have the right to behave as I wish in your house? (live by the laws of my home country, in Thailand) do I really need to answer?

I've decided I like your home better than mine and I want to stay. Do I have an automatic right to stay in your home? Just because I want to? But look at the money... look at the chores... "so what?" You say "I'll consider your request"

I am a guest. Until you and I reach some kind of formal arrangement regarding my status through negotiation (apply for permanent residency) and possibly buying a share in your house or some other financial compensation (it's only fair) and we have a legal agreement, I will be a guest.

Think about it, it's not too hard...

Thailand did not ask me to come. I am asking to stay. If Thailand finds me pleasant and useful it might just agree to let me.

Edited February 28, 2008 by warfie

[Ijustwannateach]

I have my doubts about how this thread fits into the teaching forum. It looks depressingly like another "let's debate endlessly whether or not we're guests in this country as if it matters until we're blue in the face." The litmus test for me is that the last half-dozen or so posts at least have had nothing to do with teaching. So as it concerns visa status, I'm going to move it to the visa section.

"S"

[lopburi3]

Well it seems to have more about English usage than visas so I will move it to the bar stools if you don't want it in the teaching forum.