Mee And My Dad

[Chaimai]

Oh, please, don't beat up on this guy. Best to hope he beats the odds and has a pleasant time up in the hills, or if not, gets out of it without too much damage.

Hear, hear.

He is giving it a go. As for 'shadow' ownership of the business I am sure we can all find another 100 Falang who are active in some business or other.

He has also invested a sizeable wedge in those chalets + the house. Good luck to him, his wife and his son.

There are a few holier than thou comments creeping in

[sanook2me]

Well if that is Mee and her jerk,drunken idjut - big thumbs up to her and him.

Website looks nice and i'm tempted to book for some quiet time.

Will Mee "greet me" does anyone know

[saraburioz]

Well if that is Mee and her jerk,drunken idjut - big thumbs up to her and him.

Website looks nice and i'm tempted to book for some quiet time.

Will Mee "greet me" does anyone know

I loved the bit where she was descibing what she did in the entertainment place where there were ladyboy shows etc. So obvious that she was lying.

Poor farming girl turns to selling herself - some drunken old git falls for it and marrys her and gives his money.

Soon he'll be told where to go - same old story I've heard a million times.

[mrtoad]

Interesting Good luck to the old man ...just few points from person who lived in thailand and in uk for more than 5 years and from an asian background:

1- Old guy instead of enjoying what reamins of his life in a quite and peaceful way, he is marrying 27. unfortunately it is the story of most old europe men who are tired of capitalist europe.

2- marrying 27 years old will not bring u a quite life instead responsiblities and disaster follows.

3- if you are interested in thai culture and want quite life away from a bussy Uk life why not marry 60 years old !!!!

I may consider this if I reach the age of 85.

Viewed their up to date website, Hilltribe Homestay.

Appears the guy has become another illegal behind the scenes real owner of a business hiding behind a Thai name.

There goes his son`s inheritance.

Where does it appear that the guy is illegal?

I can't see why people are being so hard on this guy, real bunch of pious pricks around here at times.

As for the documentry, I thought it was very well done, and brave considering the whole reality of it.

Good luck to them.

[justanothercybertosser]

One of these documentaries i would rather not have seen. Like watching a train crash in the making. Embarrassing, with a huge cringe factor.

These two are made for each other, and i don't want to know about it.

[sassienie]

Well if that is Mee and her jerk,drunken idjut - big thumbs up to her and him.

Website looks nice and i'm tempted to book for some quiet time.

Will Mee "greet me" does anyone know

Depends, whether you want short time or be with her for the whole day.

[Roadman]

The first thing Mee implied was if he did not have any money she was not interested in this guy, my family comes first, security is her main goal.

I would suggest that this the basis for most Thai/Falang (and Thai/Thai) relationships.

The obligation to look after one's family is the number one Thai commandment - any husband is expected to buy into that concept.

I don't and I have never been expected to. Most of the Isaan couples I know (Isaanite & Isaanite, Isannite and Bangkokian, Isaanite and falang) are no where near the concept of family comes first. They are all the same same as falang. Hubby and wife come first, children 2nd, and then family. Its not like we don't look after each other. The closer thai concept we conform to is that the elderly (be they falang, Isaanite ot Bangkokian) will always be looked after first. Actually that applies in my western culture to.

I thought the wife to be "vulgar" like that would be deemed to be bargirlesque?

[Insight]

Is this available to download as an AVI anywhere? Hope it is - don't enjoy watching stuff on PC that much.

Funnily enough, can't access a certain UK TV related .bz site today which would usually help, True only

[bonobo]

Not being judgemental here, just being curious.

Ralph's life is very beyond my ken. I work and live in BKK, rarely go to bars or other nightlife, don't really drink, and I date pretty regularly. I enjoy going to the movies, having access to Villa Market, going to the gym and such, things not available in small villages.

While Ralph seems to be within driving distance to Chiang Mai, he lives in what looks to be a small village, and he has an extended family in his house.

For those of you who live in simliar circumstances, do you like it? Are you there only because your wife/gf is there? Would you choose living in a small village as the only or one of the only foreigners there if you weren't married to a local woman?

Believe me, this is no flame or criticsm. After watching this, I just wonder about the lifestyle. I don't think I could handle it myself.

[Chaimai]

One of these documentaries i would rather not have seen. Like watching a train crash in the making. Embarrassing, with a huge cringe factor.

These two are made for each other, and i don't want to know about it.

So why bother watching and why waste your time and mine posting on this forum.

[Chaimai]

I don't and I have never been expected to. Most of the Isaan couples I know (Isaanite & Isaanite, Isannite and Bangkokian, Isaanite and falang) are no where near the concept of family comes first. They are all the same same as falang. Hubby and wife come first, children 2nd, and then family. Its not like we don't look after each other. The closer thai concept we conform to is that the elderly (be they falang, Isaanite ot Bangkokian) will always be looked after first. Actually that applies in my western culture to.

I thought the wife to be "vulgar" like that would be deemed to be bargirlesque?

Can I suggest you read Thailand Fever by Vitida Vasant and Chris Pirazzi.

[sassienie]

Interesting Good luck to the old man ...just few points from person who lived in thailand and in uk for more than 5 years and from an asian background:

1- Old guy instead of enjoying what reamins of his life in a quite and peaceful way, he is marrying 27. unfortunately it is the story of most old europe men who are tired of capitalist europe.

2- marrying 27 years old will not bring u a quite life instead responsiblities and disaster follows.

3- if you are interested in thai culture and want quite life away from a bussy Uk life why not marry 60 years old !!!!

I may consider this if I reach the age of 85.

Viewed their up to date website, Hilltribe Homestay.

Appears the guy has become another illegal behind the scenes real owner of a business hiding behind a Thai name.

There goes his son`s inheritance.

Where does it appear that the guy is illegal?

I can't see why people are being so hard on this guy, real bunch of pious pricks around here at times.

As for the documentry, I thought it was very well done, and brave considering the whole reality of it.

Good luck to them.

Well, toady, if you have to resort to insults and swear language in order to get your point across because you havent the intelligence to do it in any other way, than as least a prick is useful, better than being an a/hole.

And I have no doubts that you would consider this a good documentary, I bet you can relate to many of the characters appearing in it.

Edited June 4, 2009 by sassienie

[neverdie]

Interesting Good luck to the old man ...just few points from person who lived in thailand and in uk for more than 5 years and from an asian background:

1- Old guy instead of enjoying what reamins of his life in a quite and peaceful way, he is marrying 27. unfortunately it is the story of most old europe men who are tired of capitalist europe.

2- marrying 27 years old will not bring u a quite life instead responsiblities and disaster follows.

3- if you are interested in thai culture and want quite life away from a bussy Uk life why not marry 60 years old !!!!

I may consider this if I reach the age of 85.

Viewed their up to date website, Hilltribe Homestay.

Appears the guy has become another illegal behind the scenes real owner of a business hiding behind a Thai name.

There goes his son`s inheritance.

Where does it appear that the guy is illegal?

I can't see why people are being so hard on this guy, real bunch of pious pricks around here at times.

As for the documentry, I thought it was very well done, and brave considering the whole reality of it.

Good luck to them.

Yo Mr Toad,

Would agree with you that it was a good documentry, done well and all of that. Seriously though, I had to laugh when the son was asking about how they met & what her job was & she stated where she worked (in a bar) & her reply when asked what she did there was "Serving Customers" ....and then the englush husband added in that she also 'greeted' people..... I think it goes "Hello, welcome, Hello sexy man" RAOFLMAO .

Nearly every second shot of these people, they were on the jimmy hiss getting into each other....ahhh alcohol what a wonderful drug.

I could be a real nasty bastard and go on, but the CRINGE factor was huge.

[Jingthing]

I'm looking forward to the sequel:

My Gay Dad and Aey ... the story of an albino Kiwi nail artist, his 85 year old gay father and his relationship with his 18 year old barboy lover, Aey, and their adventures in frog farming on the dark side of Pattaya ...

Edited June 4, 2009 by Jingthing

[neverdie]

^ jingthing makes a funny

[mrtoad]

Interesting Good luck to the old man ...just few points from person who lived in thailand and in uk for more than 5 years and from an asian background:

1- Old guy instead of enjoying what reamins of his life in a quite and peaceful way, he is marrying 27. unfortunately it is the story of most old europe men who are tired of capitalist europe.

2- marrying 27 years old will not bring u a quite life instead responsiblities and disaster follows.

3- if you are interested in thai culture and want quite life away from a bussy Uk life why not marry 60 years old !!!!

I may consider this if I reach the age of 85.

Viewed their up to date website, Hilltribe Homestay.

Appears the guy has become another illegal behind the scenes real owner of a business hiding behind a Thai name.

There goes his son`s inheritance.

Where does it appear that the guy is illegal?

I can't see why people are being so hard on this guy, real bunch of pious pricks around here at times.

As for the documentry, I thought it was very well done, and brave considering the whole reality of it.

Good luck to them.

Well, toady, if you have to resort to insults and swear language in order to get your point across because you havent the intelligence to do it in any other way, than as least a prick is useful, better than being an a/hole.

And I have no doubts that you would consider this a good documentary, I bet you can relate to many of the characters appearing in it.

Well , Sassi I can't relate to the characters, other than I once studied in Bristol, where the Son is studying, and that I am originally from Cornwall, but not Calstock. That's about as close as it gets. Obviously touched a raw nerve with you though.

So before you try and come back with some smart Alick insinuations, best think first. My feelings on the documentary and the people are they are consenting adults, best of luck to them. It was cringewortyy, but well made and fair play to the Son to actually put it into the public domain. Some of the pious and perfect people on here make me laugh sometimes, amazing.

It's about time you started playing a different record rather than always saying that people are illegal, losers, criminals or border runners. There's a lot of us here working legally, who lead perfectly normal lives.

[KhunDave]

Goodness Gracious Mee, you picked yourself a choice specimen there Ralphie. I wish you luck.

[Hssl]

Looking at the clip again there's a part where the 'wife' is very touchy feely with her new son in law and not with her husband.

[DangerfieldLives]

Undoubtedly Mee has been around the block for a few laps more than most, that much is obvious by her manner, both in speech, body language, and the tattoos that were visible briefly during the ceremony. That said, she's presumably an uneducated person who has been in the nightlife for ages and is looking for a way out, which she sees through this guy. She takes it. Smart. Coming from a northern hill tribe, she would likely have in the past considered the substinence farmers of Isaan wealthy.

I wouldn't moralize too heavily about their situation, but I would suggest anyone calling her a gold-digger to take a close look at the father. He is a shambles. This is most clearly seen the day after the wedding ceremony when he starts to cry and when his wife -- horrified at such an embarrassing face-losing scene during wedding celebrations -- takes issue. He tells her to eff off, and that if she doesn't knock it off, "She'll be f**ked."

What a gent. How many episodes like that do you think the old boy has? Any doubt that he has a drink in him on a daily basis, and that scenes like this aren't a rarity? Maybe she is a gold-digger, but if the price of that gold is living with such a nasty self-centred p*sshead, then I'd say she's earned it.

The father's comment that "she'll be f**ked", also seems a bit ironic. That house is surely in her name and so is the business they started. During that little exchange, she says (I think) "You can go back to UK, it's OK." And it's true, can go and she'll be far better off than before he called her over to sit on the stool next to him.

I don't think this is about love, nor does it need to be. Just two people coming into something for their own reasons that will either be enough to hold things out for a long while or they won't.

As for the son, mixed feelings. He is certainly a reasoned, mature individual -- and a good short documentary maker -- but I would not agree that parents have a lifetime commitment to children. The good ones would naturally support their children, but I don't think they need to be in the same country or with their mother to do that.

[a2396]

.. and the success rates are so high in farang countries ?

Its all relative. And in western countries, getting fed to the pigs is exceptionally rare. Seriously, don't you think there should be some LOVE at least in the beginning? Why marry someone you don't love? Now I understand why SHE did ...

I don't hate the guy. I took some courage to reveal his warts on camera. I wish him the best, but I think he has married a SHARK.

"Seriously,don't you think there should be some LOVE at least in the beginning?" In case you haven't heard, most marriages between Farangs & the Thai darlings are about MONEY.

[a2396]

Maybe some of you guys might like this

(Documentary : 28 mins)

“Mee and My Dad” is a documentary that follows the film maker’s journey to Thailand, where his sixty year old dad is about to marry a twenty seven year old Thai woman called Mee.

The film has been selected for the 2008 Sheffield International Documentary Festival and has also won the director, Lorne Kramer, Channel 4’s prestigious Emerging Talent award for Documentary.

http://www.vimeo.com/1314479

To be quite honest, the whole thing made me feel sick.

Gross drunken old loser hooking up with a well been around the block streetwise bar girl, who is only interested in his money.

Not a real grandsugardaddy/girlfriend relationship, just 2 people acting their parts. The guy wants some long term hot totty, although she is no Part Lane model and the girl will term up with her family and plan how quickly they can seperate this loser from his assets.

I thought the guy in his younger days had an uncanny resemblance to Charles Manson, the hippie-era cult murderer of the sixties.

The documentary sends images to the West that ex pats living in Thailand are misfits and losers who dwell around the lower side of Thai society. I found it embarrassing especially if people I know back in England were to view this documentary on TV and came to believe that this is the usual way of life for us ex pats in Thailand.

Right on!

My dad is the same age, and I'm the same age as the son. I'm lucky, my parents are still together. But...

I'd knock seven colours of shit out my dad if he talked to me drunk like that on Loi Kroh, the night before he was about to sign his life over to some gold diggin thai bar girl - 3 years older than me.

From what I could make out, the father deserted the son when he was 16, and he basically told him he was on his own and they were just like "mates".

What a <deleted>.

That's not a father. That's a failure.

She admitted to just wanting his money.

But what do I know? I only hope the son has a better relationship with his future children.

Hopefully his house is the first to be revoked under this latest government brainwave. No way did she have enough money to build that house on her own!

"From what I could make out, the father deserted the son when he was 16, and he basically told him he was on his own and they were just like "mates".

Sounds like my Father, except he deserted my Mother when I was 2 & never paid a nickle the court didn't order him to pay. Now on his 3rd wife who he is handing most of his money over to (she is not foreign, by the way - a good American - "true blue".

[a2396]

I just wanted to ask if anyone knows if he is back in england already,alone and broke I mean.

good question..

but according to what appears to his/her website that i've found here

they seem to now be in the 'hilltribe homestay' tourism business...

How do you know this is the same guy? No mention of a Farang from England?

[a2396]

So how much did the old geezer pay for sin sod and the house, etc, etc?

[Goshawk]

I just wanted to ask if anyone knows if he is back in england already,alone and broke I mean.

good question..

but according to what appears to his/her website that i've found here

they seem to now be in the 'hilltribe homestay' tourism business...

How do you know this is the same guy? No mention of a Farang from England?

Oh my lord.. watch it a again closely.. its an easy google detective job

it's the same guy alright.. i wouldn't have made it aware on Thai Visa if i weren't 101% sure....

obviously another 'behind the scenes' farang business operator in action.. (easily reportable..)

[Garry9999]

I just wanted to ask if anyone knows if he is back in england already,alone and broke I mean.

good question..

but according to what appears to his/her website that i've found here

they seem to now be in the 'hilltribe homestay' tourism business...

How do you know this is the same guy? No mention of a Farang from England?

Oh my lord.. watch it a again closely.. its an easy google detective job

it's the same guy alright.. i wouldn't have made it aware on Thai Visa if i weren't 101% sure....

obviously another 'behind the scenes' farang business operator in action.. (easily reportable..)

Well it's certainly the same Mee.

[yabaaaa]

Well Im sorry they look totally incompatible to me and I think it will all end in tears. he has no responsibility to anyone it seems.

I'll wait for the follow up documentary or the newspaper headlines.

[JohnGotti]

It looked like he was going to punch her during that little argument if the camera was not there.

[submaniac]

Very good documentary. Glad someone posted about it here. I think it should be required viewing for certain falangs contemplating the move to LOS.

[JohnGotti]

if someone posted

i am 60 something gonna marry bar girl 27 years old, will build her house we get along great when i am not telling her that "she is gonna get fuc_ked".. i wonder if there would be so many cheery comments as in this thread...

[Tod Daniels]

You can certainly tell that's a foreigner's house in the village in Nakhon Nowhere. They always look the same and are all too easy to spot among the squalor of a normal thai village. Wasn't it great she was able to bring her parents, children, and sundry other cling-ons to 'share the wealth'? I found it sad someone would actually even contemplate marrying a semi-literate person from 'ban-nok'. He is definitely Big Man On Campus with digs like that in such a pissant village.

I especially like the gripping semi-coherent narrative Mee gave, (offered here in it's thai-engrish unedited glory for your reading pleasure);

"Attract me, no. Cannot use that word, no. He not attractive at all, to me. 5555+ not attractive at all. But ahh, ahh, mainly, I tink he came, he came different to other 'customer' you know. He came to talk nicely, like a, like a, seem like a gentle-man. He didn't ask me to go to bed with him. That's the first I tinking, "Oh this guy different." you know. He just ask me to go dinner, he didn't try anything to me. So maybe that reason make me decide to okay I try with this guy. If he doesn't have money from beginning, I don't think we gonna be together. Doesn't mean like that you know, I tink you understand my, my feeling. Like I say, my family come first." English translation; "He is old, but has some money, so I will suck it up until the money runs out".

The old guy has truly lost the plot. I give him a few years at most before the girl’s family locks him in that shack next to his house and only let him out once a month to sign the pension checks.

Typical "dog and pony show" thai wedding, with the bowl of mop strings and everything. Strangely the sin-sod was absent in the film. As she has two children already she is clearly "second-hand". I thought it subtle that they showed his wife wearing the gold wedding band. Loved the part when he told her to <deleted> off, that she was being stupid, she was too young to know what she was talking about, and if she carried on like this "you're f*cked". Truly a match made in heaven or a bar, you pick. I thought it was too funny how quickly she pointed out she was only “Dek Serf” at the bar, and not part of the regular nightly line up. Touching in a pathetic way.

All in all a very sad documentary. It does highlight the plight of old drunken foreigners here and their willingness to give up everything to live in Nakhon Nowhere with their "trophy" thai or in this case a Lahu Shi wife.

I give credit to the kid, and he is wise beyond his years, although his father is dumb as a box of rocks.