Help! My Wife Wont Go Back To Thailand

[chiangmaibruce]

Well, well well, another one.

As one who commenced his Far East and Sth East Asian 'Tour' in 1970 at the tender age of 16, let me just provide you with a few clues as to why you find yourself in this predicament.

<snip>

We are successful Thai Restaurant Owners in OZ - The family owns 3 of them in the Melbourne area, we have been in Business, successfully, since '94 and still going well. My wife has a nice new car, nice house, good money and unlimited access to slot machines and casinos! She speaks English well and enjoys the freedoms, non discriminatory policies of our culture and government and receives reward for effort. She is looked up to within the local Thai Community in Australia and is the Defacto 'Yai' for many young Thais visiting or coming to live in Australia. She has status, experience and brains. She does not drink or smoke and never has. Our daughter, whose future in Thailand would not have been great in these days, has also done well for herself, Uni Educated in Aust, again with nice possessions, an affluent lifestyle and a good business.

<snip>

Chok dee krab.

Well written post mate, good luck to you and your family also.

[jai]

We will stay here and open a Thai restaurant somewhere

you see, so easy,

[a99az]

no offenses to anyone.

but i can imagine thai land not so great if you an avg thai.

you just cant get anywhere. ok for them since they dont know any better.

but for those who have a taste of the west i can see how it woiuld appeal to them, especially w such a good support system.

Could not be more wrong, my average Thai wife and I are living in Spain this is year two so she had a good taste , we talked about where we would want to live she said Thailand and I feel the same way, we will return at the end of the year and hope to stay, and yes my wife loves Thailand like me.

[Livinginexile]

out of curiosity , those of you that have moved back home with your Thai lady, do they become westernized? that is do they become influenced by farang women and their values?

Yes they do! well mine does anyway.

I have a very traditional Thai wife that cooks all the meals, does all the housework, I get a massage when I need one. Basically I am treeted like a king.

But the longer we are here, little by little it is changing. My dam_n sisters don't helpp too.

They know I am absolutely spoiled and they are constantly saying things to her like:

"Ahh don't listen to him" and "tell him to do the dishes the lazy so and so" and the old "no way I would let my husbaand get away with that".

I feel like shouting "shut the F up for Christ sake!" but at the end of the day I really would like my wife to be more empowered and take her rightfull place in the real world.

I am going to back her Thai restaurant idea. Just maybe we will make a lot of money. Who knows.

[zorro1]

out of curiosity , those of you that have moved back home with your Thai lady, do they become westernized? that is do they become influenced by farang women and their values?

Yes they do! well mine does anyway.

I have a very traditional Thai wife that cooks all the meals, does all the housework, I get a massage when I need one. Basically I am treeted like a king.

But the longer we are here, little by little it is changing. My dam_n sisters don't helpp too.

They know I am absolutely spoiled and they are constantly saying things to her like:

"Ahh don't listen to him" and "tell him to do the dishes the lazy so and so" and the old "no way I would let my husbaand get away with that".

I feel like shouting "shut the F up for Christ sake!" but at the end of the day I really would like my wife to be more empowered and take her rightfull place in the real world.

I am going to back her Thai restaurant idea. Just maybe we will make a lot of money. Who knows.

yeah getting my toe nails clipped is important to me to lol really it is no joke, my thai G/fs have done that probably because I scratch them when i toss around at night

One scenario I will never forget, as a pup all of 17 I hopped a flight to Angele's city, 1 big jumbo full of fat aging old men. Chatting to the guy next to me he told me he was married so I said something like geez your wife will kill you if she finds out. He gave me a blank look and said of course she knows willl see her in 8 hours, anyway cut a long story short he said no way take em back home they all change once in the company of farang..

[Marvo]

out of curiosity , those of you that have moved back home with your Thai lady, do they become westernized? that is do they become influenced by farang women and their values?

Yes they do! well mine does anyway.

I have a very traditional Thai wife that cooks all the meals, does all the housework, I get a massage when I need one. Basically I am treeted like a king.

But the longer we are here, little by little it is changing. My dam_n sisters don't helpp too.

They know I am absolutely spoiled and they are constantly saying things to her like:

"Ahh don't listen to him" and "tell him to do the dishes the lazy so and so" and the old "no way I would let my husbaand get away with that".

I feel like shouting "shut the F up for Christ sake!" but at the end of the day I really would like my wife to be more empowered and take her rightfull place in the real world.

I am going to back her Thai restaurant idea. Just maybe we will make a lot of money. Who knows.

You do realize the danger of being put in charge of the sink?

[sweeneythailand]

hi all just a thought have you considered that your sisters have had a hand in this. it could be that your wife is there fun, and they dont want to lose her too .or she may feel that she tried to get out of the life in thailand all her life and wont go back unless u have a lot of money and propertys so she can have a very high life.stay in the sun in the land down under use thailand for hollidays.. 27 years wed to a thai they dont trust you in thailand. the girls are to good looking they cant compeat and dont want you to know.

[thaibeachlovers]

Why don't you want her to like your home-country and prefer it? It means you prefer Thailand, and the question is why?

There in lies the key to this issue.

maybe he dont like an empowerd women.

in los he the boss

Not sure whether you're serious when you write that, but isn't that it in a nutshell. I've been married to a "farang" woman, and the reason I want to marry a Thai woman is that she wouldn't have the western "attitude" that made us split up.

I'm not talking about living with a "doormat", as I've yet to associate with a Thai woman who fits that particular profile, but I find that western women want it all, and just expect me to accomodate their wishes without giving me anything back. I also don't find western women to be anywhere near as feminine as Thai ladies. My TGF is the perfect woman for me, and we get on really well, but the last place I would want to take her is to live in my home country where she would become indoctrinated with the present culture, which IMO is very "anti male".

On the radio the other day, I heard a feminist saying that the next "phase" in the feminist movement is to make men "more like women", so they would be happy to stay home and share the child rearing duties! In other words, men are only of use if they are pseudo women. Cripes, real men not needed.

Was down at the embassy the other day, and saw a farang guy with the ex BG wife and the kids. He looked just as "broken" as any guy married to a western woman. I was feeling really sorry for him, as he was probably some guy who liked Thailand, and had met some really cute BG, and thought that he'd found "Paradise", but now he's no better off than if he'd married some western woman, and never gone to Thailand. In fact, he'd probably have been better off if he'd never been there, as he wouldn't know what he was missing out on.

Can't believe so many people are saying that the OP should just give into the wife and stay in Oz. Don't they remember why they wanted to live in Thailand in the first place?

TAWP asks why the OP prefers Thailand: what a bonkers question!

If he's anything like me, he loves Thailand, and prefers it anyday to the over-regulated, feminised, PC country that is his so called "homeland".

[sendbaht]

I'm sort of in the same boat. My Thai wife loved our life in Southern California, our beach house, the weather, the Pacific Ocean, shopping at Trader Joes, shootings on the freeways, well not that. But, Southern California has a nice life style if you live in the right area. It's just so expensive and I wanted to retire. We were both working 50 hours each a week to be able to "enjoy our life" there.

We now live in Chiang Mai. I love it here my wife likes it here. I like Southern California my wife loves it there. One saving spot is we have a little place in the desert which we could move to. So, we may just do the 6 months here and the 6 months over there. That way we are both happy. Kind of think of it a wine tasting Sunday drive does should like fun and my Tivo and College sports....mmmmm I'll make the best of it but will count the days to return each year to Thailand.

Two months for sure I want to be out of CM is March and April....The rest of the time is like heaven....

[Livinginexile]

I'm sort of in the same boat. My Thai wife loved our life in Southern California, our beach house, the weather, the Pacific Ocean, shopping at Trader Joes, shootings on the freeways, well not that. But, Southern California has a nice life style if you live in the right area. It's just so expensive and I wanted to retire. We were both working 50 hours each a week to be able to "enjoy our life" there.

We now live in Chiang Mai. I love it here my wife likes it here. I like Southern California my wife loves it there. One saving spot is we have a little place in the desert which we could move to. So, we may just do the 6 months here and the 6 months over there. That way we are both happy. Kind of think of it a wine tasting Sunday drive does should like fun and my Tivo and College sports....mmmmm I'll make the best of it but will count the days to return each year to Thailand.

Two months for sure I want to be out of CM is March and April....The rest of the time is like heaven....

Now that's the life!

You have put in the hard yards and now you're reaping the rewards, nice one.

We will move back to Thailand some day but not yet.

I love reading stories like this. Thanks

[samran]

....I was married in Bangkok in 1985, I have a 100% 34 YO Thai Step Daughter and a 22 YO Ha Sip/Ha Sip son. My wife really doesn't want to return to Thailand permanently either. In fact a few years ago she vowed that she didn't care if she never came back at all, ever. Although she has softened that stance and has returned a couple of times for short visits/holidays. She finally renewed her Thai ID Card after more than 20 years of having niether a Thai Passport nor ID Card ................................................................................

... Deep down my wife is a Thai at heart and one day, when she is to old to keep up the frantic pace she lives at in Australia, she may just apply for a retirement Visa, like me, and return to see out her final years. But we shall wait and see.

Chok dee krab.

I'm a bit confused. If your wife has a Thai ID card, why would she need a retirement Visa?

Sorry mate, it was written tongue in cheek. i do that alot, please don't take it seriously.

But some of you are correct. Being a dark skinned, fat, peasant, female, from a poor blue collar, non 'connected' family in Isaan, not that my wife fits this category, but i use it only as an extreme example, will not get you far in the Kingdom Of Thailand no matter how bloody good you are. Of course there is a 'Class System' in Thailand. My bloody oath there is. Always has been. What do you reckon alot of the problems of the last fews years are about.

No. life here for many working class Thais is very HARD. I do not live in an Ex Pat Enclave, I live with normal everyday Thais as a 'one out' farang, I know how hard it is for them. My mates daughter just started Uni and as you know it is not cheap, he shakes his head wondering how he is going to pay for it. as he has other children too, but knows that he will find it from somewhere. Times are toughening in the Kingdom and the lower born you are at the moment the harder things are going to get. The Thais are paying more for alot of things here than i pay in Australia. The cost of living is getting damned expensive here now, for an average Thai, and the wages don't seem to want to keep up. The ever widening gap between the rich and the poor is evident too.

Australia is still a land of opportunity. if you have some brains and want to get off you're arse and put the work in, you can do anything you want and be anything you want to be, without or without powerful family connerctions, money or Uni Degrees. As much as i love this place and its people, you can't do that here.

And as someone else mentioned. Women in Australia have equal rights too! Many alot more equal than the males! LOL.

Just ask the Thai girls who go overseas and find their marriage busts up. My wife and I have seen many over the years. Too many. But the Australian Government safety net takes care of them pretty damned good. Money, housing, free education for the kids, free legal, you name it. All given in a non discriminatory manner. The land of milk and honey. Many Australians have absolutely no idea how lucky they are. But the Thais do and that's why so many don't want to go home. To what?

Many parallels with my family and yours.

My mother moved to OZ in the early 1970's and opened up what was arguably Australia's first thai resturant in Melbourne in the mid 1970's. My mother sold it on in the early 1990's as she wanted to retire, and has been playing golf since.

She too had similar hassels with getting her ID card back five or so years ago, though hers were due to the fact that someone had 'stolen' her ID number, so it took a bit of running around.

Agree with your comments about class system here. It is well entrenched. Though my mother has come from humble (Bangkokian) backgrounds, her and many of her family members have never been ones to cower (sp) to Authority, and she has taught me that here. Polite but firm is the way I have always dealt with the burecracy here, and it seems to work out well enough (!).

To the OP:

Re: moving back to Thailand. I've been studying, living, working here for the majority of the time since 1998.

Moving here was a shock to my mother, who was wondering why I was 'giving up' Australia. Well the truth is I haven't, but, being a well eduated 50/50 does offer me a level of opportunity here that I probably wouldn't be able to leverage off in OZ.

For my mother, 'Thailand' was the Thailand she left in the early 1970's. Needless to say, with me here, she has been up to visit often, and even more often now she has 2 grand kids.

Its taken a while, but she doesn't view (Bangkok at least) as some backward part of the world. I can tell, as she stopped bringing up 'special treats' for friends of the family as soon as I told her that the were all available at Central Chitlom/foodland/villa etc etc.

Now, she quites like the frequent extended stay in BKK!

All I can say is, for the sake of your son, education in OZ is probably the way to go. But if you can wangle a good job up here, I'm sure that it won't take your wife long to adjust to warm weather, live in help and having someone else ironing your clothes. Your son will also get something out of being here for a bit too.

Edited June 7, 2009 by samran

[calmichael]

Well, well well, another one.

As one who commenced his Far East and Sth East Asian 'Tour' in 1970 at the tender age of 16, let me just provide you with a few clues as to why you find yourself in this predicament.

I was married in Bangkok in 1985, I have a 100% 34 YO Thai Step Daughter and a 22 YO Ha Sip/Ha Sip son. My wife really doesn't want to return to Thailand permanently either. In fact a few years ago she vowed that she didn't care if she never came back at all, ever. Although she has softened that stance and has returned a couple of times for short visits/holidays. She finally renewed her Thai ID Card after more than 20 years of having niether a Thai Passport nor ID Card. She has been a fully fledged Australian Citizen since 1988. A very easy process all round. No discrimination whatsoever, no fees or charges, even given a present on behalf of the government at her Citizenship Ceremony.

Australia has afforded her things she could only have dreamed of in the Kingdom of Thailand. She is 50 years old now and in her day things we a little bit different than they are now. She had only 4 years of formal schooling in her life - All up. The remainder of her large family are mostly Uni Educated and are doing OK with very good jobs etc. but these offspring came along alot later than my wife did, when things were changing and the family moved to Bangkok and became somewhat 'affluent'.

We are successful Thai Restaurant Owners in OZ - The family owns 3 of them in the Melbourne area, we have been in Business, successfully, since '94 and still going well. My wife has a nice new car, nice house, good money and unlimited access to slot machines and casinos! She speaks English well and enjoys the freedoms, non discriminatory policies of our culture and government and receives reward for effort. She is looked up to within the local Thai Community in Australia and is the Defacto 'Yai' for many young Thais visiting or coming to live in Australia. She has status, experience and brains. She does not drink or smoke and never has. Our daughter, whose future in Thailand would not have been great in these days, has also done well for herself, Uni Educated in Aust, again with nice possessions, an affluent lifestyle and a good business.

My wife's recent return to Thailand, where the family renewed the house paper and where she obtained a new Thai ID Card was a 'nightmare'. Talk about a hard time and given the runaround. And looked down upon and treated with contempt by a large number of Thai Officials at various Government Departments. You see, she is now considered a defacto farang. She even has a farang 'accent' now, and that didn't go down well either. One Thai Female Government Officer even accused her of being a Burmese Refugee!!!!!! And was extremely rude to her mother - much her senior in years. Not very Thai you might say. Many Thais seem to resent those who 'fled' the country to make a better life for themselves and their children, and did, but this is only because of jealousy and envy. Decidely un-buddhist too.

I could go on. But you probably get the picture. In Australia my wife has 'Status', noone wants to know about her educational qualifications and she gets treated the same as i do, as a 5th Gen Australian.

Australia is accused often of being a 'racist' country. But you will get away with saying that about most countries really, much of it due to mere parochialism. You will always find pockets of racism and examples if you go looking hard enough. But on the whole my wife knows which side her bread is buttered on. A return to Thailand would see her revert to a 2nd Class Citizen in her own country. Another pleasing aspect is that she does not have to pay double or extra for anything in Oz, unlike us farangs do everyday in the LOS, she pays the same amount as anyone born in Australia.

Anyway - It didn't stop me moving here. I live here on a (Semi) Permanent basis and my wife now regualry visits for 'holidays' - when she is not busy being wheeling and dealing in Melbourne. We are good mates, the family, whilst dysfunctional to a degree, is intact. i live with my Mother In law and everyone is happy.

As an Ex Sailor, we have an old saying - You can take the boy from the navy, but you can't take the navy out of the boy. it is the same with many Thais. Deep down my wife is a Thai at heart and one day, when she is to old to keep up the frantic pace she lives at in Australia, she may just apply for a retirement Visa, like me, and return to see out her final years. But we shall wait and see.

Chok dee krab.

Thank you for that very nice post. It it very affirming.

[kudroz]

If you have money, Thailand is THE place to live. I live at a much higher standard than in Canada and don't miss a thing except fresh air and panoramic mountain vista along with great beer & vine..... for that we spend 3 months a year there. BUT,both my wife and I prefer Thailand in the bigger picture.

Really? I mean, for a year or so I was spending about 300,000 THB per month in housing, food, maids and what not. I was renting a villa for a year in Laguna Phuket and while the property was quite nice with a private pool and sitting on a golf course at 5 minutes walk to the beach... it still felt like I could have more for my buck in Canada (Victoria). My BMW 330i was like 3M baht (70k per month on a lease), I could have had a Benz S class for that price in Canada.

Trips to the shopping malls were frustrating because of the traffic. Beach is nice, but after a while I wasn't really going. Now I have 2 maids working for me, and I sure enjoy my breakfast served on my bedroom balcony in the mornings with fresh squeezed orange juice... but the slow and expensive internet (i run an internet business) gets to me. Also running a business here and managing employees is tiring because of Thai cultural issues and general poor intellect of the population.

I don't know... I used to think I was getting value for my buck here, but except for the weather and cheap maids I don't find much value anymore.

[rdefazio]

I am probably a bit older than you, but the one thing that keeps coming to mind is that every day I live, the closer I am to my death. That means that the opportunities to do things that are important in life diminish numerically with the passage of time. When I get to my deathbed, what will I say? Will it be, "I wish I could have made more money," or "If only I could have had a successful business," or "If I could only have lived in Australia," or "I wish I could have lived in Thailand?" I don't think so. I will probably say, "I wish I could have spent more time with the people I love - my wife, my children, my grandchildren."

If you have a wife who truly loves you, and if you truly love your wife, find a way to foster your togetherness, and then it won't matter where you live, but make sure you both have the same understanding of just how important that single objective is. Once you have crossed that threshold, all the other things will seem trivial.

[TAWP]

TAWP asks why the OP prefers Thailand: what a bonkers question!

If he's anything like me, he loves Thailand, and prefers it anyday to the over-regulated, feminised, PC country that is his so called "homeland".

I suppose you missed that it was a rhetorical question.

The point is not to give the answer here but to look at what he likes, as most men do, and perhaps realize that for the exact same reason the wife does not want him/them to go back.

[zorro1]

Also the tables are turned quite dramatically. A great looking Thai girl becomes hot property back home and the hansum middle aged farang becomes invisible again. Much more down side for us farang

[PaddyThai]

I am probably a bit older than you, but the one thing that keeps coming to mind is that every day I live, the closer I am to my death. That means that the opportunities to do things that are important in life diminish numerically with the passage of time. When I get to my deathbed, what will I say? Will it be, "I wish I could have made more money," or "If only I could have had a successful business," or "If I could only have lived in Australia," or "I wish I could have lived in Thailand?" I don't think so. I will probably say, "I wish I could have spent more time with the people I love - my wife, my children, my grandchildren."

If you have a wife who truly loves you, and if you truly love your wife, find a way to foster your togetherness, and then it won't matter where you live, but make sure you both have the same understanding of just how important that single objective is. Once you have crossed that threshold, all the other things will seem trivial.

Well said rdefazio.

You've got me thinking.

Hope you'll be posting more often and welcome aboard.

[tmwke]

It has always been my priority to get my wife her permanent resident visa for Australia so we can return home when our son is aged 9 or 10 to complete his secondary education and also as a backup for my family incase we ever need to return home in an emergency.

It has always been our plan to move back to Thailand when all the visa requirements have been met and start a business that I have been planning.

Now I've got a big problem. My wife doesn't want to go back to Thailand!

She has become close to my sisters and my family and has taken to farang land like a duck to water!

I new there was something wrong for the past couple of months because every time I mentioned our plans she would go silent. It all came to a head last night when she told me how she really felt. She asked "can't we just go back for a holiday for 2 weeks a year?" My sisters have been in her ear too! Shit.

I love my wife very much and I am extremely lucky to have her for my wife. Non of that salary to the family rubbish, everything has been great.

Oh what to do, what to do?

Why is it you people never get whats going on. No Thai person with a decent intelligent Brain wants to live in that sh.... hole Its only us wanting to live there because of the currency disparites ie in our heads (fantasies) Thailand is only a good place to live if your one of the 5% !

[SNGLIFE]

To the OP: Ah, well..! It sounds like she has reasons to NOT go back to Thailand. That is certainly understandable. My wife has a friend married and living in the USA. All she has back in Thailand are the remnants of a dysfunctional family (mother passed, she does not like her father, and brother was never there for her, either). She was an unmarried mother at a young age and never finished school. As she puts it, she has nothing to go back to. Her Marine husband is rarely ever home, but she gets along very well in the States on her own raising her daughter and their new son.

Now MY wife is totally the opposite. Somewhat strong ties to the family, but she could not possibly cope in the States if something were to happen to me . She is a "country girl" through and through. Great housewife, but not the independent, ambitious type at all. Hence, we decided to return to Thailand and I find myself doing what I said I would not do: commuting between here and there and sending salary home for the next 2-3 years (hopefully no longer). Sucks, but she is worth it and so is our future together.

Good luck to you, OP.

Edited June 9, 2009 by SNGLIFE

[wamberal]

My wife absolutely definitely will stay here in Australia for her whole life. When we were married, 10 years ago, I assumed that we would probably live in Oz for a few years, she would get her PR, then we would move back to BKK, where her parents and two unmarried sisters still live.

Not a bit of it. She loves Australia, has made lots of friends here, and I know that she is now, and will always be, far better off here than in Thailand. Incidentally, we have enough financial assets to allow us to live very comfortably either here or there.

Given that the OP has a child, I have no doubt that his family should stay in Oz, where educational opportunities are second to none, where kids have loads of access to all the facilities they need to grow into happy, productive, human beings.

[CrossBones]

Why don't you want her to like your home-country and prefer it? It means you prefer Thailand, and the question is why?

There in lies the key to this issue.

maybe he dont like an empowerd women.

in los he the boss

In Aus women are most definitely the boss! Not so bad in Europe/States more "equal" LOL

We are being persecuted.

[CrossBones]

Why don't you want her to like your home-country and prefer it? It means you prefer Thailand, and the question is why?

There in lies the key to this issue.

maybe he dont like an empowerd women.

in los he the boss

In Aus women are most definitely the boss! Not so bad in Europe/States more "equal" LOL

We are being persecuted.

Thats not even the start of it, if this guy wanted to leave his wife the Aus government would most probably award of of their assets to her regardless of the age of the kids... happened to someone I know. The ruling was that because he took her away from her life in Thailand and missed out on opportunities there. These kind of liberal ideas are probably what took him to Thailand in the first place. If you are a man in the west you can spend your whole life earning to bring up a family and easily come out of it with practically nothing. Somehow women seem to have totally taken over the western world, especially in Australia. Why people are still campaigning for equality for women I will never understand. Fair enough we make more in the workplace but who are we providing for?

[Livinginexile]

Why don't you want her to like your home-country and prefer it? It means you prefer Thailand, and the question is why?

There in lies the key to this issue.

maybe he dont like an empowerd women.

in los he the boss

In Aus women are most definitely the boss! Not so bad in Europe/States more "equal" LOL

We are being persecuted.

Thats not even the start of it, if this guy wanted to leave his wife the Aus government would most probably award of of their assets to her regardless of the age of the kids... happened to someone I know. The ruling was that because he took her away from her life in Thailand and missed out on opportunities there. These kind of liberal ideas are probably what took him to Thailand in the first place. If you are a man in the west you can spend your whole life earning to bring up a family and easily come out of it with practically nothing. Somehow women seem to have totally taken over the western world, especially in Australia. Why people are still campaigning for equality for women I will never understand. Fair enough we make more in the workplace but who are we providing for?

I agree with the above post and these days we need to think ahead.

Aus is a dangerous place to hold assets when going through a divorce. With one allready behind me I am a lot wiser to the way the system works now.

I have structured my life so that only the assets we have accumilated together will be subject to any property settlement.

The smart thing to do is get your wife started on a provitable business venture like opening a Thai restaurant and then if things turn tits up you get half of hers

[patongster]

Interesting thread for a 26 year old Australian man who is going to Marry his Thai GF at the end of the year.

[loong]

Interesting thread for a 26 year old Australian man who is going to Marry his Thai GF at the end of the year.

Have you posted in the wrong thread or something?

Mind elaborating?

[Garry9999]

I left Australia 4 years ago and moved to Thailand because of high tax rates, high levels of regulation, road toll booths that don't except cash, traffic police and bogans. I experience a level of freedom and friendliness in Thailand that has been lost in Australia.

My Thai wife of 3 years has been asking me to take her to Australia for a while now, she wants to see snow of all things, she hates the cold, complains in the brief Thai winter when temperatures drop below 20 C.

So I'm going to take her to visit my family in Tasmania in the middle of winter, that should keep her quite for awhile!

[thaibeachlovers]

It has always been my priority to get my wife her permanent resident visa for Australia so we can return home when our son is aged 9 or 10 to complete his secondary education and also as a backup for my family incase we ever need to return home in an emergency.

It has always been our plan to move back to Thailand when all the visa requirements have been met and start a business that I have been planning.

Now I've got a big problem. My wife doesn't want to go back to Thailand!

She has become close to my sisters and my family and has taken to farang land like a duck to water!

I new there was something wrong for the past couple of months because every time I mentioned our plans she would go silent. It all came to a head last night when she told me how she really felt. She asked "can't we just go back for a holiday for 2 weeks a year?" My sisters have been in her ear too! Shit.

I love my wife very much and I am extremely lucky to have her for my wife. Non of that salary to the family rubbish, everything has been great.

Oh what to do, what to do?

Why is it you people never get whats going on. No Thai person with a decent intelligent Brain wants to live in that sh.... hole Its only us wanting to live there because of the currency disparites ie in our heads (fantasies) Thailand is only a good place to live if your one of the 5% !

I presume that you mean "rich" 5%. I disagree. It depends entirely what you want to do. If you are satisfied with a simple life that does not involve expensive houses, cars and high maintenance Thai wives/ GFs it is possible to live a very satisfying life here for very little. The biggest hassle is obtaining the proper visa if having a low income, and perhaps health care for those of us who are elderly.