Eight Years...

[frodo]

Today marks the eighth anniversary for my companion and I.

We met online back in 2001 and hit it off. We hear of the downside of internet meetings, how it is almost impossible to keep a relationship meeting online, but we are proof that this is not always the case.

After meeting him online, I decided the best thing to do would for me to move to Thailand to spend my life with him. A year later, March 19, 2002, I arrived in Bangkok and we have been together since.

Like all relationships, it has its down moments, but the past 8 years of living and being with him have been by far the greatest.

Eight years and looking forward to many more to come.

[isanbirder]

Nice to hear it, Frodo. Good luck! My partner and I have been together a similar time, I think, though I don't know the exact date... it sort of came about gradually!

[frodo]

Thanks, Isanbirder. Congrats to the both of you as well :-)

[Scott]

Congratulations. I hope you have many more years together.

[frodo]

Thanks, Scott. If the past eight years are an indicator, many more years of happiness will remain.

Cheers!

[tombkk]

Congratulations! And may many more years follow.

We will celebrate 7 years on 5 April.

[Ijustwannateach]

Congrats- and by the way, it's nice to have threads like this one.

[Guest]

Congratulations. I know you can make it to 25 years, as we have ..

[frodo]

Thanks TomBKK, and a huge congrats to you and your partner for having 7 years together. Wishing you both many more years of happiness.

PaulN, thanks for the wishes. If the next 25 years are anywhere near the past 8, we will make that for sure

Ijustwannateach. Thanks! It's been many years since we had last seen you. We moved from BKK years ago and are still enjoying the suburbs. Not sure if you guys still get together or not. "B" and myself really need to get into BKK more often.

[tombkk]

Thanks TomBKK, and a huge congrats to you and your partner for having 7 years together. Wishing you both many more years of happiness.

PaulN, thanks for the wishes. If the next 25 years are anywhere near the past 8, we will make that for sure

Ijustwannateach. Thanks! It's been many years since we had last seen you. We moved from BKK years ago and are still enjoying the suburbs. Not sure if you guys still get together or not. "B" and myself really need to get into BKK more often.

If there is to be some get-together of this group in BKK sometime, I would like to join.

[frodo]

Thanks TomBKK, and a huge congrats to you and your partner for having 7 years together. Wishing you both many more years of happiness.

PaulN, thanks for the wishes. If the next 25 years are anywhere near the past 8, we will make that for sure

Ijustwannateach. Thanks! It's been many years since we had last seen you. We moved from BKK years ago and are still enjoying the suburbs. Not sure if you guys still get together or not. "B" and myself really need to get into BKK more often.

If there is to be some get-together of this group in BKK sometime, I would like to join.

Hi Tom-

A few years ago a group would get together each Sunday. We haven't been able to attend for some years now due to our location. Hopefully, IJWT, might know if they still do. It was a lot of fun. Have a nice lunch amongst friends and just chit-chat. I hope they still do.

[Ijustwannateach]

Wow, I'd forgotten this was your membername- good to hear things are still going well- sent you a PM.

That group is still around, much altered, though I don't see them as often- too busy. In all fairness, Tom, I don't think I could invite someone I didn't know pretty well! However, you can find several of these 'lunch groups' of gay men about town, especially checking out the reasonably priced buffets....

[Unfaithful]

This month marks 7 years with Sammi Noi.

[phayao]

This month marks 7 years with Sammi Noi.

Congratulations!!!

I'm counting now 18 years and 4 months with my Thai husband; these things ARE possible !

[tombkk]

That group is still around, much altered, though I don't see them as often- too busy. In all fairness, Tom, I don't think I could invite someone I didn't know pretty well! However, you can find several of these 'lunch groups' of gay men about town, especially checking out the reasonably priced buffets....

I see. Not really interested in 'reasonably priced buffets' but rather in meeting people in the same situation and having meaningfull (or just fun) conversations, I won't be going hunting.

Ciao.

[frodo]

This month marks 7 years with Sammi Noi.

Congratulations!!!

I'm counting now 18 years and 4 months with my Thai husband; these things ARE possible !

Congratulations Phayao and Unfaithful. So nice to see relationships that continue on. Wishing you both many more years of happiness with your partners ^^

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

It was about February 2000 when this shy guy from Bangkok wrote his "hi" in the Singapore-based gay IRC chat channel.

It was about April when i received his first letter (a real letter, you know, on paper, transported by post people)

A month later we spoke on the phone.

On 6th of December 2000 i left Germany on a one-way ticket after having sold most of my little belongings in Germany and given the rest to a dear friend.

On 7th of December i arrived in Bangkok, he picked me up at the airport and brought me to the room he had rented the week earlier.

Today, we are still living in that very same room and are still happy together He's 32 1/2, i'm 35. And no, i have never left Thailand since that day, except for visa runs.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[isanbirder]

Congratulations, Thanh-BKK. It's nice to participate in a thread where everybody is enjoying what they have... no negative posts, no bitching, no silly jokes or schoolboy smut. Or am I speaking too soon?

Edited March 25, 2010 by isanbirder

[popshirt]

No, not speaking too soon. I met my Thai husband 5 years ago and we are happy to be together. I feel very lucky to have found such a good person, he is smart, well educated and has a great job. Next week we leave for 5 months in the US, four months study for him and one month travel before returning to Thailand. His father is young enough to be my son, but our difference in age has not been a problem.

[catmac]

Great thread, Frodo, my congratulations to you and all the other posters who have responded.

I met my partner on my 60th Birthday, and a couple of days ago we celebrated my 67th surrounded by good friends and family.

[PeaceBlondie]

July 2003, still together.

[frodo]

It's so great to see the amount of people here who have had wonderful and longterm relationships.

Thanh, your story sounds nearly like mine as well. Happy to see that you are both still together, and from the looks of it you will both continue to flourish in your partnership.

Gosh, Popshirt, that's excellent that the two of you are able to go to the states together for 5 months. Me and the Mr also hope to do the same within the next few years. We've put of the notion until he graduated from university. He finally received his MA at Thammasat, so we'll give it another year, and hopefully we can do the same. Have fun!!

Glad to read about you and your bf, CatMac. 7 years together, I take it? I'm impressed and wish the two of you many more years of joy together.

PB, going on 7 years as well! Way to go and much happiness for the two of you as well.

I for one am pleased that this thread has not taken a negative twist or as isanbirder mentioned, "... no bitching, no silly jokes or schoolboy smut." There shouldn't be that at all. Many of us have found our equal-half and have a medium to tell others about that, and I hope others will post as well. I'm always glad to read about people's success' for a change.

Congratulations to everyone who has posted so far! My hats off to you!

[tombkk]

Hi

It was about February 2000 when this shy guy from Bangkok wrote his "hi" in the Singapore-based gay IRC chat channel.

It was about April when i received his first letter (a real letter, you know, on paper, transported by post people)

A month later we spoke on the phone.

On 6th of December 2000 i left Germany on a one-way ticket after having sold most of my little belongings in Germany and given the rest to a dear friend.

On 7th of December i arrived in Bangkok, he picked me up at the airport and brought me to the room he had rented the week earlier.

Today, we are still living in that very same room and are still happy together He's 32 1/2, i'm 35. And no, i have never left Thailand since that day, except for visa runs.

Best regards.....

Thanh

Wow, you took a great risk, and I am happy to hear it worked out well. Congrats.

My boyfy, who is almost 12 years younger than me, does not believe that relationships of people about the same age can be successful. I believe you have just proven him wrong. :-)

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Yes, i realized it was a risk going half-way around the world to what is essentially a blind date - i had never been on a plane before, never seen any other country apart from immediate neighbours Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Netherlands, and of course i didn't know a single word Thai and could barely speak English.

Still i trusted the guy, i knew he would be there at the airport..... and so he was

For me it was clear - no way back to Germany. I had planned to go "to Asia" from a younger age, having been adopted by Vietnamese people (but in Germany) it was always my dream to live in Asia, so i knew - if "Thailand" would fail for one reason or another my money would be enough for one more plane ticket - to Vietnam. I spoke Vietnamese then and would have been able to set up shop there, due to my status it would have been easy to get a long-term visa or even citizenship (all of those possibilities expired in 2002 if i remember correctly, so that bridge no longer exists).

However "Thailand" worked out perfectly, as you can see i am still here......

Oh, and why would relationships of people in the same age group not work?? My very first actual relationship was with a guy who was 10 years older than me (also a Thai by the way, but in Germany and he never taught me any Thai) and i had an adventure wit ha Sri Lankan guy who was 50 when i was 18 - it could have worked out just fine if it wasn't for his wife (aaargh straight guys....) and then my second actual boyfriend was exactly my age, a German guy, however that was bound for failure from the start - we basically were two lonely guys staying together for not being alone, he was into black guys, me into Asians..... and his alcoholic parents did the rest. Well, past is past however for me personally, "age" is no more than a number and i have never been interested in numbers. I am 35 now, my boyfriend could be 16 or 66 i wouldn't care if the chemistry is right.

Kind regards......

Thanh

[tombkk]

Hi

Yes, i realized it was a risk going half-way around the world to what is essentially a blind date - i had never been on a plane before, never seen any other country apart from immediate neighbours Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Netherlands, and of course i didn't know a single word Thai and could barely speak English.

Still i trusted the guy, i knew he would be there at the airport..... and so he was

Wow. You were tremendously lucky.

Oh, and why would relationships of people in the same age group not work??

Don't ask me... I've had relationships in the same age group before. But the one I have now is the longest I've ever had. This doesn't mean that there is any rule that applies to everyone.

[milesntvisa]

Congratulation! it is always inspiring for me to see gay long term relationship lasting for long years, which only proves it can also work.

i met my partner in gaydar in 2004 and after a year of chatting in MSN regularly as friends, he decided to visit me and we've been partners ever since...we are now working on a plan to move to CM in a couple of years to join our friends and hopefully to be able to settle in a more gay friendly community.

[JemJem]

Congrats to Frodo (and also to others here who also wrote to mention their long-term relationships).

Nice to hear such stuff.

Jem

[kohkoh]

Congratulations!!!