SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[toma1 10]

I've never been on an airline that had edible food.

Singapore Airlines, Asiana, Cathay Pacific and a few others have good food! The US based carriers mostly suck, though. I avoid them now when I can. I am still elite on Continental, and their BusinessFirst food is good--they grill tenderloin steaks to order--but yeah, the regular food is not good. If you have to choose a US carrier, choose Continental. It's by far the best in most categories, but doesn't even come close to matching the best international carriers in terms of, well, anything.

Edited April 7, 2010 by toma1

[Tom and Teaw 1]

I got a little more insight into Teaw's interview on 3-24 when we chatted tonight. She had 3 people interviewing her...2 farangs and a Thai lady.

They asked her: how her friend that introduced us in jan 2008 knew me, how we first met, when we have been together, did she know I was getting married in Sep 08, did she know my ex wife, did she know her name,

how she felt about me having a Thai wife...I assume back in 08...and get this....the Thai lady wanted to know when we had sex!!!! Since when is your personal life subject of an interview to that degree? Anyway,

she said they asked her a lot about the ex wife. There may have been more questions that she didn't remember. Oh, and yes, they asked her why she types emails and chats in English and she told them we talk in

English and she uses dictionary when we chat.

[Audy_Rob 26]

I got a little more insight into Teaw's interview on 3-24 when we chatted tonight. She had 3 people interviewing her...2 farangs and a Thai lady.

They asked her: how her friend that introduced us in jan 2008 knew me, how we first met, when we have been together, did she know I was getting married in Sep 08, did she know my ex wife, did she know her name,

how she felt about me having a Thai wife...I assume back in 08...and get this....the Thai lady wanted to know when we had sex!!!! Since when is your personal life subject of an interview to that degree? Anyway,

she said they asked her a lot about the ex wife. There may have been more questions that she didn't remember. Oh, and yes, they asked her why she types emails and chats in English and she told them we talk in

English and she uses dictionary when we chat.

Well Tom, this does not seem good. Not matter how unprofessional the Thai interpreter was, there is not much you can do. I thinkk the Embassy has questions of the Relationship and how and when it evolved. I guess that is kind of obvious.

Wait out the AP and then make your decision based on their decision. Sorry I do not know what else to say.

[Tom and Teaw 1]

Well Tom, this does not seem good. Not matter how unprofessional the Thai interpreter was, there is not much you can do. I thinkk the Embassy has questions of the Relationship and how and when it evolved. I guess that is kind of obvious.

Wait out the AP and then make your decision based on their decision. Sorry I do not know what else to say.

Well, I think she answered the questions about the ex pretty good. It should not have caused any suspicion and if they bothered to ask me to explain how it all transpired, they would easily understand

how we ended up where we are now. I can say without doubt Teaw was in no way responsible for the divorce. The ex brought it on all by herself and her transformation into the raving psycho ###### shortly

after we got married (big mistake on my part) and finding out she was meeting men in BKK and then chatting them up when they left as if she was a single person. I have two of the chats to prove it and if

they ever ask me to explain the timeline I will happily tell them how it shook out and send the chats I found on her laptop. I am glad she asked me to work on it when I was there and found those chats and

copied them onto my laptop so I would have them. Have not heard back from the email I sent them so I resent it to another email address making sure they see it.

According to Teaw they are getting really nasty there. They are doing this to many of the ladies now and one they had told her at the interview they had the visa and then they called her up a few days later,

told her it was cancelled and said they would call her later. Think of how stressful that would be!!!! Another one they told her a 3rd time to bring more proof of relationship!! So it seems they are tightening

up over there and anyone going into the process in Bangkok should prepare everything they can find for the interview and prep the ladies a lot first.

Later, dude!!!

[toma1 10]

According to Teaw they are getting really nasty there. They are doing this to many of the ladies now and one they had told her at the interview they had the visa and then they called her up a few days later,

told her it was cancelled and said they would call her later.

The Thai-speaking interviewers have always been more rude than the English-speaking interviewers. I have always recommended that you interview in English if at all possible.

[thongd4me 69]

The Thai-speaking interviewers have always been more rude than the English-speaking interviewers. I have always recommended that you interview in English if at all possible.

I can see that happening with increasing frequency given the political climate.

It's bad enough the kinds of questions they ask that are related to the visa application,

but there may be an undercurrent "test" thrown into the mix, depending on which color

shirt the interviewee is perceived to be wearing.

Also Thai interviewers may be resentful of anyone seeking to emigrate (and jealous as well).

[toma1 10]

It's bad enough the kinds of questions they ask that are related to the visa application,

but there may be an undercurrent "test" thrown into the mix, depending on which color

shirt the interviewee is perceived to be wearing.

Yup. You are exactly right... and that's not the half of it. Don't know if anyone noticed, but the US government OFFICIALLY criticized the "red shirts" yesterday.

But you are probably referring to the "sex" question. It may have been designed to catch her off guard in case this was a pay-for-marriage deal.

Edited April 8, 2010 by toma1

[thongd4me 69]

I got a little more insight into Teaw's interview on 3-24 when we chatted tonight. She had 3 people interviewing her...2 farangs and a Thai lady.

They asked her: how her friend that introduced us in jan 2008 knew me, how we first met, when we have been together, did she know I was getting married in Sep 08, did she know my ex wife, did she know her name,

how she felt about me having a Thai wife...I assume back in 08...and get this....the Thai lady wanted to know when we had sex!!!! Since when is your personal life subject of an interview to that degree? Anyway,

she said they asked her a lot about the ex wife. There may have been more questions that she didn't remember. Oh, and yes, they asked her why she types emails and chats in English and she told them we talk in

English and she uses dictionary when we chat.

The American lady that interviewed her only wanted to know if she had sex with her ex husband.

She has a good working relationship with her ex husband and they never fight in the presence of

or around their son. I have known her ex and her son practically from the very first day I visited

Thailand, back in 2004 and have had a good relationship with them ever since.

She didn't ask much about our relationship because we front-loaded the application with tons of

emails & chats. She was only asked the "pro forma" questions about our relationship.

The above question was just a fishing expedition that got a very direct and convincing reply from my wife.

[Audy_Rob 26]

She didn't ask much about our relationship because we front-loaded the application with tons of

emails & chats. She was only asked the "pro forma" questions about our relationship.

So when you mailed in the DS-2001 checklist or letter of readiness with all the forms and documents, did you also mail in the Evidence of Relationship?

I was reading the Packet 3 online from the Bangkok Embassy and it seems you need to mail in ALL forms and documents with the checklist of readiness except they say you do not need to mail in the Medical Results nor Evidence of Relationship.

[Tom and Teaw 1]

So when you mailed in the DS-2001 checklist or letter of readiness with all the forms and documents, did you also mail in the Evidence of Relationship?

I was reading the Packet 3 online from the Bangkok Embassy and it seems you need to mail in ALL forms and documents with the checklist of readiness except they say you do not need to mail in the Medical Results nor Evidence of Relationship.

No, you only mail in the DS-2001 and the other DS forms and copies of the stuff on the checklist....passport, birth certs, that stuff...and bring everything else about evidence of relationship with you to the interview. A lady at the front sorts through it all and takes what they want to give to the interviewers..all the other forms, emails, etc. Then if they want more they will tell you after they are done. If you read over the instructions it clearly states what you have to mail and what you bring with you and what you submit as copies and bring the originals with you.

[Tom and Teaw 1]

The Thai-speaking interviewers have always been more rude than the English-speaking interviewers. I have always recommended that you interview in English if at all possible.

I would have preferred she do it all in English but she, like many others, was very nervous. The new setup has a deal like some banks...glass window with a microphone for them to speak into and the people on the other side. She felt she would say the wrong thing in English but she did use some English. They have to understand these people are very nervous, afraid, and no matter how much you prepare them ahead of time, they are intimidated for sure.

As to the sex question, I felt it was totally inappropriate. I know they were trying to throw a curve ball to her and she answered it beautifully in my mind. I would love to raise hell with someone about questions like that because really your sex life is none of their business!!!! But I will keep my mouth shut until this is all over.....and I still may do nothing because if probably wouldn't do any good unless I could talk to someone with real authority and I know they keep the employees secret over there. I'd love to know the name of the Thai lady at the interview. And remember, she had THREE people interviewing her...a man and a lady farang and the Thai lady. If I was in her shoes I would have been real intimidated. I would have felt like they were ganging up on me.

[AaronLV 12]

I would have preferred she do it all in English but she, like many others, was very nervous. The new setup has a deal like some banks...glass window with a microphone for them to speak into and the people on the other side. She felt she would say the wrong thing in English but she did use some English. They have to understand these people are very nervous, afraid, and no matter how much you prepare them ahead of time, they are intimidated for sure.

As to the sex question, I felt it was totally inappropriate. I know they were trying to throw a curve ball to her and she answered it beautifully in my mind. I would love to raise hell with someone about questions like that because really your sex life is none of their business!!!! But I will keep my mouth shut until this is all over.....and I still may do nothing because if probably wouldn't do any good unless I could talk to someone with real authority and I know they keep the employees secret over there. I'd love to know the name of the Thai lady at the interview. And remember, she had THREE people interviewing her...a man and a lady farang and the Thai lady. If I was in her shoes I would have been real intimidated. I would have felt like they were ganging up on me.

Well to be fair to the embassy people, they are trying to root out fraudulent marriages, and inappropriate questions to catch someone off guard is a good way to do it. It is no different then a police interrogation, they are trying to find inconsistency in the answers to the questions.

There is a lot of fraud that happens for all visas and that means we all have to pay the price for extra scrutiny at the embassy and when going to AOS. In your case it looks like you fell into red flag of divorce and then applying for a fiancee visa almost immediately after the divorce being final (legally, not to mean it wasn't over long before, but in their eyes they are looking at dates), this is not the norm for how people get married. Most people don't jump right back into marriage, it makes it look more like an arrangement then a marriage in the consular eyes.

I think sometimes they ask for more evidence to see how serious you are about going the extra step to bring more evidence back. It would be interesting to see the statistics on how many people abandon the attempt for a visa after getting the 221g.

[TheBears 9]

Tom, I went to read Teaw's accounts of her experience. The consensus is that it seems more like FPU than regular AP. Especially since they were asking her such personal questions and gave her back her passport. She might get called in for another interview. If so, you should be there with her ready to answer questions nicely. In the meantime, if you can, don't just wait for them to call you. Call and bug them once or twice a month. Several girls were cleared without hassle and had visas issued but didn't know it because the embassy never called them. Good luck!

[Tom and Teaw 1]

Tom, I went to read Teaw's accounts of her experience. The consensus is that it seems more like FPU than regular AP. Especially since they were asking her such personal questions and gave her back her passport. She might get called in for another interview. If so, you should be there with her ready to answer questions nicely. In the meantime, if you can, don't just wait for them to call you. Call and bug them once or twice a month. Several girls were cleared without hassle and had visas issued but didn't know it because the embassy never called them. Good luck!

What is FPU? I'd love to be there for another interview but if I only get a day or two notice it's near impossible to do it. I am still debating whether to write them a letter and tell them how the divorce came about and she fit into the picture as a permanent hopefully wife instead of friends as we were at the beginning. What do you think?

[toma1 10]

The new setup has a deal like some banks...glass window with a microphone for them to speak into and the people on the other side.

Sounds like jail. When did that start? It wasn't in place last year.

And remember, she had THREE people interviewing her...a man and a lady farang and the Thai lady. If I was in her shoes I would have been real intimidated. I would have felt like they were ganging up on me.

Yeah, that's odd to have three. Ann had one guy and they talked about her job and how he could get SCB services cheaper in Thailand while he was there.