SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[cheryl & jim 0]

I am going to the state of Illinois. I think I will need some light winter clothes too.

[AaronLV 12]

I am going to the state of Illinois. I think I will need some light winter clothes too.

It will probably be a bit cool at night in April, but should be warming up by May.

[bill13060 0]

I'm originally from Kansas. I have seen it snow in March, but then soon after it warmed up so it should not be to bad. I'm leaving in three hours to go see my wife in northern Thailand. The weather has got to be better there, here in California it is a little chilly and rainy. You guys have a safe trip.

[Mountain Climber 186]

My Valentines day

I had an OK VD except my gifts backfired completely...really badly! I posted on Thaivisa but apparently you're barred from criticizing anyone, even scamsters if they advertise on the website..giving them an endless supply of victims while being assured the moderators will delete and warn any posts even if it's a blatant scam. I'm very disappointed in thaivisa. I guess I'll test the waters here and see if I'm allowed to let others know what happened on my V-day.

FOREVER FLORIST BANGKOK, THAILAND

1. I ordered a flower vase and a fruit basket

2. Confirmation email showed 2 identical flower orders

3. I contacted Nittaya by phone...phone went dead

4. Immediately emailed saying "answer your phone please there's been a mistake," I didn't order 2 flowers, etc

5. Called back and left a phone message and immediately got an email response (funny how that works) claiming their "call center is closed" little shop it is, what "call center"? Her email maintained I ordered 2 identical flowers so I copied my pay pal receipt proving I ordered 1 fruit 1 flower

6. I email again asking who in their right mind would send 2 identical orders, she emails back maintaining I ordered 2 identical flowers. I demand to speak to her show her the payment amounts (different amounts can't be identical orders)

7. email "sorry but your order has gone out" so I ordered another fruit basket asking her to combine flowers to one so it wouldn't look stupid realizing she's going to do what she wants anyway (only in Thailand)

8. duplicate orders of DEAD...BONE DEAD FLOWERS ARRIVED (I have photos) with degrading message (no kidding), incorrect spelling of recipient's name and message was written "down" to the recipient, if you know what I mean (nothing like I ordered)

9. Receive email saying fruit cannot be delivered until the 16th (this was Valentines day, the 14th) giving me only 1 hour to cancel order. I was 7 minutes late to my computer (mind you, calling and leaving many messages beggint to speak to her since I knew she could hear them)

10. I send email, call telling of the dead flowers (which was completely ignored despite their "24 hour service"...scammed again, I think) and threaten a payment dispute (ignored)

11. They took pictures of dead flowers and since I'm not in Thailand (and I don't tolerate this BS) and since neither PayPal or Visa tolerates this BS/childish games, either I filed a dispute (which means pay pal yanks the money back and waits for proof). yes, I've got 48 certifiably DEAD flowers and a degrading message for proof (OK, to be honest, 3 out of 48 flowers were OK) and these were not cheap!

12. Once the money was pulled back pending review, Nittaya instantaneously emails me calls me a fraudster still refusing to look at the pay pal receipt showing my original order (1 flower 1 fruit). Suddenly her "call center" is opened and calls my fiancee (Valentines/Birthday party going on...all are shocked at the dead flowers, vindictive message) and she wants to take them back, rushes a driver over (I told her we were taking pics of her dead flowers and posting on the internet) the driver is also shocked...they're really dead flowers, he said! "No wonder you're not happy, look at them" got a good laugh for the other 7 people there (I was attending via webcam...best I can do).

I post this on thaivisa where I found these clowns, post is deleted no one tells me why so I post againtrying to warn others and prevent losing money and spoiling their occasion then I get a message telling me to contact the company if I have any problems, I'm not allowed to pose about sponsors (read 1-12 above...that's what I was doing all night for 8 hours, trying to prevent a preventable error with these idiots)...anyway, I'm shocked at thaivisa for blind support and censorship, unhappy that forever florist messed up a good surprise and turned it into a headache by choice screwing up a gift (not to mention their vindictive behavior). Forgot to mentionl thaivisa forum rules say nothing about mentioning sponsors if they're of ill repute so I guess there are unwritten rules there, as well.

In the end, my fiancee and i were able to communicate better than we ever had....ever! I learned sooo much that had been misunderstood neither of us had a clue and ironed out major problems which turned out to be nonexistent only due to misunderstandings of words, terms, meanings...I had no idea her command of language was completely separate from her comprehension leaving her to say some things.....anyway; things are great. I'm happy in the end! I hope all of you had a nice V-day as well!

That was my Vday!

Glad things are looking better for you!

It is indeed an "aha" moment when you realize that your significant other does not comprehend English as well as she verbally communicates it. Sometimes you may be talking about something and assume she understands you, when in fact she is wondering what the heck you are talking about. I have been guilty of this fact many times in the past. Fortunately, my wife knows me well enough now that we do not have this problem very often now.

[scandal 951]

I am going to the state of Illinois. I think I will need some light winter clothes too.

Congratulations on your visa, and your upcoming arrival in the US. The current weather in Chicago is 15F (-9C) with a brisk wind this morning. But, this is getting towards the end of the really cold weather. There will still be snow throughout March but it usually is coldest in Jan and Feb.

Where in Illinois are you going to live?If it's in the Chicago area, PM me. I am waiting for my (Thai) fiancee's visa too, hoping that she will be able to come here in May. It could be fun to get together with you and your husband this summer.

[cheryl & jim 0]

I am going to the state of Illinois. I think I will need some light winter clothes too.

Congratulations on your visa, and your upcoming arrival in the US. The current weather in Chicago is 15F (-9C) with a brisk wind this morning. But, this is getting towards the end of the really cold weather. There will still be snow throughout March but it usually is coldest in Jan and Feb.

Where in Illinois are you going to live?If it's in the Chicago area, PM me. I am waiting for my (Thai) fiancee's visa too, hoping that she will be able to come here in May. It could be fun to get together with you and your husband this summer.

Thank you very much. I am going to live in Moline Illinois. Your fiancee will probably get her visa next month....good luck!

I hope it will not be that cold anymore in April. I am sure it will be a weather shock for us coming from tropical countries.

[HYENA 4]

My Valentines day

I had an OK VD except my gifts backfired completely...really badly! I posted on Thaivisa but apparently you're barred from criticizing anyone, even scamsters if they advertise on the website..giving them an endless supply of victims while being assured the moderators will delete and warn any posts even if it's a blatant scam. I'm very disappointed in thaivisa. I guess I'll test the waters here and see if I'm allowed to let others know what happened on my V-day.

FOREVER FLORIST BANGKOK, THAILAND

1. I ordered a flower vase and a fruit basket

2. Confirmation email showed 2 identical flower orders

3. I contacted Nittaya by phone...phone went dead

4. Immediately emailed saying "answer your phone please there's been a mistake," I didn't order 2 flowers, etc

5. Called back and left a phone message and immediately got an email response (funny how that works) claiming their "call center is closed" little shop it is, what "call center"? Her email maintained I ordered 2 identical flowers so I copied my pay pal receipt proving I ordered 1 fruit 1 flower

6. I email again asking who in their right mind would send 2 identical orders, she emails back maintaining I ordered 2 identical flowers. I demand to speak to her show her the payment amounts (different amounts can't be identical orders)

7. email "sorry but your order has gone out" so I ordered another fruit basket asking her to combine flowers to one so it wouldn't look stupid realizing she's going to do what she wants anyway (only in Thailand)

8. duplicate orders of DEAD...BONE DEAD FLOWERS ARRIVED (I have photos) with degrading message (no kidding), incorrect spelling of recipient's name and message was written "down" to the recipient, if you know what I mean (nothing like I ordered)

9. Receive email saying fruit cannot be delivered until the 16th (this was Valentines day, the 14th) giving me only 1 hour to cancel order. I was 7 minutes late to my computer (mind you, calling and leaving many messages beggint to speak to her since I knew she could hear them)

10. I send email, call telling of the dead flowers (which was completely ignored despite their "24 hour service"...scammed again, I think) and threaten a payment dispute (ignored)

11. They took pictures of dead flowers and since I'm not in Thailand (and I don't tolerate this BS) and since neither PayPal or Visa tolerates this BS/childish games, either I filed a dispute (which means pay pal yanks the money back and waits for proof). yes, I've got 48 certifiably DEAD flowers and a degrading message for proof (OK, to be honest, 3 out of 48 flowers were OK) and these were not cheap!

12. Once the money was pulled back pending review, Nittaya instantaneously emails me calls me a fraudster still refusing to look at the pay pal receipt showing my original order (1 flower 1 fruit). Suddenly her "call center" is opened and calls my fiancee (Valentines/Birthday party going on...all are shocked at the dead flowers, vindictive message) and she wants to take them back, rushes a driver over (I told her we were taking pics of her dead flowers and posting on the internet) the driver is also shocked...they're really dead flowers, he said! "No wonder you're not happy, look at them" got a good laugh for the other 7 people there (I was attending via webcam...best I can do).

I post this on thaivisa where I found these clowns, post is deleted no one tells me why so I post againtrying to warn others and prevent losing money and spoiling their occasion then I get a message telling me to contact the company if I have any problems, I'm not allowed to pose about sponsors (read 1-12 above...that's what I was doing all night for 8 hours, trying to prevent a preventable error with these idiots)...anyway, I'm shocked at thaivisa for blind support and censorship, unhappy that forever florist messed up a good surprise and turned it into a headache by choice screwing up a gift (not to mention their vindictive behavior). Forgot to mentionl thaivisa forum rules say nothing about mentioning sponsors if they're of ill repute so I guess there are unwritten rules there, as well.

In the end, my fiancee and i were able to communicate better than we ever had....ever! I learned sooo much that had been misunderstood neither of us had a clue and ironed out major problems which turned out to be nonexistent only due to misunderstandings of words, terms, meanings...I had no idea her command of language was completely separate from her comprehension leaving her to say some things.....anyway; things are great. I'm happy in the end! I hope all of you had a nice V-day as well!

That was my Vday!

Glad things are looking better for you!

It is indeed an "aha" moment when you realize that your significant other does not comprehend English as well as she verbally communicates it. Sometimes you may be talking about something and assume she understands you, when in fact she is wondering what the heck you are talking about. I have been guilty of this fact many times in the past. Fortunately, my wife knows me well enough now that we do not have this problem very often now.

I appreciate your comments. Yes, an aha moment for sure! If I had seen her more recently, we wouldn't have this problem. Now I'm looking at the prospect of getting married march 21 (lucky) since I read on another post April was not lucky and I'd like to be traditionally sensitive as possible.

I told her if I could see her and she could see me, our past problems would be next to nil or at least minimal (since multicultural relationships are unique unto themselves and any relationship will have challenges as it is).

So...she's talking 50k for wedding, 30 guests. I figure the guest number would double (I told her the farang factor). Luckily we'll bypass the 9 monks. She said we'll go to the temple and do out biddings there, then get married by a village elder.

One thing is communication. She hasn't told me much about the ceremony...even told mom in law we wouldn't be doing the golden/silver gate ceremony (give money to the gatekeepers). They understood but were sad. WHen i asked her about this tradition, she said we weren't doing it and her family was cool about it but understood (note--this is a marriage ceremony--no paper, as many of us have done before a k1 visa and the real thing here)...even thought this is the real thing from their view.

So....once I became aware of the gate ceremony, etc, I told her yes, we could do it and she was so thrilled, she hung up to call her family. I told her in the future to run things by me and tell me about how it will work, what happens, etc. I told her I was only learning by internet sites. She's not a fan of internet sites (since I've read some bad stuff that also got me cold feet and caused problems).

Still, I'm mostly in the dark and I need to take my own advice; let her do it all and ask as I become aware. She's been telling everyone gifts are not necessary but I told her yes we could do gifts (but keep it cheap). Since everyone's so poor, I'd feel bad if someone made a great sacrifice to give us a gift and we didn't return the money in some form (how do we know how much someone's going to give and how much to stuff the envelopes)? That sort of thing bothers me a little. Whatever they give, it will be far greater sacrifice than I will have made...but having said that, I have a real US wedding to think about.

It is all sooo complicated!

I want everyone to have fun. She's not sure about doing Morlam (a band) but I want everyone happy. I think we'll end up settling on no booze, inexpensive ceremony, family wants to do all the food for us...ughh! I just don't want to have an "international incident" by my not knowing what to do.

She told me stuff envelopes with 300 baht to give to people as I march to her house, etc (I'll sleep at a cousin's house the night before).

I really don't know anything!

Side note: I called USCIS and begged them for a decision. Being robotic as they are, she did put in an inquiry and a "rush request"? I told her I had a plane ticket but no NOA2 yet and it's been 6 months...but my RFE added 60 more days. I told her I understand their guidelines, etc but I'm human, I miss my teerak, we'd been having stress from the distance and I don't have to money to go out, come back and go to get her when the visa comes and can she please help (please)?

We'll see but so far, looks like I'm going out there in a few weeks and will be returning alone (

another side note: I HATE WINTER!!

Edited February 20, 2009 by HYENA

[ThaitoUSA 15]

I've never heard of the couple handing envelopes of money to the guests, though I am certain it does happen the other way in Thailand i.e. the couple receives envelopes stuffed with cash as gifts.

Anyone ever hear of this being practiced in Thailand?

[AaronLV 12]

I have never heard of handing out money either, we certainly did not at our ceremony.

She's been telling everyone gifts are not necessary but I told her yes we could do gifts (but keep it cheap).

Gifts are usual,l but the gifts are not based on what was given. We bought towels for everyone, which I was told was fairly common. So everyone who came was given a towel, and we also gave out bottles of coke, fanta, whiskey, and at the end of the day when people who did not make the ceremony came by we would give them left over pork (I bought two pigs for the ceremony), and other food items, and more soda.

[afisher 0]

Guests give money to you.

[AaronLV 12]

We made it to Las Vegas at about 2:00 am last night (Thursday)

We landed in LA at 8pm. and went to immigration, took us about 45 minutes to clear immigration, the lines were not to long, their were 3 officers at the line we got in, and I was watching each one process the visitors, I was hoping for a particular one, cause the other ones seemed a bit grumpy. We got the good one, both of us walked up together, I handed him our passports and the "brown" envelope, and told him we were there on K1, he said no problem, let me process your passport first. Put me in the computer handed it back. Then he put hers in and she only needed to finger print her right hand, and then take a picture. He opened the packet looked for the A#, put it on the back of the I94, gave her back her passport, and said to me you know you two have to get married in 90 days. I said yep. Away we went.

Got our 5 bags each about 25Kg, and headed over to get the rental car, the line was slow took about 45 minutes and then we were on the road. She speaks pretty good enbglish and it was funny about 15 minutes on the road and she remarks, I am going to have to carry my dictionary everywhere with me (I bought her an electronic one while in Bangkok).

So far there have been quite a few little amusing things, but probably the funniest is everytime we go to the car, she always goes to the drivers side.

We basically slept the entire day until about 5pm, returned the rental car and then headed out to dinner, now I am ready to sleep some more. Spending 3 months over there really plays with the internal clock.

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

Need some quick help here folks, regarding the P-3..

I'm sure this has been talked about before.

the Embassy said they sent the P-3 on jan.29.

We havent received it as of yet.

I downloaded the info from the website and the forms say to return, with the checklist,

the checklist signed

ds-230 part 1

passport photocopy

2 photos

and then at interview, bring:

DS-230 part 1

DS-157

DS-156K for K-1 (we're K3 so dont need)

I-134

special instructions

photographs

it appears there is some confusion going on.

Does the I-134 NOW need to be sent in with the checklist?

the other forms as well? For those of you who recently went through this, what did you do?

thanks

Frank

[ThaitoUSA 15]

Recent approvals, I believe including Aaron, have said that ALL forms need to be returned with the checklist, except any original documents, such as birth certificate and/or evidence such as receipts.

Perhaps someone else could chime in. We will be going through this soon ourselves, so I am certainly interested.

[AaronLV 12]

I just dug out the paperwork from one of the bags we brought back with us, here is what the packet 3, she got sent in the mail says:

Step 2: Once you have all the documents in your possession, complete and sign the checklist and return it with all the required documents on the checklist to the embassy by mail. (Do not hand carry the documents to the Embassy). Please mail us the original and photocopy of all the documents for yourself and each of your family members and we will be happy to return the original to you after the interview. Exception: For items with an asterisk * in front, you can submit only photocopies and present the originals at the interview

Checklist:

DS-230 Part I

DS-156

DS-157

DS-156K

* Passport

* Birth Certificates

* Unobtainable Birth Certificates

* Evidence of relationship (Note: At this stage, no need to mail this item, but you must present it at the interview)

Affidavit of Support

Police Records

Foreign Police Records

Court & Prison Records

Photographs: two 2x2

* Marriage Certificates

* Proof of custody of Minor Children

Verification of Unmarried status: Required if you have not registered a previous marriage

*Name Change Certificates

*Old Passports

Application Fee

That is the list of Documents along with which ones have an asterisk next to them.

Any other questions let me know.

Aaron

[birch- phuk_beer 0]

Damn, thisis just down right BS. if you go to the website and download the forms,

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/immigrant_vis...structions.html

it says the checklist, ds230 part 1, copy of passports, photos

ayeeeee...........

the embassy said they sent ours on Jan 29th. still havent gotten it.

At this rate, Im going to have to go to thailand just to get the damm P-3 together and sent in in one piece.