SAWASDEE 3 (2009 Thai thread restarted)

[Noi3125 1]

Welcome back Hyena.

Wow, this forum has taken a turn the last couple days. I do enjoy seeing the different perspectives on Thai politics. I have no opinion except for that I don't think protesting is the answer and I don't think it helps anything. I am living in the Isaan, and my previous years of living in Thailand have all been in the Isaan. My husband is amoung the people who think Taksin did good things for his people. He said all leaders and police he has ever met are corrupt, Taksin amoung them. But as Hyena mentioned Taksin is the only one who ever took much notice of the Isaan people, besides the king. There was a lot of social development that occured during the time of Taksin, despite the fact he was corrupt. He started the yellow card... of 5 baht for health care, 500 a month for elderly citizens, a village a million baht for microfinancing within each village, the skytrain, free city buses, these are just the beginning of the benefits which the Isaan and all poorer people saw of Taksin's policy's. The reason they don't want to wait out Abihisit is because of the military type regime they understand he represents and they are afraid he will change laws to make Thailand return to a dictorship type goverment. If they kick him out now their thought is to prevent that. It was mentioned that the red-shirts are paid by Taksin to protest, Taksin paid for food and other ammenities but it is not nearly as paid for as the yellow-shirt protests were. People in this area being desparate for easy money (like so many here are) went and protested to be paid as a yellow shirt. They were given free food and 500 a day, according to people here who came back from the protests... another example of corruption through many levels of societ. In addition people who were hurt in the yellow shirt protests were given some sort of grievance fund from the queen, including the woman who was a suicide bomber. I think that overall the whole situation is corrupt... my opinion is both sides are wrong, and I hope for the sake of the Thais they find some solution which doesn't include protesting.

About sawasdee... in thai there are only certain sounds which are pronounced as final consanants. S... is not one of them. Thus when s (saw suea) is a final consant (of a syllable, not just a word) it is pronounced as a d (daw dek) so it wouls be sa wad dee. Similarly if l (law ling) is a final consant it is pronounced as n (naw noo). The reason for the h's are to distinguish between different letters of the Thai alaphabet with smiliar english pronunciations. My husband's last name was originally spelled by the government with a ph... to be pronounced as a p, we decided to change it so that it would be spelled in a way that it would more likely be pronounced correctly in English and had a big argument with all the oficials that we were spelling it wrong.

I haven't heard anything from the Embassy. They are closed for Songkran through today, but we have to catch the train today. Abisit issued two more days off for civil servants and goverment offices but said that other businesses such as banks could decide themselves. I don't know where that leaves the U.S. embassy I guess we will find out tomorrow morning after we arrive to Bangkok.

Hopefully they will be open for the benefit of everyone whose case is currently at the embassy.

Hyena, through a long story I have had contact with my reprepresentative rather than my sentetor. While I didn't have any problem with my case they were very nice and seemed like if I did have a problem they would try their very best to help. I don't know if it would be more individualized because of the smaller number of constiuents or not. Hopefully you get an NOA2 soon.

Hope everyone (themselves and or their SOs) had a good Songkran.

Take care,

Noi

[daboyz 36]

Welcome back Hyena.

Wow, this forum has taken a turn the last couple days. I do enjoy seeing the different perspectives on Thai politics. I have no opinion except for that I don't think protesting is the answer and I don't think it helps anything. I am living in the Isaan, and my previous years of living in Thailand have all been in the Isaan. My husband is amoung the people who think Taksin did good things for his people. He said all leaders and police he has ever met are corrupt, Taksin amoung them. But as Hyena mentioned Taksin is the only one who ever took much notice of the Isaan people, besides the king. There was a lot of social development that occured during the time of Taksin, despite the fact he was corrupt. He started the yellow card... of 5 baht for health care, 500 a month for elderly citizens, a village a million baht for microfinancing within each village, the skytrain, free city buses, these are just the beginning of the benefits which the Isaan and all poorer people saw of Taksin's policy's. The reason they don't want to wait out Abihisit is because of the military type regime they understand he represents and they are afraid he will change laws to make Thailand return to a dictorship type goverment. If they kick him out now their thought is to prevent that. It was mentioned that the red-shirts are paid by Taksin to protest, Taksin paid for food and other ammenities but it is not nearly as paid for as the yellow-shirt protests were. People in this area being desparate for easy money (like so many here are) went and protested to be paid as a yellow shirt. They were given free food and 500 a day, according to people here who came back from the protests... another example of corruption through many levels of societ. In addition people who were hurt in the yellow shirt protests were given some sort of grievance fund from the queen, including the woman who was a suicide bomber. I think that overall the whole situation is corrupt... my opinion is both sides are wrong, and I hope for the sake of the Thais they find some solution which doesn't include protesting.

About sawasdee... in thai there are only certain sounds which are pronounced as final consanants. S... is not one of them. Thus when s (saw suea) is a final consant (of a syllable, not just a word) it is pronounced as a d (daw dek) so it wouls be sa wad dee. Similarly if l (law ling) is a final consant it is pronounced as n (naw noo). The reason for the h's are to distinguish between different letters of the Thai alaphabet with smiliar english pronunciations. My husband's last name was originally spelled by the government with a ph... to be pronounced as a p, we decided to change it so that it would be spelled in a way that it would more likely be pronounced correctly in English and had a big argument with all the oficials that we were spelling it wrong.

I haven't heard anything from the Embassy. They are closed for Songkran through today, but we have to catch the train today. Abisit issued two more days off for civil servants and goverment offices but said that other businesses such as banks could decide themselves. I don't know where that leaves the U.S. embassy I guess we will find out tomorrow morning after we arrive to Bangkok.

Hopefully they will be open for the benefit of everyone whose case is currently at the embassy.

Hyena, through a long story I have had contact with my reprepresentative rather than my sentetor. While I didn't have any problem with my case they were very nice and seemed like if I did have a problem they would try their very best to help. I don't know if it would be more individualized because of the smaller number of constiuents or not. Hopefully you get an NOA2 soon.

Hope everyone (themselves and or their SOs) had a good Songkran.

Take care,

Noi

I would like to take a few issues with this. I agree that the Isaan people have been left out of politics for a long time. They are considered second class citizens not only in Thailand, but here in the U.S. with U.S. based Thais. This REALLY annoys me.

My personal feeling is that Thaksin only cares about Thaksin. He did the 30 baht medical care thing. I consider that more of his vote buying strategy. Isaan people think that Thaksin is their savior while he robs the country blind for his own benefit.

1. Temasek deal with Singapore

He sold AIS, Shinsat, and Shincorp to the Singapore govt. He didn't pay one baht in taxes on that sale. They are still trying to dissect that transaction. I suspect more tax evasion charges will come from that.

2. Racthidaphisek land deal

His wife Potjamin bought that property for THB 750 million on a Tuesday from the Thai government. She sold it on a Thursday for 1.5 billion Baht 2 days later. This was while her husband was PM. She was found guilty for this. If he is ever man enough to face the music, I am sure he would be found guilty as well.

3. His so called "war on drugs" in '03 and '04. He sent para-military groups to Chaing Rai and killed 2500 people with no trial.

4. On Friday he calls for a "revolution" Today he says he wants peace after his supporters lost.

5. Thaksin and his wife have both been tried and convicted of their crimes.

6. He is using these "red shirt" people from Isaan for his own benefit while he sits in his luxury suite in Dubai.

I have another 4 or 5 I can instances of things he did. I think 6 points are enough.

The thing that rings in my head the most was the day he was re-elected by a landslide in 2006 because none of the other parties wanted to participate in his rigged elections. He went on TV at 5 PM arrogant as ever. The King rang him up and wanted to see him. 2 hours later he was on national TV crying.

I really applaud the Thai security forces for the job they did yesterday.

Thailand is bigger than one crook who hides in the Middle East. I think even the red shirts are understanding that now. This is a huge opportunity for Abhisit to make good with the people in Isaan.

I would love it if tomorrow I went and stuck up a bank, and then could fly to Dubai and live a good life. This not reality. Mr. T stuck up the government and people of Thailand.... and he got away with it.

If I was him, I would take whatever ill-gotten gains he has, and move on.

[scandal 951]

Welcome back Hyena.

...

I haven't heard anything from the Embassy. They are closed for Songkran through today, but we have to catch the train today. Abisit issued two more days off for civil servants and goverment offices but said that other businesses such as banks could decide themselves. I don't know where that leaves the U.S. embassy I guess we will find out tomorrow morning after we arrive to Bangkok.

Hopefully they will be open for the benefit of everyone whose case is currently at the embassy.

Take care,

Noi

Welcome back Hyena! You've been missed here. Hope your case gets moving quickly

Noi - according to the embassy website: The Embassy will be closed April 13 - 15 for Songkran. We will be open for business on April 16 and 17.

I think you should be fine. Good luck with the interview, please let us know how it goes!

[*Robert* 2]

Hyena, concerning your rant about prejudice, I feel you are going to have real problems if you ever bring your fiancée to the US. If you can’t handle the prejudice in Thailand, how will you handle it here? Do you think that Thailand is the only Asian country with the prejudice you talked about? What about all the prejudice that still exists here in the US?

I have lived and worked in the Philippines and Taiwan, along with visiting many other Asian and Pacific countries, and they all do the same thing. You are right about the people here in the US wanting darker skin and the Asians wanting lighter skin, but the reasons are not even close to being the same. In Asia, if you have dark skin, it means you are a “blue collar” worker and have to work out in the sun, but if you have light skin, you are a “white collar” worker that sits inside a building all day. Here in the US its about beauty, or wanting to look like you have the time and money to sit out on a beach or the deck of a boat somewhere getting a tan.

It always concerns me when I hear you going off on the food, language, and customs of Thailand. If they bother you so much, why the hell are you trying to marry someone from there? Do you think you are rescuing her? Bringing her here to the US does not guarantee her happiness. Not everyone believes life is golden here in the US.

I think someone had a good idea about starting another thread in the Asia forum for your rants, rather than filling up this thread, which should primarily be about immigration and positive new and information. I for one liked it when I didn’t have to go through pages of ####### to read the more appropriate posts. As one of the original members of the first and second SAWASDEE threads, I’d like to see them continue to be used for what they were intended for.

One other thing… and this is for everyone; when replying to posts, don’t quote the whole post if it’s not relevant, especially the overly verbose ones, like this one is now becoming. All it does is take up more space and make it harder to read through the thread.

Thanks, Robert

[daboyz 36]

Good point. To add to that, this is the Thailand K-1 thread so conversation here should be limited to K-1 only and not K-3 or CR-1/IR-1.

[AaronLV 12]

Good point. To add to that, this is the Thailand K-1 thread so conversation here should be limited to K-1 only and not K-3 or CR-1/IR-1.

Someone had suggested a while ago that this thread really should be moved to the Asia Pacific forums. It makes a lot of sense to me with topics that go on in this thread.

[daboyz 36]

Good point. To add to that, this is the Thailand K-1 thread so conversation here should be limited to K-1 only and not K-3 or CR-1/IR-1.

Someone had suggested a while ago that this thread really should be moved to the Asia Pacific forums. It makes a lot of sense to me with topics that go on in this thread.

I suggested that. Oh well.

[daboyz 36]

New thread.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=2842569

[*Robert* 2]

Good point. To add to that, this is the Thailand K-1 thread so conversation here should be limited to K-1 only and not K-3 or CR-1/IR-1.

Scott, there certainly isn't any problem with people discussing other types of visas on this thread, as there are a lot of similarities. I for one am glad you have been an active poster on this thread. I even agree with your political views! I noted your suggestion before and certainly felt it was a good one.

[scandal 951]

One other thing… and this is for everyone; when replying to posts, don’t quote the whole post if it’s not relevant, especially the overly verbose ones, like this one is now becoming. All it does is take up more space and make it harder to read through the thread.

Thanks, Robert

AYE AYE, el capitan!

Sorry if I come off snarky... I actually agree with this. I occasionally post monstrous streams of consciousness myself (e.g. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...&p=2827328) and I cringe when someone quotes the whole darn thing to add just a few words, even if I appreciate those words (e.g. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...&p=2827438).

One thing I've noticed about certain other beneficiary nations, particularly Philippines, Canada, MENA - they get an entire forum in which to start new threads.

How come Sawasdee needs to be a single long thread anyway? If we could start dedicated topics in their own threads it might organize all this stuff more easily.

[scandal 951]

Good point. To add to that, this is the Thailand K-1 thread so conversation here should be limited to K-1 only and not K-3 or CR-1/IR-1.

Scott, there certainly isn't any problem with people discussing other types of visas on this thread, as there are a lot of similarities. I for one am glad you have been an active poster on this thread. I even agree with your political views! I noted your suggestion before and certainly felt it was a good one.

I agree -- about this thread being about far more than K-1 issues. And also about the value of Scott/daboyz being an active member. Ah heck, I feel that way about all u guys n gals! Ain't this a great kumbaya moment? [Aside: I went out for drinks after work tonight, so this is definitely not "me" talking here.. I'll be shaking my head in the morning when sober and reading this, I'm sure]

As to politics - well let's just say it's much more fun when we don't all agree about politics. Life would be too boring if we all thought the same

[*Robert* 2]

One thing I've noticed about certain other beneficiary nations, particularly Philippines, Canada, MENA - they get an entire forum in which to start new threads.

How come Sawasdee needs to be a single long thread anyway? If we could start dedicated topics in their own threads it might organize all this stuff more easily.

Well we can use the Asia: East and Pacific (Except China) forum, and Daboyz has started a Thailand thread, but we can certainly start more than one thread there. As for the other groups... I think we are outnumbered!

[daboyz 36]

One thing I've noticed about certain other beneficiary nations, particularly Philippines, Canada, MENA - they get an entire forum in which to start new threads.

How come Sawasdee needs to be a single long thread anyway? If we could start dedicated topics in their own threads it might organize all this stuff more easily.

Well we can use the Asia: East and Pacific (Except China) forum, and Daboyz has started a Thailand thread, but we can certainly start more than one thread there. As for the other groups... I think we are outnumbered!

Laugh. Brushing up om my Tagalog.

[bill13060 0]

One thing I've noticed about certain other beneficiary nations, particularly Philippines, Canada, MENA - they get an entire forum in which to start new threads.

How come Sawasdee needs to be a single long thread anyway? If we could start dedicated topics in their own threads it might organize all this stuff more easily.

Well we can use the Asia: East and Pacific (Except China) forum, and Daboyz has started a Thailand thread, but we can certainly start more than one thread there. As for the other groups... I think we are outnumbered!

Laugh. Brushing up om my Tagalog.

Thats how i feel at work!!!!!!

Edited April 16, 2009 by will92104

[*Robert* 2]

Well we can use the Asia: East and Pacific (Except China) forum, and Daboyz has started a Thailand thread, but we can certainly start more than one thread there. As for the other groups... I think we are outnumbered!

Laugh. Brushing up om my Tagalog.

Thats how i feel at work!!!!!!

You're going to have to elaborate on that one! Where do you work, and are you saying your surrounded by Filipino's?!