Sawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)

[toma1 10]

Toma, how long are you going to be there? We will be driving over to Vegas from LAX Saturday afternoon. Meeting up with Aaron and his wife. Maybe we can all get together if you are still there.

Teaw got her SSI card in the mail TODAY...two days after we applied for it. No stamps or indications of limitations on working stamped on the card!! But she isn't going to work anyway so I am

not worried about it. Sending in the work authorization with the AOS just in case she gets bored before her GC gets here.

We just missed you, Tom--back home now. Have a great trip though. Hope you have better luck than my friends did!!

Surprised about the card! Maybe we should order a new one...

[Daryl&Jeep 0]

Thanks and hello to all the members !!

[AaronLV 12]

We just missed you, Tom--back home now. Have a great trip though. Hope you have better luck than my friends did!!

Surprised about the card! Maybe we should order a new one...

I am surprised it doesn't have "Not Authorized to work without DHS Approval". We had it on our card, and then after her friends had a problem at an employer not accepting the SS card with that on the card (even with an accompanying GC). We went and got a new SS card. The employer was using ADP as the payroll service and they rejected it.

[toma1 10]

Anyone else see this Marie Claire article?

http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/advice/tips/asian-trophy-wife

Perhaps it's because I haven't spent any time in Issan, but this passage was surprising, even to me:

"citing one phenomenon in the northeastern region of Thailand called Issan, where 15 percent of marriages are between young Thai women and Western men well into their 60s."

15%? Really? If this is just "Western men over 60", then what is the percentage for Western men of all ages?

Anyone have any insight as to whether this can possibly be accurate?

[rsn 135]

Anyone else see this Marie Claire article?

http://www.marieclai...ian-trophy-wife

Perhaps it's because I haven't spent any time in Issan, but this passage was surprising, even to me:

"citing one phenomenon in the northeastern region of Thailand called Issan, where 15 percent of marriages are between young Thai women and Western men well into their 60s."

15%? Really? If this is just "Western men over 60", then what is the percentage for Western men of all ages?

Anyone have any insight as to whether this can possibly be accurate?

I'm not sure it matters if you have spent any time in Issan. I guess I'm not surprised if this is true. Not sure what "young" means, though. Also not sure if this counts women from Issan who live elsewhere in Thailand, or women from Issan who have been married outside of Thailand, which both seem to be common.

Edited October 17, 2010 by rsn

[toma1 10]

I'm not sure it matters if you have spent any time in Issan.

I meant that even though I spend 1/4 of the year in Thailand, I haven't been specifically in Issan to notice whether this could be true. In Bangkok, even though there are a HUGE number of foreigners hanging around, the number of MARRIAGES to foreigners in general is nowhere near 15% let alone specifically to "foreigners over 60".

I guess I'm not surprised if this is true. Not sure what "young" means, though. Also not sure if this counts women from Issan who live elsewhere in Thailand, or women from Issan who have been married outside of Thailand, which both seem to be common.

The way it is worded it seems to mean "marriages in Issan", but, yeah, some details are not clear.

OK, well putting aside what young means, the sheer numbers here are beyond surprising to me. I would have been surprised to find that even 5% of the marriages in such a remote area were to ALL FOREIGNERS COMBINED.

[toma1 10]

Did everything with the packet that I sent in today. Yep, thought of it all!! And of course, I like to take advantage of anything that I can do for free!!!

Congrats... you can now change your "Filed for:" to "Adjustment of Status"!

[AdamW 2]

Sounds as if the author is a bitter woman from what I can take with her sarcastic tones and snide remarks. I can't really see 15% of marriages as she says. She does sound very bitter for some reason in this article.

[toma1 10]

Sounds as if the author is a bitter woman from what I can take with her sarcastic tones and snide remarks.

Except that she is also Asian.

I can't really see 15% of marriages as she says.

She is quoting another book.

Edited October 17, 2010 by toma1

[toma1 10]

I found the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/East-West-Sex-History-Encounters/dp/0375414096

You can click on "Look Inside" and then "Search inside this book" for "Issan".

The province in question is Udon Thani where--indeed--15% of the marriages are registered with foreigners. The "over 60" part appears to be a misquote.

It's pretty scathing, actually, so heads up on that.

[AaronLV 12]

I found the book here:

http://www.amazon.com/East-West-Sex-History-Encounters/dp/0375414096

You can click on "Look Inside" and then "Search inside this book" for "Issan".

The province in question is Udon Thani where--indeed--15% of the marriages are registered with foreigners. The "over 60" part appears to be a misquote.

It's pretty scathing, actually, so heads up on that.

The 15% doesn't surprise me, really when I saw the over 60, it wasn't very shocking either, I would have guessed it to be closer to 50+. When I have stayed up in the Issan area I have not run into any young westerners (50 and under). The 15% probably also comes from registered marriages in the province. I have heard a lot of the people in the villages never actually register their marriages, and I would guess the western men that liver there do register the marriage. I think most of the young men who marry Issan woman take them out of Thailand, and marry abroad, either not registering the marriage in Thailand, or not doing it til much later in life when they retire.

Just guesses...

[daboyz 36]

Anyone else see this Marie Claire article?

http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/advice/tips/asian-trophy-wife

Perhaps it's because I haven't spent any time in Issan, but this passage was surprising, even to me:

"citing one phenomenon in the northeastern region of Thailand called Issan, where 15 percent of marriages are between young Thai women and Western men well into their 60s."

15%? Really? If this is just "Western men over 60", then what is the percentage for Western men of all ages?

Anyone have any insight as to whether this can possibly be accurate?

Kind of a funny rebuttal to that article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/disgrasian/imarie-claireis-asian-tro_b_259102.html

[toma1 10]

Kind of a funny rebuttal to that article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/disgrasian/imarie-claireis-asian-tro_b_259102.html

Nice link. ACTUALLY, I think the best comment of the day is the comment on the rebuttal by SingleAsianMale.

Also the one by "IWantTofu" is kinda funny.

[toma1 10]

The 15% probably also comes from registered marriages in the province. I have heard a lot of the people in the villages never actually register their marriages, and I would guess the western men that liver there do register the marriage.

Ah... I think you may be exactly right about that. The Western guys need to register to get the immigration benefits. Excellent analysis Aaron.

[gbagbo 0]

Question for all you Thai culture experts. As most of you might know already Five told me over a week ago that she's not ready for marriage and I wasn't the right man for her etc.....

I canceled her ticket and luckily was able to get most of the money back.

Her dad called me Saturday and said that he hoped that I had not canceled the ticket because he wanted to take Five to the airport so that she could come. Her parents very much want her to go to states and be with me. They think that she's made a decision and needs to not give up. They also worry about losing face/honor in front of their whole family, friends, and co workers. Everyone knows that we're engaged. Had a big party there in May.

So I'm worried that Five might come back feeling pressured by her dad to come to Utah. Any secret to know if she has a real change of mind or if she's following her dad's orders?

At this point even if she says sorry and that she wants to come I'm not really sure I would want her to come....