Sawasdee 4 (Thai K-1s in 2010)

[Daryl&Jeep 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....

Not sure if i am a Issan expert..........but i have alot of first hand knowlage from living there for close to 5 years. I would be careful as saving face in Thailand is more important than any marriage that i know of. And parents are the most powerful thing to deal with in that country when it comes to what they think their children should or shouldn't do has nothing to do with love. Good luck and hope things turn out well for you.

[rsn 135]

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....

I can't imagine anyone suggesting you do anything other than walk away and put this behind you. There are other fish in the sea - this one is not for you.

[toma1 10]

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....

You don't have to be a Thai culture expert for this one, gbagbo.

The secrets are:

1. Her dad called you rather than that she called you herself.

2. "THEY think that SHE made a decision and needs to not give up."

3. "THEY also worry about losing face..."

Sorry to tell you this gbagbo, but I would run away from this situation as fast as I could. Also, isn't this the second time she's done this? You don't need to be in a marriage with someone that is not SURE. If by any chance you go against this recommendation--and I hope you don't--AT LEAST delay things for a year. At least you will have a chance to see this for what it is.

He probably ordered her to marry you, as a failed engagement is about as big a black mark as a family can have. (It's even a bigger loss of face for Five, BTW.) But she broke it off, so you should probably let her deal with those issues. The loss of face was created by her, not you.

[SqdnGuns 21]

Sorry to hear this............I have to agree with rsn and toma1. The deision can be excruciating but you have to think long term. Good luck............

On a side note, I leave for BKK and then on to Surin tonight from LAX. Taking Thai Air so it is a direct flight but I get in after the train leaves for Surin so the wife and son will meet at the airport and spend the night in BKK. I have not seen them since March 17th, I cannot wait!!

[gbagbo 0]

Thank you everyone for all your inputs.

[ArizonaMike74 0]

I know some of this info has been mentioned before but I thought I would post anyway for those who have recently married or will soon. I wanted to have Thai TV available in my home so I did some research. Not so much for Mimi because she can understand most American TV (they do talk too fast sometimes but if I turn on English subtitles she'll be OK), but for my visiting soon to be Mother-In-Law since she speaks very little English. I tried a few web sites but even with a high speed internet connection the streams were horrible (they paused every five seconds).

I ended up buying a fixed dish satellite system from Galaxy-Marketing.com for $218.65 with shipping. I paid a local satellite guy $150 to install it so I'm out about $370 but it's all free-to-air broadcasting so there is no monthly bill. They have about seven Thai stations, mostly American produced but Thai speaking broadcasts, on the Galaxy 19 satellite. One of the channels is TGN which is the exact same broadcast as in Thailand (I called her while watching a cooking show to verify it was the same). I noticed there is a new station called "Lakorn Thai" which means it is a station dedicated to broadcasting Thai Soap Operas - it's sure to make Mimi's mom happy...LOL.

I know that there is an argument to be made for total English immersion upon arrival but I think that your significant other would really appreciate having some connection to Thailand in their new home - even if just for Thai news. I know how much I appreciated just being able to watch a little BBC or any English news broadcast while I was in Thailand.

Mike

[AdamW 2]

I know some of this info has been mentioned before but I thought I would post anyway for those who have recently married or will soon. I wanted to have Thai TV available in my home so I did some research. Not so much for Mimi because she can understand most American TV (they do talk too fast sometimes but if I turn on English subtitles she'll be OK), but for my visiting soon to be Mother-In-Law since she speaks very little English. I tried a few web sites but even with a high speed internet connection the streams were horrible (they paused every five seconds).

I ended up buying a fixed dish satellite system from Galaxy-Marketing.com for $218.65 with shipping. I paid a local satellite guy $150 to install it so I'm out about $370 but it's all free-to-air broadcasting so there is no monthly bill. They have about seven Thai stations, mostly American produced but Thai speaking broadcasts, on the Galaxy 19 satellite. One of the channels is TGN which is the exact same broadcast as in Thailand (I called her while watching a cooking show to verify it was the same). I noticed there is a new station called "Lakorn Thai" which means it is a station dedicated to broadcasting Thai Soap Operas - it's sure to make Mimi's mom happy...LOL.

I know that there is an argument to be made for total English immersion upon arrival but I think that your significant other would really appreciate having some connection to Thailand in their new home - even if just for Thai news. I know how much I appreciated just being able to watch a little BBC or any English news broadcast while I was in Thailand.

Mike

Good info!! Just ordered one.

[AdamW 2]

I know this is a K1 forum but it seems like the place where all of us "Thai" people hang out. Just for general knowledge, wife entered Houston Sept. 25th, received SSN 9 days later, and today (22nd) received her Green Card. Thought that was pretty quick for government business after the long protracted wait of the initial visa.

[daboyz 36]

I know this is a K1 forum but it seems like the place where all of us "Thai" people hang out. Just for general knowledge, wife entered Houston Sept. 25th, received SSN 9 days later, and today (22nd) received her Green Card. Thought that was pretty quick for government business after the long protracted wait of the initial visa.

Post in the Thai forum under asia/pac. Better that way. I brought this up a year or so ago. This while conversation should be there.

My wife got her SS card in two weeks. Green card came 2 weeks after that. Done finished!

[rin and john 71]

I know some of this info has been mentioned before but I thought I would post anyway for those who have recently married or will soon. I wanted to have Thai TV available in my home so I did some research. Not so much for Mimi because she can understand most American TV (they do talk too fast sometimes but if I turn on English subtitles she'll be OK), but for my visiting soon to be Mother-In-Law since she speaks very little English. I tried a few web sites but even with a high speed internet connection the streams were horrible (they paused every five seconds).

I ended up buying a fixed dish satellite system from Galaxy-Marketing.com for $218.65 with shipping. I paid a local satellite guy $150 to install it so I'm out about $370 but it's all free-to-air broadcasting so there is no monthly bill. They have about seven Thai stations, mostly American produced but Thai speaking broadcasts, on the Galaxy 19 satellite. One of the channels is TGN which is the exact same broadcast as in Thailand (I called her while watching a cooking show to verify it was the same). I noticed there is a new station called "Lakorn Thai" which means it is a station dedicated to broadcasting Thai Soap Operas - it's sure to make Mimi's mom happy...LOL.

I know that there is an argument to be made for total English immersion upon arrival but I think that your significant other would really appreciate having some connection to Thailand in their new home - even if just for Thai news. I know how much I appreciated just being able to watch a little BBC or any English news broadcast while I was in Thailand.

Mike

We've had www.thaitv.tv for the past three years. About three weeks ago it stopped working altogether (calls and e-mails received no response; they have since changed their homepage, no login page). Tried several of the "free" sites but none worked without "buffering" every five to ten seconds. Ended up subscribing for three months to www.mydootv.com. Rin absolutely loves it! Has alot more content than thaitv had. No problem with streaming video (no buffering issues). Also, shows that are live are available as recorded content within an hour (on thaitv it was usually about 24 hours later). Another benefit has been that it is possible for us to login to dootv from multiple computers at the same time (using the same login/subscription). Not possible with thaitv. Works well when the children and Rin want to watch different things!

With thaitv we had buffering/delay problems initially. Ended up being our modem supplied by Comcast. I went and purchased a Motorola cable modem/wireless router combo and the problem went away.

[ArizonaMike74 0]

We've had www.thaitv.tv for the past three years. About three weeks ago it stopped working altogether (calls and e-mails received no response; they have since changed their homepage, no login page). Tried several of the "free" sites but none worked without "buffering" every five to ten seconds. Ended up subscribing for three months to www.mydootv.com. Rin absolutely loves it! Has alot more content than thaitv had. No problem with streaming video (no buffering issues). Also, shows that are live are available as recorded content within an hour (on thaitv it was usually about 24 hours later). Another benefit has been that it is possible for us to login to dootv from multiple computers at the same time (using the same login/subscription). Not possible with thaitv. Works well when the children and Rin want to watch different things!

With thaitv we had buffering/delay problems initially. Ended up being our modem supplied by Comcast. I went and purchased a Motorola cable modem/wireless router combo and the problem went away.

It's good to know that there is an alternative out there for Thai TV. $95 for one year or $165 for two years isn't too expensive if it keeps working as well as you say it does. The recorded content would come in handy because of the time difference. I'm not sure what time Mimi's favorite soap opera will be on here in the USA...I fear I'll be waking up at 3:00am to watch some Lakorn Thai Thanks for the info.

Mike

[daboyz 36]

It's good to know that there is an alternative out there for Thai TV. $95 for one year or $165 for two years isn't too expensive if it keeps working as well as you say it does. The recorded content would come in handy because of the time difference. I'm not sure what time Mimi's favorite soap opera will be on here in the USA...I fear I'll be waking up at 3:00am to watch some Lakorn Thai Thanks for the info.

Mike

Thanks for that! Now the wife wants a dish! You're not helping me.

[rin and john 71]

It's good to know that there is an alternative out there for Thai TV. $95 for one year or $165 for two years isn't too expensive if it keeps working as well as you say it does. The recorded content would come in handy because of the time difference. I'm not sure what time Mimi's favorite soap opera will be on here in the USA...I fear I'll be waking up at 3:00am to watch some Lakorn Thai Thanks for the info.

Mike

Another benefit of internet tv - I am sitting here watching the Yankees and Rangers (go Rangers!) and she has the laptop watching thai television using headphones. With the satellite, you are setting up a showdown for the television...

(of course, you will lose)

[Tom and Teaw 1]

Thankfully, Teaw said not to spend the money for Thai TV. She just watches US TV or Thai movies on U Tube!! What a good woman!!!

[thongd4me 69]

Florida and Thailand - not so different as you may think!