Thailand Thread

[daboyz 36]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/209871/a-birthday-to-remember

God help Thailand when that loser takes over with his 18 wives etc.

[Kang Lang 7]

See, that is where I think the problem will come in. I know she will never get a tourist visa and she is not an au pair now. She is a manager for a major hotel there so no experience in child care. I am still researching options but doesn't look like it will be easy.

it will be unlikely that she will get the b-2 without very significant ties, it's tough! good luck, keep us posted as to how it goes though.

[Danger Fire 1]

I have booked tickets online with Air Asia a few times. The last time was earlier this year. I have no problems with most airlines, but I have to call my bank in order to complete transactions with one particular airline (not Air Asia). It is worth a call to your bank to see if they can help.

[thongd4me 69]

Thaivisa.com - free downloadable calendar

[lvriesling 11]

I recently returned from a visit to the Siam Square area of Bangkok, and I can happily report that Central World is more or less fully operational. It looks like there is still some construction going on along the exterior walls facing Rajdamri Road and Thanon Rama 1, but the interior is gorgeous and 100% open for business. Between Isetan Department Store and Rajdamri Road there are some lovely and well-attended religious shrines , and just south of the religious shrines there are two 150-200 person beer cafes from two competing beer producers which are very actively operating very late into the night, often with bands on stage. Across the street there is a large Big C which is still closed and under repair - workers are actively repairing the exterior every morning. There is a much smaller Big C nearby (close to the Super Rich money exchanges) which is open, but only with a tiny product selection. But Rajdamri Road is very active and full of life, and Siam Square in general is very happy and lively. Crime rate in the Siam Square area was nonexistent, 24/7 - no American city that I'm aware of is anywhere near this peaceful! I had a great experience and I highly recommend Siam Square to anyone travelling to Bangkok!

[Kang Lang 7]

welcome lvriesling! was this your first trip to thailand? at any rate congrats on your marriage wishing you a speedy adjudication and family reunification.

[lvriesling 11]

welcome lvriesling! was this your first trip to thailand? at any rate congrats on your marriage wishing you a speedy adjudication and family reunification.

First trip, but definitely not the last - we'll be returning to Bangkok to visit her family in 2 years! Thanks for your support !

[thongd4me 69]

First trip, but definitely not the last - we'll be returning to Bangkok to visit her family in 2 years! Thanks for your support !

You're a fast mover; it took us 7 years before we were ready to bring her to the US - she had a responsible job and

a son who was still in the university so I didn't push things and she didn't push things because my divorce took forever.

Best of luck

[lvriesling 11]

I bought a (South Florida) house this past May and we both want to populate it with children , so we're working hard to get her visa approved as quickly as possible !

[daboyz 36]

Wife has been in Thailand for a month. She gets back Tuesday. Guess I'd better clear out all the hookers and pick up all the empty beer cans.

[thongd4me 69]

Wife has been in Thailand for a month. She gets back Tuesday. Guess I'd better clear out all the hookers and pick up all the empty beer cans.

Good work Sheleen!

[Kang Lang 7]

First trip, but definitely not the last - we'll be returning to Bangkok to visit her family in 2 years! Thanks for your support !

wish you a speedy process. iirc as soon as you get noa2 it goes warp speed. make sure to save all the particulars from your trip, boarding passes, travel itinerary, any registrations at hotels etc with both names. pictures of one spouse with the other persons family. definitely keep all emails, and utilize a phone service that allows you to print records. i also seem to remember over the last few years that the c.o.'s have wanted to see two way communication so have your wife phone you as well.

not sure what the approvals are looking like these days the thai group has been pretty quiet from new members trying to come out of the visa processing stage. i imagine though if it was as rough as it was about a year ago, folks would have found the gang here.

any questions along the way just ask, there are a experts here. rin and john, toma1 and daboyz between the three of them seem to know it all and will help out.

btw any trips planned before the interview. i'm not suggesting it's necessary but it certainly couldn't hurt given how rapidly you two married.

again best of luck to you.

[thongd4me 69]

Wikileaks has been working it's magic in the Land of Smiles apparently.

This chop at the Queen (who indeed seems to have had a separate political agenda

from her husband the king) seems timed to assure chaos following the death of the king,

as the crown prince is far from beloved as the king is.

Sirikit queen of killer bees wanted to be the first ruling power grabber Queen after hubby died

(AFP)—LONDON – A former Thai prime minister with close ties to fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra accused the queen of being behind a 2006 coup that ousted his ally, a leaked US diplomatic cable showed.

Samak Sundaravej ‘showed disdain for Queen Sirikit, claiming that she had been responsible for the 2006 coup d’etat…,’ according to the October 2008 memo from the US embassy in Bangkok, obtained by British daily The Guardian from the WikiLeaks website.

‘Samak viewed himself as loyal to the King, but implied that the Queen’s political agenda differened (sic) from her husband’s,’ according to the confidential diplomatic note, posted on The Guardian’s website.

Queen Sirikit is the wife of Thailand’s deeply-revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Any discussion of the royal family is an extremely sensitive topic in the politically turbulent country, where insulting the monarchy is a serious offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

Samak took power in Thailand’s first elections after the 2006 coup that toppled his ally Thaksin, who lives overseas to avoid a prison term for corruption. The kingdom has been riven by political unrest since the overthrow of Thaksin, whose ‘Red Shirt’ supporters staged mass street protests in Bangkok in April and May that sparked violence which left more than 90 people dead.

Samak spent seven months in office, marked by mass demonstrations staged by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a royalist movement better known as the ‘Yellow Shirts’ – rivals of the Reds. The colourful right-winger was forced from office in September 2008 for accepting payments for appearing in television cooking shows. He died of liver cancer in November 2009 at the age of 74.

The queen's political manoeuverings have been well documented in The King Never Smiles.

[thongd4me 69]

Wikileaks has been working it's magic in the Land of Smiles apparently.

This chop at the Queen (who indeed seems to have had a separate political agenda

from her husband the king) seems timed to assure chaos following the death of the king,

as the crown prince is far from beloved as the king is.

Sirikit queen of killer bees wanted to be the first ruling power grabber Queen after hubby died

The queen's political manoeuverings have been well documented in The King Never Smiles.

This calls for a round of the "who do we blame" game =>>

1) The King & the Thai monarchy in general

2) The Queen

3) US diplomats for whatever role they may or may not have had in this.

4) Samak (the dead guy who was booted from the Prime Ministership because of a cooking show)

4) Julian Assange

Feel free to jump in...

[Kang Lang 7]

i think thailand will become a very very scary place when the king passes away. we hadn't talked as much about it until recently but we are considering trying to move my in laws here after my husband gets his citizenship.