SAWASDEE 2

[Dagobert 0]

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

[Thee_Rak 0]

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

I use a calling card from Cloncom.com and it's really cheap to Thailand. I buy $100 at a time and it's like 30 hours to her cell and more like 40 to a land line. I think I'll just keep using this on her line (when she gets here) and tell her just to call whenever she want's to talk with her mom or brothers or friends and not text. Besides I use T-Mobile and can text her in Thai (I have a Thai cell phone) but when she text's me in Thai it shows up here as giberish.

At 5 cents a min or whatever it is it's going to be cheaper to just let her call as much as she wants.

She and I text a bit but when she starts going crazy I just call and say "what do you want to talk about"

Quit texting and just talk... it's way cheaper!!!!!

[Thee_Rak 0]

Okay so the interview is over!!!!!

Questions were simple enough:

How did you meet?

Who long have you known him?

When did you last see each other?

How many times has he come here?

And a bit of chat about when she quit working...

She was nervous as hell and doesn't speak much English so she basically forgot every date. Some of the people being interviewed b/4 her got someone who spoke Thai but the person interviewing her didn't and she didn't ask for someone to translate she just suffered through.

Now we are both on pins and needles until 3pm tomorrow when she can go back to the Embassy and pick up her passport WITH THE VISA IN IT!!!!!

Okay now that this step is over I need to try to explain why it's better to wait until I come over Aug-30 and we come back as planned on Sept-21 because of the advance parole deal. It's not the money or anything it's the processing time and the "risk" of not being allowed back in. You might recall that I was going to be there now and we would vacation a bit and come back to the US on July 13th but they booked her interview for July 11th and only last week called her to change it to May-27th. Now she'll have the visa in hand and have to wait 3 months for me to get there.

Oh my Buddha... now I need to try and explain the rest of this whole process (work permit, SSN, AOS, Advance Parole if we want to go anywhere etc...).

Not to mention there's a chance I could get an assignment for work that would put me in Mexico for about a year. What a nightmare that would be!!!! This would be all-expenses-paid and a nice bit of extra money (like $30K tax free) so I'm really tempted to go for it and just live with the burracratic hassle.

[Kang Lang 7]

congrats thee rak wonderful that you got the visa!

[Devkpaik 1]

Theerak,

CONGRATS!!! That's amazing! Now all the waiting is over... well until tomorrow that is when you get the visa!

Why are you guys on pins and needles though, you have the visa haha!

So bsically, those were the only questions? Nice, and the people working at the embassy were friendly?

Once again, congrats!

[huge316 0]

Okay so the interview is over!!!!!

Questions were simple enough:

How did you meet?

Who long have you known him?

When did you last see each other?

How many times has he come here?

And a bit of chat about when she quit working...

She was nervous as hell and doesn't speak much English so she basically forgot every date. Some of the people being interviewed b/4 her got someone who spoke Thai but the person interviewing her didn't and she didn't ask for someone to translate she just suffered through.

Now we are both on pins and needles until 3pm tomorrow when she can go back to the Embassy and pick up her passport WITH THE VISA IN IT!!!!!

Okay now that this step is over I need to try to explain why it's better to wait until I come over Aug-30 and we come back as planned on Sept-21 because of the advance parole deal. It's not the money or anything it's the processing time and the "risk" of not being allowed back in. You might recall that I was going to be there now and we would vacation a bit and come back to the US on July 13th but they booked her interview for July 11th and only last week called her to change it to May-27th. Now she'll have the visa in hand and have to wait 3 months for me to get there.

Oh my Buddha... now I need to try and explain the rest of this whole process (work permit, SSN, AOS, Advance Parole if we want to go anywhere etc...).

Not to mention there's a chance I could get an assignment for work that would put me in Mexico for about a year. What a nightmare that would be!!!! This would be all-expenses-paid and a nice bit of extra money (like $30K tax free) so I'm really tempted to go for it and just live with the burracratic hassle.

Congrats! Good luck on the rest of your journey together!

[huge316 0]

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

Hi everyone... I have a few helpful tips for you guys looking for text packages and calling cards below:

AT&T has an international text plan, quite reasonable for $9.99/ MO for 100 texts. I copy/pasted from their website with the details for ya. Hope it helps. Also as far as calls go to Thailand, I have yet to find anything cheaper than Noblecom.com with their "hello Thailand cell" rechargeable calling card, here's the details of that as well... another good cheap calling card can be bought at www.imissthailand.com, 1 cent per minute, but not rechargeable so you have to keep track of all the pin numbers, but slightly better call quality over the noblecom card. I use both depending on if I'm out and about, I have my noblecom pin memorized since it hasn't changed in a year, if I'm home I use the fanchan 1 cent card from imissthailand.com where I can just look up the pin# with ease.

Noblecom.com Hello Thailand Cell: Rate: 1.2¢/min.

NO CONNECTION FEE RECHARGEABLE CARD PINLESS DIALING Minutes:

1664 min - $20.00 3332 min - $40.00 4164 min - $50.00

For Texting:

AT&T International Long Distance Text Messaging Package

"Int'l Long Distance Text Package - 100 Messages (20¢ / add'l messages sent) Text messaging is a convenient & affordable way to keep in touch with friends & family living abroad. You can send 100 text messages from the U.S. to over 140 international countries and save up to 50% over the standard per message rate! Any messages you receive will just count as a normal text message - another great reason to make sure you have one of our Messaging Packages or MEdia Bundles! Package does not include picture, video or instant messages."

If anyone has anything better than these... let me know, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time searching the net for better rates than these and this is the best I could come up with anywhere short of using Skype, but she has no PC so Skype is no good to me.

Steve

[heiko 0]

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

I have vonage. Basic phone service with unlimited domestic long distance is like $25 and $10 extra for unliimited asian calling. For good results you need high speed internet but we can talk whenever we want for however long we want. I just got sick of calling cards and this is much cheaper for the same quality. I send text messages for free to her via yahoo messenger to her dtac mobile number.

[daboyz 36]

I use Vonage from home. It is $25 a month for your phone line and you can port your current phone number over to their service. For an extra $10 a month you can get unlimited calls to Thailand including mobile. Good quality as well. This also includes about 10 other Asian countries. Of course this doesn't help with a cell phone.

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

Hi everyone... I have a few helpful tips for you guys looking for text packages and calling cards below:

AT&T has an international text plan, quite reasonable for $9.99/ MO for 100 texts. I copy/pasted from their website with the details for ya. Hope it helps. Also as far as calls go to Thailand, I have yet to find anything cheaper than Noblecom.com with their "hello Thailand cell" rechargeable calling card, here's the details of that as well... another good cheap calling card can be bought at www.imissthailand.com, 1 cent per minute, but not rechargeable so you have to keep track of all the pin numbers, but slightly better call quality over the noblecom card. I use both depending on if I'm out and about, I have my noblecom pin memorized since it hasn't changed in a year, if I'm home I use the fanchan 1 cent card from imissthailand.com where I can just look up the pin# with ease.

Noblecom.com Hello Thailand Cell: Rate: 1.2¢/min.

NO CONNECTION FEE RECHARGEABLE CARD PINLESS DIALING Minutes:

1664 min - $20.00 3332 min - $40.00 4164 min - $50.00

For Texting:

AT&T International Long Distance Text Messaging Package

"Int'l Long Distance Text Package - 100 Messages (20¢ / add'l messages sent) Text messaging is a convenient & affordable way to keep in touch with friends & family living abroad. You can send 100 text messages from the U.S. to over 140 international countries and save up to 50% over the standard per message rate! Any messages you receive will just count as a normal text message - another great reason to make sure you have one of our Messaging Packages or MEdia Bundles! Package does not include picture, video or instant messages."

If anyone has anything better than these... let me know, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time searching the net for better rates than these and this is the best I could come up with anywhere short of using Skype, but she has no PC so Skype is no good to me.

Steve

[Thai family 0]

Okay so the interview is over!!!!!

Questions were simple enough:

How did you meet?

Who long have you known him?

When did you last see each other?

How many times has he come here?

And a bit of chat about when she quit working...

She was nervous as hell and doesn't speak much English so she basically forgot every date. Some of the people being interviewed b/4 her got someone who spoke Thai but the person interviewing her didn't and she didn't ask for someone to translate she just suffered through.

Now we are both on pins and needles until 3pm tomorrow when she can go back to the Embassy and pick up her passport WITH THE VISA IN IT!!!!!

Okay now that this step is over I need to try to explain why it's better to wait until I come over Aug-30 and we come back as planned on Sept-21 because of the advance parole deal. It's not the money or anything it's the processing time and the "risk" of not being allowed back in. You might recall that I was going to be there now and we would vacation a bit and come back to the US on July 13th but they booked her interview for July 11th and only last week called her to change it to May-27th. Now she'll have the visa in hand and have to wait 3 months for me to get there.

Oh my Buddha... now I need to try and explain the rest of this whole process (work permit, SSN, AOS, Advance Parole if we want to go anywhere etc...).

Not to mention there's a chance I could get an assignment for work that would put me in Mexico for about a year. What a nightmare that would be!!!! This would be all-expenses-paid and a nice bit of extra money (like $30K tax free) so I'm really tempted to go for it and just live with the burracratic hassle.

Congratulations! I fully understand the whole explaining bit.

[marryme 0]

congrats Thee_Rak .. hope everything works out good for you.

[George-Joom 0]

Okay so the interview is over!!!!!

Questions were simple enough:

How did you meet?

Who long have you known him?

When did you last see each other?

How many times has he come here?

And a bit of chat about when she quit working...

She was nervous as hell and doesn't speak much English so she basically forgot every date. Some of the people being interviewed b/4 her got someone who spoke Thai but the person interviewing her didn't and she didn't ask for someone to translate she just suffered through.

Now we are both on pins and needles until 3pm tomorrow when she can go back to the Embassy and pick up her passport WITH THE VISA IN IT!!!!!

Okay now that this step is over I need to try to explain why it's better to wait until I come over Aug-30 and we come back as planned on Sept-21 because of the advance parole deal. It's not the money or anything it's the processing time and the "risk" of not being allowed back in. You might recall that I was going to be there now and we would vacation a bit and come back to the US on July 13th but they booked her interview for July 11th and only last week called her to change it to May-27th. Now she'll have the visa in hand and have to wait 3 months for me to get there.

Oh my Buddha... now I need to try and explain the rest of this whole process (work permit, SSN, AOS, Advance Parole if we want to go anywhere etc...).

Not to mention there's a chance I could get an assignment for work that would put me in Mexico for about a year. What a nightmare that would be!!!! This would be all-expenses-paid and a nice bit of extra money (like $30K tax free) so I'm really tempted to go for it and just live with the burracratic hassle.

Congats and I know you are happy that is over!

Concerning the question about how many times you travelled to Thailand... We met on an internet site as she was preparing to travel to England to study for a year. I travelled to England over the Christmas and New Year Holidays and spent some time with her. I have never been to Thailand and she has never been to the USA. We met in England and she is still there until the Embassy calls her.

Does anyone see a problem with this for or during the Embassy interview?

Any comments would be appreciated

Thanks

George

[Drew and Tik 0]

I just got a Treo with a data plan and it costs $30 a month for that. Just use MSN or AIM and when I want to call her I get a $5 calling card and can get like three hours of talk time out of that (which lasts us over a month easily). We don't have a lot of money to throw around, $150 a month? That's half a car payment.

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

[SqdnGuns 21]

Ou has her interview in 2 hours.........she just called and she is already at the Embassy, just her and the guards.....LOL

She might be a tad bit excited, you think??

[Devkpaik 1]

I just got a Treo with a data plan and it costs $30 a month for that. Just use MSN or AIM and when I want to call her I get a $5 calling card and can get like three hours of talk time out of that (which lasts us over a month easily). We don't have a lot of money to throw around, $150 a month? That's half a car payment.

What mobile plans do you guys have in the US? International text messaging is adding about 100-150USD a month to my mobile bill with SprintPCS. The long distance is only .13 a minute (I think this is pretty damn cheap), but they charge .25 outgoing and .20 incoming international text. Most plans I look at do not have any international pricing plans. Any of you have international friendly plans with any other cell carriers?

Cheers,

Alvin

I use just pingo.com and use about 5.00 a day, so about 155.00/month. For 5.00 you get like 2 freakin hours, it SUCKS, but it saves your call logs.

Also, my fiance calls me too, and she foots that phone bill, so all in all we talk about 4 times a day, probably for about 4-6 hours total/day. So she pays for her phone bill when she calls me, and I pay for the phone cards when I call her.

we barely use email and pretty much only talk on the phone for 4-6 hours/day everyday. It can get expensive, but I guess it's more expensive on her end.