SAWASDEE 2

[jamie_naina 0]

I have had the nicest twist of fate.

About a week ago my boss asked if I could do some work for China for the remainder of the 2006 year, and that it would require travel to Shanghai. I told him that I already had vacations (to Thailand) scheduled for 17-30 November, and for the last two weeks of December also.

So, he asked if I wouldn't mind doing the China work on-line from Thailand (I'm a programmer), and then jump over to China between my two Thailand trips. I said 'OK'. So, I'll be with my beloved in Thailand for the last two weeks of November, then she is accompanying me to China for about 2-3 weeks, and then we're returning back to Thailand together for the last couple weeks of December. The additional good news is that since I'll be 'working' from Thailand, I don't have to count that time as vacation...so I rolled that vacation time to the first week+ of January.

So, I'll be with my sweetheart from tomorrow - early January...all of the holidays! What a tremendous and unexpected blessing.

Our Package 3 was mailed from the Embassy a couple days ago. We'll fill it out together as soon as I'm in Thailand this weekend. So, after our jumping from Thailand ->China->Thailand, it could be very close to her interview time (should be end of Januaryish <I'm guessing>).

Due to this nice twist of fate with my job, the time that AAm and I have to be apart is drawing near an end...

Its a HOLIDAY PRAYER COME TRUE!

Peace and Love to all,

Mark-N-Aam

Wow.....this is terrific, Mark. I feel a little bit envious I haven't seen my fiance for about 6 months now. It's all IMBRA fault. Anyway, I'll be leaving Thailand on Dec 4......I wish it was tomorrow

[Littleone+Robert 0]

Hey guys, my fiancee will be getting her med. ex. done soon. While she's there what else does she have to do before heading back home.

- Get med done

- pay $100 fee at the post office

Is there anything else?

Thanx

Shopping he he

[EVOLUTION` 0]

yea she's always wanted to go visit Thailand, I can't be there with her.

[mRx 16]

im going to Thailand in 2 weeks to be with my fiancee, and we are flying back on the same flight. We are going up north to Udonthani to meet the parents..... gulp..... We are gonna have an engagement ceremony. Have any of you experienced one of these? All i know is that the parents agreed that we just have to do an engagement ceremony in Thailand and then we can have a wedding in America and not in thailand. And the parents are cool with that. So yeah i dont know what the engagement ceremony is like. I do know that i need to wear some type of official thai dress.. lovely.

[Yodrak 7]

matt,

My 'engagement ceremony' was a two-part affair beginning with a tea and sweets reception for immediate family and close friends followed by luncheon around a huge circular table large enough to accomodate the approximately two dozen people present. It was held in a hotel, there were signs with pictures in the lobby and an entry on the daily events board announcing the event. Dress was what we might call 'business casual' here in the USA.

I would not be surprised if the ceremony that you will be experiencing will be more like what's considered a wedding ceremony, a ceremony that is actually a 'blessing' ceremony used for many occasions not just weddings. I married my wife in Thailand, and our wedding ceremony was virtually identical to the house-warming ceremony for a previous girlfriend's new house that she had built. In both cases we wore traditional Thai dress.

Folks participating in this thread might enjoy two books by Dennis Segaller - Thai Ways and More Thai Ways. The material dates from the 1970s, and a lot has changed since then particularly in places like Bangkok, but the vignettes of events in Thailand still give a good insight into Thai culture.

Yodrak

im going to Thailand in 2 weeks to be with my fiancee, and we are flying back on the same flight. We are going up north to Udonthani to meet the parents..... gulp..... We are gonna have an engagement ceremony. Have any of you experienced one of these? All i know is that the parents agreed that we just have to do an engagement ceremony in Thailand and then we can have a wedding in America and not in thailand. And the parents are cool with that. So yeah i dont know what the engagement ceremony is like. I do know that i need to wear some type of official thai dress.. lovely.

Edited November 17, 2006 by Yodrak

[mRx 16]

matt,

My 'engagement ceremony' was a two-part affair beginning with a tea and sweets reception for immediate family and close friends followed by luncheon around a huge circular table large enough to accomodate the approximately two dozen people present. It was held in a hotel, there were signs with pictures in the lobby and an entry on the daily events board announcing the event. Dress was what we might call 'business casual' here in the USA.

I would not be surprised if the ceremony that you will be experiencing will be more like what's considered a wedding ceremony, a ceremony that is actually a 'blessing' ceremony used for many occasions not just weddings. I married my wife in Thailand, and our wedding ceremony was virtually identical to the house-warming ceremony for a previous girlfriend's new house that she had built. In both cases we wore traditional Thai dress.

Folks participating in this thread might enjoy two books by Dennis Segaller - Thai Ways and More Thai Ways. The material dates from the 1970s, and a lot has changed since then particularly in places like Bangkok, but the vignettes of events in Thailand still give a good insight into Thai culture.

Yodrak

im going to Thailand in 2 weeks to be with my fiancee, and we are flying back on the same flight. We are going up north to Udonthani to meet the parents..... gulp..... We are gonna have an engagement ceremony. Have any of you experienced one of these? All i know is that the parents agreed that we just have to do an engagement ceremony in Thailand and then we can have a wedding in America and not in thailand. And the parents are cool with that. So yeah i dont know what the engagement ceremony is like. I do know that i need to wear some type of official thai dress.. lovely.

my lady's dad just told her that he estimates 100 people will be attending our engagement ceremony. Yikes! Hopefully we can have a rehearsal or something. Wouldnt want to mess up... haha.

[chivasgeo 0]

im going to Thailand in 2 weeks to be with my fiancee, and we are flying back on the same flight. We are going up north to Udonthani to meet the parents..... gulp..... We are gonna have an engagement ceremony. Have any of you experienced one of these? All i know is that the parents agreed that we just have to do an engagement ceremony in Thailand and then we can have a wedding in America and not in thailand. And the parents are cool with that. So yeah i dont know what the engagement ceremony is like. I do know that i need to wear some type of official thai dress.. lovely.

Matt,

Congratulations on the upcoming ceremony....my wife and I went thru what you and future wife will be going thru...we had a Thai ceremony at my wife's mom's house.......from my experience (and what I posted to others in this thread), just be prepared to sit "Thai style" for (what seemed like) a long, long time

All kidding aside, this event will be an experience you will never forget

regards,

George

[ultimoxo 0]

try this link http://www.ait.org.tw/en/visa/iv/docs/DS2053.pdf

Thanks Littleone+Robert for that link. It came through in a crunch because we were going to get the medical done and were short of that sheet b/c the Embassy link is broken. I pre-empted our packet 3 receipt and just went ahead and got the medical. When I do get the packet 3, I will make sure that the forms are the same and that I have performed all as instructed. Once again, travel was a major issue so we got it done now.

Anyways, about the medical. All seemed to go well. The nurse allowed us to have a copy before they shoved it in the envelope. On the copy I see that the vaccinations aren't complete, and she will need to complete the second series on some of them. She has the "eligible for blanket waivers" box checked. I just want to confirm that these vaccinations do not need to be completed before the interview. Is this correct? From what I am reading on here, the K1 does not require all the vaccinations to be completed but the AOS does. Theoretically, the sealed envelopes contents would not have hit our eyes if I had not asked for a copy, so how would we know anyways? She said the doctor told her to come back in a month, but this seems to be independent of the medical for the visa. If she does return for the second set, I assume the envelope will not be corrected to reflect this. Can anyone confirm this for me?

Also, a little note for all about the medical. I brought 2000 baht b/c it is stated that the fee is 1500 baht. I ended up with a total bill of 3900 baht when the dust settled. She got three vaccinations so that jumped it up. So, I would remind all that if you go and you need vaccinations, then bring more money. I was thinking that she could have gotten them much cheaper elsewhere, but I was also thinking that the initial shots are necessary to get the "inappropriate time interval" box checked. Could she actually have turned them down?

my lady's dad just told her that he estimates 100 people will be attending our engagement ceremony. Yikes! Hopefully we can have a rehearsal or something. Wouldnt want to mess up... haha.

100 people....that's a lot of white bracelets on your arm. Don't forget to do the one-handed wai when the relatives line up to tie them on! And definitely stay away from the Lao Kao!

[mRx 16]

100 people....that's a lot of white bracelets on your arm. Don't forget to do the one-handed wai when the relatives line up to tie them on! And definitely stay away from the Lao Kao!

Oh we are gonna be having like 6 or 7 fifths of thai whiskey during the ceremony luncheon. But i know its best that i dont touch any of that. And im sure my fiancee will be keeping an eye on me. haha

[ultimoxo 0]

Hey matt,

Two quick questions about your timeline. I see that you sent the packet 3 in a day before you received it. Did you find that downloading all the materials from the embassy site was safe and accurate? Is this OK to do? I think I had read before that if you send stuff in too early, they will dispose of it. But I do know that BKK does have our case. We are just waiting for the packet to arrive in the mail.

You also got a real quick interview after you sent it in. The appointment list shows the latest interviews in January '07 right now. Did you get a chance to select an early interview or were you just lucky in getting something so quick?

[jamie_naina 0]

Hey matt,

Two quick questions about your timeline. I see that you sent the packet 3 in a day before you received it. Did you find that downloading all the materials from the embassy site was safe and accurate? Is this OK to do? I think I had read before that if you send stuff in too early, they will dispose of it. But I do know that BKK does have our case. We are just waiting for the packet to arrive in the mail.

You also got a real quick interview after you sent it in. The appointment list shows the latest interviews in January '07 right now. Did you get a chance to select an early interview or were you just lucky in getting something so quick?

I'm not Matt, but I did sent in the packet 3 which I downloaded from the embassy site. I kept the packet 3 from the embassy in my file. Didn't want to use it So I think it is ok to download all the materials from the site. The reason they dispose it, I believe, is that the embassy doesn't have your case/data in the system yet, since it is too early to send, so they think your docs are not relevant to their unit.

Good luck, ultimoxo

[ultimoxo 0]

The reason they dispose it, I believe, is that the embassy doesn't have your case/data in the system yet, since it is too early to send, so they think your docs are not relevant to their unit.

James,

Thanks for the info. I guess the question is "Do they have my data in the system yet or sitting in a stack of papers waiting?". They did send me an email saying they got it on Nov 6. We should be getting packet 3 soon anyways. I am just anxious to get this interview date scheduled. I need to base some plans around it.

Your interview is also coming up soon and you got it a month after packet 3 came. I hope I can get things turned around as quickly as you have. Did you pick your interview date or do they simply assign it?

[mRx 16]

We did send in Packet 3 one day before the packet actually arrived. She sent in the completed checklist, DS-230 part 1 (signed), 2 photos, and a copy of her picture page on her passport. The DS 230 and checklist were downloaded from the embassy website. We had no problems with that. The only way they would discard the items you send is if they dont have your case yet at the IV unit. So make sure they have recieved your case before sending anything in.

I found out that i am deploying to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, therefore i sent an expedite request to BKK Embassy. Good luck!

Matt

"Do they have my data in the system yet or sitting in a stack of papers waiting

If you have contacted them, and they said that packet 3 has been sent, then it is safe to send packet 3 even if you havent physically received it from them yet.

Edited November 20, 2006 by matt85

[ultimoxo 0]

I found out that i am deploying to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, therefore i sent an expedite request to BKK Embassy. Good luck!

I thought maybe there was some kind of an exception made b/c the interview seemed very fast! Good luck in Iraq and proud of your service there. It's cool that they do speed it up for the troops.

She sent in the completed checklist, DS-230 part 1 (signed), 2 photos, and a copy of her picture page on her passport. The DS 230 and checklist were downloaded from the embassy website.

If you have contacted them, and they said that packet 3 has been sent, then it is safe to send packet 3 even if you havent physically received it from them yet.

Also, thanks for the tips, Matt. Rather than wait for the package, I may just send those items in and get the interview scheduled. I really need to know when we will have it so I can plan to get some of the things on the checklist. I may need a trip back to the US for some forms, visa issues here in Thailand, etc, etc., so I need to have a plan.

So, just to verify, I can send three things:

1.) DS-230 Part 1 (signed)

2.) 2 photos

3.) Copy of picture page in passport

This should be sufficient to get me an interview date scheduled?

[EVOLUTION` 0]

someone mentioned before that it's good to sent in the NVC letter and a copy of NOA2 approval letter along with the above mentioned.

So, I got another question. After I print out the completed electronic version of DS-156 online I notice an error on my fiancee work address. Can I redo it again or would it really matter. It's just a minor mistake. I put in the wrong village name, I got the commune/district and the province right. That's the only form out of all the forms that I forgot to change.