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long_

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    long_ reacted to EricAndOrn in wife wants me to support her family   
    I have been following this thread, but refrained from giving advice, because there are too many unknowns.
    True, it is customary in thailand to support the parents, but often marriage with a farang (westerner) turns into a jackpot for the entire extended family and is abused.
    I don't know how well you communicate. Since you said she must learn English, her English doesn't seem to be very good and I certainly don't know how well you speak Thai. I know nothing about where she is from, family background, experience with foreigners and their customs, education level etc. etc. Therefore I can only generalize, and please, nobody should take offense at that.
    Generally, Thais are not very educated and lack critical thinking. (Thanks to their awful school system), they are taught that Thailand is the best and is the center of the universe. Often they expect the foreigner to comply with thai customs and traditions, because it is the only thing they know and it's an absolute no brainer to them. Thais have very little experience with what happens outside their world, and often don't care. Because of this, thai and western couples must try to understand each other's culture and compromise. Too often, the thai party insists on everything being done the thai way, not realizing that there are other ways as well. To them, we are often viewed as being incredibly rich, not realizing how high our cost of living is. A typical low paying job (e.g. cashier at a 7-eleven) earns about 9000 baht / month, someone with a degree might earn 25 - 30000 baht per month. A minimum wage person in the US earns about 42000 baht per month. Thats a lot of money to them. They don't realize, that you can't get a one room apartment, with air conditioning, 100 channels of cable TV and internet access for 4000 baht per month in the US, that you can't go to the doctor for 30 baht, no meals on the street for 40 baht etc etc. Again, understanding each other's culture and situation is very important, and being able to communicate that is key.
    I don't know how much sinsod (dowry) you paid. It's an old tradition and often not practiced anymore. Often during the engagement ceremony money is only shown (to impress the neighbors and friends), but the money is returned to you (after deduction of the cost of the party, to which the guests should have contributed a good amount). In my case, I did not pay any sinsod at all. I do support my mother-in-law with a modest 5000 baht per month, I will not support any other family members. My girl and I have agreed to build a new house for mom and grandma with an extra room for us to stay in when we visit. (cost about 1.5 million baht), but we agreed to both contribute towards this effort, so it is mostly up to her how fast this will happen as she will have to pay as well. (Never mind the issue of property ownership for foreigners in thailand. Whole different story there)
    I could probably go on for hours rambling away on this topic, but lacking information I can not offer specific advice. There is a book (available on amazon) about thai-western relationships and the cultural differences. The pages on the left side of the book are in english and on the right side is the thai translation. This allows for both of you to read it easily and perhaps discuss the issues presented and find a solution, or at least get a start on working out the issues.
    The name of the book is "Thailand Fever"
    The authors webpage: http://thailandfever.com/
    The link on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Thailand-Fever-Chris-Pirazzi/dp/1887521488/
    If you send me a private message, I can send you a copy of the book very quickly.
    I would like to help you in any way I can, feel free to contact me via private message if you would like to discuss your and my experiences in these matters in private.
    Hope all works out in the end.
    Eric
  2. Like
    long_ got a reaction from Ning in What's the right and benefits shoud I ask for my baby? I am pregnant with US Marine   
    You have been given some good advise and some not so good. As it has been stated. Go to his Commanding Officer or his Staff NCO. They will provide you with all the information that you need. I'm sure that the base he is station at has a medical clinic and they are able to do the DNA testing if he denies that the baby is his. As far as him only giving you a verbal agreement that he will pay you child support cause if he signs something he will lose his job is not true whether he is married or not. If he is married the Marine Corp will not kick you of for cheating on your wife...The reason I know this is I was in the Marines and got out as a Staff NCO and dealt with issues like this while I was in.
  3. Like
    long_ reacted to Karee in Police clearance   
    Maybe some tea money for the cops.
  4. Like
    long_ got a reaction from duckybb in 221g in Bangkok Embassy   
    Sukie is correct. a 221g and just a request for additonal infomation which in this case was her police certifacte. Once they get the police certifacte they will issue her the Visa. Congrats....
  5. Like
    long_ got a reaction from del-2-5-2014 in having problem filling the fiance letter of intent   
    Make sure you send him a spare signed copy with original signature. USCIS lost mine and luckily I had my fiancé sign 2 while I was there so it was no problem when I got a RFE. I was able to put it back in the mail that evening and not having to wait.
    I would would send two (2) set of everything that you have to sign cause there are at times that USICS loses something.
  6. Like
    long_ reacted to Jimbo_in_GA in Whats wrong with USCIS?   
    hey the dude, you can get on a leaky boat to anywhere you want for all i care. I have fought for my country and your comments about it make it a good thing that you are not standing in front of me right now. A lousy gov't does not mean the US is a rotting cesspool or that it sucks. You know what you can do with your insults.
    I feel for all the ppl going thru the torment of waiting for the gov't to do what should take way less time to do. If it's any comfort at all, a cpl years down the road this will seem like nothing. I'm sure it's been expressed before, but patience, just hang in there, it'll happen.
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