good english girl needs advice on marrying good thai boy!

[Aussie Dave]

Bt feb 7th...............I think that you have got the wrong idea about Ian.
If you have been coming in here for a long time, you would know that Ian has very strong ties with Thailand, visits there often and appears to love the country and its peaple. He is also very knowlegable of the culture, politics and way of life there.
I really do think you owe him an apology.

[Ian]

All well and good Rooster.
But they could not have failed to notice :
1) that you are Thai.
2) that you're also American.
Double advantages us other farang don't have.

[Martina]

Dear Emily,
As I know Ian is wrong of your legal status as a female farang married to a Thai citicen. As a female farang you get the right for Thai citicenship after 3 years and within this you are equal in every other thai law. That means, before you are doing the big step, inform your self about the Thai family laws, which are very special and pro male. If I am in your situation I will marrie under Uk law, so if there are children you are on the safe side.After that you can register these to the Thai officals. Infos to topics of the Thai laws you can get on the web site of the Thai Goverment, some but not all are in english.There you can get e-mail adresses as well.
Good luck to you and your boy friend
( love is color blind )

[Ian]

I hope Martina's information is correct : if so I'll apply for Thai citizenship also !
But what she says is certainly not what I've learnt from other sources. I'd be happy to be proved wrong.

[JJ]

Emily. Make sure you cross all your t's and the like.

If you live continueously in Thailand for 7 years - you can become a Permanent Resident.
If you want Thai Citizenship, you must relinqish your foreign passport/citizenship, as Thai law does not permit dual citizenship. If you have a child the child can have dual citizenship until the age of 18.

You can own a condo, but some conditions apply, eg the money used to purchase the condo, must be generated from outside Thailand.

Owning land is not permitted, however this can be achieved through legal business deals.

If setting up a business in Thailand, you will be required to invest a certain amount of overseas generated money and be prepared to hire 4 Thais to every Farang. This one is easy, you just have a maid, maybe a driver and two staff on the min Thai going wage which is about 4-6000 baht a month.

As for people here saying don't trust your boyfriend - I say BOLLOCKS! You know this yourself, I and many others I know have not been ripped off. For me, I make quite good money, about double the AUS standard and live well, but my inlaws are way richer and my wife is very well educated - hence my wife & family would have stuff all to gain from me.

As for curruption, it is quite widespread. Don't get involved - unless it is just a traffic fine payment on the spot. Be polite at ALL times, make contacts with your greater Thai family. It is quite unusual for contract killings to go ahead in Thailand, especially on Farangs. Drug plantings are the main issue and some bad business deal (be very carefull there) other wise business and life in Thailand can be very rewarding.

Also the two farangs who were murdered by the ex coppa- the ex coppa was given the death sentance, as was the monk who raped and killed an aussie girl a few years back. The Thai Government is VERY aware of the 11 mill tourists that travel here every year - they don't want that to stop or drop in numbers.

Ian - you have some good points, but overall you are being negative.

Em - always in all situations like it or not, be polite - good karma - south east asians love politeness.

[sash]

kris,

as u survived your visit in thailand many other tourists will survive their visit as well - despite corrupt policemen.

if u research datas u will find out that thailand is 3rd of worlwide deaths by firearms, right after south africa and columbia and just before your US of A, who is 4th in that ranking.

so this with the gunmen is bad in thailand, but in your USA its not much better.

[Ian]

JJ - overall you are being positive, but ignore many bad points. You also forgot to mention that to get Thai nationality it takes 13 years of CONTINUOUS residency, plus a stringent language and culture test.
The woman above saying only 3 years to gain citizenship either can not count - or forgot the digits 10.

[osage]

Dont by any means marry an issan man. You will only get ripped off in the end. MONEY will be the only thing on his mind. See if he signs a pre nup. If he does good, but dont rip it up or throw it away to show you believe him, its just what he would want you to do. Put it in a very safe place. Make sure you know him and his family before you marry. Do they constantly ask for money? Can you speak thai? If not I would make that a requirement before you marry. I speak thai and it was the best thing I ever learned to do when living in Thailand. You'll be amazed what people will say right in front of you when they think you don't understand them. good luck

[osage]

NOTHING HAPPENED TO THE THAI POLICE WHO SHOT THE TWO BRIT TOURISTS. i WAS LIVING IN BKK AT THE TIME. PEOPLE GET AWAY WITH MURDER EVERY DAY IN THAILAND, AND ITS NOT JUST THE POLICE.

[Rooster]

Aussie Dave. The article about this case is in the Bangkok Post archive. He received life imprisonment for his crime. On another case, the two men receive death sentence for their rape and murder of UK girl.