makescents

Hello,

I am currently in Bangkok with my girlfriend and we're looking for ideas of where to travel to for new years eve.

I was looking in particular at Phuket, Chiang Mai, Samui or Krabi but I'd be willing to try other places that aren't Pattaya, Hua Hin or Ko Chang as I've been to them all multiple times before.

I have been preoccupied with some other issues and only managed to check flights last night, most of which are not available or sold out.

There's always the bus but it's a 13 hour trip (to Phuket) so I've read and that seems too long.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

Hello,

I've been with my girlfriend for 12 months and now her family is starting to press for marriage to "save face" and to please the local Imam.

I had a trip planned for April-May next year and I wanted to know if we get married in Thailand this December how it will effect our chances of getting a visitors visa. She's a full time student, lives at home with her family, no land in the family, not currently working due to study commitments. She's previously visited Hong Kong twice.

I'll have roughly 6 grand in the bank for her trip and I'll be paying her air fare, I'm a full time student myself although my parents will be providing accommodation and any other guarantees.

Long term plans are to visit next year, I'll move there for 1 year until she finishes university and then permanently move back to the UK or possibly Germany, France, Netherlands or Ireland, depending on where I can find work.

So I guess my questions are:

Should I delay the marriage?
If I can't do I need to tell them when we apply for the visa?
If I do will it affect our chances?
What else can I do to help achieve the long term and short term goals?

Thanks,

MC

I was here a few years ago when everyone sat down to watch a TV show.

Although my command of Thai at the time wasn't great (and still isn't) it was about a guy that was running around his local village collecting old candles and melting them down to make a new big candle.

Everyone found it amusing as the guy swore every second word and it was heavily censored on either Channel 3 or 7 as I recall. He was old and didn't seem to be the full shilling.

It's been really bugging me as I can't remember the name of the show.

I've managed to get involved with a girl who is believer in Islam and although not completely ignorant of the religion, there have been little differences specific to Thailand that she has mentioned.

- don't celebrate Songkran
- no sinsod to be paid (the topic came up after I read a post on here and wanted to discuss it)

Other things that came up in conversation and I didn't know (but apply to most muslims):

- can't get tattoos
- don't own dogs

I've scanned Wikipedia articles but does anyone have any advice or experience?

I'm a firm believer that the basics of Thai are pretty easy to pick up.  I can now:

- Identify all consonants and their classes
- Identify all vowels and whether they are long or short
- Identify tone marks and apply tone rules accordingly  

However I feel stuck in a rut. I can't make many sentences past what you would find in a normal phrasebook and so conversation is stale. I also frequently consult online translators when chatting online as it's easy to; do but now not only am I dependent on them, but I am giving people a false impression of my language skills which causes problems later.  

I know the answer to my own question is: build vocabulary and study grammar, but if you're an intermediate/skilled Thai speaker I'd like to know what you would do to get out of this.