mssabai

Thank you so much for all this info. I am going to ask him to contact his university and see if they can help, and if they can't then maybe look to cancel the seminar, a 10 year ban would be pretty disasterous!

Evidence of his finances is fine, I certainly would much rather they look at his than mine! I think he has about 20,000 AUSD in savings in Oz (plus land and savings etc in Thailand but would be more hassle to get details of these), so assume this would be enough.

Great info about the accommodation. All of that is no problem. The only reason I was nervous about mentioning our relationship was that I would then have to provide evidence, would this not be the case? He did his masters here so has other friends etc he is coming to see too though obviously I am the most important one.. ; )

Thanks for your replies. After a bit more research and your help he has decided that it is probably best to just not mention the seminar and proceed with a regular tourist visa. He is neither an "eminant doctor" nor is he coming here on any kind of exchange so it doesn't seem as if he fits into the academic visa category. He is only doing the seminar, because he is here already. If needs be it could be cancelled.

i am now writing a letter to confirm that he will be staying with me for the duration of the trip. My instinct is that it may be better to leave our relationship as a rather euphamistic "friends" to avoid any unnecessary complications. What are other people's thoughts?

Edit....in fact just looking at the forms, I am wondering if I should be writing anything at all? Being that he is supporting himself, if he then ticks that I am essentially paying for accommodation and food, would then that not mean that I would need to send in details of my finances etc? Would it just keep it simpler if he just keeps it as only himself that is mentioned on the form. He fits all the criteria as a visitor and I don't want to put a spanner in the works!

This is based on one post from someone's Twitter page, and it is news? Should it not be a little more substantiated than this to be put on the Bangkok Post web site?

My boyfriend translates books into English. Every book that has a viable market in Thailand is translated by one of the bigger publishing houses. Yes books are not as widely read here as they are in the west, but they are still read, and there are plenty of people who enjoy a very varied range of books.
I would say it isn't a viable business opportunity as the large publishing houses are already doing what you are suggesting. There may be work for a translator if you found a suitable book not already published in Thai, but remember that translating takes a very high level of language awareness. My boyfriend is currently doing his PHD in English and that is the kind of level of English that a publishing house would be interested in.

Whilst I do agree with the idea that money does not necessarily make a man more attractive to me, after coming out of a 3 year relationship with someone who was significantly poorer than me, I am now loathe to ever go back into a relationship where finances are so inequal. He was not a money grabber in anyway, but did have real difficulties understanding wealth and money. I was considered rich, because I own a house in the UK, because my family have new cars and can afford to travel, and of course I was compared to him. But my family is not rich and it was very hard having to translate this.

Also I have been raised in the west and I enjoy the good things in life. I can live very simply, and have done so for a good few years...and enjoyed it. But there are times that I want to go out for a nice meal, drink a nice bottle of wine, and perhaps even be treated to something by my boyfriend. I did receive lovely gifts from my ex, but it was at great expense to him and for that reason I didn't really enjoy it.

I have since started dating a Thai man who is of a very similar financial level to me (in Thai terms). I am so enjoying the freedom it is giving us as a couple. We pay half for everything (apart from our first date natch..) and we both enjoy doing similar things. Neither of us are flashy but I no longer have the burden of either not doing something, or having to pay double for the pleasure. Now I do know of plenty of relationships here that work even with these inequalities, and they were not in fact the reason that I broke up with my ex. But, knowing what I know now, I am pretty sure I would never choose to go back into a relationship with such dramatic financial inequality.