rucus7

" Pattaya Today questioned 100 foreigners, but less than 20 percent said they understood the ban in public places."

A similar percentage were unaware of what day it was, or of their own names.

Marmite -Best thing that could possibly have  happened to it

I would hazard that offering bank books, leases etc only reaffirms to them that you are not infact a tourist?

I had exactly the same situation some years ago when my ex-wife first arrived in the UK. Although well educated and good English skills the first attainable job was in our local Thai restaurant. She had the N.I number which is important.

After her first few weeks it became clear that the owner was doing exactly the same thing as in the OP's post. One difference was my wife was happy to leave as she was confident enough by then to look for work herself, but she would not report him and said as she was leaving it was up to the other staff.

I took a different view and reported him myself , as others have said it's exploitation and illegal !

This employer is breaking the law and robbing his employees as well. Disgraceful.

Yes it is definitely a Thai trait, amazing to behold.

I guess they figure a smaller share of something they're sure some people will spend money for is better than taking a risk of starting a business that there is no evidence people will spend at. That reminds me. Got to get moving on opening my new shop called Just Spatulas!

I am a heterosexual male but have never understood the opposition to gay marriage.

It is 2012 for gods sake...........What does it matter to anyone if two adults same sex or not want to marry?
They all pay taxes & should be entitled to the same as anyone else in that regard.

Kind of a non-issue with the exception of the bible thumpers flipping out.

Lots of expats like Thailand because of the relatively low cost of living. Ever wondered how that works?

What if they just decide to line us all up and shoot us?

That's what keeps me up nights...

Gone are the days when I could whip out my PADI open water divers certification card when asked for my driving license and get waved through (sigh).

Populist promises have almost always been the springboard for dictatorships. Part of the problem is the PTP policies are only window-dressing & nobody actually knows what their long-term agenda and policies are.
They are the living emodiment of the English "jam tomorrow" folk-saying ; "well kids, you know its just dry bread today but there'll be jam tomorrow". This is also the type of 'faith in the future' message has been used by many dictators through the centuries. Stick with us, even though your lives are going down the drain, we promise the future will be great. everything will be okay when Thaksin gets back, or maybe in the time of  his son's rule, or  his grandson, great-grandson.
PTP run the country on a skeleton-crew basis, ticking only the mandatory boxes and avoiding everything else. IMO their energies are devoted behind the scenes to installing a permanent familial oligarchy.
I would guess the next step will be to give all poor people a free colour TV, & by coincidence  people will be  watching red-government propaganda on the free TVs along with brain-meltingly bad soap operas and game shows. That wouldn't be so bad if the Govt actually made people's lives better (as promised).
The mistakes made pre-flood & post-flood which were shockingly inept, were brushed aside by the regime as unimportant, but the flood exposed the government-level complete lack of robust quick-thinking which are the trademarks of competent leadership. It also raised the question of what they consider important. Even the request to have a state of emergency during the worst floods for over 50 years, was rebuffed by Yingluck along partisan and control-freak lines.
All the meaningful pre-election promises by PTP  have failed to appear even in start-up phase, except for a few stragglers that emerged blinking into the light & feeling all alone.
People in the opposition are very concerned that the country they love is being hijacked, and in the worst case scenario the groundwork for a dynastic oligarchy is being laid-out. The feeling among many international observers is that the worst is yet to come & Thai peoples future is one of being industrially-fleeced & exploited & deceived.

I am surprised anybody even wants a beer with you after that little rant.

pipo1000, on 2012-04-04 10:03:22, said:

Yes, cultural isolation is key to keeping a foreign spouse. You may also want to try threatening them with arrest and deportation. If that doesn't work emotional and economic abuse work just as well. You should also have children with her and use them as leverage.

With these tips you're on the right track to having complete control through spousal abuse, whoops, I mean a "happy marriage" with your Thai spouse.

Shurup I have a lot of respect for you having read a few of your posts so I'm going to be overly harsh.

You're not quite a control freak but you do have issues and feelings of superiority possibly entitlement which reading between the lines you're mentally bullying this girl into compliance with your relationship sop.

Not giving her a budget appears to be more for your morality compass than for the good of the relationship and in some ways your posts show you have a relationship manual that is flawed and setting her up to fail. Almost as if you're not committed to the relationship but could be if she achieves 99% pass rate in negotiating the pitfalls that lead to being the ideal and perfect woman for Shurup. Latest polls are gonna show you're not perfect possibly not even perfect for her!

You stopped her working so that she could be available for you, no judgement but do you see where we come back to that sense of entitlement? What does she do but wait around for you on your month off? Set her a monthly amount in lieu of her missing salary and move on. The money has gone so play a better what if game...

What if she invested it to please you and gain your hard to win respect, got conned, chased the first 50k with another and is too embarrassed to say?

Involve her in setting the ground rules moving forward, assure her there is a forwards (she's probably living in fear/stress) and let her know when she's ready to talk you're willing to listen.

It's not a joint account, it's your account that she has access to and that's the problem. Sort out the financial ambiguity and forget the spy stuff.

If I had written that first post you'd think what a dramatic, wishy washy, controlling prick... and you'd be justified!

Sent from Android please excuse errors in type or judgement

People get charged for that kind of enjoyment...