Frequency of LOS visits after thai marriage.

[Pescator]

It may come as a surprise to some, but marrying a thai woman can actually seriously reduce the frequency of your travels to LOS and I am not even talking about you going there on your own.

My friend who used to be a seasoned thai traveller has just returned from LOS with his thai wife and 2 kids for their 2nd visit in 8 years! He expects it will take another 4-5 years for their next visit.

And the reason is simple: They cannot go to Thailand without visiting the family - fair enough - but the family is accustomed to get a shitload of money from them and to meet the expectations they need to produce some 100 K. Add to that airfare for 4 persons and a large spending budget including treating the family to accompany them during a few sidetrips in LOS. It totals some 600-700 k.

 

That is serious money.

My friend confesses to me that it sure did come as a surprise to him, that his thai marriage would in fact reduce his trips. Not complaining though, merely stating a fact.

 

 

Cheers

Hua Nguu

[Zaad]

Thanks for sharing that.

 

Are you sure they aren't bothered by it?

Of course the frequency of vacations during the year will decrease once having kids but the extra cash for the family on top of the free trips would bother me. Simply because your friend doesn't seem to be full of it himself. Next trip in 2009 geez.

[Pescator]

Hi Zaad,

 

Not really sure actually, but he hasn`t complained about it to me anyway.

In comparison I have just been to Thailand with my wife and 2 kids for a month as well. We spent a total of 70K baht, air fare excluded, but I work for an airline, so....

And the reason: Both my inlaws passed away last year so that took away a heavy responsibility for my wife and subsequently for me as well.

Don`t get me wrong, it is not that I by any means welcome their premature death, on the contrary, but my wife`s responsibility towards her family has been greatly reduced by now.

I have also experienced the expectations from the family leading us to cancel a planned trip to Thailand because of lacking the funds to meet their expectations.

I sure had a hard time to accept that, as I hate to disappoint myself

 

Cheers

Hua Nguu

[jasmine]

Hello,

 

I have a cousin who visits Thailand every 6-8 years because she has to save and it is a "face" thing not to appear poor.

 

Me, I go when when my work allowed. I do not buy things for people, don't throw parties, don't wear jewelry and I am known that I "am cheap" so it does not bother me what people think. No "face" to lose either.

 

A lot of TGs do have needs to share, either it is a custom or it is a "face". There is a mother whose daughter was a BG who was in Germany for a couple years. My mother said that everytime she met the woman in the morning market, the subject was how much her daughter sent her, and my poor mother was a "poor" one for she gets nothing from her daughter. Sadly, the daughter in seems to disappear without trace about 10 years ago.

 

 

It is a pride of many parents how much money they receive from their children and most of the neighbors will hear about it. And it dose not mean that they have to be married to "farangs", it happens with any marriage, this is for common people like my mother's society, not the ones very rich who, in the opposite direction, give money to their children.

 

Another point needs mentioning is that marrying a farang is like winning a lottery, to many people, as most of you know that the Thais feel that people should share their wealth, ones don't want to go to Thailand and look poor like Jasmine, don't you think?

 

Jasmine

[torrenova]

I don't have a Thai wife or long term girlfriend but I know that I would not be the one to upgrade the lives of the whole extended family. Send some money home to mama and papa for sure but she would work in my business to earn that.

 

If married and living outside LOS then overly greedy relatives would just mean that they were either very disappointed or they didn't get a visit when we were in the country. I certainly would not curtail my trips to LOS just to save up and feed the five thousand. Bollocks to that.