Massage places in lower Sukhumvit are more common than 7-11 stores. Soi 8 has 4 or 5 legit massage houses alone. The smaller places pretty much offer the same services for the same prices (300 baht or so for a Thai massage). A good rule of thumb in finding a legit massage is to look for places staffed with middle-aged Thai ladies instead of 21 year old girls.
Below is a place I frequently use when I stay on Soi 8. It's a legit place, reasonably priced. Just tell them what body parts need special emphasis and they will work on them. There are several other massage houses within spitting distance of this one that offer the same fare.
Actually thinking about it. I also did the Beijing la route in 2012.
More recently a number of internal flights.
I think the airline hasn’t changed in quality of their service offering.
I think what has changed is the quality of the passengers. (God that sounds awful )
I flew Air China from LA to Beijing, Beijing to Chengdu, Chengdu to Beijing, and then Beijing to LA and had no issues at all. That was in 2012, so quality could have definitely slipped.
I flew Air China from LA to Beijing, Beijing to Chengdu, Chengdu to Beijing, and then Beijing to LA and had no issues at all. That was in 2012, so quality could have definitely slipped.
I was in in Taiwan two days ago. If people were concerned, they did not show it.
I flew from YUL to AMS and then to Bangkok. The only thing about that flight is that the layover in Amsterdam was 8 hours.
Afteward nice flight to BKK. Then I flew China Airlines to Taipei then Korean to ICN.
Tomorrow I'm going back ICN -> CDG -> YUL with AF
I would not worry too much about the situation in China. Like in Ukraine, if it explodes we hear about it weeks in advance.
Hi everyone, I'm traveling to Bangkok later this year. I found really good information in this forum. With all the tips and info here, I'm excited for my trip!
When I was in Bangkok back in July, I visited Soi Thaniya in Silom, which is only 300 meters down from Patpong Road. Amazing how many times I had been to Patpong but didn't know about this place they refer to as 'Little Tokyo' or 'Little Japan' due to the entire street being lined with awesome Japanese restaurants, from Japanese BBQ, sushi, ramen shops and plenty of others. An entrance to BTS SkyTrain Sala Daeng station is just on the corner of Soi Thaniya.
I just visited during the day for lunch but heard it is lit up like the streets of Tokyo at night. I just had a ramen noodle soup at a restaurant called Uchidaya Ramen. 270 baht for their Kyushu Tonkotsu 'Special' ramen. Best ramen I have ever eaten!
If you love Japanese food then put this on your list of places to visit in Bangkok. Go there for dinner, then head down to Patpong to pick up your dessert.
They do have some girlie bars here, located in the top floors above the restaurants at street level. I heard they are very much like the 'hostess bars in Tokyo'. These places cater to Japanese business men. I heard like in Japan, they pay a fee for a girl to sit with them and laugh at their jokes, tell them how wonderful they are and pour their drinks. I been to a few hostess bars in Tokyo and never saw the point of them as you can't bar fine the girls there in Tokyo but I believe you can bar fine the ones in Bangkok but at ridiculous Japanese prices, something like 5000 - 6000 Baht. Screw that! Get down to Patpong to pick up what you fancy for the night, GG or LB at proper Bangkok prices.
Definitely worth a visit if you love Japanese food.
This is a method I've used when needing a lot of changes of clothing. I've since switched to minimal clothes opting for quick dry clothing that I can easily wash in a sink, hang up, and dry in the morning.
This is a method I've used when needing a lot of changes of clothing. I've since switched to minimal clothes opting for quick dry clothing that I can easily wash in a sink, hang up, and dry in the morning.
I never view this forum on my phone, this is my Mac desktop, running Firefox.
I do see the dog image, and some of the images of the girls do show up, but typically all I see is numbers. When a person quotes you, then the numbers turn into links which I can click and then see.
Here is a good primer for using advanced codes with Matrix that allow you to plan routes using specific airlines or routing thru LAX or NRT or wherever:
You can't book trips with Matrix. Instead, you print up your itenarary and either give it to a travel agent or call the airline directly. There is no way for the consumer to input the all the codes into airline websites. I use Matrix for my flights, and it has always been my experience that giving the codes to a TA is easier than trying to book codes directly with the airlines. The airlines act as if you are pulling their teeth out when you read out all those booking codes to them over the phone. TA's are happy to do it for you because you have already done all the legwork for them.
+1 from me for all the great intel and the time it took you to write this all down for our benefit. thanks.
i was married to a GG years ago and went through hell at the interview in 2000 when we were denied, despite all the photos and letters (pre email) showing we had been together as a couple for a long time, my work permit from a Thai Hotel Chain, my passport that showed i had resided in TH for 8 years at that time, a letter from my Senator (head of the foreign relations committee) requesting the visa be granted, a letter from my employer stating that i had a good job and was welcome back after the holiday in the states, and wife being able to speak English fairly well the embassy staff told me we were denied because it was my country's duty to protect me from myself, and what he perceived to be a passing fancy and infatuation. there is actually a rule that was implemented during the Korean War for this because so many guys wanted to bring Korean women home.
my wife had a child by another farang (an asshole who left her when she was 5 months pregnant) and the closing comment from the dick at the embassy was, i also think you are going there to leave the child with your family to be raised and go to an american school. despite the fact that the kid was going to a reputable international school in Pattaya at the time and we had told them during the interview that the reason we were going home was because my father was gravely ill, hospitalized, and we wanted the family to see the my wife and child before he passed away.
knowing that i was never going to get them the visas i ended the conversation by telling the ass that i had no intention of leaving my child and that all though the schools in america may be good, i did not want my child to be at risk of getting shot at school. he then told me to leave, the interview was over, and he went to lunch.
maybe his farang wife burnt his toast at breakfast, who knows.
the point is, that no matter what you do or what you show them, its all up to some low level public servant who may have an attitude.
SO FOLLOW THE OPs ADVICE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DONE ALL THAT YOU CAN TO PREPARE, YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE. and if its better to wait, wait.
EDIT: i might add that my wife felt that she had lost so much face at that interview that she suffered self-doubt for a very long time and got depressed for months. she felt that she was responsible for us not getting the visas and that she had ruined the whole idea of going on the trip, and that she was a bad girl in the eyes of my family. i also forgot to tell you that we had a DNA test done on the kid and myself so that when we told them the child was not mine, thinking that would show even more commitment, that they would ask for the DNA test, and we would already have it.
i hope this is not seen as hijacking, i really wanted to reinforce what you said about being prepared, and basically getting one chance.
Gents, as I may not be as frequent a fun photo contributor on the board as others (although I’ll try to get better at that!), I’ll try to give my 2-cents on topics or issues I have come across having been in a 12 year relationship with my GF.
I know that a lot of guys on diiferent forums often ask about information on visas to bring their girlfriends to their home countries for a vacation. Below are the experiences that my girlfriend and I have had in getting a visa to visit the United States. It may be useful for guys thinking of trying to get a visa for their girlfriends. As an American, I only deal with the US, and don’t know if any of the information applies to other countries, although I think it is safe to assume that there are some parallels with Eurozone countries, Canada and Aus/NZ.
When my GF and I first applied for a Visa way back in 2000, I was fortunate to have a buddy in the Hong Kong consulate who gave me some basic advice for our application.
Important! – The information I provide here is in no way official and I cannot vouch for its accuracy. It is just my opinion, based on my experiences. I think that getting a visa entails equal parts preparation and luck.
Types of Visas
There are a number of types of visas in two categories for which a Thai national can apply to go to the US. The two types are immigrant and non-immigrant. The immigrant visas are for people looking to move to the US permanently. Immigrant visas are for Thais with immediate family in the US, for Thai workers hired by a US company in a position which can’t be filled by a US citizen, or for fiancées of US citizens. None of these categories fit my girlfriend (and won’t fit most or all persons living in Thailand).
The non-immigrant visas deal with Thais coming to the US for business trips, tourism or study. The most common is the tourist visa (B1/B2), and that is the visa I have experience with. For detailed information all visas, you can go to the US embassy in Thailand website, http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/.
Applying for the Tourist Visa
The application process is relatively simple but can take time. The Embassy suggests applying 6 weeks in advance of a trip, and many applicants now must have a face to face interview with embassy staff. The applicant must fill out the application (downloaded from embassy website) and provide significant amounts of documentation supporting the information on the application.
In addition to having a Thai passport, the most important information to include in the application is anything which proves the applying person lives in Thailand and has good reasons to return after the vacation to the US. The biggest worry the consular officers have is that a Thai national will visit the US and then not come home, becoming an illegal alien. This does happen, and in the post 9/11 environment consular officers have been much tougher on issuing visas to questionable cases.
To quote the embassy website:
“The presumption in the law is that every visitor visa applicant is an intending immigrant. Therefore, applicants for visitor visas must overcome this presumption by demonstrating that:
• The purpose of their trip is to enter the U.S. for business, pleasure, or medical treatment;
• That they plan to remain for a specific, limited period;
• Evidence of funds to cover expenses in the United States;
• Evidence of compelling social and economic ties abroad; and
• That they have a residence outside the U.S. as well as other binding ties that will insure their return abroad at the end of the visit. “
Who will be Immediately Rejected
It is important to understand that if your girlfriend/lady gets rejected for a tourist visa, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to get a visa when applying a second time. The information must be radically different in the second application for a visa to be issued (i.e. new high level job with reputable company, or newly found immense wealth). Therefore when applying for a visa, make sure you feel there is a good chance of it getting issued, otherwise you may ruin the girl’s chances of going to the US at any point in the future. Better to take time to prepare for the application process, even if it takes years.
I would say that if the girl you want to bring to the US comes from a poor family with no wealth/property of her own, no schooling, and has/has had no job other than working in Nana Plaza or Patpong, the application will be usually rejected out of hand (unless your extremely lucky).
The consular officers are very aware of guys meeting girls on their travels and wanting to bring them back to the US for a visit. If they feel that is the case, they will likely reject. The officers don’t look at each application to find reasons to accept it but to find any single reason to reject it. It is my opinion (and only my opinion) that you will not get a visa for the person you meet a couple of times at a bar on your yearly trip to Bangkok. I don’t mean to be harsh, but to simply state what I see as reality. No education, no job (other than in a gogo bar), and no wealth will probably lead to automatic rejection.
So How Does Anyone get a Visa?
My reason for the automatic rejection above is that the person, in the eyes of the consular officer, will see no reason to return to Thailand. If she has no money and no real job, what is to stop a person from simply staying in the US? If the person wants to work in the gray economy, at the least she can get $200 for a screw session in the US instead of $25 in Bangkok, so why come back. If the “boyfriend” helps with the person’s application what is to stop the person convincing the boyfriend that she should stay in the US with him because he loves him. This is the thinking of the consular officer. No matter what the reality for the visit to the US is, these scenarios are always the first that the embassy thinks of.
So, who gets a visa? I will give my opinions in two categories: the person applying by herself and the person applying with help from her boyfriend. The reasons for the two categories come down to money: can the person afford her own trip to the US, and therefore not need the financial support any boyfriend?
The best case profile for someone applying for a visa is as follows: The person has a good job with a known company and can prove it, comes from a wealthy/solid middle class family or has a lot of money of her own and can prove it, perhaps owns her own apartment or home and can prove it, has all her family in Thailand and can prove it, and speaks good English. In this case, the person will be able to conduct an interview by herself and prove that she can afford the trip to the US including all expenses and hotels, and will definitely return to Thailand because she has a good job and owns property. The person in this case will have a letter from her company stating the length of employment in good standing, will have references from all previous jobs, will have a diploma from her university, will have a most recent bank statement, the title deed to the property owned, and records of family in Thailand. In this “perfect” scenario the consular officer will see someone who they believe really is just a tourist. Proof of previous trips to other “first-world” countries will also help.
If your friend fits all these criteria, I don’t think she will have too much of a problem getting a visa. In fact in the “perfect” scenario it is better for her to state that the trip she is taking is to visit friends or purely for tourism as part of a tour package, and not to visit a boyfriend. Again, the big worry that the embassy has is that the person will overstay a visa. Having a boyfriend in the US only raises this concern.
My Situation
So what about the 99% of us who may have girlfriends who don’t fit the perfect profile? In most cases the biggest hurdle is money/job/property. Even if the person has a job or is a student at a known University (which can be almost as good as a job) often they won’t have enough money in their bank account to show an ability to support a trip to the US. This is where the boyfriend comes in to help the application process. If the person is being sponsored on the trip to the US, the sponsor must show his own financial ability to pay for the trip. Due to reasons previously stated this places the application under “boyfriend” scrutiny.
My girlfriend’s application of years ago fell under this scenario. I will outline what we did to get a visa. Our situation was somewhat unique and I also think we got a bit lucky in our application.
Her profile: My girlfriend is/was from a very poor family and had left school at 14 to work to support them. At the time of the application she had returned to school full time in Bangkok, and was not working. She had no financial assets to her name, and spoke poor English.
My profile: I lived in another Asian country at the time and was the director of a small business in Thailand. I traveled to Thailand twice a month for work. I was financially able to support the trip to the US we would be taking together; we would be staying at my family’s home in the US.
I was advised by friends in the HK embassy, not to help her apply for the visa. They felt that the boyfriend issue would lead to a rejection. Since she had no assets, no property and no job (although she was a full time student), we facing a double edge sword. However, I decided to chance it because I had to prove that I would support the trip, and because of her poor English I felt I might need to help her with the interview at the embassy.
We took time to fill out the application in detail and gathered all of the documentation we would need. These included: a letter from her school proving her attendance as a student in good standing; full records of her family in Thailand (birth certificates and proof of residency of immediate family); references from her three previous jobs prior to returning to school and her bank statements (even though they showed a relatively low balance). For my part I supplied: proof of my residency in another Asian country; proof of my status as a director of a Thai company; that Thai company’s certificate of incorporation and corporate bank account statements; my own bank statements proving my ability to support our trip; and letters from me, my father (who we would stay with), and a brother, all stating our support for the trip including all financial support.
At the time of the application we waited for our interview. The consular officer was a young American woman who reviewed our application in a very serious manner. I was worried that she might disapprove of the application simply because my GF was a ladyboy and didn’t speak very good English. Her passport and application state male, but she is totally passable. I think the fact that we were fairly close in age was. I was in my late twenties and my Gf was in her early/mid twenties. I do not want to be age discriminatory, but the fact is that consular officers question visas more readily when the man is much older than the girlfriend (ladyboy or not). This is especially the case with female consular officers, in my opinion.
The second thing that fell in our favor was that I was able to develop a rapport with the officer. My GF and I were all smiles, and answered the questions she had honestly. I was even able to get in a bit of small talk about where she was from, how she liked Thailand, etc., etc. The officer told us to return that afternoon.
Upon returning she said she needed more information. More details of the company I was involved with in Thailand and proof of my father’s financial standing, since we were staying with my parents in the US. She said that we weren’t rejected but that she needed more information to make a decision.
We returned the next day with the proper info, including a copy of my father’s W-2 tax form showing his income. This info put us over the top and the officer issued the visa. The visa was for one visit only and my GF had to return to the embassy within 3 days of her scheduled return to prove to the embassy that she was back in the country.
The first application for a visa is VITAL. As stated earlier, if you are rejected on the first visa it is tough to get another. However, if you are successful getting the first it is much easier to get the next. Imagine the young consular officer: the last thing a young career state department employee wants is some tourist, who they approved, to go illegal on them. Not good for career prospects. However if someone has traveled to the US before, they feel protected since someone approved the tourist before they have to.
After my GF’s first trip to the US, she returned a second time for a trip with my family to Bermuda. For the second application she received a multi entry visa (as many trips as she wanted) which expired in one year. After that year she applied for another trip and was given a multi year visa which doesn’t expire for ten years – we’ve been to the US probably 15 times in the last 10 years. Basically, if your build up a history of visiting and returning, you build up goodwill with the embassy that you won’t go illegal on them. Since then we have also travelled to Korea, Japan and Singapore among others. Once a girl builds up track record of travels, I think each visa is easier. This year we’ll be going to Sydney and Rome – I don’t expect any difficulties in getting visas. This only emphasizes the fact that the first application is IMMENSELY important.
Why Were We Successful?
I think the main reason we were successful is that I lived in Asia and had business ties to Thailand. This gave reason for the consular officer to believe this was really just a visit to the US. My Gf and I were taking the same flights to and from the US. Also, we provided a lot of detailed documentation to support our case, including the financial info from my father and the support letters from the US. Frankly, I think we got lucky with the consular officer who handled our case; we were able to build a rapport with her. If we had a different officer, who frowned on ladyboys, or gays, or relationships between Thais and Americans, or simply got up on the wrong side of the bed with a huge hangover that morning, we would not have been so fortunate. Finally, we were applying for a visa in the Pre-9/11 world environment.
Our biggest problem was that my GF did not have the financial means to support a trip herself, and therefore needed my support. If you meet a person who can support a trip to the US, than she is ahead of the game in getting a visa. If not, then you have to carefully weigh the options as to whether or not it is worth it to apply for a visa. If I had not been a resident of Asia, with a connection to Thailand, it would have been more difficult for my GF to get a visa.
Conclusions
I guess that in conclusion I would say that if you have just met someone from Cascades or Obsessions and want her to visit you in the US, your chances of getting visa are slim and not worth trying. However, if the person is able to show background in employment and school, you have a better chance.
To return to an earlier statement I made: “Better to take time to prepare for the application process, even if it takes years.” If you really care about somebody you have met in the “industry”, it is far better to take a long term strategy: help them get into school or get a real job, and then after a year apply for a visa with good documentation to back you up. But even then it seems there are no guarantees.
In addition to good preparation, the keys to a visa are money and property, a history of employment and school, and all family in Thailand. Having as many of these elements as possible, will help the consular officer believe the Thai national will actually return to Thailand after the vacation is over.
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