Though not directly related to what you are asking this group may be helpful for your situation as well.

Follow on question… Since I also have a 17yr old. Would her dependent Visa only be good until she turns 20? Meaning I would be paying the full cost of a DTV for her but she would only receive 3 of the 5 yr time allotment?

@Brandon ***********

- Good to know thanks!

@Radost *************************

- Thanks for the clarification.

@Brandon ***********

- On the Visa info it said under 20- so I wasn’t sure if it meant 20 and under. It also says that kids can attend school on the DTV so I had assumed that meant college as well considering the age limit.

That’s not a lot of cash to have on hand for a vacation. Especially in a country where cash is still king. I would actually feel incredibly uncomfortable carrying that little. (Considering my kids and I will drop 10K baht at 7-11 alone on our trips. 🤣)

@Christopher ********

- Are you familiar with the history between Thailand and the other countries you mentioned? I don’t doubt that there is some form of discrimination that goes on, however I think it’s natural, and likely more based off of history, cultural, behavioral, & economic differences, etc… vs just something superficial like skin color. Thai’s are very protective of their country and its people. They truly believe Thailand belongs to the Thai people and will fight to keep it that way. However unlike a lot of other Asian countries they are not completely homogeneous like Japan, Korea, Mongolia, etc… They do accept mixing (I believe 40% are mixed with Chinese.)

I think it’s easy as a foreigner to make judgments based on surface level interactions and observations. But unless it is actually your country/ people/ way of life at stake, or you are able to completely suspend your own biases and judgments, it’s difficult to understand all the nuances and possible reasons for underlying feelings of resentment if any in that regards.

Whitening products are not about race. If anything it’s more about classism. The idea is that if your skin is light, then you’re not out in the sun doing manual labor. It also implies that you can afford beauty products to take care of your skin. Lighter skin is an Asian beauty standard not exclusive to Thais it has nothing yo do with wanting to be racially white. I would liken it to white people tanning- the implication is that someone who is tan can afford to artificially tan or have enough free time to lay around in the sun.

I’ve traveled with this. It works with any normal seat belt. It essentially re-positions a seat belt to fit the child.

It’s just a thing that they do, but not necessary to open an account. They tried to sell me insurance too and my account was opened in my small hometown where the banker knew my mom. (She was with me). I just told them flat out that the coverage amount isn’t worth it to me, I have no need of it and that I have all necessary insurance from out of country.