@David *********

yes absolutely. My wife's brother paid a 7 million THB sin sod. His wife's family are all doctors, so 7 million was seen as an appropriate amount. Most of my wife's cousins are married to Thai men and they all paid sin sod.

If you are a man of means and her family is poor then I would not do the sin sod but would instead spend money to help them, before and after the wedding. Buy them a new refrigerator, put a new roof on their house, get her mom's teeth fixed, things like that. Improve the quality of their lives, be very generous with them, but always on your terms.

If for cultural reasons you need to present some cash/gold at the wedding, fine, but it must be understood that you get this back at the end of the ceremony. You have wealth, they are poor, straight up giving them cash is not going to help them as much as you being a leader in their family.

You are not a young man courting their daughter, you are a head of household and you should act like it. Marry her and then help her family, but remember always on your terms, you are in charge.

If the woman's family has money then it can be a much more complicated situation.

That's my advice anyway.

@Russell *******

The concepts are related. If you want a business you need a business visa. If you want to live here, without the ability to work, then you have many other visa options to choose from. LTR, DTV, Retiree, Elite, ED, Tourist.

Which is "best" for you depends on many individual circumstances including things like your age and economic situation. The "best" visa to live in Thailand without working, without respect for cost, is the Elite visa. That'll cost you like $20,000 USD for a 5 year visa. If you are over 50 then the retiree visa is best, assuming you can put the 800k THB into a Thai bank account. Most likely you'll simply need to come in on a tourist visa, stay for a couple of months, and then go elsewhere.

@Bonnie ******

takes a couple weeks

You need legal representation. There are a lot of complexities involved in business visas, work permits, company ownership, declared capital, taxes, and other subjects.

Call Ben at Integrity Legal, that's my advice.

I'm not an expert in these matters but sounds like you're fucked and you'll be headed back to the US while you get a new passport. But don't fret, all you've lost is some time and money, everyone is safe and healthy so don't sweat it, count your blessings.

@James ***********

For some girls, impossible. For others no problem at all. It really just depends on if she can demonstrate the things they want to see.

@Michael ******

it's really not though

@Peter *******

this is why googling it yourself is not wise, your answer is wrong in almost everything it said

@Us ****

what i find most amusing is that a guy coming from California talking about a broken political system and corruption. Hysterical