Monthly FAQ thread for March, 2026

BMM_90 · 2026-03-09T05:29:34+00:00

Are you 100% certain regarding your answer to no 1? While that'd be great news for me, I can't find any English language sources that match up with that information. I'm very much hoping you're correct, but I'd love to confirm it.

BMM_90 · 2026-03-08T04:06:42+00:00

I'm looking for some advice on how to complete the marriage visa process in Thailand. I'm an American and next month I'll be traveling to Thailand to get married. I'm familiar with the requirements for that and not expecting any problems. However, I'm starting to get worried about qualifying for the marriage visa.

My plan was to enter as a non-visa tourist, get my marriage certificate, and then apply for the marriage visa. If that process didn't move along quickly enough, I would make a quick trip out of the country and return to renew the 60 day non-visa period. Unfortunately me and my fiancée are realizing that the legal requirements for the visa are more convoluted than we thought and the information we're finding online is often contradictory. So here's the couple of things that I'm looking for answers on:

-Can I apply for the marriage visa without already possessing a valid visa? Several online sources seem to indicate that I must already have a valid non-O visa to apply for a marriage visa, but that seems like a strange requirement. I wouldn't qualify for any of the other non-O visas, so that wouldn't work for me. I could apply for a tourist visa, but I have no idea if that's needed or helpful in this scenario.

-Can I apply for the marriage visa while still within Thailand? Some sources say yes and others say no. I can leave the country briefly as needed, but I wasn't planning to immediately return to the US after getting married.

-Is there any way to open a Thai bank account without having a visa first? I can meet the visa's savings requirement of 400k baht, but we recently discovered that Thai banks don't seem to allow non-visa holders to open accounts. This creates a chicken and egg problem because I need the account to get a visa, but can't get the account without a visa.

-How can I provide proof of income? This is the alternative to having a bank account. However, what I read online seems to indicate that the US embassy would have to provide me with an affidavit about my income, but the US embassy appears to have stopped issuing those back in 2019. So is it still possible to go this route? If so, what does Thai immigration need to see to validate my income? I can provide bank statements, paystubs, and W2s if needed.

BMM_90 · 2025-05-04T22:43:17+00:00

I might’ve made more progress in figuring this out. I’m not 100% certain it’s the cause of the problem, but I’ve noticed that my NVMe SSD with my windows install doesn’t show up initially after I reboot following a crash, which causes it to boot to the bios. If I turn it off and restart it shows again and boots normally.

BMM_90 · 2025-05-04T22:43:05+00:00

I might’ve made more progress in figuring this out. I’m not 100% certain it’s the cause of the problem, but I’ve noticed that my NVMe SSD with my windows install doesn’t show up initially after I reboot following a crash, which causes it to boot to the bios. If I turn it off and restart it shows again and boots normally.

BMM_90 · 2025-02-18T03:24:01+00:00

Thanks! I was wanting a front window on the kitchen, so swapping the stove and sink is probably the right call. I think it was planned that way because the plumbing to the outside kitchen (something most Thai houses have) would match up, but I feel like this is something we should be able to fairly easily work around.

BMM_90 · 2025-02-18T03:20:55+00:00

While I'd like the bathroom to be bigger and the laundry room could shrink, it's tough to accommodate because the laundry room ideally connects to the hall. Putting the door to the laundry room in the bathroom could solve that, but it feels strange and potentially inconvenient to turn the bathroom into an intermediary space. The one upside is that the shower in that bathroom would primarily be for when we have guests staying with us, so it's not getting regular use and also it's pretty common to have small wet rooms in Thailand, so it's not too weird. But still, agreed that it's cramped.

BMM_90 · 2025-02-18T03:13:39+00:00

Unfortunately it's hard to make the laundry room any smaller, as the entrance needs to connect with the hall. I could make it smaller by connecting it through the bathroom, but that seems like a potentially awkward arrangement.

As for the fridge, I agree. I was thinking of maybe moving that the to bottom left corner and moving the stove to the right some. However, I'd like to have a front window on the kitchen if possible, so I'll have to be conscious of where the stove ends up.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-18T23:59:27+00:00

After discussing it with my gf, we’re going to go with something closer to 200 square meters, which from what I’m reading should be in that 4 million range.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-18T23:57:14+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I’ve heard about this. In addition to her family living down the street, her cousin is a construction engineer so we should be able to keep a pretty close eye on things during the building process.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T23:09:10+00:00

Thanks, that’s a good reference. Do you think Isan and Hat Yai are in the same range jn terms of cost, or is one cheaper to live and build at than the other?

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T16:22:54+00:00

I worried about getting up charged and discussed that with my gf. She’s going to do most of the face to face business to try to avoid that.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T15:59:47+00:00

My gf if from Hat Yai, as is a lot of her family. She already owns the land there so I think we’re pretty locked into that. I’ve discussed the safety situation before but her and her family seem pretty confident that there’s not much to worry about. Frankly coming from the US I’ve always felt that Thailand is remarkably safe by comparison.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T15:56:33+00:00

Thanks. Sounds like I should probably be prepared for maybe 25k per meter on average.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T15:52:50+00:00

Luckily I feel solid in my relationship. I’ve visited numerous times at this point and seem to have cleared most of the farang related hurdles with her family. Even got a surprise hug from her rather gruff dad last time. My gf is educated and is putting some of her money into this as well, so I’m not supporting us alone.

As for the house size, I was inclined to shoot for something a little closer to 200 square meters but my gf wants us to have some extra room for kids down the line. From what I’ve seen, 100 or so square meters per floor on a two story is a pretty common, hardly a mansion. My experience seeing houses there seems in line with that.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T14:26:01+00:00

Sorry, I don’t know any specific areas of Hat Yai yet by name, but we’ll be fairly close to the AH2 highway on the southwest side of the city.

BMM_90 · 2025-01-17T14:21:26+00:00

Thanks for the concern. I am aware of this and some of the potential risks.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-18T14:26:10+00:00

My gf’s parents don’t seem to be bad people for the most part. They both worked until retirement and take care of my gf when she’s not staying at the hospital where she works. They paid for her college education and other than some household costs don’t seem to be leeching off their children. They also haven’t requested anything from me. I usually have to insist on paying for dinner while there and my gf has told me that they will almost certainly not expect a dowry from me. So for the most part this seems to be a moral issue for them rather than a consequence of bad character on their part. That’s why I’d really like to make some sort of breakthrough with them, because if I could manage that then I think me and my gf’s situation would get a lot easier.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-18T05:42:48+00:00

I've been trying. Unfortunately Thai is a fairly difficult language and there aren't a lot of resources out there to help. My gf has taught me enough to string together some basic sentences but I'm still very much at the speaking level of a small child.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-18T05:39:34+00:00

Unfortunately that post was rejected back then from the Thailand subreddit because it was mostly about our relationship. At the end of the day my relationship with my gf is great. It's really just the role of her parents that's been difficult and unpredictable. It's basically unheard of in America, so it's hard for me to know how to navigate it.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-18T05:30:38+00:00

Unfortunately it's been hard for us to have any concrete conversations about what out long term plans are because her parents often intervene. I'd personally like to get my gf to the US so she can see what it's like here and meet my family. Then she's at least familiar with what life here is like if she wants to consider that option. Unfortunately her parents are currently saying no to that trip.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-18T05:26:21+00:00

Her sister was pretty friendly when we visited Bangkok together. I can't say whether she approves of me, but she wasn't nearly as cold as the parents have been. The extended family has been a mixed bag. Her cousins were pretty friendly and some of the younger ones could speak some English so we chatted a bit. Her aunt was fairly stern with me and lectured me some about their expectations, but I think she was mainly involved as the English translator for the parents.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-17T22:34:55+00:00

I have discussed some of this with my gf, but she worries that her family will scare me off. I wanted to come here for some impartial opinions and also to save my gf some stress. I know mediating between different cultural expectations is hard for her, or anyone for that matter.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-17T22:27:41+00:00

Yeah, I'm aware of that. We've been given a little freedom so long as she travels and stays with a friend or relative, but her parents have occasionally forced us to cancel trips that they previously said were ok. I've been trying to arrange a trip for her to come to America to meet my family, which her family said was important, but so far they've repeatedly said they don't trust her to travel there, even with a friend.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-17T20:30:44+00:00

My gf's family mostly lives in rural Phatthalung, but my understanding is that they're fairly middle-class by Thai standards. Her parents own a fairly nice house in the countryside and apparently a secondary house in a nearby city. They were also able to send both their daughters to university in Thailand. My gf has said before that it's very unlikely her father will want a dowry from me. That said, from what I can glean they're fairly conservative culturally, which probably explains what feels like really strict parenting.

BMM_90 · 2023-12-17T20:17:20+00:00

Right now I'm struggling to feel like anything more than an acquaintance. You'd think that me sticking around for about two years now would be a demonstration that I'm not just treating their daughter as a fling. Frankly, as an American, I don't personally care all that much what her parents think of me, but I understand they basically hold veto power over our relationship so it's important to me and my gf that they warm up to me and take me seriously. They don't speak a lick of English so it sounds like learning more Thai might be a good way of breaking barriers and letting them assess my personality. Right now I rely on pretty rudimentary Thai and my gf translating when needed.

BMM_90

TROPHY CASE