fountainhead

huh? who said anything about residency? he just wanted some mail forwarding. as for me, i moved from CA to NV in 2005. license, work, mail, everything... the CA taxman can chase me all he wants, i have a big 9.3% "fuck you" to shove up his ass. he'll have to come to Bangkok to get it though.

if you're in the states, get a box at one of these places: http://theupsstore.com/products/maiandpos.html it's a real address, not a PO box, so you can have everything sent there. then have UPS forward it to you. you'll need to leave a credit card on file & a deposit too.

FACT: streets have dirt.. FACT: if you eat dirt, you'll die. FACT: there is no cure for death. thank you for reminding us psychodad.

that wasn't intended to be a shot at all. i had just addressed posts of yours that i considered to be inaccurrate, and was trying to state that there were other posts -- not yours -- that also appeared inaccurrate (to my non-legal eye). i wanted to make it clear that when i was saying there were inaccurrate posts in the topic, that i was not saying that only your posts were inaccurrate, and that anybody relying on what was posted in this topic should... reconsider. i honestly missed your reference to "ask the authorities in your state," and it was because i was focused on 2 false statements you made in that same post: you can divorce her in thailand, since they will recognize your marriage, so long as the thai court's rules decide that they have the jurisdiction to grant the divorce. almost certainly false. the US recognizes divorces and marriages from thailand. the only issue would be if a US court ruled that a thai court dissolved the marriage when the proper jurisdiction was in the US. while that could be an issue for the OP, the thai woman would need to know she could re-open the case in the US and have the means to do so. (morally) right or wrong, it's apparent that the OP is trying to ditch his wife in a place where she has less (or no) legal options... getting a thai court to grant them a divorce would probably do the trick.

if you screw a person over in a divorce, such as stranding her in another country and then claiming desertion since she can't get back to the country, a court can re-open the settlement for another 3 years when she sues you. (edit: that's state specific to california) if you have a default divorce, the court represents her interests and divides the assets according to formula. you're still required to give her what she's due (though i think she'd have to request spousal support, so a default dissolution wouldn't give her that). (edit: again, california-specific) in many US states, the duration of post-marital spousal support correlates to the duration of marriage... for example, in california, if married >= 10 years, for life you really want to keep that clock ticking on a desertion plan that could backfire on you?

and i still think your blanket statement was wrong, as is your example here. the 2nd marriage is irrelevant, of course. it's like renewing vows -- since they were legally married already, both in the US AND in thailand. the divorce might hold, depending on whether US courts respect whether the thai court granted it with proper jurisdiction. if the thai court actually does have jurisdiction, US courts will recognize it, regardless of whether they were married in US or (and) thailand. in the OP's case, obviously the thai court shouldn't have jurisdiction (that belongs to some state court in the US), but who knows, maybe US courts will still respect the sovereignty of the thai court that would grant them a divorce...? my advice to the OP (assuming the whole topic isn't a wind-up) is to see a lawyer. while i'm not one, i recognize that much of what's been said here is completely wrong (not just joekicker's posts). just going through a divorce and reading a few nolo press "how to" books makes that obvious. i also realize that i'm not familiar with how laws between countries work, and might have missed even more mistakes.

jurisdiction for dissolution is far more complex than that. i have no clue about the thai laws, but in the US, a state court needs to have jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage. sometimes it gets complex because based on the couple's living/working locations, multiple courts could have jurisdiction, and typically men will want their divorce in a "no-fault" state, where the community property is only what's been made during the marriage. though the OP's situation sounds like a US court (should have) has jurisdiction, it's entirely possible to get married in the US, move to thailand, and find that your ONLY options for divorce are a thai court. very unlikely to be true, given that the US recognizes both marriages & divorces registered @ the thai amphur.

stroll on the beach? do you hold hands too? try stay on topic stinger, this is about good restaurants, not wooing women 1950's style. my comments on this thread: grimm, yes, pattaya food sucks on the whole, but phuket wholely sucks. at least pattaya has good pussy. cabbages & condoms: one of the few good restaurants in pattaya (don't go on family night when you might run into stinger wooing his woman) kiss food: the food is crap. people eat there because it's a sit-down restaurant not far from walking street open at all hours. the only thai women who will eat there are the ones dragged there by their ATM for the night, so it's not even a good place to pick up indies. there's a pizza place across and to-the-right of heaven above gogo off soi walking. don't remember the name, but damn good pizza.

i'm offended that '80s music is considered "classic," as in old. and i'm offended that music by "Dexy's Midnight Runners" is considered "classic," as in good.

My verdict: MCLDO! quit driving up the prices!

i was hoping not to have to bring the laptop, but found out today that that was a pipe dream... oh well, don't think i'll need to put in too much time.

MM (or anybody who knows), i just booked a week at the LK Metro... will i be able to get in-room DSL there for just a week, minus firewalls (or anything that'll prevent me from using VPN), minus logging onto a network (and getting periodically logged off)? i don't mind paying X baht for the service, i just need to know that i'll be able to do my work.

in a few more days you can start checking http://latestays.com (maximum bookings 2 weeks in advance)

interesting... i didn't think it was too late to book for april 11... i arrive pattaya april 13 and i haven't booked a hotel yet. in fact, i just booked my BKK hotel for march 30... and still have no hotels april 2-22. you try the LK metro yet?