Meeting your special girl
One of the most common mistakes is when a Westerner goes to Thailand on his two-week vacation, meets a girl, falls in love, and asks her to marry him before he leaves the country. Believe me, it's easy to do this, because you'll be so lovestruck by your Thai beauty that you won't be able to resist. She'll be like no woman you have ever met before in America or anywhere else in the world. But, marrying a Thai woman is just like marrying a woman from any country, it pays to take time to get to know her first; and in this case, also to get to know her culture.
I was fortunate in that I was able to live in Thailand for about a year, giving me plenty of time to get to know my lovely wife, her family, her friends, her culture and her country before we tied the knot. Granted, most people aren't able to do that, and it's unfortunate. Two weeks isn't enough time. Take as much time as your finances and work schedule will allow. If you can only stay for a couple weeks, plan a return trip as soon as possible; don't jump into marriage after a single two-week visit. If your girlfriend pressures you into engagement right away, and refuses to wait until you can come back, then take that as a big red flag.
Once you have arrived and are ready to go out on your first date with your prospective Thai wife, you can treat her to a nice dinner out on the town for a lot less than what you would pay in the U.S. Do be aware that the "enlightened" custom of taking out a liberated American woman and going Dutch (which the Thai call going to dinner "American style") should never be even suggested. Be a gentleman and always pick up the tab for everything. The exchange rate is favorable and everything's cheap there, you can afford to be a big spender and not break your bank account.
A complaint that is sometimes heard among visitors to Thailand and even ex-pats who live the year-round is that they can't meet a "good girl." If you go to Thailand and it seems like all you ever meet are bar girls, there's an easy solution: Don't spend all your time in Bangkok hanging around in bars! Once you're there, you can meet Thai women almost anywhere. Very often, Thai women, especially students who are learning English, will approach you just to practice English. (Don't necessarily take this as a come-on though, especially if it's a young student--she really does just want to practice speaking English with you!) You can meet women anywhere in Thailand. Don't come on too strong, just be friendly. Thai people are generally conservative dressers. If you look like a sloppy American couch potato in torn jeans and a stained tee-shirt, you won't have a lot of good luck here. Take some nice clothes with you, and even though it's hot, avoid the shorts-and-tee shirt ensemble. Think casual but stylish.
There are two parts of Bangkok however, where you would probably not want to go if you want to meet a Thai woman to marry: Patpong, and Khao San Road. These are two very different districts, but neither lend themselves to meeting Thai wives. Patpong is the red light district. You will meet plenty of Thai women there, but not the type you'd bring home to Mother. Khao San Road, sometimes known as "hippie street," is populated mostly by young European and American backpackers. You may well meet women on Khao San Road, but you won't meet Thai women there. And the Western women you'll meet there are very likely to be the type of women you left America to avoid.
The Internet-based Asian dating services are usually not very expensive, and are a good way to get to know Thai women before venturing overseas to meet in person. Even if you spend time chatting online with a Thai woman but don't end up marrying her, you've at least gotten to become a little more familiar with the culture just by talking with her. Using one of these services isn't anything at all like "getting a mail order bride." The Internet is just one way of meeting women, and it's a legitimate way to do so. While some people still have a stigma about Internet romance, the Internet is really just a tool, it's just a place. There's nothing different about meeting a woman over the Internet than meeting her at school, in a church, at a bar, or anywhere else.
