Posted on 12/23/2006 5:15:33 PM PST by Dallas59
BANGKOK (AFP) - "I could not find anybody in the States. There was nothing in America for me. That's why I'm here," says the clean-cut 52-year-old bachelor, who bears a passing resemblance to Hollywood actor Michael Douglas.
Sullivan, an emergency nurse from Florida, is one of a growing number of foreign men seeking young and beautiful Thai brides via the Internet.
Speaking at the Bangkok office of Sweet Singles, a Thai bride-by-Internet company, Sullivan says he has decided to "go beyond boundaries" in his search for a wife after a futile quest in the United States.
"American women in my age are, basically, a wreck. They are physically and emotionally beaten up from relationships and life. They are untrusting," says the well-built Sullivan, sporting a pink shirt and white pants.
"I think the feminist movement in America in the 60s really trashed American feminism. American women lack a certain femininity about them that women of other countries have," he laughs.
Sullivan contacted Sweet Singles six months ago and was introduced to Yoshita Tongsalee, an attractive 27-year-old teacher of traditional Thai dancing.
After corresponding with her via e-mails for three weeks, Sullivan decided to meet her and flew to Bangkok in early December.
"Just from e-mails, I knew she was the one. I just knew," says the American, his emerald earring dazzling.
"I find Thai women in general to be less self-centered and more family-centered than I find in western women," he says. The couple plans to marry next year.
John, a 43-year-old Briton who got married to a Thai woman four years ago via an Internet bride agency, also has grievances about western women.
"English women are very demanding and they expect you to be good-looking and have plenty of money and give them lots of attention. They drink a lot and they smoke a lot and they eat a lot," says John, who declined to give his last name.
"I am not very good at getting women anyway. I'm not the best-looking guy in the world. I'm quite short and it's very hard for me to find an English woman who is shorter than me," he says on the telephone from London.
Before marrying his Thai bride, John dated six British women, but his relationships with them were anything but happy.
"I'm just fed up with British women. They are not so loyal," he says.
When he met six Thai ladies in Bangkok via the Internet, including a 32-year-old business woman who later became his wife, John says he was struck by their kindness and family-centered values.
"I think Thai women are more loyal to their husbands. They are not just 'take, take take.' Also they have old-fashioned family values, which we used to have in this country," he says. John and his wife now have two young boys.
John and Marc declined to say how much they paid to get their Thai wives. Sweet Singles says it can charge a foreign man up to 1,700 dollars for a three-year membership to meet Thai ladies.
Some 10,000 foreign men have signed up with Sweet Singles over the last decade, and nearly half of them were previously divorced, says Bee, the company's customer service manager.
Some 80 percent of them get married to Thai women through the agency.
Americans account for 60 percent of the company's male clients, with the rest mostly from Australia, Britain, Germany and Scandinavian countries. Their average age ranges from 55 to 60.
Some 20,000 Thai women have also joined Sweet Singles, with their ages ranging from 20 to 40. The company charges a Thai woman 700 baht (20 dollars) for membership.
Bee, a petite 40-something, says Thai woman often have a favorable impression of foreigners.
"Many Thai girls were disappointed by Thai men who are famous for womanizing, drinking and gambling. Thai woman believe Caucasian men are more responsible and sincere and not playing around with other women," she says.
Thanitchaya Buaban, a striking 26-year-old beauty from Thailand's northern tourist spot of Chiang Mai, says she used to have a Thai boyfriend but he cheated on her many times.
"I was heart-broken. After I joined Sweet Singles, I started meeting foreigners and they were very kind and polite," she says at the firm's office.
Thanitchaya says she now has many American suitors who are trying to win her love with diamond rings and necklaces.
"I'm going to choose the best one," she says with a big smile.
For Sullivan's fiancee Yoshita, her experiences with Thai men were more traumatic.
"I was planning to marry my first Thai boyfriend, but he did not show up on our wedding day. He embarrassed me and my family," Yoshita says. "My second boyfriend cheated on me and impregnated another woman."
But Yoshita, who wears a golden heart necklace, says she is looking forward to living in Florida with the man of her dreams -- even if she still refers to him by his last name.
"I believe Mr Sullivan is a gift from God. He is really a good man and respects me. Every day I pray and thank Buddha for giving me Mr Sullivan," she says.
Sullivan nodded and held her hand.
"I have to step outside my own culture to find someone with whom I am compatible. I am not narrow-minded in that regard," he smiles.
*shrug* Once upon a time in my younger days, I dated a married woman.
She neglected to tell me she was married.
To a Marine Corps Drill Instructor...
Well, since I'm one of those feminine American women, I'm thankfully lacking a dick.
But as for disarmed, surely you jest: I'm an attorney, active member of the Federalist Society, faculty member at a major university, earn a six figure income, and happily dating.
Begging the Question is a fallacy in which the premises include the claim that the conclusion is true or (directly or indirectly) assume that the conclusion is true. This sort of "reasoning" typically has the following form.
Premises in which the truth of the conclusion is claimed or the truth of the conclusion is assumed (either directly or indirectly). Claim C (the conclusion) is true. This sort of "reasoning" is fallacious because simply assuming that the conclusion is true (directly or indirectly) in the premises does not constitute evidence for that conclusion. Obviously, simply assuming a claim is true does not serve as evidence for that claim. This is especially clear in particularly blatant cases: "X is true. The evidence for this claim is that X is true."
Some cases of question begging are fairly blatant, while others can be extremely subtle.
So, it's not when another question is brought to mind; it's when the premise of the argument includes the conclusion.
But whatever you say, honey....
This is great: Keep making my points for me!
Yeah, but with one of 'these' she can get as many of 'those' as she wants...
These stupid American men are going to have a rude awakening, as this is just another legitimized extension of global sex trafficking: previously, this position was held be gold-digging Russian women, looking for $$ opportunities abroad, living high off the hog for awhile, then filing for divorce, or taking off with all the treasure that had been showered on them by gullible, desperate middle-aged men with heavy-duty prostate requirements for their onging midlife crises. Just as 60 is the new 40, Thai girls are the new Russian girls.I would guess that not 5% of these "arrangements" will last longer than a year or two, and if they do, are not waaaaayyyyy more trouble and heartache than they would be with an American female.
Keep reading, all will be clear...
You are a very nice, funny man. You have GREAT comedic timing!
Thanks...ladies...let's make this guy feel at home....
You go girl!
Good to know, but I'm married for over 30 years now and not one for cheating. A promise is a promise. A marriage ebbs and flows but an honorable person, man or woman, does not jump beds at the first moment of unhappiness, you work on it. Love seemingly gone can return. Believe me. I know.
Went to a street fair this morning. Never before had I seen so many unfriendly, self-absorbed women in one place. That, and the super joyful older black men, presumably homeless, hired to regulate the traffic, wishing everyone "Merry Christmans", not "Happy Holiday", hired to regulate the traffic, were the two impressions I carried home. Something about the Christmas season brings out the worst and best in people!
Good thing or all the women in my house are lez...
Many people on this thread make really racist comments and dont even realize it, yours included. You have obviously never spent any time in Thailand or any other of the asian countries, or you would not say such a thing.
Odd. I missed all that on your profile page...
You wrote: . He says American women lack a certain femininity, which is often a code word for "submissiveness."
And that is so horrible? The last thing many men want in a wife was some woman who is going to argue about every little detail of life and is sure she is just as {blank} as any guy. Smart, strong, assertive, mean, etc. The worst case is she was right. I dated several women who were, and could not possibly imagine forming a harmonious household with them.
Submissivness is not a bad thing if it makes one happy. Not everyone is born to be a dominant personality, but many western women have been convinced they need to be, and pretty much ruin their lives and the lives of the men they marry behind that belief.
Whenever you hear a guy trolling for Asian mail-order brides using the word "femininity," I'm highly suspicious.
Suspicious of what, exactly, dear? That he wants a feminine, girly-girl, submissive wife who wants nothing more than to look pretty, cook well, and love her man. Horrors! Such beliefs must be stamped out!!
Plus he's finding himself a woman half his age.
Oh yes, can't have that! A man who has worked hard making a good career for himself should not even consider finding a mate who is younger, attractive and attentive when he SHOULD be wedding a 40-something western woman who will make his life hell.
Sadly (for you) marraige outsourcing is here to stay. La la la.
You go girl! I hope it's a *younger* man!
"you just don't get it!"
Seems to be a lot of women in the western cultures that want their hubby to do everything while they go out and have fun. Of course there are many good women as well.
Buddy, you wouldn't know what a point is if it hit you in the head. The point you've made for everyone on this thread is that you're dispicable garbage wrapped in skin.
So, I'm moving on from talking to you. Feel free to stew in your own rancid juices, and I'm sorry about whatever it was that your mother did to make you the small man that you are.
Are you sure? Look again.
I starting checking first after that.
It was a joke. Didn't you see the smiley?
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