Learning Thai

Those of you who have been reading our blog with any consistency will know that our lack of long-term visas has been one of our most stressful struggles over the past half-year. Well, we're happy to report that our (and your) prayers have been answered! Last Friday I went to our lawyer's office to pick up my passport with an extended visa, then went to the immigration bureau and had new visas stamped into the rest of the family's passports. This has been a huge relief to us - we never guessed when we started on this process that it would take this long or cost so much money, but it's finally completed. It drained a lot of time and emotional energy. We are very grateful for all of you who have prayed for us and encouraged us during this time. Thank you!

On a completely unrelated note...today is the big election day here in Thailand. The voting ended a couple of hours ago and before too long we should know the results. This is the first election following last year's coup and a whole new parliament (and then prime minister) will be chosen. More than 5,000 candidates from 39 parties were running for the 480 seats. Over the past weeks we've had dozens of fliers stuck in our gate and seen hundreds of pickup trucks with large signs and loudspeakers roaming the streets and blasting out their support for a particular party or candidate.

Our landlords told me that they would be working at the poll, so this afternoon I rode over and visited them for a while. After the polling ended the workers were going to count the ballots by hand and then deliver them to the provincial headquarters. Here's a board with pictures and information about some of the candidates.

-Tom