The yearly bureaucratic hoops I have to go through for my Thai visa is an annoyance. Thankfully, the immigration officers are always polite and helpful.
A recent new rule required that Wa and I prove we are still living together. And the way to prove this was to include in my annual visa renewal application, photos of us together inside and outside our home. How this proved anything is beyond my feeble understanding, but there it is, so we are compelled to comply.
At the immigration office, when we were asked for photos, I triumphantly declared to Wa that it was a good thing I'd bought that tripod she had not wanted me to buy. She retorted that a camera perched on a window sill would do just as well and how I keep buying useless stuff, to which I replied: not as useless as her 17 pairs of shoes and raincoats for the dogs and she went on about how my mother never liked her and that I'm too lenient on the kids and I complained that she was letting herself go with all that fried chicken...
The immigration officer interrupted, saying she was convinced we were married and no photos would be necessary.
"Photos? What photos?" we asked in unison, having forgotten the original spark for our argument. We were annoyed at this interruption and continued our argument outside.
So, my advice to genuinely married couples applying to renew their visas and having to prove they are still married and living together: just be yourselves.
You're welcome.
