Many relationships between foreigners and Thai women start with an ocean between them, whether because the foreigner went home after a holiday or the relationship began online before either of them booked a flight. Here we gather stories about the waiting, the time zones, and the trust that long distance demands — and what happened once it ended, one way or another. Stories like Mali's, who talked to her partner every day for years before living together, show that distance itself doesn't predict the outcome — consistency does. For the full pattern breakdown, see our Long Distance topic guide.
A 50-year-old Brit, freshly divorced, met Nitia, a maths teacher in Khon Kaen who'd spent years keeping men at arm's length. Years of FaceTime, visits dodging COVID, and a first daughter later, the wedding is no longer a possibility but a foregone conclusion.
A 61-year-old American recounts how, after a failed relationship in Vietnam, he met May, a refreshingly honest Thai civil servant. Years of video calls and a temple wedding in Kanchanaburi with nearly 50 blessing strings later, he gained an entire family.
A 31-year-old Romanian recounts how a cheap flight booked on a whim sent him back to Bangkok alone, where he reconnected with Jit at a Soi Cowboy bar. A pregnancy, months of paperwork and a wedding later, they're now a normal family in the UK.
A 51-year-old Canadian recounts how he went from a tense relationship in Pattaya to supporting Lek for two years as she built a food stall in her village near Prakhon Chai, until she vanished without explanation after a temple retreat.
A 35-year-old Brit, freshly out of a devastating breakup, recounts his first trip to Thailand with two mates both called Paul, a Jenga record, a near-fatal chili challenge, and a relationship with a girl called A that ended in the worst possible way.
A 54-year-old American recounts how a two-week trip to Thailand stretched on indefinitely: first dodging a woman with escalating financial demands, then building a life in Bangkok alongside Gop and her daughter, who ended up calling him Papa.
A 55-year-old Australian recounts how, after walking out of a relationship in Hua Hin in a bad mood, he wandered into the most boring looking bar in town and met the woman he'd marry in Perth years later, after a visa rejection for the strangest reason.
A 50-year-old Australian recounts how a 350-guest Thai wedding in Phuket turned into a guest house in Patong, an affair with another woman, bar fights involving the police, and a final message asking for a divorce.
A 52-year-old American looks back on his ten-month relationship with Tan, a Phuket bar girl who was honest from day one about how it worked. Knowing exactly what he was getting into, he fell anyway, until she told him she was marrying someone else.
A recently retired American looks back on his relationship with a Thai woman he met in Hong Kong. What began as a romance with visits to Bangkok turned into a growing list of monthly payments, until he discovered he wasn't the only man supporting her.