Irrumator

About 4 weeks ago I started having problems with sleep. I'd get off OK (with some clonazepam (Rivotril), which has had to creep up and up), but I have constantly starting waking up about 2.45 am. Not always for the bathroom, but once I was awake, it was very difficult to get back off. I'd normally wake about 6 to 6.30 which was fine. However, recently I went to the doc and explained the problem again. I have had to increase the clonazepam to 4 mgs a night, pretty high yet I always wake up after about 3 to 3 1/2 hours sleep and can't get back off at all. I know older people sleep less (I'm 74) but this sudden onset is a real PITA. The last few days I've just got up (this morning 1.45 am, yesterday 2.15, the day before 2.45. I potter on my PC, maybe watch a film and after breakfast go for a snooze. However this is really getting to me and I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has this problem and how they deal with it. Tips very welcome, but please don't say have a skinful before bed!

Don't eat the fruit then. Rice and oats? Yogurts? Forget it, you'll never lose weight that way.

You should have a high component of fat in your diet if you are eating keto. You re going about it entirely the wrong way. You should limit yourself to 20 grams of carb per day - I use 18 grams daily. Salads and many below ground vegetables are high in carbs and even some above ground vegetables. Fruit, apart from a few berries a day is a no-no from the start. One standard medium tomato has 7 grams of carbs so you are eating about one-third of your daily intake of carbs in just one tomato, That;s just one example. Having a plateful of salad daily is undoing all the other goof stuff you may have done. It's also wasted all your prep time. The aim on the standard keto diet is to eat 70% fat, 20% protein and 10% carbs (by those I mean grams per day), which will depend on your pre-keto weight and the weight you wish to attain. Some people do variations of keto depending on their needs and preferences. Try looking at myfitnesspal.com or fatsecret.com for more information and will also calculate your daily macronutients --- protein, fat and carbs) I started keto on 8th May 2017 (so almost 6 years) and I lost a total of around 55 kilos in total and have maintained that for over 4 years. I just changed my entire way of eating from before and have a large late breakfast, a light lunch and a snack-type dinner. I never eat after 5.30 pm. I don't eat again until about 9 am next day. No late snacks, only a pit of lime juice, ice and soda before bed and DEFINITELY no cheat days, which only cheat yourself. The keto diet is the best thing I have ever done for my health and I'll never go back 'normal' eating which is anathema to good health.

Tell me, did this school's name begin and end with 's' with another 's' third from the end?

This was late 2004/early 2005 when I was on Koh Samui for 3-4 months and the internet was absolutely dire. Skype now installed on phone, tablet and PC and just waiting for my pathetic bank to resurrect my online banking and then I'll add some money to my UK Paypal which currently has £0.06 in it! Or add Paypal as a payee and then transfer when needed.

Ah right, OK. Noted. No, haven't used a landline for about 18 years. But thanks for the suggestion, appreciated.

I do have Skype but haven't used it for years because it was rubbish - feedback, wailing and screeching, all sorts. I have now downloaded Skype but need to top up my credit on the Paypal account and the bank have messed up my online banking dreadfully and I'm waiting for 2 letters to arrive with new log on details, so I can't use online banking for now - hence the lengthy phone calls trying to put things right. Oh, and I use a mobile for calls, not a landline, so why would I need an RJ11 to RJ45 adaptor? Also I think my phone is set up for wifi calling so would it be going through the router anyway?

Thank you for a very lucid and detailed explanation. I understand perfectly now. Are/were you in telecoms? ???? However, I suspect that the very nice Dtac girl may not have had the English skills to explain in the detailed way that you did. However, I got the message and now use only the contact list for dialling. I wasn't exactly saying that they cheated me, but at no stage was it ever explained to me that you shouldn't call from the called numbers list so I was a bit twitchy, this being Thailand and all that ... Anyway, there has been a successful outcome in that Dtac first offered me a 20% discount, but I said I had always believed the calls were 7 baht a minute and I was prepared to pay that. They called me back an hour later and agreed so I am 3,000 baht better off - good old Dtac! ????

I have had to call my UK bank quite a lot recently over the last 3 or 4 weeks as they have cocked things up royally. I've had my number since 2004, when I was told to make cheap international calls to prefix the number with 009 or 004. I was shocked the other day to get an SMS with my calls for the last call period - almost 5,000 baht! The rate was 17 baht per minute and not the 5 baht per minute that it used to be to a landline and 7 baht to a mobile. I called about the bill last week and was told that I should use 004 or 00400 (which still gives the same rate as 004). Calls from mobiles and landlines are now both 7 baht per minute. I changed all my numbers and that's fine. HOWEVER, a warning - I called Dtac service an hour ago asking why the bill was so high and learnt something I had never been told before and it's this, so be careful. IF you make an international call prefixed with either 009 or 004 from your contacts list, you get the cheap rate, BUT if you redial that same number from your calls made list, you pay the full rate of 17 baht! As I say, Dtac had never told me about this, so as using the calls list is more convenient, that's what I did and was hit with the full international rate. I have made a complaint because it smacks of sharp practice to me, and told them that I don't mind paying the 7 baht a minute rate because that's the 004 rate IF you dial from your contacts list. The girl was very nice and has referred my complaint to the billing department, and hopefully I'll get the cheaper rate - like I said, hopefully. So this is a warning to others who make international calls - ALWAYS make the calls from your contacts list and make sure you add the correct prefix from your phone provider. I shall report back with the outcome, hopefully positive. Does anyone else know of this somewhat shady practice?

They are in the UK as well.

Almost the same as me, except that in Thailand I HAVE to teach English because that's what the students want to learn. My French is too rusty to teach that ad I don't speak other popular languages here, such as Chinese and Japanese. I don't teach under 18s either. And I like the fact that I can pick and choose my jobs.

I've heard exactly the same, and also that they are very ageist - no one over 40 ever gets a job with them.

Quite. Agencies and language schools are robbers. Inlingua used to charge students 1,200 an hour, all payable up front. Teaches for about 450 an hour plus an end of curse bonus of 50 baht/hour, but since Covid they've done away all bonuses and reduced the hourly rate. I left them about 10-11 years ago, went freelance and my salary doubled.

Same here. I have ADHD, as does my son (who manages magnificently) and my grandson is severely autistic as well. The problem is the that grandson hates untidiness, so if he sees post lying on the floor, he just bins it. Also his wife is a bitch extraordinaire and hates me and has in the past deliberately thrown away post meant for me. I'm not too keen on her either ...! ????

Right, I think I finally got to the bottom of this today. I spent 1.5 hours on the phone to Santander (my UK bank) this afternoon and they have reinstated the suspended accounts. They'd had my email with the scanned documents from Friday and went through them while I waited and all was correct, so now I can access my money again. AND we think we've got to the bottom of the phone problem. It looks like the numptie who had a pop at me about not answering was using a old UK number which I asked them to delete about 5 or 6 years ago! I have made a complaint about her, at Santander's suggestion. Good-o. The other CS girls were fantastic, amazingly patient, very understanding and the first one today went through every number they had on file and mentioned one ending 7666, which I didn't recognise until it later dawned on me that it was one of those 30 day sims for £20 ($25-ish?) which I had used on a trip back to see my late mother and my children years ago and had obviously expired. They had never deleted it and I'll bet my balls she was using that, as the nice girl said it was the first number on the list. Then Nice Girl even called my spare phone and it rang, so we know they can call Thailand - except the department which was making all the fruitless calls can't call abroad. So that was it. The Thai number wouldn't work so the CS clerk just went for the first UK number she saw - the expired one which wasn't deleted. Dim or what? It was all about the non-receipt of phone calls but that looks to be resolved now the ancient number that should have been deleted was actually deleted. EDIT - just while writing this someone from Santander called to say everything was sorted and they were very sorry, so were crediting my account with £50 (about $75) for my trouble! Valentine's meal tomorrow - yay! Thanks to all who tried to help but I didn't 'need' so-called 'advice' about Wise or a different phone provider or sim card - all off-topic red herrings. Who'd have thought it was all down to an obsolete number they hadn't deleted? Just call me Sherlock!

That sounds like a damn good idea. I'll look into that ASAP. First I want to talk to the very good techie girl from about 3 years ago though, because we need to see what's happening their end too.

I know about the sim, but I'm hoping to chat to the very good lady techie from about 3 years ago later today so maybe she can confirm what you say. But they have known for years that I live in Thailand and never a peep. Anyway, my mate in the UK says I can give his number to the bank and if they call, he'll just say I'm not available but to leave a name and number and I'll call them back. Bloody stupid that they couldn't email me when they couldn't get through though. That's BAD customer services, everything is done electronically these days.

Nope, I've been using Dtac for 19 years without a hitch. I did call Dtac customer service and asked if there was some reason for non-receipt of calls from the UK and he said no, but did reset my number. Anyway, I get other calls from the UK from various people and they all receive fine, I get the ringtone and vibrate as normal. It's GOT to be the bank's phone system and they admitted as much the first time 3 years or so ago, but had no answers. Despite promising to look into it, obviously they haven't. At least the first time, they gave me £200 for the inconvenience! ????

And now for something completely different - telephone systems. It’s a long one, so apologies in advance. I hope there are some telecom techies out there, because it's getting serious. Oh, and I I should mention that I use an old iPhone 7, but I don't think that is contributing to the problem. I have lived in Thailand since 2004 and have used the same bank all that time - Santander UK. I use my son's UK address as my contact address for things like replacement cards or general printed bumf. They also have my email address which they occasionally use to notify me a statement is available to download, although email is never used for real communication. More importantly, they have my Thai phone number as my only contact number. And that is where the problem lies - it doesn't ring when they call me or even register a missed call or even send an SMS to warn me of a missed call. I was shocked last Friday when my son sent me a photo of a letter saying they had suspended my account. I rely on my various pittances of pensions being transferred every month and that would seriously affect me. I called them immediately and a fairly snotty clerk said 'well, we've been calling you since Dec 15th last year and you've refused to answer'. After I chewed her out for her remark, (how would she know I 'refused'?) and was transferred to someone with more knowledge, I suddenly remembered that I had the same problem about 3 years or so ago, of which more below. What happens is that someone from the bank calls me from the UK using their system, but I don't get receipt of the call, no ringtone, no missed call message, nothing whatsoever. Eventually I get a snail mail letter to my son's address, despite them having my email address, so there's a downvote from me immediately. Last time a few years ago, I got a great tech support girl in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who let me speak to her big boss and after a lot of testing, they said something was wrong with their system and it was promised they would look into it. Obviously they didn't. When I received the latest letter via my son last Friday I immediately called them. The more professional support lady listened this time and told me that due to financial regulation changes, I had to re-supply even more information and that was the reason why they made all the non-received calls. She sent me a link where I could upload various data and I did that. Hopefully that will solve the lack of documents they need. BUT there’s another twist to this. If I make an online purchase in Thailand using my UK credit card, sometimes it’s declined. Later, I’ll be randomly checking my phone and I’ll see a missed call from a long UK number (which I now know is my bank), but have never received a call, no ringtone, no vibrate, as above. I can’t call the missed number back because it’s automated. But at least I can receive and SMS on the ame number. I have to call the bank’s international number in the UK (at my expense) and after lots of announcements and music, I get someone. I have learned that these are calls from the bank to confirm it was me who was making the online CC purchase so that is sort of OK, BUT I still don’t get a call or SMS ringtone. However, I do at least get a missed call indicator, unlike the calls made by a real person. This is potentially serious, especially as this time they restricted my account. Luckily, I still have the email address of the previous excellent support girl from the previous problem and have emailed her chapter and verse, so I hope she gets back to me on Monday. What I’d like to know is why this is happening. Obviously it was never rectified before when I told them about it 3 years or so ago, despite the manager telling me it looked like it was their system at fault and promising to have it investigated. I asked my Thai phone provider yesterday if there could be some problem with receiving calls from the UK but he said not at all, although he was good enough to reset my number in case. The only thing I can think of is that the bank’s phone system doesn’t allow international calls to some countries but hasn’t told the staff, so when they try to call me, they’ll hear a ringtone instead of a message that says ‘Sorry, calls to this country are restricted’ so they are none the wiser. That might also explain the lack of a missed call indicator too, because the calls are never actually being made. They just disappear into the ether. The credit card verification calls ARE made because the system is automated but there’s still no ringtone, although it looks like the system is programmed to send an SMS when there’s no answer. What I'd like to explore is that, on this hopefully erudite group, does anyone on here have experience of computerised telephone systems and their quirks? What might be the reason for not hearing a ringtone, a vibrate or a missed call message when the caller swears they are hearing a ringtone and to their mind, the call is being made? Are there any experts out there? It could be that their UK phone system is different to a US system, but with luck they are similar enough for a US reader to comment. I can’t risk having my account restricted again. Sorry for the length but this situation has really bugged me, especially as it’s happened twice now. Oh, and PLEASE don't tell me to use Wise etc, because I've been doing that for over 5 years with no problem, and it isn't feasible to change my UK bank. I only mention this because I posted the above on Facebook on Saturday and typically, no one read or comprehended the question properly and started to blither on about using Wise (I do), opening a Thai bank account (I have 3) and everything else but not even touching the point of the post which in summary is - 1) When my UK bank calls me, I don't get a ringtone, vibrate, or missed call message 2) If the bank calls to query a credit card purchase in Thailand, I don't get a ringtone or vibrate, but I DO get an SMS that they tried to call and asking me to call back on a number they give, but when I try calling that number, it doesn't work. I hear nothing.

I only once tried to send money from Thailand to the UK and was unable to use Wise. I have been with Kasikorn for years (great bank) and browsing their phone app I was surprised to see that they do international transfers. If you have a KK Bank account, I suggest you try doing that. You need to install the app (although it can also be done via their website) and select 'Transfer' where there will be 7 options, the last of which is 'International Transfers'. I have just looked and unfortunately, Poland is not listed as a country they transfer to. ???? I wonder if you have a trusted person in another European country you could transfer the money to who could then transfer it to your nephew? Kasikorn lists Estonia as well as Germany, Latvia and Lithuania. Also the Netherlands and Slovakia. Failing that it looks like Dee Money or Bangkok Bank (which I did not know - good advice there, scorecard, because I also have a BBL account). If you have a BBL account, that sounds the easiest. Or otherwise install the Deemoney app. If you're in Bangkok, there's a large Deemoney branch on the corner of Sukhumvit Road and soi 8. Good luck!

Agreed. I do exactly what you say and share the screen with them. Only on Monday, a young student didn't understand the difference between the UK and England. I happened to have a map on my PC with different colours for each of the 4 countries and he got it in an instant. Saves a lot of lengthy explanations.

Because I've taught here for nigh on 20 years, know how Thais think and act, know they always cancel, and more importantly, know how they want to study and hence how best to teach them. I do have one Chinese lad studying to be a dentist at Mahidol, but although he's nice enough, there's a big difference between him and Thai students. Also, I speak Thai well enough to help them out if necessary. I'm not a believer is this absurd 'Never speak Thai in the classroom' rubbish.

Just like many Thai students then.

Sounds just like many of the Thais I have taught for 18 years! That is the real downside of working for yourself and not having an agency to refer them to.

That seems fair enough. I've just started teaching a member of the wife's family and I'm charging him 400 baht because of he's only 20 and not earning much, and of course, he's family. I had been charging 450 an hour for online but I'm going to start charging 500 this year. For face to face, I charged 700 an hour plus a topup for travel depending on where I had to go to. I want to cut the travel down to no more than 20-30 minutes from home, and I think increase to 800 an hour basic and add an estimate for travel, which will depend on how convenient for me. Seem fair?