donna

Many of my Thai girlfriends don't get this done on a regular basis. In fact when I ask them about it many of them just screw up their faces. I think it has a lot to do with education about these things.

As for me, I get one each year whether here or back in Australia.

Breast checks are another thing that many Thai girls are not good at doing. A friend of mine's sister-in-law has breast cancer and is in the final stages of her life. When I told my friend that her nieces are in danger of having the same thing later in life she was shocked. She said that the second one may have it because the sister-in-law became ill soon after the second one was born. The way she put it was as if it were contagious like a cold.

I actually think that Jamie Oliver is OK. For a young bloke he has done an awful lot. BUT, I'm not British and I don't see the saturation of Jamie as you guys have over there.

In Australia, I really liked Jeff Jantz. He was funny, and had great guests on his show.

What a sad situation. This guy seems to really love his girlfriend and I think that by asking here for advice this is proven.

What to do? Get her in to see a psychologist or psychiatrist. I would take Thomas Mertons advice really.

I have a friend with a mental condition, and she is a great mate of mine. Her condition is not agressive towards other people - more towards herself. But the good news is that help IS available. My friend is getting some good help now and at the moment is doing really well.

I don't know how you would go about getting her to see one of these specialists, but if you really want to help her you know how you will do it.

Ultimately, when it comes to your relationship, you are the best judge of what to do. Is she worth it? Are you prepared to put up with her during the time it will take to get her meds right? Do you REALLY love her?

I wish you good luck with this and hope that it will all work out for you.

Boo, for the record, I see nothing wrong with you talking about your achievements.

I see it as being a proud person. Not bragging.

"stuff that in your pipe & smoke it" Love it. I've not heard that for years.

A friend of mine used to arrange weddings in Thailand. I think her website was www.creativeevents.com. Creative events was definitely the name of the company. Her name is Elly and she is a great girl.

This HAS to be a joke, right?

OK. Lets assume not.

AjarnMark, what do you think you have missed out on?

Are you worried that the other guy may have been better than you?

Get a grip, Love. It's the 21st century. If someone chooses to be a virgin until they marry, good for them (yes, I know a few). If they choose to sleep with a partner before hand, good for them.

Get over your 1900's attitude and get with the program, Honey. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Wow. What a debate. This has to be the hottest topic since DJPat's Backpacker one!

Let me first state that I do not necessarily consider myself to be a feminist, but I DO believe in equality.

OK. I've sat on the sidelines for some time on this issue, and won't double up on what has already been said.

But there is a big difference between 'us farang women' and our Thai sisters. In school, we are taught to speak up and be heard. If we disagree with the teacher, we are taught to debate and get it out into the open. In a Thai school, though, they are not taught to challenge the teachers. What the teacher says is right, and that's that. This has the potential (obviously) to set the tone for the rest of our/their lives.

When us farang women have a problem, we like to talk about it and maybe thrash it out. Then it's forgotten. Dealt with. Over and done with. Thais are taught to keep it all inside and not to say anything for fear of losing face. (Yes, I AM generalising - please don't jump down my throat for this).

Now. Compared to the west, how many times have you read in the paper over here about a Thai woman cutting off their partners 'member' and discarding it?

Does it make sense to talk about things, or keep it all inside and, one fateful day, explode?

This MAY seem off topic, but it isn't really.

I have MANY Thai friends, both male and female. Since this topic started I have spoken to a couple of them about it, and they agree with my points. Many of them may not actually be able to do it, but many wish that they could discuss things with their partners and clear the air.

For those of you who think we are looking down at you when you are walking along with your girlfriend, we are probably not. I don't care who you go out with, or how old she is (as long as it's legal). Chances are we are checking out anything we would normally check out when a couple walks by. Jeez. Usually it's clothes, shoes, a haircut or even a handbag. Normally, I don't like the couple to feel that I am checking them out, so I consciously DON'T look at them. Maybe that makes you feel uncomfortable, but it is meant to have the opposite effect.

For those who say everything has changed in the past 50 years, so what? That's progress. It's done. We have to deal with it. Not all of us have to like everything that has changed. Some are for the better, and some are for the worst.

Rant over.

I lost a friend in the London bombing.

He lost his best friend in 9/11.

It can happen to anyone, anywhere.

For the record, a few friends of mine have blackberrys. They LOVE them. Not sure what models they have though.

I have a Nokia 6260. I love it.

I used to live in Teerin Mansion in Pinklao. In between PATA and Major. I paid 6K a month there for a studio which had a balcony. The staff were OK, they had a restaurant and a security guard who seemed to get a great nights sleep on the desk at the bottom of the elevator.

I am currently researching homestays throughout Thailand. There are a few co-ops that I am able to contact, but information is very thin on the ground. Does anyone here know of any individuals who may offer their home as homestay accommodation?

Homes may be anywhere in the country, and they don't necessarily have to be in a particular style of house. We are looking at many different styles of home, with many styles of household and even an expat home will fit in with what we are doing.

If anyone has any information that they can give me, please PM me and I will get back to you soon.

Today is the first time I have been able to take a look at TV since the bombings as I am currently traveling.

I lost a mate in the bombing. Mike Matsushita. We were both tour leaders together. Mike had recently moved to London to be with his girlfriend, the lovely Rosie, and they had started to plan a life together settled in the one place as opposed to crossing paths whenever they could.

Mike was on the way to work on the Picadilly line that fateful day, and we have just received confirmation that he was killed by these savage fanatics. It was his third day at his new job.

Mike was a Vietnamese refugee, and lived in New York with his family during his childhood. After spending some time in Australia, he finally landed a job which would give him an opportunity to travel and to see his homeland. Mike formed a unique bond with many of the orphans in Vietnam, and his family have decided that instead of flowers and tributes, that they want any money sent to Intrepid Travel, where the funds will be doubled, and donated to Vietnamese orphans. I think that this is such a kind thing to do. The decision to do this was made as soon as the police had advised them that the chance of a body found was almost 100%. Such selfless people.

Last night, whilst in Malaysia, we observed a 2 minute silence in honour of the victims and their families of this attack. Needless to say it was very sad indeed.

To lose someone you knew in such an attack is devastating, and comes as such a shock. Such a senseless waste of a wonderful human being.

May Mike Matsu rest in peace and never fade from our memories.

As it is Christmas and your dad doesn't cope with the heat, why not get them up to Chiang Mai? The weather is cooler, there is lots to see and it is easy to get around.

Take them to the Elephant Conservation Centre, Doi Suthep, Monk Chat, the Sunday Walking Street etc.

I think they may just love it. Something new...

ET gets me every time.

Come to think of it, I cried at King Kong, too, so I must be a softie...

Wow. That's some party you got there, TM. Can I come on over? Sounds like it will go on for some time!

GREAT songs.

To answer the original question, I have.

I have a good friend in the south who is a hermaphrodite. Still classed as a man (I call her a she, though), but called a ladyboy by everyone else, I once saw some tiny lacy knickers she was wearing. Curious, and not one to pull to many punches, I asked her how she fitted her 'tackle' in such a tiny little triangle of lace.

"It's easy, Donna. I only have such a tiny little thing that it fits no problem." She then went on to show me half a thumbs length and swore that's all it was.

I also know a guy in Australia who is a hermaphrodite. Lovely man (still living as a man and no operation as yet that I am aware of) but VERY messed up with regards to who he is. He started to go through the change process years ago but backed out at the last hour.

In the end, he said he did not go through with the op because he said he was not attracted to men, and if he did it, he would in effect be a lesbian. This confused him even more.

He was suicidal, depressed and in general a very mixed up person. I felt so sad for this guy.

AND, I used to work with a girl, Helen. Many of the blokes I worked with liked her, but she would decline everyones invitations for dinner. Years after parting, I saw a womens magazine in Austrlalia with an article titled something like "I was born a Paul, now I'm Helen". Helen was still Paul when I was working with her.

The article went on to say that she was a hermaphrodite and it took years to build up the courage to finally have the operation. This girl was gorgeous. I saw her a few weeks after I read that article. She had since married (to a very masculine and lovely mechanic) and was living a happy and fulfilled life.

To all those who are living like this, I would only encourage them to follow their heart. Life is tough enough at times. If you have the resources to change your life and do what you know is the right thing, then you should do it.

Transsexuals have a lot of respect from me. Mainly because they have taken the plunge and gone ahead with a major life changing transformation. (And, yes, I do have a few transsexual friends in Bangkok - bloody gorgeous I might add).

There is a book out called "The Third Sex" by Richard Totman which is very interesting if you want to find out more.

(Chownah, this information came from my own resource).

A friend of mine attempted suicide 2 months ago. We got her to Bumrungrad, but they advised us to take her to Bangkok Hospital because their psych unit was better.

We got her in there, watched 24 hours a day by a nurse in her room.

The doctors were very good, but I don't think they had much experience dealing with her disorder - Borderline Personality Disorder. When I spoke to the doctor about her condition, and asked if he knew much about it, I was told "I know it's very hard to fix, if it can be fixed at all".

After she was discharged, she ran her long list of drugs by her sister (who is a registered nurse in Australia) and it was discovered that the drugs she was on were all contra-indicating each other.

You could give them a try. I wish you luck. We all need someone like you, Sheryl.

If you look on the Thai Visa homepage, or at the top of this page, you will see some ads for flower deliver in Thailand.

I wish your husband a speedy recovery.

I have tried to re-install the program, but every time I go through with the wizard, it gets to the end with the DLL Library message.

I don't know the name of the file, as i only have the above message.

Never mind. It's in the too hard basket for now!

I remember sitting with some friends one night having a few drinks. After a while, we were all a bit peckish, and the egg man came along. We all tucked in to these eggs, and whilst a bit chewy (or something) I thought that they were only just OK. Picking up the second one I happened to bite into it and THEN take a look at what I was actually eating.

Yup. You guessed it. Chickens inside. Boiled eggs haven't been the same since.

I can do the grass hoppers (in fact, I actually FELT like eating them the other night), the bamboo worms are OK only if fried, but the Mengdah is one thing I can't seem to do. The perfumey smell and flavour are too overpowering.

A few weeks ago I went to a wedding just outside of Udon. I decided to go to bed when the still warm (but dead and chopped up) cow arrived on the back of a truck. And most of that cow was eaten RAW.

I was trekking once and the kids in the village came across me and my group heading up the mountain. The kids all ran off ahead passing on the message that "Donna Madonna" was in town. When I arrived they had killed a snake and hung it in the tree to let the poison drain out. We ate it in a soup. I quite liked it (but maybe it was just the fact that they did it especially for me).

Squirrell, dog, bird, spider, and other tasty treats that I can't remember were all part of a fun trek into the hilltribes of the north.

Oh. I remember one day my guide came out and said to me "Donna, we have an iguana in the house". "Great" I thought. I went into the house and (stupidly) looked for this iguana running around. Well, it (about 1.5m from tip to tip) was spread eagled on the fire. Overnight, it was placed up high in the house, over the fire (I think to watch over us during the night) and in the morning it was chopped up into bite sized pieces. I even offered some to my group, and to my surprise, they tried it AND liked it.

But Mengdah has to be the most yuk thing for me. That, and jackfruit. Can't stand it. Give me durian any day.

I am trying to install Yahoo Messenger (Beta 7) on my PC. As my condo cuts off the phone line after every 40 minutes, I am not sure if it has worked.

Each time I go to start the msgr7us program, I get a message saying "Could not load the DLL Library. The specified module cannot be found".

Do any of you guys know what I can do to fix this?

My sympathy goes to you and her family, Gisele.

With closure, you can finally put her to rest and move forward with your lives.

I wish you and her family all the best of luck, and may you look back with fondness on the good times you had with your friend.

Kiss may have been the first concert I ever actually went to, but I can remember as clear as day the first time I heard LOUD, LIVE AND ROCKING music.

I must have been about 9 years old or so. We lived across the road from the local high school where they used to have 'The Dance' every month or so. (As kids, we got such great pleasure out of nicking the booze that the boys used to stash in the bushes over the road).

Anyway, this particular night, I was asleep, and woke up to the windows of my bedroom shaking. I didn't know what the heck was going on, but then, after listening carefully, I could make out the words of the song: "TNT. OI. OI"

ACDC. Original line-up.

But living in Melbourne we got to see some fantastic bands during the fantastic 80's pub scene. We used to go down the beach on a Sunday afternoon. When the sun went down, it was to Vics fish and chip shop for dinner, and then we'd line up outside the Pier Hotel in Frankston for whoever was playing that night. We used to pay $5 to see INXS.

Those days were great. Into the pub at 6pm. Barely edible free pub supper at 7.30 (to soak up a bit of the booze) and the main act would finish at 10pm. Home in bed by 10.30pm, and off to work on Monday morning with barely a hangover.

I miss those days.

I read a lovely book ages ago called "A boy from the North East". Written through the eyes of a young boy.

Anything by Pira Sudham (I hope that's his name) is also good.

I've heard of it and from what I know, it is great for the liver. A naturopath friend of mine put me on to it after I had malaria and I THINK it was good for me.

You should also avoid too much oil, drink lots of water and eats lots of vegies and fruit.

And, of course, not too much grog!