rsokolowski

The commonwealth fund is a leftist American organization that works for universal healthcare (aka socialized medicine). From their website "

The mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults."

Yes you are wrong to be reluctant to fork out a million baht. If you really loved her 2 of 3 million baht would be more appropriate.

I am being very sarcastic, don't do it! Don't buy a house. Don't spend a million (or more) baht. It is my understanding that the wife's family pays for the wedding, and the money that the groom contributes should be enough to cover the wedding party (if held at the brides house in the Issan anyway).

I researched different roofing options for our eventual house in Thailand. I think the best option is a metal roof with radiant barrier insulation attached to the sheets, and a good ventilation to remove the heat build up. I currently live in Hawaii with an asphalt shingle roof (with an extremely well ventilated attic, radiant barrier sheathing, solar powered attic fan, and whole house ventilation {eaves and inside the house]). Works well here in Hawaii, but asphalt shingles are in my opinion not optimum for the heat of Thailand.

Don't dismiss a radiant barrier to reduce the amount of heat that it transferred into your home. Combined with good attic ventilation it can make a huge difference in keeping your house cooler.

The way they treat a bedbug infestation is with heat. The increase the temp of the room to above 140 (i think), pesticides do not always work on these tough little critters. Hire a professional to make sure that you actually have BB.

Old Speckled Hen followed closely by a Bass Ale.

2-1 USA in the 86th minute. Go USA.

Sleeping is over rated.

I read an article once malaysia and thailands cuisines were compared as being the same

The article claimed thailand copied malaysian dishes and credited malaysia as being the originators of that cooking style.

That I doubt very much. There are few, if any similarities and of all the SE Asian countries I rate Malaysia as having the worst food.

Yeah not much like Thai. But have you tried char kway teow? Murtabak? (Indian Malay) Some Malaysian hawker food is delicious too.

Best SE Asian cuisine - Thai

Worst cuisine - Philippines

Best dishes - Murtabak, pho bo & som tam (haa met) khao niao gai yang

True though there are a couple of Filipino dishes I like (suckling pig for example).

And the best Indonesian food I had was in Amsterdam.

As for the people pointing out Mickey Dee's and the like: they obviously have underdeveloped taste buds.

You should give the dinguan (chocolate meat, which is pork, ginger, and fresh pork blood cooked together) a shot, use a blindfold if you must but the taste is really nice. There are probably a dozen or so other dishes that I have tried that are really delicious.

The answer is "it depends" (it is not my fault, I work with lawyers). Thai food can be very good if freshly prepared with good quality ingredients. It is kind of like pizza, even bad pizza is OK and better than nothing (here in the USA anyway). I think Thai food is the best when it is properly prepared, wide ranges of bold flavors and flavor combinations. I also like Korean, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, American, French, Mediterranean, American soul/country, and even some British/Scot food.

I just saw this on the Aljazera USA news. Not sure what the impact will be, does anyone have more information on this topic? Thoughts?

Why do they keep going on about free tickets for board members? That's chickenfeed and tokenistic. They need to deal with the cost structures , the bloated staffing, the free tickets for staff, family and friends of staff etc. They won't do that because of the payback for the union's support. It will just limp on, dead in the water..

While true it is a drop in the bucket, it is an indication of the corporate culture. Tip of the iceberg kind of thing.

I had a minor stoke in 2009 (mostly recovered), at the time my total cholesterol was 198 with a good ratio of LDL to HDL. My doctor said that because of the stroke the goal was to reduce total cholesterol to less than 120. I was originally on zocor, but have been switched over to lipotor and my total cholesterol has been less than 120 since I started taking the meds.

I have not seen any side effects from the meds, but everyone is different. The important thing is to get you cholestrol and blood pressure under control. If meds are needed, I would recommend seeing a doctor and getting on the meds to reduce your risk factors.

Just my opinion.

There is climate change and there is man made climate change. I have walked through parts of Mount St. Helens. The destruction nature achieved in hours can not be matched by man. After decades both man and nature are still cleaning it up and it is not close. Nature released more green house gases in a few days than man EVER! The climate will change guaranteed. Other than a localized effect I have never seen any evidence that man is the cause.

Welcome to ThaiVisa dav2120. Nature is powerful, fersure. Even so, humans have a significant effects on the entire planet. More earth is moved each year by humans and their machines, than all the forces of nature combined. Additionally, 7 to 10 billion tons of CO2 emitted annually by men's machines (burning fossil fuels) has widespread effects.

So all the erosion and sediment moved by the great rivers of the world do not equal the amount of earth moved each year by humans? Really? There is a reason that the Yellow Sea is called the Yellow Sea and it is not because of Chinese construction activities occurring in the last 50 years. CO2 is plant food, it is good and you exhale it with every single breath. The theory is that as CO2 increases the global temperature also increases. The problem with the theory is that since 1996 (18 years and counting) CO2 levels have risen, but the global average temperature has not. The theory cannot explain why observed temperature readings have not matched the computer modeled predictions (heat rises, even in the ocean and is not being stored in the deep ocean where readings are sparse as speculated in the latest IPCC report). I have a thought, maybe just maybe the computer modeled predictions are not correct and the model is not accounting properly for some aspect of the highly complex (and mostly unknown) drivers of the global climate. The bottom line is that if the global average temperature does not increase with increases in CO2 (that is the theory) then the theory needs to be reworked because it is not correct.

I am not a denier, it is just that I can spot a snake oil salesmen when I see one.

Even if global warming is occurring it's a waste of time and money the west trying to control the output of Co2 when India, China,Africa, Latin America and closer to home Thailand continue to burn everything.

Try convincing Thai farmers they should worry about rice field burning and the world in 50 years time.

If the USA and Europe stopped using all fossil fuels tomorrow, worldwide CO2 emissions would continue to rise. I am not a denier, I am practical. If hamstringing our economies will not stop rising CO2 levels, what exactly is the point?

like laos, cambodia, burma and vietnam??

I would say Malaysia and Singapore did benefit in some way, because of the British there is a high level of English proficiency there and there is also respect for the constitution and the rule of law to some extent.

england was in dozens of other countries . what happened to them?

The United States turned out OK (IMO).

Once you start taking a course of antibiotics you need to take the entire course (every last pill, every time). Stopping an antibiotic course is one of the primary reason that there are strains of TB that do not respond to antibiotics.

What happened to Cantor had very little to do with immigration. The clueless will buy into this, the media will sell it and the Republicans will spin publically to create partisanship so Obama will not have the support he needs to accomplish anything else the remainder of his term. This is good.

Behind the scene, Republicans hated Cantor. His staff was rude and antagonized other conservatives. They broke promises, made bad deals and left many feeling betrayed. The acted with arrogance as if they were untouchable. Most conservative congressmen are all pretty much thinking good riddance . . .

Cantor lost a primary because he ignored residents in his district. He could have carried a state wide election, but not his District. Cantor focused on running the Republican House majority and ignored his district. He and his staff focused too much on the Speaker of the House position and not enough on those that depended on him in his own District.

The tea party is weak and cannot carry a state wide election. Will Cantor write in because he has a better chance of success state wide in his own District or did this expose his tendencies and arrogance too much to garner future support?

This is bad for Republicans, not because Cantor lost. This is bad because it may be much easier for a democrat to now pick up this seat in a state wide election.

The message that is resonating is don't shun the people in your own district and don't step on the toes of your fellow party members.

You can only vote for your representative for congress if you live in his district (Rep. Cantor's district leans republican). So although there will be a statewide election this November and the entire House of Representatives will face re-election you can only vote for the congressman that represents the district that you reside in (and are registered to vote in), not other representatives in your state.

Not really supported by the Tea Party, no cash from the Tea Party, no real support from the Tea Party. Democracy in action the candidate with over five million USD to spend on his campaign was soundly trounced by someone that spent just over $200,000 USD. Democracy in action.

I have not read all the posts, but I will after this post. My guess is that there are many unpleasant and possibly bored people that post on TV, but to be fair there are some posters that offer well thought out reply's and thoughts.

We stayed at a resort in the city (about $50 USD per night), but I forget the name (sorry not very helpful). I would definitely check out the beach areas, there are plenty of places to stay. Very relaxing.

I've never heard of muslims being violent. Is this something new?

38K Bath per month may be possible now if you are extremely careful, not a lot of room for leisure already.

But I wouldn't advise you to take the risk considering exchange rate fluctuations, rising prices of everything in Thailand, possible health issues, changing visa regulations, etc.

Personally, I wouldn't attempt it,...unless I was fluent in Thai, and had at least a few connections, such as a Thai that held you in great esteem. In Chiang Mai, 38k baht is about the average monthly income for Thai folk (like a taxi driver), who live like Thai's, and are part of extended families. For a farang (a term that merely means Westerner), it is not so easy get Thai prices on goods and services unless you are seen as an integrated resident,...which includes dressing like a Thai, and having a fundamental understanding of their Buddhist culture. Chiang Rai or Nong Khai would likely be easier, price wise,...but from Bangkok and south,...you'd best have 60k baht+ per month for a no-frills, austere retirement.

From what I've noticed....foreigners who respect the Thai culture, ie., refrain from wearing beach clothes unless they're at the beach,...have a lower cost of living than farang pushing their cultures onto the Thai.

This is wildly inaccurate. 38k is at least three times what the typical working class guy makes a month, even in Bangkok, and 60k a month is great for a comfortable life, even in Bangkok, even for a Westerner. You've got a problem with mathematics or with reality, one or the other.

I also think the average Thai makes considerably less than 38K per month. Assuming you make the Thai minimum wage of 300 baht per day and you work 30 days per month that works out to 9000 Baht per month. If you were to assume that most people make double the minimum wage that is still less than 18,000 per month (not many people work every day of the month). I do think it would be difficult for most westerners to make it on less than 20K Baht per month, for very long.

Buy from an expat. As a general rule the locals often run their vehicles into the ground with only sporadic maintenance at best.