smileydude

Chalerm is a man of many vows.

So many he can't keep track of them all even when sober. I'm still waiting for his "I'll cut my head off if........."

I don't see much of a difference if he has a head on his shoulder or not because the lights are not on anyways.

These scenarios are interesting to bemuse but unlike economic models where you input numbers and variables into formulas and get reliable causal relationship results human behavior is probably the most unpredictable of all things on earth.

On an economic basis I think with alot of farmland gone Thailand would be forced to evolve much like Malaysia into the technological realm. As for the missing Isaan population, I think they have both their pro's and cons but in the end the remaining geographical and cultural characteristics would probably still shape Thailand to the same degree as it is today less the laotian influence in cuisine, skin color and sincerity.

They pretty much condemned themselves with their own examples of interpretation.

Oversimplification of a topic and believing everything the media says on face value leads to a mental block, that is it prevents us from really trying to find more information, see a more balanced view and seek the truth. I think we are all, albeit sadly, suspect to media influence in varying degrees and what it spews out, usually sensationalism. Most of us already have prejudices and bias molded either from personal experiences eg. living in the Northeast versus living in Bangkok, or from our own political ideology.

An example of oversimplification I often see here on TV is assuming that all people who dislike the PTP, red shirts and Thaksin are all elites oppressing the poor. Could they not just be common folk who have disdain for corruption and believe this is whats holding everyone, including the poor back?

I myself have been subject to ignorance due to jumping to conclusions and at the end of the day its my own fault.

Actually this Russian gal showed quite a bit of smarts carrying only 212 baht on her.

I'm assuming she was probably more concerned about her personal items like passport, ID's, credit cards.

She does pose well and makes for an attractive news cover.

Good (recovered bag) and bad news (snatchers loose) in one clip still makes for bad publicity for Pattaya but the Russians are pretty shrewd and seem to be thriving there.

It won't save PTP either way. Trust is like a delicate vase, if you break it into pieces sure you can glue the pieces together slowly - but it will always have the cracks in it forever, it will always be a cracked vase and not the original perfect vase. Trust is certainly gone in this particular scandal, and it will remain gone in the future.

I do hope you are right. Thai people have been known to have short memory spans on the wrongs done as long as life rolls on and mouths and stomachs are full.

The best Thai schools are probably not in Thailand

Jokes aside this is not necessarily true.

Bangkok Patana, a UK curriculum school in Bangkok prides itself on its students achieving much higher IGCSE and IB scores then the average student in the UK. Almost all of their staff are from either the UK, Australia, Canada and several other commonwealth nations and many have degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and other top schools in the UK. They are also highly paid which reflects in the arm and leg/kidney-sacrificing tuition costs.

For international schools in Thailand references can be checked out here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/expateducation/7763989/Expat-guide-to-Thailand-schools.html

For thai schools its pretty well-known that the best is:

Triam Udom Suksa School

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triam_Udom_Suksa_School

100,000 student take tests vying for just 1000 placements each year.

Mahidol Anusorn comes a close second with Suan Kularb on its heels at third.

Unfortunately most of the best schools both thai and international are located in Bangkok so in your case that might not be feasible unless you consider boarding school options.

Though I understand your noble gesture it is unethical to have a test performed on a patient without their consent and as Sheryl mentioned even if he had the tests done unless he accepts the fact that he needs help nothing more can be done.

In many cases I have seen employers request HIV and Hepatitis tests done on their employees without their knowledge.

This is skating on thin ice with the legal rights of employees though in Thailand it is not as well protected as say in the US the exception would be the case where an employee was cited for disorderly conduct and suspected of being under the influence of drugs by human resources where they could request the employee undergo a urine test and the company could request testing for several specific drugs.

Of course HR would need to get the employee to sign a consent form if he wanted to clear himself and if he declined he could still be removed from his job under the circumstances.

If there is a reason kids are having sex earlier its probably because no ones looking after them.

The days are gone when the mums tended home and the kids. Nowadays both parents work till late.

Kids are left with grandparents in the countryside. Grandparents who do not have eyes behind their heads and have no idea what temptations are available in these modern days like online flirting (Line, whatsapp) and free porn on demand. Before you had to sneak a peak at your dads playboy collection but now its just a click away.

Some common thai medical superstitions:

eating too much longan will give you apthous sores

drinking coconut juice when pregnant is unhealthy

herpes zoster can be relieved by incense smoke blown on it

holy water can of cure most ailments

Bear in mind that lab facilities fir culture, and sometimes even CBC, are not available in many rural practice settings in Thailand.

I did not take his post as "finding excuses" bit rather as explaining factors/reasons without condoning them.

I accept that in rural settings different standards of practice may, of necessity, have to be accepted.

You may be right in saying the post did not "condone" bad practice but neither did the post "condemn" such practice which within an urban situation is unacceptable!

Actually I did condemn the practice in the form of the words "lazy" and "wrong". Please re-read.

Its not in my character to be overly critical or judgmental as I feel that is unprofessional so maybe I did not get the message across as strongly as you thought it should have been.

I do agree with you in principle. Antibiotic resistance is a big problem. MRSA is a big problem in ICU settings and one of the most irresponsible examples of malpractice I see is the use of 2nd or 3rd-line antibiotics such as imipenem as first line treatment for bacterial infections instead of starting with ampicillin IV and then doing drug resistant testing if unresponsive. But Mother Nature can also be very adaptive. Look at the emerging resistance to chloroquine in Malaria.

As a primary care physician here in Thailand I'd like to chime in and say I think there are truths to all the posts here and several reasons why doctors here prescribe antibiotics over zealously might be because:

1. Don't want to appear incompetent- this is the fault of the ignorance of the thai population which doctors are also to blame.

It is a misconception that the more meds the better the diagnosis and treatment. We are often too lazy to explain the difference between viral and bacterial infections and why antibiotics need or not need to be used.

2. Don't want to get the stink eye- This occurs in the national healthcare system which is highly distrusted by the general public as offering substandard service to save on costs. Doctors often don't want to offend, get reprimanded by the patient for being stingy and unethical, so they prescribe to get it over with. This is for the same reason as no. 1. GP's in the system on average see over 100 patients a day and are just too tired to explain. It is wrong but human nature tends to find the easy way out instead of having to take another 5 minutes explaining viruses and bacteria and end up with a distrusted face from the patient.

3. For private hospitals its about boosting income: Some doctors performance is based on the amount of income they generate.

I would blame the policy of those private hospitals and the doctors who willingly do it.

4. Borderline diagnosis between viral and bacterial infections. High fever, inflamed throat and signs of lower respiratory tract involvement, though all possibly due to viral causes concern for doctors and unless everybody is willing to pay 2500 baht to have their throat cultured for influenza and do CBC's to differentiate viral vs bacterial, doctors often opt for antibiotics to stay on the safe side as often there are both types of infections superimposing at the same time. Cases of rheumatic heart disease, though rare are due to failure to administer antibiotics in upper respiratory infections. If extensive lab results are not available sometimes the risk of developing resistance is outweighed by the benefits.....

Well said.

Antibiotic overuse is a problem world wide, but Thai doctors do do it more than those in the west for exactly the reasons outlined above.

Another factor in some western countries is "managed care" health financing systems which, though they have many disadvantages, do effectively curb this practice.

I agree. I also worked as a medical auditor for health insurance companies and they are coming down harder on all forms of over treatment. AIA does internal audits on participating hospitals commenting on for example: above industry average days of admission (IPD) for specified procedures, medication charged but never prescribed, and incomplete patient charts. I think its a good thing as doctors and hospitals need to be accountable and ethical about their practice. The fact that many hospitals now have JCI accreditation also helps keep tabs on the quality of healthcare though that is limited to the top tier hospitals. Much still needs to be improved in the Universal Healthcare and the Social Security program though.

Perhaps Sheryl or others who are equally/better knowledgeably can help clarify all of this, my take is that the poster is NOT a medical doctor, but hey ho?

I failed to detect the insincerity in your mock questions but thats fine as I was answering to the topic and need not justify anything else.

What does she feel about all those ads like Thai friendly, ThaiLoveLinks.com with all those nice looking ladies?

Every time my wife sees me on here she thinks I'm trying to chat up some chicks when in fact TV's population is most likely a sausage fest. Could your wife's hijacking your threads and refusing to open her own account be related to surveillance?

Me and my conspiracy theories.

This is systematic intimidation, nothing more.

Usually bullies and losers resort to these kind of tactics.

I think the french media are trying to spread their leaders don juan culture around.

They're trying to say "all ze world leaders do it, not only ze french!"

If I take what these guys say seriously I might as well believe Elvis is still alive and rockin to the jailhouse rock.

As a primary care physician here in Thailand I'd like to chime in and say I think there are truths to all the posts here and several reasons why doctors here prescribe antibiotics over zealously might be because:

1. Don't want to appear incompetent- this is the fault of the ignorance of the thai population which doctors are also to blame.

It is a misconception that the more meds the better the diagnosis and treatment. We are often too lazy to explain the difference between viral and bacterial infections and why antibiotics need or not need to be used.

2. Don't want to get the stink eye- This occurs in the national healthcare system which is highly distrusted by the general public as offering substandard service to save on costs. Doctors often don't want to offend, get reprimanded by the patient for being stingy and unethical, so they prescribe to get it over with. This is for the same reason as no. 1. GP's in the system on average see over 100 patients a day and are just too tired to explain. It is wrong but human nature tends to find the easy way out instead of having to take another 5 minutes explaining viruses and bacteria and end up with a distrusted face from the patient.

3. For private hospitals its about boosting income: Some doctors performance is based on the amount of income they generate.

I would blame the policy of those private hospitals and the doctors who willingly do it.

4. Borderline diagnosis between viral and bacterial infections. High fever, inflamed throat and signs of lower respiratory tract involvement, though all possibly due to viral causes concern for doctors and unless everybody is willing to pay 2500 baht to have their throat cultured for influenza and do CBC's to differentiate viral vs bacterial, doctors often opt for antibiotics to stay on the safe side as often there are both types of infections superimposing at the same time. Cases of rheumatic heart disease, though rare are due to failure to administer antibiotics in upper respiratory infections. If extensive lab results are not available sometimes the risk of developing resistance is outweighed by the benefits.

I myself advocate spending a little more time asking about the onset, detailed history with a thorough physical examination instead of just "aahhh" open your mouth, and use your best judgement. Take the time to explain the difference of a bacterial versus viral infection and let the patient decide.

Good to see there are still signs of intelligence left on the planet (of Thai bureaucracy).

"Among the major corporations that are summoned for questioning for their cash donations to the PRDC are those involving in soft drink, energy drink, department stores, hotel, consumer products, media, commercial bank, insurance firms and automobile industry."

Has CMPO, left anybody out?

Corporations in the telecommunications business since they're very happy with their government granted concessions.

A guy I know who was in the Japanese spare parts business once told me Isuzu makes the toughest trucks.

Owners have been know to put 3-500,000 kms on them on average before needing an engine overhaul.

They just run and run and if you notice, Isuzu is the number one pick up truck seller in Thailand and probably for a reason. Easy to find spare parts, lots of dealers nationwide and one of the best resale prices.

I think a good pick up truck to haul people is the Isuzu Mu-7. AOT uses it at the airports. Hauls people and stuff in reasonable comfort. Oh and diesel is definitely the way to go.

Go for it and hope the Democrats join.

Hopefully it will be as fair as fair can be.

No handouts. No ghost ballots.

So we can see the degree of public change in sentiment for this government once and for all.

Last time PTP won 16 million to 12 million votes for the other parties.

Curious to see if the "perception" of corruption that exists in Thailand changes and is reflected in this round of votes.

I just attended a TDRI hosted public forum on corruption and monopolies and the stats from Transparency International indicate a downfall from Thailand's previous rankings of 63 to 78 to 88 and currently 102.

Transparency International bases a lot of its analysis from interviews on "perception" of corruption as they are unable to actually get data on something that the government does not accurately gather up to date info on.

Pretty difficult since corruption has no receipts. I noted that the last independent research study on corruption was done over 10 years ago. Interesting thing is this "perception" is based on corruption that the common people experience, be it police checkpoint bribes, government office bribes (think land department, customs, etc). It seems the so called "perception" of corruption that exists in Thailand has been lower over the past 15 years and I agree as most common government related procedures like your ID or drivers license has been streamlined and is more efficient with less bureaucracy and thus less need for bribes. This is petty corruption.

Problem is high level corruption has increased and thus Thailand's fall in rankings.

It seems the level of "organized and systematic corruption" has increased in major ministries such as Transport, Telecommunications, Finance, Commerce and our current favorite Agriculture.

Most of the systemic levels of corruption involve concessions that allow for monopolies like the 4G bidding by the NBT, oil processing exclusively by PTT and single energy providers like EGAT.

The levels of corruption are no longer simple puddles but span oceans.

Interestingly the reason why corruption still exists on such massive levels is the lack of political will and that the mindset of the average Thai is that "corruption is okay as long as there is progress".

The light at the end of the tunnel is that this mindset is changing especially among the younger generation and private businesses.

The attempted passing of the Amnesty Bill was a trigger and the first protest response was by students as we all saw.

Now everybody is getting onboard, be it businessmen to farmers. Usually it has to hurt your own pocket before we start caring.

We obviously all know that those in power do not want to reform and seriously tackle corruption and just offer lip service.

Hopefully the mindset of Thai people will start changing and people will refuse to take vote bribes and see politicians for what they are. Self-serving maggots.

Wishful thinking in my lifetime? I hope not.

The question is: are there any Thai politicians who aren't self-serving maggots?

as rare as hens teeth I think

The parents and grandparents and extended family members care for the babies. That's how it is in Thailand.

I think this is spot on the problem.

I know of 4 people who worked for me whose daughters ended up getting pregnant all before 15.

The common factor?

The parents of these children were all were busy trying to make a living and left their children in the care of the grandparents who were either busy farming or too old to keep up with the hormonal developmental changes and notice the sexual urges and curiosity getting the best of their grandkids. Thai grandparents are not familiar nor comfortable teaching their grandchildren about the birds and the bees so the kids are ignorant about sex and contraception coupled with the fact that horny teenagers find it easy to slip out of the watchful eyes of 60-80 year olds.

Parenting is not easy but when there are no parents around its hardly fair to put all the blame on the kids as society often does.

Sadly to say if there is any prejudice against halfies in Thailand its because ignorant people assumed the Thai mother was a bar girl or some lowly educated Isaan girl who caught a farang husband. These stereotypes began during the Vietnam war when many GI's hooked up with bar girls during their R&R and many halfies were born out of wedlock. Many of these halfies turned out to be some of the most attractive people and comprise the majority of Thai actors, actresses, singers and models then till today.

There is still much gossiping about these celebrities mums origins and how they met their dads.

In the past many educated thai women were reluctant to go out with farangs lest they be seen as bar girls/prostitutes and even though things have changed alot in the inter-racial dating scene it still exists.

I say ignore the ignorance and find a better school.

Bangkok is full of international schools that have open arms for halfies like Bangkok Patana, NIST, ISB, Harrows etc. Might be harder in Chiangmai and with thai schools but I'm sure there are less ignorant headmasters out there.

The actual fire is hardly a mystery since it was anticipated by many.

The real mystery is when will all those supporters of the government wake up and accept that the whole rice-pledging scheme was a scam, bankrupt from the start and that the all the unpaid farmers will never be paid back from selling the remaining 12 million tons of rice stock because it doesn't exist. (good stuff's already been sold)

As you can see most of Thailand's leaders who are supposed to make decisions and implement policies that should have tackled these kind of issues still have their heads stuck in their asses trying to make money off rice.

Have you ever seen girls who are 12-15, pregnant with HIV?

Its a very sad scenario. Not only has their future been cut short but what becomes of their unwanted children?