Dr. Burrito

Like an earlier poster, for Thai food, I depend on the missus, and that is usually steamed fish, so not too sure how Thai that really is. On the other hand, the sauce she makes for it is fantastic, so I guess that counts as Thai.

Joke - Blah ( and people say Western food is bland)

We do the once a month out at a local restaurant that does some decent Isaan food and used to do a night down by the river. Street food, I used to eat, but where I work, it's crap, so I stopped. The missus has developed as much a taste as I anyway for upscale, well-prepared delights from the culinary heritages of Italy, France and Japan, so more and more, when we do escape the kids for the evening, it is for something of that nature.

The rest I pretty much cook myself, when I am eating healthy anyway, and that is never Thai as I have an arsenal of personal favorites already.

Dr. B

We had our Thanksgiving yesterday, a few days late, but tasty nonetheless.

Well, I was online with a pilot friend of mine today and he said it was both serious and good reason for concern. He said a wheels almost on the runway and then being aborted means basically we were lucky to be alive. Not that our airport here is the only place with these issues.

Too many airplanes and too few people helping them get around basically. They nearly plowed two jets into each other over O'Hare airport in Chicago last week. The pilot saved his own bacon there.

My track record now sits at

One aborted take-off - we had to wait more than and hour for the brakes to cool off on that one even though an

engineer said it was a faulty gauge

One engine fire - same dam_n flight as it turned out there was a problem after all. I can only hope the engineer

lost his job. The actual landing and evacuation was a whole different story. I feel like I could

write a manual on unpreparedness there.

One aborted landing - here this last week

According to what all the statistic gurus say, I should have a free pass for the rest of my life now, but I'm thinking they need to rework their statistics a bit as well.

Dr. B

Greg,

Utilizing your faxed menu and delivery service is no longer an option. I think you need to seriously reconsider how you provide that service.

I ordered from that today and it is the last time I will do so. More than an hour to get here, then the order is half cold and basically wrong or simply (referring to your nachoes) inconsistent and never the same, I can no longer waste my time with it. I'm sure if you go into your location the satisfaction level is quite high, but since I don't have time for that, I guess my Mexican meals will be confined to my US trips until you can get your delivery and order menu act together.

Dr. B

This is my, 'dam_n, I am glad to be alive' post and a sad note on safety I suppose at Suvarnabhumi , though this same issue has been arising in the states of late too it seems.

We were landing yesterday, wheels down and almost on the runway when the pilot pulled it up as sharply as a 777 can do it, leaving us all in the back to pray to God we weren't about to be a negative statistic. He did come on the intercom and admit there was a uncleared runway issue, but didn't go into details and we were simply happy enough we were alive to leave it be as well.

I've no idea how truly serious it was, but for a moment there, I had a bit if a sick stomach.

They were talking about this very same thing on CNN in the states last week, where the FAA was releasing data on near misses at a couple of American airports.

The crowded skies are making for some interesting times these days and I have a lot more flying to do again soon. I'll get right on-board again, but I will be thinking a bit more about it on landing and take-off than I normally do.

I would assume this is primarily a traffic controller issue, but perhaps I am wrong?

If he's your biggest client, then I would assume it ought to be a bit special.

I'm not sure if you can get on at the following courses, but if you can, they are somewhat special

Thai Country Club

Alpine Golf Course

but if not, these are nice as well

Laemchabang Golf Course

Subhapruek Golf Course

Cascata Golf Club

Klong 15, Lamlukka Road

Telephone (037) 302 777, (037) 302 779

or perhaps

Lam Lukka Golf Course

Best of luck

Dr. B

We are about to have the latest addition to the Burrito clan and the hospital has contacted the missus about collecting and storing the umbilical cord for the stem cells against future diseases and such. Are they once again, just selling fear insurance or is this something I should consider for the future health of our little tyke?

Neither the missus or I are form families with disease histories so there's no direct genetic fear related to anything in that regard, but still, one never knows.

Is this research still just too much in flux to trust where it is going or is this the best path, using the umbilical cord? Has anyone researched this or have any thoughts?

Thanks,

Dr. B

Thanh, the dryest place on earth is Arica, Chile. You can go your entire lifetime without seeing one drop.

I bought a Ducati rainsuit in Houston, and another TVisa member brought me a rainsuit from London. There may be a place in Bangkok that sells them for 8,000 baht, but 3900 did the trick for me both times.

I bought a rainsuit at the local market for 20 baht.

Over-sized garbage bags don't count.

Dr. B

No issues - 90days on arrival.

Even if it's not machine readable? I know my mate does not have one of those kind of passports.

Thanks for all the information.

Dr. B

Please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that British citizens can just hop on a plane and go to the USA with no special fuss. Is this correct or incorrect?

Thanks,

Dr. B

I live in thailand most of the year with my Thai wife.In May her and I were going to Seattle as I had some Business there .She was going to stay for 2 weeks, Me longer.It was her second trip to the U.S.,The 1st time she went through Los Angeles alone and had no problem.

When we got off the plane in Seattle we went to Immigration together she went to the non citizens line and I went to the U.S.,The 1st thing out of the agents mouth was who is that girl with you,I responded my Wife,And then he asked me the normally questions and then told me to leave,He then Walked over to the guy Interviewing my wife and the both of them took her to the back room.I waited for about 30 minuets and started to get pissed and asking questions, At that point they had her wait outside and started interagating me. They wanted to know what I did for a living,How much I made,How much I have in the Bank ,Ect.And then they started on about were I meet my wife,How long have we been Married, WHY DID I MARRY SOMEONE SO MUCH YOUNGER !!! They were very aggresive and really a couple of pricks that were feeding off each others questions and insults during the whole intergation. The worse part is that after 2 hours of this Shit when they finally let us go my Wife tells me that the agents were advising her that she was wasting her life with such a old guy ( we are 27 years apart) And that she should find some one here own age. Its sad that the U.S.has become such a unhospitable place why anyone would want visit there is beyond me

My only truly negative experiences with entering the U.S. has been at Seattle as well. I first came to Thailand in 1989 and was here for two months, then returned for another three months later. The 2nd return to the U.S. was via Seattle and they looked through every spec of everything, including a book on Thailand plants as if they were sure to find the heroin I had unwisely brought with me. Seems two frequent trips to Thailand during that period raised red flags about drug smuggling. It seemed to go on forever to me, though I suppose my impatience expanded that in my mind, so I finally became a bit irate. When he asked was I wearing a money belt, I asked them to quickly do a strip search and get it over with. He shooed me on through at that point, but surely logged my name into a computer, flashing forward to 2002 when I was living here full-time, I went though Seattle again via EVA on my way to New York. They opened up and inspected the whole lot, just for old time's sake, then I was on my way. Moral of that story, computer's remind them not to like you if they choose.

As for LAX, I have yet to ever have a problem there of any consequence. On gentleman was asked to search my luggage once due to an answer I had made on the form asking where you had been since departing the U.S. Not realizing they meant since you had started your journey to the U.S., I dutifully filled in all manner of countries, some of them being in the Middle East. As he reviewed my sadly boring luggage, even he was a bit mystified until he further reviewed my form, apologized for its ambiguous nature and politely sent me on my way.

My wife, a Thai national, comes and goes through LAX with and without me. Since the kids are U.S. Citizen's, she uses the U.S. Citizen line and she has never been given a hard time. They are always polite and she is generally through as fast as you can expect. Of course, the hour wait for luggage at LAX usually doesn't make the quick clearing of Immigration that big an advantage.

Dr. B

Seems like a good idea to post some of the various specials about town and Thailand for golf. I'll start it. Please add any you know of as well.

Lam Lukka Country Club has Sports Day every Tuesday and Wednesday 850 baht (oncluding caddy)

Green Valley Country Club doesn't have a Sports Day, but before 9:00 am on weekdays, their rate is 1,000 baht + 250 caddy fee. After 9:00 am the green fee goes up to 2,000 baht.

The Royal - Ladkrabang doesn't have a special I know of, but on the weekends, they charge 3,400 baht if you are not a member guest, rather than 2,400 for member guest. When you call and make a booking, be sure to ask the green fee. When they say 3,400, simply say it is too much and they will drop it to 2,400 faster than you can hang up the phone.

Panya Indra has Sports Day on Tuesdays. I believe it is 1,110 baht w/ caddy, but I could be wrong.

Those are a few I know offhand.

Dr. B

i am not sure if the jealous husband idea is right as her salary was not a problem for 2 years; so why should it suddenly be a problem now?

if u got some way of getting in touch, call her and ask her. u've got me curious too.

anything that has changed in ur household recently? could even be a problem with someone else in the vicinity.

THIS IS THE KEY question for me: do I try to contact her, and ask "why", or do I just forget it, as others have told me to? Some said "you don't want to interfere with Thais when they decide something"... Does it seem like a Thai could be re-convinced to re-think the situation? Or should I really just forget it, cause they have already decided what they want to do?

Once she is gone, she is gone. Simply find another, an easy task to do.

Dr. B

My wife and I had this issue for a short while with our kids. After, as lovingly as I could, repeatedly explaining and then showing her obese little trolls in the moobaan, she finally came to see the light and our children get snacks as occasional treats.

It was a pain at first because our eldest was so used to getting the crap he wanted, but we've turned the corner and they are both eating well all the time now.

If you truly love the kids, you're going to have put your foot down, else suffer the consequences, as that crap can result in a whole spectrum of physical and mental headaches in their future.

Good luck

Dr. B

Hi,

I'm just curious about this process as we are looking at setting up a subsidiary of a family owned unit in America here in Thailand. Can it be wholly owned? Would it need to be an Amity or B.O.I. approved company to do this? is it frankly, even worth it at the end of the day?

Thanks for any thoughts and information.

Dr. B

Try taking them to Tawangdaeng Brewery out on Ram-Intra. It's a family style German beer brewery with acrobats, musicians, magicians and more. We have two little boys, 4 and 2, and the littlest one is a hellion of activity. We take them there and he is all eyes and ears on the stage.

It enthralls them both.

They also have a branch on Rama 3, the original location, but not sure of the shows there. The one time I was there was later at night and it was a very loud rock band.

Oh yes, be sure to reserve your seats ahead of time. They are very, very busy on the weekends.

Dr. B

Thanks, Dr. Burrito; I agree (well, that doesn't mean I was wrong, but... ).

For parents such as you, who value the teaching of English so highlyl that even a bilingual preschool with a poorly trained Dane being the 'teacher' isn't good enough, you'll have to scrape up a lot of extra baht to find a better primary school.

I am not suggesting high school grads with poor command of English should teach, anywhere. I think a BA in any subject, and a TEFL cert or two years' real experience, is sufficient for a native speaker to teach conversational and basic English (even intermediate) in 95% of the secondary schools in Thailand. The bilingual schools already had, I thought, stricter standards, but you never really know until you find out otherwise. If you absolutely must have fully trained professional educators with B.Ed. and Western certification, you'll have to pay very very high tuition at the true international schools where salaries start at 120,000 baht per month plus benefits.

When you actually find a particular individual who is pretending to be a teacher, but doesn't even have minimal qualifications and is doing a lousy job, he can be bashed, surely.

Peace, perhaps, I should phrase it differently. It's not about valuing English so much as properly trained teachers. Yes, I want an English teacher to be qualified as well, but it has nothing to do with conversational English as much as proper teaching methods.

I have friends who are teachers back in the states, and these people are put through a huge battery of educational and training programs before being put solely in charge of a classroom, even with small children who are only finger-painting. These professionals are probably still hard-pressed for the first year or more even as they find their way, and they are backed up with huge amounts of training in how to be a teacher, not just how to add 2+2, build bridges or dissect a frog.

While I've no doubt there are some well intentioned people at the school, both Thai and foreigner, I want what any parent wants, my child to get the best possible educational support I can provide so when they do go out and face the big, bad world someday, their toolkit has a better selection for getting them where they want to go.

I don't begrudge people making a living, but I do think there is vast room for improvement in how the people are getting trained here before they are thrust into the Thai mill grinder that is the school system. They are in charge of little minds who who are trusting them and should not be cannon fodder for some poor individual who has never had that responsibility. Whoever is in front of that class would ideally have some idea of of how to lead their flock into better ways of thinking and organizing their little brains, be it English or otherwise.

Dr. B

Excuse me, but this is Thailand, where even the properly qualified Thai teachers of English have (generally) poor command of English, the wrong methods of teaching, are overworked and underpaid, etc. If all farang teachers of Schminglishche had to have a bachelor's in education with a major in English, you'd have to pay them 120,000 baht per month or more, plus incredible benefits. The only farang teachers like that are almost all in true international schools. Thai students don't need a B.Ed./M.Ed/properly certificated real, live teacher. They need a reasonable acting native speaker of English, with a TEFL certificate or two years of experience teaching, to teach English in almost all Thai schools.

And you'd be amazed how many thousands of such 'qualified native speaking English teachers' are here, being abused by the system. Kudos to them; congratulations to them for giving students (such as children of ThaiVisa members) some real knowledge of proper English and other subjects.

I'm sorry Peace, but I beg to differ. Using the negative of the Thai system to validate and rationalize another negative makes it no less a negative. Teaching is indeed an honorable profession, and the professionals spend years learning not only the subjects they teach, but the art and focus of teaching itself, not six weeks in a small room in Bangkok listening to some parrot telling them how it is done.

This is why there is so much teacher bashing and why my children's education is about to become more expensive. My oldest, still a small tyke, is enrolled in a supposedly well respected bilingual program. While it is not the most expensive program in Thailand, it's certainly not the least expensive either. I met my little boy's farang teacher. Wouldn't you know it, he is a nice young chap from Denmark with the English skills of someone from Denmark, okay in other words, but far from the mark. He was quite uncomfortable with me asking about his certifications.

While I applaud people wanting to pitch in and help with needs in Thailand, at least call it what it is, the only substitute most can afford or have access to, rather than calling it proper teaching. For my part, I wish the Board of Education would be honest and let people teach under TEFL certification only, have the schools post the facts of that being the only proper training they have as teachers and go from there. While some of the lads and lasses teaching here might be naturals, I am thinking that is in the minority, so with some six week program being the bulk of people's guide, there must be a lot of trial and error in learning the skills of teaching under the guise of professional, competent services.

Now I have to start saving my cash for real, as I want mu children to have the benefits of professionally trained teachers, no less than any other profession providing critical services needing properly trained and vetted people.

So if that is teacher bashing so be it, but at least I do believe it is reasonable.

Dr. B

Despite given up alcohol 15 months ago I have found that I am overweight and out of shape. I am 38 years old and 85kg (187 pounds) at 5 foot eight with a small frame. I also think that my diet is making me feel slughish and low on energy.

My plan is to remove chocolate, cakes, and coffee over the next two weeks.

I then want to just eat fruit during the day, with the exception of maybe a couple of slices of toast.

In the evening I plan on having a normal meal followed by nothing.

I also plan on walking at least an hour a day.

My goal is to fall below 80kg (176 pounds) by January and 75kg (165 pounds) by this time next year. I want to then maintain this weight until it's time for me to be cremated (when I expect I'll lose a lot more weight ).

Is this plan workable?

I don't really see this as a good starter, but that's my opinion. By non-starter, I mean the just eating fruit in the daytime. You are going to throw your body chemistry all out of wack with all the excess sugar (albeit, fructose)

I eat a very controlled and healthy style of food 5 1/2 days a week; steamed fish, salads, veggies, chicken breast, nuts, boiled eggs, lentils (these are fricking great for you) and exercise an hour a day. No alcohol as a general rule other than an occasional glass of wine during these days, but I never, ever starve myself.

Eat smart, normal amounts and exercise and you will get to your goal. How quickly is all on the individual and their commitment. Your exercise at some point, should be to a pace that gets your heart working towards a higher rate, but approach it carefully, not too much too soon, until you know what your body can take. Don't hurt yourself is the number one rule in my opinion or you will simply stop and go back to easier, less disciplined habits.

Try cutting out all processed carbs for a while if you can. Eat multi-grain bread instead of whole wheat or white bread. Eat brown rice instead of white rice. No chips, no colas, no beer, no ice cream (######,I am dull) and such.

I am sure you will get some other very good advise here, but the big thing from my POV, is avoid extremes such as you are suggesting above because they set you up for failure.

Good Luck,

Dr. B

On the subject of making sure the pipes can handle it, is there rated information printed on the pipes themselves or how else is this determined, as I am determined to have a shower with far more velocity and force than what I have at present.

Thanks,

Dr. B

The company is getting set to send a couple of us to Los Angeles on a business trip and offered us Business Class on either EVA or Malaysian Airlines.

Any experiences or opinions?

Thanks,

Dr. B

The average cost for an 'average' paintjob is around 30k.

70-120k is about right for a high quality sprayjob.

I did my colour change on my insurance and the quality wasnt the best.You get what you pay for.

On this subject, any recommendations for garages that deliver great work at the high end of the spectrum?

Thanks,

Dr. B

Hi, Id like to import a car to Thailand - this is an expensive and old car, with a very large engine.

Any ideas Ill listen to - doesnt matter how radical.

Take it apart and have it shipped in piece by piece, hope that passes muster, then have it re-assembled here. But then you'll probably be facing the axe and confiscation anyway trying to get it legally registered.

Hmm, sounds like selling it and buying a condo in sinking Bangkok is probably a safer idea after all

Dr. B

Hi. When I was severely injured a few years ago, part of my physical therapy was acupuncture at Bumrungrad with Dr. Wannee Ketmalasiri and I was very impressed with her and the results. I trust her and I trust the acupuncture process.

For my part, but this is me, trusting chiropractor is like trusting a used car salesman. I went once long ago and will never, ever go to one again.

Dr. B

I believe this most likely happens from prolonged exposure, certainly if there is a lower temperature variance, as the body is suddenly forced to fight on several fronts, this making it more susceptible to illness.

We used to work out in the rain on a regular basis and I cannot remember one time of getting ill from it, but we were never stuck in it for more than 30 minutes or so at a time. Had we been out there for a lot longer, it might have been a different story.

Also, like someone else mentioned here earlier, there is a probably a pollution factor to consider as well.

Dr. B