Faranguy

Things are starting to improve here. 7-11 is beginning a process to reduce plastic bag use. The schools are beginning to emphasis ecology. It is a matter of education. It takes time so in the meantime be patient, courteous and be a quiet, considerate (to the 7-11 employee as well) role model

Go to a science fair at any school and look at the number of environmental projects. It is a big thing. And it is true that most Thai women are much cleaner with their bodies and their homes than most of us farangs. I never showered 2 times a day until I married a Thai. Mind you I am from a very cold country where our motto is "there's no sweat in the North".

I just wish I could convince Thai politicians not to argue by insulting each other. Humour is much more effective. Did you hear that Sudhep and Yingluck went out for dinner last weekend? Things went very well until Sudhep ordered kapow lameduck and Yingluck said she preferred fuk somyong gai. Then guess what man in black showed up? Darth waiter! May the farce be with you. arghh...sorry about that. HAVE A NICE DAY! TIT

e="F4UCorsair" post="7688242" timestamp="1397459009"]

Bangkok Hospital quoted me 350,000 for laproscopic surgery for a double iquenal hernia. That is the same as the operation costs in the Houston Medical Center. In Canada it is free but they won't cover me here because it is done in Canada and it is not an emergency yet. But I work here for Thai wages and I enjoy my job a great deal so I would like to stay. Has anyone had a comparable operation done in Thailand for less money?

Jut surfing the net, I was surprised to see that things like joint replacements are the same cost as here in Australia, around $25,000. Cosmetic surgery is about a fifth of the price though.

As a comparison on hospitals, I recently had to spend a night in hospital, observation for sleep apnea (apnoea), and the hospital was $884, in at 7.00 pm, out at 7.00 am!!!

A few years ago a mate took a spill of a motorcycle on the road to Sangklaburi, nothing too serious, but lost some skin. He spent well over an hour at Thong Tha Phum hospital, had 4 nurses working on him for a good part of that time, and the total cost, including pain killers and antibiotics was B360. That's a good deal.

I had a full medical at Bumrungrad a few years ago, everything, ECG included, and the cost was less than $40.00.

I saw the dentist just a couple of weeks ago in Bangkok, annual check up and scale and clean, plus two small fillings (first in 15 years), and the total was B3000, about $100. Back here, a small filling was $175.00 6 years ago, and a clean and check was $140, so the cost here would have been $490 on prices from 6 years ago. I figured out my dentist charged about $550 an hour back then just on his throughput.

Nothing to complain about even if BKK prices are padded a bit in my view.

If I could get the operation here for less money I would do it but fortunately I have the option of going home although I will need to put it off which should not be a problem if I am careful. The money I save can pay for 5 or 6 round trip tickets. Thanks for your information. Incidentally I don't have an issue with the quality of sevice as I know the expertise here is equivalent to back home and the service is actually superior. If I was from the USA I wouldn't hesitate to have the work done here

Bangkok Hospital quoted me 350,000 for laproscopic surgery for a double iquenal hernia. That is the same as the operation costs in the Houston Medical Center. In Canada it is free but they won't cover me here because it is done in Canada and it is not an emergency yet. But I work here for Thai wages and I enjoy my job a great deal so I would like to stay. Has anyone had a comparable operation done in Thailand for less money?

I am planning a visa run Sunday and back Sunday night. Can anyone tell me if immigration at Ranong will be open Sunday? I realize it will be closed Monday but I have learned never to make assumptions in Thailand especially with immigration matters.

Could you imagine living in a country like ''North Korea'' with these kind of demands, and what goes on..

Sorry, I would be out of there first chance i got..

Goodnight said the watchman. we are programmed to receive, you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave

Eagles

The rules in developed countries are as follows:hydrogen_sulfide.pdf

Yes, Andreandre, go slow until you know, just like my music teacher said. I am a regulalar rider of a bicycle but have not ridden a scooter since I was a teenager. I got a new bike 2 days ago and had it dropped off at the school so I could practice everyday before I hit the road. Good thing too. First mistake, driving on the wrong side of the road. Second mistake, not remembering how to do signals without looking, not being a steady driver, jerky motion. Slowly it is all coming together then I will drive in a dirt lot nearby as per tv recommendations. I will also practice quick braking, u-turns and try to get used to applying the right power for various manouevers. Yes I would have bit the dust several times without this practice. Thanks all for additional hints. I was recommended to have a helmet with a full face mask, jacket with elbow pads, pants with knee pads.

I ride daily with a motorcyle taxi, same guy always. He drives slower than others, follows other motorcycles, does a lot of mirror checking, does quick uturns by leaning only and is very smooth. He is more expensive than other guys (130 vs 100) but these are cheap lessons from a survivor..

So, Dr. Ukrit Mongkolnavin, was not happy that the courts didn't rule in favour of PTP and the caretaker government.

He hasn't heard of unbiased or professional judgement and rulings.

The system has to be reformed, so in the future, everything suits PTP.

Very distinguished man, and in, no way, politically motivated.

Yes indeed many things are politically motivated in this country including you, as I have noticed, in many comments you make. I see the similar uncompromising dedication to unsubstantiated rhetoric that poisons any desire for compromise in the dual issues of poverty and democratic imbalance, the 2 key issues polarizing this nation. How can there be reform without compromise? Only from the barrel of the gun I fear. It is coming, I have lived through it before and it is not worth it. Arguement is the only way to turn your back on violence. Insults only bring arguement to a halt leaving violence as the only recourse. I personally find insults about Yingluck weeping especially abhorrent coming from the inflated machismo of individuals suffering from the 'weak man' complex. Yes that is also an insult. Notice how it destroys any capacity for compromise between you and me? Lesson learned!

Not a.lot of good press for the navy these days. Besides the seals issue there is the human trafficking issue. Sounds like a great place to begin the badly needed reformation. Start at the top as there appears to be serious problems with command control. Either the leaders did not know what was happening, they turned a blind eye to what was happening or they were complicit. Regardless, there is a correctable problem. Good luck Thailand, peace may depend on it.

Apple has had the same problem ever since they first introduced their desktop30 years ago. They sued everyone who remotely stole their ideas. IBM on the otherhand did not bother until they introduced microchanel but in the meantime they took over the Pc world. Apple came close to death until they stole Xerox,s idea for icons and built Lisa. Xerox never went after them but had every right to. Then Microsoft got into self preservation mode and bloated their OS with the registry. It has just caused both companies to descend into a comlex hell of locking their users in. Sadly Google is well on the way to integrating the same paradigm intotheir strategy.

Well, I'm happy to be a nerd. Yes setting up Linux can be a problem but once you (or your nerd friend) get it done you get speed, great functionality, no fences, no viruses, a large community of likeminded freedom fighters. It is not easy. The big boys don't want the margins to drop. They MUST keep the shareholders happy. So companies like Nvidea and MS go out of their way to try to shut Linux out of the consumer goldmine. Actually Apple doesn't engage in this effort, they just continue to do their thing. In fact they realize the benefit of Unix based operating system which they have used now for a long time. Personally I do this - All of my high end stuff(CAD, programming, exploration software, blah, blah) runs off my Ubuntu Linux desktop. All of my communications I do on an Android tablet. I am very happy with that.

Dude Thanks for the rant but I wouldn't put in the geek bracket unless u can tell me what u were playin with when ur 15 and I don't mean ur todger.[/quote

I am 67 and was in the computer business since 1972. I was a siesmic programmer, analyst and systems integrator. I built specialized data centers for scientists and engineers, I am an expert on several operating systems, my firstjob was programming assembler for an EMR6130, a machine with 24k of memory comprised of 24 bit words. After that I programmed. Univac 1108 which incidentally was a 2's complement, end around carry, Subtractive adder. A machine that used band gates had core memory,36bit words octal. Later I specialised in Solaris, a unix variant.

Yes sir, I am a nerd and I still play with my toger if my Gf is out :-)

Fishy. How does someone send them the 100K unless they know where they are?

Western Union.

Interesting phrases, financial broker, going to learn Thai, need 100,000, likely death, silence.

Sounds like big trouble but did it start back home or here in LOS? Kidnappers normally specify the ransom, this sounds like a debt with a very determined debt collector. I am racking my brain for other possibities but really the important thing is to rescue this couple and work out the rest later.

Apple has had the same problem ever since they first introduced their desktop30 years ago. They sued everyone who remotely stole their ideas. IBM on the otherhand did not bother until they introduced microchanel but in the meantime they took over the Pc world. Apple came close to death until they stole Xerox,s idea for icons and built Lisa. Xerox never went after them but had every right to. Then Microsoft got into self preservation mode and bloated their OS with the registry. It has just caused both companies to descend into a comlex hell of locking their users in. Sadly Google is well on the way to integrating the same paradigm intotheir strategy.

Well, I'm happy to be a nerd. Yes setting up Linux can be a problem but once you (or your nerd friend) get it done you get speed, great functionality, no fences, no viruses, a large community of likeminded freedom fighters. It is not easy. The big boys don't want the margins to drop. They MUST keep the shareholders happy. So companies like Nvidea and MS go out of their way to try to shut Linux out of the consumer goldmine. Actually Apple doesn't engage in this effort, they just continue to do their thing. In fact they realize the benefit of Unix based operating system which they have used now for a long time. Personally I do this - All of my high end stuff(CAD, programming, exploration software, blah, blah) runs off my Ubuntu Linux desktop. All of my communications I do on an Android tablet. I am very happy with that.

I distictly remember the Thai autopsy as saying the deaths were likely caused by pesticides although they speculated the source might have been alcohol. Does anyone else remember seeing this on tv? Anyway Thai forensics need a little more respect methinks.

Facts: male indigenous, hetrosexual friends

Skipping western and english speaking countries

2 years in an Arabic country, 3 close friends

3 months in China, 1 close friend

1 day in Taiwan, 1 close friend

5 years in Thailand, 0 close friends

We are the competition here and that's it period.

Dear Farangs

I got caught in a civil war in another country. It went like this: The largest tribe always won the election. The other tribes were unhappy, then the argueing degenerated into insults, lies, pride, greed, sporadic violence, martial law, opportunistic neighbors and arms dealers, escalation of violence, vicious hatred, atrocities and then the people wondered why the rest of the world were unable to help them. Finally the country becomes weak and a neighbor jumps in to "save the people" from themselves.

Anyway my farang friends that is not the point it is simply what enevitably happens. The point is that you need to decide what to do and when to do it. The big difference between my experience and what is happening here was the respect that the local people in that country had for foreigners. I sense that foreigners here may not have that luxury. There may be a point when the doors close as they did in late November 2008. Chok di my friends.

Work for peace, pray for understanding, think about the children.

Live long and prosper.

If you abuse your environment for greed what do you expect. Once you have destroyed it completely you will be left sitting alone and asking the question, why don't the tourists come any more.

An old Cree Indian saying would be very appropriate here IMO;

" Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find money cannot be eaten." ~ Cree

Here is another Cree quote for people who need to get their priorities straight

What is life?

the flash of the firefly in the night

the breath of the buffalo in the wintertime

The little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset

Chief Crowfoot shortly before his death

Here is the best advice for anyone going into a partnership. The first thing you do is determine how you will eventially break up the business.

There is 113 years of experience in my family with this concept. It filters out people you do not want to deal with. If they do not agree, don't get involved. It is not a matter of trust, it is a matter of due diligence.

The biggest social problems faced by societies today are the problems caused by children of single parents. These kids seek leadership from their peers and voila!

No sign of many fathers in this country but lots of pregnant teens/mothers with grandma raising the chidren while mom makes ends meet (or finds the proverbial rich farang) down on the soi.

I am sorry about your problem with this very nasty "HEISTER". However there is no need to use the term "faggot" which is a really insulting term for gay people. A faggot is a piece of firewood that you burn and that is what often happened to gays a long time ago - hence the reason sexists call them by that term.

Faggot means many things but I understand what you say in the UK for example I used to go buy myself a packet of faggot every week it is like a meatball in a sauce the scots love them .

I had the misfortune to run into a similar immigration agent at chang wattana. i must say i previously met only very nice agents.

i also have met some thai teachers who feel the same way. I noticed however that most of your colleagues comments are sadly correct. Add a little facism and what do you get? (Above and beyond the Hitler Cafe). Notice my picture, this is the average Thais idea of a Farang. In fact the original Ferengi character in the "Deep Space 9" TV series was created by a Thai woman. She only left out the "old, fat" part.

Having said that the Thais have their character also. My daughter came her to scope out Kho Pangyan for family members. She had a motorbike accident and got ripped off for 20,000 baht by a cab driver and his supporting cast of locals. Then she did a visa run and discovered Thai beaurocracy.

We all went to George Town Malaysia instead.

Malaysia is great and no hustlers.

Thailand has experienced a major shift world-wide in how they are perceived. If I may put it briefly, Thais are seen as polite, friendly and heartless

Don'w worry, Dennis Rodman will make peace with Dear Leader.

I came in peace and left in pieces. Bad doggy!

People: This is not about having a few days off, this is about insurrection and that is not my opinion, it is a fact.

My opinion is that Thailand, like ALL democracies, needs a Balanced democracy. I don't know what the answer is. Ask the King