watgate

Toss, forgive me for not checking the internet. In my defense, since I am not familiar with Isaan, and more specifically Buriram, I thought it best that I post on the Isaan forum to get some valuable info. I do understand Buriram is a very wide area, and upon my return to Chiang Mai, I will have my g/f call the hospitals and medical clinics to see if they do specific blood testing for my health issue, and if so, where are they in proximity to my g/f land and eventual house. Kamalabob2 thank you for the info on Buriram's 2 major hospitals. Do you, by any chance, know the address and ph# of the larger Buriram Government Hospital? Lastly, a previous poster mentioned a hosptal by the railway station,namely Echamai Hospital. I take it he was probably referring to Ekachon Buriram Hospital. Do you concur? Once again, thanks for all the valuable info and helping me sort out the maize of Buriram.

Thank you for the replys. Does anyone know where Nong Bua Lamphu is in proximity to Buriram? Also, a couple of posters mentioned a hospital by the railway station evidently named Echamai Hospital. I am flying blind, so to speak, since I have never been to Isaan so I was wondering how far this hospital is from Buriram?

My g/f lives in Chiang Mai but is building a house in Buriram. When her daughter is old enough she is planning on moving back to her village in Buriram. I currently reside in Chiang Mai anywhere from 6- 8 months then go back to the USA. My question or concern is I have to go for periodic blood tests at a hospital in Chiang Mai to check my INR (Warfarin) levels to make sure it is in the therapeutic range. If, and when, at some point in the future when my g/f moves back to Buriram, I need to find a hospital or medical facility at a reasonable distance in order to continue to go for my periodic testing of my blood. Is there any hospital or medical facilities in Buriram, or nearby where I can go? I am not familiar with the area so I don't really know about distances from Buriram to some of the bigger cities in Isaan. Any info or clarification would be much appreciated.

I don't have a lot of info such as the amount of fill that was brought in or how much of the 2 rai of land was actually raised up. With that said does anyone know if 80,000 baht is a reasonable price to truck in fill to raise the land or it can't be determined if it was a fair and reasonable price since their are too many unknowns such as the amount trucked in and how big of an area was raised?

I was talking with an Aussie bloke who said that recently the Chinese were approved by the Thai Government to be able to own real estate, including houses. I was kind of skeptical since news of that sort would almost be headline and if in fact the Chinese, contrary to other foreigners, could now actually purchase and own houses, that would be big news.I was just wondering if anyone knows of any possible changes along these lines or was I right in thinking the Aussie bloke was wrong about his claims?

The Hmong tourist village I have been to several times. How would one go to the Bureaux of Monks and the buildings outside? It looks very interesting and would like to go there sometime.

To me it is becoming quite obvious what the World's Central Banks are striving for. Now that the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve are pushing hard to eliminate certain denominations, in the case of the ECB they want to eliminate 500 Euro notes and the US wants to eliminate 100 dollar US bills under the guise that it would be good to fight terrorism. It is only a mere coincidence that they are pushing to eliminate these denominations while the Central Banks of many countries are either utilizing negative interest rates or are headed for them. By eliminating these above mentioned denominations they will have made it much harder for individuals to withdraw their funds from the bank when the banks start charging you for the negative interest charges. There is more and more talk of Central Banks implementing electronic or virtual banking and circumventing a cash based banking system altogether, which if they were able to implement, would then have you for sure because then you would not be able to withdraw your money from the bank.

As more countries central banks are resorting to implementing negative interest rates to ostensibly jump start their sagging economies, how do you feel about your bank implementing negative interest rates and charging you for the privilege of keeping your money in the bank? If you have a problem with that, to what extreme would you go to avoid having to pay the bank for your money on deposit there? Would you withdraw all your funds and put it in your microwave like they are supposedly doing in Sweden? For you technically savy investors can banks prevent you from withdrawing all your money in the form of cash?

You can buy them at pharmacies but shop around because the prices vary from shop to shop

Leaf burner- What would you have done had you bet 5k on black and lost?

Normally closing the windows and doors would do the trick but in this apt complex the windows are the kind that you close by turning a handle and so therefore,even after closing the window you still have an opening in the individual panes of glass and at the bottom of the windows which lets in the smoke.The doors also are not airtight so smoke comes in there and from the doors on each level since they are generally open all the time. This neighbor doesn't take the time to dry the leaves beforehand and so they are still damp and moist which creates a lot of smoke which can last for 2-3 hours. I guess I will have to resort to wearing a 3m N95 mask when the neighbor burns.

chicog I LIKE your style. I would love to hose down the burning fire. That would show the inconsiderate homeowner that what he is doing is not good. Unfortunately there is no hose that I can see at this apt complex.

I am residing in an apt complex not far from Pantip Plaza and once or twice a week for the past few weeks a neighbor who owns a house right behind the apt complex is burning leaves and other stuff usually around 6:30-7:00 in the morning. It is no wonder no Thai folks will complain but I am tired of breathing this smoke and foul air. I was wondering if anyone knows who I can complain to and if they know a specific government or police office to complain to. If you have a phone number that would be great or should I go to the appropriate office in person. This months Citylife magazine had a front page article on burning and they said the authorities do care about this burning so I want to file a complaint. Any contact info would be much appeciated.

You can't make this stuff up. This was hilarious. How come I think there are only a few countries where you would see something so funny which includes Thailand. Great video

where is the nearest global house from the night bazaar area in chiang mai?

Now that this famous 38 yr old famous Thai soap opera star has died resulting from complications caused by the hemmoraghic strain of Dengue fever, how concerned are you about coming down with dengue fever. Personally, I find it almost impossible to avoid being bit by mosquitoes, although this year, with the lack of rain the mosquito situation is much less problematic then prior years. I know you have to use lots of mosquito repellent and wear long pants but I am a magnet for mosquitoes. I also know there are many things that can do you in, especially here in Thailand, but it seems that it is almost a crapshoot concerning being bit by an infected mosquito. Anyway it will be interesting to see what other folks say. As a sidenote, I contacted dengue fever 2 years ago but fortunately it was not the dreaded hemmoraghic strain.

First off I want to preface what I about to say with the sincere intention to no way disparage or discredit Chiang Mai. In fact, I live in a neighboring state not too far from New York City so I am very much aware of what goes on there and its resultant problems. I have seen many rats in NYC so it seems like maybe this is a problem in cities with large populations. What I am wondering is does Chiang Mai have a big problem with rats like NYC does? I have recently seen some rats around Chiang Mai, besides the moat areas,and it got me wondering how pervasive the rat problem is. Has anyone had any firsthand experiences with rats in Chiang Mai or have seen any? My g/f laughed when I asked her about the rat situation and said in the farm village where she is from they always used to eat them. That was an interesting perspective and once again told me I am not in Kansas. Any way I am still enamored by all Chiang Mai has to offer and won't let a few recalcitrant rats rain on my parade.

I was riding up Huay Kaew toward the zoo and I saw an elderly man cruising along in a 3 wheeled motorcycle. I said to myself " Now I can handle that in Chiang Mai's crazy traffic". I never learned to ride a motorcycle and don't like the idea of trying to learn on the roads of Chiang Mai but I thought to myself I can handle a 3 wheeled motorcycle. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these 3 wheeled motorcycles or know anything about them. I don't know how fast they go and if they would not be recommended on the super highway but to get around Chiang Mai or head out to Mae Rim or San Kamphaeng or San Sai etc. they might do the trick. Any input would appreciated.

MaeJoMTB- I am still unsure about medical coverage for children. I was under the impression that if you are a Thai national and need medical care or treatment then you can utilize the 30 baht scheme. So what you are saying is if a Thai child is injured while riding a motorbike then she would be covered for medical expenses? Is there an age cutoff where she would no longer be covered?

If a Thai mother lets her soon to be 14 year old daughter use her motorbike to ride around with, primarily after school and occasionally on weekends, and her daughter is involved in an accident while on the motorbike, would the insurance coverage for all motorbikes pay for medical expenses and other expenses associated with the accident or would the insurance company not cover any of the resultant expenses because the underage daughter did not have a license?

I second Norvid 1950's comments. I couldn't have said it any better. Great documentary.

I can't help but laugh after seeing that pic. It reinforces my belief that the streets of Chiang Mai have been turned into sheer madness and bedlam. We were out at nite on the motor bike way over on the left side and there was the usual mass confusion at an intersection with Songtaews stopped, folks crossing the street and motorbikes darting about when all of a sudden a tuk tuk comes screaming right to us from behind as he swerved to the left to try and squeeze through, and as the 2 girls in the tuk tuk let out a shriek, the tuk tuk glances off us and luckily we avoid getting crushed, but just barely. I was livid and thankfully I didn't catch up with the driver because I probably would have been stabbed because I was so livid. My point, after seeing this pic of these 2 eighteen year olds, of seeing countless, mainly young thai males flying down the roads on their motorbikes like bats out of hell, of seeing tuk tuk drivers racing aroung like madmen, of songtaews who all of a sudden stop to pick up a potential customer, to Chinese drivers on bikes who have no clue where they are going and no clue how to drive one, to trucks that are racing around totally oblivious to other drivers, it is really a crapshoot and you have to be somewhat lucky to successfully navigate the roads of chiang mai and not get crushed.

My thai g/f is having problems with her neck and I was wondering if anyone knows a competent Dr who can address the problem. Besides the 30 baht scheme where a Thai national can go to a government run hospital if they are sick, what other recources do Thai nationals have if they have a medical issue which might require more extensive treatment. What about if a thai national needs a colocoscopy or develops cancer or some other serious illness? Are they expected to pay out of pocket even if the costs are in the tens of thousands of baht? I know her daughter had a problem in the past with some blood issue and she went to a government run hospital and was basically told by the Dr at the hospital there to don't worry about it ,etc.. Needless to say she went to the hospital at Suan Dok, and at considerable expense on her part, her daughters problem was successfully treated. It sounds like the Health care for Thai nationals is hit and miss and if you don't have sufficient funds for medical care then you are at the mercy of the Government run hospital. So I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the government run hospitals, and if so, how good was the quality of care and how expensive was it? Lastly, , once again, if anyone can recommend a competent Dr who can address my g/f neck problem, I would be very appreciative.

My g/f and I want to go to Maehongson in early January for a couple of days. She said they might be starting to burn up there in January which, if in fact is the case, then we will not go. Does anyone know if they start their widespread burning of their fields in early January,and if so, how bad is it?

While the US continues its rapid descent into third worldism, Obama and his minions are intent on disarming law abiding citizens under the guise of public safety. All the while he is pushing for tens of thousands of muslims to be brought into the USA. In the meantime terrorism is at the US footstep and Obama and his like minded zealots won't be satisfied until the American citizenry is disarmed and defenseless against a growing threat. History tells the story of many countries that were disarmed by evil and sinister leaders which led to genocide of its population. History has a way of repeating itself and Gun control is in fact about control and without an armed citizenry to fight back against tyranny and oppression, then ruthless and evil leaders can implement their agenda, whatever it may be.