market trader

I think if I spent all my time worrying & posting about how many points Tops or Rimping issued I would head for the nearest bridge and jump.

Rene. I presume it has been sometime since you have been away from Canada and Vancouver island. I agree that California strawberries used to be the size of chicken eggs but tasted like cardboard. But two years something happened. Although still the size of chicken eggs they became sweet and juicy. Guess they must have started planting some type of new cultivars. The area of Canada I come from we basically have 2 seasons. Winter and the next season is spring, summer and fall combined. However we have strawberries that become available in July and last for 3 or 4 weeks. Not very large but extremely sweet.

it used to be green stamps in the old days and I never played 'the game' then and don't bother here either. Why not forget the games and just lower the price by 5% across the board?? It must cost that much to maintain and promote the games.

Wives love it and she hates when i don't bother and refuse points.

I just ask for discounts from the independent merchants.....corporate shops don't give.

Your wife loves the points, so what skin is it off your ass if you just hand over the card and let her collect the points.

I was hoping for some information. I have been looking for their electronics forum but no luck so far. Myself + electronics = help.

+1

We also used Chiang Mai removals. very satisfied.

Can we assume that your rant has something to do with over indulgence.

Don't know of any restaurant. However in the frozen section of Makro Hang Dong you can find deer and ostrich meat.

In my humble opinion Rimping is by far the best supermarket in town for quality and variety of product. The only Tops store I go into is at Kad Suan Gael and I would say the claim to fame at that store would be for empty shelves. For general all purpose shopping Makro is the go to store.

they are worried what about the foreingers that get their money from outside thailand get even less Thb for their currency and visa regulations stay the same

I agree and have sympathy for all , my solution at the moment is when not making income enough required for extension , fly oversees

and do that randomly , stay on multiples as it once started for me , personally not in this situation , but guess its possible , you never know how life on itself goes ,

and even more not how the markets go , its un- controlable , nothing we can do about it , but just breathe and make yourself ready for any situation , although I must admit I do not

have a lot to keep aside , I also do not have much expenses ,

For one poster commenting on hoping for increases of pensions etc , in my homecountry (netherlands) they are cutting personal pensions up to 10% this year and the next , pensioners have a hard time , which is criminal .

Higher pensions won't happen as austerity in the West kicks in , income requirements can become complicated for many , keeping some more cash aside and while doing that get used to spending less ( and receiving ) , your expat stay can be the same with a bit less without getting into trouble at immigration ( dual income requirement , money pension compensated with money in the bank ) . (I am a non pensioner but know several pensioners doing just that ), I'm just saying .

Not sure how other countries are doing , lower end retired people will get it harder not easier , unless Tom Yam Kung returns , but don't see it happen soon , Thailand rocks at the moment and the forseeable future , 800k baht can very well be 40k dollars in 10-15 years easily , thats development , but hey we dont have life forever , scrap buy as we can't take wealth with us to the ' other side ' anyway .

If 800k bahts becomes 40k dollars it will be bye bye Thailand for me, because that will mean I can live much cheaper in the USA or Canada or Australia than I can in Thailand.

My suggestion would be to go to Sriphat ASAP. Register at the counter on the 13th floor and they should be able to direct you to the appropriate doctor. 3 weeks ago I saw a urologist there cost 200 bahts. Same day had an untrasound of my bladder cost 500 bahts. In my mind these prices are about as reasonable as one can find.

Not quite sure why this should become a Phuket bashing thread. There are enough of those anyway.

This could have happened anywhere.

I know this hotel (in fact I nearly posted this story on TV on Tuesday when I knew about this but didn't for the sake of the hotel owners and guests). It's in a fairly quiet area, mostly frequented by Swedish and just inside there's a front desk with one security person and the safety lockers are right behind. I'd never looked to see how secure they seemed but the fact they were forced open (not mentioned in the story) implies not very. Rooms are quite a distance from the front desk so I can see how nobody heard anything. It was obviously a targeted robbery.

Room safes are far from perfect but are they a better option than security lockers at the front desk?

Yes this could have happened anywhere. But it didn't. It happened in Phuket where most of the bad things seem to happen. Maybe that is the reason for Phuket bashing.

There is obviously a lot more to this story than OP is reporting.He is making it appear that Chiang Mai properties are the bad guys. Which may or may not be true.

Is it multiple myeloma you're suffering from? I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 4 years ago by dr Lalita in sriphat hospital and I'm very happy with her. She still treats me and if necessary she send me to the best specialist available.

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No but similar.. Waldenstroms lymphoma.. Good to receive the name of a doctor who might be familiar with this disease as it is very rare.

If they still haven't cleaned up your urinary tract after 4 months, I'd be inclined to go somewhere else for your lung problem.

The urinary tract infection appears to be under control now. My fault I should have insisted on urine culture earlier. You see several years ago when in the hospital in Canada I picked up one of the superbugs. ESBL - E coli..I had completely forgotten about it.. when the result of urine culture came back the bug had raised its head again. Problem is there are only 4 or 5 antibiotics left that are effective against this bug. One of which is not available in Thailand. The first 2 of the remaining 4 did not work. The 3rd one Ertapenem Given by IV once a day for 7 days appears to have done the job. Ertapenem is also one of the most expensive antibiotics. 4,000 bahts per day for 7 days.

Sorry to hear about your illness and my heart goes out to your wife. 35 radiation treatments sounds unbearable. Many rounds of chemo for both of you must have been hell. I'm just curious and am not in any way trying to criticize you or be a spelling policeman -- do they call urologists in Canada urinologists? I had not heard that before. Just my own curiosity.

I hope you both feel better soon.

Yes you are correct.. It is urologist.. I guess I had the word urine on my brain when I posted.

So they ruled out pneumonia in the lung that they think might be cancer? Have you ever had the pneumonia vaccine? I have heard that it is difficult to be sure if it is cancer when observing a mass in the lung on an XRay and they might want to stick a needle in it to determine what it is but then that could deflate the lung and be a problem. The flu can lead to pneumonia. I am no Doc but I would do some research on the best antibiotics for influenza B and pneumonia and be sure you are taking one of them as that might clear up both lungs if it is not cancer.

Thanks for your reply. Most of your replies are correct. Yes I have had pneumonia vacine. Yes x-ray is not definitive, nor is CT scan. Funny thing you mentioned...They may want to stick a needle into to determine what it was. 4 years ago when I was diagnosed with the non curable but treatable cancer. A thoracic surgeon wanted to do a broncoscopy of my lung.It was only with the insistance of a hematologist and my own training as a cardiologist. That I refused. Thank goodness because it turned out that what I have is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Had the thoracic surgeon gone into my lung there is a 90% chance that I would not be writing this today. As you know the lung is a blood organ and chances are that I would have bled to death.

First off all let me say that I am one of those old farts that many of you say should not even be living in Thailand. And even worse I have a Thai wife that is several years younger than me. But to all you young 50+ year olds it won't be very many years before you also will be the old fart who should not be living in Thailand. All my working years were spent in the medical profession. 4 years ago when in Canada I was diagnosed with a non cureable but treatable form of cancer. To make matters worse within 2 months my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. What do we do? Medical care for me is free in Canada but not my wife. So the only solution is for me to stay in Canada and receive treatment for my cancer and my wife to return to Thailand and have her cancer treated. Both of us had many,many rounds of chemotherapy. In addition my wife had 35 radiation treatments where she incurred unbelieveable pain. Since that time everything had been going well until the day 4 months ago when I came down with a urinary tract infection. So off to CM Ram. The urinologist seemed a little old to my mind to be still working as a doctor. But heck what do I know maybe he looks a lot older than he is. He prescribes a medication that has not been used in my country for at least 20 years.But guess what it works. Almost. For the first 6 days the infection is almost gone. I return to see the urinologist on day 7 Urine sample says infection 90% gone repeat treatment another 7 days. Day 9 all hell breaks loose. I am in severe pain and my urine is the colour of milk. Back to the urinologist. This time my wife is with me, and she happens to see the doctor going to the washroom and tells me to take a look.. The poor man could hardly walk. Nevertheless I see him again and he prescribes another antibiotic. 4 days later it is not working. Now I figure I better have him do a urine culture. He is reluctant but agrees. Then I decide to ask a nurse how old this man is...She tells me he is referred to as grandpa doc...82 years old. Forget CM Ram.. Now we are off to Sriphat.up to the 13 floor. When we arrived I said to my wife we are at the CM zoo. Hundreds of people waiting. However we are seen by a young urinologist within 3 hours. First thing he wants to know is how much urine is left in bladder after urination. Then comes the finger up the butt. He prescribes medication 2 items total cost 70 bahts. His fee 200 bahts. Then he tells me he can also see me at CM Ram. Great. Next week I see him. He prescribes same 2 medications. Cost 2400 bahts. His fee 300 bahts. 5 days later I am feeling like death warmed over. Back to the Ram. Doctor say you either have pneumonia or influenza. swab test and x-ray later.. You have influenza "B" and you also have a mass in your right lung..We have to admit you...The private vip room was great and dirt cheap. But the funny thing was if you wanted food you had to pay extra or go to street vendor and buy what you wanted. Next day came the CT scan..Well no surprise here...Scan was suggestive of lung cancer. And you also have influenza "B"Now what to do? First and foremost is the welfare of my wife. This is where I am today..She needs me and without her I am nothing.

Had mine done after kid number 2 was settled in and healthy. That was 35 years ago and no more kids since then!

Why not RAM? I'm getting dental treatment there and yes, it's a bit more expensive, but they've got the gear, the staff are excellent.

I've had a series of root canals - oh joy, oh rapture! - but if it's any consolation, the cost seems to be 1/3 of the same thing in Australia. I'm not even sure our Aussie dental surgeon has an an x-ray machine on the premises, but it's sure needed to check the progress of the work., mid operation.

So yes, I'd go for RAM.

I agree dental proceedures at Ram are first rate. Frankly I like the Ram because service is almost immediate. However cost can be over the top for drugs even more expensive than I pay in Canada or the USA. I will start a new thread about my hospital experiences over the last 3 months

Good luck with your "hobby". Sounds terribly boring. Take a hike or visit a waterfall...and much healthier for you.

I hate malls. My last 10 years in America I never entered a mall once (except maybe to enter the cinema).

There are too many malls, mini malls, whatever...in C.M. already. Some should be bulldozed. Put in parks instead. Banks???? Who needs so many banks? More people should use Internet banking and stop wasting so much gas and polluting the air driving to "mini-mall banks" when they can do 90% of the banking at home.

Free A/C?

Families shopping together for gold? I have not seen that here. Thais buy gold mainly as investments. There's no family joy involved. It's all business.

Please...less "fast food joints".

Back home I used internet banking for 100% of my banking transactions. I have been in Thailand for 3 years and still use my home country bank for transactions. Here in CM I use Bangkok bank and internet banking is next to impossible. For the last 3 months I have been trying to have my utility bills paid through direct deposit. So far only the electric company has achieved success. Lawrence its hard to believe that you, who was our restaurant critic when you were in CM would stoop to eating at the food courts. As for gold would you actually trust the gold shops to sell you top quality gold..A recent TV show I saw called " Scam city" Did an episode in BKK and gold products they sold which they said was worth $400.00 U.S. was actually worth $40.00 when evaluated in the USA. I will never forget before I married my Thai wife many years ago that her family told her that her wedding ring should be 22kt gold. Well we went to a gold shop in BKK and she got the ring she wanted but to this day in my eyes that ring looks like a piece of tin.

Whenever I need cardboard boxes I buy them at Rimping. I pick out the sizes I want and they charge 10 baht per kilo.

"This is what happens when you have a 13 year old boy, locked into the body of a man" Hey let's not insult 13 year olds too! I taught crips and bloods for a living, real gangsters and real American teenagers. Most weren't that stupid!

No they weren't. Only the teacher was.

Has anyone recently undergone radiation and or chemotherapy treatments for cancer at the Chiang Ram or Sriphat hospital. I am trying to find out the approximate costs of various treatments here. As this is a rather urgent matter you can PM me if you do not wish divulge the information on the open forum. However I think it would be good for all concerned if we knew roughly how much these treatments cost here.

White collar crime carries a very short sentence, unlike drugs and other offences. White collar criminals are respected the world over. I think we all see a part of ourselves in someone that can perpetrate a "Ponzi" or other such scam. Don't you wish it was you, come on now, just a little bit maybe.

Maybe you should tell Bernie Madoff that white collar crimes only carry a short sentence.

If you want to be physically smashed and underpayed for picking fruit then go to Australia, still better paid than here,

A few years ago I saw news of people complaining for the immigrants and the outside helpers from abroad that they were breaking thier back bending over to pick up some kind of seafood at minimum wage in Canada. That's some 6 dollars an hour, a lot of bahts. What's wrong with that? I used to work at B1.60 an hour and later B2.25 an hour and I was elated. Had there been people complaining for me for working like a slave, I might not have had worked so hard then and began to demand more for working less.

Picking strawberry is a day out enjoying. I did that in the orchards while in the States all the time. I think I had asked this question once before like shopboy but there were no reponses. I guess people like to buy them in supermarkets which are readily avialable.

The problem I find with strawberries in Thailand. They are picked when half ripe and unlike other fruit they do not continue to ripen they just go from half ripe to bad. That must have been quite a few years back when minimum wage was $6.00 per hour. Now it is $10.00 in most provinces and try to find someone who will work for that. Most companies are paying a starting wage of $15.00 per hour.

Yellow shirt with royal logo in a deeply entrenched red shirt area. Most people would not even give it a second glance. But like everywhere else there are radicals. Why push your luck.