Plastic Brontosaurus

Just as a side note: it's not just in Thailand that the "bigger" vehicle is always at fault in accidents: I know for a fact that in New Zealand it is the same - if you hit a bicycle or a bicycle hits you in the car (or a pedestrian), as the car driver you're at fault regardless of the circumstances. I believe this also to be the case in European countries but not 100% certain. The reason for this rule is to protect the "weaker" road users, apparently. There's not many motorbikes in NZ so I never heard whether motorbikes vs cars also have the car at fault but I'm pretty sure as the bike is a weaker road user than the car.

DVT is, at least to a degree, genetically determined. My sister had it after a relatively short flight from North Africa to Europe.

A short while later I had my genome sequenced (at least the "active" part of whatever; it's not the full sequence) and they show you your risks: in my family we're four times more likely to suffer from DVT than the average (also found out that I have decreased Warfarin sensitivity which is also genetically determined).

This DNA mapping used to be expensive but is now affordable, and is good information to have, also to include on a medic alert card (in my wallet there's a card that says that I've increased risk of DVT so if something happens they know this is one area they should check).

Have a look at https://www.23andme.com/ - the outfit was started by the wife of one of the Google boys. Might help you save your own life one day.

Taking this topic slightly sideways, but still wondering what the issue is with ethanol. Having lived in Brazil where 100% ethanol has been available at the pump for decades, it seems strange that Brazilian cars (not sure about motorbikes) in almost all cases can take the pure ethanol. These engines are called "flex" engines. There's even cars with "tetraflex" engines which can take ethanol, standard petrol, high-octane petrol, CNG and LPG. These are cars from mainstream brands like VW, Toyota, etc. however they appear to only be available in Brazil, and everywhere outside of Brazil the ethanol content of the gas can easily become an issue for engines for some reason.

According to Brazilians, pure ethanol gets you less mileage (one litre of ethanol gets less kms than one litre of petrol) however it is cheaper so the difference gets kind of cancelled out.

Went to Wat Pho a year or so ago and don't recall seeing this. Now my memory is certainly not what it used to be but then did a search and at least theoretically it should show up in one photo out of the thousands online. Did not see it. So personally am not convinced it's Wat Pho. Perhaps get a list of all wats in the area and do an image search for each - it should show up sometime...

http://www.google.co.th/search?hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=891&q=wat+pho+bangkok&oq=wat+pho+ban&gs_l=img.1.0.0l2j0i24l8.1069.6898.0.8595.17.15.2.0.0.0.146.1441.9j6.15.0...0.0...1ac.1.2.img.v7I2LxiFyZY

Well, I guess it's all OK until the

I must be getting old, but still remember the Minamata scandal. When the deformed babies start to appear, it's too late... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease

I guess each country has to go through their own repeats of these things, until they get the right laws and controls in place after too many scandals. This is not a scandal yet, but perhaps only because not enough details are known. This must have been going on for some time.

Her fault but we know who will get the blame..

A bit off topic, but would a car cam be of any use in cases like this (I'm planning to buy one) ?

The way I see it: a car cam is like a double edged sword: it can prove you're innocent, but it can also prove without doubt that you're at fault. So perhaps get one that you can yank out of the dashboard/off the inside roof of the car in the space of a few seconds and without leaving a trace, just in case there's any evidence that needs to be disposed of quickly..

You've conflated a few things here and it's difficult to parse, but I'll try.

With respect, I think you've misunderstood feminism. The point, I think, is that women should be able to succeed without having to become more like men. One of the biggest things holding women back in the corporate world are male boardroom attitudes such as yours. Why don't we let individual women decide whether they want career, money, "high-stress" CEO positions (actually, research shows that positions with decision-making powers have lower stress), etc. As Winston Churchill said on a different topic: 'Since it is in the minds of men that wars begin, it is in the minds of men that the defenses for peace must be built.' Similarly, both men and women need to change how they think about women if that half of humanity is to achieve it's full potential. it's not just about money and career. It's about equal opportunity and having all the same options that men have, with no artificial barriers. Some of those barriers are in the thinking that permeate in the minds of men (and some women) like yourself.

There is no indication that women are any less capable than men. They may do things differently, but no less effectively.

T

Well I see you differ in opinion which is fine however I don't see where I have a male boardroom attitude. All I'm saying is that measuring equality by % numbers of women on boards and as CEOs is, in my view, ridiculous. As well as that measuring success and equality in this way is also dubious in my view.

I assume you are referring to "glass ceilings" that exist in some organizations; and that are being pointed to by ambitious women as the apparent cause of them not being able to enter the executive levels in numbers they perceive as sufficient. Undoubtedly these ceilings exist. But they only exist in some organizations, and will be ground down over time (not long ago, women held no executive positions). However by saying that a fixed % of boards should consist of women and making that law (as they are planning in Europe apparently) is extreme and dangerous for business. Next thing you know is they will say the board has to reflect the ethnicities in the country % wise: so many whites, so many blacks, so many Asians... The course of business needs to be the course of business. And in some industries women traditionally have little expertise, because they have not much interest in those industries. So to force boards in these industries to appoint women who don't have enough knowledge of their industry would be insane.

About feminism: I don't think I've tried to understand feminism. I just observed. And what I saw was that women in top careers appear to have more male personality characteristics in some ways than non-career women, on average: in their presentation, personality, demeanor, etc. It's just an observation.

Sorry but I also did not say that women should not decide on whether they wanted CEO positions; however I did say those positions are not acquired by rights, but by achievement. And definitely not by law, as some feminists in Europe are now pushing for. If a women really wants that role, she will achieve it. It may be harder in some industries than for her male counterparts, but that's life. In other industries the playing field is already level. Pioneers always have to fight harder. They should stop whingeing and get on with the job.

And last but not least, I don't think I said anywhere that women are less capable than men. You make a lot of assumptions.

My main points remain:

1. Using pay levels and traditional career ladder levels as measures of success and equality (either for men or women, but in this context, for women) is limiting. Success for me, for example, is much more in happiness and fulfillment. I've never met anyone whose career and income made them believably happier than they were before. Maybe I meet the wrong people. Traditionally, men have used pay and career as measures of success. Now women do the same. I guess what I'm saying is: we're not going anywhere. Now the women just do as the men did before. Great. It's time things evolved. Women could be creative and champion a new approach to measuring success and equality in a better way. Yet they want the same as the men have used in the past 100 years. No evolution. Same old same old, but with a skirt.

2. Forcing females into male business roles by law (the European % law) rather than letting business dynamics take care of this (which indeed may take a few years longer but will get there), is dangerous for business.

Thanks for info. Anything about the quality of internet connection there?

When I lived at Smith Residence last year, Internet was OK: fast browsing, average downloads, but with slowdowns on weeknights when everyone gets on, and the occasional outage (less than one per month; usually up to an hour or so). The area has a fair number of hotels and other accommodation so the slowdown may not necessarily have been within Smith, it could also have been at the local DSLAM in which case all users of the same ISP in that area would slow down (and all accommodations would have similar speed). Smith has Wifi only, no cabled internet by the way.

Overall, if you need high-speed Internet along the lines of what is required to run trading rigs across international markets etc. you could consider getting your own dedicated high-end line, however as others have said, even that guarantees only the national traffic speeds at the best of times; as you don't know how the traffic is routed and where things may be slowed down/bottlenecked when the traffic leaves LOS, there simply is no speed guarantee, even with the biggest available local pipe directly to your rig.

Either way, in my experience Internet is generally acceptable for normal use but may be too slow for critical use (trading, streaming media with high bandwidth requirements, etc.).

Apparently it also depends on where you are - if in rural Isaan they may make problems. In places with a sizeable tourist contingent such as CM it's routine. I even got my drivers licenses on a tourist visa.

i bought the bike from a shop and had them change the paperwork for me, saves a lot of hassle and red tape. Paid 1000 baht for the privilege. A week later I had the green book in my name, as well as the tax sticker and compulsory insurance certificate. Subsequently took all that to insurance broker and he got me an all-risks insurance also on the tourist visa.

In the end, I knew I would get ED visa (which I have now) and stay here long, otherwise would probably not have bothered. But there was no issue whatsoever using a tourist visa to get everything registered.

OK - I walk a lot anyway so that's fine. I've cycled for the last 8 years in London so have experience of heavy traffic, although I imagine Thailand is more dangerous due to less laws and drink driving. I was looking to avaoid the cost of a motrobike but might get one from time to time.

For most of the year, the difference between a motorbike and a bicycle, at least to me, is getting a cool breeze whilst driving through the city, or working up a sweat and suffering in the heat. A standard motocy (such as a common model 110/125 cc automatic moped) can be rented for around 3000 baht/month. Unless you drive a lot, you probably spend a couple hundred baht a month or so on gas.

I went the other way and bought one, you should be able to pick up a five or six year old Honda Click for around 20K baht as was the case for me. That way no issues with the bike being "stolen back" by the rental shop etc. (there's stuff on this forum on that scam). I've had the bike a few months now and no problems, Hondas in particular appear to be very long lasting (but also are most expensive used, due to this reliability). You can have the bike put in your name on a tourist visa, and even get insurance for it (mine is all-risks insured but I'm paranoid).

Ah and about flights - just as a reminder - since they re-commissioned Don Muang Airport back in October, all Air Asia flights and all or most Nok flights now fly from and to there. To get to Don Muang from Suvarnabhumi and vice versa is a long and windy journey which you want to avoid.

Coming from Australia or NZ on either Thai or Qantas, you can usually add-on the BKK-CNX section to the international ticket for around $100 in my experience. It costs more if you buy it as a separate ticket. Not sure if that's an option from other source destinations as well.

It may also be worth checking other options just in case they have better prices even thought they are technically longer flights, such as LON-ICN-CNX (Korean now flies direct from Seoul although I don't know frequency) and LON-HKG-CNX with Cathay and Dragon. And of course there's the options via KUL (Air Asia direct to CNX) and SIN (not sure about current options).

Chok Dee

The residences I mentioned above can be had by the month and Smith starts at just over 6000 I think. They're just outside Chiangmai Gate and close to the moat. A 3-minute tuk-tuk ride to the "action" (presumably Loi Kroh?) is 50-60 baht from Chiangmai gate, or 15 minutes walk along the moat...

Also have a read of this recent thread it has more info: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/615581-blood-sugar-monitor-device/

Smith Residence is good, prices start around 6000 per month depending on room type, rooms have working desk area, fridge, TV, air con, wifi internet, bathroom with hot shower, small balcony. Power, water and internet are extra (Internet is 400 baht/mo; power and water are metered). Often booked out ahead so call or email them well beforehand. http://www.chiangmaismithres.com/

Noble House a stone's throw from Smith opened three days ago and is brand new. It does not have all the bells and whistles of Smith (no restaurant downstairs, did not see a laundry lady either) but is nice and new. http://www.noblehousecm.com/

The same owner as Noble House also owns Noble Place Chiangmai http://www.chiangmaiairporthotel.com/

Smith also has another tower (Smith Tower) but that is always booked out six months or more upfront.

You can also get the visa yourself in BKK but you'll lose a day - queuing in the morning to submit the papers and again in the afternoon to get back your passport with the visa. The Myanmar embassy is just over 5 minutes walk from Surasak BTS. People told me some travel agents will get you the visa for 1000 baht processing fee - they send some guy with a stack of passports down there to wait in the queue every day. Not sure about details however.

There's a copy shop in a small alley down the street (right hand side) from the Myanmar Embassy, they have the forms and also will make the required copies. Google for what you need to bring in terms of documentation.

If you havent been to Myanmar recently, make sure to book your accommodation beforehand. Tremendous numbers of airline seats have been added this year, but virtually no hotel rooms, and this means effectively a shortage. If all else fails, get a taxi driver to be your fixer. He will find you a room (at least always worked for me) in a hotel that's not on Tripadvisor or in Lonely Planet so the tourist hordes have not found and besieged it yet; but it will usually be a bit more expensive.

Chok Dee

Been to Grace for a difficult root canal (bent root, extra root) and they had better kit than any dentist's kit I have seen in Australia or NZ (easier for them too as they have such a big practice, they can share the purchasing costs). The result, far as I can tell, was excellent. They also discovered another root canal that was not properly done and showed me on the screen.

Had them do a checkup and quote for more work including implants, they once again showed off some kit: an impressive interactive computer system to manipulate the x-rays, however one can't escape the impression that besides being very professional, it is also a very commercial operation (fair enough, that's why they are in business). They exist because of the falangs, as 80-90% of their customers are either falangs or non-Thai Asians, from looking around the waiting room the five or six times I was there.

Personally I will continue to go to Grace for any major work (root canals, implants, anything tricky). Standard stuff like fillings and crowns can be done by most dentists, and they are usually cheaper, as Grace is certainly near the top of the pricing range for CM.

If you're looking for a place to stay for the first month (or the year) you could consider a "residence". These are usually multi-storey buildings where you rent a room (usually equipped with desk, fridge, TV, air con, bed, bathroom with hot shower, etc. and weekly cleaning/bed sheet/towel change. They also often (but not always) have a small convenience store onsite, a restaurant, a laundry lady. Internet however is typically wifi, however if you stayed longer you could negotiate whether you could put in a line for higher speed internet direct to your room.

Residences can be a bit more expensive due to the services provided, rates starting between 6000-8000 baht per month for the better ones, less for older buildings. A couple in my area of town include Smith Residence http://www.chiangmaismithres.com/ which has been around for at least five years or so and gets good reviews, and Noble House which is in the same street and only opened its doors this week (it was newly built and opened 3 days ago): http://www.noblehousecm.com/

Just letting you know as it is an easy option. Usually residences give discounts for longer pre-pay, such as 12 months for the price of 11 if you pay the year upfront. Power and water (and internet) is usually charged extra but not always.If you google "residence chiang mai" you should get more results, although some of these might not be true "residences" in the sense described above.

If you're after a simple one to check your fasting glucose in the morning for example, the Accuchek Performa is one of the most common ones used. You can buy this over the counter at most pharmacies (Boots etc. the ones in Airport Plaza have them) the ongoing cost is in the test strips, which you need to buy regularly.

Here's what it looks like (it comes in a box with lancing device): http://www.accu-chek.com.au/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_303_303_-1_50913_303_303_303_Products

Note that the ones sold in Thailand measure in mg/dl (the American system); if you bought one in Europe or Aus/NZ they would measure in mmol/l (the strips work in both models).

Hope this helps.

Many thanks for all that, again.

No worries. Forgot to mention one thing: the sensors have a validity of around 5 - 6 months when you buy them (check/ask). So don't buy too many as they would expire...

For PB:

I'm keen to look further into continuous monitoring, did you buy your device in Thailand and if so, from where?

No, sorry, did not buy in Thailand. They are slowly expanding their distributors and are looking for a Thai distributor far as I know (but needs to be a medical company or at least a diabetes-specialized doctors office I assume). You can't buy it in the US unless you are American (you need a script from a US doctor); conceivably you could have it sent internationally from there if you can get the script, this outfit has it http://search.americandiabeteswholesale.com/search?keywords=dexcom and there's probably others (note: you need the receiver, the transmitter, and the sensors - as I said, it's not cheap). If they don't ship internationally you could ship it to a forwarder and have it sent to anywhere in the world - such as https://www.earthclassmail.com/ and once again there are others.

If you need to buy it without the script you can get it in the Netherlands but that device will likely be in Dutch (albeit easy to use because the menus are simple; download the US manual and you can follow the Dutch menus). Also it being Europe it is more expensive. This is where I bought it as neither the Australian nor NZ distributors existed in the first half of last year. Perhaps best would be to email a few distributors and check their price differences and whether or not they can supply without a script. Once you receive it, you will need to learn how to "inject" the sensors which is not hard but the first time a bit finicky. There's a video and instructions somewhere on the Dexcom site with all the details.

I ordered it via email and went over there to get it (as I was traveling in that direction anyway). One issue is the sensors are heat and cold-sensitive to a degree. So if you would order them via FedEx or similar and they sit in a cargo trolley on some tropical airport's tarmac in the sun for a few hours, they are toast. But you won't be able to tell right away. Anyway I wrapped them in layers of clothes and stashed them in the middle of the suitcase I was traveling with to try and guard against temperature extremes and it seems to have worked fine that way.

This page has the Dutch distributor's contact details at the bottom of it:http://www.dexcom.com/nl/dexcom-g4

This page has the British distributor's contact details at the bottom of it:http://www.dexcom.com/en-gb/Dexcom-g4

This page has the Australian distributor's contact details at the bottom of it: http://www.dexcom.com/au/Dexcom-g4

This page has the NZ distributors contact details at the bottom of it: http://www.dexcom.com/nz/dexcom-g4

And here's the list of distributors to find more: http://www.dexcom.com/global

Hope this useful

Security could be a concern - although depends where you go. Crime rates are often high, from what I understand, depending on location to some degree.

Just a few more items to add to the discussion:

I've been using the Accuchek Performa which is one of the most common meters. However if you buy it in Thailand it will measure mg/dl (the American system). If you buy it in say Aus/NZ it will measure in mmol/l. I have both now, for the hell of it. The strips work in either meter.

You can sometimes find parallel imported strips, I bought a whole lot of them in NZ online on TradeMe a few months back (but shipped to NZ; I don't expect them to ship overseas but you could try). They work OK for me (same as the more expensive shop bought ones) and were a lot cheaper - here's a direct link: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/SearchResults.aspx?searchString=accu+chek&isFromSuggest=true&originalSearch=accuchek

I've been a diabetic for years and studied it all in-depth. The common measure of long-term glucose (HbA1c) is deceptive as it does not seem to record lots of short-term highs (effectively, if you have bursty highs your HbA1c may be artificially low).

Even though I'm type 2 and don't need this, I've recently gotten myself a Dexcom device which measures every 5 minutes for a week at a time http://www.dexcom.com/ - there are a few other brands too of these continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) but the Dexcom is most reliable from what I could find in terms of studies online.

If you use this, you will be really surprised at what causes highs and how high they are. Morning fasting glucose can easily be just as deceptive as HbA1c. I changed my diet (step by step; and you will have relapses if you try, but eventually will get there), essentially I eat some eggs and a thin cracker with cheese or mayo for breakfast, then a salad for lunch (usually Greek-style or salmon) and then for dinner a protein item (chicken or fish or meat) and veges. Cut out virtually all potatoes, bread, pasta, sugar, rice and other carbs. Results are amazing... Rice by the way is one of the worst, after a plate of white rice your sugars can go through the roof after an hour. Two hours after the meal they can be near-normal again. Doctors often suggest to measure two hours after a meal. Yeah right. You will have missed the important peak. The CGM will catch all that, though. Not cheap, but worth the expense if you can afford it. I use it every few months for a week to see how I'm tracking.

And now that I'm on my high chair, two sites/books that are useful to read about real blood sugar control (these are authorities on low-carb solutions to combat diabetes):

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/

http://www.diabetes-book.com/

The bottom line is: doctors have thousands of patients and thousands of diseases to treat and know about. In the end, to get the best knowledge about your condition and the solutions available to you, nothing surpasses your own research, rather than accepting to be "patientified" (the act of turning you from a person into a patient, which is a person who has given up some control over his/her life to a medical practitioner and hopes for the best).

Chok dee

If you want a good selection of cheeses at the lowest prices in Chiang Mai, than visit The Hideaway. It`s not called The Hideaway for the sake of, it`s because this place is really difficult to find.

Thank you however from what you describe this is actually Dacheeso - the factory is across the soi, and the fridge at The Hideaway is where you can buy the Dacheeso cheeses (I believe the owners of Dacheeso own The Hideaway but I could be wrong; when I went to the factory to ask about buying cheese they directed me to The Hideaway directly across the road). Rimping has some Dacheeso products as well by the way (some cheeses and milk).

As you say, prices are low but the taste is also a bit different from the types of cheese you would normally get at any supermarket; the feta for one was not to my liking but I guess it depends how it is used, for example in sauces etc. the Dacheeso one could be OK.

Either way thank you for the information, particularly the directions will be handy for anyone wanting to sample their products

Sounds great - however any issues with stains, including after exposure of treated areas to sunlight? Any interaction with materials like soft plastics, wood, etc.? Does it leave a sticky residue?

Just being lazy here - could simply buy it and try it - but as it's already been tried easier to ask...