Plastic Brontosaurus

I caught it last month (probably from Bangkok). I was mis-diagnosed twice by local GPs and was later admitted to hospital for 3 days after I kept getting worse barely being able to walk straight. Horrible pesky Mosquitos! I take a electro racket with me now on my travels!

Whats an electro racket ?

http://www.diytrade.com/china/pd/1769248/Mosquito_Racket_CE_RoHS_certified_Appearance_Design_Patented.html

Here's a link about the Brazilian effort:

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/12/genetically-modified-mosquitoes-fight-dengue-fever/

What's the big deal about this temple anyway? Is it all about face? I can hardly believe there is an economic interest of any kind. Worship? No matter who "owns" the temple, presumably anyone can go and worship there. I'm lost...

People with mental illnesses that could endanger themselves (or others) should not travel alone - period. How come this guy did not have family or friends staying in his vicinity at all times (assuming that he was known to have a mental illness)? By the looks of it, the "friend" that dropped him off at the hospital may have been someone befriended locally during the holiday - a true friend would stay with a person with this type of condition until the condition improved. Also unusual that he apparently had no medication with him (once again assuming that it was not the first time this thing happened to him). R.I.P.

Agree with naboo - I spend a lot of time at CMU which is under the flight path, and it's nowhere near at capacity in terms of flight movements - for most of the day there's less than five flights per hour, plus at times the military jets which may add a few cycles per hour but I'd be surprised if this airport is at much more than 10-15% of maximum flight movements. The departures part of the terminal can get crowded at busy times, but that's a matter of expanding the terminal, for which there's also plenty of space - the large carpark could be "folded up" into a multi-story carparking tower and the terminal expanded in that direction.

So one has to assume the motivation behind this project is other than capacity-related...

Sorry can't give comprehensive advice, but am presently planning a similar setup and been reading up on things, so here a few random thoughts; hopefully others may be able to provide more substantial information.

Things to consider include is this business going to generate income from overseas (such as selling items online worldwide, that can be shipped from random locations; say if you sold electronics that could be made in China and sold to customers worldwide, bypassing Thailand or whatever country you find yourself living in in future), or is it mainly a service you personally provide, such as consulting for which the website is a front-end/marketing vehicle? If the company sells worldwide, you could consider setting up a Hong Kong business which should, if properly set up, allow for tax-free overseas-sourced income (only income generated in HK would be taxed). There are a few other jurisdictions that allow tax-free income but most of them might raise eyebrows as they are remote island states etc. and people would wonder why a business would be based there.

Not being British I don't know about the UK tax laws but it can be beneficial to avoid tax residency there if possible. Taxes in that general part of the world tend to be rather insane. You could either try to avoid tax residency altogether depending on your personal requirements (if you have a lot of income out of investments etc. it might be useful), which would probably mean shuttling between several countries during the year to avoid being too long in any one of them and becoming tax resident. Or if you are (only) tax resident in Thailand, far as I know only income sourced within Thailand, or monies that you import into Thailand, are taxed. Overseas generated income which stays overseas is not taxed (far as I know).

Singapore corporate tax is 20% off the top of my head so not too bad, if there are good reasons to set up a business there (but once again off the top of my head you need to deposit a fairly large lump sum on the formation of the company). Either way I would avoid anything to do with the UK, Europe or the US unless there are specific reasons to deal with that part of the world, such as expectations to do business there - best to steer well clear of in my view. If the business is simple it may be easiest to base it in Thailand, if it is multinational, consider an Asian jurisdiction such as Hong Kong or another one that might be better depending on the circumstances/requirements.

However it might be useful to have a chat with a Thai advisory firm (legal firm or accountancy I guess) in the first instance. If you are planning on worldwide sales, there are a few specialist companies around dealing with offshore constructions etc. They are typically based overseas. If you google "offshore company formation" you will get some results, some of these websites have good information sections to get more details from.

Chok dee

Not long ago there was an issue somewhere in the world (California?) about the coloring in cola drinks. That the artificial blackener (or whatever it is called) was bad for health. Sorry can't remember the details, and the ingredient doesn't necessarily show up on the list of contents, but perhaps someone on here remembers more details?

Talking about cola drink ingredients, from what I heard they often use stevia (a natural plant extract) as a sweetener in Japan in soft drinks. In New Zealand I noticed a brand that uses stevia and sugar together (to lower the sugar content). Stevia has been put in a bad light by the sugar industry in the West in the past century as they saw it as a serious threat. However it is possibly the best sweetener around. In Thailand there's some trials happening in Isaan (Udon region) and perhaps full scale production may already be happening elsewhere in the country (Stevia is typically produced in Latin America so far, with it being readily available in Brazilian supermarkets for example). In the West, in countries where stevia is available, it is often mixed with sugar alcohols to lower product costs, but these cause stomach upsets in some people so if you happen to buy the product make sure to avoid Western brands that have sugar alcohols such as erythritol mixed in.

My take on the debate: best cola drink would probably be a green one, colored with chlorophyll and sweetened with stevia... There's no reason for it to be black, there's no reason for it to have sugar nor artificial sweeteners in it...

I did notice that here in CM it is hard to find Pepsi these days in many places. At Seven I often can't find it at all, at Tops they only have the big bottles not the small ones or the cans, and last time I looked at Tesco Express they did not have it either. Coke and Est readily available everywhere. Not sure if Pepsi are having issues with their logistics, or some people are receiving tea money to keep certain brands in hiding, so other brands get purchased?

Condoms are part of the solution, but there's always going to be situations when a condom is not going to be used for whatever reasons (haven't got one, drunk, long-term relationship, etc.).

In recent years, cheap and simple do-it-yourself field test kits have become available, but have been held back by the medical fraternity in Western countries as they fuss over how people would deal with finding out they are positive.

This may be slowly changing but it is time these test kits get mass produced in developing countries (not imported expensively from the West), and get distributed everywhere. With a culture created that makes testing before a shag the normal thing to do that everyone does.

In the end, condoms are a compromise. Having cheap and ubiquitous test kits available everywhere where condoms are sold is the way to go in the long term, I say. Some links:

http://engineering.c...vative-lab-chip

http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all

All well and good but the infection can be carried for up to six months before it manifests itself. A fully equipped laboratory manned by professional staff carries out my wife's regular tests. Their reports state that her viral load is less than 30 copies per ml i.e. it is virtually undetectable. I have reservations that a cheap test widget purchased over the counter at 7/11 is anything like as sensitive and accurate.

Yes you will not catch every single instance I'm sure. But I'm sure you would get most. And these "over the counter" tests are based on viral DNA and are highly sensitive. They are a different kind of test than the one used to detect viral load (they only give "yes" or "no"). Far as I know, they are more sensitive than most lab tests but simpler (they only detect the presence, cannot give further info such as viral load; due to their high sensitivity, they sometimes give false positives much more than false negatives from what I read). Sorry to hear your wife has the virus, but from what you're writing she must be on strong and effective antivirals to get low readings like that. In most real-life situations with people who don't know, the readings would probably be higher and thus easier to detect by whatever test.

What I'm saying is its better to have this test culture than not. It adds a layer of safety, which, whilst not 100% perhaps, will still make a significant difference in the long term, I reckon.

Condoms are part of the solution, but there's always going to be situations when a condom is not going to be used for whatever reasons (haven't got one, drunk, long-term relationship, etc.).

In recent years, cheap and simple do-it-yourself field test kits have become available, but have been held back by the medical fraternity in Western countries as they fuss over how people would deal with finding out they are positive.

This may be slowly changing but it is time these test kits get mass produced in developing countries (not imported expensively from the West), and get distributed everywhere. With a culture created that makes testing before a shag the normal thing to do that everyone does.

In the end, condoms are a compromise. Having cheap and ubiquitous test kits available everywhere where condoms are sold is the way to go in the long term, I say. Some links:

http://engineering.c...vative-lab-chip

http://www.nytimes.c...?pagewanted=all

The problem is that test kits may well tell you that you have HIV but do nothing to prevent you from catching the disease in the first place, so not really a solution to the problem

Yes true that applies to using the test to tell yourself whether or not you have it.

However if tests were used routinely by both partners prior to a session (which would be feasible if the tests were cheap and available everywhere like condoms are today) it would stop the immediate risk there and then (preventing non-infected people from catching the disease), and give the option of having more fun (without the condom) - or still use the condom but have an added layer of defense. Of course purists will say "you can still get disease x and disease y" if you don't use a condom and a test proves you and your partner don't have HIV, but HIV is the one that's the killer, the others - for the most part - are mainly inconvenient.

And truth is too many people live like ostriches and never test. These people are part of the problem/reservoir. Creating a "test culture" would expose realities and reduce risks. Plus condoms are not risk free. I've had several break over the years, so every layer of defense is an added one, is what I'm trying to say I guess...

Condoms are part of the solution, but there's always going to be situations when a condom is not going to be used for whatever reasons (haven't got one, drunk, long-term relationship, etc.).

In recent years, cheap and simple do-it-yourself field test kits have become available, but have been held back by the medical fraternity in Western countries as they fuss over how people would deal with finding out they are positive.

This may be slowly changing but it is time these test kits get mass produced in developing countries (not imported expensively from the West), and get distributed everywhere. With a culture created that makes testing before a shag the normal thing to do that everyone does.

In the end, condoms are a compromise. Having cheap and ubiquitous test kits available everywhere where condoms are sold is the way to go in the long term, I say. Some links:

http://engineering.columbia.edu/prof-sia-develops-innovative-lab-chip

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/health/another-use-for-home-hiv-test-screening-partners.html?pagewanted=all

There's a lot of news about the violence in the South always, however as a relative newbie to LoS I have still not found any resource which tells the story of how things came to be that way, in a reasonably comprehensive and unbiased way.

Does anyone know of a site where the history of this region is properly explained? The majority of troublespots in the world appear to be areas where Muslims clash with others, but rather than simply saying to myself "oh its just another place where Muslims deal with issues in their usual way" I'd like to get a more balanced view on this and understand the situation and its causes better.

Any info/links etc. much appreciated :-)

They keep adding more air routes and increasing seat counts into the country (several airlines started flying into Yangon this year, Air Asia added a lot of new flights, Singapore Airlines put on a 777 recently), but there's no increase in hotel beds. I've just been there, in a city like Mawlamyine which has 300,000 inhabitants there's about six hotels, the biggest of which has two dozen rooms or so. This plus the fact that you can't book using credit cards already leads to mad scrambles with foreigners turning up around 8am to see if rooms are available that night and paying cash deposits to secure them. Elsewhere too you may need to use fixers to find hotel rooms if you have not been able to secure one (they usually put you in a hotel that is not listed in Western guidebooks or websites, so may still have rooms available).

The lack of balance between adding airplane seats and creating a matching tourism infrastructure to cope with the increased demand might seriously backfire for Myanmar. The investment climate is so bad (lack of transparency, severe corruption, lack of legal frameworks, etc.) that foreign hotel chains so far have largely shied away from the place. There is so far no indication this is changing.