simon43

I lived in Phuket from about 2002 to2012, then fled to the safety of Burma to get away from mad ex #2, but returned again to Phuket between about 2014-2016 (ex #3 who wasn't mad). But since that time I've mostly lived/been teaching in Burma, Laos and online. Now settled in Luang Prabang for the past few years but still read/post on this forum - just like all those members posting from their mum's basement in Manchester! I did visit #3 in Phuket a few years ago but decided that the road traffic was similar to central London, and hence not a nice location to retire to.

Aircon???

Great news! Hope to see Thaksin back in politics as soon as possible!

Thanks, but note my location = north Laos. I think I'd have to travel to Bangkok for a consultation (which is something that I might have to do).

Indeed, I've been sunning my Adonis body on the Mekong river beach here in north Laos.... 🙂

Yes, I have heard that a surgical operation is the last resort and often doesn't help at all! I prefer to live with this problem, but there may be some non-surgical treatment that can slow the progress of the 'deformity'. My concern is that it will affect my balance/walking/jogging in later years.

I've posted before about my feet, more especially about my right foot (see photos) The large bunion is not my point of concern right now. I have had this bunion for 30+ years and it causes no pain. I am located in north Laos and I did order a contraption from Aliexpress to pull back my right big toe, (not eliminate the bunion which is not possible). Unfortunately my order never arrived - I might try taping my big toe to pull it back - seen this on YouTube). No, my issue now is with my second toe. I posted before about the middle joint which is enlarged and occasionally painful. It looks like the pressure of the big toe pushing into the second toe is causing this problem. But now there is a further problem. If you look at the base of the second toe you'll see that it is flattened and wide where it is attached to my foot - compare with my left foot..... Getting decent medical treatment is all but impossible here in Laos. My question is this: I'm 65 years old and have no problems walking/jogging etc with this 'deformed' right foot. Is it ok to leave the foot untreated, in that is it likely to seriously degrade my ability to walk etc over the next 20 years or so? Is there any non-surgical action that I can take to alleviate the problems with my second toe? Is it better to have some surgical treatment (if it exists) at my age now, rather than wait until I'm 75 or so? What is the reason for the flattened and hard region at the base of my second toe? Thanks!

Drat! So back to the guessing game as to who you are..... (yawn)

Ah, that depends where you were born.....

Finally! After following that link through the NY Times paywall, I finally understand who you are. 🙂 Why all the secrecy and intrigue? You've created a number of doubters on this thread. IMHO, this thread would have been far more concise had you provided your identify in your first post. Now the vast majority of posts in this thread are nothing about space projects but more about 'calling you out' (my comments included). Your background makes for interesting reading as well. You've had good success, except perhaps with the US taxman! 🙂 I would not regard you as a space systems specialist, because that conjures up (in my mind) a person who is a technical guru in space/satellite systems. Rather, you are an entrepreneurial businessman in the telecoms and space sector, and there's nowt wrong with that!

so you're Jim Benson and you're ..er .. dead!? I might be a small player in the space and telecoms sector, but you can Google my name and you'll find many references to my projects and companies. So I'm still confused about all the secrecy! I am also very impressed how an itinerant guitar player (in your own words) with no qualifications has managed to rise to such a senior position in the space sector. I had to study at college and university for 7 long years (MSc in Microwave & Modern Optics from UCL) before I was considered suitable to be employed in the UK space sector.....

But what are the company names? Why so secretive?

I didn't move halfway around the world to mix with other expats - in general, I have found expats in Thailand to be either bad, mad or a mixture of both!

From the many positive comments on this thread, It seems not. Like ALL PMs in Thailand, Thaksin is corrupt. The important difference is that he is corrupt and smart, while the rest are corrupt and stupid. He has the support of the Issan and poor people and did a lot of good for them when he was PM. I welcome his return and hope that he can get back into politics to sort out the mess that Thailand has become.

Excellent news! Welcome back Mr Thaksin 🙂

The report sounds like his GF had a crash helmet and he didn't..... The report seems to indicate that he had totally-inadequate medical insurance ....... Sadly, this is a real-world example of Darwinism.....

There were many (MANY) huge trucks on this road because the police checkpoints towards Kasi was letting the trucks through for a payment (I saw this myself). I have ridden on the old, longer road, so I know the difference. At the scene of the accident I counted more than 20 huge trucks waiting for a crane to clear the road. Perhaps the old road was closed for some reason.

Excellent idea lol! Please be generous 'cos my nerves are shattered.... Amazingly, the motorbike shop were able to get my bike running again and only charged 70,000 kip ($3.50), which was the same price as the doss-house that I stayed in last night. Yesterday I managed to fall off 3 times because of the state of the road (I've been riding motorbikes for more than 40 years, and this was one of the worst roads that I've ridden on). Happily today I only fell off once and now I'm in Kasi in the valley, just near Vang Vieng!

This IS the new (upgraded) road! Trucks just ignore the sign saying 'not suitable for trucks' and use it anyway, hence the accident ..

So there I was, slowly riding my motorcycle over the mountains between luang prabang and vang vieng. I was riding uphill behind a truck when a truck came fast down the hill (brakes failed). The truck in front of me ran partly off the road and fell over. I had no choice but to drive off the road and l and my bike slid down the incline. Luckily I was okay but my old motorcycle is probably not ok! It's in a repair shop in a mountain village (probably with a terminal diagnosis) and I'm stuck here also until the trucks are removed. Happy to be alive lol!

I've been mostly living in Laos for the past few years (with some short breaks in the UK, Thailand and Myanmar). I will start to receive my UK state pension next June (25) and that alone is quite adequate to live on, (including eating out daily and expat medical insurance...) I have a couple of months to kill before a planned final in-class job in Myanmar. So from Monday, I'm off on my motorbike to tour around Laos and to find a retirement bolthole. My current rented property in Luang Prabang is more than adequate, but I want to find a rural house atop a hill with a 100x100 meter garden for my radio antennas!

I think some are under the assumption that private medical insurance will cover the cost of care and/or medication for pre-existing conditions. Why on earth should it?! That would not be a logical business model for the insurance companies. They provide insurance for new illnesses or for accidents that are not caused by the pre-existing conditions. Therefore, if you have the misfortune to have some pre-existing conditions, then you may find that the insurance company will cover very little in your case. (Think of high blood pressure, which can be the precursor for many, many diseases and medical conditions).

I also worked for many years in the space sector, initially for the UK military, then European Space Agency projects. Most of my work was in the sector of antennas and antenna systems, with my designs flown on various payloads (some are still 'up there', others are not). I gave up space as a day job when I moved to Thailand about 22 years ago. At that time they were looking for someone to head up their newly-established space agency. I had all the qualifications and experience except one - I wasn't Thai! But space/satellite is still my hobby. I got my Thai radio amateur licence 20 years ago and then licences to operate in both Laos and Myanmar (the Burmese licence took 7 years of lobbying to obtain it). I was building a Cubesat from my accommodation in Naypyidaw when Aung San Su Kyi was in power, but stopped that when the military asked me to help them to build their own Cubesats. Nowadays I build simple systems to receive images from the various US and Russian weather satellites. Russia isn't doing much in the way of space projects nowadays. China is doing a lot - and successfully! Don't ask me anything about space, I'm more an expert on failed marriages nowadays 🙂

A bad workman always blames his tools.....

Ah no. I did once try to calm her down by responding in kind. She was shocked, stopped in her tracks for about 5 seconds and then restarted the attack but 10 times more violently!! Totally barmy..... (that's Dr Google's medical opinion!)