simon43

Yes, there are many radio hams in The Phillipines, so no problem there. I have joined a Facebook group for expats living in The Phillippines and am getting good advice about retiring there.

Luckily for me, ex #3 is absolutely fine 🙂 (She is not the 'mad' ex #2...). We divorced perhaps 10 years ago but stay in regular touch. She is intelligent and hard-working and also rarely visits Ao Nang (the air is too humid for her delicate skin). I am also considering retiring to The Philippines because: - My UK state pension will not be frozen - I can find a rural location with healthy sea air etc - No 'baggage' from ex-wives Whatever I decide to do, I need to visit the location to check out all factors.

Yes indeed! About 18 months ago I rented a nice house in a coconut grove on Koh Phangan. I think I paid 7,000 baht/month with no deposit etc. I only left when I had to return to the UK for hospital tests.

I see that hotel room prices are reasonable right now in Ao Nang. I will see if I can fly down via Bangkok and stay for a week in Ao Nang to 'test' any effect on my lungs and to check how things have changed. Hey, I could stay at this nice-looking little guesthouse on the high street which is currently advertised on trip.com! https://us.trip.com/hotels/krabi-hotel-detail-709741/ao-nang-vip-hotel/ The only problem is that was MY little hotel that I managed with my Thai wife around 2010. It has been closed for at least 14 years.....

I live in Luang Prabang, in north Laos. I like living in Luang Prabang! But I have a problem. I have a lung condition that is exacerbated by the smoke during the burning season. For the past 2 months I have had bronchitis, coughing, litres of phlegm etc etc. It is doing my health no good 😞 and I am spending a fair amount of money on anti-histamine tablets, phlegm thinner tablets and strange brown cough syrup from China (they all help....) I have 2 choices: - Move to a location where the air quality is better. To this end, I have been asking questions in the Krabi forum because my ex has a modern house in Ao Nang which I could rent from her. I lived in Ao Nang many years ago and my lung health was good! or - Try to keep the smoky air out of my house in Luang Prabang, and wear a decent N95 facemask when outside. My house is old and has more holes in the walls than a colander! What would I need to do to achieve clean air in the large, open-plan downstairs area? I guess: - tape up or cover all ventilation grills in the walls - add insulating strips etc to all doors/windows to ensure a good fit when closed - add a suitable filter to the sole air-con unit (I don't use air-von usually, but after closing all air-gaps I assume that I must provide some means for the outside air to actually enter the room via an air filter, or I will suffocate from carbon dioxide poisoning!! - Buy a decent room air purifier. What would you recommend? Stay and try to improve my Lao house or move to a location with clean, sea air all year round? As much as I love living in Laos (and previously in Myanmar), my lung health is telling me that I need to do something about this situation.

Yes, it would mostly be for health reasons. The burning season is almost over here (according to the historical air quality data for the past few years)_. My plan is to try to 'air-proof' my old Lao house so that the air pollutants cannot get in (a very difficult feat when considering the loose windows and doors etc). Then I'll see if it has had a good effect next burning season. If I still get sick, then I'll move down to Ao Nang. (There is a long-term renter in my ex's house who needs 6 months of notice).

I left after a few issues with the local police chief about my ham radio gear. I'm back and living in the same house and it seems he has moved on to annoy other foreigners...

Up here in north Laos, it's very safe to ride a motorcycle because the roads are so bad that it is impossible to drive fast! Young school kids ride the e-bikes and I have never seen an accident (of course, they must happen and probably to the teenage boys who want to show off). I expect to fall off my motorcycle when I go riding in the hills because of the many potholes and bad camber on the muddy roads. The important point is to wear a crash helmet and to ride a bike that is light enough to push back upright after the road has thrown you off!

I don't agree 🙂. Surely he would have woken up when the toad started its blood-curdling screams? No, it must have been a silent predator or parasite..... My bet is on an oversexed Mute Swan.

[quote] The chances of the vaccine causing severe injury, health issues or even death is highly unlikely but still possible. ... [/quote] ... which is exactly the same situation for any vaccine, such as Polio, Measles etc etc, and exactly the same for most medications, even common ones such as Aspirin. The unfortunate fact is that some people have adverse reactions to some medicines, sometimes very serious negative reactions that can cause death - it's a fact of life and not unique to the AZ Covid vaccine.

The air in Ao Nang is very humid (the clouds coming in from the sea can't get over the mountain behind Krabi Town, so drop their rain!). Hot and humid and salty air is good for my health. Anyway, it's something for me to consider before the next burning season.

I would not move to Ao Nang for the tourist sights, with the exception of the beach and sea (I recall vicious dogs on the beach when I lived there before, but there are ways to calm these dogs). This would be my quiet retirement location. I have to be realistic about my life expectancy with this annoying lung condition (I have had bronchitus etc for the past 2 months here in Laos because of the burning season). I enjoy my ham radio hobby (which I can do from Ao Nang because I hold a Thai ham licence for 22 years). I enjoy walking for exercise, I enjoy nature and simple things 🙂

I'm very happy where I am right now 🙂. But I have to be realistic and consider the "what ifs" as I get older. You live with your family. I live alone. I'm happy living alone. If I move to Ao Nang, then I will continue to live alone - my ex doesn't like living in Ao Nang because the air is too humid for her delicate skin. But she still considers me to be her husband and refers to me as that when talking with others. If my health went south, she would be there in an instant to look after me. @KhunLA - there are high tourist numbers here in Luang Prabang. Her house is near the primary school, some 2km back from the town. It's definitely not a tourist location. I typically walk 5km every day (to keep my lungs clear), so no issues about being away from the tourist centre. @Celsius, if I have a cancer scare then I will call upon my private medical insurance again. I have reinsured with a new company since my cancer scare last year. That new insurer specifically stated that prostate cancer (or any cancer) is covered in my policy because my UK trip and tests revealed no sign of any prostate cancer.

So this is my situation: I have been living in Thailand, Myanmar and Laos (my current home) for about 22 years. Next June I will start to receive my UK state pension of about $1,000 (equivalent), and although I am still teaching science online (getting about $1,500-$2,000) income each month, I want to consider if I can have a modest and healthy life living in Thailand using only my state pension. This is because who knows what might happen health-wise etc which might mean that I can no longer teach online... I need to think long-term.... Would young kids really want to learn from an 80-year old teacher? Now why am I thinking of Ao Nang? Surely I can live more cheaply in north Laos? Well, yes and no. Although I currently rent a lovely old house on the outskirts of Luang Nang, the rent is $400/month, the air pollution is not good in the burning season (I have a long-term chronic lung 'condition'), and I have no relatives here to call upon in times of dire need. I could rent a house for perhaps $300, but the savings are not huge. My Thai ex #3 owns a modern, 2 bedroom house about 2km back from the Ao Nang beachfront. I persuaded her to buy this newly-built house (on a mortgage) many years ago as an investment, or in case her small hotel business in Phuket fails. Well, what with Covid and the general economic situation in Phuket, he hotel just ticks over and she is often unable to rent her house in Ao Nang, even for the monthly rent of 5,000 baht. She has had many problems paying the low monthly mortgage fee, but the house is not under any sort of repossession order (yet). (I'm thinking aloud here!). I can rent her house for 5,000/month, (because she wants someone to live in the house to look after it, and to keep the bank happy with regular mortgage payments - she's not looking to make any profit). The burning season doesn't affect Krabi as bad as North Laos (We used to run a guesthouse together in Ao Nang about 16 years ago). The sea-air will be good for my lungs. Medical amenities are nearby (I don't need any regular medical facilities, but who knows as a get older). For my retirement visa, I would need to use.. er .. available means! But I've done that before a few years ago and never had any problems. So what would be the disadvantage of living in Ao Nang in my ex #3's house? I should emphasize that I've known this ex for more than 20 years, and although we were not suitable in a marriage (she doesn't do sex!!), we get on very well as very good friends. She is intelligent and honest, with zero interest in any kind of relationship, with either a Thai or foreigner. Comments appreciated!

Pint or point? 🙂 As Mike says, a standard centrifugal pump can only 'suck' up to a maximum of 10.34 meters depth, regardless of how powerful the pump is. (Actually it has nothing to do with sucking, more to do with atmospheric pressure..) Workman dug a well at one of my little hotels on Phuket Island about 12 years ago, lined with concrete rings. The overall depth of the well was 12 metres and the building supervisor couldn't understand why the brand new well pump could not 'suck' up the water from the bottom of the well. Solution? Tie a strong rope around the well pump and suspend it a few metres down the well! Looked messy but it worked.....

I signed up with Now Health International a few years ago, but terminated my policy 1 year later because I was not satisified with their customer service. My emails to their offices went unanswered or were replied to with erronous information.

^^ The answers to your questions are easily found on the internet and support my position that the AZ vaccine (and others) substantially reduced the death rate from Covid. People can and did question the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and the published data indicates that very few (statistically) had serious vaccine side-effects or death. There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions - that's one way how published data is peer-reviewed. But when presented with independent and peer-reviewed statistical data that demonstrates the good safety record of the vaccine, only the most stubborn or most stupid would continue to ask the same questions again and again.

Social media is full of conspiracy theories about vaccine safety, men never landed on the moon, mobile phone masts are dangerous, trump is not mentally deranged etc etc. These pages often have large numbers of followers (= $$$ for the originator of the theory). Many of these followers either accept the conspiracy theory at face value, or do not have the mental intellect to consider the scientific facts to support/dismiss the claim, or they exaggerate the statistical data far in excess of what the scientific data states. Yes, some few people (statistically) have side-effects from vaccinations, and even fewer people die from the side-effects. That is a fact of life. But statistically, the numbers are so minute, and the proven benefit of these vaccinations so great, that it makes no sense (to me) for someone to actively refuse such a vaccination. Now if you believe that the pushing of Covid vax is some kind of Big Pharma, Bill Gates, Illuminati etc plan, then of course you are free to believe that 🙂

I am fully aware that vaccination doesn't stop virus transmission. But I am aware that those who have been vaccinated against Covid and who become infected with the virus are much more likely to have only mild symptoms, compared to the unvaccinated. As to your other post, no vaccine is 100% safe, and often the lower risk path has to be followed, compared to the higher risk path. Personally, I am very happy (as an older person with a chronic lung illness) that I had an AZ vaccination and booster, and then Moderna and Pfizer boosters in the following years. I recognise the importance of ALL vaccinations as a means of reducing infection/morbidity etc, and I accept the very small risk that goes with having ANY vaccination.

How many people have died or been inured as a direct result of the vaccination? If someone is vaccinated and then dies (either from Covid or from some other cause), did they die as a direct result of receiving that vaccination? I asked my friend Dr Google about this data for the UK, but it was difficult to find any 'hard facts'. All I found was a medical report that stated that 334 people had made claims for death of a relative as a direct result of receiving a Covid vaccination. That report also states: According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 52 people in England and Wales have died from the Covid-19 vaccine, whereas around 160,000 have died from Covid-19 between March 2020 and December 2022. So my maths says that 52 out of 160,000 = 0.0325%, A very small %, but obviously bad news if you are one of the very few affected by this vaccination. Report: https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-politics-2023-3-uk-has-received-334-damage-claims-for-covid-jab-deaths/

I agree that people should not be forced into having a Covid (or any other) vaccination, unless that person then poses an infection risk for others. Everyone has the right to control their own destiny - look at all those who refused a Covid vaccination and then publically stated on their death bed as they died from the effects of Covid that they wished that they had been vaccinated. It was their choice. As to the very small risk of a side-effect from the AZ vaccination, this is no different from any other vaccination or medication. There will always be side-effects, sometimes serious side-effects on a very small % of those who take the medication. You to have to weigh up the risks. Look at the situation in the UK where polio and childhood ailments such as measles, whooping cough etc are on the increase because of the reticence of some parents to allow their offspring to have a vaccination that has proven very safe over many decades.

As someone who has lived (and taught) in/from Laos for years, I'm unsure why you call the country a sh*t hole. What's the problem? Are you referring to the people? I certainly can't agree with you.

And if you're in the UK, then you can claim disability allowance and not have to work... 🙂

I got pulled up at Istanbul Airport a few years ago when my laptop and back-pack sent the cocaine detector off the scale! When I told the customs officer that I lived in Burma, he laughed and said 'Ah, everything from Burma is covered in cocaine, clothes, money, everything....", and he let me into the country with no further investigation 🙂

That's because of all the Turkish barbers in the UK who aren't really barbers at all... 🙂