simon43

Go further north from Nai Yang beach to the very long Mai Khao beach. Golden sand and very quiet, but it's better to only paddle in the sea because there are some strong currents offshore.

You are obviously speaking to uneducated Brits. I say "A bowl of water". It's not difficult.....

I speak RP (received pronunciation) English, which couldn't be clearer. But as a child I also learn to speak with a strong local accent. My parents insisted that I 'switch off' my local accent when required to allow mutual understanding. When travelling in southern Thailand, I have to ask locals to 'switch off' their southern Thai accent and speak Bangkok Thai so that I can understand them. They seem able to do this at will. But ask a Brummie or Scouse or Geordie from the UK to switch off their local accent and they are totally confused! Were they not taught the ability to switch off their unintelligible accent as a child?

Your last will and testament?

I don't think it's a nerve pinched in my neck (or similar). If I 'jarr' my arm or move it suddenly, the pain in the middle of my upper arm is so sharp that I cry out involuntarily! If I move my arm slowly, then no pain (except putting my arm behind my back or stretching out. It could be a rotator cuff because if I turn over in my sleep I can get a sharp pain in my shoulder (no such pain in the daytime). Yes I should really get a CT scan of my arm/shoulder. That's not so easy to do here in north Laos...

In the state that I was, I would have been happy if they pooped on me if it could medically help!!

Just another day. 1 - Teach online 2 - rest for an hour 3 - Repeat from 1)

I did this last year. Rented a bungalow near Ban Chaloklam, went swimming every day until the day that a box jellyfish stung me in the bay. The last 2 people stung by a box jellyfish on KPN died within 10 minutes. I lay on the floor of a beach restaurant with my limbs jerking like a punk rocker dancer while the restaurant owner rubbed vinegar into my skin while we waited for the ambulance. The Thai people watching said to each other 'Look, he will be dead in 5 minutes...' I truly thought that I would die. Happily for me, I did not die. But it put me off being a beachbum on KPN

As others have said, it's a normal working day. I'm in Laos - it's a mainly Buddhist country. I'm teaching on Xmas Day just like every other day :)

The hospital should sue him for his derogatory comments...

I lived in the new capital (Naypyitaw) around 2016-2018, before that I lived and worked in Yangon and Mandalay. Life in Naypyitaw was very different to the rest of the country. Naypyitaw was clean and green, almost devoid of any population except for the politicians and street cleaners. ASSK was 'leader' in name only (actually she was blocked by the military from being the country leader and so governed the country through a 'puppet' prime minister from her political party. But she never held true power because the military continued to control security and defence etc. I was teaching in Yangon after the military arrested ASSK and took over control of the country again. The Civil Defence Movement began and teachers, doctors etc refused to work in the government schools and hospitals. Students refused to attend government schools and the teachers started to teach them online, but many teachers were arrested and imprisoned for trying to educate the civilian population. I reactivated my own online teaching app and loaded it up with all the online videos that the government-in-exile had produced (English, Maths, Science etc). To ensure access to it when the international internet was interrupted, I rented a server in Yangon :) This all went very well until I made a weekend shopping trip to Bangkok and then the military refused to let me back into the country! I'm still not allowed back into Myanmar, but wait with hope for the military to fall (which it now seems possible and likely in the next year or so). That will coincide with my retirement and I hope then to return to Myanmar to help with education again. Overall, I find the people of Myanmar very friendly, extremely resourceful, strong-willed and determined to obtain an elected government again. I wonder if there will be a peaceful outcome to the many differences of opinion and the clamour by some for self-determination/independence of the various states within Myanmar, such as Shan State.

IMHO, if someone considers a place to be boring, it's because that person is boring. An educated and optimistic person can make even the most apparently-boring location enjoyable and interesting.

Thanks for that video. Based on those simple tests, it is not a rotator cuff injury. I have no issues with my shoulder movement. It is a pain in the center of my biceps muscle and which is particularly sharp (causing me to cry out in pain) if I suddenly move the arm (if I move it at a normal pace, then there is no pain unless I try to put my arm behind my back).

Which vaccination would that be? A tetanus vac that I had 20 years ago in my right arm? (I'm left-handed, so always have jabs in my right arm)

I'm interested out of curiosity, rather than seeking medical treatment. Some 20 years ago I fell while carrying my new born daughter. To protect her I fell onto my left arm. The pain in my upper arm was very bad but I did not seek medical treatment. Over the years I have fallen again and again on my left arm (mostly falling off ladders when making/adjusting my ham radio antennas!). Each time the pain is intense and it takes a few weeks for the pain to subside to a dull ache. I can lift and utilise my left arm as long as I keep it close to my body. I can raise it above my head. If I put my left arm behind my back (similar to a police 'arrest'), the pain is intense. This pain seems not to be in the upper arm bone but rather in the center of the biceps muscle. The pain is worst after sleeping, presumably because I've slept on that arm or moved it into an awkward position. Go and see a doctor for an x-ray? Yes of course that is a good suggestion. But do the symptoms point towards a particular ailment?

Fat women... When I was a young student, no matter how much I tried to attract the slim-bodied females, all I ended up with were fat girls! The sex was OK, but I was somewhat 'crushed'. Nowadays, I avoid fat women who make eyes at me. Can't be too careful :)

Out of interest, how old is your friend? Are there any attributing causes (eg smoker, drinker etc). Don't comment if you prefer.

I had a dragon tattoo put on the base of my back 30 years ago in Spain when I was very drunk and my company staff persuaded me to have a tattoo.... I also have a recent tattoo on my upper arm in remembrance of my Thai niece who died in my arms last year from TB :(

I suppose you could insist on using the pool during this private party, but word on the grapevine is that it is a gay nude swingers pool party....

I'd take a dump in the pool the evening before.....

Road test??? :)

I used to just pay in cash at the land office. The most I paid was about 8 million baht, took a fair time to count it!

I'd be more concerned about crocodiles in that 'swamp'!

"Boss, I broke my leg and have to use crutches" "No way!! You can't use crutches in my store - crawl on the floor if necessary..." I hope the shop is sued for millions.

Totally off-topic, (well almost, but a fun story anyway!). 20 years ago when I wrote a very successful chat AI text messaging program, I deliberately wrote the code so that the AI persona DID get annoyed by annoying or rude questions from the live person. For example, if the person texted "you're not very smart are you?", my chat program would reply with something like "Well, I'm much smarter than a dumbass like you!". Why did I write the code this way? Because each text message received from my AI program cost the end-user about $1.5 USD! (the user was aware of this but why they would pay to be insulted was beyond me!). I made a lot of money from the abusive messages that my system sent in response to abuse from end-users! :)