Keith67

in theory its free

in practice they get charged

Really? How much?

As far as I'm aware the erstwhile government of Yingluck had put in an optional 30b payment so they can call it the 30b health care scheme again (Thaksins brain wave)

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

The B30 card has been in force for years, if they have this card most medication is also free, if they have only the yellow medical card they pay for all medication.

Or thats how it was last year.

I would say most of them were attracted to the people and their way of life.

What about the ones that move here to live in the tourist areas Phuket and pattaya?

Don't see a great deal of real Thai life there.

You're bored today, I can tell!

To be fair it's pouring with rain outside. Plus I had to think of a serious subject cos I keep getting in trouble for banter.

That's me in trouble again :-(

You dont know what trouble is my friend.

Ive used an avatar of a real person. Bragged about my wealth and generally pished off the entire membership of TVF.

I'm laying low for a while. Might try reading and not posting for a bit.

Interesting...but more importantly are you allowed to stay out for a third beer?

I was told recently and it may be of interest to the guys who are only allowed two beers, a bar in Udon town is serving 2.25L bottles now, never seen them myself but i will try and find out if it's true, then you could order them in your own area.

Problem solved...........

Farangs hand over their balls to their Thai wife at precisely the same moment her name is stamped on the title to the house.

One aspect of this i have never undersood here, so you make the decision to build your own home, why in gods name would you build it in your girlfriends village or put it in her name?

Build the house in a village away from the family and put it in your own name. If you think you are in a relationship for the long half until death do you part she'll get the house in the end when you die as odds are she is probably 20yrs your junior.

If it all goes wrong you still have a house that you can live in without the judgement of her family and friends every time you step foot outside.

But you seem to be unwise to the ways here grasshopper.

Not really i built my house in my wifes village but the only reason was it was never built for me it was built for the kids, as the kids are too young to have their sole names on the book it is in my name until they are old enough and then it will be changed and i will build the house i want and where i want it.

If me and my wife did have problems and split up i would leave the village with no problems maybe a sigh of relief, but the house would still go to the kids when they were old enough.

Interesting history of the term "Third World" on Wikipedia.

It's not what I thought.

Interesting that Thailand is blue on their map. You'll have to look it up to see what that mans...

Saw that today but didn't quote it as it just isn't worth getting more lectures about how wrong it is.........

Farangs hand over their balls to their Thai wife at precisely the same moment her name is stamped on the title to the house.

One aspect of this i have never undersood here, so you make the decision to build your own home, why in gods name would you build it in your girlfriends village or put it in her name?

Build the house in a village away from the family and put it in your own name. If you think you are in a relationship for the long half until death do you part she'll get the house in the end when you die as odds are she is probably 20yrs your junior.

If it all goes wrong you still have a house that you can live in without the judgement of her family and friends every time you step foot outside.

Amazing how one incident of a reprehensible crime brings forth broad generalizations and negativity upon an entire nation.

Notice this sort of sentiment only applies to "third world" nations.

Why does everyone have a comment about this being a "third world" country when the sale of new cars here last year was higher than most western countries, Look around you iphones, ipads, laptops, tablet computers coming into schools, new motorbikes in nearly every house, new shopping malls being built in every city, McDonalds, KFC, Swensens and the rest of the ever growing chains, the country has changed 10 fold over the last 5 years, but then again it must be difficult to see all this with your blinkers securey fitted.

When they fix the sewers, drains, landfills, pollution, corrupt politicians, wholly corrupt and inept Police force, the staggering amount of fatalities on the roads, the social security system, the woeful public transport infrastructure, the military interference in politics, extrajudicial killings of criminals, human rights abuses, the massive human trafficking problem, the widening gap between rich and poor, the dreadful education system among other things then I might agree with you.

But you are right, there's loads of McDonalds and KFC here.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Lucky you added sewers and drains to your list or i would have thought you were referring to America or Europe.

Here give this a try, any member who is returning home copy the list above onto a sheet of paper, take it to your friends and ask them to tell you what country it is refering to , how many do you really think will look at the list and say Thailand and how many will say America or Europe?

Take a 50km trip down to Nongbualumphu and see their Hospital, it's worlds apart.

A and E are very proffesional but the wards are understaffed, filthy with a serious lack of care, beds practically next to each other. People with TB etc with the families doing the caring not the nurses. I spent 600 baht for a VIP room where a nurse checked every half hour, and got treatment like in a private hospital, amazing what a few baht get you.

I live 50km the opposite direction towards Nong Han, that was the hos[ital she went to first, there they couldn't slop the bleeding and as you say although clean and proffesional not enough funding, although i did lose my templer in Nong Han when 1 of the nurses who had already spoken to me in English said to her friend in Thai while they were cleaning my wifes wounds, "why did they have to come at this time, we just paid for the expensive som tam and now it will be ruined" i shouted at her in Thai " because it's what you get f**king paid for", or there abouts, with a look of shock she cleaned her up and never said another word.

What a waste of digital storage. Can anyone please comment on the OP's thesis? It was not centered on who or what is 3rd world, or England's screwed up health care system.

Maybe not centred but included it was.

3) How often - how many thousands of times - have we seen some problem with Thailand accounted for by describing it as 'THIRD WORLD'. Ha - all i can say is, people using that label have never been near a Third World country if they think it fits Thailand. By reasons of infrastructure, GDP, income per capita, education-system (in spite of its faults), level of nutrition, ownership of assets such as property and vehicles....on and on. To use the label 'Third World' about Thailand is just cognitively lazy, thoughtless, and probably spiteful.

Hm, I guess you are missing a few vital points. Having the majority of your citizens stare at the displays of their iphones and ipads while they walk, drive or ride through the streets of your capital doesn't make your country a "first world" state. Nor do it record sales of automobiles - which are then crashed in record numbers of accidents - nor American junk food restaurants at every corner and an increasing number of obese youngsters.

Being "third world" is (in my humble opinion) defined by:

1. open display of disregard for even the most simple laws and regulations

2. having 2/3 of the population considering corruption a positive asset "when it allows you to participate"

3. a police force which is unwilling to enforce the law and is more interested in collecting "tea money"

4. a justice system that allows the "upper class" to break the law without having to face any consequences while coming down like a load of bricks on the poor sods.

5. a situation where every local cab driver can take you to the nearest illegal casino while the local police force is unable or unwilling to close it down

6. losing 30 to 50% of every taxpayer's baht spent on government projects to corrupt officials and politicians

So what has changed in Thailand over the last 5 years that makes it "first world"?

edit: added one item

Although your humble opinion of a third world county maybe correct in your eyes it doest not make Thailand a third world country as in your words shopping malls new car sales or american fast food chains don't.

Third world is a cold war term to describe countries neither allied, or enemies of NATO. NATO allies being first world, Communist Bloc allies being second world. Switzerland and Austria are officially third world countries.

Your views on third world would place America, Australia and most of Europe in a third world bracket also, as many of the points on your list are daily occurances in these countries also.

Please do name the numbers on the list that apply to Australia, and then tell us where you lived in Australia.

Australia would be 1, 4, 5 and 6. Perth, Sydney and Brisbane.

There may be 1 slight alteration required for Australia, in number 5 if you change casino for brothel.

Laughable......

It doesn't matter how the terminology came to pass, the context of Third World has now moved on from the Cold War rhetoric.

Your line about Thai healthcare being comparable with the NHS is just surreal. Yes the best private hospitals can stand comparison, but go into the public health service and you will get a shock.

The experience i was talking about was a public health hospital in Udon Thani and with the payment of a B30 card, you are perfectly right i did get a shock, but only about how well the hospital coped with the vast amount of motorbike and car accident victims and the number of farang patients that were

being treated.

My wife was admitted with serious leg injuries that nearly cost her to lose both legs, severed main arteries in both legs and massive muscle damage, the doctors assessed her immediately and stopped the loss of blood they then stabilised her and prepared her for her 5hr operation.

She was then brought into the ward and cared for by excellent nurses and doctors for the next 2 weeks with no complaints from staff for questions that i asked.

This all happened October last year, thanks to the continued help of the doctors and nurses she can walk and continue to live a full life wheelchair free.

Please go to a hospital and see for yourself the way patients are dealt with and not prejudge with lack of knowledge, and before you ridicule my comment about UK hospitals a similar situation for my brother after being a passenger in a car accident saw him lay on a stretcher in a corridor for 29hrs in the UK and yes laughable.....

Can send pics as proof to any disbeliever via PM.

Sorry to hear that about your wife.

You will no doubt be sorry to hear that I have experience of the Thai public health service.

In fact someone close to me is due an operation next Friday. That's just one in a spate of recent admissions .

I detest the arrogance of the farangs that take up time an beds in the hospitals. Health insurance should be a visa requirement.

The service is staffed with well meaning and professional people, but they are badly under resourced.

Not sorry to hear you have experience atall maybe your experience and mine are far different though.

I hope your friends operation goes well for them.

As for the farangs in the hospital not usually their fault if they are very sick and unable to comunicate as most i saw were, if the rescue staff cannot understand or converse with a patient they are automatically taken to the local hospital. A couple of the guy's i got taling to in there were fully insured from Europe and America and when they came round they wondered why they hadn't been taken to a private hospital, maybe wives / girlfriends didn't know i don't know.

As for your last comment can you honestly tell me that you have never heard that in the UK?

That comment is also a perfect description of the NHS.

Amazing how one incident of a reprehensible crime brings forth broad generalizations and negativity upon an entire nation.

Notice this sort of sentiment only applies to "third world" nations.

Why does everyone have a comment about this being a "third world" country when the sale of new cars here last year was higher than most western countries, Look around you iphones, ipads, laptops, tablet computers coming into schools, new motorbikes in nearly every house, new shopping malls being built in every city, McDonalds, KFC, Swensens and the rest of the ever growing chains, the country has changed 10 fold over the last 5 years, but then again it must be difficult to see all this with your blinkers securey fitted.

Ok here is the original comment i made, i did not say Thailand was not a third world country, i was poinintg to the fact that so many negative comments are including the this is a third world fact when in reality it has nothing to do with it.

Thailand is a nation of corruption because it is accepted by the population not because it's a third world country.

Amazing how one incident of a reprehensible crime brings forth broad generalizations and negativity upon an entire nation.

Notice this sort of sentiment only applies to "third world" nations.

Why does everyone have a comment about this being a "third world" country when the sale of new cars here last year was higher than most western countries, Look around you iphones, ipads, laptops, tablet computers coming into schools, new motorbikes in nearly every house, new shopping malls being built in every city, McDonalds, KFC, Swensens and the rest of the ever growing chains, the country has changed 10 fold over the last 5 years, but then again it must be difficult to see all this with your blinkers securey fitted.

The amount of sales does not change a country from being third world in most peoples opinion. Improvements on corruption, democracy, human rights, education etc. does!

But you are only talking about opinions, does the fact most of the populations lives have been enriched in some way count for nothing in your opinion?

I don't think some of you have a clue what Third World means.

It's got nothing to do with the wealthy, it's got everything to do with the poor.

I remember the Ethiopian government ordering two containers of whisky from Scotland at the height of the 1984 famine.

What does that tell you? The elite didn't give a toss. It's the same here in Thailand, that busy creating self enrichment schemes and neglecting the health care, education and housing of the poorest people

Next thing you'll be saying is that India isn't Third World cos it's got a space programme.

Oh aye that'll be right enough then.

How does your theory equate to Switzerland and Austria then?

The thought maybe that it's third world based on poverty, but the reality is different.

My !st hand experience of the health care is that it is as good as any in the UK, the UK health system is crumbling, but it won't make the UK third world.

My wife's daughter is in a private school that costs B1,200 per year and speaks as good English as most non-native speakers and is looking tofurther education already at 14yrs of age.

A lady with a disabled daughter 3 doors away from me had the land given to her and the house built by the government.

Where would you get any more or better than that in the UK or Europe.

Didn't the Primeminister of England Tony Blair line his own pockets and then as thing started to fall apart secure himself a well paid job and leave his PM position that he accepted for a 4yr term early?

Laughable......

It doesn't matter how the terminology came to pass, the context of Third World has now moved on from the Cold War rhetoric.

Your line about Thai healthcare being comparable with the NHS is just surreal. Yes the best private hospitals can stand comparison, but go into the public health service and you will get a shock.

The experience i was talking about was a public health hospital in Udon Thani and with the payment of a B30 card, you are perfectly right i did get a shock, but only about how well the hospital coped with the vast amount of motorbike and car accident victims and the number of farang patients that were

being treated.

My wife was admitted with serious leg injuries that nearly cost her to lose both legs, severed main arteries in both legs and massive muscle damage, the doctors assessed her immediately and stopped the loss of blood they then stabilised her and prepared her for her 5hr operation.

She was then brought into the ward and cared for by excellent nurses and doctors for the next 2 weeks with no complaints from staff for questions that i asked.

This all happened October last year, thanks to the continued help of the doctors and nurses she can walk and continue to live a full life wheelchair free.

Please go to a hospital and see for yourself the way patients are dealt with and not prejudge with lack of knowledge, and before you ridicule my comment about UK hospitals a similar situation for my brother after being a passenger in a car accident saw him lay on a stretcher in a corridor for 29hrs in the UK and yes laughable.....

Can send pics as proof to any disbeliever via PM.

Puzzled as to why OP cannot do it himself - chloroform over an hour or two or diethyl ester plus a lethal injection will do the same job as at the vet's.

perhaps this may be common knowledge to you, but many of us do not have the wherewithal to kill a man or dog on hand

OP's dad is a Vet...

My dad was a doctor, does this mean i should tend to the needs of the sick or dying?

The training to be a vet and treat sick or injured animals is longer than that of a GP, for obvious reasons an animal cant tell you where it hurts or what the problem is.

I couldn't put an animal to sleep even though due to my father experience maybe people would think that strange.

It is illegal for a vet in Thailand to put a dog to sleep and the penalties are really harsh, this was the response i got when my old dog was really sick and i took it to the vets, after i sat with the vet for nearly an hour explaining that it was more cruel to let the dog suffer he decided to make a couple of phone calls and then gave me an address and said take her there and wait for him, When i got there it was his storage yard in the moddle of nowhere, he gave her the drug and she went to sleep, we sat and talked and he explained how most vets understood the need sometimes to put animals to sleep but were too frightened of the consequenses.

Ridiculous!

I"ve had 2 of my dogs put to sleep here in Phuket. I have met and talked to many vets here over the years and not one of them would sit by and see a dog really suffer.

Sheryl's post is by far the best advice on this thread. Take the dog to the vets as quickly as possible.

Really congratulations, as i didn't live in Phuket the travel down from Bangkok would almost certainly have killed my dog.

Now, base this on Buddhism and the difference in the way Thais explain their belief of what is legal or ilegal, right or wrong:

first precept of admonition for good living is the abstention from destruction
of life. This prohibition applies to
life of all forms, human and animal. And
the precept is equally binding on both monks and laypersons.

What he was refering to may not be classed as illegal in the eye of the law but according to buddhism for a good life it is morally ilegal. Why this would be any different being done in a different location i don't know.

It is illegal for a vet in Thailand to put a dog to sleep and the penalties are really harsh, this was the response i got when my old dog was really sick and i took it to the vets, after i sat with the vet for nearly an hour explaining that it was more cruel to let the dog suffer he decided to make a couple of phone calls and then gave me an address and said take her there and wait for him, When i got there it was his storage yard in the moddle of nowhere, he gave her the drug and she went to sleep, we sat and talked and he explained how most vets understood the need sometimes to put animals to sleep but were too frightened of the consequenses.

What absolute rubbish.

I have had 2 refusals from vets in both Bangkok and Udon Thani saying the same thing, although after having the thought to look into why they would say its illegal when posters of such high stature can show such large amounts of proof or experience as to why it is not illegal. Oh sorry i got it wrong you didn't disprove the fact you just came out with an uneducated comment of "what absolute rubbish", i am sure your wish to try and show you greater knowledge or intellect would be far more accepted if you could add a reason for your comments.

Hm, I guess you are missing a few vital points. Having the majority of your citizens stare at the displays of their iphones and ipads while they walk, drive or ride through the streets of your capital doesn't make your country a "first world" state. Nor do it record sales of automobiles - which are then crashed in record numbers of accidents - nor American junk food restaurants at every corner and an increasing number of obese youngsters.

Being "third world" is (in my humble opinion) defined by:

1. open display of disregard for even the most simple laws and regulations

2. having 2/3 of the population considering corruption a positive asset "when it allows you to participate"

3. a police force which is unwilling to enforce the law and is more interested in collecting "tea money"

4. a justice system that allows the "upper class" to break the law without having to face any consequences while coming down like a load of bricks on the poor sods.

5. a situation where every local cab driver can take you to the nearest illegal casino while the local police force is unable or unwilling to close it down

6. losing 30 to 50% of every taxpayer's baht spent on government projects to corrupt officials and politicians

So what has changed in Thailand over the last 5 years that makes it "first world"?

edit: added one item

Although your humble opinion of a third world county maybe correct in your eyes it doest not make Thailand a third world country as in your words shopping malls new car sales or american fast food chains don't.

Third world is a cold war term to describe countries neither allied, or enemies of NATO. NATO allies being first world, Communist Bloc allies being second world. Switzerland and Austria are officially third world countries.

Your views on third world would place America, Australia and most of Europe in a third world bracket also, as many of the points on your list are daily occurances in these countries also.

You shouldn't have stopped reading wikipedia after the third paragraph. Alfred Sauvy's definition is obsolete.

Since the late 1960s the term "Third World" had received a totally new meaning. You can try to tell an Austrian or Swiss that they live in a "third world" country and learn it the hard way or just finish reading the Wiki article.

And my views don't "place America, Australia and most of Europe in a third world bracket" as I clearly state that your quote about cars, iphones etc does not, as you claim, per se put a country in the "first world" league. Or are you disputing that there is definitely far more to it than shiny motorbikes, fast food and fat children?

So you disagree that 4 of the 6 reasons you stated for being a third world country would not relate to America, Australia or most of Europe?

4 out of 6 is a majority and is the majority verdict not the decision making policy in the west.

Thank you for pointing out the definition of "third world" according to Wikipedia i have never read that particular piece, now if you would be so kind as to point out in that article where any of the 6 points you specified as making a third world country are.....

I don't think some of you have a clue what Third World means.

It's got nothing to do with the wealthy, it's got everything to do with the poor.

I remember the Ethiopian government ordering two containers of whisky from Scotland at the height of the 1984 famine.

What does that tell you? The elite didn't give a toss. It's the same here in Thailand, that busy creating self enrichment schemes and neglecting the health care, education and housing of the poorest people

Next thing you'll be saying is that India isn't Third World cos it's got a space programme.

Oh aye that'll be right enough then.

How does your theory equate to Switzerland and Austria then?

The thought maybe that it's third world based on poverty, but the reality is different.

My !st hand experience of the health care is that it is as good as any in the UK, the UK health system is crumbling, but it won't make the UK third world.

My wife's daughter is in a private school that costs B1,200 per year and speaks as good English as most non-native speakers and is looking tofurther education already at 14yrs of age.

A lady with a disabled daughter 3 doors away from me had the land given to her and the house built by the government.

Where would you get any more or better than that in the UK or Europe.

Didn't the Primeminister of England Tony Blair line his own pockets and then as thing started to fall apart secure himself a well paid job and leave his PM position that he accepted for a 4yr term early?

Mum,

I've got cholera and gonorrhea.

Bet she wouldn't even hear the word cholera........

I'm not one to ask or expect any special favors.

However I an not one to be ungrateful neither.

Finally, it is best to wait one's turn, and to repeat that this is one fine forum filled with much good humor that has kept me rolling on the floor with laughter at least a few times a day no matter what my mood.

A great forum, I think!

451.......

Amazing how one incident of a reprehensible crime brings forth broad generalizations and negativity upon an entire nation.

Notice this sort of sentiment only applies to "third world" nations.

Why does everyone have a comment about this being a "third world" country when the sale of new cars here last year was higher than most western countries, Look around you iphones, ipads, laptops, tablet computers coming into schools, new motorbikes in nearly every house, new shopping malls being built in every city, McDonalds, KFC, Swensens and the rest of the ever growing chains, the country has changed 10 fold over the last 5 years, but then again it must be difficult to see all this with your blinkers securey fitted.

Hm, I guess you are missing a few vital points. Having the majority of your citizens stare at the displays of their iphones and ipads while they walk, drive or ride through the streets of your capital doesn't make your country a "first world" state. Nor do it record sales of automobiles - which are then crashed in record numbers of accidents - nor American junk food restaurants at every corner and an increasing number of obese youngsters.

Being "third world" is (in my humble opinion) defined by:

1. open display of disregard for even the most simple laws and regulations

2. having 2/3 of the population considering corruption a positive asset "when it allows you to participate"

3. a police force which is unwilling to enforce the law and is more interested in collecting "tea money"

4. a justice system that allows the "upper class" to break the law without having to face any consequences while coming down like a load of bricks on the poor sods.

5. a situation where every local cab driver can take you to the nearest illegal casino while the local police force is unable or unwilling to close it down

6. losing 30 to 50% of every taxpayer's baht spent on government projects to corrupt officials and politicians

So what has changed in Thailand over the last 5 years that makes it "first world"?

edit: added one item

Although your humble opinion of a third world county maybe correct in your eyes it doest not make Thailand a third world country as in your words shopping malls new car sales or american fast food chains don't.

Third world is a cold war term to describe countries neither allied, or enemies of NATO. NATO allies being first world, Communist Bloc allies being second world. Switzerland and Austria are officially third world countries.

Your views on third world would place America, Australia and most of Europe in a third world bracket also, as many of the points on your list are daily occurances in these countries also.

Please do not worry shaggy, I am actually in no hurry.

I was just lamenting the wait.

No doubt when I get to 500 I will have changed my mind about many things.

now 452 if we take turns in usin this topic as a count down you will be there in no time.....

one, two and four, yes

but not three.

Third world is a cold war term to describe countries neither allied, or enemies of NATO.

NATO allies being first world, Communist Bloc allies being second world.

Switzerland and Austria are officially third world countries.

Correct, but the term "third world" is used by many as if to say the people of Thailand are less fortunate than the people of western society, this i'm affriad is completely wrong in my opinion, Thais are brought up with stronger family ties and religious beliefs than most westerners and tend to live everyday life by these rules, most Thais are held back through the need to leave school and work at a very early age to help the family not because education doesn't exist, Thais tend to stay closer to family in villages as oppose to travelling away to earn the extra cash available in other areas or countries.

Another thing to think about for the people who have taken wives and g/f to their home country and then come back to Thailand to live, while your wife/gf was in your country consider how many times she called home to her family or was homesick and then think how long you have been here and how many times you call your family or been homesick.

To Thais family and religion is everything or at least until the farang introduces the financial improvement to their life, then the financial improvement in their and their families life is everything, with a little throw in for Budha too.

Thailand should not be judged a third world country based on poverty, as the OP said look at the property and vehicles being bought in thailand, more new cars sold last year than in many European countries, the shopping malls being built in nearly every city, all the food chains and fashion chains moving into the new built malls, this isn't because Thailand citizens have got no money it is because Thai people now want the better things.

Be carefull, throwing money is seen as dis-repecting the king and that is a bannable offence........

If you send a PM to one of the MODS or admin they will advise you.

Amazing how one incident of a reprehensible crime brings forth broad generalizations and negativity upon an entire nation.

Notice this sort of sentiment only applies to "third world" nations.

Why does everyone have a comment about this being a "third world" country when the sale of new cars here last year was higher than most western countries, Look around you iphones, ipads, laptops, tablet computers coming into schools, new motorbikes in nearly every house, new shopping malls being built in every city, McDonalds, KFC, Swensens and the rest of the ever growing chains, the country has changed 10 fold over the last 5 years, but then again it must be difficult to see all this with your blinkers securey fitted.