Old Croc

Change the 6 months to 7 and you've got it.

After living many years in Phuket and attending BHP for my many ailments, including CKD, I now live on a property outside a small village in deep Isaan. When I attend the small local government hospital for blood tests and treatments, I am such a rarity that the entire waiting room stares at me the whole time I'm there. I've yet to see another foreigner in my village or the town. Yet, all the doctors, bar one, speak excellent English and I'm able to discuss my medical issues with them, advise treatment timetables and decline their pharmacy meds. (The wife's sister sources these for me in Bangkok.) Even with the Phuket private hospital I declined their meds. I just told the doctors not to prescribe. I usually get seen very quickly, jumping the queue possibly because of my age, my wheelchair or my nationality. Not sure. I pay more than my wife for treatments but am amazed every time at how cheap it is. An example, I recently spent time in the emergency section with a suspected snakebite. Three doctors and many nurses milled around examining the wound and discussing, the total cost to me was 95 baht for some antibiotics! Sorry folks, no envenomation.

In my former job as an investigator, I had to consider all aspects of a situation and sometimes make assumptions (mostly successfully). My dealings with, and thoughts about, journalists were often very mixed. I've had lies made about me in print and on radio by lazy individuals who only embrace one side of a situation, but have also used contacts within that profession to get a real message out. Sorry, I don't get offended, but do make my points if required.

If physically able, go over a border and start the process to the "O" visa/extension. This doesn't require the corrupt insurance. (At the moment!)

Medibank class action announced; hackers threaten to release data (watoday.com.au)

Followup by Medibank: Having trouble viewing this email? Click here to view online. Dear .......... Earlier today, we announced a number of further developments in the recent cybercrime. Firstly, we announced that no ransom payment will be made to the criminal responsible for this data theft. I wanted to write to you personally to explain why we made this decision. Based on the extensive advice we have received from cybercrime experts, we believe that there is only a limited chance that paying a ransom would ensure the return of our customers’ data and prevent it from being published. In fact, paying the ransom could have the opposite effect, and encourage the criminal to directly extort our customers. There is also a strong chance that paying a ransom could put more people in harm’s way by making Australia a bigger target. In the announcement, we also shared additional details of the customer data that we believe has been accessed and could have been taken by the criminal. What data do we currently believe has been accessed? Based on our investigation to date into this cybercrime we currently believe the criminal accessed: The name, date of birth, address, phone number and email addresses for around 5.1 million current and former Medibank customers Health claims data for around 160,000 of these Medibank customers. This includes service provider name and location, where customers received certain medical services, and codes associated with diagnoses and procedures administered. Given the nature of this crime, we believe that all of the customer data accessed could have been taken by the criminal. We currently believe that the criminal did not access: Credit card and banking details Primary identity documents, such as drivers' licences. Medibank does not collect primary identity documents for customers except in exceptional circumstances, and for international customers Medicare card numbers for Medibank customers Health claims data for extras services (such as dental, physio, optical and psychology) We will continue to send personalised communications to all customers, to let you know exactly what data we believe has been accessed or stolen, and to provide further advice on what steps you should take. Medibank is required by law to retain certain customer (including former customer) information for particular periods of time, generally for 7 years from when a customer leaves us, but in some instances longer. Support for customers We have further extended our Cyber Response Support Program to now include: Cybercrime health & wellbeing line (1800 644 325) – staffed by counsellors with specific training to support victims of crime, and issues related to sensitive health information Mental health outreach service – proactive support service for vulnerable customers, and through referral from our contact centre teams Better Minds App – new, tailored preventative health advice and resources specific to cybercrime and its impact on mental health and wellbeing, with additional phone based psychological support available Personal duress alarms – for customers that are particularly vulnerable, or face safety risks And as we announced last week, the program continues to include: Specialist identity protection advice and resources through IDCare’s purpose built Medibank page - this is available for all customers (current and former) Free identity monitoring services for customers who have had their primary identity documents compromised in this crime Reimbursement of government replacement fees for customers whose primary identity documents have been compromised by this crime Hardship support for customers who are in a uniquely vulnerable position as a result of this crime which can be accessed via our contact centre team on 132 331 In addition, we have extended our contact centre opening hours, and have established specialised teams to support customers. Details of our latest opening hours can be found on the Medibank incident hub. Your online security We recommend you remain vigilant with your online security, especially suspicious phone calls, SMS and emails. There are a number of resources online that help explain how you can protect your online identity including the Australian Cyber Security Centre and ScamWatch. If you do receive any suspicious communication, please forward it to [email protected]. As always, Medibank will never contact you asking for your password or other sensitive information. Safeguarding our systems We have continued to prioritise preventing further unauthorised access to our IT network. This includes continuous monitoring of our network for any suspicious activity. We have added further detection and forensics capability across our systems, and scaled up the support we are receiving from specialist third parties. Normal business operations have been maintained during this cybercrime event with customers continuing to access health services. No further suspicious activity inside our systems has been detected since 12 October 2022. I recognise the significant responsibility we have to the people who rely on us to look after their health and wellbeing and their data – and I unreservedly apologise to every person affected by this cybercrime. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we continue to respond to this cybercrime. Regards, David Koczkar Chief Executive Officer, Medibank

You're right, as a reader I have no way of knowing the intentions in the writer's mind! I shouldn't make such a statement, instead just follow your lead in interpreting everything literally. Can you detect what literary technique I'm using here?

The only theory that makes sense came from Gomangosteen early in the thread. I guess some expats earn money any way they can. "from Postsen News Pol Lt. Gen. Surapong Thanomjit, Commander-in-Chief of Provincial Police District 8, further said that From the investigation, it is believed that the foreigner may be involved in the sale of firearms using online media."

Bondi is known to Australians as a place to which thousands of New Zealander expat flock when they flee their own country. It has a large population of NZers. The poster was using irony.

Stated often here, but an obvious impossibility to insist every tourist must produce an up-to-date criminal record check every time they cross a border worldwide. Visa on arrival policies make it very easy for "bad guys" to enter a country, but expecting everyone applying for a visa to be clean also isn't foolproof.

Japanese products used to have a reputation as junk. I can remember decades ago when American space junk fell on us in Western Australia. Before it came down it caused panic in many countries around the world. Called Skylab, pieces dropped across hundreds of kilometers from the south coast near the town of Esperance. A local won a cash prize offered by a US newspaper for the first piece of the craft delivered to their office. The town fined NASA for littering. I've viewed pieces of it in a local museum.

I could give a different story. There were so many stuff ups with my house build I've thought of pulling it down and building again. I'm constantly fixing cracked walls and despairing about pathways dropping away and cracking floor tiles. There was shoddy workmanship in many different areas. Shortly after moving in, we had to hire an excavator to move the two overflowing sewage wells away from the house to areas where they could drain properly. The build did coincide with the start of covid lockdowns, and we found ourselves 1200 miles away and unable to supervise. For the same reasons, the builder had trouble finding qualified workers and compromised with dolts. I once gave some work to an expat to do some major work in a previous house. He gave the job to his unqualified BIL who made a complete mess of everything. I had to replace all he did using another Thai who actually knew what to do. It cost more than twice as much to fix. I no longer consider giving work to foreigners nor make social friends with members here. Conversely, I've had Thai workers who have done excellent work with onerous tasks and charged me about what I would spend on coffee back home.

You've never called Australians convicts? One of the few. I did quote your post about differences by region, but I was generalizing about the British. Your initial defensive post and then angry response indicates probable rancor against others.

Perhaps when the British attack all Australians or all Americans they should also be aware of the vast differences in people across these much larger and ethnically diverse countries.

Perhaps if you had bargained and made a contract to stay long term on arrival, they may have agreed to the low price right through high season. The fact that you were able to change hotels immediately indicates you were paying day by day. Few here would be surprised that prices rise in season.

It matters if their crop is on your property, and you are losing cash because you aren't planting up to the correct boundary. We had someone knock down a couple of big trees that were later found to be several meters inside our place. (We didn't complain about them clearing jungle from our land!)

Another topic that brings out both extremes. The "nothing works" people who expect infrastructure similar to their home country from which they fled. And the Theophiles who consider everything here is perfect and if not, it shouldn't be stated. I've lived here for a while now and know the actual lies somewhere between those extremes. I've certainly suffered the frustration of trying to make government (Immigration, CDC) and business (retailers, banks) websites work in a reasonable manner and also mainly blame a lack of competency of operators schooled through a broken education system. On the job training rather than formal qualifications perpetuates incompetency's in workers everywhere. However, not everything remains inoperable, they are capable of getting things right eventually. For example, the Immigration 90-day report site is now brilliant, albeit based on a ludicrous law. I completed my report in a couple of minutes yesterday morning without getting out of bed (getting chilly lately!). It's difficult at times to find competent people to do relatively simple tasks, but they do it for peanuts compared to the champagne prices of tradesmen back home. You just need to work though the mire until they get it right and use the money saved to buy champagne for yourself.

We surveyed the main property earlier this year. We could only locate 2 pegs from about ten that should have been there. There were some anomalies involving previous owners. Our land is above the one in question and apparently the other owner said something like "it would be easier if we just called the top of the rise as the boundary" and moved the old pegs up or disposed of them. The boundary was found to be a couple of meters down the slope. We've now put concrete posts all around and cemented in the ones on corners along with the pegs.

It's happened to several over the years: 2004 - 19yo Canadian, 2011 - 20 yo Brit, Tourist dies as Phuket floods (thephuketnews.com)

He's not above social conflicts with expats as he's made detrimental and insulting comments about them in the press. He was also instrumental in introducing the backdated, corrupt and compulsory health scheme for one class of visa holder. Of course, expats aren't voting participants.

He's posted this, and another pic, on several different unrelated topics. Strange.

Not many get cremated twice.

It's not just Google, others are making it annoying to log in. Lazda for instance now requires an email code check.

It appears he hasn't been able to meet the retirement extension financial requirements for some time and has been using an agent to get extensions. (Perhaps since some Embassies refused to certify income?) He departed, returned, then overstayed without seemingly being aware of the basic legal requirements for long term stay. Apparently now, he cannot even afford the "dodgy" agent method. Border bouncing also appears to be outside his physical and financial ability. I wonder if he even has provision for health emergencies. Incidentally, there are many of us expats in our 70s, and older, who have a very good grasp of the requirements to live here and are also au fait with phone and computer use. Advanced age doesn't automatically beget befuddlement. In my opinion NancyL has the best plan for his future, although, if he has family ties here prepared to care for him, perhaps the thought of just lying low might work (not recommended).

No street lighting in the countryside. The highways must be littered with legless riders. Actual, thinking about it...............