Kiwi1

Avoid minibus! They were designed as general trade vans for urban use. They have minimal structural strength and survival of passengers poor in event of crash. Crashes likely as minibuses typically driven at limit of the capacity of engine and brakes, plus high frequency of incompetent, sleepy, or drug or alcohol compromised drivers. Avoid like plague.

Whatever approach you take to quitting smoking strongly advise keeping your environment smoke free. If you are breathing other people's smoke then you are smoking. Be ruthless about banning smoking in your home as first priority. Avoid bars and social events where many people smoke. For the rest of your life.

Whatever the outcome of the sexual assault charges, seems to me Pell and his confederates in the Australian catholic hierarchy seem to have deliberately obstructed the course of justice for decades. 

How do they get away with this?

Yes, too many child deaths by drowning in Thailand. Situation made worse by fact that many parents cannot swim, cannot teach children to swim. A common attempt at remedying the situation is for parents to instill fear of water in children making it even more difficult to teach them to swim.

A similar situation once prevailed in New Zealand. The remedy was for the government to provide cement and other materials for small fenced swimming pools of standard design to be built in school grounds by volunteer labour from parents and teachers. The pool then became a community resource, much appreciated especially in isolated low income settlements.

Suitable teachers were trained as swimming instructors, and swimming lessons became part of the physical education programme.

This project was a great success and I believe runs to this day. 

There is no simple single answer to this question.

Am now 81 years old. Nine years back had surgery for bowel and prostate cancer followed by radiation and chemo. On expensive chemo for three years after op. Been clear by twice yearly checks ever since. Treated with skill and compassion at Sripat / Suan Dok / Maharach hospital in Chiangmai.

Am a New Zealander and could have returned to NZ for free treatment. But did not as had the support of excellent Thai wife. Would not have made it on my own.

Some thoughts:

If one is of ripe old age comprehensive health insurance is very expensive. Could be better to have a nest egg / investments or whatever and take chances on good health, draw on the funds if needed.

Costs: If I had returned to NZ treatment would have been free, but would have had to find suitable place to live close to hospital, also would have needed home help. These living costs would have been far higher than in Thailand, and by my calculation would have more or less equalled medical fees from Sripat. So breakeven on costs.Maybe better than breakeven.

Would strongly advise taking out accident insurance. I have a policy from Bangkok Bank. Have not read the fine print so no guarantees. Affordable.

Remember that it takes eight times the impact to kill a 20 year old male than it does to kill a 70 year old. Avoid high risk activities (motorcycle). Your biggest single risk is motor vehicle accident. You can reduce risk by at least 30 % just by avoiding being on the road at night.

Finally, consider ways and means of making a dignified exit if diagnosed with major or incurable illness. There is plenty of info on the net. Suitable pharmaceuticals can be purchased over the counter in neighbouring countries.

Hmmm, most responders seem obsessed with 'rules'. Suggest they Google 'Authoritarian personality'.

Also bemused that swimming is defined as a sport, when surely the reason for teaching swimming at schools is to inculcate survival skills. Just as we teach kindergarten kids how to cross the road safely.

Modern secular societies cannot function without unwritten rules about respect for difference in customs and personal behaviour. In many cases a line has to be drawn somewhere, and the name of the game is about drawing the line while respecting the right to be different. The swimming lessons are about safety and it is in the child's own interest  to learn to swim. Therefore it is reasonable to require parents to fall into line.

Nevertheless, the matter should be handled sensitively. It is not so long ago that mixed bathing no matter how enveloping the bathing suits (burkinis?) were. We even had beach police checking that bathing suits complied with the law. When pointing the finger at muslims in this matter remember we have four fingers pointing back at us.

Similar conditions can apply to dress codes. I defend any woman's right to wear a hijab. The case of the burka is a a special case of the prohibition against wearing masks, full face helmets, even dark glasses in banks and other places where people must be recognisable. Problems arise when we do not make a general restriction against wearing masks in public, except for safety and health considerations. In the absence of such a general restriction we must accept that women are free to wear burkas.

Probably wasting my time, but here goes:

If carefully analysed even the simplest accident eg slipping on soap in the bathroom , is a complex event. Many things could have been done to prevent or alleviate the accident.

Pretty much every fix advocated on this thread is relevant, but be aware there is no magic bullet or single fix to road traffic accidents.

Research shows that the most potent single intervention is enforcement. The most impressive demonstration was years back in the Australian state of Victoria where, for example, the road would be blocked and every single driver breath tested and those failing the test were immediately arrested and sent to the lock up for processing followed by mandatory fines and loss of license for a set period etc.  Other equally fierce methods were used to deal with speeding etc.

The result was not only a massive reduction in road crashes and improvement in driver behaviour, but there was a dramatic change in attitudes where most people came to think that it was not socially acceptable to drive after having a few drinks. Note that the change of attitude came after the change of behaviour. The common belief that behaviour will change following change of attitude does not apply on the road.

Campaigns to change driver attitudes always fail to produce results. Have a great feel good effect among politicians and the public, however.

No question that driver behaviour in Thailand is all too often dangerous. But also keep in mind that many Thai road users are vulnerable : Motorcycles and people on backs of trucks or in light commercial vehicles (minibuses / vans) have little protection in  crash no matter if they are at fault or not. Improved engineering of vehicles and roads work to help all the time.

BTW: if you stay off the roads at night you will reduce your lifetime accident risk by around 30%

Smoke inhalation can be very dangerous to health. Suggest monitor  AQI on internet. When at unhealthy levels close up rooms, use air cleaner or run aircon. In airc leaner and aircon place Filtrete cloth (filters out micro particles) over inlet to aircon and over filter capsule in aircleaner.

Stay indoors, if you go out wear industrial quality mask. Cheap rag masks useless.

Best strategy to head for the coast. As well as Thailand there are nice spots in Cambodia. Will keep my favourite place secret, do not want it over run!

If you feel ill get medical check ASAP. The particles are very fine and can penetrate cell walls, leading to blood poisoning. You can be very ill, even die from smoke inhalation without normal respiratory distress signs like coughing or shortness of breath. 

Assuming you taking reasonable care of weight, diet , exercise, then suggest Google 'Jaiogulan tea'.  Works for me.

On the basis of my own experience I agree that many minibuses are driven dangerously. But even in a 'no fault' accident these vehicles are death traps.

They have minimal chassis and no stiffening of the cabin or roll bars. The passengers only protection is the thin steel body. Might as well be made of cardboard for all practical purposes.These vehicles are unsafe at any speed. Avoid travelling in them.

For those who are rubbishing the Thai authorities for their softly softly approach to the arrest of the Abbot of Dhammakhaya,  consider the case of the UK Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which started some time back and has achieved less than nothing.

The chairperson has to be a woman. The first two were rejected after outcry from complainants claiming these women were two close to major suspects. Then Lowell Goddard from New Zealand was appointed who after receiving of the order of half a million pounds by way of salary resigned from the job having done nothing.

In the meantime I understand that some 140,000 testimonies sent in online have been wiped from the computer memory.

A closer case to the Thai situation is the Australian inquiry into child sexual abuse. The head of the Australian catholic church in the recent past was Cardinal Pell, himself investigated by a church inquiry for child sexual abuse which came to the conclusion 'Not Proven'. But there is no question that Pell covered up many cases of priests abusing young people, and blocked the law from taking its course.

Once the inquiry was underway Pell got a promotion to the Vatican where he enjoys diplomatic immunity and claims to be too ill to fly to appear before the tribunal back in Australia.

Or the Chilcott Inquiry into the false claims that Tony Blair and associates made to take the UK into the war on Iraq. This inquiry took years with an army of lawyers sucking on public money. It found against Blair, Jack Straw and others but it is unlikely that they will be sanctioned in any way.

We will not go into the whitewash investigations of the two (or likely three) Kennedy assassinations, let alone the 9/11 caper which was clearly modelled on the Reichstag  Fire.

The Thais have a long way to go before they can match boondoggles like these.

Speaking generally:

A cult is a group of people who are bonded by a shared belief system and typically follow the teaching of a charismatic leader.

Most religions are cults that have continued to grow and prosper following the death of the original leaders. i.e. Most  'mainstream' religions are successful cults e.g Christianity, Islam, Buddhism. Note that these organisations usually branch off into different streams, each claiming to have special understanding of  the teachings of the master.

A clear example of a cult is the Dhammakaya sect here in Thailand. If one takes the trouble to do a little research you will find that cults abound in the USA and UK. 

Am a Kiwi long term expat happily living in Thailand.

Needs expert opinion, but my strong hunch is that unless very difficult to arrange, have your baby in New Zealand.

Go well.

I had a VERY bad experience with Chiangmai Ram.

Have been very well looked after by Sripat ( bowel and prostate cancer surgery seven years ago and in good shape as I write).

A friend recently had quadruple bypass at Bangkok Hospital Chiangmai and we were all very impressed with the high standards there. Not cheap, though.

Good luck and best wishes.

In the clear view of hindsight the problems the man encountered during training were symptomatic of depression eg inability to multitask, problems with concentration. 

Mohinga does well to point the possibility that the medication my have made the condition worse instead of better. This seems to be a common experience among patients but there seems to be a lack of research on the question, which does no credit to the psychiatric profession and big pharma.

As far as the decision on suicide plus murder is concerned: an all too common scenario is where a parent (often but not always the father) kills his much loved family before killing him/herself. Survivors of unsuccessful suicides of this sort report that at the time they felt that life was so terrible and the world such a horrible place that they were doing a mercy killing.

On a more positive note, pilot suicide rates of all types are very low by comparison with other professionals with similar social profiles eg doctors and dentists.

PS Again,

For some reason the youtube link failed.

Suggest google for Youtube : Britain's Responsiblity of World War One. Terry Boardman

Just curious.

Wonder how many of those advocating use of force to resolve the impasse at Wat Dammakaya are from the USA?

Might also be worth checking the definition of : Hypermasculinity.

Does anybody have date for the 2016 Rocket Festival ( Bun Bang Fai ) at Huay Tung Tao near Chiang Mai City?

Thanks

Over the years there have been numerous cases where individuals known to be mentally disturbed and/or suspected of being a terrorist threat (or in some cases having a history of terrorism or association with such groups) commit a highly visible terrorist action. Typically the individual dies in the event or shortly after, usually shot by the authorities. Usually the star performer is a Muslim.

During the Cold War period this pattern of crime was carried out widely in Europe, particularly in Italy, and the perpetrators were identified as communist terrorisits. Since then the facts about Operation Gladio have been revealed. It was a programme of 'false flag' attacks carried out by right wing operatives who had been organised into an underground army intended to go into action in the event of an invasion by the Russians.

There are so many parallels to the recent times that some refer to them as 'Gladio II' events.

I make no judgement about the Sydney affair, but must confess to a certain scepticism about reports that the Australian authorities 'knew nothing'.

Apologies, could not download link for my previous post.

Suggest Google:

Corbett Report : Episode 308

9/11 Trillions : Follow the Money

alternatively

Youtube : 9/11 Trillions : Follow the Money.

Anzacs might be interested to know that Mr Lowy of Westfield Shopping Malls fame did rather well out of 9/11 also.....

h

Follow the money.....

Seven years ago had surgery for bowel and prostate cancer at Maharaj / Suan Dok / Sripat hospital plus follow up chemo and check ups since. Have been very well looked after and very grateful to the hospital and especially to the staff.

Am a New Zealand citizen and could have gone back for surgery etc which would have been free under the NZ health system. Do not carry health insurance except for accident insurance. Am now 80 years of age so comprehensive health insurance premiums would be massive.

Discussions about health insurance seem dominated by the cost of treatment. It is important to remember that after care costs can be substantial. I have not done an accounting, but if I had returned to NZ the surgery etc would have been free, but would have had to rent a relatively expensive flat and paid for a visiting house keeper, someone to do shopping in the early stages of recovery etc etc.

Costs for such services are far lower in Chiangmai, and in my case was looked after by my devoted Thai wife. But back of an envelope calculation suggests that when the costs of after care and living costs generally are taken into account, the total cost of a major health problem in Chiangmai where the procedures are paid out of pocket but living costs for an invalid are significantly lower may end out comparable or lower than the combination of free treatment but higher costs post treatment.