yeoldesage

I hear Gymkhana Golf Club have just raised their membership fees to 60,000 Baht for life membership and also raised their green fees for the high season. As a member you don't pay green fees only for a caddy if you need one. Still good value IMHO.

Didn't mean to touch a nerve re. Thailand (expats) vs (Thailand based)Christian organisations. I guess my stand on that is Live and let live. Nevertheless the infomation you all offered is gratefully received.

Many thanks.

YOS

Anyone have any info on the 'Christ To Thailand Church', location, history, management etc.?

Thanks,

YOS

whatever makes the baht come back down to reality works 4 me....

Right on bro I'm with you on that one

Don't understand the reason for his lividness. Songkran is notorious for road deaths mainly caused through excessive drinking by Thais and foreigners, the Government are trying to reduce the number of road accidents (although some may say in a cock-eyed manner) the police are attempting to uphold the law (in their usual unpredictable fashion) and because your friend cannot make a killing (sic) on the back of other peoples suffering "he is livid".

I would have thought the 25 years he spent in Thailand would have been sufficient for him to comprehend the vagaries associated with Thai authorities and live with them. Surely a business owner of such long standing isn't shocked by this type of of inconsistent behavior. Or is business that bad!

YOS

... snip ... done the trip yet, any thing of interest to report, updates/fares/hotels/guesthouses/border crossing times etc,etc?

YOS

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun YeOldeSage,

Last month, March 23, flew CM to UT on Nok-Air-Mini, arriving 5:10PM: round trip was about 5900 baht (ouch !).

CM => UT March 23

DD DEP. ARR.

957 15:50 17:10

UT => CM March 25

DD DEP. ARR.

958 17:40 19:00

200 baht for the very comfortable jumbo mini-van from the UT airport to the Friendship Bridge. The small fee for crossing the bridge by bus. The usual US $35 entry fee for Laos for US Citizens. Having downloaded and pre-filled out all the paperwork for Laos entry made that smooth.

Arrived, as expected, at favorite hotel in Vientiane, before 8PM, towards the northern end of the road that runs along the Mekhong, The Mekhong Sunshine Guest House: 800 baht per night.

Mekong Sunshine Hotel

856-21-251-401

856-21-212-912

[email protected]

no wi-fi, but free internet computer in the lobby. Clean rooms, strong air-con units, TV in room includes CNN, BBC, Movie channels. Free Breakfast. Downside: further from the Thai Consular Services building than other places.

Getting to Thai Consular Services building early (as in 8AM), and having the application papers already filled out ... downloaded off the web), saved time. Was out of there quickly. Next day, granted double-entry after 1PM, no problem. Back to Udon Thani by anothre limo company from the Thai side of the Friendship Bridge to the airport, also 200 baht. Note: travelled with newly re-issued US Passport. And since this was before March 31, no visa fees were charged.

Almost felt guilty "splurging," on that air-trip, but it sure took the "sting" of out the journey by eliminating that grueling bus trip from CM, to Udon, and back.

Note that one commentator, either here, or on the main TV Visa Forum, suggested that Nok-Mini was suspending the CM-UT route as of March 26, so you may want to check if that is still available.

Always a good idea to keep checking the main TV Visa forum up to the day you leave to hear the lastest, wethinks.

best, ~o:37;

Many thanks gents for the info.

~o:37, Just got off the phone to PP Travel re airfares seems the date I want to travel (April 27 - May 8) the price has jumped to 6,700 rtn (bigger ouch! ) Still for me it will be the best (cumphy) choice. Times are now cnx-uth dep. 11:20 arr. 12:40 (SF 34) Rtn: 13:05 - 14:25.

As for the bike trip Steve, having trouble falling out of the bed every morning never mind staying on a bike that length of time. Nice idea though

YOS

Hi Forum

After reading through the options here, I've since been onto the Nok Air website and flights seem to be running fine between Chiang Mai and Udon Thani.

So if flights are easy to get and there are minibuses from the airport to the Laos border, then this has to be the best way to go from Chiang Mai. If there are no flights for whatever reason (I've read they can be somewhat unpredictable), then this trip will be more of an adventure holiday than a simple journey, what with talk of long tail boats, buses, tuk-tuks, and various modes of taxis connecting the two destination!

If i do get to go by the preferred mode of travel within the next week or so, I'll post a mini trip report in this thread so as to update anyone who might be interested.

Cheers

Aitch

Hi Aitch, done the trip yet, any thing of interest to report, updates/fares/hotels/guesthouses/border crossing times etc,etc?

YOS

You have my sympathy, for what could turn out to be a really tricky situation which needs to be handled with delicate diplomacy. Although if your actual persona resembles your avatar I think they will get the message soon enough.

see thread: http://www.thaivisa....ailable-in-bkk/

It's dated, but there is some good info there.

I would strongly suggest that you find an accredited Moh's microsurgeon. One of the hospitals listed there (Bumrumgrad (sp?)) had an accredited by American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery,'and I don't believe there is another Moh's college that offers accreditation. I seem to remember last I looked that this surgeon was no longer there. You can find the institution mentioned on the internet and see if they list a practitioner in Thailand.

In Moh's microsurgery the surgeon extends a reasonable distance beyond the lesion and excises the lesion. Then the surgeon takes (imagine a 1cm circle) a very thin slice of tissue from the margin and if necessary from beneath (especially if it is one of a few odd types of Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) or squamous cell carcinoma) and immediately, under microscope, stains the slice of tissue and looks for cancer cells. Let's say, for instance, the surgeon finds that between 2 and 3pm on the circle (imagining it like the face of a clock) there are cancer cells, but the rest is clear. So the surgeon returns and excises a wider strip of tissue from about 1-4PM. The surgeon then excises another tiny strip at the outside margin and checks it under the microscope. Let's assume now that there are still cancer cells between 2:45 and 3pm--so a third procedure is done, and so on until the margin shows no cancer cells.

The norm generally is about 1.5 procedures which means that most BCC's are cleared within two procedures (so you lay there waiting for about 15 minutes to see if it is cleared, or if the surgeon will return to extend the excision). It is fairly uncommon to require more than two "rounds." Each round might take an hour, mostly consisting of waiting for the surgeon to return.

The five year clearance rate with Moh's is very high, over 97% I think. The five year clearance using surgery but without a Moh's microsurgeon (I'm struggling to remember, so I'm guessing: is about 85%) if this is the case then with Moh's only 3/100 people will have re-occurrence, with a general surgeon it's more like 15/100. In my opinion a Moh's surgeon is worth finding.

You don't say if you have a BCC or a SCC, nor where on the face, or extent. If it is close to the eye, or on the nose, or "large in area" then surgery is your only option.

However there ARE viable other options in certain cases. Imiquimod is an interesting medication. There is some confusion as to exactly how it works but most believe that it is taken up by cells that are replicating only, and those cells are destroyed by your own immune response. Since cancer cells replicate frequently, and non-cancer (normal) cells slowly, the cancer cells gobble up the Imiquimod and are, over a period of about 4-6 weeks are destroyed.

A few years ago I had a BCE on my right temple that was about 1cm. I had it removed by a Moh's microsurgeon in America at a cost of about $1200 (another surgeon quoted me $2200 and since he was at a teaching college I knew that the surgery would be done by an intern--I also knew that it was summer, and interns were "green," so I said "no thank you.") The surgeon who removed the lesion was quite wonderful, the procedure was essentially painless, non-traumatic and there is a small visible scar, but not objectionable. There have been no signs of re-occurrence.

A year later, on a routine "search and destroy" mission another BCC was discovered on my right shoulder a bit bigger than 1cm. Along with a pay cut at work I had lost my medical insurance totally so i looked into alternate routes and questioned my dermatologist about Imiquimod. She said "go for it," and I did.

Imiquimod costs about $30 per foil "packet." This relates to about $3720 per ounce--double the price of gold! You are supposed to apply it at night before bedtime and then throw the packet away. But the instructions clearly state that for the maximum lesion size, no more than 50 milligrams should be used, therefore you are throwing away 80%. My dermatologist said keep the unused material in a clean covered container (I used a shot glass with some aluminum foil) and use one packet for 5 days, for the duration of 4 weeks. Using pharmacychecker.com I tried a place called Pharmstore. Initially I had a problem with them as they seemed unable to receive a fax and on pharmacychecker there is a complaint by me (that pharmacychecker will not remove) though I later found that where I worked (which was closing) had locked out all 800#'s so the problem was on my end.

When I figured out that the fax issue was on my end, not theirs, my order for Imiquimod went though at about $5 per packet. What I received was Aldera 5% cream which is THE brand item, not the generic item. The packaging indicated that it had been shipped from Sweden. I ordered 8 packets which was enough for the duration and used it.

Imiquimod causes mild to severe inflammatory response. In my case it was moderate, and the area turned red and crusty, enough so that I returned to the MD who said "take a break for a week" and then start again for the last two weeks." It was still nasty looking at the end of two weeks but rapidly cleared and today (now about 6 months later) my dermatologist says there is no sign of cancer. There is no scarring or any visible indication that there was cancer--the skin looks absolutely the same as the rest of my skin. My real complaint was only that for some weeks it "itched," and though I was never quite sure, it seemed that I'd often get a "stiff neck" on that side. The re-occurrence rate varies depending upon which study you look at, and essentially relates to the duration of med use (6 weeks 3 times a week versus, 4 weeks, daily at bedtime) is between 80 and 100% cure rate.

If I developed the BCC on my temple today, there is no doubt that I would go the Imiquimod route and I have no doubt that it would be clear, and there would be zero scar, and cost would be less than $60 (excluding dermatologist visits). I would have a rather ugly inflamed 2cm area on my temple for about 4 weeks, so this option is not for everyone. (I was plant nurse at a factory--so who cares?) Further I would forgo the initial $200 pathology fee to "ID" the cancer. Why? Because the chances (in my opinion only) of it being an odd form of BCC are very low and $200 these days is very dear to me. Note: Imiquimod is available as a generic at an even lower price. For some with no insurance, and no job this may be the "only" option if the lesion is in an area where Imiquimod can be used.

But again, there are areas on the face where Imiquimod should not be used, especially on the nose--so if interested, run this by your dermatologist and if she can't discuss Imiquimod intelligently, find another dermatologist--again just my opinion.

If you have a BCC then you probably have a hundred or more Actinic keratoses (AK's) (precursors to BCC) on your face, arms, hands, back, etc. Your dermatologist (when this issue is resolved) ought to be addressing that and there are many options to resolve sun damaged tissue and knocking out (AK's) some of which are likely to turn into BCC's. Levulan, topical 5-fluorouracil (5-<deleted>), and other option are available which destroy only the aberrant tissue in the AK's. Like it or not, if you have one BCC it is more likely than not you will develop others later in life. I believe a pre-emptive approach is wise, but of course, this is something between you and your medical practitioner. Good luck.

Many thanks for your detailed reply, it was most informative. Although I haven't had the biopsy results as yet, due on Thursday, I did have a small area of BCC removed from my nose several years ago, so this could be same. The lesion I have now is on my left temple area and is around 1 cm dia.

I read up on the Imiquimod and Aldara these seem to be for superficial BCC only.

I will pm you later.

Cheers,

YOS

PS Maybe this post could be combined with the ongoing Dermatologist post Mods can you fix it please.

Thanks for some good info in this thread. I will contact Dr. Siri to get a second opinion...

I did see the lady derm at Ram and not impressed in how she handles things. based on my experience and now others in this thread, all she seems to do is schedule the plastic surgeon to remove anything that is presented to her. Seems to be a racket to me!

Fully agree.

Also, I wasn't very impressed to pay 900 BHT for the 2 minutes of attention I received and the appointment to get it surgically removed.

Also, not impressive at all to give me a hard time to get the 100 BHT change for the bill of 1000 I gave.

Yep, same for me at Rajavej. 3,500Baht for biopsy x 2, 2 small tubes of Terramycin ointment, an appointment with inhouse Plastic Surgeon and Dermatologist fees. Back next week for removal of biopsy sutures and no doubt a few more add-ons. Dreading the big one!

YOS

Thanks Pauly, point taken, I have now posted in the Health Forum.

Cheers mate,

YOS

I have recently been diagnosed with skin cancer around the facial area and will in due course need the services of a reputable Plastic Surgeon. As costs are an issue (aren't they always) I will be shopping around the Chiang Mai area (maybe even further afield if needs be) once the full diagnosis/surgical procedure is fully assessed by the Rajavej Hospital, to ascertain the costs involved. Can any of you fine and upstanding ladies and gents recommend the services of a particular Plastic Surgeon from who, either yourselves or your close associates, have had satisfactory results without devastating the bank balance?

I will be asking the Rajavej Plastic Surgeon next week what their charges will be, so before I meet him I would like to be aware of any alternative (recommended) services/costs that are available. In the light of the economic climate I was prepared to make cuts, alas this wasn't one cut(s) I had anticipated!

Your assistance, as always, will be much appreciated.

YOS

I have recently been diagnosed with skin cancer around the facial area and will in due course need the services of a reputable Plastic Surgeon. As costs are an issue (aren't they always) I will be shopping around the Chiang Mai area (maybe even further afield if needs be) once the full diagnosis/surgical procedure is fully assessed by the Rajavej Hospital, to ascertain the costs involved. Can any of you fine and upstanding ladies and gents recommend the services of a particular Plastic Surgeon from who, either yourselves or your close associates, have had satisfactory results without devastating the bank balance?

I will be asking the Rajavej Plastic Surgeon next week what their charges will be, so before I meet him I would like to be aware of any alternative (recommended) services/costs that are available. In the light of the economic climate I was prepared to make cuts, alas this wasn't one cut(s) I had anticipated!

Your assistance, as always, will be much appreciated.

YOS

Tourist Visas are free until the end of March.

You can get a double entry if you want.

Each entry can be extended at Immigration for a further 30 days. 1,900 Baht.

It is a Visa Exempt Entry not a Visa on Arrival.

Yes you need to buy a Laos Visa to enter. 1,500 Baht.

Can Austrailian passport holders get a 60 day Tourist Visa? And how long would the extention be if they re enter via the Chiang Kong enty point, I heard it was only 15 days.

YOS

So the end result will be Aussies 3 Poms 1.

Don't mean to be a killjoy but isn'it time this thread was moved to the "Sports, Hobbies & Activities" Subforums. Seems to have run it's course as Chiang Mai related ages ago!

YOS

Why is it bothering you? If so don't open it.

The person in the heading Blinky Bill has showed up....good on ya Blinky - he's Chiang Mai related and hopefully we will get some banter going. It's not my fault if it's one sided and keeping the Aussies away and if you're winning so easily it's also difficult to know what to say for fear of embarrassing our colonial cousins.

Screening times and info regarding the only place to watch it is Chiang Mai related and interests people.

What's your problem?........go open a Christmas thread or suck on a lemon.........or something else down under.

:cheesy: Oh dear you're too easy to wind-up, must be a Pom!! Lighten up man!!

YOS

Cash gifts give them the opportunity to get what they really want and are very often used. They may be initially refused but saying that they should be used for their children or parents almost always makes it acceptable.

As Dante says: envelopes are the answer - nearly always! Stuffed with whatever you consider an appropriate amount for the servce rendered (300 baht would be, I would suggest, the minimum for a small servce, going up to 1,000 for a big thankyou) You have to get right out of Western cutlural norms where giving money is considered rather gauche or a satement that the recipient is poor. Stick some cash in an envelope and write 'for your family ' on it. It will convey your appreciation more than anything else I can think of!

Yes money is certainly convienient but the extra effort known to have been put into buying/arranging flowers/friut etc may be appreciated that little bit more. Especially if the recpient is middle to hi-soish and a few hundred Baht is neither here or there to them.

YOS

So the end result will be Aussies 3 Poms 1.

Don't mean to be a killjoy but isn'it time this thread was moved to the "Sports, Hobbies & Activities" Subforums. Seems to have run it's course as Chiang Mai related ages ago!

YOS

Disgracefull fix plain and simple

The real winners are the "Gents" of the FIFA maf org...prob all ex bankers

Beware Russian bears carrying Honey Pot brown envelopes.....

Rinrada, how could you think such a thing . Those luvly Ruskies, who wouldn't harm a hair on your head...if the price is right

Shame on you

YOS

How long are the Aussie commentators going to talk about the Harris dismissal?...........Get over it!

Hi, 93 posts and your contribution is 46!! Ever had that feeling you're talking to yourself?

Now it's 94! Congrats in advance for your 2000.

Back on topic: com'on England!

YOS

By the way, PunPun, you were lucky to find any oil at Makro, I was there last Friday and the shelves were empty - same too for coconut milk!

I hear quite soon sugar can be added to that list, price hype on the way early next year.

Many thanks msg, unfortunately I couldn't make the parade so really appreciate your video.

Nice one!

YOS

Come on guys this is silly bordering on churlish. Either get it out into the open or give us moderates a break. Surely two longstanding respected? members such as yourselves cannot consider your banter to be in the best interests of the Forum.

Back on topic...what was it again? Oh yes, "What'S The Friendliest Place To Have A Beer In Chiang Mai?" My vote goes to The Gecko, great staff, great food, cheap beer, good company and a boss who brings it all together with a touch of modest panache. Good on yer Rudy!

The what Bar was a nice alternative music bar, but since the previous owners sold it, it's become a lady bar which probably wouldn't interest the OP.

I wouldn't believe this part of the post if I was you, he is obviously after your business at another's expense.

The What bar is definitely not a lady bar (I know because i have one just across from it), there is only two girls working there, and always in staff uniform. It used to be a popular place with the younger crowd and I used to like going myself, but during a succession of owners it has gone down hill.

If you had walked past there at midnight last night, you would understand why.

...and, and!!

So far, my favourite Khao Soy restaurant is in Nong Hoy. If you enter the soi from Mahidol Road between Varee and Asia Technology schools and continue until you come to a t-junction (to the right) with a bridge, there's a popular restaurant that has good Khao Soy.

I think that this place has the best Khao Soy. In particular they have fish Khao Soy which is my favorite. Regular size Khao Soy is 25 Baht and the large is 35 Baht. They only give you a small plate of condiments for the Khao Soy but will give you more if you ask for it.

All in all a good restaurant off the beaten path. It is only open for lunch and is closed one day a week but now I forget which day.

Have to agree, great Khao Soy! Open from 10-4pm every day incl.Sunday. Closed every 2nd Wednesday of the month. A real gem.

Where do you buy Sausage King pies ??

Hi Rob, is Ruddy at the Gekko stocked up with a selection of your pies, or is Rimping a better bet? Keep up the delicious work.

YOS