GarryP

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

It's official. My home is now known by all and sundry as "Bahn Falang". That didn't take long as I only moved in four days ago. Would seem that there aren't that many of us in town, but makes it much easier to give directions to delivery services - Bahn falang just past the school worked fine ????.

Not noticed any mango orchards. It all seems to be jujube orchards, rubber tree plantations, sugarcane and cassava, with the normal rice fields thrown in for good measure. Weather has been very welcoming though, if only the PM2.5 was under control.

Finally done it. Moved out of Bangkok and now located in the northern region of Kalasin so not too far away from Owl and many of the other posters on this thread. Won't be going the farming route though. Once I'm settled, I'll get a dog too but probably not a ridgeback. More likely to be a Kalasin mongrel. Looking forward to exploring the area in the next few months. If only the lovely cool weather could hold, but that is never going to happen.

Youv'e got me studying how to solve the Rubik's cube now. But I'd better go out and buy a cube. No idea where though.

At my local 7/11 you'll see the staff sit by the side of the shop chatting and vaping daily. I live down near the end of a soi where not many foreigners venture. Just back from the middle of nowhere in Kalasin and seen people vaping there too (admittedly not many but then the number of ciggy smokers has dropped considerably over the years even out in the boondocks). Yaba does seem to have gained popularity though.

Sister-in-law has taken "possession" of a few large plots of land on the hills between Kalasin, Udon and Sakhon Nakorn all of which are planted with rubber trees and about 80 percent is productive. On the other 20 percent the trees are not quite mature enough for scraping/cutting and collecting rubber. The land is under the purview of the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Sor Por Kor). You are not supposed to be able to transfer title to/sell such land, but it still changes hands quite regularly, which involves a matter of trust between the parties concerned. Like you say, you are not allowed to build any permanent buildings on such land and ultimately the land could be reclaimed by the government. That is, you do not have title to the land but rather documents showing your entitlement to use the land for agricultural purposes. "The tenant will be given a SorPorKor Land 4-01 document issued by the Agricultural Land Reform Office, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives showing their right to make use of in the land reform area." I had a wander round one of the sister in laws plots and loved it. Access is only by 4 wheel drive, motorcycle or shanks's pony. Had to cross a lot of rocky terrain in the hills to get there. Only a couple of weeks or so away from moving up that way permanently after living in Bangkok for 40 years. Not going to become a farmer though. Cycling, fishing and chilling is going to be my thing, while still working on contract 3 days a week from home.

Got my son his first UK passport at about 15 months. Renewed it twice without any problem. He'll be 34 next month and the last time he went to the UK he was 18 months old. Only detention I've had is by Thai immigration in 1986. Long story but ultimately my own fault. Kicked out and back 6 months later. I was young and gullible then.

Definitely in cahoots. Who runs the drug trade and trafficking?

Wonder if the landlord will return the deposit?

I believe it is so you don't put too much pressure in that area when defacating. While your prostate is healing you want to minimize pressure in that area. Thus, relatively loose bowel movements are the best way to go, as squeezing one out could not only be painful but slow down healing.

They used to say that after swearing not to go back on drugs or alcohol, any one who broke their promise would soon die. Not sure if its the same now but I knew someone who went to Wat Tham Krabok who swore off alcohol and what kept him sober afterwards was the fear of breaking his promise and dying, not really the realization that he was so much better after giving up alcohol. It was not unheard of westerners with drug/acohol problems also staying at this temple.

I will vote for Move Forward Party. But even if Move Forward does not have a candidate in my jurisdiction, I could never vote for Pheu Thai instead as long as Thaksin or one of his nominees is still at the head of the party. I would be forced to look elsewhere and as there does not seem to be much choice in terms of decent parties, probably would not vote at all.

Blaming the public? Really? Those who came out to offer alternatives or voice opposition to the then draft constituation were shut down. People were actually locked up for saying anything against it. The referendum was an absolute joke. The people were not allowed to hear dissenting opinions and get information on the negatives and alternatives. The referendum may as well have had just a single tick box it was that biased.

There does indeed seem to be a wide difference in the results of Rezum from person to person. Some have very rapid improvement, for some others it takes time, and others do not seem to benefit much at all. I am getting up at night much less frequently than before and in the past 2 months or so saw a great improvement in night time visits to the bathroom, even after a few beers (up until recently, if I had a few beers, I would be up at least 4 times). Now only once or twice a night. This is 15 months post treatment. However, I have read previous reports of others that had the same experience, i.e. it took up to 12 months or more for their nocturia to improve. Were the results as good as anticipated? No, but there has still been a definite improvement in my case and in hindsight I would have still undergone the treatment. Now I just need to wait and see how long it lasts.

Wish I had the money for something like that. But I'll make do with an inflatable paddling pool.

Just read up on Thai Ridgies and I will steer clear. While I have had dogs before, they were all quite easy to train, whereas Ridgies are apparently quite difficult. Also the amount of daily exercise they require is quite high and they can be over protective and agressive to strangers and other animals. You will certainly have your hands full with training. One local breed I would stay clear of too, if you leave your gate open, is the Bangkaew. They look nice but boy are they bad tempered and overly protective of their family and home. Excellent breed for keeping neighbors away though.

When I move upcountry next month I would like to get a dog. Probably won't go for a pure bred though and won't bother with cosmetic surgery. Floppy ears is floppy ears ????.

What breed is that?

I still can't access fit radio or sports direct on my PC. I am on AIS. I've already changed so much on my PC trying to resolve the problem, I have probably made it worse as warned by @OneMoreFarang For fit radio, if I turn off wifi on my phone I can access the website, but when I change to wifi it is unaccessible. Sports direct is inaccessible whether wifi or data. I just wonder what the hell is going on.

Yeah, they work for me when I'm using a VPN, but I never needed to use a VPN before.

The geoblocking is weird. I've used Fit Radio for about 4 years with no problem. Just started blocking around Christmas. For Sports Direct, I've bought stuff online from them before, but hadn't visited the site for about 6 months so don't know when the problem started. I know for Fit Radio, they are having the same problems in Malaysia. I wonder if this region recently came under scrutiny as a result of all the scamming operations which seem to be running in Thailand and Cambodia.

Model, size and price would be helpful too.

The title is pretty self explanatory. It has started to happen over the past week or so and I am no longer able to access certain websites that I previously used, such as Sports Direct. I have tried everything suggested online such as clearing all history, cookies, etc., reseting Chrome and Microsoft Edge, disabling VPN extensions but all to no avail. I have also found that I can no longer access an App I use regularly on my phone unless I use a VPN, and on my PC I get the message "This page isn’t working www.fitradio.com didn’t send any data" when trying to access the website (however, when using a VPN I can access the site without trouble). I have also checked with my wife's notepad and android phone and receive the same errors, so it would appear that it is not a problem caused by our equipment but rather a server issue. Someone I know in Malaysia has had the same problem with Fit Radio. Has anyone heard of any particular issues that may be causing these problems? Could it be a problem with AIS (my provider)? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I need a groan emoji.