GarryP

That's for sure. I can row a straight 6 or even 10km, but I couldn't run the same. It uses a different muscle set and I would be wiped out. I've never really liked running though so it would be even harder to force myself to do it rather than rowing. Now cycling is another matter, I love it, but never found it really good for cardio as I am never racing anywhere

I didn't know that copies could be purchased. From where? SB?

My wife and her family all refer to the language as Lao or Isan (even though some members of her family speak Phu Thai). Just about every Thai person I have ever met who mentioned languages of the North East refer to it in the same way, except some from the provinces of Buriram, Sisaket and Surin. Yes, of course there are multiple dialects, including those derived from the Khmer language, but the vast majority speak dialects derived from Lao (aka passa Isan or Lao). As a result the most common reference to languages of the region is Isan or Lao. When Thais learn that I will be retiring to Kalasin, most ask whether I can speak passa Isan. They never ever refer to any particular Northeastern dialect which may be specific to the area to which I'll be moving, and that is because they don't even know that there is one. Are they wrong to do that? Of course not. I know this may be upsetting to some.

I am not sure. I did it with birth certificates and marriage certificates and there was never a problem. However, when I laminated my British birth certificate it was rejected by the authorities in the UK. They advised that lamination is not allowed to reduce the risk of forgery. I am not sure if Thailand will follow suit in the future so I never laminated my Citizenship Certificate.

Mask under my chin when on my motorbike. Mask up in public, but if walking anywhere where there are very few, if any, people, mask under chin and only pull up when coming close to others. Hate the mask thing but I believe I've got to go with the flow. Can't wait for mask mandates to be removed.

No, it is a seat cover. Bought it from Aviron Racing in Malaysia. But if you wish to buy one, check that normal post is available. When I ordered, Covid had stopped normal post between Malaysia and Thailand so it was sent by courier (only option at the time) and I got hit by customs. I bought my phone holder from them too long before covid. They are very responsive to queries via their Facebook page. I know of some who have bought their Concept2s from them and imported them. Even after import duty, much cheaper than those available locally.

I use a smartphone holder on mine. But then I don't have a tablet. As you'll note from one of the pictures, I have a gel seat pad. The reason for this is that I have such a skinny bum so longer distances can get quite uncomfortable.

???? And then he woke up and realized it was a dream. Stay on your current path.

Tropo used to be really into the rower but has not been active on the site for a while, so I do not know whether he is still rowing as part of his exercise regime. Since I resumed rowing after nearly 2 months away, I have started to mix up my routines even more than before. One of the reasons for this is that I need to slowly get back to the level I was at before but another one is that I read mixing routines is better for the body so it does not get used to a single routine. My January routines are as follows for those who are interested: 2 Jan: 3000m single followed by 6 x 500ms intervals 4 Jan: 12 x 500ms intervals 6 Jan: 6000m single 7 Jan: 2000m single followed by 8 x 500ms intervals 9 Jan: 2000m single followed by 2000m single followed by 4 x 500ms intervals 10 Jan: 5000m single followed by 5 x 200ms intervals 11 Jan: 3000m single followed by 6 x 500ms intervals 13 Jan: 2000m single followed by 2000m single followed by 4 x 500ms intervals

Since I took two months off and have only just got back into it my times have dropped considerably. To get the drag factor to 115, which is the optimum for me I have to set my damper at 5. For regular exercise they recommend a setting of between 3 to 5. But the drag factor can vary from machine to machine. In the past my target for 500ms was anything below 2.05. But on my return to exercise it is closer to 2.10. I've also got to factor in aging I suppose, but I don't want to (I'm in denial). My straight 2,000ms are down a bit too. This time around though I have lowered my target from 160kms a month to 120. I think I was overdoing it before and was mostly hitting higher than 170 a month. I think I need to give my back and muscles more time off and accept that I'm not a youngster.

I received interest with BBL before I became a citizen. And updating my accounts was simple enough. It seems to not only vary from bank to bank, but also branch to branch.

It is part of the points scheme. Points for speaking, reading and writing. If you already have enough points then this is not a major issue. Just being able to speak would be sufficient.

Doesn't it come down to the fact that you should not be using your home country passport in Thailand once you gain Thai citizenship. So keeping your bank accounts tied to your foreign passport may not be a good idea as in theory such use could result in revocation of Thai citizenship (probably very unlikely but why risk it).

I am worse than that. I really cannot write. I can't spell to save my life. I learned purely by teaching myself, starting with words that are pronounced the same in Thai and English, street sign posts, bus destinations written on the side of the the bus, etc. So I learned to read, but never learned to write. I know it sounds weird but absolutely true. I can read and understand court decisions, but I could not write one word that appears in those decisions. To this day, part of my job involves checking that Thai translations are accurate interpretations of the English. Luckily, I already have Thai citizenship.

Back when I was teaching English to Japanese housewives about 35 years ago, they were all taking the Primary School level Thai language classes. It was something they did to fill their day. I assume it will be something similar.

Surely, "all applicants have to be able to converse and understand Thai." does not equate with being able to write Thai? Although further down in the article they do say "speak and write Thai". Clarification is needed on this point. If writing is a requisite, I would not qualify, not that it matters for me now. I can speak Thai pretty fluently (I speak Thai about 90 to 95% of the time), and am able to read Thai to a level where I am able to translate court documents into English, but for the life of me I can't write for sh!t. Even when writing my own name in Thai it looks like it was written by a four year old.

Those policemen married to school teachers are probably in deeper sh!t, with the vast majority of school teachers also running on air due to massive debt.

Studies have been made into the impact of vote buying in Thailand, which indicate that it has very little impact at all nowadays. Probably, as you point out, because very often both of the key candidates in any district are giving handouts. What Thaksin did was show the people of the countryside, particularly the North and North East, that their votes were important and that they did have a say. In the past very little interest was paid to the North and North East, and the people were looked down on or with indifference. Once that cat was out of the bag, there was no putting it back, which is one of the few good things he did. Their votes should count. They should have a say in the running of the country like everyone else. I do wish he'd stop banging on though. He's had his glory and should ride his white horse into the sunset, somewhere where there is no electricity or telecommunications system so we don't have to hear his whining again.

I would too and I hate Thaksin. Just shows how much disdain I have for Prayuth and the pseudo democratic government (I'm not allowed to call the government that word that begins with a "d", am I?)

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the flavored powder, as unfortunately milk is off the cards due to increasing lactose intolerance, unless lactose free milk also works. Seems I'm getting all my father's conditions at the same time they kicked in with him.

From the research I have done, it takes quite some time - between 6 months to a year - for the bladder function to return to normal. This is because in cases like mine I used to strain a lot, particularly at night time, when emptying my bladder, so it will take some time for the muscle function to return to normal. Ultimately, I will be happy with only having to get up once a night. I could even settle with twice though as I do fall asleep very quickly after a bathroom visit now.

I had a couple of tests at my last appointment on 18 December and it was negative. The burning sensation only happens when my urine is overly concentrated (deep yellow). For this reason I try to keep hydrated, but not always successful.

A quick update. In two days it will be 11 weeks since I had the Rezum treatment. My flow is continuing to improve and is already better than pre-treatment levels in the day time. I am only getting up twice a night now and the flow is so much better than it used to be. In fact I can't remember it being this strong at night. This helps with sleeping as I am in and out of the bathroom in a jiffy, unlike before when it took an age to get started and then there was the stopping and starting for a couple of minutes until the bladder was empty, by which time I was fully awake. There are still a couple of negatives though and those are urinary urgency and frequency in the day time. So I am peeing only 150 to 200ml most times. However, there is still occasional burning when passing urine and tissue present (minute threads), which I take as a positive because this indicates there is still some inflammation and, as a result, there is likely to be further improvement. It should be noted that from all my reading up on this treatment, burning and tissue issues have usually resolved by about 6 weeks so, perhaps, my body takes longer than most to heal. Any way, there can be quite a variation in the time frame for improvement from one patient to another, but I just seem to be taking longer than the average. Hopefully, by the time I've hit the 4 month mark, everything will be back to normal. All in all, I would say that I am happy with the results so far and am looking forward to further improvement.

Actually not really a good indicator of interaction. I am Titanium but I have been a member since 2005 with an average of less than one post a day. Just shows how little I interact compared to someone like Owl who has only been a member for 4 going on 5 years and already has more posts than me. Obviously, I have nothing much worth sharing though. ???? ????

If you live in Bangkok, you register with the District Office in the district where your house registration is based. You can check your entitlement at this website. https://eservices.nhso.go.th/eServices/mobile/login.xhtml