PFV

Dear Sirs,

Forgive me for taking up your valuable time. I need to visit a diabetes specialist, most preferably in Chiang Mai. If anyone knows of a competent one, do tell me please.

Thank you for reading this.

Yours faithfully,

ishmael.

Hello, in my experience of living here with Diabetes for the past 7 years, there isn't anyone I would call competent in the treatment of diabetes, since one of the 'owner' Doctors at CM Ram told me that a glucose level is normal at around 200, and another doctor prescribed me a medication, but he never told me that I had to have a Kidney test done. Plenty of that kind of stuff from many of the docters at other hospitals too. My suggestion is to use the internet to answer any question about medication, or any care you might need. It has been the only resource I've found valuable in living with my diabetes

Hi Ishmael.

I was recently referred to, and have started seeing, Dr. Natapong, an internist specializing in diabetes here in Chiang Mai. His clinic is on Charoen Prathet rd behind the night bazar. He is there Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after 5 pm. Dr. Natapong has had some training in the US (Boston) and is a very pleasant person to deal with. His attitude is fairly laid back, which can be good or bad depending on how much "management" you need. His clinic does provide the most recent hypoglycemic agents (such as actos and januvia) that I was never successful in finding in Thailand before. Alghough I have only seen him a couple of times, I was favorably impressed with his level of knowledge.

I am not sure how agressive he is with testing, compared to my Dr. in the US, as he relies on my self-administered home tests, alghough he did do an HbA1c when I asked him to. And I don't know how he would deal with a newly diagnosed patient versus someone, such as myself, ho went to him with an existing treatment plan that simply needed some adjusting.

Having lived with this condition for the past 20 years, I fully second Ajarn's advice to use the Internet to learn as much as possible about diabetes and what is required to properly control it.

Please feel free to PM me if you need any more info.

Good luck!

Paul

What they don't have is falang 'sweet basil'....does anyone know of any shops that have real falang 'sweet basil'?? Rimping used to, but out of stock now.

When Rimping is out of basil plants, I order from the Doy Kham shop off Canal rd. The turn-around time is usually a couple of days, and the price, at 50 baht a pot, is higher than Rimping.

Please sign me up (plus one guest). Thank you.

Paul

I second the Rimping option.

Rimping in Nim Daily (Airport Central)- go to the far back right of the store, from the entrance.

Every kind of cold cut, charcuterie, etc. Plus the best cheese selection in CM.

They also have a lot of Italian and Spanish cured meats in the freezer section. Salute!

Buonissimo has a much better selection and is also cheaper. They actually sell some of their products through Rimping where, of course, they are marked up.

Just back from another visit to show the Fan, via the backroads, Its just a shell now. Front wall held up, but both right and left wall gone. ie: all the way through...

On the bright side, i counted 7 or more ice cream/fruit/drink stalls doing great business.

The air con contractor may have been wearing a 'Home-Pro' uniform

[url="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/H4zLNLSqWGfAL7m1xStiGw"][img=http://lh4.ggpht.com/_sM1RPCoL4Uo/SRJ23FqR-aI/AAAAAAAABdo/MXdTtEMBABc/s400/IMG_0821.JPG][/url]From [url="http://picasaweb.google.com/starodubsky/Fire"]Fire[/url]

Or drive down to Nakon Sawan where there is another Global shop.

Pizzamania ? If it's the one on Chiang Mai-Lamphun Rd, it closed recently.

It didn't close, but moved next to the Shell gas station on T. Mahidol (almost opposite mooban Palm Springs)

Cheers.

Paul

Sorry to drag OT.. But how do you guys find skype on mobiles using GPRS and Edge ?? Workable ??

Or are you in wifi range ??

I had been kinda holding off on upgrading my phone to one that can run skype and GPS as my K850 doesnt have a skype client. I kinda thought that Thailand would need to go to 3G before that would be worthwhile..

Have tried it both in Thailand and in the US, but found it unworkable (I think it has to do with the extra latency due to wireless). On the other hand, I have tried it with UMTS (3G) in Europe and it works very well. I have also tried Skype extensively on regular dialup and found it to be OK, as long as you are able to connect in the 50 Kpbs range (farily good phone line).

I am having a few problems with Skype. Perhaps someone knows the answer.

I have a Skype account with a 'Skype In' number, so people can call me on a local number, and it comes through to my PC through. No problems so far.

However, when I try to call forward to my Thai mobile AIS, I am damned if I can do the setting properly. All I want is for it to go to my mobile, not the Skype voice mail. If I dont answer my mobile, then I want to it to go to my mobile voicemail.

Am I the only one with problems with Skype call forwading????

I have your same setup, Skype-In number in US, forwarded to my DTAC cell phone, and it works great.

I believe that the trick is to steup Skype properly in terms of delay before your call is forwarded. Under options/tools/calls/call forwarding, first you have to tell Skype to forward your calls, then you have to give it the number to forward to, using the +66....... format, and then type in the delay time. If your delay is too long, your callers will give up, but if it is too short, you will never get a chance to run to answer from your computer if you are at home. Start with 10 seconds and see if it works for you. If you only want to use your mobile, then I would set the delay to 1 second.

Once you have forwarding set up, try calling your Skype In number from Skype Out and see if your cell phone rings and then forwards to your voicemail.

Good luck!

Paul

Anybody having problems with MaxSh*te server today. I haven't been able to get online since 6pm today. Phoned up the office in Kadsuankaew and the lady said that the server will be online tomorrow (usual bullsh*t reply). Is this problem city wide or just an isolated server? ps. I stay in the Kadsuankaew area.

I'm now getting by with a good old Loxinfo dial up service.

Cheers....

I've had Maxnet for about 5 months now, signed up with their 1Mbps promotion, but chose to go for the upgraded package (fewer shared connections) for about 1k baht/month. I am delighted with their service (Nong Hoi, T. Mahidol) I actually get closer to 2 Mbps and have been down only a couple of times that I can remember. I also still have TOT ADSL as backup, on their 500 baht a month package. TOT service is terrible, more down than up and not more than 220 Kbps. DTAC gprs is almost better than TOT, at least it always works when in a bind.

In my opinion, the upgraded packages are well worth it.

Best of luck,

Paul

My O visa and retirement extension expired 101 days ago. Can I go to CM immigration and get this straightened out (pay fine?) and get another extension?

Has anyone done this or had any experience with overstay in CM?

From experience I know that the maximum overstay fine should be 20k baht (at least it was so a year ago).

In my opinion it is best to go to immigration in CNX because BKK are less friendly and deal with too many people.

A year ago, when I went in for the yearly extension, thinking I could easily switch from marriage to retirement visa, I was told that I had overstayed 300+ days due to the fact that I had divorced almost year earlier and, when you divorce, that you should turn yourself in to have your marriage visa cancelled and a new visa issued in its place.

After returning the next day, and prepared to pay the 20K, I asked if there was any way to avoid it. The officer proposed a work-around that involved a border run and reentering on a 30 day permit, then issuing a new non-o 3-month visa locally (no need to leave the country) which I extended two months later. Of course, since I still had an apparently valid visa in my passport, at the border i was not asked for any money, in your case it is probably more difficult.

In any case, I found CM immigration to be very helpful indeed.

Good luck,

Paul

Very near the Mike's Burgers, next to the moat. (forgive me, I still don't know road names).

Thanks for the photo, Mestizo, that is very helpful.

Mike's is at the Southeast corner of Changmoi Road and Chaiyapoom Road.

That Gecko Books is on Changmoi Road, North side.

I haven't seen it yet, but that puts the Arby's across the street from Mike's (across Changmoi Road), and a few shop houses East (heading away from the moat).

A helpful map is here: http://shrinkify.com/ele

-- Oneman

Hey Mighty Munchers ,, how about an update.

I got a brain whiff of Roast Beef and right away thought of this thread.

Give me the good news

gonzo

Took home a roast beef sandwitch two days ago and was very happy with it, much better than what Arby's has become these days. I need to go back to try the Philly cheesesteak, the coleslaw and the fries.

Paul

At home we cook mostly Italian and Thai (wife) and go aout about a couple of times a week.

Ingredients come from Carrefour, Rimping, Makro, Doi Kham and Buonissimo.

Not having had much luck with steak in CM (Villa in BKK is OK), the last few trips back home (US) I have ben buying several pounds of sirloin from Costco putting it a cooler bag with artificial ice, and sticking it in the freezer when I get back here.

I tried Via Vai recently and I thought I would share my experiences with everyone.

.........

Overall, it was a good dining experience. If others have eaten there, especially tried the pizza, please feel free to add your thoughts.

I agree entirely, Via Vai is one of my preferred Italian restaurants in Bangkok (along with Zanotti and Basilico). Their pizzas are excellent as well as their seafood soup (baked inside pizza bread).

At the moment am connected via CSLOXINFO via landline with very poor speed (which is acceptable for what i need access for) however would prefer to connect my Acer Laptop with windows Xp via a nokia mobile if possible ??

The laptop has bluetooth.What nokia would I need-talk me through the requirements if possible ??

Have searched forum with limited results.

Am based in Korat-am not a computer geek (no offence) so if what im asking is obvious then i apologise in advance.

Thanks.

Chivas

I do this all the time with an Acer laptop and a Nokia. I selected DTAC service having read, a few years ago when I set everything up, that AIS has problems with their GPRS implementation.

First, you need a phone with bluetooth and GPRS capabilities, then your phone account needs to be activated for GPRS.

Then you need to pair your phone and laptop, which should be easy by following the wizard in XP and the Nokia.

Then you need to setup your cell phone (access point, packet data etc.). You can find help through the Nokia website or your provider.

Lastly you need to create a bluetoogh dial-up connection in XP using the bluetooth modem. Remember to set the modem's advanced properties according to the information your provider has given you (for DTAC it is: AT+CGDCONT=1,"ip","www.dtac.co.th").

Again, I brought my laptop and phone to Nokia in Bangkok and they did everything for me.

Long story short: Maxnet and TT&T service has been repeatedly dropping out for months now and after dozens of phone calls and a couple of site visits it is still not fixed. Their customer service department do not have a clue how to handle this situation, so here I am doing some research.

My question is regarding whether or not TT&T and TOT have totally different internet infrastructures to handle their individual services - or do they share it like they share the physical telephone lines ?

The reason I ask is that I am considering getting TOT in to install a new line alongside my existing TT&T line and subscribing to the TOT internet service in the hope that it may keep chugging along during the times when my Maxnet connection dies.

We have been told the TOT service is crap - but I have learnt to expect nothing more of internet service in Thailand outside Bangkok and am willing to give it a shot. Two crap services combined may be enough to keep me online 24/7.

If they both share the same infrastructure - I'm stuffed

Here in Chiang Mai I had the opposite problem with very bad service from TOT for many months now, with frequent connection resets that interfere with e-mail, and a maximum speed of about 200 kbps. TOT explained that that was the most I could get due to the position of my house. However my neighbors down the street had Maxnet with full 1 Mps speed.

Having contacted TT&T, providers of Maxnet, they came out and installed a new phone line to my house. I had to pay 500 baht more for the installation due to some extra wiring work on the street in order to reach my house. Today I have a full 1 Mps from Maxnet while the TOT service is still what it used to be (I am keeping it as a backup, since Maxnet does go down at times). So, to answer your question, I suppose that they do not share the same infrastructure.

I maintain virtual US residence. I have a US address, US phone number, and US driver's license. I don't live there and hope I never have to live there again. Why do I do this? Mainly to avoid hassles with my existing relationships with US banks, credit card companies, and brokerage houses.

Do you do the same?

I keep a virtual address at a friend's place in the US, where I visit once a year to pick up the mail. If something urgent arrives, he opens it, scans it, and e-mails it to me. I also kept my US driver's license and will renew it when it expires, and a US cell phone number that I forward to my Skypein number to limit costs. Skype also allows you to dial toll-free numbers in the US, which is a huge convenience.

I changed the address on one credit card to Thailand, but kept the US address on the second to have the best of both worlds. This seems to work quite well, except that every three months or so I need to call them because they block the card due to suspicious overseas transactions. There are no statements to deal with since everything is electronic.

I had changed my brokerage account address to Thailand, but quickly changed it back to the US when I found out about the investing restrictions.

I still keep my US health insurance, with a huge deductible, just in case something really major happens and for peace of mind.

All the above seems to work quite nicely, at least so far.

Additional Babel Fish Translation of a Corriere della Sera news article needing better translation:

http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronach...to_Italia.shtml

Sexual tourism, first arrest in Italy

The accusations: minorile prostituzione, minorile pornografia, sexual actions with under-age store clerks in Thailandia and Cambodia

TRENTO - minorile Prostituzione, minorile pornografia, sexual actions with under-age. With these accusations the Police of State of Trento has arrested one person, giá known to the police enforcements, giving execution to a guard decree to secure emitted from the Power of attorney of Trento. Surveyings, coordinated from the proxy Stefano Dragone, have been carried out from the men of the Police Mail them and of the Communications of Trento that have proceeded to deepened assessments, verifications and crossings of data all of exquisitely computer science nature on the material seized to the inquired one. It turns out to you have carried to the provision, first case in Italy for crimes of this kind (sexual tourism), store clerks in Thailandia and Cambodia, on the base of the disposed one of which to the art. the 604 c.p. been involved minors would turn out of etá comprised between the 12 and 18 years, all aliens of the Asian south-east.

Here are better translations of the two articles:

From Ansa

A 55 year old man from Trento was arrested for sex tourism committed over the web. He was discovered thanks to Postal Police investigations on exchanges taking place over the Internet. It is Italy's first arrest for this type of crime. The investigation focused on the exchange of pedo-pornograhic material. The man is accused of committing sexual acts with young Thai and Cambodian girls between 12 and 16 years of age. The arrest warrant cites the crimes of prostitution involving minors, pornography involving minors and sexual acts with minors.

From Corriere della Sera

The individual was already known to Law Enforcement

Sex Tourism, First Arrest in Italy

Accusation: Prostitution involving minors, pornography involving minors and sexual acts with minors in Thailand and Cambodia

Trento - Prostitution involving minors, pornography involving minors and sexual acts with minors. These are the accusations that prompted the State Police of Trento to arrest a man, already known to law enforcement officers, on a warrant issued by the District Attorney’s office of Trento. Investigations, coordinated by District Attorney Stefano Dragone, were carried out by Trento agents of the Postal and Communications Police, who investigated the case in depth including cross-checks which focused on computer-based data seized from the accused. The investigation led to a warrant being issued, a first in Italy, for this type of crime (sex tourism) committed in Thailand and Cambodia in violation of Art. 604 of the Penal Code. The minors involved appear to have been between 12 and 18 years of age, all foreign women living in South-East Asia.

September 19, 2007

Do you drive a car in Changmai?

What are your experiences in driving your car in Changmai?

What advice do you have for some one who wants to drive a car in Changmai?

I have heard of some horror stories in regards to "Farangs" driving cars. Such as people running into you on purpose in order to extort compensation. Has this happened to you?

How do you handle being stopped by the police?

I find driving in Chiang Mai fairly easy, as you are rarely confronted with Bangkok-style traffic jams. On the other hand, Bangkok drivers are a lot better when it comes to observing the rules of the road. The biggest challenge for me in Chiang Mai is scooter and motorbike drivers who all seam to share some kind of death wish, Thai and Farang alike. It reminds me somewhat of driving in Naples, Italy. Outside of Chiang Mai, the mountain roads are a lot of fun. I second others in recommending first class insurance for peace of mind. I have never heard of nor experienced anything like accidents caused purposefully to extort compensation. The only time I was stopped by the police was for not wearing a seat belt. After telling the officer I did not have time to go to the Police Station, he demanded and I paid 400 baht tea money.

A couple of years ago, I was late in seeing a red light while driving in Chiang Rai. Brakes locked, I ended up entering the intersection and hitting another car (fortunately nobody was hurt). The police came over to see what happened, but didn't ticket me even after I admitted guilt (!?). The other driver was reasonable and the worst of it was wasting about 2 hours for the insurance guy to come over and fill out all the paperwork.

Does anyone know the web address for the travel consolidators who operate the website for all travel originating from BKK?

BKK is the only point of origin.

I had it, but can't seem to locate at the moment.

It's a clear and easy website to maneuver. Works very well for research and price checking for travel from BKK.

BTW, have a wonderful bar b que and try to stay dry. Wish I could attend, but I'm in Maine for the summer and will return early October.

Thanks for your help.

Try bangkoktickets.com or travexnet. com, the rates should be the same.

Hi Mouse, as another diabetic, I imagine that one possible explanation is that he may not have known of his condition. Often diabetics are diagnosed only when serious symptoms appear or during routine blood work. If he did not know, then his family wouldn't have known. Naturally, we are talking about Type II diabetes here. If he did not know about his condition, then he probably wasn't taking any medicine (orals or insulin) and would not have requested it during his prison stay. The stress of his situation plus change of diet in prison, especially after a weight-loss regimen, would all lead to dangerously high glucose levels. Any existing infection or underlying heart condition would only make matters worse.

Doctors allegedly diagnosed a blood sugar level three times the normal level. Because of the previous starvation diet, the arrest might have led to a shock. Then again, there was talk about a rapidly progressing infection.

A diet could certainly lead to schock, just as undue stress could in conjunction with heat or even the lack of medication. The statement that he asked for Sprite indicates that he knew what was going on, wehter he told anyone I do not know. I also use Sprite to bring me back to normal when I start shaking.

When I was reading about a “blood infection” earlier in the thread I was wondering whether that was brought on by the use of non-sterile needles or other equipment, but let me add quickly that this is idle speculation.

I was recently in hospital with a severe abdominal infection that required surgery. Not until I put sympthoms together with Internet access, did I ask the good Dr. to have me checked for Diabetes and he was shocked when my suspicions were confirmed.

A combination of the heat with his change of diet seems to have caused him to act strangely. Strange behaviour can be a symptom of hypoglycemia which would explain the translated term sugar shock.

When I do not get my medication or my meals are not on time I go through some horendous mood swings. Ask my wife, bless her heart, for she has to put up with it.

This does not condone what the gentleman did, nor does this explain the situation, it merely points to a possible explanation based on my experinces alone.

No matter, no one deserves to die due to lack of medical attention for breaking a minor law. But, unless they were aware of the problem, it is not an easy diagnosis to make and can be easily dismissed as an obnoxious person or someone intoxicated.

I just hope that if I ever get sent to a jail for any minor infraction, that I be allowed to take my medication and get plenty of water.

Well I have enjoyed looking at the posts arguing about what speed the gprs can achieve but not had much advice on my op about ipstar

Hi there,

I am in a situation similar to yours, living in a village south of Chiang Rai with no land line. I have been using IPSTAR for about 2 months. No complaints. I have a 1Mbps/512 Kbps package through TOT at 2600 B/month + tax.

I used to use GPRS before, but it was a pain and skyping was not possible.

Now I get an international bandwith between 250 and 320 Kbps, a domestic bandwith between 850 and 980 Kbps, very few service interruptions (generally during the peak of a storm or intermittently, every few days, for a few minutes at a time) and skype works fine, most of the time. The most severe slowdowns are in the evening when everyone gets online.

Hope this helps.

Paul

I have had IPSTAR for over 2 months now and cannot complain.

Service is through TOT, not Loxinfo: 1Mbps/512Kbps home package at 2600 B per month plus tax.

My domestic bandwith (Loxinfo speed test and Thai TV feeds) conform that I am getting around 1 Mbps, however international bandwith is much lower. About 350 Kbps for Asian sites, 250-300 Kbps for US sites and less than that for European sites. Evenings, of course, are the most problematic.

Connectivity has been fairly reliable. I have not had any disonnects for the past week, and usually these can be solved switching the modem off and on. I do keep the modem and PC on UPS in an air-conditioned room.

I can't understand why service through Loxinfo would be so much more expensive and less reliable?!

Cheers,

Paul

Despite my fulfilling all written requirements in respect of obtaining a one year extension - I was in effect being forced to leave Thailand (and my family etc) because my bank letter and bank book differed by 6000 baht - albeit well above the required minimum.

Makes you wonder sometimes doesn't it ?

I did my first marriage extension back in February at Maesai. Had all docs with me, but was one week early, i.e. 5 weeks before the 90 day expiration date. I was told that I should come back one week later because the limit for applying was one month prior to the date on the stamp and that the fact we have been married 15 years was irrelevant. Upon insisting, they asked us how old I was and how much money was in the bank. Since I am under 50, the retirement option they could have done right then and there was not possible, but upon hearing that we had almost left 800,000 in the bank (from an initial wire transfer of 1.2M B 3 months earlier) they said they could indeed process my application anyway because it was well above the minimum, and was told to return 40 days later to pick up the extension. During the 40 days we withdrew over 100,000 Bht from the account. After 40 days I went back expecting to have to return again, since this was my first time which is supposed to take longer, but to my amazement, the extension had arrived, and I was out in a few minutes after purchasing a multiple re-entry permit.

So, in my experience, it is all a question of how financially solid they think you are, or how much money you are spending in Thailand.

Best of luck to you!

Paul

I've had IPSTAR for about 2 weeks now and it has been working without glitches or interruptions of service, except for the lower-than-advertised speed. I am just south of Chiang Rai and my provider is TOT.

I signed up for the 1 Mbps package (2600 Bht/month) but am only getting around 300 Kbps downoads and 500/600 Kbps uploads. Next week I will try complaining again to the local TOT people since I have no other IPSTAR contact...

Skype works very well, with almost no delay at all.

All in all I am a happy camper considering that the village only has one public telephone booth and you cannot even get a land line.

I believe you're still subject to Thai taxation whether or not you pay taxes in another country. At least I've been paying Thai tax for years, and the Revenue Dept knows I'm also taxed in two other countries (one my country of citizenship, the other where I make most of my income, even though I reside full-time in Thailand).

In the European Union you're taxed in your country of residence, regardless of the country the income derives from. What I'm unclear about is whether I could apply for a self-employed working visa in Thailand and issue invoices for work received from Europe - the companies and organisations I do jobs for usually need an invoice and, if I were living in Thailand, I'd no longer have self-employed status in Italy.

Hi Purplesage, here are my two cents worth:

As a resident of Italy you need a partita IVA code that needs to be printed on your invoices. After you move to Thailand you will invoice as a non-resident, no need for partita IVA, etc. When you arrive in Thailand you will probably get a local drivers license and register with your Embassy; this should be able to prove to any Italian authorities that you no longer reside in Italy. The Italians are not concerned with your legal right to work in Thailand, just that you are no longer officially residing in the EU and therefore no longer subject to their taxation.

On the Thai side you should pay income tax on the income you actually bring into Thailand each year, not on the lump sum you earn. So if you make $50K a year but only bring in $20K, you pay tax on the $20K.

However, you could choose to keep your mouth shut and "fly under the radar", unless you are afraid of some jealous neighbor reporting you.....

If you need more anonymity, just set up an offshore company and invoice under its name and address (I would go for one of the inexpensive Caribbean solutions). Then, you can simply claim that you are retired and living off a "reverse-mortgage loan" from this offshore company having put op some undisclosed property you own as collateral. This is just one option of course.