loppylugs1

India has the finest most advanced medical equipment the world produces, all state of the art. It really makes me scream when I see the cost of procedures here. not just this but anything and everything,laser treatment for eye surgery Widex hearing aids, prescription medicines (2000 baht here a month ,100 baht a month there).

For what you are going through the Da Vinci robotic machines,looked it up ( and this would be a touristy hospital) in India are advertising at 80% off USA prices,far cheaper stepping out of the tourist or health tourism bunch,see how cheap it is then.

No kidney taken,finest hospital care the world could offer at a fraction of Thailands prices. Sure there is life before death and I am not getting soaked by some of the charges applied here in Thailand

Cameras up the ass,down the throat looking for polyps £20 last time there each end,not that I would choose that place but path lab prices for each sample now £9 instead of £11 exchanges rates I could get rates for imagining suites if you wanted

......., the best solution is prostate removal utilizing the DaVinci machine robotic surgery. A one inch cut and blood loss is less than a teaspoon of blood, and you're up and around in a few days. The knife method of operation requires 2 liters of blood, a eight inch cut, and 6 months or more of full recovery. Check Dr. Jay Yew website as he's one of the top guys in the US on this. I think there are 2 hospitals here in Thailand that bought this DaVinci machine. It really expensive, somewhere over 2million $ US. The hospital where the King is and one other one.

Good news, RAM in Chiang Mai has such a DaVinci robot. And Dr. Bannakij is able to use it. Estimated costs in such a case ~ 400.000 to 450.000 THB (Dr. Bannakij).

That seems quite reasonable pricing to me, I just got a quote for Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy in Bumrungrad, 650 to 750,000Baht price includes 1 night ICU,5 nights in the ward.

Regards BW

Yes I have had quotes such as these,was three days in hospital etc.for less than one tenth of these prices. Looking at new procedure before I commit to anything ,but in India

Sea snakes are Kraits I think this one has no thickened tail to assist swimming fact is it does not resemble a sea snake perhaps dumped or something

Next to where I live lies a 28 bed apartment/hotel,two years since completion with an accompanying restaurant little further down.Whatever the developer developed from and his ideas of selling it has well and truly fallen apart.I guess most if not all purchases especially in latter years in Pattaya have the same idea,buy now,quick buck later,perhaps rent for a while let the market pick up a bit of heat before offloading.

With what is going on now can see an almighty headache developing

I hope we have a high season. Someone told me advance airline bookings to the LOS during high season are way down this year so far. FWIW

July and August are normally top months for the airliners with high season prices.

Have you noticed the promotions of 40 and 50% the major airliners give this year ?

Jet airways has currently a promotion at 7.435 Baht to their European destinations.

Planes must be full, NOT?

The lower than low prices were on off throughout most of the high season this year too to Thailand. Pattaya packed with tourists? ever seen the typical tourist nowadays. Tribes of Indians(not the red sort) trailing up and down,middle eastern,no comment,Russkies hardly spending a rouble The Aussies in far less numbers as their economy hits the buffers as the European,the Chinese not far off either

Yet the building boom goes on,every square inch of available land being built on,must be something I am missing out on. Let the journey continue

You will be looking for Father Ray foundation pool then open to public 50 a go

10 Yeats its the same story. Isn't it quite. Samui.phuket. Pattaya all the forums the same. Tourist numbers have increased. Yes it is quite as normal and the coup didn't help. Most businesses plan for seasonal adjustments. A few months we will be getting threads " isn't Pattaya busy" as per last year. Businesses will close as they do but those serious will continue as normal.

Sent from my TRUE BEYOND 4G using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You failing to see the fundamental changes.

For starters tourist numbers have increased according to TAT only.

Secondly and most importantly the demographics of tourists has changed.

Number of prepaid tours have gone crazy and while more go through the gates of airport, those prepaid groups do not spend any money in the country

It also has nothing to do with being a serious business or not. It solely relies on owners ability to fund the business through the rough times.

Could not agree more with the OP,never known it as bad,wonder if there ever will eventually be a major upswing.Not just lack of tourists,for sale signs now 10 a penny from farangs,cannot get shut of houses cars bikes condos unless agree to knockdown price. Just bought the GF a bike few years old(one with a motor) at giveaway price(her family now making many demands ,which I am not contributing to) can afford 10 k though if she wants to give the bike to them.

If the bank shares in the west are a bellwether of things to come,then things will become far worse.

Flown with them twice. First time the aircraft arrived 5 hours late, missed the Singapore connection, so had to overnight in Singapore, SCOOT could'nt have cared less, many passengers expecting to connect to Europe missed flights. So much for cheap flights !

Second time, after paying extra to get my suitcase forwarded through at Singapore, to save any problems, the airline lost my case at Singapore, i had to wait in Bangkok for 5 days until it was located. Once again, SCOOT could'nt have cared less. So much once again, for cheap flights.

My advice to those using SCOOT is be very careful as they will not give you any assistance. I now realise that "Cheap" really means "Chancy" you may or you may not be lucky, its really a gamble. If you are going on to a European connection, best to go a day early as you might not catch your flight with SCOOT.

Funny really almost every passenger on the plane stated it was finest airline they have ever flown with....not.

Think I was lucky, delayed the Sing to BKK by an hour to avoid a horde of passengers dossing on Changi floor.

Back from my trip,and what a disaster,got damned pneumonia yet again ,anyway bombarded myself up with amoxillian and has done the trick

For sure will have to get something done about the prostate,just takes over your life.cannot understand how bursting for a pee and only a spoonful (a teaspoons worth) only comes out,other times free flow and no urgency to perform.

Mind over matter perhaps,but when bursting for a pee and nowhere to pee can be a big problem. As #159 states "the proven quality of Thai medical care" I would put it the other way around, I have a profound admiration for Indian medical care,not so Thai care,have a couple of months before I can launch into that sphere but will be doing so

should be on top of the carb,or at side of it. look on you tube too,amazing what it lists there

Think this is the gist of it.

The thief (I think I have got over a barrel) yes was the thief. Likes travelling to the USA frequently,as the thief was arrested questioned and searched is enough for the visa waiver process to be denied and I informed the thief of that,full blown visa has to be applied for. Sent me a load of threatening emails if I reveal to US immigration if I do just that,I replied if payment was received for all the inconvenience (had to stay another 2 weeks to sort things out and get cheaper flights)

Even if thief reimburses me all the expenses, I might wait a while and do just that

Not bothered about re-entry stamp at this stage,cannot see myself going anywhere for a bit. Looks as if I have caught another dose of pneumonia and on meds accordingly. Always coming from cold weather into hot one,first bad cold ,then onto chest,left alone it certainly gathers a'pace

Yes was visa extension

Thanks for the scans - very informative.

As you have the police report plus the ETD observations page states that it replaced your passport, which was declared as lost, then the Embassy Letter may well not be necessary.

Definitely bowl up to your local immigration that previously issued your retirement Extension/Re-entry Permit, they will be able to access your details through your stated old passport number and then transfer the stamps to your ETD.

Only issue I can see is that you entered Thailand this time on a TR Visa, but in the current climate how else could you have entered?

Pretty sure immigration will re-instate your Retirement extension and re-entry permit, however is the original Retirement Extension expiry date before or after the ETD expiry date.

Good luck and please do let the forum know how it goes.

Retirement visa extension was good to up and until 1 Nov 14

I mentioned the re-entry permit as being needed if you were trying to get a an extension of stay reinstated.

Now I assume you a visa not an extension of stay based upon retirement.

You will have to go somewhere by Sept. 2 or apply for a 30 day extension for your 60 day tourist visa entry.

Hopefully you will have a new passport by October or you will end up on an overstay.

Yes am on visa extension,on retirement visa,had it for some mmm 5 years or so,prob longer. Think immigration offices closed today,will try next week,anyway I quite like Penang . Queen Vic and all that stuff

Think this is the gist of it.

The thief (I think I have got over a barrel) yes was the thief. Likes travelling to the USA frequently,as the thief was arrested questioned and searched is enough for the visa waiver process to be denied and I informed the thief of that,full blown visa has to be applied for. Sent me a load of threatening emails if I reveal to US immigration if I do just that,I replied if payment was received for all the inconvenience (had to stay another 2 weeks to sort things out and get cheaper flights)

Even if thief reimburses me all the expenses, I might wait a while and do just that

Not bothered about re-entry stamp at this stage,cannot see myself going anywhere for a bit. Looks as if I have caught another dose of pneumonia and on meds accordingly. Always coming from cold weather into hot one,first bad cold ,then onto chest,left alone it certainly gathers a'pace

Yes was visa extension

Remembered light years ago in this position scared witless,yes was gassed eventually

Funniest thing ever was "think of the tooth fairy" years later the expression was "fukc the tooth fairy"

Wherever you are, if you are overseas, then it will probably take 8-10 weeks for your replacement passport to arrive and even if you have the ETD you will need to go to that same country to collect your passport.

My understanding from the British Embassy BKK is that the ETD is only good for the journey which is written up in the observation notes.

The Embassy indicated to me that Thai Immigration might also not accept an ETD for new extensions but it should be ok as regards transfer of extension details, but whether this is actually the case or not has not is yet to be reported.

If your plan is to travel to Thailand and apply here, then allow 10 weeks from application to collection with an extra 2-4 weeks wait for an application appointment at trendy BKK.

The Thai visa in your ETD will give you until the 2 Sept, which is almost certainly not enough, however it has been reported that Thai immigration departments have been asked from high up to help when possible UK citizens trapped in the British Passport application fiasco to resolve these kind of problems, so you might be in luck.

Just to follow up yes am now in Thailand. The retirement visa was good until 1 Nov 14,and will go to immigration and put it to them,see how they respond. I have quite a few weeks left anyway.

The thief was caught,but no passport,looks as though I might make a similar MH370 flight in the future

Have got interview date at BKK ,and really do not want to go back to where I reported the passport stolen

Wherever you are, if you are overseas, then it will probably take 8-10 weeks for your replacement passport to arrive and even if you have the ETD you will need to go to that same country to collect your passport.

My understanding from the British Embassy BKK is that the ETD is only good for the journey which is written up in the observation notes.

The Embassy indicated to me that Thai Immigration might also not accept an ETD for new extensions but it should be ok as regards transfer of extension details, but whether this is actually the case or not has not is yet to be reported.

If your plan is to travel to Thailand and apply here, then allow 10 weeks from application to collection with an extra 2-4 weeks wait for an application appointment at trendy BKK.

The Thai visa in your ETD will give you until the 2 Sept, which is almost certainly not enough, however it has been reported that Thai immigration departments have been asked from high up to help when possible UK citizens trapped in the British Passport application fiasco to resolve these kind of problems, so you might be in luck.

Thanks for the information

Got emergency one from Brit consul,plus visa until 2 Sept 14 from Thai consul. I already have retirement visa, showed in stolen passport which presumably is held on computer ,and have copy of such...question is ..... valid until (the emergency passport )until March 15 2015 ,will Thai immigration transfer my retirement visa into it my emergency one,so I can use it until that date ?

got a date from Brit embassy to replace the stolen one, ( I fill the passports that quickly,only had two pages left in stolen one,with another 7 years left on it) it seems a good opp to take advantage of using a few pages up of the emergency one until time up next year

I am still at a loss as to why this has anything to do with Jameson's

A picture says a thousand words,as well as....just read the article, they all knew what was going on and actively involved at some stage or other,just read the poster comments,not all under Jameson s roof obviously Finally I feel sorry for all those punters that have lost their life savings to the scum that operate and help these boiler room shysters

Always wondered how a place as that could operate on such a small clientele,true at times quite full,but mostly empty

Oh that. Maybe you need to reread the article as it apparently has nothing to do with Jameson's.

Think you need to re read the article

Well they've been around for at least 5 years or so so I guess they'll last a few more days.

Not if those that matter are not now wearing concrete shoes

The figure $100,000 A MONTH just for being a mule how much money were these guys dealing with Billions?

Well they've been around for at least 5 years or so so I guess they'll last a few more days.

Not if those that matter are not now wearing concrete shoes

I should say booked well in advance

130$Au each way to OOL plus plus, not bad and no overnight stuff.

As for Aussie, Gold coast not bad ,but the rest of it up to Cairns and beyond all over hyped rubbish

Used Aeroflot last time,filled with dread,surprisingly it was a joy,good food heaps of it,comfortable seats etc.

Coming back a little less joyous but OK

Get a step through instead of a step over