12 hours ago, dejenny80 said:

If you need a medical check-up or blood tests, I would recommend medconsult clinic, much cheaper than the big hospitals but it is a british gp. They are reliable and have a quicker turn around.

 

I will try to get their price leaflet for checkup packages

 

I think I paid around 3500 baht with my pap smear etc.

I have never done an annual check up I just think it's time as now 57. I have no health issues that I know of and I am slightly overweight if you look at BMI calendars and believe their guidelines, but non smoker, very light drinker and I exercise.

It is this PSA test I am hearing about for my age group. My last blood tests in the UK revealed nothing at all, they told me.

The other thing is you get a long list from the hospitals about what they are checking and I don't know if these are all performed with simple blood tests and then you have to think are they just ' thickening up the package ' as in the list of checks they say they carry out to justify their charges?

24 minutes ago, dejenny80 said:

https://www.medconsultasia.com/health-check-ups

 

 

ok I don't know how to insert the photo but found that on their website!!

Thank you for taking the time, I am grateful.

5 hours ago, Oxx said:

Has anyone had any recent success using online registration for Bangkok? I submitted my application six weeks ago and have had zero response.

 Similar time I submitted now and still no response. If you look at the rolling/scrolling text on the website, it says in Thai that they are  upgrading the system. I don't know however if that is any good to any of us, because any excuse to fine us, they will usually.

30 minutes ago, Barry343 said:

Morons like this are part of the reason Thai Immigration is making it harder on foreigners to retire here.

Your comments have no bearing on the reasons why Immigration policies have changed and keep changing. That is all to do with ' big brother ' and checking where foreigners are at all times due to the xenophobic behaviour of the country's leaders.

It certainly isn't because of a few unbalanced foreigners in a country full of unbalanced natives.

8 hours ago, treetops said:

EU261/2004 is not a voluntary scheme and applies to Middle Eastern airlines as well as EU based ones.  The key difference is it's only applicable to flights leaving the EU for the Middle Eastern airlines, not going to the EU.

I was told it was a ' voluntary charter ' that the airlines signed up to and it may be an EU regulation but I am unsure if it is a ' law ' or can be deemed as such?

I am not going to get into it, as I really don't know.

I can see now though now, how Etihad got out of it because it was the return journey to Manchester from Bangkok via Abu Dhabi.

Therefore, although the ticket was bought and paid and originated in the UK, the return flight began in Bangkok, South East Asia.

I think he is meaning this, but it takes forever to get sorted. The guy will end up in overstay and in jail if he is not careful.

6 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

Dont know ,how low can you go? mind you it depends where the Indians come from ,i find the Hindu people and the Sikhs quite nice .

Let's be honest, they were all Indians at one time, just of different faiths and as usual religion caused the problem leading to the formation of Pakistan and then Bangladesh.

The Hindus and Sikhs as you refer to, and I am sure you know, tend to mix more socially and drink alcohol, go to bars and restaurants and nightclubs. The Muslims, unless in Pattaya and the like,...... don't!

Anyway, I will leave that area alone as the post is about the Indians and tourism.

The one major point I find ridiculous reading on here are figures released by the Thai ' powers-that-be '' running and reporting tourism in the country.

As most of us already know, business and tourism as a business, have peaks and troughs and are affected by a myriad of outside factors and forces constantly at work, of which the country has no power over. These include the global outlook such as oil prices and recessions in countries, the US-China tensions, European fiasco, Brexit etc. and so it goes on.

Therefore, to start producing and revising tourist statistics monthly is a complete waste of time and a nonsense. To form any kind of statistical graph that is of any use at all, you need at least to be comparing this year with the previous two or three years. This year hasn't even got underway yet and it could just be a late start.It could be the long forecast Apocalypse that folk have been predicting coming home to roost.

People might finally have got the message that their tourist cash is wanted, tourists are not.

Nobody knows yet.

These weekly knee jerk articles released by TAT and the likes are just not worthy of peoples attention.

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

I intend use tm30 report as possessor. Can file myself with only lease and minor other stuff. Do it by mail. Not need anything from owner, well apart from lease which I have.

A quick question.

I might not understand this TM30 correct but I thought they wanted to know within 24 hours?

How would that fly if you are sending in TM30 by mail?

9 minutes ago, rickudon said:

The leaving check is just one hand - to make sure you are still the original passport holder ..... 

rickudon,

How does it work then when I will be leaving at the beginning of August and I entered way before this new system was implemented so they will not have any prints on record. Will they do four fingers and thumbs then on exit?

Second, I am told these are then compared with your ' chip ' embedded in your passport, so these new gadgets must have access to whatever is in our chips if that is the way it works.

6 minutes ago, Mansell said:

Try Kyoto Japan, three hours because of all the Koreans coming for shopping.

Honestly?

7 hours ago, Johnnyngai said:

Did Sihanoukville even had any law and order ?   

I thought about going there for my dirty old man vacation. 

I read from English language tour books that the police there required a 20usd fee to file a theft report.  

The police there and in and around Cambodia in general, are fairly horrible creatures that even make the Thai police look decent. Because of ridiculous low wages, they are totally corrupt and it isn't going to change anytime soon.

They can't be trusted to do their jobs, and I found the higher up the chain of command, they tended to be dismissive of foreigners when they even speak to you, as though they are some kind of higher species as opposed to corrupt lowlifes. When I had a local address for a bank account, it needed verifying, which is merely a police signature and stamp, they wanted $25 for that.

I even recall a situation one time in Siem Reap, my friends had a guesthouse / small hotel and they had a fire due to an electrical fault. The 'fire police '  their name given to the Fire brigade, refused to attend, they had asked for a crates of beer on arrival, if they were to turn out.

My pals called the actual owner of the property a local influential Cambodian, and after a few phone calls they eventually turned up.

It makes me wonder sometimes what expats on here talk about relocating to Cambodia, if they really know what it is really like.

1 hour ago, Traubert said:

Last year, the country received 6.2 million foreign tourists including 2 million Chinese, earning gross revenue of 4.35 billion U.S. dollars, the minister said, adding that tourism contributed 12.7 percent to the country's gross domestic product.

 

You're going to have to explain how that works.

 

Have you been down to Sihanoukville recently?

It's all well and good what government agencies report in the news, the reality on the ground is somewhat different for the Cambodian vendors and small business people living there.

Cambodians are always complaining that the Chinese just do not spend in the local shops, bars, restaurants, and bookings for accommodation are usually a block booking through agencies in China. In Sihanoukville, the biggest rise in any businesses being built and opening in Sihanoukville are casinos, of which the real owners are Chinese. It is a Chinese enclave.

Thanks guys, I am also thinking of Samitivej hospital.

5 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

I guess you could say that the Spanish government and/or local merchants had nothing to do with it as you have not provided any factual information to support that hypothesis.  

I know what happened, I lived over there at the time.

I wasn't aware that everything stated here had to be backed up with links and historical facts of Spanish tourism back in the day.

I certainly have no intention of spending time on the computer to justify my comments to please you, because you choose not to accept them. I recall it happening at the time and that's it.

15 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Thailand’s deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon flies 100km in US$37 million police jet,

South China Morning Post

 

Another day of shame for Thailand international image. 

A journey that as Deputy PM could be driven in an hour or so.

1 hour ago, ocddave said:

Sorry, BILLION ????

or 36 million USD.

Greedy fat basket case he is!

I am going to book a medical check up which I have put off for far too long. I feel fine and in reasonable health. Non smoker, very light drinker.

I did have major surgery in 2005 at Bumrungrad, which was fantastic and I am happy I went there for it was  a life saving operation. Excellent service.

What I did learn from that experience is that many of the surgeons and doctors work a circuit of hospitals and are not tied to any particular one.

That being the case and bearing in mind that the prices differ widely but the annual check ups are basically the same, can anybody give any recommendations based on personal experience on costs and value for money of a good hospital for a check up? Bumrungrad is coming in expensive.

Has anybody used Phyathai 2 hospital please? They are offering a comprehensive package at 22,500 baht. Samitivej hospital doing a package for over 55s at 23,400 baht.

I am 57 years old, it seems to make a difference on packages.

4 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

How did the Spanish government get all of the shop and hotel and restaurant owners to lower prices for tourists?

I think major discussions took place between the central government and principalities along with input from the British tourism side as to why the tourists were no longer coming, bearing in mind the Brits were a very large percentage of Spain's tourist trade and buyers of 2nd homes and retirement properties. Market forces played the biggest hand in it all.

Whatever the result, prices went down. They had to because also what came along was the all inclusive deals whereby the tourists got hotel, food and drink all in together, so in essence, the tourist could just pay in the UK, take minimal cash and hang around the resorts all day, eating and drinking at the all inclusive resorts.

Yes, in the resorts they gave them the cheaper local beers and local spirits, but it all came down to costs in the end and affordability.