dapperdan

4 hours ago, iamariva1957 said:

No idea where you get that about US travel. Yes it is soon Memorial Day weekend and that makes it a special national holiday. The next is July 4... again a special holiday. But to say the domestic tourism is hot... nope... it is just right now with the national holiday. 

tourism and travel are getting very hot in US, even though 50% are still wearing masks in their hidden holes.  It's gaining momentum all over, especially the red states with less regulations.  Miami airport is very busy; why go to Thailand and go thru the paperwork and hassles and cops arresting you for not having your mask on straight. Some are just waiting to get back, close up their apartments, get stuff and close their bank accounts. I feel sorry for the owners of condos, they're screwed. Thailand isn't fun now.

10 hours ago, chilly07 said:

No thankyou.

Please stay where you are.

Chonburi has had enough Wuflu imports from Bangkok and even if you have just finished quarantine you can still carry an infection

You’re not the police. People don’t care about your phobia. They’ll go where they are allowed.

Travelex refused to comply the "Foreign Insurance Certificate".  Does anyone know of a n insurance company that will sell travel insurance and fill out this form?

n

I've been getting the OA Visa from NY for many years, so I can stay for about 6 months.  The New York Consulate lists many requirements from police clearance to bank balance which I've always complied with.  I always carry plenty of travel insurance, through my visit,  for my stay. They don't ask for insurance from the Thai insurance companies they suggest, for longer stays. So I guess the Thai insurance requirement only applies if I applied for an extension, for a year, in Thailand. The question is; if they don't have Thai insurance listed as a requirement, I can get an OA as usual without it.  Right?

Astrogenica list price is $3,oo a shot.  Needs 2.

Seems like a very innovative plan. There's no hospital in U.S. completely devoted to Covid.  There are not enough hospitals, in America, to just take care of their regular patients, much less the added burden of a plague.

I think Thai doctors, dentists and hospitals are awesome, compared to U.S.  Thailand doesn't have any kind of 911 emergency response system, though, and that costs lives. 

On 12/3/2020 at 11:00 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

It always amuses me when a farang claims that Thailand is doomed without them. Every farang could vanish tomorrow and IMO only the bar girls, families and the tourist companies would miss them. Thailand survived just fine prior to 1970 and will do so again if it comes to it.

Prior to 1970 there was the Vietnam war with 7 airbases and other US army installation with thousands of American G I s  spending their paychecks.  Thais made millions off building said bases re: concrete and jobs

USA cranberry juice was taxed in Thailand.

I thought you needed to have a Thai insurance company policy for the OA retirement visa application.

They may find out, after all the bluster, that not that many genuine tourists want to come. Only the hard core group, who they seem to distain. And the zero dollar Chinese.

i carry a million $ policy, which I've used from the to time, over the years.  Companies always paid out. That's  not good enough for the A O Visa. Immigration wants Travelex to fill out a Thai document. Among other questions " the insured persons insured in accordance with the Cabinet Resolution, dated, etc, etc.  What insurance company is going to sign that? Probably none. The Thai retirement dream is over unless you are under 65-70 and were able to buy the ripoff Thai insurance offered. Sell the property, if you can and get out of here before it gets worse.

I assume a mult entry O-A, which doesn't require a reentry permit, issued before Oct 31, would also be stamped in for the 12 months, with out a hassle at BKK.

A restaurant in San Francisco, this summer, refused cash, told me cards or QC via phone only. They just build it in I guess. 

Why no mention of USA Embassy? They have a guy who goes around taking care of things like this. A lawyer in New York State can legally take a third.

1 hour ago, Shaunduhpostman said:

Sounds to me like you must be pretty healthy. If you feel good I would keep up that routine and adjust as needed.

 

If metamucil is what I think it is, psyllium husk flavored with artificial orange stuff in a small envelope that you mix with a drink or yogurt, I wouldn't take it because they put aspartame, an artificial sweetener, in it and aspartame has been linked to many many health issues according to some studies. Instead I use just plain psyllium husk for constipation, which is difficult but not impossible to track down in Thailand. Sunshine Supermarket on Sukhumvit Soi 22 has 100 gram bags of it for 150 baht or so, its supposedly organic and without any unhealthy additives that I can tell. You use it in the same way as Metmucil, just put a teaspoon of it in with your food or drink. Sunshine Supermarket also take orders online and ship anywhere in Thailand, tho I haven't ordered from them so I don't know how well they handle all that, but they seem on the ball, nice well run shop that I drop into and buy my aryuvedic health supplements from whenever I am in Bangkok, bulk turmeric and psyllium.

 

To answer the question, how do you maintain a healthy life, I figure that as with most things the key is just paying attention on a consistent basis, be willing to face whatever is going on and deal with it  as it arises and do your best to be reasonable. Do what you can do and feel comfortable with regarding your health and if you feel pretty good and have no major issues, then that's most of it.

 

My aim is always to try and stay well clear of doctors if at all possible, I don't think it is paranoid to say that few if any have any interest in your health and in many cases are just angling for ways to  take your health away so that they get your business. Again maybe I am paranoid but I get the sneaking suspicion that most of the doctors I have been to see in Thailand are holding out on me, that they simply keep to themselves whatever they find with me and could help me prevent certain minor issues I have from developing but they would rather wait and hope I get worse in hopes that they can harvest a whole array of acute issues down the road. The doctors of course are not all bad, but there are some certifiable sociopaths at some of major hospitals here, so for me that is key and a real problem and issue I have living here. When I went to a certain large and well known international standard hospital in Bangkok for a bothersome issue with my foot , the doctor tried to tell me that all the bones in my foot were broken into tiny pieces and that I probably needed to have my foot amputated all the while giggling and going through this clearly contrived mock surprise and shock routine. My wife went into a semi-supressed rage, tugging on my sleeve insistently and whispering into my ear, "This guy isn't a doctor! Lets get out of here! He's crazy!" You really have to be on your toes if you are going to see a doctor here. 

 

Personally I don't take well to others' advice, never seems to work for me. For example, another Thai doctor told me I was obese and scolded me for eating McDonalds and pizza all the time, which I don't, and  I clearly am not obese either, just somewhat over weight 6 foot 2 and 93 kilos and he said to me it was imperative  that I needed to stop eating large meals and  change to an eating style where I eat little snacks throughout the day to feed myself. I went to him regarding a foot issue, he and 5 other doctors I have seen in Thailand don't seem to know what the problem is. That said his advice, reducing pressure on my foot by reducing my weight has helped and two other westerners independent of one another who have the same problem that I do with their feet have said it sounds like  I just have a case of whats called Plantars fascia which is sharp pain in the bottom of your foot or an uncomfortable feeling that there is a stone in your shoe and results from standing around on your feet a lot or from too much pressure on your feet due to weight or other issues.  I did reduce my weight, and that has helped relieve the symptoms to  a tolerable level, but I prefer to eat regular meals, not become a snacker as seemingly advised by the doctor which to me sounds like a recipe for becoming seriously unhealthy.

 

Of course, you have to get checked for things you can't check yourself. As much as I don't trust doctors, in theory it is not impossible that they can benefit you and so you have to do your level best to weed out the legions of bad apples out there and go to the best you can track down for checkups etc. I think in Thailand not only is a second opinion from a second doctor a must but a 3rd, 4th and even 5th opinion, especially if you are getting contradictory stories as to your condition or see signs that you are talking to a guy who doesn't know what he's talking about, or cannot communicate, or who even is plotting your road to ruin the minute you start your consultation.

 

 

 

 

Orthotics would help with plantars fascitus. See a podiatrist. If not take gauze pads under the arch of your foot, raising it to take the pressure of that planters connection to the heel. Most important is to rest the foot and not walk too much. It's probably an inflammation that will go away. Taking a laxative every day doesn't seem like a good idea.

If they don't want me I don't want them. If ever blacklisted I'm gone for good. Do the same. Go back to your country apply for your wife to come and put this place behind you.

He's like Guliani, unlikeable with a mean little face. Unelectable.

I think the manufacturers tell the Thai government they need to make a certain amount of profit, from local sales, or they will shut down the manufacturing plants. After the flood, when they lost a bundle, the government gave a tax refund, to buyers, for every new car they bought. The road was full of red plates. Extortion. In USA they bribed everyone to ruin the mass transit systems so people would have to drive to work and such. The automobile industry is very powerful. Ekami and Morchit bus terminals are not busy, except for holidays. People drive everywhere or fly. Only poor and tourists, to Pattaya, take the bus.

I'm in Pattaya now and they have opened space on the beach that is being enjoyed by thousands of tourists. The remaining 'chair area' filled with almost empty chairs still covering half the beach though.

Why do they set up thousands of empty chairs? A small percentage of them are in use. Stop the greedy, unethical games and let the people have their beach back!

Tourists have voted. They don't want the chairs covering the sand.

and....What ever happened to the crooked government officials that sold the beach to these guys?

Give these vendors an inch and they take a mile. Don't let them back. They blew their chance.

-Abusing tourists that won't rent a chair.

-Covering the beach with empty chairs to prevent tourists from using the public space.

-Overcharging/scamming.

-Entering deal with criminals at City Hall that sold them our beach.

-Pushy/inconsiderate vendors pestering tourists trying to relax. Rude and disrespectful. By By!

SCREW THEM.

I am in favour of a chair concession but only set up a chair when requested. That's a win win situation.

And don't make the scenic beach into a shanty town slum again. Haul that gear away at night. The beach is not your personal warehouse...

It's funny to see the folks luxuriating on a beach that was urinated and defecated on all night by humans and thousands of rats.

"Vendors have stated that the new streets did not have nearly enough foot traffic as Khlong Thom"

In other words, the current streets have plenty of foot traffic, which the vendors have completely blocked with their illegal stalls. I bet not one vendor is concerned that all these pedestrians, many of whom probably live or work in the area, cannot use the footpaths for their intended purpose - to walk on.

Therefore there is no reason to worry about the vendors when they are kicked out. Goodbye and thank you BMA.

The only reason anyone would walk there is to buy from the vendors, especially Sunday. People take buses from all over BKK to shop there for good deals. It's a Thai thing and I rarely see a Falang. The dictators want to throw the baby out with the bath water.

In Pattaya he beach chair/umbrella vendors would come at 6am, rake up the garbage and nasty stuff before setting up their chairs. Now no one cleans the beach and clueless tourists lay down on sand that is filthy from people using as a toilet all night and the rat feces left from the rats scurrying around all night. The rats live in the tree roots, among other places and come out at dusk.

I'm tired of being sick. Stopped eating from any street vendors, gaew gang set ups or wet market take away. I shop at Tops or supermarkets for prepared food or ingredients to cook myself or eat at clean food courts and proper restaurants. I grew up where the health department insists on hygenic standards like refrigeration, prepared foods stored at a hot temperature. Dishes, glassware and utensils washed properly. I've seen street vendors using algae green water, from 5 liter water bottles, which they use for years. Forget about hormones. Amebic dysentery and E Coli can kill you or damage your organs for life.

They chased all the vendors from Soi 41. Now it's just parked cars and you have to dodge moving cars since there's no sidewalks. Few places to choose to eat now and more people without a source of income. The Thai working folks can always line up a Au Bon Pain for lunch. The parked cars are "beautiful."