rickudon

Thailand has become a middle income country. Thirty years ago, most of the rural population didn't buy much food, they depended on growing or catching it - all of which required effort, and a lot of the time you were under nourished. Hence many were slim, and also short. Now better nourished and taller. Yes, obesity is becoming an issue, and lack of exercise more so. But still more slim people than fat. Beauty - not any different, just average age is older! The availability of instant, delivered food also a factor in weight gain. Baby steps have been made towards improving Junk food, as in sugar levels in drinks, but still 20 years behind the west. The problems are made worse by the climate - exercise is not only uncomfortable, but actually dangerous if you over exert yourself. Thais need better cooking facilities and appropriate exercise opportunities; but many have limited time (working hours can be long).

This is farcical. Thai population is only 70 million (about) so there are less than 11 million under the age of 15, students, housewives, disabled people and 'others' (presumably including old age pensioners?). Very dubious.

Had a similar issue many years ago, recurring urethritis. In the end the doctor asked ME what i thought would work. The best result previously had been one large dose of penicillin, and i assumed that the antibiotic had knocked out most of the bacteria, but left a few semi-resistant ones behind. So i suggested 2 large doses, taken a week apart. It worked. I would say that taking low doses of antibiotics for a prolonged period is dangerous, as it could result in antibiotic resistance occurring

Been a while since i looked at the thread. Mainly because once my daughters passport arrived the family trip to the UK went into full swing - and the problems. Tickets were expensive and some flights had already been fully booked, business class only! So had to book the tickets early, best deal was Emirates. But .... the wife had given a different date to the visa agency (i told her we had to go earlier). Her visa arrived - not valid until 22nd April. <deleted>. Had to change tickets, another 300 GBP down the drain. Also, real reason for wife's sudden enthusiasm, it is because her sister in the UK is getting married. More expense, lots of new clothes, hotel bookings, and the 2 weeks with my UK kids now shrinks to one. I just have that feeling that it will all go terribly wrong, and the cost has really depleted my savings. Finally (I think) everything is in order. Just wish we could have gone for more than 20 days. Now busy trying to get farm tidy etc. before leaving. The brutal weather is not helping. No rain since November, and average temperature this month has been about 39 C. , half the days over 40 C. Fortunately fish ponds not dry yet, as deeper since dug out 5 years ago, but lowest yet. The pet fish in bowls at the house struggling, M-in-L steals water from them to water her veg, do not hold much hope for their survival in this heat once we leave. Goldfish will probably end up in the plaa raa. But cannot wait to get out from this heat. Still 34 C at 11 p.m. outdoors. Driest and hottest year so far in my experience - didn't even get my jacket out once in the 'winter'. Hope Owl gets some rain for his ponds. Last day tomorrow, then we are off.

Waste of time. I bought one when i first retired here (limited income, as pensions not all taken yet) 11 years ago, about 2000 baht, took water and a little ice. Not effective. Once i took a thermometer to the inlet and outlet to see how much cooler the air was - answer 0.5 C! Got a better effect from a bowl of ice and a fan, and cheaper too..... Next year bought a second hand air-conditioner.

I make little attempt to hide my identity (KhunLA knows who i am, but i doubt many others do), but i am not afraid to leave clues, as i do not troll. Would probably post a photo if necessary. Someone said you would be surprised how much data about you is on the internet, and you should google your name. Long time since i did that, so did again. I have an uncommon name, but google gave me more than 10 pages of links - none of which was me! The sheer quantity of data out there means most of your data/activity is very hard to retrieve.

My experience is SCB will either refuse or add a substantial fee. Never go near them now.

The joys of living in an Isaan Backwater. No hordes of Tourists doing extensions, i rarely have to wait more than 30 minutes for an extension of stay and a 90 day report often done in 90 seconds!

The joys of living in an Isaan Backwater. No hordes of Tourists doing extensions, i rarely have to wait more than 30 minutes for an extension of stay and a 90 day report often done in 90 seconds!

I do cash advances via fee free credit card at Krungsri. No fees applied by Krungsri. First attempt at a mall branch was refused, but most branches OK. I generally get a very slightly better result than using Wise.

Never, but i was once arrested in Libya. detained and questioned for 2 hours. When i got back to the office, they asked where i had been, they asked me to describe the officers uniform - they then told me i was being questioned by the secret police! They said i was lucky to be alive..... many detainees end up somewhere in the desert. Cemeteries - I used to live in a small village in Hampshire, and the local church had a substantial number of war graves. Their used to be a military hospital during WW1 nearby, and over a 100 patients ended up there. Good for a quiet period of reflection. I have also visited the only war cemetery (so i was told) from WW2 in Australia. Holds people who were killed in Darwin from Japanese bombing.

Which is one of the advantages of the marriage visa.

I Have never had a Thai bank account which didn't pay interest. Currently I get about 1%, but will do a review later this year to see if i can get more on another account, now that rates are raising. But a year ago that was better than most UK banks. As for time/hassle versus money for an agent, Udon Thani immigration is just a 15-20 minute ride away, and doing my Marriage extension usually takes only one hour. My 400,000 baht in the bank is available to use for 9 months a year. I also do my 90 day reports at immigration, usually takes 2 minutes..... (rarely a queue in the afternoon). See no need for an agent, although for SOME people it makes sense.

The long wait times where a feature of everyone renewing their passports as the pandemic flying issues abated. I applied for a passport for my daughter in February this year at Trendy house and it only took 3 weeks to get the passport. So, unless the strike is prolonged i would not be unduly worried about timing. Always pays to assume it will take 3 months.

Also depends what area you live in. Some are a lot more tolerant than others. Here in Udon there was a farang who sold burgers from a cart at the roadside (maybe still does). I understand he was questioned by Immigration but they decided to turn a blind eye to it as he was doing it to support his half thai son (no mother around).

Air pollution in Bangkok is normal. I spend as little time in Bangkok as possible (measured in hours per year!). Any one who is worried about the air quality in Bangkok should move to somewhere safer.

Proper toilet paper shouldn't be an issue, although might fill up the tank a little bit faster. It should disintegrate but not actually break down quickly. DO NOT put kitchen towel down as that is far more robust and could cause a blockage; also wet wipes do not decompose. But yes, bum gun best.

The responses to this pandemic were rather a mixed bag. Unfortunately, different advisors suggest different responses based on their area of expertise. Health specialists will try to minimise deaths and impacts on other health care, regardless of cost, economists worry about the economic impact (as do businesses) and politicians listen to what they think will keep them in power. What you get is a mixture of all three. Initially, too much complacency led to the virus getting a foothold in too many places, by the end of January 2020 it was already to late to contain it, as was successfully done with SARS. UK, USA were to focused on the economy until the true impact was realised, and as a result suffered some of the highest death tolls. It was followed by an over reaction to try and cut deaths. The rapid development of vaccines helped cut the death rate, even though they were not completely effective. Although the lockdowns did cause economic damage, it slowed the spread of the early, more fatal variants, and without it the death toll would have undoubtedly been higher. We will probably never know the complete global death toll, but at least 7 million. By the end of January 2020 I already knew Covid was serious and had taken steps to lessen my risk. Although not a medical professional I did train as a biologist and had worked on the BSE response and the 2001 Foot and Mouth epidemic in the UK, although not in a scientific capacity. With both, I saw the economy put before epidemiology ( I had already banned beef in my household before the first cases of BSE were identified in humans, due to my knowledge of Kuru, a similar prion disease from New Guinea). The way to deal with any new, potentially fatal infectious disease is to contain it and eliminate if possible at all costs. The cost of doing so will probably be far less than 'better late than never' endeavours.

20 years is hardly something to be proud of. Solution may work now, but for how long? They have just diverted the problem and treatment is still limited. Thai sewage treatment infrastructure is notorious for being poorly maintained, wait for the pumps to fail or pipes/khlongs to become blocked with rubbish. I do wish them well, but time will tell.

Passport - Marks sending machine was in gear, got passport on Tuesday. So another option for you Owl. Wife's visa is apparently back in Bangkok - should arrive any day. I booked the tickets to UK - that hurt a lot! 2,800 GBP for the 3 of us. A once in a lifetime thing for the wife i think. Daughter will have options when she grows up. Mangoes - have 5 trees with fruit, but not a lot. Planted one new Mango (grown from seed), No transplanting shock. Meanwhile, M-in-L continues her scorched earth policy in the garden - has weeded my pots, including a Pomelo seedling and many tomato plants. Seems to have developed a pathological hatred of anything green, unless she planted it..... I fear on my return from the UK in May it will be a moonscape!

Did my 4th burn today. Brother-in-law 100 metres away had a smouldering pile, which stank of plastic, so i said to self, why wait? My fires are small, very dry (not much smoke) and only last about 15 minutes. As for how practical a ban is, consider this. 1. Farm very small, just over one rai not counting the pond. Not practical to buy a tractor. 2. Wife did hire a man and tractor to plough the farm, but he did an awful job ( i wasn't there to stop him). He just left a pile of soil and grass on one side of the field, also obliterating most of the path on one side of the pond - which also included 2 small coconut palms, 2 small bananas and 3 other small fruit trees he couldn't be arsed to avoid. Clearing up that mess by hand has taken 3 months. 3. One days rain just turned the soil back to concrete - a hoe just bounces off. As for the stubble rotting down - no, most of it is still there unless buried over 15 cms down. Had to dig out a lot of the grass out of the 'pile' and burn it as it wasn't fit to plant anything in. 4. Last 2 fires were mainly Eucalyptus leaves which i had raked up - they were up to 10 cms deep and do not rot down easily (have seen some which have survived at least 3 years!). Could have left them on the path next to the road, but one cigarette....... could have burnt the trees, fence etc. 5. Composting - I do compost a lot, but some stuff is too stubborn. 3 years ago i made a 5 metre long pile of coarse grass dragged out of the pond, took over 2 years to rot down. I have spent 2 hours a day, 5-6 days a week for the past 4 months just doing maintenance on the farm - 10 seconds with a lighter saves a lot of time. Fortunately, our area doesn't have any large scale burning, and air quality is rarely bad in the village - visibility is good and air 'tastes' ok. Only used our air purifier about 3 days in last 3 years. Just the local maintenance fires. Probably better as so many rice fields are now derelict, so not burnt (I reckon about 75% of paddies around our village not growing rice any more).

A laughable sum. The 600 baht a month Thai state pension represents just 2.5% of the UK 4 weekly pension. Yes, 2.5%. Thai pensions have a long way to go to catch up. 6000 baht a month would be reasonable.

Mangoes. Here in Nong Nalam been a problem. Many trees had loads of flowers, but now ZERO fruit. We have one big tree like that. Sister-in-law has at least 4 trees the same. A few others in the village visible from the road the same. Was it the week of cold weather about 2 weeks ago? It seems to be the Mangoes which start off green more affected. Passport - 'Mark' has recieved my pickup authorisation, says next week.

Actually, in Udon currently traffic lights are the new 'must have' road improvement. If you know Udon, the Muang thong fruit and vegetable market had an incredibly dangerous U-turn from one direction - now has working traffic lights since last week. Also seen a couple of other U-turns get traffic lights, but surprise surprise, on these lesser U-turns have already experienced red light runners.

I just did my daughters first passport last month. Because it was first passport a LOT of extra documents needed, quite a hassle. But better to do now than her trying to do it after i have gone. Was going to use Keyvisa to do it but owner died, didn't like the idea of all my documents sitting in an office in Pattaya maybe forever. Did find another agent, "Marks sending Machine" which was recommended to me by a Udonmap member who charges 4,000 baht (you still have to pay the passport fee, you need a credit card to do that). Had a hiccup as he was going on holiday so i took to Bangkok myself - glad i took lots of extra evidence as asked for more but yes, the VFS staff member was helpful allowing me to rewrite a couple of pages of the app. form and do photocopying, and waited while i did so. Marks sending machine is in the process of picking up - will report back if i get the passport! Currently 3 weeks turnaround but it is a quiet time of year, was 11 weeks in late summer. Passport fees went up 1st February. Round trip to Bangkok cost me about 3500 baht - to do it in one day you will probably need an afternoon appointment (booking system). How things grow - getting daughters passport evolved into us all having to go to UK AND sister-in-law getting married there at the same time. Savings are evaporating like an Isaan puddle in the sun!