txp158

That's rubbish. The surgical, cardiac and other outpatient clinics were full of ordinary Thais. I had to wait in turn usually for several hours to see a specialist and was given no preferential treatment. In fact I was often near the back of the queue. Farangs are charged 50 % more than Thais which is reasonable but is not a massive markup which might (in your eyes) merit special treatment. All Thais are admitted if so required and no special connections are required. Instead of all this unfounded speculation, why dont you go there and see for yourself? I have been there on at least 6 visits including being an impatient and my spoken Thai is good enough to understand what is going on around me and where all the patients have come from. I honestly can't understand your beef. You have been told but you think we are all stupid farangs. Just what is your point? Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

hrm....I was messing with you. I didn't think you were going to take my comment seriously, so I guess I'll try to behave from now on.

With that aside, I like to tell you as much as I am a doctor, I am also a capitalist. I do not think anyone in the right mind should have to pay anything more than they have to. One should not be ashamed of too carefully spending his/her hard earned money. And by going to the best available public hospital, you have already proven to me that you are pretty smart. Please do not take this as an offense or a form of sarcasm.

Nevertheless, I have a concern regarding to your so-called 50% more fee in that I find it hard to believe any government establishments would have a separate price for each treatment and medication for different group of people. I know many private hospitals do practice such despicable act for a fact, but I have yet to see it happens in any government hospitals. To see you post about it on the internet as a form of advice for other people, I don't know know whether to call it's disturbing or disappointing. That's pretty much the only thing I don't like about your comment. I have never worked at the queen hospital before but I have a friend who used to work there. I guess I'll find out about it tomorrow.

"Democracy is all about the majority rules, Being against a free election, is a dictatorship!"

Democracy is a system that ensures the government is responsible to both the public and individual alike. Majority rule is the way of choosing. They are not the same thing. That's why a democratic constitution has two parts. The first one being its domain which is about what the public collectively can or can't vote for. For instance, can the public vote to remove all of your belongings and wealth despite the fact that you've done nothing wrong? The second part is the method of which the decision will be made. You've spoken well about the second part of democratic constitution but completely disregard the most of important aspect of a democratic government. When the majority can do just about anything by disregarding good moral and judgement and simply because they claim they are elected, is it so much different from dictatorship? In this regard, you simply change from a single into group-based dictator.

If democracy is identical to election, then the term democracy is no longer needed. Why don't you just call it an election based government?

You may call it what ever you want!

I grew up in a democracy, The avenue for electing its leaders is based on the election process and everyone must accept the results of the Majority, hence the term Majority Rule.,

Our democracy is governed by a rule of checks and balances, between the three branches of government , Executive, Legislative and the Judicial, as this is not a thread about the make up of the democratic process, but how it is being circumvented by the demonstrator in Bangkok.

I am calling it what it is a Democracy, that demands its leaders by pick through the election process in accordance with the Constitution of Thailand!

Cheers

I did not know that the demonstrators do not want an election. I know that they do not want an election now but after the reform of the constitution.

If what you are saying is true, would you be so kind as to show me your reference.

"Democracy is all about the majority rules, Being against a free election, is a dictatorship!"

Democracy is a system that ensures the government is responsible to both the public and individual alike. Majority rule is the way of choosing. They are not the same thing. That's why a democratic constitution has two parts. The first one being its domain which is about what the public collectively can or can't vote for. For instance, can the public vote to remove all of your belongings and wealth despite the fact that you've done nothing wrong? The second part is the method of which the decision will be made. You've spoken well about the second part of democratic constitution but completely disregard the most of important aspect of a democratic government. When the majority can do just about anything by disregarding good moral and judgement and simply because they claim they are elected, is it so much different from dictatorship? In this regard, you simply change from a single into group-based dictator.

If democracy is identical to election, then the term democracy is no longer needed. Why don't you just call it an election based government?

The general public do make the vast majority of their out patients. But it takes some connections for anyone to be admitted as an in-patient.

I was sorta expecting that you got some sort of military connection. I didn't realize that you got admitted by just walking in. You see that's the benefit of being a farang, you always get the premium treatment. Nah, I kid, it's probably because you were paying them in cash.

It appears you farang know a lot about Thailand more than you'd like to show on the outside. I guess I'll have to be more careful when a farang approaches me in my clinic from now on.

I have to admit that vote buying is one thing both the democrat and for thai parties do. And since both of the parties know that the act of buying votes will not determine the winner, so they opt to buy the winner instead. If you have been living in Thailand for some time, you should know by now that in each region, there is at least one or two prominent political figures and most likely they'll win the election in their areas. So Thaksin put this idea into practice. He knows he needs only 300 winners, so he'd buy the prominent political figure of each regions who are likely to attain lower house of representatives status into his party. By giving them each 20 millions, he could buy Thailand just under 6 billion bahts or under 200 million USD. Very cheap for buying a country, don't you agree?

Did you know that these same people were being offered 40 million per head to join with the Democrat coalition? Newin's Bhumjaithai party accepted the loot along with three cash generating ministries to run, giving the Democrats enough seats to form a government. The rest, as they say, is history.

555 You are telling me these retarded politicians were willing to accept 20 millions from Thaksin but not 40 million from democrat. I guess either they are really retarded or you don't know what you are talking about.

Btw I don't think they'll have to give Newin anything but the ministry titles. 40 million bahts is like spared change compared to the misnistry titles. I heard you need to pay 500 million bahts awhile back, so Newin's party got 3 making it worths over 1.5 billion.

Dude I'm kon Thai. I was born and raised here. My mother tongue is Thai. I've been following Thaksin news since 2002. Tell me something I don't know about Thaksin and his goons, I'll be very very surprised.

I may remove you from the list on the day that the Dems win power and reform this country into a proper democracy, I would be interested to hear your whining.

power in Thailand is won by winning elections...

Power in Thailand is won by buying elections, hadn't you heard? It's common knowledge amongst almost the entire Thai nation, speak to a few Thais and ask if it's true, they'll most likely smile, or laugh, and admit they were bought.

I can't believe this has to be pointed out to everybody on here who claims Thailand is a democracy and that democracy is at stake, it's <deleted>.

Nope it isn't. Yes votes are being bought, either directly or through policies. But no, they do not determine the actual election results. I know quite a few thais and they simply vote for whoever they deem worthy of their vote. Of course the fairy tale that one side participates in vote buying, whilst the other side isn't, is highly amusing.

And yes democracy is very much at stake here, don't for a minute think it isn't.

I have to admit that vote buying is one thing both the democrat and for thai parties do. And since both of the parties know that the act of buying votes will not determine the winner, so they opt to buy the winner instead. If you have been living in Thailand for some time, you should know by now that in each region, there is at least one or two prominent political figures and most likely they'll win the election in their areas. So Thaksin put this idea into practice. He knows he needs only 300 winners, so he'd buy the prominent political figure of each regions who are likely to attain lower house of representatives status into his party. By giving them each 20 millions, he could buy Thailand just under 6 billion bahts or under 200 million USD. Very cheap for buying a country, don't you agree?

"We live in a caste system long endured by the provincials."

Who are the common and politically privileged? Back in early 2000, I remember seeing his son walking arm in arm with two Caucasian models wearing minimum cloth in front of a bar in Bangkok (with my own two eyes). Behind them there were like 10+ men following, probably plainclothes cops. Is this what you mean by living in a caste? Is this what a common man in Thailand does?

I know it is open for anyone but it's strange to see a foreigner walks into a navy hospital instead of a civilian hospital. That's all. No offense is intended really. Beside CT colonoscopy is an elective as opposed to emergency procedure, so I'm sure he wasn't there because of emergency reason. But whatever his reason is, he knows a good deal about Chonburi public health provider -- because the queen hospital is the best public hospital Chonburi has to offer.

It's a known fact that CT colonoscopy has comparable accuracy to the real colonoscopy in detection of a polyp of significant size (1 cm or more). Because the radiologist will not be observing your bowel directly but through series of pictures developed by CT scan, you'll need to clean your bowel really really well. Otherwise, residual feces will be interpreted as a real polyp. Just make sure you do your bowel prep exactly like what the hospital personnel asks of you. When you arrive at the hospital, they'll pump lots of gas into your rectum and after that they'll do the scaning which will take less than 5 mins.

In the real colonoscopy, they put a fiber optic camera the size of your index finger into the rectum and if they want to be thorough they'll need to go as far as the iliocecal valve. And because of that there is always some risk of bowel perforation abeit very low. If the procedure is performed by a gastroenterologist and they accidentally perforate your large bowel, he/she won't be able to fix it. And you'll end up having your bowel perforated for quite some time until the surgeon's arrival. And if it's weekend or a surgeon's days off, you don't even want to think about it. Better safe than sorry => If you have the money, I suggest you do the virtual thinggy. I'm a doctor and I suggest all my family member to go through virtual colonoscopy instead of a real thing.

Queen sirikit hospital is one of the biggest navy hospital in Thailand. Many doctors there also work at private hospitals in chonburi such as bangkok pattaya, pattaya memorial, payathai sriracha and akechon hospital. It's kind of strange to see a foreigner in a navy hospital. Might I ask how you arrive there in the first place?

The choice in getting your child vaccinated is yours. But don't forget the fact that polio, measle, and other virus related illnesses has declined greatly after the invention of vaccines.

If you live in bankok and you don't want to pay for the vaccine for any reason. You can get them all free of charge (children or infant baby only) at any public healthcare centers (ศูนย์บริการสาธารณสุข) which are operated by Bangkok metropolitan administration. They also accept donation. If you want them to continue the service, 10-100 bahts would be appropriate. And your child is not required to be a citizen to get the free vaccine either.

Sadly at this time, in order to operate AED, you are indeed required to be

1 a doctor

2 any personels who are given a permission by a doctor to operate the machine such as paramedic nurse or EMT-I (ermency medical tenician intermidiate).

Any forms of asking for permission will be ok. It could be done online per usage, or offline as in written protocol or procedure for a particular rescue organization. Anyone can not just use the machine and it's illegal to do so. The legality concerning the use of AED at this time is not about whether or not you'll go to jail. It's that if you are not a medical personel and end up operating AED on someone and that person dies. His/her family can sue you based on the law that only doctor is required to operate the machine. And you might end up paying lots of money despite of having good intention. As long as AED machine is designated as a medical device, only a medical personel can use it.

I'm sure a poor written law like this one will be changed in the future when doctors are more open minded. I'm a radiologist working in Thailand btw.

Since you guys want to be precised, so here it is.

The term "Farang kee nok" (ฝรั่งขี้นก) is actually the name of real fruit and is known by its scientific name as Psidium guajava Linn (Myrtaceae).

Is there any other plants that ends with "Kee Nok" in Thai language. I can think of a few actually, these include

Prick kee nok (พริกขี้นก) => Capsicum frutescens (SOLANACEAE).
Mara kee nok (มะระขี้นก) => Momordica charantia (CUCURBITACEAE).

Notice that the term "kee nok" is used as an adjective in all of these intances to describe the fruits property. If any of you look up in wikipedia, you'd find out any fruits with kee nok attached are generally smaller than those of the same species without it.

For intance, bitter melon or mara (มะระ) which can be bought in the supermarket is so much bigger than mara kee nok.

So the word "kee nok" is probably comparable to the terms "artificial, psudo-" .

And as many of you'd already know that kee nok literally means bird shit. It's possible that we thai find kee nok mostly on wild plants, so kee nok could also imply being wild -- as oppose to fruit of the same species that are planted and grown by human. Because they are spontaneously grown by nature, they are smaller and thus less desirable. At least this is what thai people nowaday mean when they speak of farang kee nok.

But back when I was little, that's not how the term was used. Back then it was used to call a Thai person who tries to act like a westerner. That's the original meaning.

Farang => caucasian

kee nok => artificial

Farang kee nok => artifical caucasian

Nowaway it is used to designate impoverished Caucasian.

IMHO.........Thais are not yet mature or disciplined enough for a true democracy and they are better off with a 'strongman' as their leader. Yeah, there was a lot of collateral damage with the last strongman that they ousted, but compare that damage with the opposition's ongoing disruptions....................But, what do I know, I'm just another stupid falang that shouldn't be involved in Thai politics.

What is true democracy anyway? Do you think america is more mature in terms of democracy when there is a large amount of rich bussiness men taking a lot of benefit from agricultural subsidy in the US? What the difference between thai government paying for the rice from thai farmer more than its worth and the agricultural subsidy program? Why are there so many people in the US think gasoline is too expensive and why doesn't the government do something about it?

The problem is not about disciplined or mature but basic knowledge in economy and democracy. If you wanna talk about discipline, I'm willing to bet there are ten of thousands of Thai kids who are more discipline than you are.

What a load of <deleted>. Does this company just sit around and try to think of something new to block?

My connection was fine at 10-11AM this morn. Just got home at 5 to found that they're blocking it for me as well.

check for opendns alternatives at http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Alternative_DNS, we'll see if they can block them all.

DOCTORS FIND THAT 5 THAIS ARE DYING FROM HEART DISEASES PER HOUR

BANGKOK: -- At least 5 Thais are suffering from a cardiovascular disease and strokes every hour.

Public Health Minister Md SUCHAI CHAROENRATANAKUL (สุชัย เจริญรัตนกุล) made the remark at the celebration on the World Heart Day, sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In its fight against cardiovascular diseases and strokes, Doctor SUCHAI said WHO is attempting to increase public awareness and promote preventive measures to reduce the risk to those diseases among people in more than 190 member countries.

According to Doctor SUCHAI, heart diseases are claiming 17 million lives worldwide annually. The rate is likely to climb up to 25 million lives in the next 15 year, of whom 19 million are expected to be those in developing countries.

The World Heart Day theme for this year reads 'Good Heart, Good Shape and Good Strength', aiming to encourage the public to control their weight and shape by improving their eating habits and stepping up physical exercises. For Thailand, .

The Public Health Minister also said that the strokes and cardiovascular diseases have become main health threats among the Thai elderly people and overweight citizens. 

--Thaisnews.com 2005-09-25

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However, if we could reduce the number of strokes and heard diseases, these people would eventually die of something else. Birth has a 100% mortalilty rate!

Perhaps the good doctor could tell us what he would like people to die from.....

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boredom???

Elite card is popularly pronounced idiot card, with malicious intent, by most Thais. It's funny to see many farangs try to correct our pronunciation, yet we insist that the pronunciation is already perfect.

Thank you for your past 2 comments, txp. 

Can you expand on those comments as they relate to this case? Is the media (Sondhi) wholly responsible for reporting on what someone else(the famous monk, Luangta Maha Bua) says in cases of libel?

IF that is the case, the PM has set an extremely dangerous precedent in an already battered media climate.

If the ability to quote people is taken away from the media.... what is left?

The flip side is... IF the media reports on a quote, which later turns out to be an unfounded lie, can the public sue the person it quoted?

The PM's own bird flu lies, for example, could then be used against him.

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From my view, the solution in this libel case rests upon the Luangta Maha Bua's comment on prime minister Thaksin's administration. If the court sees it as some form of conjector or criticism in good will, Mr. Sondhi who merely quotes Luangta Maha Bua's statement of good will or his conjector will surely be acquitted from all charges. I'm sure even prime minister thaksin knows that Luangta Maha Bua meant well for him.

Can someone who knows Thai libel and slander law explain how Thai slander and libel law differs from those in the west.  Most western countries require the defendant, if they are a public figure, as Thaksin would be, to prove that actual malice was present in the making of the libel or slander.  A very difficult proposition, in other words "fair comment" contains opinions of a public figures actions which can be wrong and still not be actionable.  Mere negligence in not seeking out the truth of a rumor or allegation is not actionable, short of the showing of "malice" which is in effect an intent to harm

In Thailand, it would seem, anyone can sue anyone both civilly and criminally for libel and slander. When the suit is brought, is the burden of proof on the plaintiff or defendant.  I suspect the defendant must prove the allegations are true to escape laibility, the plaintiff only proving the libel or slander was made.  However, aren't actual damages required to be proved.  In the west, in libel and slander cases involving ones profession, one need not show actual damages.

Those of us who make what would be political comment in the west in Thaivisa might be running the risk of breaking Thai libel and slander laws. 

Can anyone provide information on Thai laws in this regard?

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Please excuse my english as it is not that of my mother tongue. Anyway, from my understanding, the law regarding libel or slander in Thailand are considered a subset of tort law. It's understandable why one would get an impression such that if MR. A causes MR. B to lose face then MR. A will have to pay for it. However, the matter does not simply end there. In thailand, the plaintiff will need to provide a burden of proof to the court that the defendant has actually state the offending statement with conviction and malice intention. For example, Mr. A (defendant) had heard from Mr. B (plaintiff)'s relative that Mr. B committed adultery. Later Mr. A told this story to his friends and relatives; this is considered as libel in Thailand. On the other hand, if Mr. A had simply asked Mr. B if he really committed adultery, for example, John asks David, "I heard that you cheated on your wife. Is that true? And if you really do it, I beg you please stop it"; this would not be considered as libel because such statement can only be seen as a conjecture. In addition, Mr. A' s statement does not confirm any fact that would render harm to Mr. B's reputation, nor interest, so Mr. A will not be considered guilty in the charge of libel.

i think everyone's missing the point.

i think MCOT did a good thing by taking it off the air quickly.

the monarchy does not deserve being used in ANY political assault, be it for or against the prime minister. 

no one has a right to conduct a political witch-hunt by invoking the monarcy.  the MCOT is right in citing unnecessary mentions.  i hope some of you farangs have a mind to appreciate this.  this is not the UK where even the queen is fair game.

it is a very grave accusation to make, to accuse a Thai of being disloyal to the monarchy in this country. the PM has a right to defend such a serious accusation.

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I agree with you. I don't like Thaksin that much and at first I enjoyed watching Sondhi's programme. But he went too far by using the royal family against the PM. Most of negative posts (including mine) about Sondhi in his website Manager.co.th have been deleted and all that are still there are those who agree with him.

I think Thaksin had been looking for a way to stop him and his programme and he simply helped Thaksin. It's no one's fault but himself. He might have had more supports from us Thais if he had chosen not to wear the shirt which means in English 'We will fight for the King' the day his programme got cancelled.

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I don't think all thai would agree with both of you, including his and her majesty. Oh, should my account be removed from this forum now because I just used my king and queen against you? Given the amount of respect that the king and queen get from his people, if mr. Sondhi's doing is slightly wrong or plain wrong, I believe the general public would have condemned him already. Instead, the support for his right of speech remains strong. Thai people have enough brain cells to think for themselve. Please do not speak for other Thais anymore.

People with hypertension are not all symptoms free. Some may experience dizziness, headache or vertigo even when the measuring blood pressure is normal. There're no specific scientific explanation for this, but most of my patient has these kind of symptoms in the morning just when they try to get themselves up from bed. When that happens, I usaually give them cinnarizine or stugeron. This is probably the medicine you are looking for. They are cheap and easily found in any local drug store in Thailand. You don't need any perscription for it either. However the same is not applicable if you live in the US.

In any case, I advise you do a regular check up and make a monthly visit to a local doctor. Try to remember that a normal person bp is 120/80 mmHg. If your BP remains high above this value despite taking medication, then you should consult your doctor about it. Don't forget about the lifestyle modification that your doctor keeps telling you to do.

- Every 10 kg you lose, you lose about 5-20 mmHg in blood pressure.

- Regular aerobic exercise will decrease your BP by about 5 mmHg.

- Restriction of salt and fat diet will decrease your BP by 10-20 mmHg.

Good luck.

The answer is simple. The people you see on street or at pawn shops selling small and frivolous items don't care much about economic. Most of the stuffs in these shops are from unkown sources, so branding is out of question here. You can not brand your own store if some of the stuffs you are selling are possibly illegal...er right?? Taxation is also out of question because there are no record of what is sold, and where the stuffs are coming from. In brief, the small shop people are only there to make a quick cash. They only invest their money in what they know will sell. The cell phone and small items are the catch. Moderate and humble life style is over-valued here in Thailand. If something is very very cheap, given that it's not broken, it's likely to be sold.

Corruption in Thailand takes many forms from the explosive detection device known as CTX machine, ambulance purchased by the department of public health, agriculture product and runway cracking of the new international airport. The story is rather confusing and there are so much debate going on now. The case regarding CTX machine is a good incident of the current goverment corruption. You can read about this issue in bangkok post or in case you can read thai, manager online at www.manager.co.th is a good place to read about corruption in Thailand. If you can't find anyway to read about it, maybe if I have enough time I'll try to summarize how the CTX incident takes place.