KMartinHandyman

My first time in Bangkok my wife and I were returning (sober) to an international hotel with four in the name and apparently I was too close to the retaining wall because I broke my pinky toe in flip flops on an iron weep scupper sticking out about 4” at sidewalk level.
We were checked out with our bags being held in the lobby and a flight to catch so I knew going to a hospital or discussing liability with the hotel wasn’t very practical if I wanted to keep our itinerary.
The funny part in hindsight was learning about Thai mentality as my wife said things like, “it’s not their fault you have to be careful and watch where you’re going” and “we can go to the hospital if you want but we don’t do that in Thai,,we wait a week and see if it’s still a problem”.
Knowing our schedule and there’s not much the hospital can do I just tried to snap it back straight and deal with it. About a week later we were home to her village and it was still swollen and painful so I asked if I could see the doctor and get an X-ray.
We walked with her mother to the village clinic and waited outside until the doctor on duty came over from smoking a cigarette to take a look. He sent a nurse inside who came back with a little jar of Thai balm and said put this on and come back in a week if it’s still a problem!
Early on after that experience she answered many of my questions as a stranger in a foreign land with the simple line “you take care of you honey “.
I quickly learned she was serious and was giving good advice to live by here. So far I’ve only had a broken pinky toe.

I don’t care if she is a He. I’d definitely do her!

Another great job letting one truck escape during a planned intervention.

Height of hypocrisy when we’re supposedly investigating Russia affecting the 2016 election (which is merely an attempt to change the outcome which is more hypocrisy) and were meddling in picking winners in Venezuela.

Yes there’s a big difference between being a freak and being super freaky.

A nice rack always gets my vote.

Maybe just enter them into your blocked number feature.

My wife calls that sharing their music but would never address it with them because that’s not polite and it’s up to them to decide how loud. That goes for anytime day or night. The funny thing is she makes a gesture of throwing something in their direction when she’s disturbed and laughs.
Her tolerant temperament is a good influence and keeps me from getting involved in things here because with my disposition it won’t end well for the Thais or myself when the dust settles.

The statement was in quotes, dummy.

14 years and 12 months. Maybe the writer gets paid by the word.

Funny I thought he liked being on the tv and interrupting programs, he's been doing it every Friday night for years!

What this poll is saying, is we do not want the army anymore. The last thing in the world the current administration wants, is to raise the living standard for the average person, make life comfortable for foreigners or tourists, and improve the nation on any level. At least with a newly elected, democratic administration, there would be a chance of some of that happening. The army needs to leave now, and the people need to usher these incompetents out to pasture, where they belong. 

Converse immigration crackdown: rich kids out, poor kids in.

A chicken or egg situation. Which turned off beach goers the most, the jet skis or the trailers they came in on?

So healthcare is provided as required? My Thai mate in a provincial jail was in great discomfort and was given paracetamol to which he is allergic. He mailed me to ask me to help him get medical assistance. I flew from Australia and had a conference with the 'doctor' and 2 guards. For 2 months they had ignored the symptoms. Very reluctantly they agreed to take him to a hospital (I had to pay 1000 baht because his ID was for another province) where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. 
 
Shortly after he spent a month in hospital and was so emaciated that his chains were deemed useless and removed. He was in a nappy and would not have survived without the presence of his wife (a guard was stationed outside his door). 5 months later, the prison 'doctor' neglects to renew his medication (4 lots) for a month and he then has to resume on different pills because the old ones are no longer effective.
 
The guards and prison staff could not have cared less about him. Had I not been the only foreigner visiting the prison, I am sure he would be dead. And of course, while he is crowded in with 80 men, they are susceptible as well. In fact, he was shunned because he was seen as infectious. 
 
So your prison might jump on acute cases but my experience tells me that this is not the case in all Thai jails.

 

A coven of Stepford Wives.

I’m not aware of Thailand’s government giving any assistance, financial support to poor foreign retirees so the crackdown strikes me as odd. Say a retiree living here does not meet the financial requirements but is living a fine life on their own or with the assistance of his Thai wife, her family or his friends, committing no crimes, putting no financial strain on the country. Where’s the problem?

You don’t hear much about the highest penalty. I wonder what it takes to qualify?

Oh yeah, who enforces this policy on the government?  A couple of weeks ago the local forest service were raking up and burning leaves on their own land.  So much for a role model 'eh?