xylophone

Unfortunately it's not just the Thais who are guilty of not wearing a crash helmet, because where I am located there are just as many farangs who don't wear a crash helmet, and who drive around shirtless and sometimes shoeless on their big motorbikes.......so a lack of grey matter is, unfortunately, not just a Thai thing.

Read and learn............... Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

Are you serious? Reading a few of my previous posts may give you a clue.

Similar experience here, becoming good friends with a guy who was paralysed from the waist down, and I was his designated wheelchair pusher/carer for about five years, which I didn't mind one bit because he was a great guy. I didn't have any choice about being vaccinated, and I'm so pleased that I didn't, because about the time when the vaccination became available there was a poor guy in our town who was in an iron lung, and in those days they were big hefty old things, and he used to be driven round in the back of a large Commer van, and he would be taken to schools where he could answer questions from us schoolchildren, this after his Dr/carer had given us the lowdown on his condition and this disease. It was as if he was from another planet because he was in this big iron lung and although he could speak, if he was taken out of it for any length of time, he would die. And he made a huge impression on us schoolkids and our parents because they would be invited along to hear what was being said. I also had the good fortune to meet a very attractive girl, in the late 60s, but unfortunately she had also contracted polio as a kid and could only walk with crutches and calipers and it was such a shame to see such a beautiful looking girl being set back like this. I often wondered what her future would be like, but the poor girl was killed when her specially adapted three wheeled car turned over and caught fire with her in it, and she couldn't escape and was burnt to death – – so sad. However I do believe that my school friend went on to get married and have children, and I do believe he is alive today, so as I'm writing this I will make an effort to get in touch with him. Moral of the story is that vaccinations have saved countless lives, and that's why the medical profession/specialists/scientists develop them.

Reading some of the posts on here, I find it incredulous that there is still a great deal of stupidity out in the world, so one only hopes that the Darwin effect can weed out these poor unfortunates. There is nothing really to argue about, because the overarching principles are: – – Vaccinations have been around for over a century. – The new mRNA vaccine was being worked on over 60 years ago, so it is not new. – Just over 10 billion doses of vaccines to fight the coronavirus have been delivered worldwide to date. – For those people who think their immune system will protect them, so did many of the 9 million who have died so far worldwide, and they were not all oldies, as others would have you believe. And one thing that the people who rail against the vaccine forget is that "we" have trained scientists, physicians, doctors, specialists, nurses to take care of our health needs and problems, and they do a fine job at that. And around 99% of the people mentioned above worldwide, believe in the vaccine, with just a few rogue folk, who are often in it for financial reward, opposing it and spreading lies on suspect social media sites– – so are we to believe the 99% of the specialists who have been trained in this field, or the almost negligible percentage of rogue "doctors and so-called specialists" who oppose it? It beggars belief when you look at it like this, especially when we are quite willing to put our lives in the hands of these specialists when something goes wrong with our health.

So a win/win as it does everything I want. Also had it checked by an Apple fanatic friend of mine and he was impressed with it.......

Apple iPhone SE........not 5, My mistake, and does just fine for my needs!!

Just looked at it again and it is the iPhone SE 16GB..............my mistake!!!

I remember going along to see the school nurse in the early/mid 50s to get my polio vaccination, and I remember long queues of children waiting to get theirs too, and it was the same with whooping cough and the BCG vaccine, and in my time I have been vaccinated for polio, MMR, TB, yellow fever, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, with gammaglobulin, and with three vaccinations for Covid, not to mention more than five tetanus jabs in my time, so I don't see what all the fuss is about. My recollection of the polio vaccination was that mothers were also queueing with their children to make sure they had the vaccine! In addition, the smallpox vaccine wiped out smallpox, and the polio vaccine almost eradicated polio although it has resurfaced in various Third World countries. To summarise the above and that which you will read below; vaccines save lives. Read on below for more information on this: – The Vaccination Act 1853 made it compulsory for all children born after 1 August 1853 to be vaccinated against smallpox during their first 3 months of life. Parents who failed to get their children vaccinated would be subject to a fine. By the 1860s, two-thirds of babies were vaccinated. As a result, there was a fall in the death rate due to smallpox. Compulsory smallpox vaccination ended in the UK in 1947…… The childhood vaccination programme expanded in the NHS era after 1948. Whooping cough (pertussis) and poliomyelitis vaccines were introduced for children in the 1950s, as was BCG for school-leavers. By the 1970s, there were routine vaccinations against measles and tetanus; though routine smallpox vaccination ended in 1971 and BCG in 2005. The current vaccination schedule also includes immunisations against Hib, meningitis A, B, C, W and Y, mumps, rubella and pneumonia. Mandatory vaccinations have been with us for centuries, quietly saving lives – and they're often largely unopposed until something changes………and social media has played a large part in that change by promoting vaccine opposition with disinformation, scare tactics, “Big Pharma” lies, and publications and websites spouting conspiracy theories and vaccination untruths amongst other things.

I did buy a second-hand (almost new) Apple iPhone on Lazada a few months ago and it was in immaculate order and cost 2400 baht! Couldn't have been happier if I'd bought it new, so have a search around and see what you can find. My was an Apple iPhone 5 SE, 16 GB and I only bought it to supplement my fantastic Nokia flip phone, just in case I needed to log/register the vaccination stuff on it – – and as yet I haven't used it, but it is in reserve!

Interesting that you mention that, because I have known/know several nice Thai women here, who ask me the same question, because I live alone and have done for many years, and get offers of help from them (genuine). I know I could rely on a couple of them if I did get seriously ill, but as yet I haven't needed to, and hopefully I won't have to. I have lived on my own for the best part of my life although I did live with a lovely Thai woman here for five or six years, and I did find that stressful to a certain extent, so when circumstances prevailed that she moved out, although we were both sad, I saw it as a relief (however we are still good friends and are regularly in touch). I was adopted just after birth into a family which was dysfunctional to say the least and I spent an unhappy childhood listening to frequent rows, indiscretions and whatever else you care to mention, so I would spend a lot of my time out in the forests in the woods near my place in Sussex, even going so far as to build little "homes" for myself, wanting to be on my own, which I most often was. So being alone, caring for myself and cooking etc come naturally to me and I couldn't live any other way...........one proviso to that is having a very large house or apartment which allowed me to live and have my own space at one end of it, whereas my partner/carer/nurse/whatever lived at the other end!

The exact way H. pylori infects someone is still unknown. H. pylori bacteria may be passed from person to person through direct contact with saliva, vomit or fecal matter. H. pylori may also be spread through contaminated food or water. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/h-pylori/symptoms-causes

Did she test positive for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)?? It can be difficult to shift, even with a combination of antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors (like omeprazole) amongst others, and sometimes it takes a couple of efforts to get rid of it.

She thinks they are delicious!

I spent a little time in Juan-les-Pins back in the early 80s, when I went with a couple of mates to see the Monaco Grand Prix, and found it quite enchanting with some small streets harbouring many shops, and some nice restaurants (and some of the "beautiful people") – – and I could well spend 3 to 6 months a year there any time!!

Something I forgot to mention on top of this quote above, was that the TAT did focus on the Chinese market and in some aspects it proved profitable for the low/medium priced condo sellers, however it really didn't do much to lift the profile of the place, nor did it bring huge profits, because many of those went back to China by virtue of the structure of the businesses here – – joint Thai/Chinese, if indeed a Thai was even involved? They focused on the cheaper end of the market and it backfired, they did nothing about the reputation of the place and it backfired, and they did nothing about persuading the powers that be that the infrastructure needed updating – – so in effect they have reaped what they have sown, and the old quote, "they are about as useless as tits on a bull" comes to mind. Sad state of affairs for the smaller businesses here.

Well there's no doubt about it that you are right in many of your observations, and although I have tried to be positive, mainly because I have seen the real downside of it in a couple of previous years, and compared to the just recent past there has been a slight uplift, so for me that is a positive sign. It's not going to set the world alight, but it is a move up the scale, albeit slight. On the last Friday night when I last went out, Bangla was fairly busy and the New York bar was packed so there are folk about, but nowhere near as in the past, but then that is to be expected. Here is another take on it..........way before Covid came on the scene Bangla was slowly dying and it had been getting worse since about 2011, which was the year a great mate of mine sold his very popular and beloved bar. The reason being was that takings had been falling for at least a year prior to that and what was once an extremely busy/crowded Soi (Soi Eric) had suddenly become almost empty. I remember him commenting to me that, "the takings have been falling, and last night I can't determine whether we made 10 baht or lost 10 baht, so I think it's time to sell". And he did. If you add various other events into the above, it will be seen that Patong has been subject to ebbs and flows over it's time, and just to prove that, there is a large unfinished/derelict hotel apartment opposite Simon Cabaret, and there are a few other unfinished/derelict projects around Patong, and way before Covid hit home, businesses/construction was failing all over the island, and "The Park" on Nanai is a good example of this. Then there was the time when rumour mongers put it around that Bangla was about to close and bars would go out of business, so a huge area under the boxing stadium was designated the "new Bangla bar area" and unfortunately a few unlucky punters bought some of them and it collapsed because Bangla stayed as it was! Then there was the old "Tiger Complex", complete with upstairs disco which was all the rage, until it caught fire, and then "Tiger 2" took over and it was never the same with many partly empty bars which gave way to many more fully empty bars, and that's where it has stayed. I could go on and there is much more that one could recall which highlights the ups and downs of the place, and I will remark that in its heyday Bangla and Patong were great places; lively, full of fun and interesting people, and with the nightlife scene just about catering to every taste, but whilst all this was going on and the powers that be were raking in the money, nobody thought about improving the infrastructure, or stamping out the taxi Mafia, or the jet ski touts, or indeed improving the place to attract more affluent tourists – – no, no one took any notice and Bangla and Patong suffered, and IMO the place is still suffering some of the consequences of this, and once Covid struck, that proved to be somewhat of a death knell. I'm forever hopeful that Patong/Bangla will continue, because when all's said and done it is a town next to the sea, with a nice enough beach and great climate, so there's no reason for it to be overlooked by holidaymakers, although one has to say that TAT have made a dog's breakfast of any attempts to bring tourists here, and IMO they have no idea at all, so that doesn't make it any easier for all of the businesses here, but I'm forever hopeful the place will recover, as it has done since the depths of despair of about 18 months ago, and there are still businesses willing to take a chance, and good luck to them.

A few years ago back in NZ, I bought a latex mattress because it felt good in the shop, but after sleeping on it for a few months, I couldn't get comfortable because it seemed to have "indentations" where I would regularly sleep, so I sold it, along with the Slat-bed that came with it. About a year ago here I bought a Sealy Posture (not posturepedic?) As it is a slightly firmer mattress, and it was on sale (point taken about the extortionate range of prices) and I found that to be about right. However over the months my back and left hip started to suffer to the point where I was waking up tired, so I looked around for a latex topper and found a good one on Lazada which is now installed on my bed and it has made a difference, but I'm wondering if the fact that I am getting older and have had quite a few injuries, is counting against me, and for some reason I have thought about getting a softer mattress?? Still only a distant thought at the moment and not even sure that a softer mattress would help??

In my early 20s, along with mates, we would always convene at the local pub for a few drinks at lunchtime, and then convene again at opening time which I think was about 5:30 PM back then. Changed my ways in my mid-30s and would never drink during the day and gradually progressed onto drinking wine only, and then with the evening meal, and that has continued to this day, some 40 years later. However what was once a bottle of red wine with the evening meal has now reduced to half a bottle, with perhaps a snifter of port afterwards. I drink red wine because it complements the food I cook and I enjoy searching for the good/different/promotional offers. There is one exception to this, and that being if I go out with friends on a Friday or Saturday evening, after my usual tipple of wine, I may well get into a beer or two, or perhaps a rum and coke, with the last drink being around 11 PM.

Found the "real" version on 1337x a short while ago, but thanks for the warning anyway.

There you go.............. https://www.directendoscopy.com.au/blog/endoscopy-gastroscopy-and-colonoscopy-explained/

The same with me Lacessit, as it did absolutely nothing to help my sleep. When I was back in NZ around 2005 and had a severe burnout, as well as gastric reflux and a precancerous condition in my throat which resulted in me not being able to sleep, my wonderful NZ doctor took me under his wing and helped me get better, and one thing he did was to prescribe Triazolam to help me sleep, and it worked extremely well, and only on half of a 0.25 tablet per night when needed. I didn't use them regularly and kept them for quite a few years, and when I went back to NZ in the recent past, I renewed that prescription, because they helped me to get to sleep, and also wake up feeling happy and refreshed in the morning, however now I have run out and would dearly love to get some again, but they are not available here. For me, taking 0.125 mg of Triazolam when needed (a couple of times a month for example) was a godsend and nothing else I have tried comes close. I may well try some of the suggestions on this thread to see if they can help, mainly because I am a poor sleeper.

Oh dear, it looks like I fell for the "urban legend" which circulates in these places, however I did think it was true at the time because it seemed quite feasible. Never mind, I was a bit of a newbie then!!

A story about this which I found very amusing...... A friend of mine owned a very popular bar here for quite some time, and every year some of his mates would come over from London to visit him for a couple of weeks of raucous behaviour and so on, and one time they brought a much older guy over with them (I think he was someone's uncle/father) and they set him up for the night with a lady boy, not that he knew what a lady boy was as he thought it was all kosher.. When he came back to the bar the next evening he was livid, and apparently he had been laying on the bed waiting for his date to come out of the shower, but she was taking a long time so he banged on the door shouting for her to come out, and she did, but with a towel round her waist, and when he gently removed the towel he got a surprise, not only because of the male tackle which was hanging there, but as he said to his friends at the bar – – "her tackle was bigger than mine", so he kicked her out!

I think this paragraph from your post sums it up for me, because many of the guys who come here do so looking for a bit of life and activity and of course being fêted by the girls in the bar, and to be honest that has never changed – – the girls in the bar bit, I mean. Your bit about the rather dull UK pubs also helps to answer the question, because they are here for something completely different and exciting, and they don't mind paying for it. More than 15 years ago when I first started coming here, the story was the same; go to a bar, get pestered by the girls for lady drinks and end up with a large bar bill, which didn't faze me one bit, because I was here on holiday to enjoy myself, and to a certain extent they provided the enjoyment with their banter and antics. Probably more to the point is that I rarely get bar girls asking me for a drink these days, even though I do go into new bars with new girls working there, and certainly the girls in the Black Horse, which I have visited for quite some time, have never asked for a drink?? If they are engaging and fun, then I will offer to buy them one, but only because of that. Perhaps you should take that hat off, which has the words, "sucker" or "newbie" written on it???? – – just joking my friend, but seriously if you simply tell the girls that you are not going to buy them a drink, or "mai mee tang" they don't pester you again and you can sit there in peace and quiet, apart from the loud music! As regards the "busy" aspect of your main post, I haven't experienced that which you post about, possibly because I only go out infrequently and those times I have been out, it has been fairly busy......seems like the pickup in business could be a lot slower, but then again there are quite a few folk out there who are picking this, and I mentioned the new shops opening up around the place, and in Nanai, almost opposite the new restaurant on the corner there are three new places which have just opened or are in the process of opening up?? I'm not saying they all know what they are doing, and I will mention a particular bar which has opened up opposite the entrance to Makro in Nanai, in a very large double sized store which used to be the opticians, and I really can't see how that is going to work, and on the few occasions that I have driven by, there hasn't been a soul in the bar, so good luck with that one. Having said all of that, Nanai is one of the busier places around in Patong, along with Beach Road which has a few more establishments open now. I remain optimistic because I have seen Patong at its worst (I think), and even now with its faults, it is an improvement on that particular time. And as many people have said, it will take some time for this place to get back on its feet, however slowly, but surely, it is making an effort.