xylophone

Thanks for the tip DrDave, and after trying just about everything including Dulcolax, I hadn't thought about your suggestion, however I won't dismiss it at this point in time. I went to see the doctor who did my colonoscopy and took along all of my "medications" which were supposed to help constipation, and he recommended something called Resolor, which worked the first time I took it, but on subsequent occasions, not so, so I'm left with a quandary of what to do, so your suggestion may well come in handy. I also think that because of my recent accident and a broken coccyx, which has caused some swelling round that region, things aren't working as well as they should, so last night I took three Dulcolax tablets and that worked to a certain extent, so I may not have to go back onto my regime of prune juice and sorbitol, which often works far too well, if that is at all possible! Thanks for your post, much appreciated.

Agree with your comments SM007, and early on in the piece here, I thought it was a good place to be, what with plenty of nightlife and entertainment, roads free of traffic, although they weren't always in a good state of repair I have to admit, and drainage problems that seemed to be fixed, until they weren't, but overall, good and livable. If I hadn't put down roots here in Patong, with quite a few friends, a few acquaintances, and my daughter now staying close by, then I would seriously think about moving, but to where, I'm not sure, because a lot of Phuket is suffering the same malaise, and as others have said, it's only going to get worse – – so my choice is to see out my remaining years here and put up with it, or move elsewhere which would be a major pain in the proverbial; between a rock and a hard place, as the saying goes!

Yes, a lack of planning, money siphoned off for this very purpose goes into other "pockets" and the powers that be hope that the tourists keep coming, but as these two posts have pointed out, things are getting pretty dire in Phuket. Just a couple of hours ago I was making my way back by car, from Bangkok Phuket hospital to Patong and the traffic on the hill from the Kathu traffic lights up to the shrine and just beyond, was stopped nose to tail, so obviously I thought there had been an accident, as often happens in this dreadful piece of road.....but no, it was because there had been a really heavy downpour, where the heavens opened up, for about an hour previous to my journey, and the road being slippery, combined with the lack of driving ability of the everyday Thai, saw quite a few trucks and vans on that hill spinning their wheels in an effort to move, but to no avail. I didn't realise that this was the case until a Fortuna a couple of cars ahead of me was skewing a little sideways in an effort to get some traction, so everything behind him stopped and a good 50% of the trucks and vans started to do the same thing, and as no one would let anyone else in to the other lane to get away from these potential disasters, everything came to a standstill – – and this was the reason for the nose to tail traffic!! As most will know, half of this road on the hill slid away a few months back, and there was talk then, as there has been for many years previous, of building a tunnel, or of finding another route out of Patong in order to bypass this hill. However nothing has become of this although the problems with this piece of road have been known for a couple of decades previously. Add this to that which @ChipButty has mentioned, and no matter what has been done to improve the roads here, it has inevitably ended up being a disaster and causing more problems than it tried to solve. So the solution of the people in power has been to open up the likes of Patong/Phuket to more tourists with visa free entry, or ease of extended stay, or whatever else you want to call it, whilst the whole place has turned into a nightmare.

I wasn't actually here back then so perhaps I should have said, "25 years ago" or thereabouts........

I thought the series was good and will def watch Series 3 when available.

Almost everything has become progressively worse since then....but perhaps that was a joke?

No problem if she is operating here legally..........but then my post wasn't aimed at these people!

But the advertising is for a reason............to get Russian customers to use their services, carried out by Russians, and do these folks have work permits?????

is a hospital dental better. I have used several independent dentists here in Phuket, but have found the dental department in Bangkok Phuket hospital to be the best, so I go there now for all of my dental needs.

It looks like we are going to have to agree to disagree on this, and as for the leadership in both Israel and Hamas being replaced by non-religious leaders, well that's a pipe dream, and some.

The IDF do not purposely attack/target Palestinians, they target Hamas, and in the process there are sure to be "casualties of war" and as has already been discovered, there are many so-called "innocent Palestinians" who support Hamas, so what do you expect. As a gesture of goodwill Hamas could release the hostages, that's the first step, but Hamas being a terrorist organisation will not do this. That is a simple first step which could break the deadlock, so why won't Hamas do this.

Take a look on Facebook, Phuket and you will see any number of Russian names touting properties for sale and rent, not to mention one or two who advertise a car washing service, with the ad written mostly in Russian. Somehow they are getting away with it and it shouldn't be hard to catch them if the BIB used a little bit of nous, but then again..........

As a start Hamas could release the Israeli hostages...........but they are reluctant to do that for some reason; perhaps many of them have been killed?? If some sort of "proof of life" as regards to the hostages, was offered by Hamas, then that could be a start.

No probs......thanks for letting me know otherwise I would have embarked upon a fruitless search!

Could only find the 3 episodes when first looked otherwise I would have!!

I downloaded this and settled in to watch what I thought were the ONLY three episode that were on 1337x.to!! Turns out there are eight episodes?? so will have to go searching for the remainder!! I liked what I saw so looking forward to finding them............

Perhaps specifically to short the stock and make money off the falling share price!!!!!

What is it now??

A rather posh Englishman finds out that he has been left the farm in outback Australia, by a distant cousin who has recently passed away, so he decides to visit it. As he is standing on the porch of the farmhouse, he spies a cloud of dust in the distance which gets closer by the minute and eventually an Australian in a Ute (truck) screeches to a halt right in front of him. "G'day mate, how ya goin (with an Aussie drawl)? You must be my new neighbour and as we don't get many newcomers round here, what about coming over to my place tomorrow for a BBQ – – simply head due west, then turn right for 30 km and you'll come to my place". "I tell you what, I'll throw a few steaks on the barbie, get a few beers in, and we'll have a bit of singing, a bit of dancing and a bit of rooting"!!! Oh, that will be rather lovely said the Englishman, what should I wear? The Aussie replied: – "doesn't really matter, there'll only be the two of us".

Thanks for the heads up Will27, as I watched it last night and thought it was good.......downloaded from 1337x.to, eventually!!

Yes, I agree with that post and I have to say that the poor grifter is certainly looking his age now and perhaps the last few months of frantic activity and worry are catching up with him, as he certainly looks tired and pudgy now........

I recently downloaded the whole series as I liked it so much when I first saw it on tv. Not quite the same impact now but still worth a watch.

I'm not sure whether my post quite fits in with what's going on, however the quote above does lead into what I'm going to say........ Without a doubt, the police are very lax on pulling up Thai motorbike drivers, especially those that don't have a helmet, and I have witnessed this on so many occasions that I've lost count. In fact on one occasion two Thai guys, without crash helmets, were waiting at traffic lights when a couple of the BIB pulled up alongside of them and completely ignored them, when it would have been so easy to take them to the side of the road and fine them, and this is not an isolated occasion by any means. Fast forward to today when I was travelling in my car towards Phuket town with my Thai daughter and her mother and there was a traffic stop with police pulling over just about every motorcycle and one of them came up to my drivers side window looked at me and beckoned me over to the side, whilst other Thai drivers were waived on through. The policeman asked for my international driving permit, and was surprised when I gave him two Thai driving licences, so he let me go. The two Thai ladies in my car had a bit of a chuckle and were discussing the fact that the police were looking out for foreigners and were checking all foreigners driving through the checkpoint, and what surprised me was their next comment, inasmuch as, "it's always been like this" and the reason it would appear is that foreigners are an easy touch for a fine, whereas Thai drivers, especially motorbike drivers, would be almost a waste of time. I most certainly am not advocating driving whilst under the influence, on any vehicle on the road, which is why I get motorbike taxis to and from the town centre.