Gulliver_in_LOS

Ihave a PhD in Physics. Married to a Thai woman and have a six months old baby boy. Currently working as a postdoc in Japan. I master four languages: French, English, Arabic, Japanese, and now learning Thai.

Dear ThaiPauly,

I am sorry I can't make it this time; currently not in Thailand. Hopefully I'll have the chance to visit your place when I return later this year.

Whishing you all the best.

Cheers,

G

Our six months old baby boy also gets the same attention everywhere we go I remember when we took him back to my wife's village; everyday people were queuing up just to see him Personally I don't see anything wrong with that. Of course, nobody was allowed to carry or kiss him without his mother's permission. At shopping malls, people also smile at him or try to touch his hands, but as far as I remember, nobody has ever tried to lift him out of his stroller. That surely would have crossed the line I remember at one time, a whole group of schoolgirls surrounded our baby's stroller smiling and touching him, and he seemed very much enjoying it

From birth to now, our 6 months old baby was "trained" to always drink a little water before and just after his milk meals. Do you think this routine would help to prevent this problem? Seriously my hair stands up when I read about the above general anesthesia operation...

Upset with the same thing, I raised the question this morning and was calmed down with "In 2 months, before all teeth are out, no more bottle. Only glass of milk and teeth brushing after".

Our doctor at Samitivej, aware that the baby has had never sucked mother's milk, advised on last visit ( I was not present).

Still, I am not on ease.

After some googling, we found out that this risk increases with the exposure time to sugary liquids, including milk and juices, as the bacteria in the teeth and gum feed from it, and produce the acids which lead to the decay. Therefore sleeping with a bottle will provide a constant flow of sugar for the bacteria for long hours in a day, and the effects are accumulated over the months and years. Some doctors recommend that a bedtime bottle should only contain water.

From birth to now, our 6 months old baby was "trained" to always drink a little water before and just after his milk meals. Do you think this routine would help to prevent this problem? Seriously my hair stands up when I read about the above general anesthesia operation...

I am not trying to troll or anything, but still think that his photo shouldn't have been shown publicly without his consent, or at least his face or eyes should have been masked. Whatever he is doing, I think he still deserves some dignity as a human being. (Actually he doesn't look mentally that well from the picture).

Hi can anyone tell me any cheap way to call thailand from Sweden, going to sweden next week and want to keep contact with thai G/F. she has no pc so skype not in the running, currentley using dialwise in uk 3p a minute to mobile, what do you use in sweden?

SkypeOut is OK, but the sound quality is often not so good at the telephone end (due the Internet's limited bandwidth...). Recently I found very good phone cards to call Thailand from anywhere in the world. The company name is Thaitel and I think the cheapest rate from Sweden is about € 0.04/min.

well my friend that is a scary comment but in my mind, also a very true comment. by the very nature of the beast the muslim religion [not people] does not want to co-exist or tolerate the infidels [any other religion]

I would have expected some solid references for your views after making such a dangerous comment. From my little knowledge about Islam, I know that Muslims are asked to respect Christians and Jews, and the latter are referred to as "the people of the book" in the Quran. A historical evidence for this is the seven centuries long Islamic reign in Spain (711-1492), where every Muslim, Christian, and Jew, was treated fairly and all lived in harmony (also called the Golden Age). On the other hand, the crusaders killed every Muslim and Jew when they captured Jerusalem in 1099, even the ones who sought refuge in Solomon's temple.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=16493

The above links to an article that addresses the Spanish experience. I as far as I can see the Leopard does not change its spots.

Interesting article. I agree with some of the points and disagree with others. However I am afraid I won't discuss or post any further in this thread, as its quality has dramatically degraded.

Well at least I am not the only one in Thailand who's been unhappy about this behavior Please look at this latest news Traffic Police Could Face Charges Of Extortion, Flood of complaints from motorists

Cheers,

G

^ Agreed I broke the rules, and I was reprimanded and paid up in this strictly fictional account (hehe). I was merely being respectful of local custom by ignoring a majority of traffic laws unless it suits me to obey them. I would not want offend anyone.

Moralizing on the internet really does crack me me up. A click away is 9 types of rabbit porn and people are railing against the scourge that is traffic stop corruption.

Gulliver kind sir (is it gulliver's khaosan or gulliver's sukhumvit? both extremely classy venues), that you would possibly infer that I would resort to what you call "bribery" by my character in this story is absolutely ridiculous. My behavior is beyond reproach as I am a guest in this fine country. For this baseless assumption I fine you the amount of, ummm, 200 baht. How convienent. Please remit payment to my thaivisa paypal account promptly.......

My comment was not targeted against you personally, and I apologize if it appeared that way to you. However, I think it is still wrong whether we call it "local custom" or something else. This is just my opinion.

G

Was it Swiss Tony by any chance?

This also shows that Thailand (in its own way) can and do realize when they act too severely. It took them a bit long but TIT

Are you serious??? What about the treatment of the Burmese refugees? Media freedom restrictions? Political assassinations and disappearances? etc.

I advise you to read this report on human rights in Thailand before making such no-sense statements.

I travel a lot through Bangkok, sometimes casually (T-shirt, jeans, trainers), and never been questioned by customs. I am not sure, but probably they look for general attitudes or body language to decide upon stopping somebody As others have already said, as long as you are on the legal side you shouldn't worry about it

Enjoy your trip to Thailand

I have flown with Qantas and BA with baby, both were good. But it was also in Business class and at night time. The passengers got off the plane and saw a baby and said oh my god, we did not even know there was one on board.

Rather than the staff to worry about, you should ask about the passengers.

But I can understand that pasengers do not want a screaming kid on a long flight. I would not either, unless it was mine, then you can all get......woken up.

Oh and dependant on your childs natural sleep times and your flights, try to not let the baby sleep before the flight to much. This way she may be tired and sleep well. We found it really good to get them to sleep during takeoff and landing. this reduces the effect of pressure changes on their little ears and if they are asleep, no problem. If awake, it can hurt them or at least be uncomfortable and make for a crying attack. If they are awake during takeoff and landing, try to make them suck on a bottle during it until it levels or lands. If they have the slightest cold before the flight....good luck.

Very good advice! I see that it's probably better to travel at night time. Thanks.

I have found Gulf to be fantastic, BA ok, Quantas Ok, Thai - absolutely awful.

Actually we are more inclined in using Thai Airways because of better communication issues (my wife is Thai). Did you have any particular problem with them? Thanks.

...

When you die,...then energy in your body fades away the same way fire does before it flickers out. After that, nothing else. It is over.

...

What if the mind/consciousness is exactly that energy?

I'm sure the energy is part of the mind/consciousness. But I believe when you die, that energy fades into nothingness.

I wasn't trying to prove or disapprove anything. I just wanted to note that one of the most fundamental principles of physics is that energy is always conserved and does not fade into nothingness, but only changes forms, such as matter, light, radio, heat, etc. My remark was that if the mind/soul is associated with the body's energy then when somebody dies and that energy is transferred from the body, it can still carry the information about the soul/mind but in a different form (electromagnetic energy for example which is invisible).

Why should I be so stupid as to insist on getting the full force of the law, if it pains me?

May be I am stupid, but still think that corruption is wrong even if it is so common here. Otherwise I see it as a lack of integrity to critsice the politicians and government about it.

Of course me being flight crew with Qantas I'm biased...but that said we are very well trained and friendly towards babys on board the aircraft.

But I also have to say that Singapore Airlines is excellent! I would pick them as my first choice. You really can't go wrong with the Asian airlines as they also friendly in general towards children. Was surprised at the other comment about Thai...but then again their flight atttendants are so called "hi-so", who look at the job differently than the rest of us.

Thanks for the reply. I see that the Asian airlines are the best in general. Considering myself very lucky to have a real flight crew (stewardess?) in this forum, I appreciate it if you could give us some of the most basic tips concerning flying with a baby.

(Rinrada, I used to think the same as you several months ago :D)

Never been in a situation like this before, but isn't this also called bribery?

For the first time my wife and I will traveling with our eight months old baby from Thailand to East Coast USA, and was wondering if anybody can recommend or had good experience with a particular airline(s) regarding baby friendliness.

Any feedback is welcome.

Cheers,

G

I voted for Ram 1. We received excellent service in the New Born Clinic (Dr Amnuay) and Pediatric (Dr Nareelak). However it was relatively pricey. I haven’t used the other hospitals, but heard good references about Maharj (the only problem is a long waiting time) and McCormick.

well my friend that is a scary comment but in my mind, also a very true comment. by the very nature of the beast the muslim religion [not people] does not want to co-exist or tolerate the infidels [any other religion]

I would have expected some solid references for your views after making such a dangerous comment. From my little knowledge about Islam, I know that Muslims are asked to respect Christians and Jews, and the latter are referred to as "the people of the book" in the Quran. A historical evidence for this is the seven centuries long Islamic reign in Spain (711-1492), where every Muslim, Christian, and Jew, was treated fairly and all lived in harmony (also called the Golden Age). On the other hand, the crusaders killed every Muslim and Jew when they captured Jerusalem in 1099, even the ones who sought refuge in Solomon's temple.

while i respect what you are saying, we now live in 2006.

the interpretation of the koran,like the bible can be twisted and read to mean almost anything and at this moment in time the interpretation is 'islam is the only religion'

i should hazard a guess that if the muslims were to reign again thier would be peace,as long as we adhered to thier beliefs,

now do you really want that ???

I agree that religious texts can be interpreted differently. However this makes it more difficult to know or support the origin of your statement that Islam is intolerant towards other religions. Above I gave a real-world historical example about the seven centuries (that's a very long time!) tolerance of Islam in Spain, and NO, Christians and Jews were not forced to adhere to Islam then.

Back to 2006, agree that there are extremists who in the name of Islam are committing acts which have nothing to do with it. I believe their ideas are the ones which should be fought against and corrected. I said "ideas" because I don't believe that military operations alone, such as killing teenage combatants or destroying whole villages because of suspecting militants in there, are long term solutions.

Grant, with all due respect, I still think that doctors' abilities are more important than the hospitals they belong to. Therefore I believe this poll will be greatly subjective. But if it is about other things, such as quality of service, cleanness, pricing, etc., then we can have a go.

...

When you die,...then energy in your body fades away the same way fire does before it flickers out. After that, nothing else. It is over.

...

What if the mind/consciousness is exactly that energy?

...

Again, some here seem to imply that these "extremists" are a small minority. It is the small educated elites of moderate Muslims living abroad or in the better suburbs of the major metropoles in the Islamic countries who are the minority. Unless they can come up with a voice that finds resonance in the greater Islamic world, the Jihad will continue. Alas, Boy Bush and the neo-cons are the worst possible people to be in power at this particular juncture in history.

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I completely agree with your analysis. However we have to remember that most (if not all) the governments in the Muslim World are totalitarian and even oppressive against their own people. This is one of main reasons why the so called "educated elites" prefer to live abroad. But as long as the West continues to appease these dummy governments for energy or security interests, the hands of that elite are tied up. The latest example is Donald Rumsfeld's visit to North Africa this week, where he didn't mention a single word about human rights abuses in these countries, knowing that journalists and writers are tortured and jailed routinely in that part of the world.