Andy1958

Go to a pharmacist in the UK and they give you a fluoroquinolone class antibiotic ear drops for an ear infection. They won’t even look in your ear. Go with an eye infection, they’ll give you an oxytetracyclin cream. You don’t need a prescription, because they don’t do any harm and it’s worth a try for minor ailments. Skin ailments are similar – you take an anti-fungal for Athletes Foot, Mupirocin for infected wounds. Simple.

They do this because going to the doctor or casualty clogs up surgeries with minor ailments best treated at home – this happens because people today increasingly behave like scared, helpless kids, incapable or terrified of taking an informed decision on their own. Parents are increasingly taking children in with wounds that are easy to deal with with some iodine and a few sterile dressings.

As I said before, this is not rocket science – it is time more people behaved like adults and stopped being frightened of really simple things and took control. There is plenty of help now on the internet. Yes, doctors may be professionals, and they are needed for non-minor stuff, but remember - professionals built the Titanic!

It's not rocket science if you have some basic knowledge - I have a biology degree, I was an army medic, my wife is a registered nurse and it's just like choosing a spanner to deal with a nut, and not a hammer.

The relevant info is online - wiki etc lists the usual treatment plans including the usual antibiotics. It's an informed  choice thing.

For minor problems like skin problems, fine. Major problems, well that's a whole different ball game....

I recently had a tiny knee injury infected with either straphylococcus or streptococcus, which soon developed into a nasty baht size wound because I was slow getting to the hospital (The Dibuk in Phuket - very good and cheaper than the rest).

When I did, the doctor cleaned out the ulcer under local anesthetic  with saline and iodine, filled the hole with sterile gauze soaked in saline, and covered it. I had IV Ceftriaxone for three days (you can't take it orally) and took three 20mg Clindamycin antibiotic capsules a day for a week. That killed off the infection and it looked much better.

Having spent 9000 baht already, my wife (a nurse) now looked after the wound. She cleaned it up daily with saline and iodine, then put a new wonder gel on it called Solcoseryl. This speeds up healing enormously. We also put Terramycin antibiotic gel (Pfiser) on it daily - it's really for eye infections, but works on wounds.

Anyway, I reckon  I could have saved a lot of money and avoided going to hospital if I had taken some Clindamycin pills and used iodine and the gels as soon as I knew I had a problem. Next time I'll be quicker off the mark!

I know many of us self-treat because of expense and language problems. Maybe this will help you if you do.

if he pays a few baht, I'm sure the police will let him fly to Singapore for a while to drink Red Bull with similar fellons!

I went into Phuket Cable's office because BBC Worldwide had disappeared and was told to reboot by choosing channel 9988. It worked. BBC is back!

Here in Phuket BBC Worldwide has just vanished. We are now getting the ordinary UK 24 hour news channel with Filmon in the top corner..

This is a shame as I miss the excellent business news (and Sally Bundock, but not the ridiculous and ranting Aaron Heslehurst!)

I can't find out why online. Any ideas?

Just to update, a week after the email above, I STILL don't have the money back in my account. The airline says in the email I will need to talk to my bank to sort it out.

Crikey, what kind of airline is this? I'm never going to fly Emirates again, that's for sure!

There is a great shortage of professional native speaking English teachers in BKK and Phuket, so God only knows why they want to make the situation even worse!

No, it's OK - I took the risk and booked again using my UK credit card. It went OK so I have a ticket.

I think it was the verified by visa with my Thai card took so long, the booking timed out. That's what the guy from India thiought.

Oh, I got my first 800km service a couple of weeks ago. As there was a free oil offer, it cost me just 17 baht!

God I love Thailand!

WHOOPS! Thanks for that. Just to update, after a week waiting I got this today from Emirites, so hopefully I will get the money back. All sounds confusing, but we'll see....

Dear Sir

I’m sorry to hear about the inconvenience you faced while trying to book your flights.

After checking our records, I can confirm that the funds have been released back to your account. Depending on your bank, this may take 3-7 days normally.

Once the fund release is initiated Emirates does not receive any further updates. Hence, you’ll need to lease with your bank to check on the same.

As this is not a refund but a release of funds, there is no confirmation number. This will not reflect as a “credit” on your account as such.
Your bank will adjust the balance available on your account back to what it should be.

You’ll not see a line on your statement indicating a credit of the funds release. If after 7 days the funds are still blocked, you’ll need to take it up with your bank directly.

I hope this answers your concerns.

Sincerely,

If you park on a red line in London, your car is picked up onto a low loader in about 20 minutes and gone. You then have to pay God knows how much to get it back. No one parks on them, not even with disabled permits. It works!

SIMPLE!

No way is this going to happen. It will be like controlling buses and coaches going over Patong Hill. It just will not be enforced. The police are too busy with their other "projects".

Well done on an excellent guide. I just hope the forum master doesn't remove your post as personal advertising!

I too use Bangkok Bank and have found them very good - no problems in nearly five years. I don't bother with a credit card. Money transfers into Thailand are not a problem. My UK pension is paid direct to by Thai account. They speak reasonable English at Phuket branches.

I have heard good things about Krungsri. They recently spent a lot of money here training their staff in English, so it looks like they want more falang customers.

Thanks for the replies.

After a week, I gave up waiting to a reply to my message sent via their website. I rang flight reservations - 02873387 - and a very nice guy from India answered in two rings and said this often happens, but normally money is refunded automatically in two days. Something went wrong and he would sort it out. He said, it is always best to ring (says a lot for the online message service!) So I will await the money!

Sounds like they have good people, but lousy payment software!

Normally I fly Malaysia Airlines to the UK, without any problems. They are usually cheapest, but Emirites are offering fantastic prices at the moment.

The problem is, their website took my money, but a page then came up with "Transaction could not be completed. Consult your bank." So no ticket, and now I have no money!.

I sent off a message three days ago to Emirites, but as yet had no reply. I need to get the money back or a ticket for a flight.

So be aware you may get a problem like this at the moment.

I would be interested to know if anyone else gets problems like this with online payments using Thai bank cards. I don't get problems with UK ones.

Thanks for that, Pinot Yes, buying a Click is a no-brainer. (But, never ridden a Yammy yet...)

What I forgot to mention is that the handling of my new bike was like a pig until I got home and checked the tyre/tire pressures - 50 psi front and 55 rear! They should have been 29 and 33 respectively.

This is typical of Thai garages - I don't know why, but they just seem to love pumping tyres up until they nearly burst!

Oh, I forgot to include this link, which gives good info on the latest version of the Click.

www.starmometer.com/2015/02/25/10-reasons-why-the-honda-click-125i-is-the-scooter-of-the-future/

I looked at past threads and couldn't see anything appropriate to add a comment, so I thought I would start a thread on this after a frustrating few days so others can maybe avoid the problems I had.

I wanted to buy a new 125 scooter as my step daughter now needs my old Suzuki Skydrive to go to work. I first went to Baan Suzuki near Ocean and asked the girl on the front desk if they had a Skydrive as I found it fast and reliable, and just got "No have", and she carried on writing. She hardly even looked up.

I then went around various Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki stores and got much the same blank response everywhere. No one seemed to want to sell me a bike. All I could get was a price on a calculator (always the same RRP). Also, no Honda garages seem to allow test drives, and you have to go to Thalang if you want to test drive a Yamaha Nuovo 125 (cheaper, but reputably slower and lower spec than a Click, so I didn't.) When it comes to second hand bike shops, the prices are just plain silly and they won't bargain - one one year old Click I asked about was the same price as a new one!

Finally, I went to the Honda garage opposite Honda Big Wing on the airport road (Thepgasatrii Road). Here I was greeted by the charming and helpful Khuen Peung (=Bee), front desk manager, who spoke reasonable English and who (amazingly) wants to sell bikes (!) So I got a Click off her for 50k baht with no problems, and I feel confident I will get good future service from this garage. And the Click is a terrific machine! (Get the cheaper spoked wheels, not the cast wheels as spokes are apparently better for surviving hitting Phuket's bone-juddering holes.)

The main problem was with Immigration (funny old thing!) When I got my Skydrive four years ago, I got a proof of residence in 30 minutes. This time it took me five hours. You have to fill in one form, queue,wait for a coffee break to finish, provide necessary documents and await a piece of paper. Then you must fill in another form, queue again, wait for their lunch break to end, provide a photo and copies of stuff you already gave them, and then you get your (free) proof of residence to give to the garage so you can buy a bike. Phew! At least they don't want any money under the table.

Anyway, well done Peung at Honda. I am, finally, a happy owner of a new 125 motorcycle!