DUS

Hi, the battery of my Apple Watch 4 needs replacing. I saw on the internet that Apple is offering to replace the battery for USD 79. I wondered if someone can recommend a "local shop" that offers this for a lower price. I contacted drsmartphone if they can do it but they can´t. So any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Cheers, DUS

If you watch via a TrueID box, yes, you can

Thanks for your reply. May I ask which generic you opted for here in TH? When you had your follow-up bone densitometery tests, I hope you were satisfied with the results. Even though, of course, there isn´t necessarily a causation between this specific generic and your individual bone density. Anyway, thanks again and have a nice weekend.

I would like to add a general question about generics: Earlier today, when I asked the Endocrinologist about MSD´s Fosamax vs generics, she said that she personally would rather buy "the original" than a local generic because she wasn´t 100% convinced the ingredients as well as the clinically proven results are identical. As a layman I had always expected generics to be a 100% clone of the formerly patented product but based on what she said, I might have been wrong. I will still never hesitate to take cheap generics for paracetamol and basic ailments but after what the doctor said earlier, I now wonder if taking generics for a slightly "more critical" condition such as osteoporosis poses the risk of taking less effective medication or not. What are the opinions on this here in the forum?

Thank you so much, @skatewash

Hi, I will soon start taking Fosamax against osteoporosis and just bought a box of 4 pills for TBH 1,750 at a local pharmacy. I´ve only been to 2 pharmacies so far today but both pharmacists said that they were not aware of a generic alternativ to MSD´s "original" product. Well, maybe there arent´ any or maybe they just make more money by selling the higher priced "original". I checked a website for my home country back in Europe and saw a lot of alternatives being advertised for a fraction of the price I paid here. Now, before I even start contemplating "importing" meds to TH, I thought I ask members of this forum if you are aware of a generic product available locally here in TH. If so, I´d be delighted to hear from you. Thank you! Cheers, DUS

Thank you very much Sheryl. That is indeed valuable information. And you might be surprised to hear that Bria responded to an email within minutes! Actually I received 2 emails from them (one from the @info and one from the labsales team) with slightly different quotes but, yes, they are 60% or so cheaper than the quote I got from BNH. Assuming that they are a reliable lab, I certainly tend to visit them. Thanks again, Sheryl!

Hello Sheryl and all.... I contacted the lab and I loved the fact that they responded to my email asking for a quote within 30 minutes or so. Excellent! Unfortunately, whilst they provided quotes for almost all tests I needed, there are 3 tests that are unavailable there: PTH = unavailable- Ionized Calcium = unavailable- Free testosterone = unavailable Does anyone know of a lab that I should contact to see if they offer those 3 missing tests? Would be terrific! Cheers DUS

You can chose Thai or English. The English commentary is the one from Sky UK.

In Thailand the rights are with Truevisions and they show the F1 on Truesports 1 HD.

Thank you! I had seen that but it looked odd to me that you’d have to travel south to Phuket town and then back north towards Krabi. If it’s the only option I will just head to Krabi straight from Ranong. Again, thanks for your reply above.

Hi, I know it is a long shot but I wondered if someone knows if and how I can get from Khao Lak to Krabi by either van or bus. Currently, I plan to go direct from Ranong to Krabi but I am toying with the idea of stopping over for a night or so in Khao Lak, as I haven´t visited the place for many years. I read that there was a direct bus from Ranong to Khao Lak but I couldn´t find any information on how much hassle it might be to continue the journey from there to Krabi. Anyone with some recent information? Would be great! Cheers DUS

That’s an interesting point and something I had forgotten. Thank you! I‘m covered „globally exUSA“. But I think there was an option to go for „Asia ex SIN, CHN“, too. Will check with CIGNA by how much this would reduce the premium.

That’s correct! Thanks!

Are you still with CIGNA or did you jump ship?

The partial payment of the annual checkup was based on the "International Health and Wellbeing" add-on (or whatever this is called). But you are right, everything is on the chopping list if it helps bringing down the premium. I mentioned this add-on in an email that I just sent out to the company.

I only made 1 claim a year so far and that was for the annual health-checkup that is part of my current policy. Handling of these claims has been absolutely fine, so no complaints there. My concern is the affordability in a few years from now. I would love to remain insured for the "worst case" incidents, like cancer, a stroke or anything that includes major surgery and ICU etc. Those things that would break the bank if I had to pay everything out of pocket. But with the current rates of increases in the premiums, it will be CIGNA that will cause me to go broke, not surgery. ;-))))

Hello, I am not really sure what kind of replies to expect but I´ll throw this question out to the community and see what happens. I am 53 years old and have health coverage with CIGNA International. In 2018 the premium for my policy was € 1.581,06. I just got my renewal proposal for the upcoming year and they quote € 2.276,80/year. It was € 1.861,77 last year. These increases scare the heck out of me. I mean, 44% between 2018 and 2022 alone means that in the not too distant future I will be priced out of the market, so to speak. I understand that past is not always prologue, but if the past is anything to go by, premiums will likely creep up even faster in the future, plus the age component becoming an even bigger factor in the insurance company´s calculation. So in order to make being insured a bit more financially viable, I will now have to check with CIGNA what options are available to reduce the premiums in the year ahead. Such as increasing the deductibles/self-payment, reducing coverage etc etc. And this "etc etc" is actually something that would be interesting to learn from you, if you have been in a similar situation to me. How did you respond to large price increases in the premiums? Just cough up the money? Make some adjustments to your policy? If so, which ones did you make that helped to noticeably reduce the financial burden? Did you look for and select a different insurer? Or did you throw in the towel and cancel the policy altogether? I admit, seeing a 44% increase from 2018 to 2022 scares the heck out of me. I made the mistake of playing around with this 44% number and looked at what such an increase (if applied over the years to come) would mean for my policy in 20 years time. Unaffordable, to say the least. :-)) I will speak to CIGNA about this and see what changes could be made to my existing policy before it renews this September. But hearing about and learning from other users who have seen their premiums go up massively in the past might be very useful. Thank you! DUS