mstevens

6 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I thought NZ had an agreement with Thailand so no visa was required for up to 90 days.

That was abolished 24 years ago, after New Zealand changed the rules on Thais who until that point could visit New Zealand visa free for 90 days. When NZ changed the rules on Thai passport holders, Thailand did the same to NZ passport holders.

13 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Sounds like a load of old b'llox or maybe a kiwi thing. Thailand would shoot itself in the foot if it started charging proper money for visas, while Vietnam would clean up. I mean, they've just been giving them away to the Chinese. 

I think it's simply a case that the Thai embassy in New Zealand jumped the gun and posted the new fees before it was officially announced. With forum moderator George coming out and saying the MFA will be announcing new WORLDWIDE visa fees on Tuesday, you can take these new fee rates as Gospel.

15 hours ago, zzzzz said:

why?? arrive get a 30 day FREE visa exempt
30 day extension 1,900 baht ( $53)
or travel and get one in laos, malaysia, Cambodia for $40!
what is wrong with new Zealand? 

I would expect that the price to extend a visa in country of 1,900 baht will jump by a similar amount. Before it was 500 baht, it was 1,900 baht - so it increased by almost four x. Could that happen again? Could it become 7,500 baht or thereabouts to extend a visa?! Oh, this is going to hurt a lot of people!

15 hours ago, Korat Kiwi said:

That's just dumb.  Fly to Vientiane and get a tourist visa for 1900 baht. 

 

That's just NZ$85

 

I knew things were expensive in NZ (and that's one of the reasons why I left Nov 2023) but I thought Thailand was suppose to be encouraging people to come visit. 

 

Crazy crazy crazy

Thai embassies and consulates around the world standardise the price of visas. So if a visa costs NZD 50, it will be around USD 30 in the USA, UK 25 etc which is about the same price as NZD 50. There will be slight differences due to fluctuating exchange rates but they work out to be roughly the same price. This is nothing to do with New Zealand being an expensive country.

Assuming these visa fee increases as posted at the Thai Embassy in New Zealand are for real, you can expect similar price increases in all Thai embassies and consulates around the world from the same date, March 19.

These price increases are very steep!

On 2/21/2024 at 7:05 AM, BenStark said:

 

Americans you mean?  🙂

I gather neither Sanuk nor Stickman are American.

22 degrees all night long for me!

It's not that bad, but then it's not good either.

If you drink alcohol, take a break from it for a few months. Ditto soft-drinks.

Lower your fruit consumption, especially fruits particularly high in fructose.

Lower your consumption of processed carbohydrates (pasta, bread, cakes, muffins etc).

Feel free to eat lots of good quality meat, cruciferous vegetables, healthy fats.

Within a few months you should see improvements. If you follow these suggestions, I'd retest in 3-4 months time and see how the levels look then.

A long shot, but could it be an electrolyte imbalance? Take some electrolytes or coconut water....might help.

I would like to come at the issue of food intolerances from another angle.

People often develop sensitivities to foods over time i.e. something you used to eat and had zero reactions to now causes a reaction. This is often due to gut issues. It could be anything from IBS to dysbiosis to SIBO to fungal / yeast overgrowth to leaky gut to something more serious like Celiac or IBD and the likes of Crohn's or ulcerative colitis.

When you say, "From what I can see all im left with is meat and veg and rice", this is a classic presentation of people with a messed up gut!

Thailand has plenty of gastroenterologists but I am not aware of any specialist gut clinics that take a functional medicine approach to gut health which is often what is needed in cases like this. When you're next in Australia (presuming from your post that you're an Aussie), it might be worth scheduling an appointment with a gut clinic and going from there. This is one area of medicine / health where Australia is light years ahead of Thailand. A quick medical history along with a breath test and comprehensive stool test can identify many issues which conventional gastroenterologists simply don't test for. Identifying such issues and treating them (often with a combination of practitioner-only supplements, herbal anti-microbials and perhaps antibiotics and / or anti-fungals) can resolve issues. With the gut fixed, your food tolerances disappear.

I really don't think testing for food tolerances is the way to go. Find a really good gut clinic or functional medical doctor who specialises in gut issues and go from there. The root cause will be identified, can then be treated and following that you should have far fewer issues with intolerance to food.

On 2/10/2024 at 12:43 AM, Celsius said:

 

30 minutes after landing she was on her way out with permanent residence and all the information on how to apply for assistance and a health card.

Err, if you're going to cover your face you should probably cover your boarding pass too. Those large files can be displayed at full size and there is a name on the boarding pass.....

Pancreas and spleen in that general area. Sounds like it is too high up for kidney.

Blood tests and an ultrasound of the area would be a guess at the doc's first line of investigation.

Don't worry about English being an issue with docs in Thailand. Any reasonable hospital and the docs speak great English - and I suspect many docs even in government hospitals speak perfectly decent English too.

5 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

First test at end of October:

 

Chol    256

LDL      172

HDL      71

Tri         67

 

3 mos 20mg Sim daily, test end January:

 

Chol   168

LDL    80

HDL    70

Tri       89

I can tell you now that many progressive doctors would not blink at those numbers in October. HDL and Triglycerides both very good, and LDL, quite frankly, nothing to worry about. Higher than what the medical profession used to be comfortable with but hardly sky-high.

In the January numbers, her Triglycerides are worse (but still fine) - they have gone from stellar, to good. The LDL is, frankly, too low!

Plenty of modern doctors want to see LDL in the range of 120 - 300. Your wife went from within that range to outside that range. Sorry, this is not what you wanted to hear and I am not a medical doctor nor do I have any medical training. I do, however, follow current medical research and commentary very closely.

My understanding was that the issuing of a visa does not check to see if you are on a blacklist.

When you check in for an international flight, the computer system "communicates" with the destination country and a check is run. If you're on a blacklist, it will be flagged at that point and you will be denied boarding.

If there was, say, an arrest warrant in your name in Thailand, you would be allowed to board the flight and when you arrived in Thailand, there would be a welcoming party for you at the air-bridge.

Just as a thought to the OP, have you tried a stinging nettle root supplement? It's a commonly used supplement and one its many benefits anti-histamine properties so it can help with a runny nose. It has many benefits and is worth Googling to see if it might be suitable for you.

When a foreign national is deported, that means sent back to their own country. An Israeli citizen convicted in Thailand should be deported to Israel, their home country. Sending them to Russia would be extradition. For that to happen, there must be a court order following a court case to hear the request for extradition. In the absence of a court case, I don't see how they could be "deported" to Russia.

8 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Ok, so I've read most of these posts, all suggesting various potions. So now about a very natural way to induce sleep? No potions and no cost.

The amino acids tryptophan and glycine both help with sleep. If you're looking to go entirely natural, you might consider consuming a diet high in foods with these amino acids. Think red meat and turkey.

6 hours ago, still kicking said:

George, I do have a runny nose all the time mostly when I have a meal, yes very annoying when I have a meal outside my place in a restaurant.

If you have a runny nose when / shortly after eating, look in to histamines and histamine intolerance as it may be that.

Do you consume a high-carb diet? Are you prediabetic or diabetic? These can contribute to a runny nose.

As far as multivitamins go, I am of the opinion that it's worth spending a bit more on a good brand. Centrum is a big seller but not a great brand. And yes, there is a difference between different vitamins from different companies. Just because they each have similar amounts of vitamins, minerals etc does not mean they're the same. If your budget allows it, it's worth spending a bit more on a premium brand. My favourite brand of supplements is Thorne. Not cheap, but in my mind it's worth it.

On 1/13/2024 at 6:51 PM, gargamon said:

Move to the Philippines. The guy living next to you will have half a dozen fighting cocks that will wake you up at 3:00am every morning.

 

Welcome to SE Asia. Stop thinking it's just like your home country. 

Most urban Thais would not accept this at all. Decent, hard-working, middle-class Thais are as intolerant of unreasonable noises that affect their enjoyment of life as are most Westerners.