mstevens

I think the owners of the forum need to decide what sort of forum they wish to operate. Some of the sub-forums on ASEAN Now are well-run, others are a free for all where anything goes. If you want this forum to be a place where people goof around and where topics with inane discussions are allowed, then keep doing what you're doing. If you want something a bit more serious, I really think the moderators need to be a bit more firm. Too many clowns dominate the forum these days, lowering the tone and ruining many threads.

It's good to see that the cops behind this extortion were prosecuted and sentenced to jail. I remember some years ago being stopped and asked questions by cops and frankly, I didn't like it. It was so obvious they were fishing and look for an opportunity. It would be nice if this case is noticed by other cops and they think twice about extorting foreigners, lest they too be charged with extortion and end up in jail.

When the first response to a thread is this, I rest my case that this forum is going to the dogs.

If you're cooking at high temperatures, go for avocado oil, if you can afford it. Very high smokepoint, unlike olive oil (which is otherwise, an excellent oil).

Me too. I am staggered that so many people are so cheap and refuse to pay this paltry amount.

Fruit juice is pure sugar and really shouldn't be part of a decent diet. And even with a decent diet, it's very difficult to get all of your vitamin and mineral needs. A quality multivitamin or a selection of vitamins and minerals can fill in a lot of the gaps that we don't get from our diet.

Nothing wrong with grass-fed red meat. It's probably about the most nutrionally dense food you can consume. Hard to beat a good roast beef or better still, roast lamb.

No, and I speak from first-hand experience!

He eats like a panther.

Yep, I suffered from severe sinus infections in the past that were knocked out with antibiotics only to come back within a few weeks. VERY annoying. To be clear, stinging nettle root and NAC won't kill a sinus infection, but they treat the symptoms very well well which is a great relief.

As a natural alternative, consider Stinging Nettle Root and NAC i.e. taking both at the same time. Both these supplements help hugely with sinus issues and taking both at the same time have proved to be a great remedy for me.

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time of things. Regarding natural supplements, here are a few worth trying in the order I'd recommend them: Ashwagandha is an adaptogen and is perhaps the best-known and most effective supplement for those who are suffering from stress and anxiety. Take one capsule / day for a couple of months. It's not a quick fix but within a couple of weeks you should start to feel some relief. If at all possible, try and find the Himalaya brand. 5HTP raises serotonin and is very helpful for staying sleep (as opposed to falling asleep), relieving stress and helping with anxiety. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. In simple terms, it basically helps you from over-thinking stuff. It also helps with sleep. Now Foods makes good, inexpensive 5HTP and GABA. All of these supplements are available from iHerb, and may be available on Lazada and Shopee.

I have never had such a reaction from an educated Thai. That’s the sort of silly comment you might get from thr employees in bar areas, I suppose.

I speak and read Thai to a high level and I have found it both useful and rewarding. In social situations, I have found that once Thais realise that they can just speak Thai with you and don't need to use English, they are much more comfortable. Even Thais who speak very good English really do appreciate foreigners who speak Thai well. It just makes them feel more relaxed around you. I like knowing what is going on around me and, personally, would not like to feel like I was in the dark about what people were saying or doing. I have seldom used the Thai language in the workplace or in business. When I was working, all of the Thais spoke English to a good standard and they used English for me for anything work-related and occasionally used Thai when out socially. As an aside, I often heard it said that Thais don't like foreigners who speak Thai to a high level. My only experience of this was with the sort of Thais I have no interest in socialising with. Educated Thais all appreciate foreigners who take the time and effort to learn the Thai language to a good level. Has my life been better through being able to read and speak Thai well? Yes, it has. You can, of course, survive perfectly well in Thailand with no Thai at all. For me, learning Thai has been very rewarding and I am glad I put the effort in all those years ago to learn the language. But is is necessary? For the vast majority of people, I'd say no.

Actually, I imagine he would! Many Thais are applauding this action and no doubt, plenty of restaurants in Thailand would do the same.

An A1C above 5.7 is pre-diabetic and 6.5 up is diabetic. With your A1C at 6.9, it would definitely be worth making lifestyle changes such as reducing processed carbs, eliminating soft drinks, sweets, alcohol and excess fruits. Consume lots of non-starchy veges and meat. Exercise is very helpful to lower your A1C and intermittent fasting can help too i.e. eating all of your food each day within a 12-hour window, or if you can manage it, an 8-hour window. Try all of this for a while, retest and see where your A1C level is at. If your level has not come down appreciably, it would be an idea to see a diabetes doctor.

The problem might be cracked pipes. My sister in law had this problem at her near-new house. The pump could be heard outside even when no-one was using any water inside the house. It turns out there was a problem with the pipes below ground which had a crack and water was leaking all the time, which caused the pump to continuously pump water up in to the water tank. She got a guy out who diagnosed the problem. A few of his crew come out and after a lot of digging, removal of the cracked pipes, laying new pipes and 2 days / 10,000 baht later, it was fixed.

Yep, subscribe to YouTube Premium. Very cheap and if you watch a lot on YouTube, it's well worth it for the ad-free experience.

It most certainly is possible to drink too much water. I was drinking too much water for a while and felt dehydrated. It turns out I was drinking so much water it was watering down my electrolytes which was causing various issues. An endocrinologist ordered a 24-hour urine collection followed by a water deprivation test to see if I could be suffering from diabetes insipidis. Fortunately, I wasn't - but the endocrinologist was very clear that drinking too much water most certainly can cause health issues.

This is a long shot but could it be a fungal infection that has reached the bladder? I battled Candida in the past and at one point it was widespread, including in the bladder which caused some mildly uncomfortable symptoms and frequent urination - but didn't test positive for bacteria. Antifungals were needed to clear it.

This Potassium Citrate powder is available at iHerb. As it is a powder, you can simply mix in the amount of Potassium Citrate you require in to a glass of water. https://www.nowfoods.com/products/supplements/potassium-citrate-powder

Use Firefox on my Mac, always update it to the latest version and no issues with it whatsoever!

It's great! Keep doing whatever it is you're doing!

Xlear Rescue nasal spray is great. I'm not sure if you can get it in Thailand, but if you can, try it! I think it's available on iHerb. https://xlear.co.nz/shop/xlear/sinus-care/rescue-xylitol-and-saline-nasal-spray-with-essential-oils/

Tinnitus is a really tricky one to get on top of because it's so hard to diagnose the root cause. I had it bad when I gut issues and when I finally got on top of those, tinnitus went away. I would later learn I had chronic inflammation that was most likely the cause.