mstevens

Thanks a lot - this is exactly the sort of info we were after. We're going to make an appointment to see Dr. Panon right away. We're very grateful for this info and the recommendation! As for whether it's cervical or endometrical, I THINK it might just be cervical at this stage.....but not 100% clear with some things lost in translation!

Appreciate the hospital recommendations but really looking specifically for a recommendation for a doctor / surgeon.

My wife's sister has just received the bad news that there is a cancerous growth in her "lady parts", confirmed by a biopsy. She has been given a couple of options being the removal of a small part of her lady parts where the growth is or what sounds like a full hysterectomy. The advantage of a full hysterectomy is that cancer will not come back down there. We'd like to get a second opinion before proceeding and are looking for recommendations of any respected doctors / surgeons in this field. She's in Bangkok. Any recommendations of a top doctor in this field would be much appreciated!

I hate to tell you that here in New Zealand wild salmon is not available commercially. Sure, you can go out and catch wild salmon yourself but as for buying wild caught salmon at fishmongers or in supermarkets, good luck. I'd be wary of any vendors in Thailand saying that salmon imported from New Zealand was wild caught. That's not to say that farmed New Zealand salmon is bad, rather that what you're getting up there is most likely farmed and not wild-caught. For reference, see point 7 from the website of this New Zealand salmon producer: https://www.regalsalmon.com/nz/blog/top-7-salmon-myths-busted/

Hopefully he is ok. His general health may not be great - he had a heart attack a few months back and like many business owners, the uncertainty must have caused him much stress and anxiety. Here's hoping he's ok.

Go out to one of those stores that sells maid uniforms and buy one. Then go to the top of Soi Nana, outside the Nana Hotel where there are a lot of Thai ladies looking for work. Take the uniform along, show it to her and - remembering some of these ladies have little English - say, "You can be my maid for 9,000 baht?" If she nods her head in approval or says yes, odds are she will be willing to start there and then so take her back to your apartment, let her change in to the uniform and she can get started.

Was inevitable....and one would expect that bars in other sois like Soi Nana will follow. Given the likely trajectory of Omicron, I'd say bars - as in the whole industry - will not open up until around the middle of the year. An Omicron wave is coming and will last a while....and then there will be nerves following it as things settle down. Hopefully that will be the worst of Covid over and with it, bars will finally get the green light to open. Best bet? Mid-May - June.

It sure is bad form to only offer 1/3 of what someone else is offering!

When I look at prices for all manner of goods on Amazon in the US they are so much cheaper than what you find in Thailand. Prices might be going up but it’s a worldwide thing and happening everywhere.

I moved back to New Zealand after many years in Thailand. I went to Thailand in the first place seeking adventure and to try something different and had a fantastic time. But as the years rolled by I found myself missing a lot of things about home, especially as I was not really a bar guy and preferred time in my apartment than out with friends who liked late nights out. After 10 years in Thailand, I found that when I went home to NZ on holiday I didn't want to return to Thailand. A few years later I moved back to NZ. New Zealand has changed in many ways. These days it's a very expensive country to live if you do not own your own house. Fortunately, I do. It's also not an exciting country and at times it may even feel a bit boring. But pretty much everything works as it should, the healthcare system is available to all, the air is clean and the weather is generally pleasant year-round. For someone like me who likes the quiet life, peace and quiet, and who enjoys simply pleasures like visiting farmers markets for interesting, high-quality food (which I often find is much cheaper in NZ than Thailand), New Zealand is the right choice for me. So all in all, consider this "repat" happy to have moved back home. FWIW, talking to friends who have also returned, those of us who call Australia and NZ home are generally happy so long as we own our own home. If one didn't own their own home, this part of the world is VERY expensive and that could have a major bearing on A) one's decision to move back home or not and B) whether they would be truly happy or not. Paying $500 - $600 per week for a crappy rental would not make for happy life.

Saw an ad online for a gogo bar in Nana Plaza which is now open by offering Mexican food....and presumably other things too. Totally contrived way to do business.

I have been using a Symbicort inhaler for years (for asthma) without a problem. One doctor mentioned to me to drink a little water after inhaling. That seems to help so maybe it's worth a try?

The only way there will be a “son of” is if the original owner of that site starts a new website but I believe he was forced back to New Zealand broke with nothing to show for half a lifetime in Thailand.

Times have moved on. That website had full-length and at times very long articles whereas these days people want short articles with just a few hundred words. It's all social media (where a few paragraphs is considered long) these days.

Says the guy who never been in to property!

While one might balk at the idea of owning land or property in their home country, the reality is that in recent years the value of property in most Western countries has soared. My house's value is up well over half a million dollars in the last 5 years alone, a story which is familiar to many in the West, especially in the likes of Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. If I were to sell my house I could move back to Thailand (I lived there once but returned home), retire and never need to lift a finger again. Huge capital gains is one of the big positives of owning property in the West (irrespective of whether you live there or in Thailand) which many foreigners living in Thailand may miss out on.

To me, this is the primary reason why it's not a good time to return at this time - and it probably won't be for another several months. The situation is fluid and anything could happen. I remain firmly of the belief that when the bars do reopen and tourists do return that due to the nature of the industry whereby customers and staff are if very close contact that Covid will rip through the bars.....and the Thai government's propensity for knee-jerk reactions could see bars closed. There's just no certainty.

This is true, but perhaps not relevant to the current prices of cauliflower and broccoli in Thailand which is due to the time of year (seasonality) and the weather.

Because what happens in gogo bars between customers and staff (especially outside of the bar later in the evening) is a whole lot more risky than what happens between customers and staff in a supermarket. Further, what's the best most gogo bar staff will NOT be wearing facemasks whereas those in supermarkets do.

All it needs is for Covid to rip through one of the bigger, popular bars and there will be a knee-jerk reaction from the authorities and bars will be closed. The Delta variant spreads so easily and the nature of the bar industry makes it a most fertile breeding ground. It is not my intention to be negative or overly pessimistic but I do wonder how the bars will cope given it's an environment where Covid will thrive. Close and at times intimate contact between customers and bar staff means Covid will run through the bars fast. How will bar staff / customers / government officials respond when that happens - and it will happen! How will you feel if you read a headline alone the lines of "25 staff and 8 customers in A1 Bar on Walking Street infected with Covid19, spread suspected in other bars"?

I see this is now a big story in the mainstream news with hundreds (or more) people reporting multiple withdrawals from their account in rapid succession. Seems to be an issue with these digital wallets too.

I would not be surprised if at some stage in the not too distant future that vaccination becomes a requirement for visas / extensions of stay also.

I respect your viewpoint, even if I personally disagree with it. What does make me wonder is what the students' respective parents would make of the foreign teacher who refuses to be vaccinated. My feeling is that this is not something many parents would readily accept and they might well put pressure on "Paw Aw" to pressure said foreign teacher to get jabbed, else find a new foreign teacher.

First dose I was fine for 9 hours and then my arm became quite sore to the point that I couldn't move it much and couldn't lift it above my shoulder. After a good night's sleep I was fine and the pain had gone. Second dose my arm was just a little sore. However, I woke up at 2 AM (I'd had the second dose the previous morning, so about 15 hours earlier) with a raging headache and a fever. I don't like to take medicine if it can be helped but this headache was really bad so I took a couple of Tylenol and an hour later felt much better, the fever was coming down and I fell back to sleep. By the time I woke up I felt fine again.

Give it another month or two and, sadly, the number of Covid deaths in New Zealand this year will likely exceed the number of deaths due to the vaccine.