mstevens

When you say rip-off prices, can you expand on that? Do you know how hard it is to import these products in to Thailand and the laundry list of permits and licences / permits / rigmarole you need to go through to sell these products legally? I won't list them all but first, you need a company set up. Then you need premises to store whatever it is you're selling. This costs a lot of money to set up as there are all sorts of rules you must comply with. The Thai FDA premises approval costs 25,000+ baht and there is an inspection team who comes out, checks out the premises and carries out an on-site interview. Next, you need licences to be a supplement / food products supplier. Then you need to submit every single different product you import for FDA approval. Each approval costs money. There are options to get products tested locally or get documentation from government approved testing abroad. It's actually much more complicated than this and this is an ultra-simple explanation. And then you have to pay VAT of 7%, tax on your profits and, of course, commission to Lazada or Shoppee which is not insubstantial. Note that any seller who fails to do get FDA approval for a product they are selling is asking for big trouble. All it takes is for someone to make a complaint about them (this happens ALL THE TIME). On the seller forums, many vendors come straight out and say, "I just reported this vendor and that vendor to the FDA as they are selling the same product as me but they are importing it illegally and don't have FDA approval". Anyone reported can expect a court appearance and a criminal conviction. Or they can try and pay their way out of it which is usually in the vicinity of 100K baht to settle plus the forfeiture of all of their stock. Why do I know all of this? My wife owns a business selling similar products (not Melatonin) so I see this from the other side. If you think supplements in Thailand are a rip-off, blame the government regulations which are very time-consuming and expensive to comply with. There is no way a seller in Thailand can sell a product for the same price as iHerb unless they are importing and selling massive quantities or they are failing to comply with the all the regulations.

I think Thai banks are basically safe. Not as safe as a bank would be in Australia, but pretty close. My worry would be if anyone you know in Thailand was aware you had that amount in the bank. That's a huge amount of money. Some unscrupulous folks could devise a plan to part that money from you. Very unlikely, of course, but not beyond the realms of possibility. I know this is not what you asked about but for me personally, if I had anywhere near that amount of money in my Thailand bank account I would not let anyone know about it.

Phuket. Again. It seems like whenever it's farangs in trouble, it's Phuket.

Charged with causing noise pollution in Thailand? What a hoot!

Just watched this video and save for a few profanities, he is simply making many of the same complaints you read everyday on this forum. He even says he loves in living in Thailand....it's simply the frustrations of it all coming out. It's a bit silly to post to YouTube with your face there for the world to see, but if you just take the issue of what he is saying, it really is no worse than all the stuff many of us have complained about many times!

I thought it was interesting to hear his take on what happened. In summary, someone went through his videos, took out all the negative comments, perhaps took some of it out of context, re-edited them all in to a new video with these excerpts and then sent it to the Thai media! Sounds like someone doesn't like him. That's not a nice thing to happen and potentially makes him look a whole lot worse. I think most of us would be mortified if someone went back through all of our posts, pulled out all the negative stuff, compiled them, identified us and then sent them all to mainstream media!

So what is his YouTube channel so we can check it out and see what he has been saying and make up our own minds about it?

Why not just fly back to your home country Sweden and apply there?

Part 1 of The Veil just released. Will watch a little today, looks good.

Nonsense, and unnecessary to speculate like that.

Which makes me think he may have had a medical event (heart attack, stroke etc.) while driving, and that caused the vehicle to crash. It might not have been the crash that killed him, but the medical event. The damage to the car does not give the impression that the accident would have been unsurvivable. RIP, Colin.

Following a gallbladder removal, taking an ox bile supplement will help to digest foods high in fat. You can Google "ox bile supplement" for more info.

Sigh, the pricing is 100% correct and the farang, once again, is wrong. The price of the cheese per kg is 689.72 baht. The size of the cheese is 1.092 kg. 1.092 kg x 689.72 baht = 753.17 baht 753.17 baht + 7% VAT = 806 baht....which is exactly what it says on the sticker.

There are very confusing messages about what we should eat to be healthy, and this is especially so for those who have chronic health conditions like diabetes. All of the research I have done suggests that low-carb is the way to go (for both good general health and especially for those with blood sugar control problems / diabetics). Think keto or carnivore. And the healthiest food you can eat? Red meat! Yes, it goes against the message that it is the mainstream media but this really does seem to be the healthiest way to eat. There is a lot of really good information FROM DOCTORS on YouTube. As someone diagnosed diabetic, you might like to check out Dr Ken Berry or Dr Jason Fung or Dr Aseem Malhottra on YouTube as a good place to start.

"over 3 million monthly users" I'd love to know what this means, and what the source of this is. Monthly users is a strange metric. Does this mean 3 million people tune in every month? I can't imagine that to be the case.

Agreed. TheThaiger is known for copying other people's work and passing it off as their own.

So what's the plan? Will the server get an overhaul? It really is very slow. Will there be a rebranding? ThaiVisa was generally well-regarded while I think the rebranding to ASEANNow didn't work out so well and has been fraught with technical issues. What about moderation? Will this be a place where jokers are encouraged? Will the moderation be heavy-handed? Will it be a place for freedom of speech? Or will it just be more of the same....?

The announcement was ridiculous puffery and yes, the real story would be much more interesting.

It sounds like all of that stuff might fit in a taxi / private car. That might be a cheaper way to go than hiring a moving service.

With regards to diabetes, carbs and fruit are most certainly a problem. Diabetes is essentially carbohydrate toxicity. Eat enough high-sugar fruit and you will become diabetic! The problem with fruit is that some varieties are very high in sugar. A little fruit is fine. A lot of fruit most certainly is not, especially if you are already consuming a high-carb diet.

I take Stinging Nettle Root Extract when I suffer from allergies. Coincidentally, my prostate health is all good. Is it related to my use of Stinging Nettle Root? I honestly don't know - but one of the things it says on the bottle is "For Prostate Health". It's a good supplement and very cheap so it's certainly worth trying!

There's a protocol to treat H Pylori which is usually Omeprazole + two antibiotics (commonly, but not always, Amoxicillin & Metronidazole). Follow the protocol exactly as per your doc's instructions otherwise this pesky bacteria will stick around. H Pylori often becomes an issue with dysbiosis (where the mix of bacteria and fungi in your gut is out of balance). This can happen for many reasons but is commonly due to excessive past use of antibiotics. Good luck dealing with this and for sure, it is worth getting tested once you have completed the protocol to make sure the treatment has been successful.

Neither.

Once again, you're wrong. New Zealanders get a 30 day visa waiver.

Really? That is the information currently posted on the Thai embassy website. Do you know better than they do?