Senior Player

Do I detect an element of sarcasm in you response? Doesn't matter. Like it or not, Pattaya, or Thailand for that matter, attracts an unsavory crowd that likes to cause trouble when out drinking or frequenting these kinds of establishments. I've seen it with my own eyes many times before. And it's not specifically Brits that are doing it either. It just happens to be our turn for the spotlight this particular moment in time. Does that mean I side with the security guards? Absolutely not, as I made it abundantly clear that I thought their response was disproportionate. If it makes you feel any better, I will add that I think the "soccer guy" who kicked the Brit on the floor in the head, should be prosecuted and face more than a small fine and a simple wai.

By all accounts, it looks like the 3 tattooed thugs went out looking for trouble and found it. Was the response from the security guards disproportionate? Yes, but hopefully the 3 tattooed thugs will think twice next time before starting any trouble.

You're correct. The Thaiger has followed up the original report with its own investigation and there's a lot more to the story than we were first led to believe... https://thethaiger.com/news/national/ex-con-brit-arrested-for-fatal-punch-to-russian-in-thailand So the Brit is an ex-con whose daughter is still in South Wales and not in Thailand. So, who is the 15-year-old that the Welshman—known locally as Flash Harry—is trying to pass off as his own?

You keep pushing the notion that the victim, Igor Yasilyev, 36, was chatting up the Brit's girlfriend (wife) when the actual reported story is he was making lude advances to his 15-year-old daughter. Whether you believe a 15-year-old should be out at a midnight party is irrelevant as it's not against the law. Besides, she was with her father who also happens to look like he knows how to handle himself. She was not galavanting around Pattaya's seedy nightspots, unlike a lot of the holier-than-thou commentators here in the chat.

I don't mean anything, that's your assumption. But the Russian DID overstep social norms, like it or not. Or perhaps you think it's normal to proposition another man's daughter when your own wife is at the same party? And as far as I'm aware, there is no law that says a 15-year-old (probably going on 16) must not attend a pool party when abroad on holiday with her father, irrespective of the time of night. If there is some unwritten law, it must be from the early 19th century.

There appears to be confusion amongst many of you in the chat. The wife WASN'T propositioned, it was his 15-year-old daughter. The wife had already left the party by the time the perp had delivered a single punch to the Russian for propositioning his daughter. The wife says so in another story featured in the DM. It says: his Thai wife, 28, said she had also attended the party but left early to go to work. At around 3am, she claimed she received a text from her husband saying he wanted to go home. She said: 'I returned to the villa and found him walking along the street, so I took him back inside. 'When I asked him what happened, he told me that while they were drinking, the Russian man started to sexually harass our daughter, even though his own wife was also there at the party. The harassment escalated until the man finally propositioned our daughter. This angered my husband so he punched him once and knocked him out.' An acquaintance of the Russian who died said both men met each other for the first time at the party. She said: 'They were drinking together normally until a row broke out. I didn't know what nationality the man was, but he punched (the Russian man), who hit his head on the ground. I was so shocked because there was a lot of blood.' The father, reportedly from Wales, was arrested on Monday afternoon at his home in the Sattahip district, around 10 miles from the pool villa. He told police: 'I did not think my punch would lead to the man's death. I regret my actions.' The headline in the DM is also rather salacious as it implies the Russian was a pedo when the so-called child is 15-years-old and looks much older than her years. Could it be that the Russian thought she was older too? Who really knows what was going on in the Russian's head, but he clearly overstepped social norms and got a slap for his offensive behaviour. Unfortunately, he cracked his head on concrete and died as a result. I hope that helps clear up any confusion.

Not in 2016 when I needed the ointment, it wasn't. I tried online and couldn't find it anywhere, also visiting countless pharmacies in Pattaya to be told the exact same thing. And yes, the steroid cream can now be bought without a doctor's prescription in the UK and most likely in Thailand too in 2024. Not that it's of any consequence as I've already had the operation. My main point was that sometimes you have to swallow the treatment cost if you want to be restored back to health—something the OP was more concerned about.

Indeed. Mine were first brought on by drinking alcohol in excess coupled with a poor diet when I was roughly 27-years old. Getting the condition made me immediately cut down on my booze, especially after my GP visit. As I previously pointed out, I was prescribed Proctosedyl Ointment which could only be prescribed by a doctor and not bought over-the-counter in the UK. The tube used to be quite large and would last me roughly 1 year before it expired. My condition would only recur every once in a blue moon, sometimes not coming back for a couple of years. Thing was when they did come back, no over-the-counter ointment would ever work, only the one with hydrocortisone, a steroid, and cinchocaine hydrochloride, a local anaesthetic. Despite their infrequency, as I got older the haemorrhoids could reappear over any type of straining, even heavy lifting or untightening a difficult bolt with a spanner could bring them on! What I'm trying to say is even a healthy diet wouldn't ward them off indefinitely. That's why it was such a relief to get the surgery done in Thailand when I was staying there for 6 months. Now I no longer have to think about them. The cost has obviously now gone up due to inflation, which is another reason that I'm glad I got it done in LOS when I did.

A friend of mine in Pattaya had a similar treatment for enlarged prostate as you describe. He appears to be fully recovered now. You make a very good point about the pricing. I recall being taken to the finance department of the hospital to discuss payment options. As soon as I said my health insurance wouldn't cover it as it was an already pre-existing condition that I hadn't thought to notify the insurance company about, they changed the price and lowered it. I recall the price was quite reasonable which included a 2-day stay in the hospital, especially as the room felt like a 4-star luxury hotel. Also, I was in extreme discomfort and wanted the operation to go ahead without any further delay, so agreeing to the fee was a necessity as far as I was concerned. Sometimes you just have to swallow the cost if you want to overcome your problem straight away.

I had an operation for haemorrhoid removal at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya in 2016. Can't remember the exact cost (think it was roughly 80k) but it was well worth the money as I've never had an issue since then. Before that I used to rely on Proctosedyl Ointment (with steroids) which was the only cream that worked for me. Unfortunately, Proctosedyl Ointment is not freely available in Thailand so I had to take myself off to the hospital where I was offered surgical removal or some other technique whereby he inserted rags doused in some chemical solution up the rectum to reduce the swelling. Not fancying the insertion treatment, I decided to opt for surgery. As I hadn't eaten the previous evening (or in the morning before my hospital visit) I was admitted straight away for the operation. The cost included a 2-day stay in the hospital where I was looked after by nurses in my own private room with TV and toilet. The room even had a panoramic view of the Pattaya coastline from my large window. The operation was pretty much as you describe: I was given a spinal anesthetic and was fully conscious throughout. I was basically on all fours with my posterior raised in the direction of the surgeon, where he did his removal of said haemorrhoids and a long vein. During the removal I was being constantly talked to by the anesthetist, who made sure I couldn't feel anything. The whole procedure took something like maybe 30 minutes, before I was then rolled back onto my trolley bed and taken to my private room to recuperate. As I stated previously, the operation was a huge success as I've never had a problem since. The only downsides were that the spinal anesthetic took a long time to wear off after and for me to regain any feeling back from below the waist, plus the healing process with dissolving stitches took approximately 4 weeks before I was able to feel fully back to normal again. Basically, I had to be careful how I went to the toilet as it was still very sore down there.

An almost identical incident happened in 2017 when an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Bangkok hit a patch of severe turbulence resulting in 27 passengers being injured. "The reasons behind the injures were that some of the passengers had not had their seatbelts fastened," Aeroflot said in a statement. I'm surprised no news outlet has mentioned it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-39771637 Then there was another incident in 2016 when a flight from Abu Dhabi was about 45 minutes away from Jakarta on Wednesday before the turbulence hit. More than 30 people were injured. In a statement, the airline said 22 people had been "treated by paramedics for minor injuries at the airport. Nine other passengers have been taken to a local hospital". There's an interesting info box called "What causes turbulence?" at the foot of the same BBC story and it states the list is long. According to the US Federal Aviation Administration, turbulence can be caused by: air movement not normally seen atmospheric pressure jet streams air around mountains cold or warm weather fronts thunderstorms It goes on to say: "Turbulence can be hard to predict, and the injuries it causes cannot always be prevented by wearing seatbelts. In-air turbulence is the leading cause of injury on US flights, the FAA says. Most turbulence accidents happen at 30,000 ft (9,000m) or above. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-36209833 Personally, I've flown that same route as the Singapore airlines flight many times before and there's ALWAYS severe turbulence over that same location in the Andaman Sea just prior to crossing the coastline of Myanmar. Numerous pilots have ALWAYS insisted on the passengers wearing their seatbelts at this juncture, especially after the previous incidents.

I had Cannabis Use Disorder from the mid 1980s right up until 2010 when I finally quit the stuff. One day I just woke up and decided I no longer wanted to waste my money on the stuff as well as walk around in a constant stupor. Of course, I didn't smoke the stuff when I was working and managed to hold down a 9-to-5 executive position in a multinational corporation, but I was still hooked and pretty much dependent on having a constant stash squirrelled away for my own leisure time. There wasn't a single day that didn't go by in that 25-year time period whereby I didn't have at least 5 or more large joints to myself every evening!! During all those years I managed to hide my addiction from my work colleagues and superiors, so it can be done. But that doesn't mean that I didn't have a problem. I think the reason why I began smoking more heavily was to help me forget a relationship breakup I was going through in my early 20s. I recall it helped me to not dream about the girl every night and acted as my go-to emotional crutch. Apart from that, I functioned pretty well. Of course, any of my future girlfriends all partook in my devotion to the stuff even though they all said I smoked way too much. But kicking the habit was the best thing I did, especially as I no longer like the feeling of being stoned. Yes, I've tried it a few times since but I've found I much prefer being in control and clear-headed, which I'm clearly not when I'm under its influence. The same also applies to alcohol now. I know when to stop rather than getting too intoxicated. In fact, I'm pretty much teetotal nowadays and haven't touched a single drop since New Year! So, the fact that Thailand is set to recriminalize cannabis, it doesn't affect me like it would've done over 15-years ago. Of course, my younger self would've been appalled, so I know where some of you partakers of the bud are coming from and you have my deepest sympathy.

100% And those water mist sprays above the bar are a great feature. Just like the ones in the Philippines.

Considering the Brit got booking.com to cover the difference between 13,000 and 120,000 Baht, I'd say he's either a professional hustler or extremely erudite. After all, he got a free holiday out of it. 😁

Yes, you're right. It's just the exterior I think has changed, different frontage. However the interior decor is identical. Well spotted. I'll be sure to stop by and say hello. Many thanks for everyone's help, especially Honey Badger With a Badge.