Chicksaw

On 5/19/2023 at 8:22 PM, andynphuong said:

Thanks for the reply. Since my post, and the pandemic ending, I've been treated at Bumrungrad with Secukinumab.  Cosentyx, brand name in the US. same company mfgs. Costs for the monthly injection is about $650. Seems this falls between your low/high price given. 

The cost of Scapho = Cosentyx = Secukinumab, 2 x 150 ml vials, the monthly recommended dose for psoriasis, at the Institute of Dermatology or Chula (or any Govt. hospital) is 13,882b. = USD 400.

6 hours ago, HuskerDo2 said:

How is that unusual? You expect people wanting full body massages to lay naked in an open area for all to see?

Hmm, wanting a full body massage, stripped to her skivvies in a closed cubicle, to be administered by a male masseur.

No, it's not unusual only in the case she expected extra. Where it went off the rails is in the communication/understanding of the extra by parties involved.

Another possibility is she thought she could wangle a freebie by screaming.

On 6/12/2023 at 12:46 PM, ezzra said:

any ideas where to have it done the best and cheapest way? he's in Pattaya but will travel anywhere.

If cost is a constraint but travel isn't then get in touch with a hospital in Chennai or Kolkata and fly over. Cost will be 1.2 lakh to 1.6 lakh rupees (link) which is less than 70k THB. Care is excellent at top Indian hospitals and they cater to foreign patients.

9 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Ukraine did not threaten Russia with US or NATO arms.

Ukraine joining NATO would mean nuclear missiles stationed there, given that US tactical nukes are already located in NATO members Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey. And those missiles would have exactly one target.

Incidentally, it really doesn't matter what you or I or the US or Nato thinks if Russia should feel threatened. It's what Putin thinks that matters. And they are finding that out the hard way.

4 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Ukraine should be free to join any military or economic alliance it chooses. That's what happens in the free world.

No Ukraine isn't. Just as Cuba, a sovereign country, didn't get to platform Russian missiles at the threat of nuclear retaliation by Kennedy. Superpowers have their security zones. It's what happens in the real world.

11 minutes ago, habuspasha said:

But these have been the happiest ten years of my life.

Yep, it's weird but making someone else smile is the ticket to being happy.

41 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

The massage guy could've should've felt the water before diving in

As I said the shop might have (mis)understood that the woman wanted the service when they negotiated. She obviously consented to a male masseur for a body massage (nuat Thai) likely in a closed cubicle, not a foot massage which would be in an open area. This itself is unusual.

I was at a massage shop in Pratunam once some years ago chatting with the mamasan when a Spanish-speaking couple came in. They had little English so I translated. The guy wanted a massage with a happy ending (feliz final?) and the lady wanted to watch and masturbate.

The mamasan didn't bat an eyelid at the request. So it seems these places get all sorts of customers and the incident in the report might be one simply of serious misunderstanding.

If his/her/zer kindergarten teacher decides that your child's gender is to be affirmed by genitally mutilating him/her/zer than you better get out of the way. Or else, you'll end up in prison and the kid will be taken into state custody where he/she/ze will be mutilated anyway.

I hope the next frontier is tripartite marriage. Why not? Why not 3 gay guys, or 1 straight guy and 2 women, or whatever?

Many advantages. There's an extra breadwinner in the family. Sex is more varied to say the least. Think about it - what would be the equivalent of boring missionary with three participants? Kids are more secure with the extra guardian. In fact, I can't think of a downside.

LET THERE BE EQUAL THREE!!!

6 minutes ago, Furioso said:

A lot of people move to South Brazil, day 1 start learning Portuguese and it can be a very happy place. 

Yep, gotta learn the local lingo. Thai is hard. Spanish much easier. I studied it in the US and was actually holding my own in conversations on trips to Central America.

I understand Portuguese is a not too distant cousin of Spanish. Should be a fun project to try and learn it and then head over to Brazil, even if only for a vacation.

Btw, when you say South Brazil which towns in particular?

Anal sex ed at 3 in the UK. Something to warm the cockles of every pedophile's heart.

Btw, don't know about China, but the Russian ed system from KG to high school is free and excellent, at least in math, sciences and literature.

Just now, ozimoron said:

So would she. You both are a match.

Come on, man, if you are following me around, at least give my scintillating wit a like.

The Mar a Logo classified docs affair turned out to be a dud. E Jean Carroll accusations got laughed at even at a CNN town hall. The NY DA tried but has since faded.

Which leads to my prediction for the next, cough, cough, knockout punch aimed at ma man Trump. NYT headline in couple of weeks:

Entitled boy grows to be an entitled man

Quentin Hurt and James Fellows, two childhood friends of Trump's from Queens, have come forward to describe how they accompanied "Donmon", as they called him, one summer day in '58 to a neighborhood bodega, where a then 12 year-old Trump went to the back of the store, proceeded to stuff his pockets with mint candy and then walked out without paying.

Alvin Bragg, reputed NY DA, has announced that his office is investigating. There is no statue of limitations he said on candy theft. Rep. Adam Schiff weighed in on GMA saying that a boy who likes candy could very well grow into a man who hates Jews. AOC has made a TikTok video which starts with her mocking male child toxicity and then, oddly enough, veers off into her problems with runny makeup.

14 hours ago, Chicksaw said:

Moral of the story: Rent, don't buy. At least not anything bigger than a washing machine.

I actually was coming from an investment POV. Here's roughly the math. I did similar calculations about 10 years ago when I was thinking to buy in Bkk but didn't. Conclusion is unchanged.

I will start with my current rented apartment as a typical example. 80 sq..m.., high fl., 2 bed/bath, 5 min. from Victory Monument BTS. My rent is 25k with utilities, which is 300k/year.

Data point: Bkk condos average selling price in 2021 (latest I could find) is 240k/sq.m. See this. Let's lower this to 200k as my building is older. So, price of my place, if it were on sale, is  circa 16m. Which means I am paying annually 300k/16m = 0.01875, less than 2%, in property value to rent.

Data point: Average annual inflation-adjusted return on the US stock market is 7%. See this. (I am American but I suspect numbers in other western countries are similar).

Conclusion: if I leave my funds invested in the US instead of buying a condo here, I will make (on average) enough annually to pay the rent for exactly the same property. Plus have more than twice that amount left in cash for leisure activities.

Wait a minute you say, what about condo price appreciation? Ok, that brings up:

Data point: Appreciation of house price index in Thailand (taking this as a proxy for historical condo prices in Bkk which I couldn't find data for) has been from 110 to 160 in the last 10 years. See this. That's less than 50%. While at 7%/annum, if you don't touch your money, it will double in 10 years.

Conclusion: I don't see a valid reason from an investment point of view to buy a condo.

Other factors: Renting means, in addition to not locking up funds, one has mobility. One can change if one doesn't like one's neighbors/surroundings. One can upgrade/downgrade easily if one's circumstances change.

By the way: The picture is opposite in the US. Rental rates plus tax breaks on mortgage interest payments mean it is best from an investment POV to buy there, once one can afford the down payment.

4 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

A very well known real estate figure in the US comes to mind.

Come on, Mike, that's a ways to go from Thailand condo woes. Trump seems to be living rent-free in valuable property inside your head:-)