jts-khorat

This would certainly not be cheaper outside of Thailand. According to this list, your simple stone would be about € 2.000 -- but... health insurance?? Your kidney stone is still really small, so you might get rid of it with the aforementioned methods. But I can tell you from my own very sorry experience, a big kidney stone trying to get out is a painfull hell on earth. Having the same stone shattered in hospital was really harmless compared to it, and many of the pieces flushed out afterwards were about of the size of your stone. Getting the catheter pulled at the end of treatment was actually the most uncomfortable part of it. My advice: consult a doctor on how to proceed and if home remedies do not flush it out fairly fast, do not procrastinate overly long and get rid of it in the hospital.

So true. But... I made a similar jump to Thailand as I was just 24. From being an aimless student to having my own company seemed to have happened from one moment to the next and frankly I was wholly unprepared for that: work hours were often gruelling to make ends meet. Compared to my peers that stayed put and worked their normal 9/5 days, my pension will be rather smallish (I went back to Europe after 15 years in Thailand, to make up for this a little bit and to find the golden middle). Still, I was young, it was an incredible adventure generating memories that I will cherish to my last day -- memories the average pensioner finally arriving in Thailand after an exhaustive work life will not be able to buy with any money. Given the choice to relive my life, this part I would not do any different.

As this doctor studied and worked previously in the US, one might not be wrong to assume that her parents are not pennyless nobodies. As such, cynical as it sounds, the chances of success against a junior policeman are not small. If this would be so if, the victim were not from such a background, is anybodies guess. However, these parents getting justice for their daughter is a good thing, the first step towards getting public attention that there are actual travel regulations in existence in this country, all too often completely ignored.

Nowadays it takes more like 15 years to build a nuclear power plant, with all the needed permissions, court cases dragging it along, etc. Those are not quick fixes. I also seem to remember that the West has done their utmost to <deleted> off all the big oil producers in the Middle East; I would not wonder overmuch if they try to move the power balance back in their favor by "just not" sending us their oil and gas, selling it to ever-hungry China instead. In any case, looking at Ukraine as an isolated conflict which will not lead to unintended consequences all over the world could be naive. In case this goes tits-up, at least we Germans better trust the Americans to follow their promises and sell us their liquified gas to a price not more than the Russians would have done it -- so well under world market price. Good luck, the Americans have never broken a promise to an ally or left them in the dust when the going got tough, ey?

Just like Phuket then ????

If I look at the stock price of companies who would be very heavily affected by an incursion into Ukraine by Russia, like Gazprom, then certainly a negative scenario is not priced in -- the stock has just come done minimally from a 20% spurt up. I guess, lots of people play the same game as I do. ????

On the contrary, russian tourists (and a lot of russion money) were a big driver in the tourist economioy of Thailand (at least before Covid). Add to that chaos on the currency echange and the stock market,a s well as sky high energy prices in Europe, which will cut into the income stream of many expats in Thailand. And as some have already mentioned, flight paths from Europe to Thailand might need to change, which will make flight tickets over summer most likely not cheaper. In the long run, Russia is positioning itself with China (as they are forced to do by the West); there has just now been an agreement signed that Russia and China will respect each others 'territorial integrity' and ambitions, which means, if the russian adventure in the Ukraine will pay off -- especially if the US is shown as weak in their reaction as I realistically expect it would be -- we might see not much later (or even concurrently!) a similar exercise happening with Taiwan. This of course might bring worldwide issues which will then really affect everbody, even if they are in "far-away" Thailand. Of course this is a worst-case scenario. I currently am still of good hope that the Russian troop-buildup is not much more than a signal for NATO to stay their distance. Weather report in Ukraine for the next days is sunny with not even frost at night, so I see already not much chance of tanks rolling through the marshes on from Belarus and latest in March the whole region will become impassable for heavy armaments; also much of the tanks we see in the press seem to be decrepit old hardware barely able to funktion, not the modern weaponry Russia certainly could have mustered instead (of course, maybe we are seeing what we should). Of course this are merely idle musings from my armchair. Still, I put my word where my mouth is and am currently invested in some russian stocks, at an unusual high percentage -- and hence unusual risky for me -- of my overall depot. In a few days we will know which scenario was the right one.

I only got the tail end of the 90s, but then it really was a better time. Even though I am still as 'handsome' as I ever was ????

I always liked his columns, and the Reader submissions even more. That it is "only" gossip is quite ok with me. Not being in Thailand myself at the moment, what else than gossip is there to hear for me anyway? And even, if Stickman would check the veracity of the information he receives on the ground -- it is still not more than gossip. Makes for a short, nice Sunday read, nothing more and nothing less.

I have been to Thailand, on and off, basically since the crash in 1997 and have been waiting for such a "crisis" ever since. Thai companies would rather leave behind a derelict, half-built condo tower which they can write off over decades (or sell it on during the next goldrush) than sell units under price, therefore having to write them off immediately. I, therefore, would not expect to see prices for condos in the major destinations to go down by much, especially not those marketed to foreigners.

Why? If I am working in a foreign country, of course I would have made an effort to learn the language or at least start immediately upon the start of my work contract. This is just normal, nobody should be impressed by that at all. But certainly the opposite would be true, if this effort is not made. Nowadays, foreigners speaking Thai is really nothing special any more and there is a multitude of online resources for it. As it happens, Thai is not all that difficult to master due to really easy grammatical rules (reading and writing are a bit more difficult, but the alphabet is not more than double the western abc).

Amazing, the amount of maskless tourists in this video, not a worry in the world (and compare it with the amount of Thais wearing them). But of course, those coming to Thailand now for purely 'tourist' reasons are those who think nothing of the risks of travelling during a pandemic. I wonder, how many of those will fail the PCR test before their flight home, earning themselves a very expensive extra stay in Thailand.

The problem with raising rabbits in Thailand would be that they have really difficulties with the tropical temperatures here; one sees often pet rabbits being sold in Thailand, but they usually die soon if not kept in air-conditioned rooms. What I have often wondered is, why they do not try to raise the rice field rats here, as they do in China; they are really delicious, not unlike rabbit meat but more fatty and therefore with more taste. However, all trials I have seen in Isaan failed, because the rats were extremely aggressive and it proved impossible to keep them together in one cage.

I had it as BBQ many times; from the tail is the best, other cuts get too dry. But I found it tastes not really like chicken; clearly different -- but very good. As somebody else mentioned monitor lizard: this is one case of really yucky meat, and I am normally willing to pretty much eat anything.

ˆˆˆˆ This.

All three of them yummy though. ????

I am not sure you understand how expensive deportation procesdures will end up to be in the end. This fine will be the most minuscule part of it.

Maybe the most important sentence in this whole discussion. Whenever I read a discussion as the one above, I have to think how unlucky it is, that so many have this need to worry incessantly about what others might think about them or how other people behave 'wrongly' in their eyes. Even worse are the ones who then cannot hold onto themselves and wag their finger -- such as I am doing right now ???? Therefore; whenever I see a couple with a great age disparity, all I think about is: 'I hope they are happy', presuming of course, that both are acting out of their own free will. And frankly, I think the same if I see a couple without any age disparity, be they young or old. Their lives and how they choose to gratify themselves are simply none of my business.

Worst case scenario would be Thailand closing its borders completely for high risk countries; like large parts of the EU will be within days, the UK has reached this state already.

You need to see this in context; it surely comes as a surprise to many posters here, but few in government think about expats when they make their decisions -- and frankly, why would they. Something completely different is going on: Anutin has said last week, he could see himself in the role of PM. Being "active" now costs him nothing, but he wins either way: the government closes the country, he has gained in his power base; the government keeps the country open and things go badly (as they will), he can finger-point at will. This is simply a power play for himself.

... as indeed, Sinovac seems to be even more useless against this new variant: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-12-doses-bnt162b2-biontech-coronavac-sinovac.html

The issue is less what happens when you are caught driving without a valid licence, but if any insurance will pay if you create an accident (even worse if a third party was hurt).

What should not be forgotten is: it takes an average of 10 days (with the previous strains) to have to go into hospital ICU after first symptoms. So if the new variant is not as harmless as people wish it to be, we will only know in a while. I just had Delta and it really was no fun at all, evben though I was double vaccinated; and there was a strong worsening of symptoms after having had it for a week. So I believe, it is much too early to say anything at all about how bad this new variant will be.

I rather think most would not even know that the authorities are looking for them. At least I seldom listened to official Thai government notices while on holiday.

In "the olden days", it was no problem getting podophyllotoxin at Dr. Wattana in Patong, Phuket; I am not sure he still exists. But I am sure, that other STD clinics throughout the country will have adequate advice and medicine for this issue. That is, after all, their reason of existence.