Tofer

On 10/5/2018 at 7:47 PM, lopburi3 said:

Not sure if you already have single vision cataract replacement lens or not.  I chose to use single vision myself after a bit of checking as less issues and do not find reading glasses that much of a burden (but then was a glasses wearer all my life).  

 

As for Rutnin it has a long positive history in Bangkok (first used more than 40 years ago) and most patients have a good experience.  I did my cataract removals at Vejthani hospital about 5 years ago and happy with results.  

Nothing as yet. I just can't abide carrying glasses around everywhere and having to get them out every time I need to read anything, including using the phone.

I think cataracts are a problem as I struggle driving at night with the headlight glare, not that I do much of that now on these roads!

On 10/5/2018 at 7:32 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

I wish you good luck wherever you are going.

 

A friend was in the Rutnin Eye Hospital, which is supposed to be one of the best eye hospitals in Bangkok.

Short story: They <deleted>#$%# it up and he can't see much anymore.

 

Personally I wouldn't do any operation like that if you don't really have to do it. But that's obviously only my personal preference.

Sorry to hear about your friend. That's the only reason I've not had it done yet, scared of a bad outcome. Hence the post.

20 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

While many foreign tourists and expats think Thais just grin and bear it, the opposite is in fact true.

 

rubbish - whoever wrote that article knows nothing about thialand. i know thais grin and bear excessive noise because i see them doing so every day; promotion girls in shopping mall, car park guys with whistles, late night partying, sitting on public transport with the advertising blaring and people listening to music/tv shows on their mobiles without headphones, there is simply noise everywhere and very very rarely does anyone do anything about it. culturally thais tend to avoid confrontation so just grin and bear noise, they also generally wont take responsibility for resolving issues and problems.

I must admit I was in awe of a couple of ladies on microphones spouting their marketing speal at a recent exhibition, it was non stop / seamless for about 15mins at a time.

I wanted to tell them to take a breath, but couldn't get a word in edge ways....

21 hours ago, Thian said:

That's what i hate the most of the countryside, those nasty roosters who all start at 3-4 am untill 9 or so...

Also the Wat shouldn't make so much noise as they do.

 

And the roosters are even totally useless, they use them for fights and bet on them, absolutely a no go for buddhists...

 

But don't worry, i won't go out of BKK...

Years ago, on a visit to my MIL house, I paid her the value of the roosters and the BIL topped them for dinner. I then had a, somewhat, more peaceful stay for the next 4 days!

I recently enquired in Bangkok's Sukhumvit hospital about multi vision lense replacement, as I'm sick and tired of living with glasses for reading. They told me no problem, and would cost about B70,000 / eye. 

Has anyone had this surgery, and is happy to recommend the hospital / surgeon? I'm happy to travel to any location for the procedure. I'm told the private hospital in Trang is very good by my neighbors in the Krabi area.

22 hours ago, tropo said:

I get up and cook the bacon for her. If you sit around and let the lady do all your work, you're going to go downhill rapidly. Fighting laziness is a monumental task - it doesn't help if the lady does everything for you.

Interesting philosophy.

I think I'll take the risk though!

Faraday got it in one word - contentment! 

If people are content with their lot there is a lot to be said for that.

I have resigned myself to realising I will never be totally content as I am driven to experience different things / places in life, I call it my 3 year itch. Maybe, hopefully, I will be able to settle down in my waning years, particularly having invested heavily in my dream property / lifestyle in Thailand.

It is the ones that don't have the confidence to try something different that I feel sorry for. Years ago I visited my old work colleagues and one chap said he envied my globe trotting lifestyle, I told him he could do the same with no children and at the top of his career the world was his oyster, but he stayed put, very sad.

1 minute ago, khunPer said:

I fly...?

Good move! The ferry set up is horrendous.

8 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I have the same where I live..
.but I rather like it.

Frogs are great. They eat mosquito larvae.

You will soon get used to the sound and be able to sleep through it just find. Your mind comes to know which sounds are normal and not a cause for concern.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Thanks Sheryl. But if this sleep deprivation continues my mind won't know if it's coming or going.....?

If mosquitoes are the frogs diet, then for sure they are are very welcome.

On 9/12/2018 at 11:12 PM, khunPer said:

Thanks for your reply – and by the way, I would never use that kind of CD's myself, I just recorded some of them...?

 

My first night at Samui, in a backpacker beachfront bungalow 17 years ago, I was awake half the night because of a mysterious deep repeating jungle sound – back then, parts of the now developed island, were still little rural atmosphere – not unpleasant, but loud, so loud that it was difficult to sleep. If it was not a mysterious jungle sound, it could probably be a buffalo – I had seen one "parked" in the coconut plantage behind the bungalow resort – only many years later I realized that this kind of sound comes from frogs. 

 

I also designed by own "dream house", however not being an architect, and having no experience, I spend a couple of years in the design phase, visiting my land, which is also by the beach, all times around the year – almost every day, and also sometimes at night – to learn about sun, shadow, wind, and whatever a totally novice in house designs needs to include in a design. The first years I rented a fan-only bungalow, so even I have aircons in my house, I can easily live without; especially when living by the beach with lots of fresh air. My house-design actually came out quite well, apart from an occasionally 4am long-tail boat concert, I didn't thought carefully enough about of constructing a sound trap for...?

 

Even without a lake, we can enjoy frogs, and crickets, and birds, and beach dogs hauling like wolves – touch of Dracula, so save scary cinema tickets – not to forget geckos, and occasionally the distant sound of a wannabe-motorbike at the Ring Road, and the monthly Black Moon Party at Koh Phangan. Oh, did I forget to mention sea waves? For the first almost year, my lovely girlfriend could hardly sleep because of the waves – even worse, because I preferred open doors at the seafront balcony – now she cannot sleep without the pleasant sound of waves, even a monsoon storm with heavy rain on top is no problem.

 

You should soon get used to the frogs, and all the other seasonal sounds that comes with a dream house on a paradise island, including some 4am long-tails; it's just like the 7-Eleven "Hello welcome" door-bell, after a short while the staff don't hear it..?

 

By the way, my house is also build by Thais, and in general an excellent job that I can only be satisfied with. If my dream house then would last for ever, I can only say when I reach "for ever" – the life-time for many things seem to be different here, compared to my Scandinavian home country – but so far the construction has survived well through nine monsoon seasons; and looking at the bright side of life, I don't fight with frozen water pipes during the winter...?

 

 

Happy to hear you are settled in your piece of paradise, and I applaud you for your dedication in the design phase, I'm sure you found it paid off significantly. But where did you go wrong when considering that awful 1.5hr ferry ride / queuing farce to get there?

If I'm being totally honest I don't have a single thing to complain about, but after all, I am A Brit! When we spotted our plot, it was literally the dream come true location, with the opportunity to design and build our own house for the first time in my life, coupled with a boat and our own boat ramp into the sea, how could I possibly be dissatisfied.

You are right and, I know for a fact, we will get used to all the sounds eventually and, as you have noted and I did in another post, you would just as much miss them when they are not there.

I'm certainly looking forward to all the works being finished and relaxing in our retirement haven.

What's more, we are blessed with very few mosquitoes, and have moved from living with burning coils and plug in odour emitters, a zapper on hand around every corner and 2 bouts of dengue fever to absolutely nothing in our new home. Hardly ever need a fan let alone an air con.

Happy days to come I'm sure!

6 hours ago, khunPer said:

Lucky you, others would pay a fortune for that sound of nature – just look at the souvenir shops, selling wooden frogs with a stick, so you can imitate a similar sound yourself; now you don't even need to spend money buying that stuff – and looking at the bright side of life, frogs prefers clean water, so your lake water is of fine quality, and the frogs also take lots of otherwise irritating insects; you might regret if you get rid of your lovely frogs when the termites begin to fly...?

 

Often it's seasonal, and especially after rain you might be able to enjoy an amazing tropical concert – I wonder why you didn't check the land, and "noise", before designing an open dream house – there are normally two species, one of them is eatable (gourmet for Thais), so if it's this kind that inhabits your property, just invite some Thais to catch frogs for free; they'll gladly come after a downpour shower at night, and with torches and buckets remove your "noise" – you can invite them back when the termites invades your open house, "Mang Mao"-termites are also delicious..?

 

When it's season for crickets, you might be able to experience another concert, which can be very loud noise or sound (up to you), and high frequency for a change. Unfortunately I never took note of when these wonderful songs of nature appears, I just enjoy them. I should say, that during my first visit to Thailand I even recorded them – together with a water fall, a spring, and sea waves; unfortunately I didn't get any frog-concert, even it was on the list – and sold the master tapes to a record company that released them on tapes and CD's. They sold in numbers of thousands – busy folks in big cities buy that kind of mother natures touch to de-stress and relax – the royalties made me later able to enjoy the real-life frog-concert at a paradise island in the Golf of Siam...?

 

By the way, I had a friend, who was sure that the many-star resorts payed some Thais to stand with the wooden frogs and sticks in their garden at night, to make their hotel-guest happy when staying in an up-end, up priced tropical bungalow resort...?

Fair comment. Maybe I've just not allowed enough time to get used to them, and my post was ill conceived due to sleep deprivation.

I also find their rendition quite pleasant, prior to bedtime! But I would certainly not run your CD's through the night...

Perhaps next time, if ever I buy a place again, I should camp overnight to check it out. ? Being an architect I designed on the, little adhered to, tropical principles of air movement and passive cooling for comfort, and completely forgot about the natural choruses in the tropics. I hold my hands up to that and have no excuse, having lived in a few tropical paradises in my time. However I would not want to live in an air conditioned container whatever the benefits.

It was meant to be our forever dream house, but it was built by Thais...... So watch this space!

4 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Break his ankles or drill his kneecaps.

And I was lambasted for suggesting I eradicate noisy frogs.....

4 hours ago, Spidey said:

Thai Wassadu sells welders goggles, safety shoes and ear defenders. Mind you, there's no way that I could sleep comfortably wearing those.

That's not very respectful of Thai customs wearing safety shoes to bed and around the house...?

4 hours ago, kwak250 said:

Maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it so much as I had "baggage"

Koh Lanta. Although the ferry doesn't start until 6.00am, so an overnight in Krabi would be necessary.

Why on earth did you book a flight requiring you to be up that early, if it's a holiday?

9 minutes ago, islandguy said:

You should have the number for Samui Snake Resue handy. Some creatures are a little too dangerous (cobras) or too vulnerable (ones that can’t survive or animals that are eagerly hunted) and he will safely remove and relocate them. But not frogs.

Thankfully we have very few snakes, although not in respect of the frog problem...

Koh Lanta is a bit far for the Samui snake rescuers.

I should point out that before we moved onto our plot I used to rescue frogs from our wells and pits etc. and usher / carry them off to our lake. More fool me!

13 minutes ago, Esso49 said:

Yes I commiserate with you but you should know already that the French can be very noisy

I'm English, but I know what you mean. I spent 7 weeks on a yacht with a French crew - never again.

59 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Er... Ahem... Oh... Ugh... Er...

 

If you can't beat'em, join'em?

 

 

 

 

I soon will, when we've built our natural swimming lake!

12 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

It's seasonal, next month you will love the neighbour kids new exhaust pipe again. 

There is no difference between sound and noise in Thai language. 

That's why we bought a seafront plot with the road well behind us, and geriatric neighbours.

However, it appears we've exchanged the somchai on a souped up sewing machine for a sea highway of long tail fishing boats....? We always knew this was present, and see it as part of the local culture to be enjoyed, just wish they didn't set off at 4.00am some mornings....

I'm sure we'll get used to it all. We'll have to, including the building noise from neighbouring properties for some years to come. But who are we to complain as we've already contributed to that disturbance.

I remember as a child living next to a major road with all the traffic heading to Manchester, before the M62 was built, the house even vibrated. We moved to a quiet residential area, and couldn't sleep for the silence for many a night before we got used to it.

14 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Its part of nature,maybe you should have  chosen a high rise condo,

the frogs will only be calling and breeding in the rainy season,try and

be accommodating,.

Its surprising the number on people you get on here that cannot live

with nature, what to eradicate anything that moves,that dare enter

into their space,be it Gecko's,snakes,pigeons,assorted birds,etc,

regards worgeordie

 

My eradication comment was a little tongue in cheek!

I don't want to eradicate anything that moves, I'm very tolerant of all nature, even snakes. We are very well aware that this comes with the territory of the land we bought to settle on, and relish the experience of living so close with nature. I even used to feed the geckos that joined me at the dinner table in our previous rental apt.

We have birds, flying insects and spiders in abundance, screeching sea hawks, bats, snakes, monitor lizards, thieving monkeys, all are welcome and / or tolerated.

We even have stray dogs that have taken up residence inside our buildings on site, but never have I considered poisoning them, even though our gardener offered to do it for us.

However, seeing as how one of our builders has a taste for frogs, he will be welcome to hunt them to extinction. As far as I'm concerned they are little better than pests, and if it's a toss up between getting rid of them or sleep deprivation' there's no contest.

Likewise, when I walk nearby ants, they do not survive to tell the tale, if they wish to bite me without provocation then they are fair game.

Moved onto our new property recently, excited to leave the old noisy neighbourhood and hooligan m/c racers behind.

BUT... come bedtime it soon becomes apparent that we've swapped one lot of noise for another. We designed our property for open air living and have ceiling fans to aid air movement on still evenings, happily dispensing with the unhealthy aircon.

 So we settle down with doors wide open and ceiling fan gently whirring overhead, when all of a sudden the gentle natural and somewhat soothing croak of the odd frog here and there turns into a cacophony of screatching / fornicating frogs that inhabit our lake. 

I know we're never going to put paid to the muslims 'call to prayer' or the unsilenced long tail fishing boats that form an orderly parade along our seafront at 4.00am daily, but the frogs are incessant, carrying on all night long, to the point we have to close the doors to stand any chance of sleep at all.

Any suggestions to rid our property of frogs would be gratefully received.

And, no, we don't want to introduce a load of snakes to the property, none more than already exist.

On 9/7/2018 at 2:24 PM, Sprigger said:

Taken you a long time on my first visit to Thailand some 25 yrs ago, as a two week tourist I realised the whole Thai nation haven’t got a brain the size of a pea between them. Thick as shit.

So, you surmised that as a 2 week, wet behind the ears, tourist! 

Says a lot about where and with whom you were hanging out....

11 hours ago, fredob43 said:

As others have said she could have changed her name on her ID simple and free. Takes around 20 minutes. Problem solved.

 

My wife had a new ID in married name, licence in single name she didn't have a problem getting a new licence, seems it's what DLT you use.   

Not so simple when you consider there is land / property, cars and motorbikes, tabien baan, wi-if & phone contracts, etc. etc. to change the name to also!

8 minutes ago, jackdd said:

She could have updated her Thai ID and then come back.

Yes she could, but we're not sure all the hassle of changing her name would be worth it. She managed a UK driving and theory test, so should be able to get through the Thai test, if she ever gets round to it.....

On 9/8/2018 at 12:39 PM, fredob43 said:

That maybe the law, but everyone I know who has a full driving licence from UK OZ USA & EU has been able change that to a Thai one without a test. And that includes me.

My Thai wife was refused an automatic issue of a Thai 

licence as she hadn't change her name on her Thai ID and passport from her maiden name. Her UK licence was in her married name and therefore did not match her Thai ID - refused!

I walked out with a Thai licence and my wife has to sit the test.