mgthom63

31 minutes ago, Thian said:

Well if the doctor in a thai (the one i visited) hospital describes you some med's you have to go to the reception to receive it...it is what it is. Maybe that shouting angry farang got his med's to find out that he's using other med's as well and to avoid side effects he asked her some questions i guess....

 

In that case the farang is 100% right and he should have asked for the supervisor of that hospital to tell his complaints.

 

But to tell you, i have thai familymembers who have the highest functions in the most rewarded hospitals in BKK and i also have a hard time speaking english to them. They even give seminars in western countries for other medics but their english isn't what it should be. They all have a degree from that big university plus many promotions...

 

 

Shouting at the receptionist because she can't answer questions about meds is rude, boorish and pointless IMHO...whether in Thailand, the US, Holland or elsewhere.

Hospital receptionists aren't qualified to answer such questions...and if they did try and helpfully answer them, they'd be placing themselves and the hospital at great legal liability if their advice turned out to be wrong.

If the farang had questions about his meds, he should have asked to speak to the prescribing doctor or a qualified pharmacist. Or the receptionists' supervisor, if they are qualified/trained to offer advice on his meds.

11 hours ago, Thian said:

Not in the hospitals i visited.

 

And once i saw a farang shouting to the receptionist because she gave him medicines but couldn't answer his questions about it.

 

Very dangerous me thinks and very ashaming for that hospital in BKK.

Isn't this getting a little crazy?

If I hear you correctly, receptionists in Thai hospitals should not only be required to speak English, but should also now be qualified to answer questions about medicine?  And the farang shouts at her when she couldn't answer?

Call me crazy, but the only person who should be ashamed of themselves is the arrogant and self-entitled farang.

A hospital receptionist is not there to answer medicine/medication questions....whether in Thailand, Holland, the US or anywhere else. 

If you have questions about a medication, you should only talk to a doctor, nurse practitioner (in the US) or a licensed pharmacist!

I'm with tryasImight on this crazy assertion!

1 minute ago, Justfine said:

Taking aspirins everyday isn't healthy though.

I know that :)

11 minutes ago, norrska said:

Very strange that you think Nigeria is "West Africa".  There are lots of countries there and your generalization about Nigeria during one specific time period is not reflective of the entire region.   Nigeria wasn't technically even in French West Africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_West_Africa. 

Some good homework for you in that link, although with your closed minded nature, doubtful it would be of much help to you.

 

 

 

Cheers for that Wiki insight Cliff.  I need to spend more time out of my Caves a vin.

59 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

Yes most  do. Especially Spanish and several other languages. You are way out of line to be a Thai apologist on this topic. In hospitals in my home city I know  at least 10+ languages are spoken. The police department has about 20 languages on the force. EMT’s are available in many languages. When you go into a high end store you can expect several employees to speak other languages than English. Lately I have been to several 5 star hotels here in Thailand and the level of English is deplorable. You are completely wrong!!  Even my telephone  bill at home at the end lists a dozen languages you can contact them in! 

And what is your home city/country, out of interest.  Comparable to Thailand? 

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

Yes most  do. Especially Spanish and several other languages. You are way out of line to be a Thai apologist on this topic. In hospitals in my home city I know  at least 10+ languages are spoken. The police department has about 20 languages on the force. EMT’s are available in many languages. When you go into a high end store you can expect several employees to speak other languages than English. Lately I have been to several 5 star hotels here in Thailand and the level of English is deplorable. You are completely wrong!!  Even my telephone  bill at home at the end lists a dozen languages you can contact them in! 

Clearly time for some posters to vote with their feet.

For them, Thailand obviously doesn't do enough to ensure that lowly hospital/police/hotel/mall employees take the time to learn English, Chinese, Russian, etc.

This is obviously a deplorable state of affairs, given the large amount of money these folks are paid.  Clearly these lazy people should be paying for English courses after their 12 hour/6-day shifts are over

For those folks who get so upset, I'm guessing they will vote with their feet and not visit Thailand anymore?

21 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Your argument sounds like that of a western female.

I'm actually a western male who just happens to think intellectual stimulation IS important for a successful, healthy marriage and that the poster may be a little arrogant in claiming he brought an 'honor' to his wife and family by marrying her.  

That's my opinion.  If you or the OP don't agree with that, that's perfectly ok.

We can agree to disagree. No worries...

14 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Intellectual stimulation is way, way overrated, in a trait for a wife. Granted, even though my Thai wife is very smart, I do not get much intellectual stimulation from the relationship.

 

****

 

Also, since I did not want to have children, marrying her was an honor I brought to her and her family, by showing my earnestness and my long term commitment to her. 

 

 

 

Seriously?

If you're not getting intellectual stimulation from a very smart Thai wife, maybe you're not matching her intellect and/or taking the time to converse with her? 

I can't understand arguments that married life is not enhanced by mutual intellectual stimulation...unless one takes the view that a wife (Thai or otherwise) is only there to fulfill basic and submissive sexual and physical needs (such as cooking, cleaning, child-care, etc).

And you also brought an honor to her and her family?  Based upon your diatribe about women, I think you should feel honored she agreed to marry you!

.   

23 minutes ago, Thian said:

Because english is the worldlanguage, is that so hard to understand? And it will never be chinese, there's not even 1 chinese language but several different ones.

Around 840 million people worldwide are native Mandarin speakers, while a further 180 million or so speak it as a second language, making it the world's most widely-spoken tongue.

By comparison, only 340 million people are native English speakers, with some 510 million or so people having learned it as a second language.

And we're talking about Thailand, not the world (where English speakers may be more prevalent /dispersed, but no idea)...in Thailand,  Chinese -speaking tourists far outweigh English-speaking tourists nowadays, tour buses or no tour buses!

12 minutes ago, Thian said:

There are plenty chinese who are well educated, well mannered and speak decent english.....but they don't go to thailand in cheapo grouptours...

They are just like westerners who try to avoid risky countries, you should see them in Switzerland where the staff in the designers watch shops are chinese as well and speak several languages. I felt like i was in China when visiting Luzern Swiss last summer, they were all over the place buying watches for big bucks.

Those chinese sit in a touringcar all day in Europe and visit 6-8 countries in a week. They only go for the highlights and cheap brandname shopping in outlets.

But Amsterdam will totally ban ALL coaches in the city soon, so i wonder if they will still go there or what they will do next.

 

 

 

 

ok, I'm not sure you're getting my point about why it may be slightly arrogant to suggest that Thai's in certain sectors should speak English (rather than Chinese or any other foreign language).  But that's ok...

20 minutes ago, Thian said:

 

26 minutes ago, Thian said:

My insurance will pay the hospital bill.

And the chinese also come to europe, the rich ones that is. They love to shop in the designer-outlets.

 

Have fun in the hospital if you can't understand what they're saying!

Just as much 'fun' in hospitals for the Chinese when their native language isn't spoken...and they far outnumber the native English speakers.  I came across an amazing app on my smartphone recently...it's a Thai-English translator!

Maybe more Chinese should go to Holland instead.  I'm assuming everyone in the tourism/hospital/hotel sector there is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, given their rising importance as a source of tourism?

13 minutes ago, xylophone said:

 

 

And as for using the term "Caves a vin", whatever were you trying to prove?

Pretentious? Moi? :)  

1 hour ago, Thian said:

In hospitals they should be able to speak english at the reception. Same goes for the police, haven't tried the ambulance but i guess i know the answer already. Also most pharmacy shops in BKK can't, on top of that even thai english teachers can't.

In 2017, Thailand had just under 10 million visitors from China.  Compared to under 3 million from the UK, US and Australia combined.  Even if you factor in the English-speaking expats and non-native English speakers such as yourself, shouldn't their priority be to learn Chinese before English? 555

Seriously though, mandating English fluency from such workers would just push up the wages they'd have to pay them...then everyone would whine about the increased costs of everything!

Good luck keithpa. I wish you all the best.

I love Thailand but can easily see when you can reach a point when it's time to leave...I get a little stir-crazy myself after only around 4/5 weeks there!

Wishing you good health, prosperity and fun times with family back home.

10 hours ago, norrska said:

Teaching moment over.

Fingers crossed it's over and there's no more 'teaching' 555

1 minute ago, xylophone said:

Well that is the unusual but charming bottle shape and the wine was from Fitou, but not sure that this is it!! The major grape was Carignan, but it is often blended with others.

 

Anyway, not sure one could buy it in Thailand, but perhaps worth seeking it out? Good hunting!

Thanks xylophone!

I'm primarily based in the US nowadays but spend quite a lot of time in Europe and Asia...so one way or another, I'm sure I can source it somewhere.

Regards and thanks again for the reco

45 minutes ago, xylophone said:

(I have re-posted below because they were deleted, but there is nothing contentious in it/them). 

I posted..............In the main, I think it's good that some of the "inferior" grape varieties are being replaced (and I use the word inferior carefully) but every now and then one finds a particular grape variety which is getting rarer and enjoys the wine it makes. Carignan would be such a grape for me because it grows profusely and can make thin insipid wines, however a couple of winemakers who specialise in it can make some very good stuff which tastes just a little different, and I also like a Chateauneuf du Pape when it is included in the mix.

Your reply..........Yes, I agree with you on the replacement of many grape varieties...for the most part I think it's a good thing, but I hate to see 'inferiors' totally wiped out.  For Carignan, my favorite is Rocco Rubia from Sardinia (but maybe that doesn't qualify as Carignan?).

 

Well I suppose it's lucky that some of them have not been wiped out, this especially as King Louis XIV decreed that all the gamay vines should be pulled up because the gamay grape made an inferior wine!!!

 

So Beaujolais would have never been made!! And it is one of the wines which has been recommended to accompany spicy food!

 

 

As you're probably aware, King Louis XIV's decree was followed up by the EU more recently...they started an aggressive vine pull scheme where vineyard owners were offered subsidies in exchange for pulling up their vines...out of all the French varieties, I read that Carignan was the most affected.

Yes, I always try and get hold of a Beaujolais Nouveau each November/December when I go for my bi-weekly Thai meal!

Any French Carignan wines you'd recommend?  Nothing fancy, just something to go with a semi-spicy Thai dish (3 chilli's on my local Thai restaurants' 5-point scale!)...they have a BYOB policy with a nominal corkage charge, so I'm not restricted to their overpriced plonk!

40 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Good suggestions and many food and wine aficionados do recommend Rieslings and the like with Thai and some spicy foods. In fact it is the "go to" suggestion for newbies looking for a match, but I like the fruity, young reds match and always have done.

 

As for your red wines, well I haven't seen any available here and to be truthful had never heard of Frappato (just goes to show that you never stop learning!) and the Pineau I tasted when touring the Loire with a wine merchant, but under the name of Chenin Noir I believe?

 

 

Yes, Pineau is also known as Chenin Noir...but increasingly harder to find nowadays as growers have replaced it with more 'commercial' variants.  Similarly, I'm finding Frappato harder to find...it's almost impossible to find in Thailand, but I did find a COS frappato at an Italian restaurant in Bangkok (Appia)...aside from there and Sicily, I've only tasted it in NYC and London.

4 hours ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

They keep their house "clean" (thai style...) but their feet dirty, then put the food where their dirty feet walked.

Also where the dirty digs lay.

Dirty habits anyway, whatever people pretend to think.

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously? 

In my experience, I've found Thai's a lot more hygienic and more obsessed with cleanliness than 99% of 'westerners'.  I haven't shared a meal on the floor with Thai's who have rats and cockroaches running around their floor or have dirty feet when dining...but maybe I run around in different circles to you?

Poverty-stricken Thai families may be a different matter...but that's the same the world over (western and non-western counties)...poverty and the lack of sanitary conditions to ensure perfect cleanliness is understandable in those situations.

IMHO, I think your problem with Thai's runs a lot deeper than their desire to eat on the floor.

Their country, their culture, their choice.

If you can't deal with that, just don't live there or visit...no need to denigrate them or suggest that Western-style values need to be imposed upon them.

I visit Thailand frequently and appreciate the different lifestyle and culture when I meet with Thai friends...which includes sitting on a mat to eat dinner and taking off my dirty shoes before I enter their house...I assume you don't choose to hang-out with Thai's?  

5 hours ago, xylophone said:

Good point and I think that is something that some folks overlook.

 

I remember a top restaurant I was visiting serving salmon cooked with a port wine sauce!! A match I never imagined, but I tried it and it was surprisingly good!!

 

Anyway, worthwhile remembering that the OP who started all this said:......."Red wine and spicy food definitely do not match!", and he has been proven wrong by chefs, restaurateurs, food experts and critics alike, along with much more info on the internet. 

 

I guess he cannot take being wrong!

 

I have been drinking and collecting fine/good wines and eating in good/great restaurants around the world for 45 years, so I think I know my stuff.....and thanks for your kind words. Always keen to share knowledge when I can.

 

 

Thanks for all the tips! 

For spicy Thai or Indian food, my go-to is an off-dry Riesling.  But I've tried light, low or no-tannin reds made from grapes such as Frappato and Pineau d'Aunis and found them a very pleasant pairing. 

Best to put odious and uneducated trolls on 'ignore'...these social misfits just want to argue and provoke, however uninformed they are on a given topic.  When they suggest that chefs and restaurateurs answer to (wine) producers or that red wine should never be paired with spicy food, we're clearly not dealing with someone who has a clue about either fine restaurants or wine...DFTT, as the acronym goes! 

41 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

My ex cheated on me, I went to my Solicitor to see whether the affair would be a mitigating factor in the subsequent asset settlement. He said that the family law court couldn't give a rats who cheated on who, the only thing that mattered was who had what income. She subsequently hit me up for additional support and ended up walking away with over 80% of the assets and I had to pay her an additional 8K/month for 3 years, then normal CSA. She ended up about 900k better off and I ended up starting again. Painfully true story.

I had a similar experience...and my ex deliberately avoided looking for a job in the months leading up to our divorce...to maximize her payout, no doubt!  Divorce law should assess blame when assessing asset settlement IMHO. 

No idea what the 'google legal expert' poster was suggesting with the statement that 'but she could also be sued for a substantial sum for fraud and deception, thereby mitigating the losses'....I haven't seen him/her able to substantiate this claim.  Cheating or infidelity by a spouse will never get such a fraud/deception conviction and/or be accepted as a mitigating factor IMO.

I suspect he's just a bit naive and uninformed as to how the legal process works in Australia, the US or UK. Just googling, pontificating and trolling from some sad keyboard in a small room somewhere in Pattaya...

9 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

Says a guy with over 300 posts in less than a month.

He needs to get out more!  Organizations like the Pattaya Expats Club runs lots of social events where he can meet people and hopefully make some friends :)

16 minutes ago, luckyluke said:

Everything is relative.

If I put here that I want to sell my Karmann Ghia from Fiat, sure there will be people that will correct me : From Volkswagen not Fiat;

and pretty sure they will not consider themselves as being pedantic.

They just find it important enough to mention it.

So is it for the people who indicate it should be " an  " and not " a ".

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, ttrd said:

Yes - its correct that I am not an native English speaker

 

No - I dont take it as an offence

 

Yes - you may have misunderstood my original post you were refering to as it was written in a contradictionary half sarcastic way in combination with the fact that I am not an native English speaker which may as well have trigged your misunderstanding

 

No - my intention was not to denigrate you for not understand my post, but to point out that we actually have the same oppinion.

 

Pls do not continue to feel offended by my poor English...;)

No problem.  Your original reply wasn't actually to me, so I wasn't offended.  Your English is pretty good...it just occasionally gets a little confusing :)