Hervey Bay

I have a friend who is going to Thailand to be with his long-term girlfriend, and possibly get married in her hometown in a Buddhist ceremony. I just found out that he has a heart condition. This is not covered by health insurance as it is a pre-existing condition. He's not broke but not flush with money either, so is probably going to be reluctant to go to hospital if he has problems when he is there. In the past, people have died or developed serious problems as a result of not going to hospital promptly. When I was married to a Thai lady I remember that I went to a public hospital for a minor matter and as we were married, I either didn't have to pay or it was a nominal charge. But I can't recall if that was on the strength of our being married in the Buddhist ceremony or if it was later when were were legally married. Can anyone please advise which type of marriage entitles a foreigner to free or nominal charge health care for something as serious as heart problems ? Or can any foreigner....even a tourist....front up at a public hospital and get treated along with the hordes of locals ?

There seems to be debate about whether the smoke is caused locally or by neighbouring countries. The answer is simple : There is a constant background level caused by other countries. Then that is made far worse by local burning and the topography of Chiang Mai. Cut out the local burning and things will be much better, as evidenced by people who say they have gone elsewhere in the region and it has been not been nearly so bad.

Many foreign guys have never before run into such self-centredness and (dare I say it) narcissism, and this just goes to show what a devastating effect narcissists can have on peoples' lives. The realization that someone who you thought had some feelings for you, had absolutely no feelings for you, is awful.

Not only boots. The Germans had synthetic underwear, whereas he Russians had woollen.

I've read a few reports about crashes o this hill. Can someone please tell me what is so dangerous about it ?

^ Just verify first....

Now we can appreciate what surfers have to go through in a wipeout on a large wave.