wilson steer

No idea about motorbikes but WANDERER see how fast my post was scrubbed??

There are some good points, but I suspect that the 'newbie' who posted it has had a bad experience in Thailand at some point, who hasn't?

'To live outside the law you must be honest' to quote 'Bob' springs to mind.

I wear Coca Cola spectacles and sometimes contact lenses. I have considered laser surgery many times. I have consulted eye surgeons and specialists who are not financially linked to Lasik centres etc.

No eye surgeon will admit that this is a safe procedure, in a small percentage of people there will be lasting eye damage. However there is also a high percentage of people who cannot drive at night following Lasik surgery.

There is no long term studies or statistics available for laser correctional surgery.

I appreciate that the results are magnificent for most people, but I feel that this type of elective surgery is so often 'cosmetic' or unnecessary.

The wearing of spectacles is not offensive or unusual, except perhaps for elite sportsmen, supermodels or fire fighters.

I feel that in 90% of cases that this is a 'fad' that will eventually fade, given time. A few years ago people were wearing clear lenses in spectacles for the sake of 'fashion'.

Although I feel this following linked website is alarmist and melodramatic, it offers some good .pdf files, which should be studied by all considering laser surgery on their eyes.

LINK: http://lasikdisaster.com/

Good luck to all who opt for surgery.

Mr W.S. Jam Jar Specs'.

1 - How do you do it

2 - How much is it

3 - Where do you get the results

4 - How often is it held

Basically - how does it all work

Oh and the most important question of all.  Is a farang allowed to win it?

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How do you do it? Well there are two ways. One is you can buy a ticket (which is actually two tickets) (But don't ask for the vendor to split them). They are available from the folk in straw hats and ragged clothes, who walk up and down the soi's all day long earning just enough to eat, from their commission.

The second way is to buy a two or three number ticket (Upstairs and/or Downstairs) from an official vendor. They come is three values 20,50 and 100 baht. So for example you can bet on the 2 digit number (Downstairs) or the last two digits of the six digit winning number (Upstairs) ditto for the 3 digit numbers.

A 2 digit win yields 64-1

A three digit win yields 649-1

On the main ticket a 2 digit win yields 1000 baht less tax at 4%

On the main ticket a 3 digit win yields 2000 baht less tax at 4%

A 6 digit win yields 3 million baht less 4% tax and a further 10-20% poor tax....see later.

2. How much is it? A standard single ticket is 40 baht (80 baht for the two that are joined together) but the wandering vendors charge 95 baht for two tickets. The 15 baht is their commission for walking around all day and smiling and saying good luck and recommending certain numbers.

The tickets at the vendors for 2 and 3 digit game come in units of 20/50 and 100 baht.

3. The results are printed in the Bangkok post the day after the draw, you can watch the draw live on ITV on 1st and 16th of the month from 3.00pm onwards. Also men and women sell results sheets for 5 baht just minutes after the draw(s) are made. How they do this I do not know, but is the most impressive thing in Thailand, except for Pattaya that is.

4. It is held twice a month on 1st and 16th of the month as long as it is not a bank holiday, in which case it will be held the next day.

NOTE: If you win the big one....six million baht for the two tickets (joined). You will have to collect the money in a sea of publicity and will be expected to give a solid chunk (of baht) to the poor.

I have never had a problem collecting my winnings of 1000 or 2000 baht, you just sign the back of the ticket. But I actually would worry about winning the big one. As a falang I would sure to be targeted!

In the old days when I used Windows 98 I used to press (together) Control/Alt/Delete and see a list of programmes running and have the option of closing them one by one etc.

Now I am on Windows XP, I hardly ever need to use Con/Alt/Del, yet when I do my computer crashes. I get a million green data icons on my taskbar that go crazy, the only solution is to cut the power and restart.

This happens EVERY time, it is not a one off, anyone know what's wrong? And what should I expect when I pres Con/Alt/Del on an XP operating system?

Thanks. W.S.

i work off shore + previous sh*t holes like Saudi, Kuwait so i might go through 3-4 weeks (offshore) (can be months in middle east)  without and then back here so I make up for lost time when i come back, but i do see lot of guys who's main hobbyy is drinking all waking hours.

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The years that I spent in Saudi were the ones that I was most at risk of becoming an alcoholic. I always had a few drinks every day. The main problem was the alcohol content of every thing over there. Beer at 15%, wine at 20%, and sid at rocket fuel levels.

While I'm on vacation, as I am now in Oz, I am also having quite a bit more than what I should but at least it is at commercial beverages alcohol content.

When I'm at home in Thailand, I have maybe 2 bottles of Beer Leo per week.

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Wow, that Saudi 'Siddique' nearly killed me; I was actually drunk 24 hours a day, and so was everyone else, it seemed to linger in the blood, so even when you woke up, you actually felt pissed. We used to cut 'sid' 50/50 but it was still lethal. A lot of guys just couldn't handle it and got sent home.

But if someone offered me 'sid' here in Pattaya I'd buy it just for old times sake to re-live the buzz.

Anyone any first hand advice of securing a tourist visa in Auckland, New Zealand?

Thanks in advance.........!

The Emirates Flight Bangkok-Aukland EK418 leaves daily at 715pm and stops at Sydney Australia.

Question is, do they let you off for a walk about during the two hour stop-over in Sydney?

Anyone any experience of this flight. Thanks.

I know I drink too much, and nearly all of my friends here in Pattaya drink too much. Not so much as to get into trouble or fights or domestic violence etc. just too much, in the sense that it is physically dangerous.

I am seriously worried about getting into an accident, like getting run over whilst staggering around second road and up and down all the soi's. Then there was the time I fell asleep/passed out in a baht bus and nearly fell out at 40 mph. Various, falls, cuts and bruises from banging into things etc. that I never remember how they happened upon awakening.

Then I always manage to lose something, hopefully not my money, but often something is missing when I wake up.

Then there is the medical physical damage: The brain damage is staggering, my short term memory loss is so bad it is laughable. Then at night I can watch and enjoy a movie, then discover in the morning what it actually was, and swear I never watched it. I make plans with friends I cannot recall and lend money without recollection upon awakening.

Then there is the damage to nerves, also exascerbated by vitamin B depletion that drinking causes, my shakey hands in the morning actually frighten people and my Thai GF; she thinks I need a doctor because I can't cope with a mug of tea without spilling half.

Then there is the massive heart damage that drinking causes. 4% of heavy drinkers will die of ACM Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy, suddenly at an early age (35-55). One of my best friends died of ACM last year, at least it was instant, but he left a wife and two kids (he was aged aged just 39.)

Then there is the liver damage. 33% of heavy drinkers will develop alcoholic liver disease and some will die early as a result.

Then there is the damage to the renal system, kidneys often damaged as a result of elevated enzymes in the blood. The pancreas can suffer, pancreatitis is the most painful condition known to man, 20% of sufferers will die of shock.

Then there is the impotence and infertility and damage to the bladder, other cancers like throat, mouth and gullet, stomach damage is almost certain, stomach ulcers and Barretts oesophegus.

So what is the best way to minimise health risks? Eat well, take vitamin substitutes, particularly vitamin B complex, avoid accidents by door to door taxis, take a low dose proton pump drug for the stomach, write post-it notes for memory loss, get cholestral checked often, seek swift medical treatment for weight loss and loss of appetite and any other unexpained pains.

Time for a Chang!

There was also a bakery, 7th Heaven, tucked away behind the Bowling club, been there for ages, but now also sadly gone (so my mate tells me, the Scouse owner was thinking of relocating to Goa?).

He's still baking in Sihanoukville Cambodia. As are a couple of ex bar owners from Pattaya that left last year.

BTW. He has kept the same name, 7th Heaven Cafe. If you ever head that way, you will find him on Ekareach St.

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I think his name was Dave the baker, but I wish he would come back and make his bread, because the alternative bakery on Soi Xzyte creates asteroid-weight loaves which are inedible and can be used as bowls at the bowling green opposite.

BTW: Original poster; don't buy any business here, I have been here only four years and have seen dozens of friends ruined both metally and financially by imagining that they can make a business work here. Come to Pattaya, bring your money and spend it slowly on having a good time, then go home, earn some more and do it again. That way will cause a lot less heartache and grief.

An English girl I met had it done here in Pattaya at a clinic near the Big C, she was really pleased with the results, but probably more the price, because the same procedure in the U.K. is 500 pounds, yet only 200 pounds here in Pattaya.

Unfortunately I did not know the colour of her teeth before treatment, but to be honest afterwards they just looked normal, not shockingly good. I wonder if it is all worthwhile.

After all, food and coffee etc. will stain the teeth quickly, so you might be back to square 1 again. I think it is only for the wealthy or the fashion models etc.

I bet that tooth cleaning powder works nearly as well with a bit of elbow grease. But I shall keep an open mind, and watch this post carefully......

I doubt whether I am alone in suffering from LBM's after either Thai food, Thai water or just 'Thai air', but my approach is this;

Lots of water, to drink.

Eat small meals

'Sit it out'

However there are conflicting views on many web sites and medical advice sites.

This is regarding Immodium. When is this a truly useful drug? Much opinion says, use only for travel, let the badness pass freely, do not obstruct.

Yet other advice says, if LBM's are without blood or mucus or fever take Immodium to reduce the water loss from the gut.

What is the truth, here? Is Immodium a wonder drug or a hindrance to recovery?

I am interested to hear from fellow sufferers. Nobody likes the LBM's but they are a fact of life, well for me and many buddies. Maybe I am unlucky not to have an iron stomach and intestine, who knows?

Well, that's it. tell me more folks.....

Thanks for advice, by adjusting I mean the angle of the screen by using the hinges.

Again, if the cable is broken, this doesn't make sense because if I turn back off and on, I get a display again.

If I adjust the display on my laptop/notebook, I lose my display completely, even closing and opening it again does not help. However turning off and starting up again and everything is O.K. as long as I don't adjust the display screen.

It is an advent, about two years old and has one hinge, is this a physical wire problem, how does information reach the hinged screen anyway, or else something serious?

Any help or advice would be good, perhaps getting this problem sorted out here in the LOS will be less expensive than PC world in the U.K.

Still have to work 3 months per year in the oilfields of the Middle East, when it all goes to plan I'd be working right now, because it's too hot here, but 'Murphys Law' always arranges my contracts for OCT-FEB.

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Yeah right, it's only a fukcing cold 40 degrees C today in Saudi and blowing frigging sand everywhere. With summer on the way it can only get better.

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Temperatures mean nothing. Working in the Saudi desert is very comfortable, the humidity is very low. Bangkok at 40 and Riyadh at 40 feel totally different. Also evening temperatures in the desert are lower, a good night sleep is guaranteed, even without aircon.

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I wouldn't call it comfortable but agree it's all subjective. In summer it goes over 50C in the desert and if you been working outside all day obviously it feels "cool" at night when the temp. drops to a miserable 38C.

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I doubt that you have worked in Saudi Arabia; at night in the desert, (Layla was my nearest city), the temperature fell to about 10 degrees in summer and 0 degrees in winter. (Celcius).

Also my ideal working temperature in the desert, was 40 degrees celcius, at low humidity. Even the highest temperature I witnessed: 52 degrees, was no where near as uncomfortable as a humid 40 degrees, which I experience right now in Pattaya.

Temperature figures without humidity figures are meaningless. Yahoo weather is excellent because it provides the temperature, with a 'feels like' quoted in degrees Celcius.

Still have to work 3 months per year in the oilfields of the Middle East, when it all goes to plan I'd be working right now, because it's too hot here, but 'Murphys Law' always arranges my contracts for OCT-FEB.

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Yeah right, it's only a fukcing cold 40 degrees C today in Saudi and blowing frigging sand everywhere. With summer on the way it can only get better.

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Temperatures mean nothing. Working in the Saudi desert is very comfortable, the humidity is very low. Bangkok at 40 and Riyadh at 40 feel totally different. Also evening temperatures in the desert are lower, a good night sleep is guaranteed, even without aircon.

I think I mentioned this once before, but a Swedish guy I met, got pulled for importing a case full of sex aids, dildos and stuff. Maybe they are prohibited items.

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They seem to be stricter on this kind of stuff since the puritanical TRT got into power. Did he get anything more than an on-the-spot fine?

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They detained all his luggage, and told him to return the next day after they had more thoroughly examined everything.

He went back the next day, collected his baggage and was allowed to keep hi collection of sex toys, but told he must take them back out of the country. He did not mention any fine, just that the whole thing was a pain and he couldn't change into fresh clothes etc.

Songkrawn is totally sheet in Pattaya. I stayed; in just legged it for a newspaper in the early morning.

I got my glasses ripped off by a water gun. I really feel sorry for tourists at this time. Songkrawn is aggressive and really, 'mental'.

There is an obvious 'hooligan' ( I don't like that term 'hooligan') element in Pattaya, but they (the ex-soccer hooligans) are actually O.K. Respect to some of the 'boys here'.

I would much rather meet a U.K. 'ex-boy' than some of those Thai(s) or motorbike thieves and scum.

The Durian season is in full swing; I like the taste, but not the lingering after taste that lasts for days, so I avoid them now as a rule.

Is there any truth that eating them together with alcoholic beverages is dangerous, or lethal?

Anyone have first-hand experience of this? Someone told me more people in Thailand are killed by them falling from trees than by injesting them together with beer and spirits.

Is the Vietienne restaurant on Pattaya North Road related to the old 2nd Road now Walking Street chain?

Anyone have any first hand eating experience there?

Forget Codeine, it is probably one of the worst opiate analgesics. Incidentally dextropropoxyphene has just been banned in the U.K. (distalgesic or Co- proxamol) that is because it has a high overdose potential. 300 successful suicides per year. (In the UK alone).

My advice for pain relief is paracetamol. Or for bad pain 'temgesic'. Temgesic is readily available in Thailand and twice as strong as morphine although in 36% of patients nausea is a problem.

Nausea can be treated with a side dose of metaclopromide, easily available as plasil.

Codeine is of no use in pain relief, it really should be withdrawn.

Sciatica, slipped disc, back pain: I know: it is murder, absolutely the worst thing on earth. I had it for a whole year.

Some top tips;

1. Check your bed is hard and firm.

2. Drink loads of water (the discs need water and hate a dehydrated body)

3. Don't rest, be active, push yourself physically, but don't lift weights etc.

4. Consider accupuncture, it really helps with the pain, although it does not cure the original problem.

5. Avoid opiate analgesics, they are addictive, stick to NSAIDS with food and water.

6. Think about your posture when sitting, don't slouch.

7. massage helps.

8. Don't despair, it will cure itself given TIME. Do not opt for surgery unless 100% necessary. Believe me TIME is the healer with chronic back pain.

Yes my TGF has constipation 4-5 days sometimes without a dump. She is envious of my daily dump, and everything I suggest does not work. She drinks water, exercises, eats lots of fruit and green weeds etc.

It is a mystery to me. Maybe enemas or deep enemas might work, and wash out the clogged up bowel. Colonic irrigation.

My guess is the insides are all blocked with 'sticky rice' and low quality meat which putrifies in the human gut.

Remedies that work is that tea bag, forget the name, but every Thai girl knows it, trick is 3 tea bags in one cup. The results are spectacular, I have witnessed the explosive effects first hand.

I think I mentioned this once before, but a Swedish guy I met, got pulled for importing a case full of sex aids, dildos and stuff. Maybe they are prohibited items.

Still have to work 3 months per year in the oilfields of the Middle East, when it all goes to plan I'd be working right now, because it's too hot here, but 'Murphys Law' always arranges my contracts for OCT-FEB.

Hope one day to live on interest from savings, but the best U.K. rates are 5% gross, so I either have to triple my savings or hope for the BOE to push up the base rate.

Anyone know anything about these adverts for 'do a few hours work on your PC for big cash'?