molarman

If you are a regular attender at your dentist for check ups etc.

and you know about flossing,brushing etc.and do not have any pain then any "western" style dental practice should be ok for a check up,clean, and a simple filling or two.

If you don't speak Thai then try and find a dentist that speaks good English and can explain any diagnosis and treatment (and pricing) options. good communications is often the key to good patient/dentist trust and a "succesful dental experience"

If you think you might need more complicated treatment (root canal,crown and bridge,implants,accurate diagnosis of gums that bleed too easily,extractions of broken down teeth,or you are having any pain or sensitivity), then you might be better served and feel more comfortable at one of the hospitals.

I can certainly recommend the dental hospital on Sukhumvit 49, they treat lots of expats and visitors and the equipment and materials used are of a high quality.

They were thorough in their check up,and professional in their treatments and they didnt overdiagnose or overtreat and you need have no worries about instrument sterilisation procedures.

There is also a clinic on suk.55 (called asavanti ? i think) that I have heard is good,but I have no personal experience of it.

Good luck.

thank you vicar,for todays sermon.it was eloquently given.

if you are spending half your life looking for an honest man then perhaps you are in the wrong town.and do you really equate crack dealing,drug smuggling and paedophila with using the services of a visa agent to avoid a visa run.i think not.

yes,there are all sorts of characters here that many would like to see kicked out,and being tarred with the same brush as them goes along with being a farang over here.but the types of people who are going to tar you with that same brush are people who are prejudiced anyway so why get hot and bothered about it.a prejudiced person will always find a reason to dislike or worse. a variety of characters is what makes life so colourful here.and what goes around comes around,most lowlifes get what is coming to them,but as for the visa dodgers,at least the majority of them, i think they are being harshly dealt with.

i would also like to direct you to the post by "catseyeland" on page 8 of the thread "news on visa detentions". it makes for a sobering read.now i dont know him or his attitude or his circumstances but  do you think he deserved the treatment he received ?

"What do I expect to find from a lady who has already decided to be my wife before I even arrive? "

trouble,lots of.

ineu,

i dont have anything particular in mind,if someone is not able to comply with the new laws then it is unfortunate for them,it may be sad, it may cause hardship, but it is a fact neverthe less.we should all have a plan 'B' in life.just in case because

nothing lasts forever in life.

one short unsubstantiated article in the "chiang mai post" (circulation 24) seems to have caused mass panic,slangings off,class warfare,cynical comments,sarcasm,jealousy and hate.what seem to be cries for help and sympathy have been met with "serves you right" and "about time".there are the wailings and gnashing of teeth from those who bemoan the lack of fairness and human rights of it all, it all makes for a jolly good read,and as is normal for western thinking a lot of the replies are of an emotional nature.

it's a good job we are not all sat in the same room, face to face.blood would have certainly been shed.

if these new rules become law next year then emotionally charged reasoning and sympathy will not solve any problems or help in any way ,the thais dont do sympathy any more than they do fairness(by western standards).if any of us want sympathy then perhaps we should return to our homes in the west and call the help lines and chat shows that  offer shoulders to cry on, because we wont find them here.

this is thailand, and the name of the game is adapt or become extinct,fairness does not come into it.

we have a year,if we dont fail to prepare then we prepare to fail.subtract the emotion from the thinking and deal with the facts.

may the good lord have mercy on our souls!!

to parryhandy and others in the same position

i dont think that your position here will be compromised should the new regs. become law; my feeling is that these regs. are not aimed at people like yourselves.

i feel that stable family relationships will not be broken up,and that the rules will be applied with discretion, like almost everything else in thailand.

now might be the time for you and your family to get to know the local immigration officers.they can be surprisingly helpful.

my views in my earlier post may be middle class, i make no excuses for my upbringing, but my views do not extend to breaking up families or imposing impossible financial demands on them.my position in this country will also be made difficult by all this and i have recently invested a substantial amount to purchase a piece of land here but my thai wife tells me that there is nothing to worry about, (the cynical amongst you may say that there is certainly nothing for her to worry about), there are ways around most obstacles and upsets in life and that necessity is the mother of invention, as the thais prove to us on a daily basis.

i'm sorry to say  but your posts sound negative and bitter,lighten up,i dont think you would be asked to leave.

URGENT MESSAGE FROM GEORGE BUSH

TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE ADMINISTRATION

HOLD IRAQ,N KOREA,AFGHANISTAN,THE ECONOMY.

CANCEL MY 10 O CLOCK WITH BLAIR,GET AIR FORCE ONE FUELLED AND READY TO ROLL

SOME GUY IN THAILAND IS HAVING A PROBLEM WITH HIS VISA

URGENT ACTION REQUIRED.

Marks,

 I was sorry to hear about your friends injuries sustained in the unjustified attack by the taxi driver, and the lack of interest in your case by the press etc. I do believe that cases such as yours, and other incidents where foriegners and Thais are involved should be publicised more widely, either in an effort to get to the bottom of the story and seek a just conclusion, or to serve as a warning to others that in spite of everything Thailand has to offer to visitors and expats , it remains one of the many countries in the world where fairness and truth are in very short supply, and if difficulties are encountered you are pretty much on your own.

 The English language press should be the vehicles for such publicity but all too often they are not,self preservation of the Thai image is all, and criticism and conjecture are not welcomed or tolerated.This seems to be the case on a personal as well as a national level.

 In spite of skyscrapers,skytrains,and all the development that Thailand has undergone in the past 30 years,morally it remains firmly stuck in the seventeenth century. If you are looking to get some form of justice out of this then I think you will need very deep pockets and/or some high level contacts,otherwise you just have to accept that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.It happens to lots of Thais on a daily basis, it's sad but true.

 Personally I love the country,warts and all,but in 15 years I have never had much in the way of bad experiences.If I were to be as unfortunate as you and your friend then I would pack up and leave for sure.

 I wish you and your friend well.

WIsteve,

The disapproval I hear from Thais is almost 100% about the public and in your face displays that one sees on Sukhumvit and elsewhere. I have never heard any adverse criticism of prostitution from a Thai. My in-laws do gain from the tourist trade in that they run a "ma and pa" corner shop and rent rooms (not s.t.!) to bar girls and these girls are in and out of the shop all day long regaling us all with tales of their latest adventures and how easy/difficult (usually too easy) it was getting money out of last nights customers, but the Thais (at least the ones that I know) would  love to see it all a little more low key and discreet. They worry about the effect on their young children of constant exposure to it all, about how normal it has become, and how powerless they are to do anything about it.

Perhaps, like most of us , they are scared of the changes in society and the erosion of the values they were brought up to believe. I know change(progress) cannot be stopped, but as visitors to a foriegn land, whether long stay or short stay, I believe we should be mindful of the local mores and not push our luck and kill the golden goose.Otherwise the Thai government certainly will try and then it will all be pushed underground.

The problem is not prostitution but the type of tourist that prostitution attracts,take a walk down Sukhumvit Rd. and see for yourself.

There is an overabundance of largely Western males who display no respect to their hosts (loud behaviour,unbelievably tasteless dress sense in a city centre,some of the worst haircuts on the planet,drunkeness,choice of company) during the day.It gets worse at night but then there are fewer Thais around.

Subtle and low key it is not.

Falang hookers add more sleaze to the already toxic brew.

What country in the world wants these sort of people visiting.

When did you last see a Thai man walking around arm in arm with a prostitute,drooling over her like a retard.

The Thais hate this bringing out into the open of what should be kept low key. Would you walk around in the capitol cities of your countries dressed like that ? With an obvious prostitute on your arm ? I think not. So why do it here?

I spend a lot of time in Thailand with my wife and her family, the family comprises of three generations ,ages from 14 to 70.

and we live on the Sukhumvit Rd.The question they ask me most is how can these men behave in public like that,and not be ashamed, are all falangs like that, there is no criticism of the prostitutes, its accepted here if its low key. My answer is that the falangs that they see are not typical , (my wife who lives with me in England when we are there has nothing but praise for Western values) and that the falangs that we are talking about are for the most part from the bottom of the falang barrel and have no idea how to behave with respect in a different culture, that they are unaware of Thai sensibilities.

The behaviour of these tourists is a great affront to the Thais,and I believe that the government would be well advised to impose restrictions if the tourists in question cannot see for themselves how ridiculous and offensive they look in the eyes of their hosts.Money earned from tourism does not come into it. The Thais are pretty adaptable people and would find other ways to replace the lost income.

So, gentlemen, some subtlety in your behaviour please and a decent pair of trousers wouldnt harm your cause either.

DONT MEAN TO SHOUT AT YOU !

i'll try and quieten down in future posts!

I HAVE FOLLOWED THIS THREAD WITH INTEREST AS THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CLASSIC STORIES THAT PIT FALANG AGAINST

THAI ALONG WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE POLICE , AND AS USUAL I AM UNABLE TO MAKE UP MY MIND AS TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED BECAUSE THERE IS NO CORROBORATION OF FACTS FROM EITHER SIDE.

THIS BEGS THE QUESTION AS TO WHY THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PRESS IN THIS COUNTRY (I.E. THE POST AND THE NATION) IS SO INEFFECTUAL IN FINDING OUT THE FACTS IN STORIES OF THIS NATURE, STORIES WHICH ARE OF GREAT INTEREST TO FALANG READERS, (OTHER STORIES WHICH SEEM TO BE  ROUTINELY UNDER REPORTED ARE DRUG ARRESTS , "SUICIDES" , AND OTHER FALANG CRIMINAL ACTIVITY)

WE GET A SHORT PARAGRAPH ON PAGE 5 ONE DAY WITHOUT ANY SUBSEQUENT FOLLOW UP,THEN THE STORY DISAPPEARS. THERE IS NEVER ANY BACKGROUND TO THE EVENT,BACKGROUND TO THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED OR INSIGHT AS TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED, I.E. NO INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM.

DO THESE NEWSPAPERS ACTUALLY EMPLOY ANY DECENT INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS WHO ARE PREPARED TO LOOK INTO THE FACTS OR ARE THEY ALL SUPERANNUATED HACKS SITTING AROUND IN  AIR -CON OFFICES TAKING COPY OFF THE SCREENS AND RIDING THE GRAVY TRAIN? ARE THERE ACTUALLY ANY HUNGRY JOURNALISTS THERE WHO CAN SPEAK THE LOCAL LANGUAGE, WHO HAVE BUILT UP A BODY OF LOCAL  CONTACTS AND CONFIDENCES OVER THE YEARS AND ARE PREPARED TO GET OUT THERE AND PUT TOGETHER SOME INTERESTING AND FACTUAL COPY AND  ASK A  FEW SEARCHING QUESTIONS OF ALL THOSE INVOLVED.

THE QUALITY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PRESS IN THIS COUNTRY IS A JOKE AND UNTIL THE PRESS TAKES MORE THAN A PASSING INTEREST IN WHAT GOES ON THEN THE TRUTH WILL NEVER SURFACE AND VESTED INTERESTS WILL ALWAYS WIN THE DAY. JOURNALISM IS ABOUT QUESTIONING THE FACTS AND NOT JUST COPYING WHAT ONE IS TOLD.

AND AS FOR THE TAXI DRIVER AND THE PASSENGERS WITH THEIR FEET ON THE SEATS, IF THE PRESS HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE STORY TO COME KNOCKING ON YOUR DOORS BEGGING TO BE TOLD, THEN ITS TIME TO SHUT UP SHOP AND HAND OVER TO PEOPLE WHO CAN BE BOTHERED TO GET OUT AND FIND THE STORY.

I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO KNOW OF ANY OTHER VIEWS RE. THE STANDARD OF OUR PRESS.

i am a uk dentist and will be re-locating to thailand later this year, very early retirement being the general plan, life in the uk just gets more and more expensive and complicated.i have spent a lot of time over there and have a reasonable command of the language and how things work there , but i would like to know if it would be possible to get work in, or open my own dental clinic.  koh samui will be our probable destination.are there any falang medical/dental professionals working legally over there, and how easy/difficult is it to get work permits etc. for work in this field.

grateful for any feedback

many thanks.

I WILL BE COMING TO LIVE IN THAILAND FROM THE UK WITH MY THAI WIFE LATER THIS YEAR,THIS WILL BE A PERMANENT RE-LOCATION APART FROM VISITS TO THE UK FOR 2 OR 3 MONTHS EVERY SUMMER.

DOES ANYONE KNOW OF OR CAN RECOMMEND A REPUTABLE COMPANY THAT CAN PROVIDE A MEDICAL INSURANCE SCHEME THAT WILL GIVE GOOD COVER FOR BOTH THAILAND AND THE UK.

ANY INFO GRATEFULLY RECEIVED.

THANKS.