wpcoe

I'm assuming the Red Cross Clinic has competent "counseling" as to which vaccination is needed for when and where. If not, and of course even if so, I can also recommend the Travel Medicine/Shot Clinic at BNH on Soi Convent in Bangkok. They recently (in the past year or so) opened the clinic on the ground floor, just to the right as you enter through the hospital front doors.

On my last BNH visit (for follow-up to my last back injury) I took along my yellow vaccination "passport," and talked to a doctor in the clinic, and after finding almost all my vaccinations were overdue boosters, had an informative discussion about various vaccinations -- what was recommended, what was available (and not) in Thailand, etc. Even though I was a walk-in with no appointment, the doctor took as much time as needed to answer my questions, and provide information beyond what I had asked.

As a side note, I was disappointed to know that the shot clinic doctor at Bumrungrad, who had given me the initial rounds of vaccinations and the yellow passport, had not followed through with her promise to e-mail me when boosters came due.

TENS is a valid method of therapeutic medicine. It was used in physiotherapy after (two) disk ruptures in my lumbar region by licensed physiotherapists in the hospital.

However, I question the use of a TENS machine as a D.I.Y. toy at home. The intensity and length of the sessions (and the location, I suppose) seemed calculated to target my pain management needs by the physiotherapist. What guidelines are included with the off-the-shelf TENS machine?

Would you buy a set of acupuncture needles and attempt self-administration at home (or trust a friend to place them properly in the right locations)? I have similar concerns with these retail TENS machines.

Forgot to add, in Canada iPhones are sold unlocked, so if you live near the border, or can arrange a quick stop in Canada on your return journey to Thailand, that is an other option.

Are they unlocked when you get them from the carrier aswell as part of a package?

Sorry, not sure about that. I just know that I had a friend from Vancouver buy me an iPhone4 and bring it with him, and it's factory unlocked.

There are less primitive ways to chop a full-size SIM down to micro-SIM size, but assuming that that is not even the path you want to follow: Anyplace you see a Telewiz shop, you can buy an AIS micro-SIM, with either a pre-paid or post-paid plan. Telewiz is the retail outlet for AIS, and can be found in most shopping malls, tech malls (like Pantip and Fortune in Bangkok, or TukCom in Pattaya,) and many Tesco, Carrefour and Big C centers.

Using 3BB ADSL in Hua Hin, the page stalls at "Sending request to w3.mict.go.th." I finally just closed the page after being stuck at that status for over three minutes.

[edited to correct typo]

Probably a non-necessary reminder, but I'll blurt it all the same: Even if you properly put your re-entry permit # on the TM.6 form, and even if you present your passport opened to the re-entry permit page, always, always, ALWAYS check the date on your entry stamp before you leave Immigrations.

Twice in the five years I've been using the retirement visa with re-entry permits, I've been stamped in for 30-days. The Immigrations officer, for whatever reason, just thought I was entering on a visa-exempt status.

ALWAYS check the date on the stamp before you leave Immigrations.

You can easily switch to another country's app store, but unless you have a credit card billed to an address in that country, you can only download free apps, songs, videos, etc.

When I was in the US in January, I bought a prepaid VISA card at a grocery store and registered it using my mother's home address. I used that card to register on the USA iTunes site and now can download free AND paid apps, songs, videos, etc.

Even though I'm a US citizen with a credit card issued by a US bank, I cannot use it for the USA iTunes store, because I have the bills sent to my home in Thailand. What a system!

If you're referring to FaceTime, both parties need to be using WiFi.

However, I think you can use Skype on the iPhone via non-WiFi if you jailbreak the iPhone and download some software via Cydia.

Forgot to add, in Canada iPhones are sold unlocked, so if you live near the border, or can arrange a quick stop in Canada on your return journey to Thailand, that is an other option.

I'm sure the many of the phone kiosks at MBK or Pantip (if you're in Bangkok) or Tukcom (in Pattaya) or in other tech malls throughout Thailand will do it for a modest fee.

The guys in the True office can't do it as official True employees, but I bet you could find one able to do it "on the side" for you.

Have you tried using overseas DNS servers? Try placing Google's or OpenDNS's servers as your primary DNS server.

(Google is 8.8.8.4 or 8.8.8.8, and OenDNS is 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220)

Usually when suddenly I can't open web sites, but verify that my connection is up, I put a US DNS server as the primary DNS server, and it works fine. After a while, I switch it back to my Thai ISP's DNS server, and it's okay.

The reason I don't just keep a US DNS server as my primary: Many sites like Microsoft and Google have mirror sites in Thailand. If I'm using a Thai DNS server and type in microsoft.com it will resolve to (use) the Thai mirror site and therefore be quicker as it is a local domestic site. If I'm still using a USA DNS server and type in microsoft.com it will resolve to the USA site and throughput will suffer.

I just transferred my 3BB account from Pattaya to Hua Hin. You need to originate the transaction in the area of your new home, since they are the only ones who can tell you if they offer service at the new address. I know, that sounds fishy, since there should be some central database where customer service can verify coverage, but this is Thailand, so...

I forget for now, but I think it was a B1800 fee I had to pay to transfer the service. I also paid the tech guy who installed the cable something like B128 .. B64 for running the cable from the pole to the outside of my house, and another B64 for running the cable within my house and installing an RJ11 outlet.

It's so easy to take your UK debit card to a bank in LOS and transfer money and get it in your hand in cash. .

I think transam was suggesting you may take your UK debit card to your Thai bank and transfer a wedge in on a one-time transfer. Then use your local bank's plastic to suck it out locally.

I know most Thai ATMs charge a B150 for withdrawals from overseas accounts, and the most banks charge US$25 - US$50 for a SWIFT transfer. When you do go to the bank counter for a cash advance on your ATM/VISA card, is there a fee? If there is a fee from the Thai Bank for a cash advance at the counter, how much is it?

Also note, that if you have "7 to 10 mil baht, not counting IRA," you presumably have some interest income on the B7-10m. If you declare that income along with the savings in a Thai bank, you do not need to have the funds in the Thai bank for two (or three) months. You only need to season the money if you are only using savings, with no income in the equation.

Since you used the term "IRA," presumably referring to a retirement savings account, I assume you are American. To declare the income, you simply need to fill in a form letter at the US Embassy in Bangkok and swear the amount of income.

Well, I am pleased to have come through a Hua Hin Songkran unscathed. Went out the evening of the 12th to get something to eat and to Villa Market and didn't see any water activity, though I did see some wet, powder-faced folks that obviously had been frolicking someplace.

The 13th, I stayed home all day, saw some kids playing in the soi with water guns, and once saw a pick up truck with a water tank and party goers in the back. However, I also saw Thai and farang adults dressed in more formal attire walking down the soi and they were NOT attacked by the revelers. That is the TOTAL opposite of what I experienced in Pattaya/Jomtien the first couple years I lived there (before subsequently leaving Thailand each year at Songkran.) My first Pattaya Songkran, I was riding in the back of a baht bus, dressed for dinner, and got drenched with water containing some additive that permanently stained (i.e. ruined) the clothes I was wearing. One year, they even were throwing water in the hallways of my condo building & the manager of the condo office was tossed into the pool.

The 14th I was again out and about, and didn't see any revelry.

Good showing, Hua Hin!

My water tank has gone dry twice in the last three days, now. The (two-eyed) snake was hopefully just a one-time visitor in the kitchen, now that I've sealed most of the gaps between the roof and walls. <fingers crossed>

Went out for a bite to eat around 830pm last night and then went to Villa Market and saw no water play. Today, I've decided to just stay home, and I've seen a couple kids with small water guns on my soi. This is definitely tolerable. I'm comparing it to the weeklong waterfest orgy over in Pattaya where I lived the past six Songkrans.

Okay, then, we'll soon see how this plays out. It's already the 12th, so this evening it should start and about 36-48 hours later it should be over. I decided not to flee the kingdom this year. What's the worst that can happen? I already has an encounter with a snake in my kitchen this week and ran out of water yesterday. So, maybe some good-hearted merriment will be a welcome relief. On my soi, I think (hope!) it'll mainly be the neighborhood kids having a good time soaking their weird farang neighbor. Or, not.

For the uninitiated, here's a tokay's F-U call:

[Edited: Found a better sounding video]

Last night I don't think the previous male tokay crooner was there. Only one time, while I was upstairs at the opposite side of the building, I heard three verses of the F-U. It was too short for me to run downstairs, but it sounded more muffled, possibly outside someplace nearby in the neighborhood. Then again, I did wedge newspapers into the gap where the tokay & snake were, so maybe they just muffled the sound. But, only three verses, and only one time, versus the previous every hour or so each night for over a week. I think the tokay was the snake's brunch yesterday.

I've sealed about 75% of the gaps at the roof/wall seam. Trying to decide what to do with the rest. Most of them are awkward sizes, shapes and/or locations.

What I've read about cobras, and wondered if it applied to other snake species, is that adolescent cobras have the most dangerous bite. Baby snakes are too small to get a good bite, but adolescents can, but they haven't the ability yet to control how much venom they inject so their every bite injects a full dose. Adult cobras, though, can control the amount of venom and in an attack on a human they generally will inject a "warning" dose rather than a lethal dose on the first bite. As compared to, for example, a fight-to-the-death with a true predator where even an adult cobra releases maximum potency with the first bite.

Bird blocks, huh? Thanks! I've already made a bit of a mess trying to fill the open arched areas. Tomorrow I'm going to try to trim/sculpt the hardened foam in the arches I was able to plug to make them more presentable. There were several arches where the foam simply didn't work, so I need to find some supply outfit here in Hua Hin to see if I can get bird blocks.

That said, the area where the snake and the tokay were is not one of the arches. It is a deep gap between the roof frame and the side wall that I couldn't get foam to adhere to. It was like trying to shoot the stuff straight up and it didn't adhere. So the snake's known entrance way is still wide open. I'm going to try to stuff it with crumpled newspaper and rags as a temporary block. There is another area a couple meters long alongside the back wall of the main structure that needs to be addressed, as well.

Back to the concept of repelling a snake:

Someone in another thread mentioned moth balls. But, I, too find the smell offensive. What about other things like spraying an insecticide -- would the smell from the spray residue repell a snake? Are there other aromas that snakes find unpleasant?

I was able to seal some of the gaps in the wall/roof joint, but not all of them. In particular the gap where the snake was this morning cannot be plugged with expanding foam from inside, and I don't have ready access to the outside/top. Hence, my interest in simply making the entry point unwelcoming to a snake. Any ideas?

Goodness, the internet is a place of endless wonder. Just for kicks, I googled "sound of a tokay," and found several websites with recordings (and, of course, YouTube has videos) of various tokay sounds.

Sure enough, it's the male tokay I've been hearing, if these web sites are correct.

But, "what if" the events unfolded as told, apparently first-hand from someone who saw the event, on another forum.

I would not be surprised to see a Thai, even a bar girl, come over to "teach the farang a lesson," if he swore at/abused the Thai lady from the pickup, and then knocked over other bikes.

Your welcome, IanForbes. I've come a long way with my fear of snakes and spiders. Although not entirely comfy around either species, I've developed an appreciation for their role in nature, and the last thing I want to do is harm a snake. I'm hoping for a peaceful resolution to my predicament, that being a sealed kitchen roof to keep him/her -- and perhaps tokays -- out!

It looks like it might be getting ready to rain this evening, so I have an added incentive to get busy and seal those gaps.