HAPPYNUFF

My eldest son is an accountant. He    went to the UK, could work as  his grandfather, my dad, was a Pom.   He stated  the work ethic   for the English is rather strange.   As an accountant he was paid on a "points" system.. What you do is what you are paid.  He would get to work 8am and  start.  The locals would roll in about 9am,   stand around drinking tea, then    off to the grindstone,,later.   Stop for lunch  12 noon, come back maybe  1.30PM   ,,    stop again   2 or 3 Pm for afternoon tea.  My son     ignored both tea breaks  and took   3/4 of an hour for lunch.    By 5pm     the office was deserted.  My son would knock off about 6pm.   He  states he was earning   twice as much as the locals, his  work output  was   that much higher.   He bought a small car while there,  rented his own apartment, led  a good life.  Came back  to  Oz after 2 years.    Its what you put into to it  is what you get out of it. Had no complaints about the place, enjoyed his time there.

Tries posting this in Health Forum but couldnt....Anyone know the Thai  name for Magnesium Sulphate, commonly known as Epson Salts, and how to pronounce it.'

Have  heard  a   strong mixture  is  good for  joint pains  when a  hot  towel is soaked in  the  liquid  and applied to knee joint..

Dont know where you live in Oz, but    to give  some examples...my former,  old neighbour, a retired Insurance Company  Exec,  who laughed at Insurance as just a "scam",  needed eye surgery.   Waiting time at Royal Perth Hospital, or other large public hospital, over 12 months he was told.     His  eye surgeon suggested he     go to Mandurah, a town some  60 kms  south of Perth and have an eye examination there, at the public hospital.  Did so,  was  booked in for eye surgery there, within three weeks and behold,  his same surgeon did the op. who explained there is far less waiting time in regional hospitals.   As in  Thailand,  doctors in private practice have to  devote  a portion of their time/service in public hospitals.

Also my  brother, lived in small country town in  WA needed cataract surgery b oth eyes.   Doctor in his towns  small hospital, referred him to  Albany Public Hospital, on  the south coast, quite some distance away.. Op   undertaken 2 weeks later, one eye at a time.  The moral of the story seems to be, waiting time in large cities is extreme, not too bad in regional centres.  As your Doc. about this.

If 1931  refers to possums use by date, he sure is  dreaming about his ability, to do anything.

Our Vet back home  told  us that    dry biscuits, either  cat or dog  variety are  very bad for  animals,  full of salt  and   has adverse effects on their liver and kidneys.     I still give our dogs   small amounts, , mixed and softened with a little milk, but make sure there is plenty of water around for them as well.      They have  tinned sardines, chicken bones, chicken liver,,rice  and bones on different occasions. I   try to stop the wife  giving them  those tins of dog food, after reading about the junk in them on You Tube.

Has anyone   bought  those  packs of frozen dog  food  I see in the freezers at Macro, and  whats  their opinion of them??

Will it ever be possible  these "generals" may one day engage what small brain they may possess, before they open their mouths.?

Immediately after pressing the speak  button on  his mobile  he noticed the brakes on the vehicle were  not operable.

Other day at Makro,  chicken breasts at 45 baht a Kilo.   My son tells me there nearly  $15  ( about 360 baht)a kilo in Australia.

My wife  got talking to the lady sells those fried banana  or potato things  at a roadside stall, the lady was saying  everything she  has to buy, cooking oil, bananas, coconut, gas, etc has gone up, but she is afraid to raise her prices, as she will lose customers.

Never mind putting me in a category, Im just terrified   of being put in a box, especially if Im not yet dead.

With the average Thai parent having the common sense, and brain, of a demented buffalo, letting  kids  race around the streets on motor cycles, without  license or helmet, you really think they are going to lash out and by  baby seats for their car??

I recently, out of pure curiosity, did a Google search  on Mongolia.  Does that mean I now intend to migrate there???

Both mran66 and leaver make  good, though opposing points of view, while imxcredt  gives  a younger persons  view, also   good.  Its the   uniqueness of Thailand  that attracts,( please dont go to the "Thainess"     point).  I dont want shiny, slick and modern, I can get that  in my own country., I want  the difference that  exists in    parts of the country here, and cleanliness,  decent footpaths, sensible and enforced traffic laws  ( thats an oxymoron    that will never happen here). Having  visited here   numerous times since 1988, and lived permanently  for many  years, I see  the decline in numbers of western tourists, though reasons for which   I can only surmise at,  but for an example, my three adult children, their spouses and  children, numbering 12 in total, no longer come   to this country to visit me, my wife and I  go to a mutually agreed  third country to visit with them. Their reason, and with my encouragement, being,   its simply not  farang friendly anymore.

Please do not say anything negative about Thailand,  you upset   the Thai lovers.       There are some Australians   that   make me feel glad I left that country, unfortunately, some of them seem to have followed me here.

No where is perfect, here or there, I find most criticism  here to be constructive  and helpful.   Like another reader  here, my wife  now  openly  criticises  things she objects to, whereas before she would remain silent, like the rest of the Thai herd.

I  have    fairly good results just using cinnamon powder, from     the herb shops. Was recommended to me years ago by an old established nursery guy.

I bought some grass  runners     with me from Australia,   took a while to get established, patchy , but  OK now, except  I have a lot of clover type weed now, though      when that dies off in the hot season  it is supposed to put nitrogen  back in the soil.      The lawn  I  have is called Palmeto,  a  variant of the good old "buffalo grass"  from Australia, only more drought  resistant and  softer, so  it doesnt give you itches from  lying on it as buffalo does.  Have yet to find a good quality lawn fertiliser there  though.

Obviously, staff from the Tourist Authority of Thailand  assisted in  compiling this  little fairy tale.

While Im on my high horse, I get a bit weary  at the "insurance experts" on this forum who keep spouting   about ''If you cant afford insurance you shouldnt be here"..  Have they  ever stopped to think,,,  a difficult concept for most of them , I reallize, in that  its not a matter of affording, but  the fact that every insurance company I know of, here in the land of smiles, simply refuses to insure a person once they reach 70, and in some cases 75 years of age, unlike my own country, where age is of no concern, and in fact the government gives a generous subsidy  to  aged persons  to assist  paying their premiums.

Second entry,   the best beer I have tasted was  the one someone else paid for.

Hauf  Brau House,(or similar spelling)  on Beach Rd, Pattaya   has  draught  wheat beer,  excellent when Im   visiting Sin City.

Lao beer, of  any type is my favourite, but  at  over 1200 baht a carton, only  buy it  on birthday/christmas, when Im  feeling rich.  The  new Chang Cold Brew  is   nearly equal to  Lao, and  thats what I drink now.,  at 35 baht a carton more  than regular Chang, I can afford it.