Tazmo

I usually chat to them on Twitter, ( now changed name to X ). They reply and answer all my questions. Not a robot, but a person.

Trump was obviously successful in Business and steered his own ship, hence the learnt dictatorial style which he has brought into politics. Skills, knowledge and attitude can be transferred from Business to Politics, Thaksin has done it in Thailand, and others. Deviousness is inherent in his success, dishonesty, tax avoidance by using the tax system in a way that suits him to pay less tax. Power hungry in order to impose his own ideology. Pathological Liar, people who have no insight whatsoever in the fact that they tell lies! He will always deny. Denial used as a form of mental defence mechanism (MDM), usually an unconscious process, to protect yourself ego. Projection, another MDM, blaming others,’ judges are useless’, whereas he himself is! Rationalisation, another MDM, where you try to justify your behaviour or wrongdoing. EG, you avoid paying your bus fare, but you rationalise it by saying, oh the bus was late anyway, and I had to stand! Displacement, usually of anger, eg you’re angry with your wife, so you kick the dog! Or vice versa! How many people he’s sacked?i There are a few more, Trump uses them all, and has a long list of labels behind his name, indicating his mental instability and he loves others who are similar, like “ The Rocket man”. Borderline Psychotics. We all use these mechanisms according to Freud, but the length and depth varies.

Don’t forget the sugar in alcohol! Just as harmful. And in countries where alcohol is banned, except for a special license, like the Middle East. Diabetes was or still is the highest in the world. They eat more sweet stuff during Ramadan, breaking their fast with a feast. Some eat all night, until daybreak, especially those in traditional areas, where they do not work during Ramadan, restaurants including Mac D are all closed! I am sure that India is not far behind! It is said to be ‘ familiar’ ( occurs in families) as opposed to genetics?

I had the very same thing this morning. Rejection was based on the fact that they didn’t have a T30 from me! Was told by the said Immigration a while back that I don’t need to do a T30 anymore. There is a document in my passport confirming my residency. But this could not be disclosed online! I was asked to report to CM Immigration. usually I do it on “the drive through “ service in CM. Hope I don’t have to pay a fine. My 90 days expires on 2 April!

In my situation, the House and land that me and my Thai partner live in, is as usual in her name. However we visited the local Land Registry Office and applied for me to continue living there if she passes before me. We had to submit several relevant documents. In conclusion, I have a document that states, if my wife passes before me, I can live there indefinitely. I can also rent the property. But I cannot sell it. This is all very recent. My Partner will get the document translated into English and I would be happy to post it here.

When I first started working in the Midlands in the late 60,s, colon cancer was common. Also in the North of England. It was related to diet, in those two regions, they ate lots of Offals. In the South of England they didn’t, or very little, a steak & kidney pie would be the most, one in a while. Have’nt really followed up on that, but I believe the diet everywhere has changed. Burgers can have all sorts of Offals to make it tasty! But in Thailand where colon cancer is common in the North, I am told by a Consultant Medical Doctor that it is due to eating lots of fish sauce ( non-pasteurised)! Using it with papaya salad is a craze! Again, I haven’t seen any stats.

Sorry, the new App in London is “ Gett “

We’ve been in Krabi for almost 40days now and use Grab all the time. They are half the price of taxis; minibuses; tuk Tuk. The longest you wait is 5 minutes. Pay be scan or cash. Decent cars, mostly new and clean. Used them also in CM, but not so often. Mae Rim to town or to Airport or to Lamphun. Reliable and decent prices. Also tried inDrive, using their App. You’re given the standard price and usually no driver responds until you increase your offer. Bargaining. Used it once and it was successful. in London, Uber has been the best, used them for years. Tried Bolt, but found their drivers first language is not English and? Some illiteracy. They arrive at the wrong place, then drive away, won’t respond to phone calls or messages and then you get charged a cancellation fee! Deleted their App. I heard there’s a new travel App now in London “ Getting”. in Canada and Florida, Uber was fantastic. Prompt, reliable and value for money.

I have been going in for several years now. It’s a lot easier and quicker! 1-2 hours waiting including waiting for a ReEntry Permit.

Endoscopy refers to investigations at either end of the body. Mouth : gastroscopy ; bottom end : sigmoidoscopy; colonoscopy. Gastroscopy is a painless procedure but can feel uncomfortable. You might have seen at Circuses, men pushing long swords down their neck. But they practice it. One problem is your cough reflex during the procedure and anxiety, plus discomfort. For this you’re given minor sedation for pain relief and sedative effects. The needle will remain in your arm until you’re discharged. They can top you up if needed. Everyone pain and anxiety thresholds vary according to several factors. Anyway it’s merely an investigative procedure to rule out cancer. They will take samples and later reveal a bacteria, helicobacter pylori. But the symptoms that this causes don’t match yours. With colonoscopy however they can perform treatment at the same time if they see polyps on the colon, by removing them painlessly, under sedation of course. No harm in having investigations done as you get older. Once a year Health Check up is usually enough for most. You get a shopping list of procedures and you can add or subtract. If your PSA is high and MRI shows no cancer you will be advised to not bother with further PSA checks! But in your situation, there were two other suggestions made that you should pursue: Firstly, get checked for the GERD, and secondly if all fails,it will be worthwhile to see a psychologist. It could be psychosomatic, in that your symptoms are real but their origin lies elsewhere. And you won’t be able to figure it out yourself and will needlessly be distressed.

Good for genuine holiday makers with their UK partner. But sadly I know for a fact that many Thais work during their holidays there, cheap labor. There are thousands of Thai restaurants and street markets vendors with long queues at lunch time. I went to one in Reigate, £1.00 for one spring roll!! Some Thais there are married and waiting up to 5 years for their permanent residency. Some I met have been married to a Farang and living there for years! Cameron is after his prudency lark! Thatcher did it the the 80’s. Important hundreds of Filipino Nurses so she then cut the budget for Nurse Training in the UK. Then later, European nurses.Communication with patients was poor due to comprehension and the quality of care deteriorated. I dealt with most complaints as a Manager. Extra training with no training budget! why isn’t there a reciprocal arrangement for healthcare and pensions. Our pensions here are frozen! It could also be a financial nightmare for the Banks. I know it used to be easy to get a credit card and some other nationalities ran up their cards to the limit then cleared off. That was around the time of the financial crisis. you can’t do that in Thailand, you have to pay upfront a large sum of money ( depending on the credit limit you want) before they will issue you a credit card! Well the Government banks anyway and they guarantee you 1 million return of your savings if they crash! UK won’t do that, would they?

You need supplements only if you have a deficiency in them. Your body ( liver) will excrete any excess. For instance if you take iron, your body will only accept 1mg per day, the rest will be excreted, sometimes in your stools, black color. You might find this after a lot of Guinness! The suggestion of a full blood test is a good idea. Go from there. But in general we do need supplements as we age and in particular if vegan or vegetarian, but not strictly so, if you eat the right foods or smoothies.

Cannabis has been around for centuries. It was used liberally in India. Some used it for sleeping, herbal therapy was prevalent also in Africa. Indian farmers used it to get through working long laborious hours, every day. But no Medical Records to show of any correlation with lung cancer! Then of course sugar became what oil is today and the British in charge of Slaves on their West Indian plantation, had the experience of brewing beer. Many had owned chain pubs in the UK like Taylor-Walker, also had sugar plantations. So up grew the rum making industry. And since then , the profits it brought to the UK, and corruption between the Industry and Governments, alcohol did not want cannabis in the market! I am sure the Thai government is making money on cannabis, directly or indirectly. The increase in Tourism and the numbers that visit the cannabis shops regularly, so they get it through tourism. My only concern is passive smoking. The beaches are filled with smokers, difficult to find a safe spot! I prefer what they do in Holland, have separate places that sell it and you have to use it in named locations. It is more controlled that way, under age children cannot access, they have to produce their ID. Here tourists only need ID for a SIM card!

Sports first brought me here long before I retired here. Chiang Mai has the biggest Amateur Cricket Tournament in the World and has been going for about 34 years. Started by Farangs who were in the tree- logging business, Zimbabweans. Cricket is my passion and also brought hundreds of others, who like myself joined in developing and supporting cricket for Young Thais. My colleagues were going into to schools, introducing soft, then hard ball. Still going on now in Lampoon. Adults and under 19’s playing for Thailand in International tournaments. I myself trained and have been Umpiring sine I retire here. of course the sunshine was also a major factor. Plus of course I was loving the bars, girls and nightlife. Not so now with aging gracefully, I am ready for bed by 8pm. But a useful article with factual material. I think you also left out The Bar Owners, many Farangs finance them in the name of their Thai wives. They attract many Farangs on Golf and Cricket tournaments, National and International.

Govt. talk the talk but don’t walk the walk! Incompetent, fooling their people in the same way the UK was misled during COVID! “Many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die, don’t ask me why?”( Bob Marley). same with alcohol tax reduction, implementation and enforcement is what brings results ( UK proved this with the seat belt law)! Talk is cheap! I am out of CM since February. You have to take action on your own health!

Only he died, but how many people would his annual burning would have harmed or suffered?

Day Surgery became very popular in the UK in the mid 1990’s. Introduced to reduce costs to the NHS and some specialities were contracted out to the Private Sector in order to reduce waiting times. New instruments and technology available so that the reduction in overnight stay was massive. Keyhole surgery was introduced and you can go home the same day after gall bladder or appendix removal . All endoscopies were home 5 hours post sedation and another list started. Cataracts done but the hundreds per week, most done in a day by good booking systems. My experience here is that many Thais now have health insurance and the Insurance often doesn’t cover day surgery. So the patient requests that it is done on an overnight basis and the Doctor agrees. I know many that have done this. The Insurance Companies are the crooks who have pushed up health care prices in most countries that I have worked in. Of course as a Farang, if you are paying you should request day option or shop around .

A very complex matter, is insomnia. There may be a wide range of underlying issues, eg depression ( you won’t necessarily have the classical signs of a depression, but it occurs with some of us as we age and many around our age are dying). Alcohol abuse or withdrawal is also known to contribute. But different things work for different people, we don’t have a genetic medical map, and we inherit many conditions apart from the color of your eyes or hair! For centuries people have used various substances like cannabis etc On the other hand some people thrive with only a few hours sleep, while others are affected psychologically. Gurus in India have little sleep, they start meditating from 3am. Some even reckon that you sleep enough when you’re dead, so why spend half your life sleeping! Haha unfortunately there isn’t a Specialist who would conduct a thorough assessment, a Holistic approach. A Psychiatrist would often prescribe hypnotics ( sleeping pills) and some end up overdosing on them. I have actually witnessed this with GPs in the UK. Like Doctors here they will only treat the symptom you present to them! These are my own personal views and observations made from working in the Health Care profession for 49 years. I myself have tried most remedies: hemp tea; cannabis oil ; melatonin. But now settled on trazadone 50mg ( it’s an antidepressant in larger does) along with Lorazepam 1mg. I was resistive to taking any medication for most of my life! Only as required. Now I find I get 7 hours for the past 9 months now, and no napping during the day. Less irritability and anger with the Missus!

If you’re taking Statins ( to lower cholesterol) this could be one reason for elevated levels!

They also use formaldehyde to keep the meat from going bad!

Oh, forgot to mention that my son lives in the UK. Maybe I need a separate Will for the UK?

I have 800K in a fixed Bangkok Bank account for over 10 years now. My concern is that if I become unwell and unable to access that money, how can my Thai Partner get access to it? Also to 200K which I deposited to the bank so that I can use a credit card. We’re not married but live together for 4 years in a house, paid for by me, but in her name. Do I need to make a Thai Will? Through a Lawyer or just a witness? I already have a Will made here, in English and Thai, but my son is named as the Executor ( that cost me 6K THB 6 years ago)! Now to revise that will it will be 15K. The Bank says that I need a Will, naming my wife/ partner, but then at the time of need she will have to go to a court for approval. Grateful if anyone has dealt with a similar situation to advice please.

Thailand has been well known for decades to promote “Medical Tourism “. Along with this and the popularity with the local people on getting Health Insurance.( Their drugs are paid for by their Insurance). One factor I believe for the rise in prices. Also Tourism as a whole is known to support other aspects of the business. So for instance a Tour Bus to a popular site, will know what restaurants to stop at. And they get tips. Similarly, Doctors want to give business to other departments eg Pharmacy; Laboratory; Radiology etc So you would get referred not needs- based! Their Medical ethics is different from that of the West! The last Government was supposed to have introduced measures in order to prevent overcharging for drugs. They said that hospitals had to provide records of what the drugs cost them and what they were charging the Patients. Don’t know if this has happened! I usually ask for a list or names of the drugs and buy them from the University Pharmacy! I do that for my prostate drug at about half the price ( and not cheap imports).

CM Ram also has a good Urologist. If your PSA is high most Urologists will want you to have a biopsy, which is an invasive procedure and cannot guarantee they may get a portion of the prostate which has cancer. I requested and got an MRI Scan, two consecutive years and it is diagnostic for cancer. Negative results. You can then get tablets to shrink the prostate. It works for some. High PSA is also known to be genetic, so some people live with a high PSA for most of their lives.

I get Chiang Mai stout from Rim Ping, Iron Bridge branch. It’s a good taste, flavor etc though not as smooth as Guinness. I liked the Guinness zero per cent in the UK and in USA, I got home delivery. I stick to the Bars in CM that serves Guinness, there’s about 5 that I know of. but will check out some of the links. I was a regular at No 1 Bar, but not been there in years!