onzestan

Chocolate works for me but does anyone know what 'Spanish Fly' is?

A fly born in Spain?

onzestan

Last week the husband of my wife’s oldest sister died of natural causes.

This family lives in a small community very near to Pibun Mangsahan, itself a good 50 km away from Ubon Ratchathani. Since the majority of the rest of the family resides in Ubon itself, and since he died in Ubon’s hospital it was decided to have all the ceremonial things done there in Ubon. This was a 3 day happening ending with the burning of the mortal remains of the person in question. I could not attend, for personal reasons not relevant to this story.

So on Thursday morning when my sister in law returned to her home in Pibun she found that the house was completely ransacked, everything from 1 motorcycle to the pieces of cutlery via TV, refrigerator, stereo was gone. Even the chickens and ducks that they kept were stolen including 1 fifty kilo bag of rice, and of course the neighbours haven’t seen or heard anything.

Now I can be classified as a pro Thai person, even to the point of “If you don’t like it here go away”, but this made the hairs on the back of my head stand op in rage over the inhumanity of this all.

Now I realize that such things can happen everywhere in the world, but I do have a couple of questions on my mind, that I didn’t have before and next time I read a post about how peaceful Isaan is in the countryside, allow me to have my doubts.

A pity.

Regards

onzestan

Porn.

(Nickname of my wife)

cheers

onzestan

Came first time on a "Get away from it all, or you'll burn up "advice from my doctor.

Booked a trip with Singapore airlines which encompassed Bangkok, Cha-am, Singapore, all this in 10 days and the the Maldives for a week, together with my that time Belgian Girlfriend. Big mistake.

Bangkok stank, Cha-am was boring, Singapore was not welcoming (I'm a smoker) and at the Maldives the first thing they did was confiscate my Playboy that I had bought at the Airport. Then I had to take up diving to have something to do or I would have gone mad (nothing to read no playboy).

After a couple of weeks I found that I was reminiscing about what I had witnessed in Bangkok, and decided to give it another go this time without the girlfriend.

WOW!!!!

The rest is a long story of selling my company, cars, appartment etc., buying a house in Patters, living life at its fullest till I met the wife at the poolbar of the estate I was living in and haven't looked back since, except for my regular trips to Belgium for medical purposes, and meet up with some old friends remembering the good old days, and most importantly a reality check. Glad to be back everytime.

Cheers

onzestan

Onzestan,

If what you say is true, it's difficult to imagine how they could continue in business. My first impression was that BPH was the only private hospital in Pattaya. Phil Connors advises me there are also a few other private hospitals, as well as a few public hospitals. Let the market determine the outcome. Word of mouth advertising, whether positive or negative, can be very powerful.

But remember also that bad news is usually more interesting than good news. We seem to be fascinated by scandals and disasters. As I mentioned before, my mother spent her working life as a nurse in the U.K. in several hospitals, eventually becoming a mid-wife. The impression I got from the daily anecdotes over say a 12 year periiod was that all hospitals are places of chaotic disaster. Consider yourself lucky if things go right.

Dear Barry,

Allow me to remind you that Pattaya is a tourist town, and that's the clientele that BPH is aiming for, because most of these tourist will have travel insurance. Furthermore they have very, very good clout at government level, big sponsors of the traffic police, local newspapers and local TV stations.

Because your mother worked in several U.K. hospitals, doesn't mean you can appreciate the local conditions of a place where you are not staying.

You core belief that everyone is innocent if not proven guilty is admirable, but completely out of place in this instance. The BPH has proven to us local expats time and time again that they are not worthy to be called Hospital but unfortunately the only thing we can do is boycotting them and as I did inform our insurance company.

And let's not forget that ïf" is a very big word and you use it quite often to implicate that you're not believing what has been said. I do believe that your motives in posting here are right, it's just that you're barking up the wrong three.

Regards

onzestan

I'm not blindly supporting the BPH hospital. I've heard enough in this thread to cause me to stay clear of this hospital should I ever be unfortunate enough to fall sick in Pattaya.

What I'm supporting is the principle of "innocent until proved guilty" and the principle that "circumstantial evidence can never be conclusive".

There are two issues in this thread; one, that the BPH has a poor record of care in the eyes of a relatively few ex-pats, and two, Matt's death is just another example, but a very serious example, of this poor care.

You'll notice a few posts ago, I wrote that if Matt did not have a rare blood type, then it's difficult to appreciate any reason why he should have been transferred to Chonburi. We need further explanation from the hospital on this issue which might not be as black and white as some of you seem to think. I presume that all blood groups do not fall into the category of either rare or not rare. There are probably some groups that are quite rare, moderately rare or not particularly common.

Dear Barry.

Allow me to disagree.

This is an english language forum. The english-native speakers are not the only ones living in Pattaya.

There are a lot of Germans, French, Skandinavian, Dutch, Belgians etc. etc. people living here, and maybe to your surprise a lot of Thais also that are NOT members of this forum.

I speak and write english, dutch, german and french and know a lot of people from these non-english speaking background. If there is one thing in common with all these groups, is that not many of them have anything good to say about this "hospital?"

Once again we are discussing here not investigating, and believe me the unfortunate dead of Matt is just the icing on the cake and has roused at least this forum enough that tempers are rising and more and more people boycott BPH.

Cheers

onzestan

My brain and my penis have been at war since ... I think maybe I was 11? And the penis wins most of the time.

And never in history has a war been fought between two such tiny, ill-equipped armies .. . . . . . .

This MUST be one of the best one-liners you produced dear Bendix.

Keep them coming

Cheers

onzestan

I want to post a bike to my neices as a reward for good grades, but how on earth can it be done.

Do you think the Thai postal service is up to it?

Go to a bus station that serves the destination and they will gladly take it there for a fee.

cheers

onzestan

A 200 Baht bounty? Big deal! One would expect, at the very least, some small contribution to the upkeep of the volunteer, makeshift ambulance brigade.

However, I see no compelling evidence in this thread that this is indeed the case. Instead we have lots of anecdotes suggesting that BPH administrators are rather aggressive in their demands for payment (big surprise! This is a business after all), and other anecdotes illustrating mistakes and misdiagnosis which can and do happen in all hospitals.

Dear Barry,

If you are looking for proof, you wont find it here.

I and others have had VERY bad experiences with this hospital, and if you are not willing to accept my and other stories then I do not understand what for god's sake you are doing on this forum.

We are DISCUSSING bad things, not investigating them, that's not the role of this forum, and even tough I admit not accepting anything at face value myself, then the fact that the overall majority of posters, not only here but other threads as well, are very negative about this hospital should start to at least tell you that where there is smoke there must be fire.

And don't forget that for many thais 200 Baht is indeed money'.

I could tell you stories about this hospital that would make this a much to long post, but let me tell you, even if my life depended on it I would NEVER EVER set foot in this commercial enterprise again. Is that a strong enough sentiment for you?

When and if you are in Pattaya in the near future send me a PM and I'll be glad to meet you over a quiet beer or 2 to tell you the stories I have witnessed and been the victim of myself.

Anyway in a 30 km radius there are at least 5 hospitals that do a better job than BPH and for a lot less money.

Cheers

onzestan

I am not an engineer but I do work for an airline, ok? You don't think I work for an airline? Well, you can think whatever you like. That doesn't bother me any. I am not here to prove to you where I work.

I hope for your sake that your boss is not a member of this forum, because he would sack you immediatly.

Whatever you say, rules are there for a reason even if your not clever enough to understand why you should follow them

My opinion.

cheers

onzestan

Each to their own, i guess. I've just ordered a new Camry 2.4v. What does that say about me, except that I'm too cheap to pay double for a European car?

No it just means you have good taste.

Cheers

Onzestan

[1]I'll complain all I want - it's my right and I want things to improve not go backwards

[2]The Thai People are oblivious to their lack of government

[3]Stop moving the mark - make a law and stick to it (immigration)

[4]Don't eat excrement in front of me and tell me it tastes good.

[5]My son is a gift. Don't any of you ever demean his existence - ever.

[6]My wife is a fine mother and that she is Thai doesn't root her here. She is fed up with "Khun Thai" and government or lack thereof.

[7]Dosh is not a problem. Logistics and time are more pressing

[8]Don't tell me I can't criticize because .......

This country is on the precipice but the majority of the people seem not to care. The expat community has shown themselves to care about only their next meal, next lay, and more importantly their next drink. So long as you can exploit the nearest bargirl with a bit of dosh life is grand isn't it?

Thailand is changing right in front of our eyes and not for the better. If any of you think that democracy will return, it will be when pigs fly.

I'll reply to your a.m. list.

1) The other posters have the same rights

2) As is the silent majority in every country

3) For some, conditions have improved dramatically including me. I have a 1 year non-immigrant 0 visa, for 17 years now.

4) Depends on what you call excrement.

5) Good for you

6) Maybe her opinion has been influenced by yours.

7) You are lucky, some of us don't have that luxury.

As to (8) nobody denies you the right to criticize, but if you do you have to expect to be criticized also. And I believe that they are just baiting you and you bite like a very hungry fish.

My 2 cents of what I believe to be my my personal wisdom.

Regards

Onzestan

I'm not a member of the "love it or leave it club" & just view these occurances due to my own stupidity.

Those pple who post as a warning, thank you.

Dear cm-happy.

You have given the root of the problem yourself. How many people you know will admit that they're stupid.

Plus the fact that many of these posters are craving for some attention, and thus either exagerate certain mishaps, or give it a more macho twist.

Read between the lines and you will find a wealth of usefull information here.

My 2 cents

cheers

onzestan

Dear Weho,

I'm concerned here, please don't forget to feed the fish on time, check the filter, water quality etc regularly.

I would advise to put a timer on the aquarium light so that you don't have to waste precious electricity.

And thank you for all the very interesting information you are providing to this forum.

Keep it coming.

We do enjoy a good laugh ever so often.

cheers

onzestan

You guys do realize these “studies” are rigged? They start with a conclusion and work backward to cherry pick data to support their position. Seldom are proper scientific controls in place to account for other factors.

To further this, a couple of years ago a statistic showed that the province of Antwerp in Belgium had the highest average in lung cancer patients. So the conclusion was that the people in this province probable smoked more.

1 week later another statistic showed that the province of Antwerp had the lowest percentage of smokers of all the provinces in Belgium.

NOBODY drew the conclusion that maybe the fact that the port of Antwerp has the biggest concentration of chemical factories in Belgium might have something to do with it.

onzestan

One has to be very careful in situations where a person's family is grieving. Suggestions that the death is due to the negligence of a particular hospital can make the grieving situation worse and cause needless distress if such accusations later prove to be groundless.

Most of what I wanted to reply to your posts has been said by other members, I only wish to add that this hospital has deserved its bad reputation among the local expats. I myself will never set foot in this commercial enterprise again, for very good reasons.

Let it go, your rowing against the tide.

regards

onzestan

I don't know any good ones, but there are plenty available.

The cost depends on how deep they have to drill to get clear water.

Most drill only to a maximum of 25 meters but then your water would be brownish.

A friend of mine had a well drilled to about 60 meters.

Perfect drinkable water and it cost him about 100.000 baht including well pump.

Unfortunately he has moved to better pastures so I cannot ask him anymore which company he used.

Hope this helped.

cheers

onzestan

Some repeat tourists I have bumped into reckon that the "best" tourist is the one that arrives, leaves all his spending money at the airport, & then gets on the same plane & returns home.

Feeling un-wanted I guess.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Not feeling unwanted when they arrive. They are like fresh fish, after three days they start to smell bad.

cheers

onzestan

Hi

I have been to a few of the German bars in North Pattaya ( just round from the roundabout is one in particular that like you, loves F1 ) and they seem to watch it on "Eurosports". Different coverage, much more in-depth than Star.

Thanks for that, by any chance do you know the name of that bar. I don't want to risk running around to much and mis the race !!

By the way, where is Pong?

cheers and thanks again

onzestan

If you work for an airline, you of all people should be abiding by the rules and regulations.

I wish I knoew which airline you work for so that I can avoid it like the plague

in future ? What an incredibly irresponsible attitudue you have !

Irresponsible? Why? Because I won't follow the useless rule about electronics during take-off? That hardly qualifies as irresponsible.

It is in my book. Once you start NOT following rules because YOU think they are stupid you might be in for a nasty surprise sooner or later. Except that, you should at least show some courtesy towards other passengers that do follow the rules, especially since you are supposed to set the example as an airline employee.

What airline do you work for ?

onzestan

Hi There,

I'm an avid fan of Formula 1.

I've become more and more disgusted with Star Sports, not only is the race constantly interrupted for commercial breaks (about 1 third of the race) but its become the "I love McLaren - Alonso - Hamilton show".

Plus the fact that Steve Slater has absolutely no idea what's going on, and blurts out the most incredibly stupid theories.

Is there any other channel that airs Formula 1 available in Patters?.

I have UBC and Sophon Cable.

Thanks beforehand for any useful info.

Onzestan

A friend of mine (American) wants to take his Thai gf on a trip (90 days)to Europe. They don't have a particular country they want to visit so he was wondering which Schnegen country has the easiest visa requirements?

Spain

cheers

onzestan

The government wants to people to exercise regularly, stop smoking, practice safe sex, but not religion? Why?

Maybe because there's is such a thing as freedom of choice regarding religion in Thailand.

Unlike many other countries I should add.

Onzestan

Can anyone recommend any good cheap Travel agents in Pattaya for flights back to the UK? Ill be returning to the UK for 2 weeks in July and not sure which travel agents to check out. If anyone knows a good, cheap travel agent, Please let me know.. Thanks

Good and cheap doesn't always go together.

I normally use "All Seasons Travel"opposite from Friendship Supermarket. Ask for Amy, she always knows the best deals.

cheers and goodluck

onzestan

Oh come on, the standards only change for farangs, Thais can (and do) still break all those stupid laws on a daily basis without any cop raising an eyebrow.

and the farangs don't break the law? I think your feeling a bit paranoid here.

onzestan