John49

Cannot help with meds or advice. I now have something similar, but less severe. After radiation treatment for prostate cancer – the sight of running tap water e.g. at the kitchen sink, gives me a sudden, desperate urge to urinate and I just manage to make it to the toilet. I took a one hour boat trip, no issues there; not sure what will happen on a rainy day.

I find I get diarrhea very easily here in Thailand – but it may be old age related? I started making mental notes how often I’ve eaten at a certain outlet and how often I have got diarrhea thereafter, from the same item. It’s like up to half the time – this makes me think it’s something to do with their food preparation or hygiene standards. Especially, as I recently spent several weeks in Europe and had no diarrhrea. Lately, I’ve tried just having have cake and coffee outside and prepare other meals myself – no diarrhea.

She has not tried the original Sumatriptan, only the Thai generic. Her history is several years of Ergotamine and then recently onto Eletriptan, and more recently again the generic Sumatriptan. I tried to get her off the Ergotamine as she complained of stomach pain. I checked and found that it come with potential fibrosis of stomach tissue, etc. The latest is that she is back on Ergotamine as apparently that is a good if taken ‘early’, but comes with stomach side effects. I’m trying to get her to eat and drink with the Ergotamine. We have just switched to a half tablet of Ergotamine from the full tablet, and that works just as well. She says that half a tablet of Eletriptan is good and has the added benefit of still working, even if taken ‘late’. Not the case with Ergotamine – must be taken ‘early’. Looks like we will not be going back to generic Sumatriptan. We try to identify the triggers for migraine, especially foods, but the only definite trigger is very bright lighting. Migraine attacks come every 3 or 4 days, we do not exceed half a tablet though she may be ill for several hours. At a weight of 50 kg, the half tablet seems appropriate.

This is all about the “sum” - that will be considerably larger than 1,900 baht?

I did manage to find Sumigran at one drug store in Pattaya, price was 110 baht for 6 tablets. Problem now is my other half, who actually suffers with migraine, says that both Sumigran and Siagran, allegedly containing the equivalent of 50 gram of Sumatriptan – ‘do not work’. The bigger picture is that she has been using Ergotamine tablets for several years but these come with some side effects. We switched from Ergotamine to Replax (40 mg of Eletriptan) and not Sumatriptan, as we read that Eletriptan gives longer relieve than Sumatriptan, etc. We cut one tablet of Relpax in half and it ‘works well’. The cost 2 tablets of Relpax manufactured by Pfizer is 275 baht. So, a bit on the expensive side and the recommendation is not to use more than 2 times in one week, but on the other hand, the maximum recommended dose is 80 mg in 24 hours. For us, one 20mg dose (half a tablet), 2 times in one week would come to a restriction of 40mg in one week, 'low' compared with 80mg in 24 hours. Anyone else with experience of both Sumatriptan and Eletriptan, and if Eletriptan is available generically in Thailand?

I am using CANDIX liquid for toenail fungus. It comes with a small plastic stick for application. I transfer it into a small glass bottle with a dropper – for ease of application I can see that there is slow improvement with less fungus apparent in the several nails affected. I’m prepared for a long fight, I bought 3 bottles (each 100ml) last time, something like 39 or 60 baht a bottle. I heard about Lamisil after I had already started treatment with CANDIX. It was available here (Boots?), but not in my preferred liquid form, and more like 300 baht a tube (?). I like the dropper method, quicker and better than getter the cream on your fingers, etc. I sprayed daily with vinegar for a long while – it did supress the fungus and little more. Other recommendations like Vicks, tree tea oil and the very expensive weekly nail filing with drops (from France?) did nothing. Got a feeling that there are different types of fungus, so some treatments can work depending on type of fungus. I’ve been doing quick daily treatments for a long while, unable to cure – only supress, but CANDIX seems best treatment to date (for me) with a slow, minor improvement with time. Hard to believe I'm treating daily for so long, but at least my affected nails now look ‘normal’ from a distance and not with that ugly, yellow going rotten look. I’ve avoided tablets as they come with potential damage to liver (?).

I have now bought a box of 4 tablets, each containing Sumatriptan Succinate equivalent to Sumatriptan 50mg (under brand name Siagran), from a local drug store in Pattaya for 195 baht. Price is say 50 baht for one tablet. Manufactured by Siam Bheasach, Bangkok. Still unable to find Sumigran.

I tried to buy the cheaper Thai Sumigran at the 3 pharmacies in the basement of Central Festival Pattaya, yesterday. Not available – only the expensive imported Imigran/Imitrex on offer. I will try some of the smaller drugs stores down the street, maybe better luck.

I clicked on the link to get back to my original list of ‘My Portfolio and Markets’ (on the RHS) – all well and good. But, the news feed (on the LHS) is the USA news feed – seems like only that country’s feed available, at the moment?

I think this only applies to laptops: I twist the laptop at angle to the edge of the table, when using the mouse in the right hand, and rest my right elbow and lower arm on the table. Less aching issues with the lower arm supported by the table and not the shoulder.

I used to have long chats with an Indian GP in Malaysia. I remember him saying that drug manufacturers in India were famous for under dosing their drugs on the key ingredients – supposedly to increase profits. Having said that, I have sourced two separate generic drugs from India on a regular basis. They were effective and I had no issues. Although having lived and worked in India, I do wonder about the degree of hygienic under which the drugs are prepared…

Having said the above, about fully body MRI’s (and the need for multiple inputs for a full body interpretation), my FDG PET SCAN contained one full page of detailed observations. This scan is used to look for cancer and it was loaded with comment on presence (or absence) of organ lesions and organ size, etc., divided into sections for Head and Neck, Chest, Abdomen and Pelvis, and Musculoskeletal. Seeing that broadly speaking, half of us will die of cancer, and the other half die of heart disease – seems like the FDG PET SCAN gives a pretty good bang for the buck on the cancer half. Not sure if all FDG PET SCAN’s provide this level of detail as I had ultrasounds of liver every 6 months for several years. One time, it would a one line comment saying ‘no abnormalities’. Another time, it would be half a page or more, full of data about adjacent organs like cyst in kidney and size of prostate. My GP explained that some specialists are famous for their brevity, and others are famous for their level of detail.

I had a MRI of my hips as I had pain at night as a ‘side sleeper’. I was impressed with the level of detail and the only thing the consultant could find was a very fine hairline crack on one side, running through part of the muscle – the consultant thought this could due to calcification of the muscle due to age. Apparently, can be treated by ultrasound but I did not follow up. I asked him about a full body MRI. I remember that the consultant said something like - it was not practical due to the many high level inputs required - on the interpretation for the multiple organs involved.

"Under 45 days inside Australia, non resident. Over 45 days but under 183 days inside Australia, one must meet two out of the four factor tests. Over 183 days outside Australia, non resident." Over 183 days in Australia, resident. Now, there is no longer a contradiction...

I have a Westpac bank account and have declared myself ‘non-resident for tax purpose in Australia’ for many years. Westpac did not ask for specifics and I paid 10% withholding tax for many years. Just looking at my old emails from Westpac, things changed in 2021. They become very specific and there were many exchanged emails as I did not really know what they wanted from me, or more precisely, what was I getting into by giving them my information and maybe too much information. Ultimately, they threaten to freeze my bank account unless they received required information. I was requested to make a phone call – that was out of the question for me - "ridiculous" as stated above. Their last request was as follows: We are asking about your Foreign Tax liabilities. In this case, Thailand. If you are liable to pay taxes in Thailand, we require that Tax Identification Number (TIN) for Thailand. This is the same, if you are liable to pay taxes in any other country, other than Australia. If you are not liable to pay taxes in that country, you must clearly state so on the form. I have attached another blank form for you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to give us a call on 1300 725 863. Kind Regards, Risk Analyst Financial Crime & Fraud Prevention PO Box 30 Parramatta NSW 2124 I supplied a Thai TIN and they replied: Thank you for your email and the information provided in regards to your Foreign Tax Residency. We have received everything we need to be able to successfully update your Foreign Tax status in our systems, and no further action is required from you. Reading quickly through this thread, it seems that many want to be resident in Australia for tax purposes – I’m the opposite as have no submitted a tax return since 2012 (and not in Australia), as retired and travelling since 2012. My financial records are limited and messy, especially buying and selling shares. I’m converting to deposit accounts to make it easy to complete my future Australian tax return. I am have visited Australia less than 45 days a year to keep my non-residency. I thought that this was to be the new ruling, anything beyond 45 day and you are automatically resident? Now it’s possibly “if proposed changes are passed, basically, 183 days inside Australia, resident, 183 days outside Australia, non-resident.”? I see a contradiction in the other scenario - statements about ‘between 45 and 183 days’: "Under 45 days inside Australia, non resident. Over 45 days but under 183 days inside Australia, one must meet two out of the four factor tests. Over 183 days outside Australia, non resident." It is possible to satisfy both the second and third criteria - which one governs? Does anyone have experience of returning to Australia and filing a first tax return after many years overseas? I've heard there's potential to go back up to 5 or 6 years on your financial data. I think banks can provide statements for up to a similar period - so it makes sense. It would be a nightmare if I had try to reproduce financial records for such a long period of time.