Prakanong

This is news to me that one needs to have these tests to get a visa. Visa for where?

This is a very good post and must give all you guys pause for thought, and abstinence from bar girls.

HIV tests are required for EVERYBODY coming to Saudi Arabia. Not just bar girls. Full medical exams, including HIV tests, are required to get a visa issued. Then another full medical exam, including another HIV test, is performed upon arrival in Kingdom.

I doubt seriously if this thread will cause any great increase in abstinence.

Got to agree with your last sentence too.

Yeah the Dr told me most common is big toe but I have only really ever had twinges there - it was in the side of my foot the first big one then ankle.

Did think it had started in my big toe in September while up in Nakhon Panom - got myself on a plane to BKK and went to Bumrungrad.

When I was wheeled into him he immediately asked about gout. I said it started like gout but was not the same after a few days and lots of naproxene. He then said cellulitis but prescribed for both.

I took only the cellulitis medication and it went away.

Bloody hel_l I have had a few things this year

Started medication for hypertension a month ago - it does not seem to be working so may have to go onto three types

Celulitis

Run over by a tuk tuk

cost-chondritis

Now have both tonsolitis and sinusitis

Going for my health screening results tomorrow - hope they find nothing - welcome to middle age - 3 years ago fit as a fiddle.

After consuming lots and I do mean LOTS of beer over the past few years, I ended up at the doctors last week with what I thought was either tendonitus or a severe foot cramp. I subsequently find out that at the age of 35 I have gout and must either pack in my beloved beer, or live in constant agony with maybe kidney stones to follow or worse.

I was always one of those cheerful drunks who thought there would be no health consequences if I did not worry about such things. I now face a very sober and dull Christmas.

I am not posting this looking for sympathy as I brought it all upon myself. I just hope a few of you fellow boozers [lucky gits] pay some heed and try to cut down a bit. Believe me, gout f##cking HURTS and once you contract it, I am told, it can only be contained. Please dont let it happen to you.

I developed it about 10 years later than you but have a pal with very severe gout who developed it younger than you.

I blame the beer as well.

My pal is on allapurinol and he can eat and drink anything without an attack but it is for life - I did not want to go on medication for the rest of my life so try to control it with diet.

If I feel twinges of it coming on I take a lot of naproxene and have only had one bad attack in 3 years since.

I do drink beer but nowhere what I used to - cider for me now where I can get it but in Thailand its beer and still touching wood.

I have had to go onto hypertension medication recently though and had a shock with chest pains not long after. I had to go for tests and it turned out to be cost-chondritis.

A pal I drink with is a Dr and he diagnosed this previously. I then mentioned it to a colleague who is a Dr and he asked about raised Uric Acid levels. There is nothing in the literature about this but he said a colleague at Raffles Hospital noticed every time someone presented with costo-chondritis they had raised uri acid levels when tested.

I get my uric acid results tomorrow after my years full health screening and we can see what they say.

Fake HIV+ stamps - alright the person telling me this was obviously a BG but she said she can pay less for just the stamp with no test.

I know my HIV, Hep A,B and C tests were circa 2200THB for a visa recently - how much are they at a cheaper clinic?

As for HIV+ girls NOT going with farangs that is just nonsense - many do.

I know a guy whose wife is HIV+ - when others knew about this they told her where she could ever get work if she wanted it. A certain bar was mentioned as was the tactic of going to new bar's desperate for girls - it can take them time to get around to checking.

Fortunately she does not need to work and she is well taken care of back in Europe.

I also know another girl diagnosed with HIV last Christmas - she never left the bar. I was told about this from a GF whose cousin who was there when she was told her test results.

I was asked about this as a few guys liked her and she wanted a husband to take care of her but needed to know which countries still gave visa's or even tested.

Last time I saw her she was still in Pattaya - about to get married. I asked the GF if she had told the guy and was told "She now not HIV+" - a miracle.

CHdiver - good idea about the Hep vaccine - esp the B as its rife in Thailand.

This is news to me that one needs to have these tests to get a visa. Visa for where?

This is a very good post and must give all you guys pause for thought, and abstinence from bar girls.

Employment Pass for Singapore - only supposed to need the HIV+ and TB though - others for me.

Thing is - they never asked for results (well testing again in Singapore as is common) - I only had to sign I was free from them. Lots of my colleagues had to show test results from approved Singapore Clinic.

Hetting my results for them again tomorrow after a full health screen at Raffles Hospital - part of the package and just over 3 months since my last test so a good time.

Fake HIV+ stamps - alright the person telling me this was obviously a BG but she said she can pay less for just the stamp with no test.

I know my HIV, Hep A,B and C tests were circa 2200THB for a visa recently - how much are they at a cheaper clinic?

As for HIV+ girls NOT going with farangs that is just nonsense - many do.

I know a guy whose wife is HIV+ - when others knew about this they told her where she could ever get work if she wanted it. A certain bar was mentioned as was the tactic of going to new bar's desperate for girls - it can take them time to get around to checking.

Fortunately she does not need to work and she is well taken care of back in Europe.

I also know another girl diagnosed with HIV last Christmas - she never left the bar. I was told about this from a GF whose cousin who was there when she was told her test results.

I was asked about this as a few guys liked her and she wanted a husband to take care of her but needed to know which countries still gave visa's or even tested.

Last time I saw her she was still in Pattaya - about to get married. I asked the GF if she had told the guy and was told "She now not HIV+" - a miracle.

CHdiver - good idea about the Hep vaccine - esp the B as its rife in Thailand.

Hi

I just asked a senior medic who I would think would know about these things and they told me Gardasil is not yet approved in Thailand but it will be very soon.

Its approved in Singapore

As for a prostate cancer vaccine - yes that would be wonderful and research is going on but in very early stages - phase 1 I think or it might even be pre-clinical.

After having my first internal for this at the weekend I would be glad of this rather than the Dr poking around up there to check ;-)

I think most hotels in pattaya are guest friendly - some of those considering themselves at the upper end might charge a joiners fee though.

Somebody will know better but i have never heard of one in Pattaya where you can not bring somebody back unlike in Bangkok where its sometimes a no no. As I said though someone might know different as i have checked in with the Mrs most places the last couple of years

I work for a MNC in Singapore with frequent travel in the region including Thailand. The guys who arrange all our visa's have told us that multiple entry's are not issued by the Thai Embassy here.

So rather than have circa 12 1 page single entry stamps we just do not bother with a biz visa for Thailand unlike everywhere else we need them for such as India etc

Interesting - I thought the blood works were quite expensive at Bumrungrad and they are cheaper in Singapore for what I have had.

One thing though - for next years full health screening i will be at Bumrungrad and not Raffles Singapore - the service and care in that situation is so much better in Bumrungrad

I do not hold govt's responsible for vaccines but it is a fact that the public market is much bigger than the private market. If the US is going to put it on the list of standard paediatric vaccines that is good - other govts are considering it just as they have done with the rota vaccine.

The point you make regarding the moralists is an excellent one - it is this prejudice that has to be overcome. Its a bit like the condom debate in a way.

Just another degenarate Brit..............................

And this week:

A Swedish man caught spraying paint over the picture fo the king,

just another degenarate Swede ?

A Greman caught videoing young girls at school,

just another degenarate German ?

A crazed Thai sets fire to his house,

just another degenarate Thai ?

or......................................

are you just anti-Brit ? if you are just courage to say so.

And this degenerate American too http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_07_12_49_3.htm

A pedo no less - then we have that other degenerate pedo fantasist Karr - look how easy it is to stereotype but then again it takes the lowest IQ to do so does it not?

Of course its a prophylactic vaccine and not a therapeutic vaccine (we have a few of those on trial for lung and breast cancers) but there may be value in vaccinating those already exposed to HPV - there are numerous strains as you will well know.

As for the age thing - why stop at 19? - many women will not have it at a later age so why not vaccinate them?

As for Noble prizes I am sure we have some but Nobel prizes? - I have had the privilege of seeing Nobel prize winners at HQ though invited for a visit.

Reccomending it for men is probably a good idea but that would likely come from KOP's - however given the health economics of it and the fact that many governments will not vaccinate women routinely it may be a long way off.

Hi to all members.

I am a new member and i want your advice or help.

I’m seriously looking into moving out and finding work there.

I’m really after some suggestions of what options are available to me.

<---There are some words about me -->

I am a Software developer with 10 years experience in programming.(especially VB,VB.NET and MS SQL)

I have Bachelor degree in Computer science from UK university and CAE(Certification in Advance English) from Cambridge university

I have already read about restrictions that companies have in Thailand with foreigners and about the Visa problems too(multiple reentries, renewals etc)

Any help will be greatly appreciated

My first question would be what salary would you work for or expect?

The reason is there are Thai's with your qualifications, skills and experience and they do not get much in comparison with UK salary's.

Even down here in Singapore a programmer does not get much - I have seen positions paying less than 1000GBP a month.

Now after the cynicism some hope - it is possible to get something although you might have to teach English at first and network like hel_l - I know a few who have persevered and got something

Yes, and it's only recommended for girls from 9-19.

Really - I did not know that.

I work for the rival to this one - it will be out next year and gives better protection but there is a lot of mis-information about - the Lancet has a good article on this.

I know for a fact we are trialling it on age groups outside the above ie older.

Its also being looked at for women already infected with HPV

Should men also have it is another question not yet answered.

As for warts yes HPV can cause them but HSV is probably worse - they are testing a vaccine for this too.

Dengue is the one people are looking forward to in Thailand

'Her Thai son was 6 years old when he camt to the UK and has forgotten most of his own language-He has llived as an Engish lad and adapted to life here. He worries about his mother.

He is now in care and may have a future thanks to the social workers.'

How can a young kid 'forget' his native tongue when it is the only &lt;deleted&gt; language that his mother speaks!

Your either bullsh@tting this forum or 'Miss A' is bullsh@tting you.

Earlier i thought it was the latter but judging from your comments on the other thread......

I know a couple of cases where the offspring have basically forgotten their thai language skills after moving overseas with their mother who spoke Thai - both around the same age as this guy so its not unknown.

Well the shareholders certainly had something to say about JP Garniers rise - in fact they blocked it.

The fact still remains though that pharma is a business and as such it must maximise shareholder returns whilst also keeping an eye on CSR.

At the end a business decision will come down to funding the drugs with the most potential profits - there are of course items where scientists do research for research sake - they have to be kept happy to and to attract the best some are given free reign to research what they interests them (within business boundaries of course)

Bottom line is - do you think public ownership of Pharma R&D would produce any results - they will be dead in the streets first.

"So for me the copying of medicines is not fantastic ( a very big downturn in the long run ) but is also very acceptable in some cases ... like this ."

Totally agree - there is a Public Health proviso in the WTO Agreements to allow countries to break patent in the case of a public health need. The USA threatened Bayer with this in the case of Cipro during the anthrax scare.

However - a general breaking of patents is not something I support. It does cost massive amounts to get a drug to market - 800 - 1000 million USD. You can slag big pharma but they do have shareholders and unless you advocate social ownership it is them who fund research (so0cial ownership would just not work and its only multinational organisations on a massive scale have the resources that can do this - imagine the UN or other body trying to manage this?)

I must admit to an interest in this though - I work in clinical trials for a very large pharma company

I have little sympathy for the drug companies, who have poured megabucks into treatment and almost nothing into vaccines- guess which one is more likely to generate the most profit for them? I don't mind at all if their profit motive for generating treatment medications is removed entirely, and it would help if governments worldwide gave them a strong kick in the pants (in return for continued patent protections) for developing VACCINES subsidised by said governments.

There is an incredible amount put into vaccine research - Bill and Miranda Gates have also helped a lot in many area's including Malaria.

We now now have vaccines for cancers coming to market and being researched - Cervical Cancer this and next year while therapeutic vaccines for lung and breast cancers among others are under trial.

It is true in the past there have been no "blockbuster" vaccines ie sales of 1 billion USD per year but Cervarix is targeted to be the first. - There is profit in vaccines and the major companies are expanding massively in this area.

Developing a vaccine for HIV is very difficult and eveb with all the money in the world poured into it might still take 15-20 years - there are some things that can just not be speeded up. I can assure you though there are many dedicated people working full time with total funding working to develop a vaccine. The company developing it would certainly eant their money back - charge a lot in the western world and give away in the developing world - differential pricing would occur just as it does for many vaccines.