dsprtliving

Now if they could only find a way to pay the doctors and nurses salary.........

Exactly!!! My partner is a respiratory physician working at a government hospital and sometimes has to go months without receiving his salary on time, which is already far less than a manager at McDonald's. He and several of his colleagues would have left this "exemplary model" already if they weren't tied down for years by predatory government contracts.

I sympathize and know that the physicians in in such circumstances also draw the worst work schedules as well. However, the argument that will be made in response is that it the physicians under such contracts have usually received government funds to pay for their education and training. Is there a better way? Yes. Unfortunately, the way these hierarchies go around the world, the older physicians with tenure and seniority are not going to be supportive. Residents and interns that work 24 -48 hour shifts and holidays are a mainstay of western hospitals and exploited junior physicians in Thailand is the way it is, especially when many of the older physicians have a vested interest in the hospitals and clinics where they work.

Yes, it's true and he did study to receive his education and training on a government scholarship. Also, He never complains about the terribly long shifts and holiday work as that is just part of the job. However, if he or any scholarship recipient wants to pay back to exit the system then they are required to pay back twice the cost in full at the time of their resignation. So, he ends up having to work all night shifts, 7 day weeks and holidays at private hospitals just to make ends meet month to month. It's a sad state of affairs these health care providers often have to endure for years, so anyone that would suggest this is a model system to follow needs to take a closer look at how the system treats their employees.

Now if they could only find a way to pay the doctors and nurses salary.........

Exactly!!! My partner is a respiratory physician working at a government hospital and sometimes has to go months without receiving his salary on time, which is already far less than a manager at McDonald's. He and several of his colleagues would have left this "exemplary model" already if they weren't tied down for years by predatory government contracts.

There's a really popular hostel that's relatively new just under the national stadium BTS station across from MBK and siam called Lub D. I pass it every day going home after work and it's always crowded with backpacker folks ^__^

Flown with Nok once and will never fly again. Crap service, old planes (ex Thai), long delays (6 hrs), broken baby stroller all in one flight ... after the 6 hrs waiting went to Air Asia stall and flew with them

Same here....have flown with them a couple of times and never more. Very long delays with no information or explanation provided to the waiting passengers at all. Interior of the plane very dated and time worn.

How surreal. Gay marriage isn't legally possible in Thailand. Cool family though in a quaint way. Its hilarious how they feel the need to heterosexualize it by labeling the two male partners as male and female. I'd say Thailand has a LONG way to go in this department. I don't think this kind of almost satirical sounding publicity actually helps with that.

How far does Thailand have to go? Gay marriage might not be legal but it's not very often you hear that gay Thais are physically assaulted for being gay. I'd rather be a gay Thai than Matthew Shepherd.

Who on God's earth is this matthew shepherd person. What is his claim to fame? Never heard of the Character. I tried a google search and is this the guy you are talking about.

Matthew Shepherd is the State Representative for District 6, which includes El Dorado and western Union County, Arkansas. What has a U.S politician got to do with 2 gay thai's getting married? Maybe there is some personal thing that the rest of us on here are not prevy too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard

I live down the Klong on the opposite side a bit and we're still dry here, but have been keeping a daily eye on Saen Saeb for changes in the water level. Still hoping we'll pull through this without any nasty stuff creeping up from the sewers here. I'm gonna say Pantip will still be dry come Saturday if your headed there.

The punk rock song "so what" comes to mind.

Be careful....I also said "so what" to a Thaksin post on the Thaivisa FB page a while back and the comment was deleted a short time later

There's a gym right there next to Ari BTS station called "Fitness World" in the same little shopping center as the Villa and Starbucks. I haven't visited there, but a friend of mine used it and he never had any complaints.

The "Living Room" at the Sheraton Grand on Sukhumvit is lovely for listening to soft Jazz musicians and I've seen a few talented piano players there. It's a tad pricey, but the set up is really, really nice. Low lighting....big plush sofas all around with a couple of glasses of wine.

I'm curious what "community service" would be in Thailand?

So, I'm headed home to the States this summer for about 4 weeks in July and was wondering if anyone has any experiences to share? The girl at the True shop told me to turn off data roaming and only use WiFi, but that's not always convenient when one is traveling. It would be nice to use the GPS and Maps features when i visit Manhattan, for example, without being charged an obscene amount of money for it when i return to the Land of Smiles. Do the phone companies offer a "Pay as you go" plan in the States, like they do here with One-2-Call? This will be my first experience taking the Iphone with me outside of Thailand, so really any experiences would be valuable if anyone wants to share.

Thanks

There is a van service that runs from Victory Monument in Bangkok directly to Ban Chang several times a day, and I'm thinking that maybe your only direct route there via public transportation.

Got off work and tried to head home today about 5:30 and Thap Phraya from the Hanuman statue onwards was knee deep in white goop and wet mayhem...took me a good hour to get through the crowds in the car trying to get home. Any one know if today is the last day, or is it on again tomorrow?

I'll add another recommendation for the Boots own brand of deodorant that comes in roll on and spray, depending on which you prefer. Have found it to be the best choice over the years and they even have a non-perfumed one available in case you don't care for the cheap cologne smell lingering under your nose the whole day.

Definitely a tragic loss for the community

R.I.P. and deepest condolences to his famiy and friends.

Thanks for sharing....these always give me a good laugh!

The Kinokuniya book store at Paragon has a good selection of teaching resources that you might want to consider browsing through, if your headed to Chula anyways. :-) They have some good stuff from the U.K. and the U.S. stashed away kind of behind a column in the children's section for primary and secondary students in a range of subjects. Also, they've got some TESOL book around the corner as well. Quality teaching resources are hard to come by in Thailand, so good luck in your search!

What gets on my nerves are 7/11's. There'll be 6 staff, 8 customers. Yet 5 staff members are stood around doing nothing while all 8 customers que for 1 till...

I agree 100% - useless staff. I normally wait and then just before I get served - they open up the next till and start serving Thais who were behind me. TIT

and here i was thinking i was always being overly sensitive and paranoid when this happens to me in shops here....glad to hear it's not just me!

I'd settle for them simply flipping a few switches on the escalators between floors in the arrival/departure halls so one goes up/one goes down.....as it stands now all foot traffic is funneled past the army of "Where you Go?" skirts!!

1. do you have a shower with hot water or do you use a large water filled tank and pot/bucket to wash with ?

only proper showers with scalding hot water...I don't feel clean otherwise. I've attempted the pot/bucket method a few times over the years and can't help feeling like i need another hot shower when i'm done.

2. is your toilet self flushing or do you have to use water from the tank to flush away your business ?

self flushing, and don't know how i ever lived without a bum gun....I find now i'm uncomfortable just using paper on visits home :-(

3. do you sleep in a bed or on a mattress or matt on the floor ?

Big comfy bed cuddled up under the duvet with the A/C cranked down low

4. do you like or can you eat spicy thai food ?

Yes....i like a bit of a bite, though i draw the line on the stuff that brings tears to my eyes

5. do you wear any particular types of clothing that might be construed as being thai ? ie a sarong.

Never in public...I do have a couple of those "fishermen's pants" things that are good as pyjamas during the cool season but always cringe slightly to myself when the backpackers wander through Siam with them on under their hemp shirts.

6. have you converted to Buddhism ?

No....I'm more of an agnostic, though i must confess i find it Buddhism interesting.

7. can you speak any thai ?

Nearly fluent

8. do you like to think that you mix well with both family and friends that are thai or do you keep to yourself and your farang ways ?

Yes...I mix well with the inlaws when the situation calls for it but I must admit i enjoy a little "me" time on the odd occasion :-)

9.wash clothes by hand or machine ?

Machine....who has time to hand wash?

10. do you observe and respect thai traditions and customs ?

I do when it suits me or when i have too....or when "traditions/customs" don't contradict my own customs and traditions

11. can you cope with the heat and just use fans or is the air conditioning on 24/7 ?

I have basically run from airconditioned bubble to bubble for the past 9 years :-) I hate the heat and perspire profusely if out in the open to long!

would be interested to know what hosting sites you guys use that already have successful websites up and running? I've been toying with the idea of doing a personal website for a while now, but there are so many hosting sites out there. Any recommendations? I've looked at GoDaddy, but not sure beyond that...

I doubt that this was written by a Thai.

Quite opposite, I somehow feel that this article was actually written by a young Thai lady (or someone with a feminine touch)

I agree! I think there is a growing educated middle class in Thailand composed of the under 30 crowd that are beyond fed up with the status quo and constant use of smokescreens generated by the arrogantly ignorant old fellas that constantly bicker over who has the bigger face...only to give themselves and their buddies open access to the country's finances and assets. :jap:

same situation here as well....would be interested to see if there is something that can be done?

...snip...

In general: No problems to get to Pattaya!

erm - have you seen the news this morning?? Granted, Pattaya itself doesn't look to be too bad but as you get up towards Bangkok it doesn't look good.

Source please? am due to leave Bangkok for Pattaya in a couple of hours....

I'm on the Oceanic Khaz'goroth server and rarely have any latency/lag issues using True internet here in Bangkok.....also use 3BB at my place in Pattaya but have some issues there from time to time. Horde player here as well and think a "farang" guild would be a great idea!