Robroy

Much as I love it, Chiang Mai became unliveable for me & my (Thai) girlfriend, because of the smoke.

If I had been rich I would simply have left for 3 months of the year, but that wasn't an option.

The choice was to stay & suffer (& complain) or leave.

I left.

I now live in Cambodia, where there is no smoke (the Khmers don't burn their rice - it obviously isn't necessary), and no visa problems incidentally.

the thai solution would be to return with a big bag full of poisoned pork.

That would be my solution too.

Minced meat & rat poison are cheap enough.

You're doing the next potential victim a favour.

I tried the official stand once, but got ripped off & had a long queue to face.

Now I go upstairs to the arrivals, & grab a cab coming through there.

I don't let them grab my bag or get in until we have negotiated a fair fare or he has agreed to use the meter.

One traick up here is to hassle you to death to get in the can quickly, as they are not meant to be there, the police are coming etc.

Stand firm.

Last time the cabbie muttered something about the fare & being tired I foolishly got in. A few hundreds yards on he started changing the fare. I demanded he stop the cab so I could get out. That changed the tune - but I would have been more sensible to get it straught before I got in.

My ankles & shins lock in hot weather. It's basically a cramp from loss of fluids & salts I think. I drink more water & it goes away.

This could be the same.

But that's a guess. If it really worries you, obviously see a doctor.

.

So, are you in Phnom Penh now? Breathing easier? Inquiring minds want to know.

Phnom Penh's air is pretty bad: & has a worse dust problem than CM. I get eye problems sometimes here, but I'm breathing easier in the burning season because there isn't one: Cambodians don't usually burn off their rice stubble.

PP doesn't have the extreme health statistics from bad air that CM has: 300,000 people in northern Thailand treated for smoke inhalation the year I left; & 58 heart attacks attributed to the smoke in CM province.

I left Chiang Mai 3 years ago because of the smoke. It was making us sick for weeks on end.

My Australian debit card was eaten by a Kassikorn Bank ATM in Chiang Mai.

Kassikorn refused to return it!

That was the last time I used a Kassikorn ATM.

As someone who has realised God is a fiction I nevertheless have to concede that some Christians do amazing work in Thailand.

However some are drum-bangers, & others give English lessons on condition that the student agrees to learn a little about The Lord as well. That should probably stop.

Just a reminder about Cambodia.

Hand over $200 or so at the airport & the nice Immigration man hand-delivers your passport & one-year visa to your home next day.

Not questions, not even a form to fill out.

Cambodia likes to make things easier for foreign nationals, because they have worked out that they contribute to the economy (brilliant really), so they have no work permits.

What about the 'change of weather makes you sick' theory, held by most Southeast Asians?

Is there any science on that one?

I find the most common scam is making vague noises about the cost of the trip when you get in (simultaneously hassling you to hurry), then stating whilst moving that the price is not the vaguely mentioned 250 baht but 400 baht.

The trick seems to be to not get in (& hold firmly onto your suitcase) until the fare is crystal clear.

This Xmas the only loss was in Melbourne - ripped off by an Indian taxi driver.

I reckon I'm the only person in Cambodia to have toured the northern badlands with a bodyguard with a Glock, & a six-foot ladyboy named Madonna, with DEVIL embroidered on her denimed butt.

Chiang Mai is terrible.. it's boring, no nightlife worthy of the word 'life', it's polluted, congested, unsafe, ugly with all the concrete box type architecture, ugly electrical and telephone wiring all over the place, stench of (almost) open sewers, many areas in town are prone to flooding, you can't own houses or land, you're effectively illiterate unless you learn the local script, few people speak good English, Fugitive ex PM Thaksin is from Chiang Mai, beer is expensive and not very good, the food's too spicy and comes from open air markets where flies and bacteria are all over, (this is why the only topic you can talk to other expats about is where to find a half decent hamburger), you'll be ripped off for everything you want to buy (including that hamburger), Chiang Mai is an arts & culture Sahara, for nightlife you better really enjoy "Kantoke Dinner" because everything else is a joke, the weather ranges from 'very uncomfortable' to 'downright toxic' with the possible exception of a couple weeks in December or January.. I could go on. Look at Channel 18, even the panda's are depressed, and they're supposedly the main attraction! Yes, a Panda Jail is actually a main attraction, go figure.

Satire or not, the above is largely true. It's physically quite difficult - traffic, footpaths, etc.

However it is the most interesting place I've lived in - tho that would depend on what scene you plugged into: an interesting spectrum of expats & Thais (& Burmese, tribes, et al).

I left because the Thais burn their rice crops each year, & the smoke pollution went on for many weeks - killing 58 people (& nearly me) & causing 300,000 (sic.) to seek medical treatment.

However I still miss the place.

Anyone jaded by Chiang Mai should pay a visit to Phnom Penh, where I live now. That would probably cure you.

I had the beginnings of Meniere's Disease (inherited from mother).

It disappeared around 15 years ago, when I changed my diet - less grains, beer, etc. (Paleolithic diet.) Never came back.

Most of my other ailments disappeared round this time too.

I doubt there is anything medical that can be done.

As the originator of this thread I'd like to say a big thanks to all who have contributed.

(And please keep it coming.)

I am sending the link to my Cambodian would-be doctor friend, & I know he will be much enlightened.

Does anyone have a case study to submit of someone who got a Thai medical degree then tried to practise in the West?

I have a feel for the theoretical picture, but reading all the entry requirements for (for example) a Thai-degree-holder wanting to enter the US medical system would take me a day and a half; & fine-tuning that knowledge by exchanging emails with the relevant institutions would possibly take a month.

If there were someone who has earned a Thai medical degree then (tried to) work in the US or Europe or Australia (for example) that would help to make things more concrete.

I understand some of the challenges - e.g. most Thai med degrees are conducted in Thai language; lower level unis are not recommended; & most importantly: graduates wishing to practise in the West would have to pass a 'rigorous' exam there. But I'm not clear as to how much extra knowledge would have to be gained to pass that rigorous exam, & how long that might take. (A month? Three years?)

I suppose a bottom line question to our notional Thai degree-holder would be: After getting your Thai medical degree, how did you get to practise general medicine in the US/Europe/Australia, & how long did that take?

Off that track slightly, to the question of the Thai degree itself, we seem to have a slight difference of opinion between:

"But keep in mind that a Thai university degree is roughly equivelant to a high school diploma in western countries -- perhaps less than a western HSD because Thais notoriously cheat and plagiarize their way through all levels of school..."

and:

"My best friend here is a Thai doctor, Chula grad. He is constantly being recruited to emigrate overseas to practice medicine, most especially by Canada."

Anyone care to try & resolve this one?

Thanks again for all the erudite input.

Philo, I join the general congratulations re your choices. Addiction's a hard one to beat.

You have the 'ring of authenticity' too: the self-understanding that one who's been to the bottom often has.

I'm curious: if you've been drunk for 20 years, how have you managed to earn a living, travel, & now to admit yourself to Bumrumgrad?

PS on pedophiles & alleged pedophiles:

I've heard anecdotal accounts of Western NGOs getting the police to arrest & charge alleged 'pedophiles' who were not pedophiles - e.g. one English teacher who simply took street kids in & fed them, as they were starving & didn't have homes. Tho his live-in girlfriend supported him in this, he was arrested anyway. My friend (his headmaster) tried for ages to get him out of jail. Eventually this succeeded, & the 'pedophile' returned to the US, his life ruined.

On the other hand there's little doubt there are real pedophiles here in some number. A child brothel, K11, on the PP outskirts, charges one $200 to have sex with a child (so my tuk tuk driver tells me). On my first trip to Sihanoukville I went to a net shop & opened google. A dropdown box appeared showing all the recent searches. About half of them were 'sexy five-year-old' & 'underage nymphet' etc.

If the false arrest stories are true, it may be that the crusading NGOs have over-reacted just a little to a genuine (& horrifying) problem.

I've lived in Phnom Penh 2 years.

The city is trash-strewn & the driving is the worst on Earth. Be careful crossing roads & try to avoid using motodups.

The people are very friendly. I'm only rarely ripped off in shops & never in markets. English level MUCH lower than in Thailand.

Good hotel room by the river: ~$20.

Crime: out of control (no policing), so stay away from dark spots at night etc. You won't spot a building in PP which isn't surrounded by razor wire.

Governance, public facilities, parks, etc: zero.

Malaria & dengue don't exist in PP so far as I know, but there are high- & low-freqency areas in the bush.

I've had 3 English teaching jobs; & have found them hard to find lately. Usually broken shifts & pay is about $10 or so p hour.

Touts & drivers much more aggressive than in Thailand, especially in tourist areas like the river. I've known people who cut their one-week stay down to one day, as they felt under siege (as do I).

Visa situation much easier than Thailand - one of the reasons I moved. Just show up at the airport with $20 & a photo. One year visa? Just pay someone $200 (usually thru a travel agent - tho the immigration officials at the airport also accept bribes) & it's yours - you don't even have to fill out a form.

Batambang & Siem Reap are far nicer places than PP btw. If I were coming to Cambodia, & know what I know now, I'd be heading there.

Thanks a lot for that Sheryl - very concrete.

(You actually sound like you hgave knowledge of the subject: I didn't think people like that were allowed to post here?)

The US requirements seem fairly steep, but without a Thai medical degree it's hard to judge how steep. Maybe a clever chap could get thru them in a few months - maybe not.

I suppose the best person to answer would be a Thai doctor who went to work in the US.

Do you (or anyone else here) happen to know one?

Thanking you again...

Do they have one for 'logic'?

Plenty of Thai doctors working in the West, but they usually have to take and pass a medical examination in the country in question, not easy to do especiall for a non-native speaker.

Thanks for that. His English isn't bad, & should be fluent by the time this happens.

Do you (or anyone else) happen to know what kind of a test he might be required to take?

I knew a Baltic doctor who arrived in Australia in the 1950s, & had to do an entire medical degree over again (!)

On the other hand a few months or a year's study wouldn't be a huge problem...

I have a Cambodian friend who wants to study medicine. He sensibly rejects the idea of getting a Cambodian degree (which is worthless).

He believes a Thai degree would be a better bet, if he wished to practise outside Cambodia one day. So he's thinking of coming to BKK for a few years to get one.

But how internationally useful is a Thai medical degree?

I assume he could practise in other SE Asian countries - but anywhere else? The West?

"Especially since a good few scientists now percieve that the foundations of Darwinism were built on very shaky ground"

Baloney. Darwinism has not been seriously challenged in 150 years.

There have been multiple non-serious challenges (mostly from religious people resorting to various kinds of mental gymnastics, which always collapse under investigation). But there is hardly a qualified scientist on Earth who does not accept Darwinism. The fact that .001% of scientists question it is hardly suggests that it is invalid: about 1% of humans suffer from schizophrenia, for starters.

The fossil record on which Natural Selection rests is largely complete. The fact that we are still missing perhaps 2% of it (a few gaps in the course of several million years) simply means we have not yet found those pieces - possiby because they no longer exist. But it is seized upon by the ignorant as proof that God & his angels swooped in in these periods to wave their magic wands. I trust this level of optimism needs no further comment.

We have a credible, consistent, well-evidenced explanation of how we came to be, & can cease flailing about in search of 'further' theories. Sure, Darwinism can still be fleshed out more - so can mathematics, physics & geology. But it long ago jumped the bar of 'sufficient evidence'.

In the 5,000 years since human records began, there hasn't been a single eyewitness account that supports the God hypothesis - not a photograph, sound recording or video. In fact, not a single pulse of data in human history.

I think you mean:

"Correct, and you need to improve your English as well."

Correct and, you need to improve your English as well!

I have wrtten a book about herpes simplex virus, so maybe I can help. Admittedly the book is 25 years old, but the information below isn't out of date.

The first episode of herpes presents an opportunity to kill it off, or at least to reduce its potency, which will never come again. This also applies to the period between the day one is infected and the day the virus manifests itself in one's first attack (average ~10 days).

As said by others above, the drug you need is acyclovir, which is marketed as Zovirax, but now has run out of patent & is a 'generic' drug marketed under many names (often with a 'zov' or 'vir' in the name). Don't worry - it's easy to buy everywhere, including Thailand. Talk to a proper pharmacist to be sure - not the 17-year-old girl on night duty.

After you're infected the first time, the herpes virus manifests on the skin as lesions (blisters). It then retreats up the nerve pathways & goes to live (in the case of genital herpes) in the nearby sacral ganglia, where it disassembles itself, rendering itself immune to chemical attack.

However if acyclovir is taken before it migrates up to the ganglia, there is a reasonable chance it can be destroyed, or certainly reduced. I.e. subsequent outbreaks will be milder than they would have been.

When acyclovir was first formulated, but before it was released (early 80s), I studied hundreds of clinical trials done with it. The above effect was clearly apparent. However the manufacturer (Burroughs Wellcome) did not publicise this recurrence-preventing effect, focussing its marketing instead on simply treating recurrent episodes.

I pointed this out in the press, & was criticised by Burroughs Wellcome for being too 'conspiratorial' (though we got on well on other scores). Two decades or so on, the above is not only accepted by BW but is part of their marketing. (Their apology must have gone astray in the mail.)

Whether you have HSV1 or the stronger HSV2 isn't so important right now as getting your gf onto the acyclovir. She might be reluctant to take an antiviral drug for 10 days, but you could point out that having herpes for the rest of her life could be somewhat worse. Also, acyclovir has no perceptible side-efects for anyone - & the imperceptibe ones are few, minor & transient. I am fairly anti-medication, but I (& the clinical literature) regard it as a very safe drug.

In getting tested for STDs before getting intimate with your gf, you have been unusually responsible. If only more did the same.

3 more minor points:

* Most herpes sufferers notice a reduced rate of recurrence as time goes by & the immune system learns to deal with it better.

* Don't kiss anyone when you have an outbreak on your lip.

* When I wrote my book, herpes was seen as the end of the world. Then AIDS came along. Today, most people I know have herpes: few regard it as anything more than an occasional annoyance.

I don't pop in here often, so email me if more info is required: johnmac11 AT fastmail.us