syd barrett

Latest reports on Al Jazeera suggest that he was carrying no bombs or explosives whatsoever.

Maybe he was just an asian guy who did not understand English, ran off and got shot?

Benzodiazapines, almost all of them, they being a large family of drugs are available at some pharmacies in Thailand. There has been a 'clamp down' in recent years and some smaller pharmacies don't stock Xanax, yet under the counter they stock a generic which is identical. Alprazolam is the pharmacutical name for Xanax.

Addiction and tolerance to Xanax develops very quickly, since it is also an anti depressant as well as an anti anxiolotic. Addiction to benzodiazapines is so insidious, it is almost supernatural in nature.

It is very easy to find testimonies online (google search etc.) of peoples lives that have been ruined by Xanax and other benzodiazapines.

Short term use is the only way in which they should be used. Valium for example is an excellent drug for use in alcohol withdrawal. Other benzodiazapines are used successfully in severe mental trauma and as muscle relaxants.

However, stress, should never be treated with benzodiazapines unless the stress was so severe that immediate sedation was required.

I am only posting this reply to warn of the dangers of addiction to these drugs, I have witnessed first-hand, highly intelligent, wonderful human beings, turned into zombies and social misfits within six months of using these drugs.

To be able to get these drugs in Thailand easily is extremely sad. I just hope those that read this post will think twice about using benzodiazapines without the very best medical supervision.

TORNADO:

Regularly; have done so for 20+ years, there can be no connection between, gastro-enteritis, body skin rashes and erruptions and facial acne from beer.

In Pattaya, and I would guess many other areas there is a severe water shortage and drought. A few months ago, my apartment block began having water delivered regularly by water tankers.

At first, I had no problems with this, however I began stockpiling a few plastic containers with this water and noticed it was cloudy and dirty. All right for flushing the toilet and general cleaning, but I guessed, best not to let it pass my lips.

My first illness was gastro-enteritis, vomiting and diarrhea lasting six days. Unproven link to this water; maybe food, maybe virus.

Second; an incredible rash all over my back and shoulders. Really severe, steroidal cream cleared it up quickly, I thought it was a severe sweat rash; it has been hot!

Third; I developed the most worst acne facial spot erruption I have ever had in my life. Worse than a teenager's. I had close to fifty white heads on my face and a severe erruption on my forehead. That was one month ago only now is it just returning to normal.

As I type this, I have a severe rash on one arm, which is a serious of blisters that come and go.

I understand that some of this tanker water comes from 'the land' or other dodgy sources. Has anyone else had this problem?

I began thinking about tropical diseases I have read about found in water: worm infections, river blindness, parasites, amaoeba disease etc. Perhaps one should use this water for flushing the toilet ONLY and not for bathing?

I am sure my skin complaints are from this 'dirty water' but if this is happening to me, I would guess someone, somewhere is suffering just as I am.

Yes...looks like Penang, there are a few 12,000 baht trips advertised from Pattaya, including flights taxi and hotel. (I pay visa fees). Anyone done this?

I am 50/50 a Cambodia run, am now looking into New Zealand....will post of experiences , as they happen.

I am due a visa run to Cambodia...for another 30 days......but I want a holiday.....don't tell me Penang.

I want to go to a country that will give me a multiple entry tourist visa...

Any suggestions..flights no problem...just somewhere....anywhere.

This is a tricky topic;

I reckon that receiving mail in Thailand is down to where you live and a luck.

I have always received my mail.....eventually. However do you share a mail-box?

Remember to check your mail-box daily and find out on what days the mail-man delivers and at what time of day.

My mail-man delivers twice a week,..... almost always on a Thursday and a Saturdayat 1330 hours.....I sometimes wait for him. My telephone bill always arrives on time and I have never once had a missing bank statement.

Delays are common....hand-written mail is often delayed and so are magazines, the mailman does not like heavy periodicals.

If you live out in the sticks, beyond Pattaya centre, and your home is a 'falang' home, you are out of luck. Much of your mail will be dumped.

Try complaining at Banglamung P.O. ; even better befriend your mail-man and tip him well, that way you might see an improvement.

If I lived 'in the sticks' as opposed to 3rd Road, I would hire a P.O. box, so my mail had a better chance.

Street hypnotism is a reality, I tried it in the U.K. and it really works. Anyone can learn how to do it in about ten minutes. I tried it on a complete stranger in a railway station back in the U.K. and left him staring at the palm of his hand like an idiot.

So although these guys want to shake your hand..beware!; my success in the U.K. began with me....shaking a strangers hand.

waldwolf:

1. have win Xp home edition, I updated SP2 about 4 months ago with no problems.

2. None of my players work. Windows, real or Quick Time.

3. When I did your suggested reinstall, I connected to Microsoft and got version 10.

4. This occurred 'overnight', one minute I had movies, next day can't play any.

Can you tell me what this file associations is? How do I try that?

I have AVG virus and spybot and spyware doctor and regscrubXP but I have not had a virus for a while anyway. Thanks for any help....

I have exactly the same problem. Windows Media will play none of my movies, just the very first frame then nothing.

Tried to reinstall 9 and got 10 still no good.

Any ideas?

Bryan2056:

Do not consider buying a condo here (Talay).........the reasons are numerous.

Rent...yes........Buy...no.

If you buy a condo in Pattaya, it is better to buy the very best....10m Baht+

The cheap charlie buys will end in tears and will devalue over the next 5-8 years.

FACT.

RENT my friend.

The vast majority of moslems in Britain are peace loving and good people. They must be horrified by all of this.

Unfortunately, the extreme right-wing element in the U.K. will use these events as ammunition, and brainwash simple young thugs and morons in the U.K.

There will be attacks against moslem places of worship, and even attacks on moslems. The British Police force will turn a blind eye.

The situation will worsen. Extreme Islam websited are promising Denmark and Italy will be next.

If I were a moslem in London now, I would be fearful of the underclass, that can stir up trouble quickly.

I recommend both the Thai Farmers Bank (Kasikorn) and the Krung Thai bank.

I receive transfers from the U.K. in four days, sometimes three and the level of service is good.

My only gripe is that TFB pay me 0.75% yet the KTB have stopped paying me interest and deduct 200 baht per year for fees. However KTB internet banking is good, and I can transfer money online to my TGF and pay my bills as well, if I am overseas.

The TFB ATM card is great, it can be used worldwide, and the fee is only 200 baht.

My phobia is people with green teeth and bad breath. Not so many in the LOS but some excellent specimen's of decaying teeth in the young and the old.

O.K. they cannot afford dental treatment, but toothpaste and brushes are cheap.

Tongue fur is another phobia for me, some Thais have a carpet of tongue-fur on their 'linga' to quote the medical term.......

gate7:

I monitor earthquakes on: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html

I don't see one in this part of the world....maybe you farted a daysworth of Chang.....?

I have been here in the LOS for a while now and have many VCD and DVD movies in English language, with Thai subtitles.

I always watch them with my Thai GF who has a perculiar taste in movies.....

I thought she would like comedies....Groundhog Day, Dumb and Dumber , You've Got Mail, or slapstic stuff.....but her top three favourite movies are...

1. Papillon

2. Fargo

3. Scanners

I don't know why, but she identifies with a chosen character intensely, and becomes that person and lives, throughout the movie vicariously in his/her shoes.

It is a strange phenomena....have any fellow TV contributors noticed this?

What is the Thai 'psyche' whilst watching movies?

I agree with the above post, this is Thailand, if you are discovered with a safe in your house or apartment, thwarted burglars will return and make you open the safe someday and might kill you. If you have a Thai wife or partner, then he/she would be in danger, from torture or violence.

Valuables, IMHO should be either at proper safety deposit boxes in Bangkok or else title deeds at the local bank for safe keeping. (There is an annual fee for this).

There is a max limit of processing speed which can be used by any normal human being.. and a 3Ghz will be more than enough for that purpose until we use our PC for some specific purpose... So there is no point in getting 4.0 Ghz until Ms releases Windows F###Me which needs 1Gb ram to run OS and another 2 Gb ram for running applications... Internet Net speed... You need more only if u have  a habit of downloading every piece of crap available online ... else you can live with 2Mbps connection without much trouble for another 3 years

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So, the difference between a 2.8 and a 4.0 GHz is of no real use to me, so it is more RAM needed for a quicker response when opening a programme, say MS Word, which opens slowly?

Is it possible to have too much RAM in relation to the processer speed?

Surely flash memory is better for future PC's because no moving parts....is that a fair comment?

Wow! Thanks, some great posts there. I had no idea flash memory sticks had reached 8 Gig.

I am still confused though why 256 RAM is sold today, that is over two years after I bought my PC.

I understand that clock speed is stuck at 3.00-4.00 but apart from heat why...and why heat?

Also.....if I doubled my RAM would I notice....and if I did notice....how?

When I got my first PC it was 300 MHz and 28 RAM and I connected to the internet on a 56K dial up.

In the last two years, I have seen a big slow down on computer speed, for example people are still buying 2.4 and 2.8 MHz P.C.'s I should have thought that 4.0MHz would be the norm by now....what's gone wrong?

My present PC has a 256 Memory and is approaching 3 years old, still they are selling 256 RAM machines....why isn't 512/1024 the absolute norm now?

Internet Speeds have remained at 56K for dial up, yet 4 times that is sold as broadband, yet I see an English newspaper offering 8 Gig now...how fast can internet go? And does it still slow down?

Finally memory sticks (flash memory) they are great, so useful, probably the best thing i bought recently is a 512 stick. Worth its weight in gold...I have seen a 1 Gig stick....but again...how big can they go....eventually?

Yippee!! ....For the first time in my life I have been given a thirty day tourist visa extention at Pattaya immigration on soi 8, that is from the date of expiry.

E.G. My visa was due to expire on 29 June, I went in on 27 June expecting a visa until July 27 and they gave me until 29 July. This has never happened before.....

In the past they always gave me thirty days from the day I applied. Also they always did the same for 30 day entry extension,( 10 days from presentation. )Maybe things are changing at soi 8!!!!

I am also on a tourist visa, long term. I pick up quadruples in Hull, England and in other countries a double if I'm lucky, but a single is still good for three months.

There are some people who do a visa run to Cambodia EVERY single month, I would have thought that they will be 'hassled' first. They are clearly not tourists, where as I, who fly out of Bangkok to another country and get a fresh tourist visa, am a bona-fide tourist, who just does a lot of tourism in Thailand.

However T.I.T. and rules can rapidly change, the day will come when even changing your passport will not help your cause. When that day comes I will have to marry a Thai.

There is hope, though that gthings might change, for example creation of a 3 or 6 month tourist visa. After the tsunami maybe visa regulations might be eased.

I know of a few people who have relocated to Cambodia to live, I hear they are more relaxed abot visas and that they are friendly like the Thai's...any views or experience of Cambodian hospitality?

The answer is , get a car and run them over.

I have skype up and running O.K. on the older version, if I want to update, will this mess things up, for example, I don't want to lose my credit and log of calls plus do I have to uninstall the old software first.......plus is this new version much better?

My Uncle is soon to visit Pattaya for a few weeks....a first-timer and at 59 years of age, I fear for his sanity when he takes a stroll down soi 2,3,7 and 8 but......

Where in Pattaya do they sell hand rolling tobacco? He smokes Golden Virginia and uses red and green (2 types) of rizla....

As a non smoker I don't know....although I have seen fellow farang smoking Drum.

Also, at Bangkok airport, can you buy hand rolling tobacco? and papers?

Thanks......