fognsnow

BKK psychiatrist

Samitivej Hospital ($$$) on Soi 49, waaaaaay down the road from Sukhumvit (take a moto-taxi) has ONE psychiatrist. Do the other private hospitals?

According to what I have read there are only 5 majority Theravada Buddhist nations in the world: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka (significant minority populations in Southern Vietnam and Xishuanphanna part of Yunann in SW China). I have been to all of these nations and am considering Ceylon. Burma is the only one that truly suited me, as it combines both South and S.E. Asian elements - and a lot of ethnic variety.

Anyone have experience in extended visits to Sri Lanka and care to comment? Obviously there are ethnic, geographic, political and other differences between Theravada majority countries. I just want to stay in my 'comfort zone' of the mentality of mainland S.E. Asia. I hear Ceylon is really more like India - which I like for 3 weeks then I start to find the men aggressive and the place chaotic (though I prefer South Asian food) I would like to visit a Theravada Buddhist country that has large non-Buddhist population so they don't get cocky/oppressive. Sri Lanka has plenty of Tamils Hindu and Muslim).

He may very well have had child porn (images of children have sex, according to the most common definition of the man on the street) in his lugagge. However, 'child pornography' has a very broad definition in the USA. It includes...

1. images where there is no sex, actual or simulated ['lascivious display of the genitals' is enough. See below]

2. Images where there are no children [if the adult appears to be under18]

3. Images where there are no genitals shown [An American named Knox is in prison for possessing, not creating, a video that featured girls flashing their panties playfully because the videographer zoomed in on the panties. Thus completely covered pubic area is now classified as 'genitals' Did you get that?]

To broaden the subject...

In Canada, 'child porn' is classified as advocating and counselling sex with minors. Thus, in Canada even words are now classified as 'child pornography'. So, next time you hear that phrase, ask hard questions.

What oils are you looking for?

1. woods (mostly conifers), cypress, spruce, etc

2. resins (frankincense,oakmoss)

3. exotic florals (e.g. cistus)

4. herbs (rosemary)

What ever happened to this cheesecake photographer of tasty dishes? Haven't seen his calendars for ages. Last I spoke to him he was moving to Hong Kong.

Surprised nobody has posted this important information yet....

Hua Chiew Hospital is a fifteen minute walk north north from Hualampong Station. TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) doctors, herbs, massage, acupuncture. I get a course of treatment whenever I pass through BKK. No nonsense. Reasonable price. One of the acupuncturists is a professor from Shanghai. English only is a problem though. Go with a translator. You can boil herbs yourself if you buy a concoctor (the hospital sells them at market price). Or the hospital will boil them up and you keep them in a fridge at your guesthouse. Heat the plastic packets up morning and night. If you are vegetarian do mention it or you make get various medicinal animal products

I love the aroma and taste of bitter Chinese herbs!

On the plus side, no superstitions (some TCM practitioners seem to mix up classical medicine with folklore) . On the downside, their aggenda seems to be selling products and services but not education. Unlike in China, they offer no courses or classes in lifestyle changes or exercise. Not a single doctor recommended even the most rudimentary self-help taoist exercise. Seems this Chinese-Thai hospital caters to people who want to pop pills but not do tai chi etc. By contrast the Shanghai hospital, where my acupuncturist taught, has an entire department dedicated to 'inner kung <deleted>'.

There is a Chinese-Thai guy in Chiang Mai (Mantak Chia) who has published many books, and seems to be a 'maharishi' of taoist meditation. $$

Before I complain about the difficulties, here are some leads...

1. Essential oils: Body Shop has a small selection, but at twice the price of WATSON'S DRUGS (I continue to buy my Juniper oil there - fabulous in the hair)

2. Agar oil: Aquilaria agilochan tree oil, imported from Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, etc - available at shops catering to Gulf State visitors, in the Arab quarter near Grace Hotel. Divine smell (in fact the Sufis say it actually is a gateway to heaven) Can also buy chips to burn in Yemeni incensors. Favoured by Japanese, where it is called 'jinko'. From expensive to outrageously expensive. I tried to get in this business in Cambodia, but I sense that there is something criminal about the trade (endangered species?). My leads were secretive like the gem trade. I found a seller in Bombay too, but obviously it is illegal there too, because it was 'come back another day'. Also, known as aloeswood oil.

3. Incense: high grade imported incense (my favorites are japanese and Tibetan, and some Taiwanese) - was briefly able to find some superb incense at one of religious ritual parephenalia shops near the Tamil style Hindu Temple on Silom. Don't know if they ever got any more in stock. Mostly they sell low-grade incense, especially Indian florals.

A buddy in Chonburi told me that aromatherapy was all 'the rage in Thailand'. Really? I find it a challenge to find any sophisticated aromas. Mostly its synthetics. Why people would want to burn industrial smells to the gods I have never understood.

China City near Khao Sarn road sells a few kinds of buckwheat hull filled pillows for under B100 each. The challenge is finding ones that are new stock (don't smell moldy).

In Canada I was delighted with a Dr. Something-or-other (Japanese) buckwheat pillow. They are great for the tropics. Much cooler and better support than fabric/foam/cloth filled pillows. Plus, should one find a source of refills, 'rechargeable'.

However, I haven't been able to find anyone in Bangkok selling the stuff by the kilo (maybe by the ton). I have some pillow projects in mind, at first personal use, then maybe business. A new age type health resort in Chiang Mai sells them but won't disclose his source, understandably I suppose.

According to my research, the highest quality of buckwheat hulls come from Eastern Europe. I think it's Ukraine. Chinese sources are much cheaper and require quality control so they don't sprout insects!

Anyone found buckwheat pillows or buckwheat hulls, or the grain itself ('kasha' - great to eat)?

You've seen those hanging lingerie bags with see-through plastic sections. I have something similar in mind, with removeable velcroed sections - a super-organizer.

My hesitation is that I expect Thailand has more industrial level bag makers than artisans. You know, "Bring us your design, we'll make you a prototype, and reproduce them by the thousands." That seems to be the types of businesses that are advertised on thai business lead listers.

That's not my intention. I am looking for a third world style mom n' pop shop, maybe even one old man, who's an artist at his craft, a fussbudget about detail work, an expert at one of a kind pieces. Right now I am paying $10 in Phnom Penh, when I buy materials (see below). I am happy to pay $50 if the job is done right. The guy should know the craft better than I do. The opposite is the case where I am now, Cambodia.

Alternative 1: Cambodia. Here, I have been able to find only ONE 'craftsman' - but the situation is like this.... If the old lady is in town, and If I don't rush her (she takes months), and if I am willing to go through multiple corrections, and if I accept shoddy work - yes, it's cheap, but the workmanship is marginally acceptable. I keep telling her 'I don't want it done cheap, I want it done well (actually, also fast and precisely as I intended, but I haven't gotten that far). She insists on charging me next to nothing; doing it the way that she finds easiest rather than how I specified according to my drawings; using her second-grade materials when I have carefully selected subtle distinctions in width of webbing, thickness of material, etc; being considerably off in measurements; and taking her sweet time. The bag maker just isn't sophisticated. I've gone through four prototypes as I learn the mistakes of my own 'I have no idea what I'm doing' designs. Her son actually makes pistol holders for cops, so we're the blind leading the blind. It's a frustrating combat with her incompetence/lack of training, my lack of equipment and tools, plus our common lack of experience. I expect that Bangkok would be a candy store of choices in materials. Here, I scour dingy markets looking for quality brass finishings (even the best wholesaler here has mostly plastic.) To make matters worse, the 'bag lady' stopped doing any work for me since I criticized another non-bag job as being very low grade.

Alternative #2: Vietnam. This is probably the best choice, but I am not there, and rarely go. My experience with tailors and computer technicians in Saigon is that they are far better at detail work, harder working, faster, and more business-minded than Khmers.

Alternative #3: Korea. Supposedly there are some fine custom bag makers

there. But again, I am closer to BKK.

What I am not looking for: a hoity-toity status leather bag maker like I have seen in various BKK shopping malls - NOT Siam Leather (which appears to be a showroom/reseller - I really wonder whether they even have any craftsmen in their direct employ). I am looking for a good-value, purely functional, imitation leather bag maker. You know, a family business - in the back room I talk direct with the shop supervisor, not an intermmediary (like Thai Sikh tailors, as far as I can tell they don't cut the cloth).

I am enroute to Laos and have one day going to and from. I'd like to pick it up in two weeks after initial consultation. English fluency would be great but not expected. I could come with a translator. Who knows? I might turn this into a business. But my initial intention, is one of a kind. And if satisfied will come back for two or three more.

If Bangkok no longer has any PVC craftsmen for the fastidious working traveller, what's left Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka?