VitalGirl

Congratulations!! My husband's whole village were ecstatic to find that I was pregnant... I wanted to marry more quickly so I wouldn't be showing at all but the monks decided that the date wasn't auspicious. I was 3 months and a bit when we married with a tiny belly that got stroked all day (for luck) and my husband was endlessly congratulated for having been smart enough to have "proof of a good wife" before tying the knot. Suggest you buy the test with your bf and let him be part of it....

My local rice lady at Talaad Baan Tor (along the Ping) is from Chiang Rai... she has lots of the regular rice in the usual sacks but she always has 2 or 3 sacks of premium rice from her village area near Chiang Rai, including the most magnificent red rice. There's no comparison.....

It would appear to be mostly allergy - my little half-Thai daughter is highly allergic to ant bites - those tiny,weeny ants that are often in the laundry after it's been outside. Solution: stop the scratching. There is a calamine-like lotion available cheaply from all Thai pharmacies that is fabulous - the other excellent anti-itch cream is systral (also available form most Thai pharmacies for about 45 baht). Once she has scars, they can be treated over time with Vitamin E. Buy a bottle of Vitamin E capsules (sorry - expensive) and piece one capsule each morning and night and massage the oil directly into the scarred areas. After 2-3 months you'll see dramatic improvement.

Rice bran oil has the highest stability level under heat, by far. Olive oil simply wasted for frying and often already partly rancid in Thailand due to it being unstable if stored over 30C.

I have a great suggestion - you get yourself a baby sling and when your wife needs a break, YOU take the baby since you are clearly so much cleaner and experienced than everyone else. Easy. If the village is not Ok for your child, I'm sure you could learn to solo parent in a luxurious condo somewhere. Get a grip, mate...

Lots of discussion about burning of rice stubble but in my 7 years experience here, a HUGE amount of the air pollution comes from the burning of leaves etc domestically. Also, because we don't have a rubbish bin system where we live, but you have to buy the stamped black bags that are volume constrained, there is a financial disincentive for poorer Thai people - if they burn rubbish they can save on the regulation black rubbish bags. On any given morning now you'll see 5-10 little fires next to the road, belching smoke.... that's in the maybe 1km strip form our house to the market/bridge. I used to bleat about it louder than most on this forum, but the simple answer is that the burning will decrease markedly only if you can get people to keep and recycle green waste in a viable way. Domestic composting NOT VIABLE where we live (about 100m from Ping River) - most Thai houses here don;t have the space and in the dry season its a major breeding ground for snakes and scorpions, hence the Thais burn and lay down more concrete. But plastic and glass bottles, newspapers etc - people even come door to door at our place asking for our rubbish to recycle! So we just need an entrepreneurial spirit to make green waste collection commerically viable and smart.... In Melbourne where I used to live before here, they have regular green waste collection and yes, it's either mulched or composted and the end-product sold. If you contribute lots of green waste you get a coupon for x kilos free. We just have to encourage the incredibly smart, pragmatic, Thai brains to apply some energy and incentive to this problem.

You can, from time to time, get super deals flying direct CNX to Singapore and then straight through to Oz. Malaysian Airlines have some incredible deals advertised in the last 1-2 months. You might also investigate flying CNX to Tapei and then direct into Perth with someone like Air China... have friends who swear also that, from time to time, this is super cheap because CNX-Taipei a busy, well serviced route, as is Tapei-Perth. Be creative and try to bypass BKK...

Whatever you buy, be aware that in an older place anything over 2,500 will often cause major power issues. We have a 3,500 and it regularly causes the power to go off... have to switch off the water pump, DVD and all extra upstairs lights (except the bathroom) to have a nice hot shower. Electrician says this is normal in many older houses and too expensive to fix in a rented house. We're moving soon and buying - and rewiring the new place. Just be aware....

Nice to see a precedent set and a growing sense of the rule of law... may all the criminals who have pillaged this country and run away be eventually extradited and brought to justice in Thailand.

No You cannot use any Debit Card issued by any Thai Bank to verify your PayPal account - it has to be a CREDIT CARD.

Just open a new PayPal account, and use any major credit cards from your country to verify your account. Then link it to your Thai Bank account to transfer/deposit money. Good luck.

You are so wrong! Yes, you CAN use a Thai debit card to open a Paypal account - we did. You go online to the bank's site and follow the process and they supply you with a new "online shopping number" (effectively the credit card number) and new PIN. Kasikorn have an excellent service and were recommended at the ebay seminars here in CNX last December.

Thanks for the info. So basically if you live in Thailand and try to deal with Chronical Fatique Syndrom, you're screwed. I will have tp hope that I'm lucky, but doubt it.

Don't be so dramatic! Go and talk to your nearest FDA office and they will tell you what you need in terms of paperwork, if it can be done and what it will cost. Simple. If you don't have the pre-existing import license, forget it - goods are destroyed on arirval. This goes not just for medicines, but also medical equipment. Best news of all - you don't need drugs to deal with chronic fatigue syndrome at all - and there are plenty of excellent practitioners across Thailand who can help you with natural supplements, exercise etc. No drama required.

Kinda funny how men react to women breastfeeding. So many try to catch a gawk at womens chests under normaI circumstances, onIy to recoiI if the breast that is more easiIy viewabIe is feeding a baby.

PersonaIIy i do think its better to try be discreet when feeding, but im not fazed either if per chance the mum Ioses her concentration or shes too tired to be bothered. Im sure for many mums their first thought is "make sure my baby is happy and weII fed", not "Oh my goodness, i must make sure not to offend the sensibiIities of those who may gIance upon my exposed breast"....

---

edit: PIus a good deaI of u seem to pop down waIking street or Nana or wherever to ogIe various parts of a womans anatomy and/or pay cash to view it in more detaiI..yet gag at the thought of her doing something naturaI. Gawd, yir a right funny Iot...

If your referring to the reactions of those in this thread, I didn't see anywhere where people were "recoiling". I certainly wasn't. I was simply stating that I thought it wasn't a Thai thing to do vs. the west.

We had this discussion very often while I breastfed my little girl (discreetly) for 2+ years here... the interesting answer about why a lot of women really don't breastfeed is hard to get to, but a lot of woemn will own up if you push them hard enough: they think low class farming women breastfeed because they can't afford formula and also that it makes your nipples brown and large and disgusting. Actually in lots of Thai villages, large numbers of women breastfeed publicly.. it's just in the cities where us silly farang congregate that a lot of Thais feel a class stigma about it.

I have just tried to connect my Paypal account with my Siam Commercial Savings Account and have categorically been told that it is not possible to do this. Does anyone know what kind of Thai bank it is possible to use with Paypal in order to upload and download funds?

Thanks in advance for any help.

We did ours (easily and successfully) through BKK Bank using a Kasikorn debit card (as was recommended at the ebay seminar held here in CNX last december). The only drag is that after you've withdrawn your money from PayPal into BKK bank, it takes 5-7 days for the money to become available here. But an exceelent, easy service.

Are there any good play groups or half day nursery shcools in Chiang Mai? (not too expensive) We're moving to over for a while and I've had a look on the internet but they all see a bit full on and full time - my son's only two but i'd love him to play with other babies and get

the stimulation etc he gets at the local nursery he goes to in London.

Hope someone can help advise!

Little Stars Bilingual Nursery & Preschool is great and they don't mind if you put your little one in for half days or only a few days/week.

I would bring a few months supply with you if you can. Venttolin is about 200 baht a puffer but Seratide is about closer to 2000 and Spiriva 4000baht.

If budget is a problem see a local clinic. There are some locally manafactured alternatives but you may have to experiment.

I pay 950 THB for my imported Seretide from the local Chiang Mai pharmacy - order today, pick up tomorrow. Time you started shopping around a little, Harry....

Hi,

I was wondering if there were any vegeterian stores and restaurants in Chiang Mai.

If so, what are their names and where are they located.

Thanks a million

The new Taste 4 Heaven in Tapae road is excellent... as is Pun Pun behind Wat Suan Dok. Also recommend the vegetarian buffet each evening at GAPS house on Thanon Ratchadamnoen (roughly opposite AUA). If you are really strict vegetarin, be careful - lots of Thai places that claim to be vegetarian take the chicken soup and just pull the chicken out at the last minute...

I think the least expensive, and certainly no frills, place is Health Oasis on Samui.

For Chinese medicine, St Louis Hospital (a non-profit in Bkk) as a traditional Chinese medicine clinci

Of course, you should not abruptly stop or change your medical treatment while trying any of these approaches. If you are on steroids, stay on them (or continue gradula taoering as recommended by doctor).

Have you been evaluated for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? On what basis has it been determined that you have an auto-immune dosease? If you do, would expect to see noticeable improvement on steroids....

Thanks. Yes I'd kind of narrowed it down to Health Oasis or the Sanctuary on Phangan. I heard good things first hand of The sanctuary from someone who was helped to get rid of kidney stones instead of surgery as the only alternative in his Native US. He was high in praising the place. I've found online reviews aplenty re the Sanctuary . Mostly very good although a few extremely negative. However can't find anything other than a couple of reviews of Health Oasis.

I have CFS and Autoimmune both having been diagnosed after masses of blood tests CAT scans MRI and a lot of other examinations etc agreed between both Rheumatologist and Neurologist. However both believe the Steroids although they helped with pain etc caused a massive allergic reaction. They also agree I need to wean off as fast as possible but with obvious care and caution due to probably now being renal dependent after a year on them. The prednisone caused fits and one massive seizure which left me unconscious for 4 hours and complete paralysis of the radial and some other nerves in my right arm which just dangled for 2 weeks before slowly returning. I was hospitalised for 3 weeks at this point. I've been left with loss of dexterity in both hands also which has remained after more than 10 months. Cutting down the steroids have definitely made me less ill in many ways but the original pain and problems are flooding back the more I reduce.

I wouldn't dream of stopping steroids cold as it would probably lead to renal failure so although I'm dropping the dose as advised ( which is hel_l each time) I would still be on a small dose by the time I went to a detox centre. That's why I want to be sure they know what they're doing as I can't risk the dose not being absorbed.

also I'm not at all keen on being put on another drug with hefty side affects alongside the steroids as a kind of lets try this and see if it helps and then it might be lupus approach! This is the latest route the Lupus unit has suggested despite the positive Lupus result could in fact be down to Hughes syndrome as antibodies were found in one result for that.

I honestly think the steroids have caused more damage than good and if I had come to Thailand with my initial onset it would have probably been addressed with positive results but now steriods for so long make it more complex.

If anyone has any experience of this kind of health problem and positive treatment results to share I 'd be really grateful for their contribution.

This has pretty much wiped my life out.

Hi - I first went to Health Oasis when I arrived in Thailand and subsequently have used the detox facilities at Spa Samui (beach) for an extended cleanse with life-changing benefits. Spa Samui wins hands down - no contest. PM me if you want more details.

Business Is Picking Up, Have you noticed?

Nop, I haven`t noticed, nor have any of the business owners in Chiang Mai.

Have you interviewed them ALL?

/ Priceless

Thank you, Priceless.... our business in the night Bazaar picking up nicely... our inquiries for wholesale orders from o/s also picking up substantially.

we are now worried about taking our daughter to thailand,,we asked doctor today about hep b and malaria vaccine but we were told baby cannot get hep b and malaria vaccines in uk before they are 1 yr old,,,,

we want to hear what risks there are in a 6 mth old baby living in a big city such as pattaya or bangkok,,we are worried about things like washing our baby in the shower incase dirty water gets into her mouth,,about taking her out and people touching her face etc contracting germs or even if she scratches herselfwhile playing...i know we are probably worrying for nothing but we would be gratefull for anyone who can advise us or who has expirienced any problems with there young ones in thailand,,we plan to stay up county in khon kaen als for a while with my wifes family...

thanks in advance

Stop stressing! Your child is likely to be safer and happier here... really the only "risk" as you put it is dehydration in very warm weather (for you too, not just the baby)... if you're (hopefully) still breastfeeding, just do it more often... if not, make sure the formula you buy/bring is not containing sugar and mix with boiled bottled water only. Thailand is the most wonderful place for babies ... our little one born and raised here and healthier/stronger than her western-raised cousins... get yourself a baby sling if you haven't already got one (Thailand hopeless for prams and strollers) and a little mozzie net and have a wonderful holiday.

A lot of countries work hard to build a tourist industry. Thailand seems to be the opposite working extreemly hard to destroy thiers.

Cmon....! The people affected by this issue are NOT real tourists... they're long stay people who cost the country money and pay no taxes... they cost Thailand money... hey, you can't live on back to back tourist visas in most developed countries and Thailand is trying hard to develop. Time to stop complaining about our generous host country... get a real visa or move on. Easy.

All I can say is that I wish was as aware just over 5 years ago when my daughter was born as I am now. I've always been worried about vaccinations and after I really started looking into it after they introduced the gardasil (HPV) and I am now 100% against any and all vaccines - especially with the new H1N1 (flying pig human flu).

My daughter had her first round of vaccs and fortunately didn't have any adverse affects from them, but she will absolutely not receive any more - when she starts her new school year/term in september, school admin will be receiving a letter signed from our lawyers stating that under no circumstances will we allow her to receive any vaccinations of any kind (talk of the mandatory flu vaccinations being given to children at schools has me very concerned).

If anyone is on FB check out this group which I am a member of VACCINE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT and it is a source of a lot of great information.

One of the most eye opening videos I've watched about vaccinations is called "In Lies We Trust: The CIA, Hollywood and Bioterrorism". You can watch it online and you can also download it. You will not believe what our governments (and this is not only the USA) have been doing for so many years, secret tests and so many other things that will leave you speechless.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8674401787208020885

VACCINE INFO

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles...ngredients.aspx

http://www.rense.com/general59/vvac.htm

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081405.html

http://www.exploringvaccines.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2gteHfCa_k

http://www.judicialwatch.org/gardasil

http://drtenpenny.com/default.aspx

http://www.sayingnotovaccines.com/

http://www.naturalnews.com/vaccinations.html

http://www.flunews.org/

http://www.healthfreedomreport.org/

http://www.naturalnews.com/025595.html

http://www.rense.com/general85/cant.htm

LIST OF VACCINE FILLERS: Officially administered by design with every vaccine provided to the public -

In addition to the viral and bacterial RNA or DNA that is part of the vaccines, here are the fillers:

aluminum hydroxide

aluminum phosphate

ammonium sulfate

amphotericin B

animal tissues: pig blood, horse blood, rabbit brain,

dog kidney, monkey kidney,

chick embryo, chicken egg, duck egg

calf (bovine) serum

betapropiolactone

fetal bovine serum

formaldehyde

formalin

gelatin

glycerol

human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue)

hydrolized gelatin

monosodium glutamate (MSG)

neomycin

neomycin sulfate

phenol red indicator

phenoxyethanol (antifreeze)

potassium diphosphate

potassium monophosphate

polymyxin B

polysorbate 20

polysorbate 80

porcine (pig) pancreatic hydrolysate of casein

residual MRC5 proteins

sorbitol

sucrose

thimerosal (mercury)

tri(n)butylphosphate,

VERO cells, a continuous line of monkey kidney cells

washed sheep red blood cells

*This data is available via: www.mercola.com

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles...ngredients.aspx

These additives are given without public knowledge or consent. Merck, the monster pharmaceutical giant in the US produces the vast majority of vaccine supplies & are protected from prosecution by Federal Statutes imposed under the former Bush administration.

ANALYSIS OF VACCINE FILLERS:

1) ALUMINUM (two variants) - directly linked to Alzheimer's Disease

2) AMMONIUM SULFATE - an inorganic chemical compound used a fertilizer and "protein purifier"; known to cause kidney & liver damage, gastrointestinal disfunctions

3) AMPHOTERICIN B - an "antifungal disinfectant", damages the urinary tract, bowels, heart functions

4) RE-CYCLED ANIMAL TISSUE (multiple) - the building blocks of Mad Cow Disease

5) FORMALDEHYDE - used as "a preservative & disinfectant", known to cause cancer, chronic bronchitis, eye irritation when exposed to the body's immune system

6) MSG - now known to cause cancer in humans

7) PHENOL - a highly toxic disinfectant dye, attributed to liver, kidney, heart & respiratory damage

8) PHENOXYETHANOL (ANTIFREEZE) - proven to have extreme neurotoxic side effects

9) THIMEROSAL (MERCURY) - a neurotoxin linked to psychological, neurological & immunological problems. Nervous system damage, kidney disease, birth defects, dental problems, mood swings, mental changes, hallucinations, memory loss, nerve damage and inability to concentrate can occur. Symptoms also include tremors, loss of dermal sensitivity, slurred speech and, in rare cases, even death and paralysis. This additive alone was the catalyst for another recent Class Action Lawsuit organized by mothers of children born with Autism & the many related behavioral disorders associated with it. Autism is now occurring at levels never seen before in history, 1 in 67. The average used to be 1 in 20,000.

Your prerogative and your choice, but maybe you could also consider home schooling your child so you don't put others at risk? Australia is experiencing a phenomenal increase in infant deaths due to whooping cough... I happen to be one of the very small % of people who became very ill after my pre-Thailand Hep B vaccines as an adult, as yet I have still had my daughter vaccinated.

Well only few words to say now!

Bye Bye Thai tourism. Those heat scanners in the airport must of been a really good investment.

Bye bye tourism? Are you for real? It's a global thing now, in case you don't read the papers... you think some Australian or American is going to decide not to come to Thailand because we have a few suspected cases while they have 1,000+ already confirmed?? Get a grip, put the beer away, buy a real newspaper and read some editorial.

I love herring and I like to make my own rollmops what is the thai name for herring?

Gerd help me out

I can't believe I'm reading this... herring is a COLD WATER fish and Thai waters are TROPICAL. Only place you're likely to find them is in a tin!

Walking around Bangkok pushing my 3 year old son around in his pram I can't help but notice almost ZERO Thai kids about under say 5 years old.

Now I realise most Thai's in Bangkok working from the country areas leave their kids with relatives in the villages, but what about the Bangkokites?

I mean seriously, I get around Bangkok a lot and it is very rare you see a family out and about with their toddlers! Sometimes on weekends you may see a few...but not many, maybe in a shopping centre somewhere but that's it!

My wife tells me that they are all at home all day, locked up untill they are old enough to go to school. She says it is a Chinese thing!! is this right?

I lived and worked in Saigon for a few years and the kids are everywhere.

So where are they? are they really locked inside for the first 5 years?

Most "regular" Thais who can't afford a private school put their kids in a government school - they will mostly take the kids form age 2 and Thais think this is normal and good. We were regularly chastised by Thai people for not putting our little one into kindergarten till she was 3! And let's face it, BKK is NOT an easy place to stroll anytime, let alone with little ones!

Hi.

I heard the Reds have blocked/closed the Doi Ti intersection/road at Lampang (i'm not familiar with the area!) where one needs to get through to travel between Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

I am now in Chiang Mai and wouldn't mind staying here however i have to work on Wednesday and hence will need to get back to Bangkok tomorrow. As my Isuzu won't fit into a regular aircraft that means i need that road to be passable.

Any news on that situation?

Kind regards....

Thanh

Don't risk it... turnoff at Lamphun and drive through to Thoen the back way... adds two hours and bypasses Lampang... good single lane road, gorgeous country side and no problems that way at all...