tonybuxton2

quite a number of us have two passports, what if we used a different one each time. we should be able to stay twice as long?

Apologies if this has been covered previously.

I currently come in and out of Thailand on 30 day tourist visa's, which i believe will allow me to stay upto 90 days within a 6 month period with a maximum of 30 days per stay.

Whilst this currently suits me, i do need to keep track of my visits and time spent in Thailand as i will probably come close to the limit.

So how is this tracked by the Authorities, is it 90 days including the partial day's when arriving and leaving and is it within 6 calendar months or 176 days ?

Any help would be appreciated.

the minbusbus is pretty useless for tourists coming from abroad. they only allow you a tiny bag unless you pay for extras seats, you have to get a taxi to victory monument (a long ride at about 350 baht) then when you get to Hua Hin you have to get a taxi to your Hotel. The airport is south Bangkok and a taxi could get you to HH in about 2 1/1 hours. If you came via minbus via victory monument it could take 6 hours. A taxi at bt2500 is very good value especially if you were 2 or 3 travelling together.

Hi i will be landing in bangkok in early dec and was wondering if there was a bus/coach that goes direct from savanabhumi to hua hin or is it better to just get a taxi? thanks

Hello Kolasaab, I am from Hua Hin and I am a frequent flyier, you can take a taxi from the airport down to Victory monument.Beside the shopping mall (sorry I forgot the name of the mall I'll send the name again) theres a Van going to Hua Hin a very comfortable van..and It cost 140THB..leaves every hr..

the seafood buffet at the sofhotel is the best I have ever experienced.

I'm new to the area and wonder where you consider are good eating places?

So far I've enjoyed excellent Indian food at the Taj Mahal and I love the pizza's on the corner site in the town centre (soi leading to the Hilton)

Care to share your favourite places?

The large jelly fish only give a mild sting. Put a little ammonia on it for relief. However some people are allergic to jellyfish stings and can get very ill from them. The very small Portuguese man-o-war is terrible. It is iridescent blue with long tentacles. The pain is very severe so you must get medical treatment, usually anti histamine injections. Fortunately quite rare but I have seen the odd one washed up on the beach. Frankly I don't like swimming when there are a lot of jelly fish about. I prefer my pool

To regular visitors/residents to the beaches of Hua Hin.

Hi

I have browsed the forum to look for facts about Jellyfish. Its all very ancedotal and there is nothing about treating stings.

It would appear that you could spot Jellyfish all year round, but they only come near shore during rainy season, or times when it rains in dry season. Is this true.

Are there different types - stingers and non-stingers.

What should one have ready in the hotel or apartment if you are stung by a jellyfish. No point going out to buy the vinegar if you have already been stung.

If you were to swim in the sea every day for 1 hour what are the percentage chance of been stung during the rainy season. (and same question during the dry season).

What are the dangers of not treating a jellyfish sting. Ive read stories of scars. Are they true.

What are the dangers for a child of 2 years been stung by a jellyfish.

Have they ever considered nets in certain areas of Hua Hin.

Ive seen mention that Sai Noi is the nicest beach without jet-ski and jellyfish. Is this true. Where is Sai Noi (sorry if I have now advertised Sai Noi), but I dont think circulation of this topic will be huge.

Thank you to anyone who takes time to add a few facts about jellyfish.

Blamamber.

I have lived in Jamaica where Jelly fish appeared for a couple of months every year, so yes they are or can be seasonal, and yes there are very many different types of Jelly fish, and the first thing to do is to identify the level of danger the local type offers, as some are indeed very deadly like the box jelly fish in Northern Queensland you would be very foolish indeed to swim in the sea at times when they are about, because you are most likely a dead man if you get stung by one of those.

Others do not hurt too much , in Jamaica there was one about the size of a dinner plate and about 3" thick that did not have very long tentacles and kind of pulsated, that did not sting too badly the locals said they had been 'scratched' by it when they got stung, then there was also what they called the portugese man of war that tended to be very small a bit like an ice cream cone with sometimes quite long tentacles coming out the end. This one was a nightmare and I speak from experience of being stung on two occasions by it.

The skin reddens up and has small blisters presumebaly where the tentacles deposited the poison, in such a way that it does get into the body, this process is greatly enhanced if you scratch the afflicted area, but as you have a great compulsion to do so you probably will and assist the flow of the venom into the blood stream. It takes about an hour or more for the venom to start affecting you big time spreading from the bite site but, when it does it is extremely unpleasant and it is easy to think you could die in the near future ( I am sure some people do!) as the venom seems to visit each organ one by one and you can feel them being affected and you wonder when it will stop, all this time you really want to scratch the bite site and feel delirious and very hot and cold and itchy all over, all this last 2-3 hrs and then you start to come down and if it happenned on your morning swim by the afternoon you more or less feel back to normal.

I guess you're reaction will be governed by your fitness and personal reaction to the venom.

It is true that vinegar is supposed to cause the deposited venom to be washed from the skin it also true that in emergency urine has the same effect. I don't think it will altogether stop the process I described above but it may alleviate it, like you say you don't usually have vinegar to hand.

There are antidotes to jelly fish stings and the local hospital in an afflicted area should keep it in stock, so you could check this position in your area and maybe campaign for some if not available , if it is available the first thing you should do on being stung is go to hospital and get an injection.

Some jelly fish even small ones can have very long (6 feet or more) tentacles and it is possible to get wrapped up in them and be very badly stung indeed.

I used to swim a long way every morning, and you could not see these men of war all the time, they kind of fade in and out of view with the angle of the light in the water and some were very small about the size of a small pear, so I would not bank on avoiding them.

If they are about I would always now swim with a long sleeve T shirt on as you tend to swim into them shoulder/arm first.

I do however believe that avoiding being bitten when they are expected by not swimming is the sensible answer.

My ten bobs worth

Normally grandfathered provisions have not been available once a break was made but only immigration can say for sure so I would give it a try if there is no 40k family income option available.

Hi Lopburi,

It seems these grandfathered provisions are not available also to people on their 3rd consecutive year extension in Phuket, I have a friend who recently asked for it to the immigration office but they told him that was useless try to apply on 400K basis only, so he asked to an agent to apply for him and it seems that the music changed a bit, but still they want to see 400k plus some money coming from abroad, they did not specify 40k though.

Is it possible that different Immigrations are applying their own home-made rules?

The immigration officers have thier own interpretation of every regulation. But 40k a month seems consistent. Last time the officer did not even look at my bank book or at the letter from my embassy confirming my income.

An easy option is to set up a fund that gives you 40K a month through a financial adviser. The income would come partly from profits and partly capital. The initial investment depend on how long you want the income to last.

anyone know of a chiropractor in Hua Hin

For the purposes of this question, I entered Thailand on December 10th 2006 on a Tourist Visa which I then had converted to a Non-Immigrant O while I got the paperwork ready for a retirement extension application granted in March. My O visa is valid until 10th December 2007 and so I need to re-apply for the retirement extension now. My question is do I need exactly the same set of documents again, given that the Consular letter that verified my pension income referred to the current year is still valid (ie I can get a new one but the evidence etc will be exactly the same, it'll just cost another 1750 to have the date changed).

Document Checklist:

Pictures

Bank Book

Passport Copies

Income Letter?

Proof of Address

Anything else? Thanks in advance.

Yes, every year you have to supply the same documents. but the good news is that you can apply up to two months before your visa expires which means you don't have to apply for another 14 months

My wife keeps getting a recurring back pain, and after numerous visits to doctor she still gets the pains. All the doctors do is give her an injection and send her home with bags of multicoloured pills.

So I mentioned about chiropractors, and she expressed an interest in seeing one when we are in BKK.

I've never used one before, so I would be interested in hearing what peoples views are about using Chiropractors... Do they work ? Is it worth her giving them a go..?

And, can anyone recommend a good Chiropractor in Bangkok, and an indication of the cost please ?

thanks

totster

Dr Phil Parry at Piyavate Hospital has cured my back problems. Very qualified chiropracter from the UK. Bt2500 a session but it is worth it.

The biggest hurdle to attract more retirees are the Visa regulations. Every year they have to spend a long time at the immigration department producing the same documents and letter from their bank and sometime their embassies. Some older retirees find this very frustrating in spite of the fact that the immigration staff are very helpful. In Chiangmai they have to wait outside the immigration offices in the heat and get attacked by mosquitoes, whilst waiting for thier visas. (It took me four hours to get my 8th visa renewal) Retirees go through a thorough check when they first apply for a retirement visa, so why do they have to do the same thing every year? They also have to report to immigration every 3 months. Other countries offer at least a 5 year visa and Malaysia a 10 year one. Many of us believe the reason for all of this is Elite Card whose main attraction is a five year visa. The government is trying to prop up the Elite Card scheme, and may believe that offering a five year visa to retirees will lessen the attraction of the card.

Here are three questions to which I have not been able to find the answers, though I have searched and cruised through previous posts.

Appreciate any help from anyone who has "been there"

1. In considering the 800,000 baht requirement, will they accept a joint Thai/farang bank account for all or part of this amount? ( That is a joint bank account with either party being able to deposit and withdraw)

2. Will they consider investments in something like the Aberdeen fund?( stocks and bonds I think, international investment in part, held in baht of course)

3. What would be the exact time frame involved in moving from a Non-B visa with a work permit into a retirement visa (AO?) Has anyone done this? Do I just walk into the Immigration office when one is about to expire with my bank/income statements/ embassy notarization/ health cert in hand and make the switch? ( Knowing that TIT I doubt it would be that easy. . probably wishful thinking on my part.)

1/.You cannot have a joint account if you wife is Thai. The whole amount must be in the farangs name. However if you are married to a Thai I think you need only Bt400,000 in your account? However if the account is in your name, you can arrange with you bank that she can draw on your account.

2/. I do not think so.

3/.Yes very easy. A friend of mine did just that in Hua Hin.

The prices charged by hospitals in Thailand for medicine is scanderlous. Sometimes as much as 12 times the list price in a pharmacy. When you go to pay your bill at the hospital tell them that you do not want any medicine and demand the prescription. Then go and buy the medicine outside. In Bangkok there are 5 wholesale pharmacies where they sell drugs at about 75 percent of the list price. There is also one in Chiangmai. But beware fancy looking pharmacies in tourist areas, they also overcharge, but nothing like the hospitals. Boots is very pricey too.

Neither the BGH or Bangrumrod object, when I tell them I dont want medicine and they give me the prescription. I dont know about the other hospitals. Also when the doctor explains your medication and gives you a prescription just ask him to prescribe for a few days and tell him you will get more outside. I find them quite receptive to this. Doctors get a commisssion on the profit from drugs and some prescribe huge quantites of expensive medicine especially when you leave hospital. My worst experience was The Ram in Chiangmai some years back. I left the hospital with nearly 15,000 baht worth of medicine and saw my GP the next day and he told me to throw nearly all of it away.

I thought others may be interested in this new research which seems the complete opposite of what would be expected. Quite worrying.

LOS ANGELES, CA -- May 21, 2007 -- It's a scenario straight out of Grey's Anatomy -- a paramedic or doctor plops a mask over the face of a person struggling to breathe and begins dispensing pure oxygen.

Yet growing research suggests that inhaling straight oxygen can actually harm the brain. For the first time, a new UCLA brain-imaging study reveals why. Published in the May 22 edition of Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine, the findings fly in the face of national guidelines for medical practice and recommend a new approach that adds carbon dioxide to the mix to preserve brain function in patients.

"For decades, the medical community has championed 100% oxygen as the gold standard for resuscitation. But no one has reported what happens inside our brains when we inhale pure oxygen," explained Ronald Harper, PhD, distinguished professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "What we discovered adds to a compelling body of evidence for modifying a widely practiced standard of care in the United States."

Harper's team used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to capture detailed pictures of what occurs inside the human brain during two different breathing scenarios. The technique detects subtle increases in blood flow triggered by the activation of different parts of the brain, causing these regions to glow or "light up" on the color scan.

The researchers scanned the brains of 14 healthy children, ages 8 to 15, as they inhaled 100% oxygen through a mouthpiece, and monitored their breathing and heart rates. After waiting eight minutes for the youngsters' breathing to return to normal, the team added 5% carbon dioxide to the gas mixture and repeated the scan.

A comparison of the two scans revealed dramatic differences. "When the children inhaled pure oxygen, their breathing quickened, resulting in the rapid exhalation of carbon dioxide from their bodies," said coauthor Paul Macey, PhD, associate researcher in neurobiology. "The drop in carbon dioxide narrowed their blood vessels, preventing oxygen from reaching tissue in the brain and heart."

That's when something surprising happened on the MRI scan. Three brain structures suddenly lit up: the hippocampus, which helps control blood pressure; the cingulate cortex, which regulates pain perception and blood pressure; and the insula, which monitors physical and emotional stress.

All this activity awakened the hypothalamus, which regulates heart rate and hormonal outflow. Activation of the hypothalamus triggered a cascade of harmful reactions and released chemicals that can injure the brain and heart.

"Several brain areas responded to 100% oxygen by kicking the hypothalamus into overdrive," explained Harper. "The hypothalamus overreacted by dumping a massive flood of hormones and neurotransmitters into the bloodstream. These chemicals interfere with the heart's ability to pump blood and deliver oxygen -- the opposite effect you want when you're trying to resuscitate someone."

When the children inhaled the carbon dioxide-oxygen mix, the hypothalamus' hyperactivity vanished from the MRI scan. "Adding carbon dioxide to the oxygen relaxed the blood vessels, allowed oxygen to reach the heart and brain, calmed the hypothalamus and slowed the release of dangerous chemicals," said Macey.

"Pure oxygen kindles the match that fuels a forest fire of harm to the body," said Harper. "But a little whiff of carbon dioxide makes it all go away."

Based on their findings, the researchers strongly encourage healthcare providers to add carbon dioxide to oxygen dispensation, especially when resuscitating infants or administering oxygen for more than a few minutes. The new direction could hold particular implications for patients of stroke, heart attack, carbon monoxide poisoning and any long-term oxygen therapy.

"When in doubt about a case, the current medical approach is to increase oxygen levels and wait to see if the patient improves," explained Harper. "But no one has ever scanned patients' brains to examine how they respond to oxygen therapy."

Earlier data on high oxygen's harmful effects have already resulted in policy changes overseas. Instead of using straight oxygen, many European hospitals now resuscitate patients with room air, which contains a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide; or with a blend of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Mary Woo, professor at the UCLA School of Nursing, was a coauthor of the study, which was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Development.

SOURCE: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

Yes it is quite easy to find but costs BT850 at wholesale chemists and most large hospitals.

Upmarket chemists like Fascino have it buit charge more. Boots will order it for you and so will Pharmaway

I would like to know if I can find this product in Thailand and price indication.

Many thanks in advance.