Digger

Hi all

We are moving to Bangkok from Singapore & was wondering if anyone could be of help as I know really no nothing of Bangkok....

My children currently go to the Australian International school here in Sing & was wondering which are some of the best schools there, we are probably looking at the IB system as there is no Aussie school there. Also is it better to live in a compound or is it safe enough to live in a free standing house as we do have animals & where are the best expat areas to live preferably close to the school whichever we may choose.

Sorry for all the questions just eager to find out what I can by people already living there.

Thanks in advance

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that's a big question which would takea lot of answering.

To help break it down a little;

1. How old are your children? Do they have any fluency in Thai?

2. Do you and your husband drive? From what little information you give it sounds like you might want to live on the outskirts of Bangkok, but that would mean a commute into/out of the city.

3. The International schools in Bangkok can be quite expensive. If you can afford them they are good, and have the advantage of being taught in English. Otherwise you might consider home schooling programs. Normal Thai schools would, of course, be in Thai.

4. If you're going to be living here, go on the Farang ladies forum, and introduce yourself. Many of them will have practical details covering life in BKK. They can give good advice.

5. I don't actually live in BKK, so I'll defer on that part of the question. There should be a number of people who do actually live in BKK who can give better advice than I could.

Hope you like Bangkok. Even I would admit it does take adjusting to the life style. It isn't for everyone. But keep a sense of humor, and an optimistic attitude, and everything should work out.

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Thanks for your help...very much appreciated

Can you tell me if there is a community of Philippino's in Bangkok, we would like to bring our maid with us but I am worried that she may find it hard to make friends, so my question is do many people have Philippino maids????

Also whats the norm, do they have weekends off or just 1 day a week. Here in Singapore the norm is that they have every Sunday off.

Many Thanks again

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Thats a novel thought - bringing a Philipino maid from Singapore to work in Thailand. Somehow cant see them getting a work permit very easily though !!!!

To the poster: Thailand has lots of people that do not earn much money and domestic work is not a category of employment where they grant too many work permits to the best of my knowledge. You are more than likely going to need to leave the Philipino in Singapore and hire another new maid in Thailand who is Thai.

Thanks heaps everybody for all the info.

Digger - if by hb you mean hemoglobine yes it is 7.5 - is this something I should be concerned about about given that in your opinion the iron is not going to help?

will take a look at the sites mentioned.

also I agree - it seems hiv is, from what I have been told, very hard for a straight male to contract from a female unless anal sex is involved.

One more bit of trivia for everybody and a lesson learned by myself - the rate of hiv infected locals within asia is exremely high and complacency should be avoided, I would have never imagined she would have hiv but has and this is true with so many asians, do not resist testing just because you think it is not possible that somebody has it - chances are extremely high.

thanks to all for praising my sticking by her - what can I say, if love is real then nothing gets in the way and its a no brainer of a decision - I love her the same as before.

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Yes Hb is hemogloblin. a low hb count and low cd4 is not going to be making it any easier for your GF. Basically she will feel drained just because of the anemia. Talk to the doctor and ask them about a blood transfussion. They are expensive even in Thailand, at about 5,000 baht a bag (presume its 500 ml but not sure) and she would probably need at least 2. Iron tablets are a really slow solution and with the CD4 where it is I'd be talking to the doctor in no uncertain terms about the need for a transfussion.

I am the sole Managing Director of a Ltd company where my wife is the major shareholder. We bought land for 3 mill just before the tsunami. If we where to transfer the land into my wifes name, what taxes would be have to pay?

The Ltd company was formed a week or so before we bought the land and has never traded and is currently sleeping.

Many Thanks

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About 7% land transfer tax based on land office valuations of the land in that area, not what you paid for it nor what you sell it at. Then you have to account for it in your company accounts and pay taxes on whatever profit has been derived. The tax is the highest bit probably but I'd be more concerned at how you will handle the company side of things.

Hey, last couple of months have been going crazy trying to get good medical for my girlfriend here in Phnom Penh, fever , bad cough etc etc.

Went through several doctors with various diagnosis over several months before getting a decent thourough doctor who finally found she had hiv.

We were both totally shattered and it left me in tears as we have been discussing marriage and how good the future was looking. anyway - I have decided I love her too much to abandon her and will stick by her and hopefully still have some good times ahead of us - we have been together about a year and have had some really good times and are very compatible - its not a paid situation but a genuine relationship with a great girl.

I now have her on gpo-vir a thai gov hiv drug(3 days ago) and am wondering if anybody can give me any sort of optimistic words for the future - I have not a clue on what to expect and am in the dark as to her life expectency etc etc.

btw test results show me as negative but one more test needed in 3 months

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I pay for a girls medicines who has HIV and have met her doctor many times and BKK and have done a fair amount of research on HIV.

First thought in my mind is how was the diagnosis undertaken? Was it a blood test only or blood test followed up by viral load and CD4 counts? If she has had viral load and CD4 tests what were her results? Viral load is refered to in thousands (i.e 30,000;60,000 etc) and CD4 in numbers ranging from 0-approx 800. Without having these tests you cannot be absolutely certain that the patient even has HIV. Many things can cause a false HIV positive reading and the sero-conversion timeline is generally about 2-6 days of sickness not months.

The results of these tests can confirm the HIV in the body by the fact that a viral load is actually measured and that the patients CD4 count (basically amount of infection fighting blood cells in the body in very simple laymans terms) will be reduced when compared to a normal person. Basically HIV attacks the CD4 cells killing them off. Once the virus has wiped out about 75% of your CD4 cells, you are vunerable to multiple illnesses that ordinarily would be beaten back by your CD4 cells - these are called opportunistic infections - basically taking advantage of your bodies weak imune system. The viral load test measures the amount of HIV in the bloodstream and is a good indication of how much virus is in the body.

In general terms a patient with a CD4 count higher than 200 is consider to have HIV. Below 200 they are considered to have AIDS. Once you drop below 200 CD4 cells, you are much stronger risk of developing illness that your body cannot fight.

There are currently about 25 medicines that are used to fight HIv infection. None of them cure the infection however they can suppress the virus and prevent it replicating. In essence, there are 4 main types of medicine, which are designed to do different things and are used at different stages of treatment.

It is fair to say that with proper medical guidance and access to the whole suite of medicines that a person now contracting HIV is likely to end up dying of something other than HIV and to live a normal lifespan. Big ifs in this scenario is the medical care they receive and the access to medicines. Medicines are not cheap, have toxicity issues and numerous side effects. That is why a good doctor is such an important part of the equation. This is not something you can do yourself however you can arm yourself with a lot of info to ask the doctor the right questions and understand where they are headed with treatment options.

The aim of HIV medicines is to suppress the virus to levels where it cannot be measured in a patients bloodstream (known as being undetectable) and by suppressing the virus to allow your CD4 cells to replenish and fight of infections in the normal way.

Over the last 20 years doctors have learnt a huge amount about HIV. The current preferred method of treatment is to allow the CD4 level to fall to between 200 and 350 (depending upon where you are from, 200 -250 in Europe, 350 in the USA) and then start a course of HIV medicines. The reason for delaying the start is for a number of reasons:

1. Toxicity - the medicines are too a large extent toxic. The body can only take so much toxic materials. Therefore due to point 2, there seems little point in starting someone on medicines early.

2. Ability to fight the virus. Originally an idea that came from the US was to hit very hard on HIV in the hope of wiping it out. Study after study has shown that this approach has not produced signifigantly better results than by delaying treatment. It has been proven that in general terms someone starting HIV medicine with a CD4 count of 200 achieves the same benefit as someone starting with a CD4 count of say 500. Basically the end result with treatment is the same. Therefore due to toxic concerns, most doctors and government health bodies suggest delaying treatment until your CD4 is the range between 200 and 350. The exception to this is if the patient is currently undergoing the seroconversion illness. Use of HIV medicines at this point has acelerated the growth in CD4 count to near normal levels very quickly and to suppress the virus very effectively. This is why baseline testing and then regular testing for CD4 and viral load is very important. Generally this is done every 3-6 months.

3. Cost. These medicines cost a lot of money. Cost of course plays a part as one you are on HIV medicine, your pretty much on it for the rest of your life.

4. Preserving medicine options. OK so there are 25 medicines and loads more in the pipeline, however your body can and does reject some medicines, thus reducing the amount of choice your doctor has in the medication they can prescribe. Also some medicines do not work well together. Again this reduces the options for the doctor. Your HIV virus may also be resistant to some medicines, which again limits your options and HIV can also outwit the medicines and make some worthless. This can actually wipe out more than just the medicine being taken as many of the 25 medicines have similar characteristics. Therefore if the virus in the body can restrict one medicine, the doctors are also aware that XX many others would also not work.

So in a nutshell on options, you do not really have 25 medicines that you can go through even though thats about the number of medicines there are. Therefore it makes sense to preserve as many medicines as you can for future use as doctors are now looking ahead at how they are going to treat HIV positive patients 30 years ahead.

So thats why treatment is delayed until you really need it i.e once your CD4 count is down to between 200-350.

Now with patients living longer and longer with medicines the focus has switched to make the medicines easier to take, less pills, less side effects etc. Many medicines are being packaged together in the same pill, so that you take multiple medicines in just one dose. This is being done because one of the biggest problems in treating HIV is to ensure that the patient takes the medicines correctly. It is critically important NOT to miss doses as this will allow the HIV to develop resistance to the medicine and basically means its worthless.

The medicine you are using is a combination of 3 HIV medicines including D4T and Nevarapine. D4T is one of the first medicines for HIV and is not considered a 'first choice' medicine in the west anymore as their have been numerous cases of body fat loss with this medicine. However it is still used as a backup in case of resistance to other drugs. Its basically a bit like keeping a t-shirt in the back of the cupboard, just in case all your favourite ones are in the wash. Nevarapine on the other hand is a first rate medicine and used as a main stay of treatments in the west. There is one other medicine in the combination but I cannot remember what it is. This combination of drugs has proven to be extremely good and its fair to say that for its price it produces excellent results. It is not the best but at that price nothing else is so easily affordable.

My suggestions for you:

1. If not had viral load and CD4 test yet - GET THEM DONE - only these can tell how the virus is developing and what use medicines are. Get these re-done every 3 months for the first year and then drop back to every 5 months or so.

2. Check how expereinced your doctor is in treating HIV. YOU MUST use a specialist doctor. There knowledge and training is designed to look out for signs than an ordinary doctor would not be aware off. They are also well aware of the problems between different medicines.

3. Undertake CBC (complete blood count) test, Hep A,B,C tests as well and keep repeating CBC same time as viral load and CD4. CBC will show a multitude of illnesses through your blood work and importantly, HIV specialists can measure drug toxicity and other warning signs through this test. For example, some medicines can cause anemia. This is picked up through the blood test far easier than by any physical signs.

The hepatitus tests are very important. Most HIV medicine is funelled through the liver. Hepititus is a liver disease. the two do not go well together. Hep B is very common in Asia. Currently there are a couple of drugs that can treat Hep B - one of them is also a HIV drug. Your doctor would ideally not use this drug unless the liver is in trouble as if your body becomes resistant to this drug (its called 3TC), you cannot use it for Hep B infection. Again another critical reason to use a specialist HIV doctor. If your not comfortable with your doctor FIND ANOTHER. Its this doctor that will keep your friend alive. You must have a very good relationship with them - far more so than a traditional GP.

Hope this helps and if its any comfort, the girl I help has an undetectable viral load, normal CD4 count and is in superb health. With the right support and medicines this is a manageable illness not a death sentence anymore.

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thanks heaps guys for the comprehensive posts. I just replied in a similar manner and lost my post due to computer lockup so I will keep this one short.

I originally went to a clinic , after finding she was hiv positive, run by some australians and roche. After being told that they only look at one person a day and she was too busy to tell me anything I felt like breaking her obnoxious face open. This place had a staff of dozens and corporate backing yet would not even see my gf for six mnths because they were too busy with there one person a day evaluation.

anyway went to naga private clinic which has an hiv specialist and he did full blood counts as follows

cd4 70

and a couple of others slightly lower than normal.

he imediastely prescribed the gpo- vir and some vitamins , iron, bactrim and something for that white stuff on her tongue.

I told him to treat her as if she was his daughter so am hoping and praying that she is being well looked after.

of concern to me is your statement about it being considered aids if <200 cd4

Does this mean she is well advanced and that life expectancy is not very optimistic?

she seems to be responding well to the drugs and has her apetite back and is optimistic but I do not want to lie to her too much about her future and this would also mean that I would spend everyhting I have in a hurry to make sure she enjoys what time she has left. I would also like to prepare myself emotionally for what lies ahead so truth is essential.

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70 is a seriously low CD4 count however, there have been many cases recorded in US and Europe where people with CD4 counts as low as 5 have responded well to medicines and restored their CD4 counts. The most important thing is to ensure the medicines are taken on time, every time. NEVER forget a dose.

The Bactrim is used to stop I think PCP, its an anti biotic but very effective. Its standard practice to use it with all patients who have a CD4 count of less than 200. Once it rises over 200, they will take her off it. The Bactrim can cause a rash and itchiness on the body but its not so serious.

You really need to do a viral load test but they are expensive at about US$150 a time. This is what measures the virus in the body and is how they determine long term how successfull a medicine combination is. For example at such a low CD4 count, it will take time for this to recover. However the viral load will show how much of the virus is being destroyed by the drugs. The most critical thing at this stage is reducing the virus in the body and allowing her CD4 count to rise. The medicine could well suppress the viral load to near zero within 2-3 months but the rise in CD4 counts could trail well behind that. Once above 200, she is essentially out of the danger zone.

One thing to be aware off is the possibility of side effects - these tend to show themselves within the first couple of weeks of starting the medicines. This could include rashs, nightsweats, nausea, being sick etc. It is important NOT to stop any medicines without asking your doctor first. They will know specifically what side effects are dangerous and what are just inconvenient but not life threatening.

Not sure what use the vitamins are for, but iron tablets will probably be to treat anemia, which may have shown up as low on the CBC test. If the Hb level is below 8, iron tablets are not going to do anygood. She may actually need a blod transfussion if its much below that. There is a specific drug that lifts Hb levels but it may not be available in Cambodia.

A very usefull website is at www.thebody.com - look at the starting treatment forum. Basically people post questions and then specialist American doctors reply. It is very good to build up a picture and to ask specific questions if you want.

Its a long haul for both of you but certainly one that can be achieved with perseverance and hope. Keep a positive mindset and keep clear of anyone with any obvious illness such as colds, flu etc as these could really hurt her chances until she gets her CD4 count back up.

Hey the lead man is back

BS - we have already lined up Brad Pitt to play Scouse , Lucy Liu to play Mrs BS,

The tyrant is a split vote between Ronnie Corbett "Sorry" or Chris Barrie aka "Mr Brittas" from the Brittas Empire. I was thinking Nigel Hawthorne aka "Sir Humphrey Appleby" from Yes Minister but of course he's already departed this world.

now all we need is your pen profile to determine who plays your star role !!!

Couple of thoughts:

Timothy Dalton - the dashing action man hero

Leslie Grantham - "Den Watts" - Eastenders - the likeable rogue

Bill Clinton - he is looking for something to do these days

Prince Andrew - He needs something to do and he's up for it as he's heard about the multitude of golf courses in Thailand

actually its not that easy to catch .

its the publics perception of the syndrome and the expense of providing a lifetimes treatment that scares the governments.

until the drug companies make the drugs cheaper and people become more accepting of the condition then emigration / immigration will always be difficult for the hiv+

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I wont get into a debate here as it is not the place.....suffice to say I disagree Tax. It is easier to catch than most people realise.

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I was also under the impression that it was harder to catch than what people thought, I was told this in hospital when i had blood tests.

I have a friend who worked in pattaya in a very well known gogo that has it.

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And if he is working with a good doctor with access to medicines he will probably live as long as you Dave. Make sure you invite him to your retirement party

Thanks for the replies - I'll head back in the posts and see what I can find. Just spoke to her on the phone(had to come to aus for 4 days unavoidably) and she is feeling a lot better so hopefully is responding to the antivirals - best I can gather at the moment is stories from phnom penh pharmacies who have been telling me they have customers who have been coming for 10 years or so and are still healthy however I have no idea if 10 years is all to expect or if its indefinate with the new drugs.

BTW the antivirals are from the government pharmacuetical organisation of thailand, available in pharmacies here for 45us - would be interested to hear what price is paid for them in thailand - named "gpo-vir"

get yourselves to a country (maybe your home country) where the diagnosis , advice and availability and quality of medication is perhaps better than cambodia.

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Thanks - the goverment of my country, Aus, has in its usual brilliant wisdom, decided that a positive hiv result is reason to make a visa extremely difficult to obtain and also after speaking to an aus doctor yesterday now feel pretty comfortable with the doctor we now have in Phnom Penh looking after her - Naga clinic for anybody ever needing half decent medical at reasonable costs in PP.

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The Oz Government won't let her migrate to Australia and be a burden on the health system.

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Hit the nail right on the head.

Aus can give billions in tsunami relief when the eyes of the world are watching but is not interested in saving the life of a partner of one of its own citizens.

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While the situation is unfortunate for the OP and his girl, it is with good reason that HIV positive people are denied entry to not only OZ but a lot of other countries. While some of you may say it is only about being a burden on the health system or that it is because she may not be able to contribute to society.....it is because that HIV is a high risk transmissable infection with numerous ways of accidental or incidental transmission.

But I must commiserate with the OP... He has found himself with the reality that many of us have thought about. And I must admire his courage in sticking by the lady...the temptation to cut and run would have been high. Good luck to you both.

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To put this into context Hepatitus B is a far more dangerous disease than HIV in so far that its way easier to transmit and basically is untreatable in its most severe forms. HIV is treatable. Personally I think the issue around HIV is one based solely on cost of treatment and lack of understanding of it. It is spread for the most part through lack of knowledge and hysteria. Nobody ever talks about HEP B but I know 3 guys and 2 of their wifes who have it. 2 of the guys regularly as taking girls out of bars in Pattaya and BKK but nobody seems to think its as serious as HIV. Hep B can be spread by kissing someone who has not had an inoculation against it. Never seems to come up though in discussions as one of the things checked during a bar girls medical check up.

Hey, last couple of months have been going crazy trying to get good medical for my girlfriend here in Phnom Penh, fever , bad cough etc etc.

Went through several doctors with various diagnosis over several months before getting a decent thourough doctor who finally found she had hiv.

We were both totally shattered and it left me in tears as we have been discussing marriage and how good the future was looking. anyway - I have decided I love her too much to abandon her and will stick by her and hopefully still have some good times ahead of us - we have been together about a year and have had some really good times and are very compatible - its not a paid situation but a genuine relationship with a great girl.

I now have her on gpo-vir a thai gov hiv drug(3 days ago) and am wondering if anybody can give me any sort of optimistic words for the future - I have not a clue on what to expect and am in the dark as to her life expectency etc etc.

btw test results show me as negative but one more test needed in 3 months

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I pay for a girls medicines who has HIV and have met her doctor many times and BKK and have done a fair amount of research on HIV.

First thought in my mind is how was the diagnosis undertaken? Was it a blood test only or blood test followed up by viral load and CD4 counts? If she has had viral load and CD4 tests what were her results? Viral load is refered to in thousands (i.e 30,000;60,000 etc) and CD4 in numbers ranging from 0-approx 800. Without having these tests you cannot be absolutely certain that the patient even has HIV. Many things can cause a false HIV positive reading and the sero-conversion timeline is generally about 2-6 days of sickness not months.

The results of these tests can confirm the HIV in the body by the fact that a viral load is actually measured and that the patients CD4 count (basically amount of infection fighting blood cells in the body in very simple laymans terms) will be reduced when compared to a normal person. Basically HIV attacks the CD4 cells killing them off. Once the virus has wiped out about 75% of your CD4 cells, you are vunerable to multiple illnesses that ordinarily would be beaten back by your CD4 cells - these are called opportunistic infections - basically taking advantage of your bodies weak imune system. The viral load test measures the amount of HIV in the bloodstream and is a good indication of how much virus is in the body.

In general terms a patient with a CD4 count higher than 200 is consider to have HIV. Below 200 they are considered to have AIDS. Once you drop below 200 CD4 cells, you are much stronger risk of developing illness that your body cannot fight.

There are currently about 25 medicines that are used to fight HIv infection. None of them cure the infection however they can suppress the virus and prevent it replicating. In essence, there are 4 main types of medicine, which are designed to do different things and are used at different stages of treatment.

It is fair to say that with proper medical guidance and access to the whole suite of medicines that a person now contracting HIV is likely to end up dying of something other than HIV and to live a normal lifespan. Big ifs in this scenario is the medical care they receive and the access to medicines. Medicines are not cheap, have toxicity issues and numerous side effects. That is why a good doctor is such an important part of the equation. This is not something you can do yourself however you can arm yourself with a lot of info to ask the doctor the right questions and understand where they are headed with treatment options.

The aim of HIV medicines is to suppress the virus to levels where it cannot be measured in a patients bloodstream (known as being undetectable) and by suppressing the virus to allow your CD4 cells to replenish and fight of infections in the normal way.

Over the last 20 years doctors have learnt a huge amount about HIV. The current preferred method of treatment is to allow the CD4 level to fall to between 200 and 350 (depending upon where you are from, 200 -250 in Europe, 350 in the USA) and then start a course of HIV medicines. The reason for delaying the start is for a number of reasons:

1. Toxicity - the medicines are too a large extent toxic. The body can only take so much toxic materials. Therefore due to point 2, there seems little point in starting someone on medicines early.

2. Ability to fight the virus. Originally an idea that came from the US was to hit very hard on HIV in the hope of wiping it out. Study after study has shown that this approach has not produced signifigantly better results than by delaying treatment. It has been proven that in general terms someone starting HIV medicine with a CD4 count of 200 achieves the same benefit as someone starting with a CD4 count of say 500. Basically the end result with treatment is the same. Therefore due to toxic concerns, most doctors and government health bodies suggest delaying treatment until your CD4 is the range between 200 and 350. The exception to this is if the patient is currently undergoing the seroconversion illness. Use of HIV medicines at this point has acelerated the growth in CD4 count to near normal levels very quickly and to suppress the virus very effectively. This is why baseline testing and then regular testing for CD4 and viral load is very important. Generally this is done every 3-6 months.

3. Cost. These medicines cost a lot of money. Cost of course plays a part as one you are on HIV medicine, your pretty much on it for the rest of your life.

4. Preserving medicine options. OK so there are 25 medicines and loads more in the pipeline, however your body can and does reject some medicines, thus reducing the amount of choice your doctor has in the medication they can prescribe. Also some medicines do not work well together. Again this reduces the options for the doctor. Your HIV virus may also be resistant to some medicines, which again limits your options and HIV can also outwit the medicines and make some worthless. This can actually wipe out more than just the medicine being taken as many of the 25 medicines have similar characteristics. Therefore if the virus in the body can restrict one medicine, the doctors are also aware that XX many others would also not work.

So in a nutshell on options, you do not really have 25 medicines that you can go through even though thats about the number of medicines there are. Therefore it makes sense to preserve as many medicines as you can for future use as doctors are now looking ahead at how they are going to treat HIV positive patients 30 years ahead.

So thats why treatment is delayed until you really need it i.e once your CD4 count is down to between 200-350.

Now with patients living longer and longer with medicines the focus has switched to make the medicines easier to take, less pills, less side effects etc. Many medicines are being packaged together in the same pill, so that you take multiple medicines in just one dose. This is being done because one of the biggest problems in treating HIV is to ensure that the patient takes the medicines correctly. It is critically important NOT to miss doses as this will allow the HIV to develop resistance to the medicine and basically means its worthless.

The medicine you are using is a combination of 3 HIV medicines including D4T and Nevarapine. D4T is one of the first medicines for HIV and is not considered a 'first choice' medicine in the west anymore as their have been numerous cases of body fat loss with this medicine. However it is still used as a backup in case of resistance to other drugs. Its basically a bit like keeping a t-shirt in the back of the cupboard, just in case all your favourite ones are in the wash. Nevarapine on the other hand is a first rate medicine and used as a main stay of treatments in the west. There is one other medicine in the combination but I cannot remember what it is. This combination of drugs has proven to be extremely good and its fair to say that for its price it produces excellent results. It is not the best but at that price nothing else is so easily affordable.

My suggestions for you:

1. If not had viral load and CD4 test yet - GET THEM DONE - only these can tell how the virus is developing and what use medicines are. Get these re-done every 3 months for the first year and then drop back to every 5 months or so.

2. Check how expereinced your doctor is in treating HIV. YOU MUST use a specialist doctor. There knowledge and training is designed to look out for signs than an ordinary doctor would not be aware off. They are also well aware of the problems between different medicines.

3. Undertake CBC (complete blood count) test, Hep A,B,C tests as well and keep repeating CBC same time as viral load and CD4. CBC will show a multitude of illnesses through your blood work and importantly, HIV specialists can measure drug toxicity and other warning signs through this test. For example, some medicines can cause anemia. This is picked up through the blood test far easier than by any physical signs.

The hepatitus tests are very important. Most HIV medicine is funelled through the liver. Hepititus is a liver disease. the two do not go well together. Hep B is very common in Asia. Currently there are a couple of drugs that can treat Hep B - one of them is also a HIV drug. Your doctor would ideally not use this drug unless the liver is in trouble as if your body becomes resistant to this drug (its called 3TC), you cannot use it for Hep B infection. Again another critical reason to use a specialist HIV doctor. If your not comfortable with your doctor FIND ANOTHER. Its this doctor that will keep your friend alive. You must have a very good relationship with them - far more so than a traditional GP.

Hope this helps and if its any comfort, the girl I help has an undetectable viral load, normal CD4 count and is in superb health. With the right support and medicines this is a manageable illness not a death sentence anymore.

Best abbreviation would be LOS.

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Standing for Look Outside window its Suvarnabhumi

(and were still going to be landing at Don Muang for a while yet)

From what I found out, the price for buying it back which is fixed to the window is if you brought if from that shop in the first place. I have never found a gold shop willing to pay the price on the window unless I had purchased it there. Sounds crazy but thats my experience on gold bars (between 10 and 25 Baht in weight). Dont bother with jewellery if its an investment, just stick with gold bars. Also the reason for Chinatown is that they are reputed to sell good gold, not some knock off copy and the shop is likely to be there if you need to sell it back. They will offer you the option of having the bar embossed with their unique stamp. I did but I really have no clue what difference it makes, other than they can tell that they sold it before.

Oh by the way, Thai gold prices bear little relation to US gold prices - again wierd but true. I bought when gold was low around 9th February at 7750 baht and 408 US$ I think. When US$ price went up to approx 448, the baht price was 8050 so an increase of about 3-4% versus a US$ increase of 10%. Then the US $ gold price tumbled back to about 420 but the Baht price was still 8,000 - go figure that one on a supposed International tradeable material.

If I did it again I would just buy Perth paper notes saying I have XXX gold as the spread between selling and buying price is very small.

Spent 5 minutes in that place a few years ago, loudest music I've ever heard. Good riddance, maybe bulldoze it and make some more beer bars, that's what Pattaya needs more of!

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You are joking?

good....first bangkok, now pattaya, lets get rid of this tourist trap hall of rip-off shame

let's start the beginning of pattaya's clean-up.

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Drinks prices are still absurd. I stopped in their briefly in Nov and it was ok. Its gotten heaps better than it used to be.... no more vendours harrassing you every couple minutes.

Dave- perhaps you can do some recon and update us on Tony's status?

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Will do some snifing around tonight, I was told by a policeman frined last night that 30 day shutdown is definate

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Dave - Is that the same kind of 30 day shutdown that the JP Bar always manages to wriggle out of ?????

Can we just get some things clear?

This thread is a part of the Thai Visa Ex-pat Forum. A forum dedicated to those (including those from the UK) who choose to live as foreigners in another country (usually LOS).

This section of this forum is entitled Pattaya Forum.

Just what is the justification for discussing the immigration policy of the UK here of all places in the manner of these postings?

Surely only points as far as they will effect visa applications and/or Pattaya have any relevance and therefore a right to be posted here.

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I thought Pattaya was on the way to become the Brit home away from home based on how many of them live there But seriously I thought the same thing when i first started reading the thread and then thought, well crazy to go outside and get wet so might as well join the fray

In a Sky News poll today 85% of the people polled say immigration is their greatest concern.

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Blimey and I have not lived there for over 10 years and not visited for nearly a year !!!! But having said that its not exactly rocket science. Everytime I go back I wonder whats happening to the mix of British people, so I would assume the indiginous population would have the same concerns.

I dont follow UK politics very closely anymore however IF Michael Howard were to go further to the right on immigration, national security and asylum seekers I would put serious money on them winning the election. I see it as the only issue where they (Conservatives) can lean more to the right and actually have the support of the majority of people, a lot of whom are labour voters in traditionally labour strongholds. Interesting that one of his campaign team is the former advise to Aussie PM Howard who a few years did exactly the same thing. I think his famous quote is something like " we, Australia will decide who can come to Australia and on what terms etc etc" seemed to hit the right buttons for the Aussie voters. Its the kind of thing that whips up nationalism sentiment when the mainstream UK voter is clearly concerned about the rise in asylum seekers and immigration/border controls etc.

I have not read the conversative manifesto, so dont know if its still atrick up their sleeve. If I was playing that game of poker, I'd be keeping it as my trump card to role out about 2 weeks before election day and have all the print ads running one core message. Everything else, you really cant split the conservatives and labour apart - and by that I mean, their policies are so similar not how competently they execute them

The upcoming season of Pride, Predujice and Pattaya is set to become the must see TV show of the year.

The launch episode ( extra length) has set the scene. BS is in love and must fight the tyrants who are out to stop him from being with his beloved. Featuring an all star cast of relative newbies, this is non stop action all the way to the alter.

The show features 10 episodes in the first season and below are some of the extracts. You will want to turn off your phone, shut your curtains, strangle the cat and kick out the dog to ensure your not disturbed whilst nestling in your favourite armchair with the lights dimmed low and your favourite comfort foods next to you as this true to life reality TV drama unfolds.....

Episode 1

Following on from the season kick off and scene setter, we find BS arriving at Bangkok hopefully to whisk his beloved back to the UK. First stop on his tour is the home of the tyrant. He has to infiltrate first though the top level security manned by those ever faithfull pain inflicting protectors, the Gurkhas. The tyrants location is atop Wireless Road, a symbolic building showing a once glorious past and a shrine to all those who have failed to pay the correct homage to this most repulsive collection of public servants. How will our hero undertake this mission?

Episode 2

Will BS come face to face with the tyrant? Has he outwitted the Gurkhas and scaled those high walls? Did he manage to get the taxi to drop him outside just before the meter clicked to 41 baht and thus causing him to shell out a hundred with no change? Is he going in under the cover of darkness or just choosing a public holiday to make his daring entry?

Meanwhile, what is the tyrant doing? How much does he now of BS plan? Are his intilligence teams working around the clock or just clock watching? Do they have any real clue as to what happens outside those impenetrable walls guarding the fortress. The fortress that without mercy has broken so many dreams and cast aside so many of the peasants who live outside those walls.

Episode 3

With a guest appearance from a dark skinned lady who always believes 3 days late is without question the fashionable time to arrive, we meet our heroine. Is she emerging from the klang draped only in a 2 piece bathing costume with some sea shells strategically placed around her navel and displaying an uncanny resemblance to something the cat dragged in. Does she emerge from the shadows of the Ekamia bus terminal having just arrived from the international resort of Pattaya, famous for its wealth of low class thieves and scoundrells.

How does she connect and meet BS? Where is BS? Has he been held by the tyrant? Is she going to be able to find him and release him from those evil clutches or does she decide she's hue cow and stops for some somtam at a streetside cafe in the arab quarter of this sweaty, mind boggling commune known as the City of Angels.? All will become clear.....

Episode 4

A first opportunity to see behind the walls. The walls that have seen much blood, many tears and quite a few dogs undergoing their business. Who are the aliens who work in that place. How come they never leave the building? What do they do and where do they sleep? How do they manage to convert so many people from being cheery and smiling before entry to coming out crying, nervous wrecks after their baptism with the tyrant. What mind playing tricks does he play with them. Why is everyone known by rank and not name and what the heck does ECO mean? All will become clear as we venture beyond those walls....

Episode 5

BS needs all the help he can get. Mrs BS is supportive but dim. He needs enlightment, he needs someone to 'guide' him through the tyrants thoughts. He also needs a shower. He works his way toward the 'Mans sauna' down a sub soi for some cleansing. He saw the ad in a free magazine in his hotel room among the ads of pretty girls and multitude of tailor shops all of whom have been given more awards than a Thai policeman. In the sauna, he realises that things are not all they seem. First off, he was sweating more in the streets of this city than inside the steam infested room. Second, everybody is given a banana and tub of vaseline as they enter along with a towell than can only be described as a thong. Tune in to find out what happens to BS....

Episode 6

Enter the Orac of all knowledge. The one who managed to escape from the tyrant and is pitting his wits to help the freedom fighters and no hope lowlifes, make something of themselves. The Scouse arrives in a private jet into an unkown airfield somewhere on the fringes of the Big Mango. Not for him the chaos of Don Muang. His private practice is doing rather well offering paid advice to an endless stream of disciples eager to throw good money after bad. Offering words of encouragement designed to draw hope to a hopeless cause, he has the healing hand of moses, albeit he now has a staff of underlings to deal with the day to day mass market dross. He keeps himself for the true sucker who clearly has more money than sense and is able to pay for a personal 'consultation' to beat the tyrant at any cost. Will the Scouse meet up with BS? How will they recognise each other? Did BS excape from the sauna OK ? or is he walking in a strange manner? Will the tyrant be aware of the arrival of his arch enemy, the Scouse. The last pretender, got a short thrift from the tyrant. Will the Scouse be next?

Episode 7

This episode takes place in the darkest den of eniquity, a place so teaming with low life that nobody would admit to being there. BS and Scouser sit quietly in the corner of this Soi Cowboy bar, pushing away the female hands that emerge from under the seats and reaching for their genitals. the air is thick with smoke and insense. Quietly they whisper together a plan aware that nobody with any standing would dare set foot into such a dump. They both choose to drink straight from their bottles of Singha, ignoring the glasses that have a built up residue of grime and mould. Mrs BS meanwhile is across the bar chatting with some friends she had not seen since working in Soi 6, Pattaya.

Episode 8

The execution of the plan commences. BS is fired up either with passion or by the somtan he ate at the street side market stall. Scouse has decided to visit a client in Phuket but promises to be back for judgement day. Nobody knows where Mrs BS is.

Episode 9

Judgement day arrives. BS could not sleep last night. After retiring at 8.00pm, he wanted to get a good 7 hours sleep before converging on the tyrants place in the dead of night. As it was he only got 1 hours sleep before the alarm call woke him. Is Mrs BS lying next to him? Do they attempt this mission together or does he go alone? Is it a public holiday today? Will Scouse emerge from the Oriental on time and meet him as planned? Should he trust the Tuk Tuk driver that has stuck by his side ever since he went on a tour of the temples followed by a visit to a closing down sale for a diamond shop somewhere in the Chinatown district? The driver said these diamonds were excellent and the 4 carrott ring he bought Mrs BS really looked good. Shame Mrs BS has scratched it already though leaving a large indent on the top of the diamond when she fell over drunk in NEP the night before last. Mrs BS took it to be valued and he was really impressed when she said it and he was a 'kinny ow" which the tuk tuk driver translated as meaning its rare and very valuable. He had spent a lot of time with the Tuk Tuk driver - Mrs BS had a lot to do in the big Mango and kept saying she going out for a short time, back soon.

Episode 10 - The cliffhanger

Scenario 1 - BS achieves his goal and beats the tyrant at his own game

Scenario 2 - BS fails in his quest for good to triumph over evil

You will have to tune in to find out what really happens in this most compelling of TV drama's

I have a reduced size photocopy (credit card size) which I have laminated

and can carry as an "id card" when I am out and about.

The real passport stays in my safe!!

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Blimey Astral, I have enough trouble reading the stamps and dates in my full size passport. Do you carry a magnifying glass with your mini-me set of ID

I dare say the airport staff over reacted. Seems the guy parked properly in a parking area.

As astral said, at Don Muang you can park your car (or a motorbike) for a daily fee, which I do all the time, drive to the airport, leave for a neighbouring country and upon return pick up my car, pay the fee and drive home.

That's what the airport carparks are for (albeit expensive on long term).

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Axel, your applying logic here from the west. Car parks at airports are for staff to park in. Anybody that can afford to fly will of course have a driver and tourists come to the airport by taxi. Thats why you can never get a space in Don Muang thanks to all the staff using it.

Debt From The Uk, can they get me?????

i sincerely hope so.

somebody else will be losing money if you dont take some responsibility for your own debts.

please no sarky replies or bible bashing.

why not.

you deserve all the crap you get if you are running away and leaving someone or some other organisation to pay your bills for you.

dont tell me you're going to pattaya !!

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he'd be less lonely in Pattaya

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Probably read the article in the Guardian and is backing bags now

It all comes down to the "recipe" when they mix it. Your best grade cement will become crap if not mixed properly as many try and cut down on cost by cutting corners, as when painting, they'll add water to the paint bucket.

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The adding water to paint is not always to cut costs - if you read the tin, it suggests adding water at ratio of 10% to the paint and that goes for the better Thai brands as well as the very cheap ones. I have no knowledge of this other than reading a tin in Home Pro when I was waiting for a member of staff, but seems to confirm it to me (and I had exactly the same assumption as you which is why I looked at a tin that had English instructions).

I agree 100% with ozzydom and I buy and sell property all the time. Unless you know the property market and the Thai market in particular, you have minimal chance of doing well. You might strike lucky but odd's are you will not and could well be stuck with a property you cannot move at a break even price let alone a profit.

Stick with renting and everything is much clearer.

Heng, I'm curious, what would you buy if you only had 2 mb and no help from the family business?

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Is that, what would I do if I only had 2 million Baht left and no other assets? Or is that everything the way it is now, and was contemplating a new car purchase with a 2 million Baht budget?

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Heng, what i mean simply is what car would you buy with just a 2 mb budget, ceteris paribus.

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I hope Heng Yontakrit chooses his cars better than the Yontakrit dealerships look after their customers and their relationships with the suppliers. What is it now:

BMW - Gone to self distribution

VW - Going to self distribution as quickly as they get out of the Yontakrit contract

Seat - Same as VW

Audi - Same as VW

What does that leave:

Kia and err, well they do have a BMW dealership, and I think they have also PSA (Citroen etc)

This is getting more and more like a soap opera. Now we have the wait and suspense until the next episode.

Did BS arrive safely on Phuket Air?

Was Mrs BS waiting for him at the airport or did she oversleep, panic and leap over the guy in bed next to her and struggle to pull on her panties as she darts out to grab a taxi to airport?

Did Mr BS call her mobile and find a sleepy Thai man answering (as Mrs BS left if in the panic as she darted out of the hotel room)?

Is Mrs BS panicking as the taxi driver has to pull into the gas station to get more fuel to make it to the airport?

Has she mastered the art of applying makeup whilst the taxi is hurtling down the road (not the tollway, too expensive) avoiding hoards of her fellow Issan workers heading back home crammed into a 20 yr old pickup?

Has Mr BS given away the 1 meter tall cuddly toy he bought at Birmingham airport to a scrawny 4 year old instead of the beloved Mrs BS once the Thai man picked up her mobile phone.

Can Mrs BS think of even more fiction than Sidney Sheldon and Hans Christian Anderson that will allow her to wrestle out of this dilemma?

Tune in next time folks for the latest goings on in the next episode of,

"Pride, Passion and Pattaya" A story of everyday folk in the city of sin

That may be true but while we're in Thailand, in my book, it really shouldn't matter what the person is doing. If they want to make 10-15 grand a month, whether it be watching the kids or running errands for me is immaterial.

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You might need to think again about your package. My secretary in BKK earns base salary of 25,000 baht month + allowances + bonus, 5 day week, holidays, medical insurance etc. Comes from Udon and gone through Uni with a good degree and has very good English, written and spoken.

Took a long time to find her. She is 29 years old.

The maid in our office is on a salary of 9,000 baht and she is capable just about of emptying rubbish bins and making 3 in 1 coffee. She is also very good at looking busy but actually doing nothing.

The point here is that I am told by my admin mgr that you cant really get people for 5,000 baht a month in Bangkok anymore and if you did they are either unrelible or quit after finding a better paying job. So it may follow that your going to struggle to get your PA for 10,000 month, even possibly up to 15,000 month unless you go for a recent graduate.

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You dont cover the rent, food, bills etc of your secretary do you?

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It feels like it sometimes but no we do not. Her allowances are for things like mobile phone, misc transport (I have never figured that one out) and a clothing allowance - items that she incurs because of working for us and our requirements - all run to about an extra 5,000 baht month and no her clothing allowance is not for bedroom attire, just in case your wondering its for her suits and dry cleaning

The Pattaya police at soi 9, have a list of at least 30 farang builders working here illegally, ie no work permit etc, and this was at least six months ago that I saw that list, so I have know idea how many are on it now, Generally the police will do nothing, But for some reason, I assume the builder, they have a clamp down on certain people.

So it comes down to who he upset or who he refused to pay.

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Why would the main police station have it, yet its the immigration police that are concerned with what people are doing while they are here?

Interesting that you have seen the list. Care to expand on that with some more details?

I'm sitting here in London....I was on the same phuket air flight on one of my trips to bangkok last january. I arrived at Stansted airport and was told that the flight would be leaving the following day due to a technical fault. We were put in a hotel without ground staff assistance whatsoever. The only person available said that we were not going to leave on other airlines (such as Thai, EVA etc...) because they had no agrrement and they were all full anyway. The following day we were told we would get compensation in BKK but when we arrived no one was there. On the flight I met Rae, a sweet flight attendant whom I later spoke to on my way to khao san from Dom Nuang. She told me the flight had been delayed because the incoming flight from Dom Nuang the previous day had two of the four motors explode and had to return to BKK after three hours flight. She also told tme we had just landed with no brake and we were in an emergency landing, and that she was "really scared" of flying. Phuket air has bought three stinky old Boeing 747/300 from KLM (Dutch) who got rid of them because they were considered unsafe and were old. They are dangerous and should be grounded because they have so many flight hours on them. adding on to that, Phuket Airlines maintenance is crap. and they have no experience in long haul operation, and have no rwespect for the lives of passengers but especially crew who fly on  their planes every day. Isn't spending 3 billion baht extra to buy new aircraft worth the lives and safety of hundreds of human beings? I hope the ministry is tough on them.

KrungkhepAlan 

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Stansted I thought they flew from Gatwick !!!!!