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Digger
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Posts posted by Digger
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Also - don't presume that HIV is now under control & that if you have it, you'll lead a healthy life. If you have a poor liver, the HIV medication could cause lots of problems. Some people do last a long time & others don't - this is not a cold we are talking about.
Better to compare HIV medication with cancer medication (and not diabetes) medication methinks.
Just be careful & don't deny the risks
Pedro, I dont disagree with your sentiment however my post did not portray having HIV as a bed of roses - strict medicine regimes are a fact of life however if you ask experts (as I have), they will confirm that early diagnosis and correct adherance to the medical regimes, people ARE living normal lifes and working. Not the same as cancer in my opinion as the treatment options are very different. How many people do you now working and living normal lives with cancer. Three members of my family have died of cancer and they had a horrible time since diagnosis. The girl who's medicine I pay for works in a mini mart and she leads a completely normal life to all intents and purposes. The people that are dying in the west are typically people who do not follow the medicine regimes and their CD4 levels fall to such dangerously low levels and then get an opportunistic infection from which they cannot recover. With a CD4 count above 350, the chances of catching any such opportunistic infections are way reduced and to all intents and purposes these HIV positive have the same imune strength as a non HIV person.
Has this girl been sick since? Yes she has, she suffered from hypertension and anemia about 4 months into the treatment. Her doctor satisfied that the viral load was undetectable has subsequently reduced the amount of medication she is taking however (and this is where the expertise is required), she did not want to change the medication which would limit her options in the future. She is also mindfull that she has Hep B, which of course affects the liver. Whilst this is not a problem now it might be in the future. Again another reason to work only with specialist doctors that now what they are talking about. Since reducing her dosage, she has had no further sickness of any description. Her liver function tests are all fine as they are checked every 6 months.
I absolutely agree though with your comments about men catching it. I have been with her perhaps 6 times to see her doctor at Bumrungrad. The doctor she see's runs very late (way over each 10-15 minute appointment time) and that means you are often waiting to see her for well over an hour after your alloted appointment. I see just as many men going in to see this doctor including many farang and unless they are suffering from elephantitis, odds are they are infected with HIV as that is what she specialises in. I have also seen one well known farang I recognised from newspaper pictures going into see this doctor so it can and does affect everybody.
So in essence, its not a walk in the park but its not a death sentence either.
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I got really annoyed at a TV article when I was in Pattaya over Christmas which showed a group of HIV positive kids at Yorkies restaurant having a Christmas lunch. Organised by something called the UK club which was a great effort, but when they interviewed one of the organisers, she said something along the lines of "these kids have all got AIDS and we want to help them in their short lives to have some happiness". To her credit she did say that she is not an expert on this and with that kind of statement, she is absolutely correct in that she really knows very little.
With correct medical attention HIV is a manageable illness like diabetes. With medication, you can control diabetes, without it you will die - same as HIV. With correct medical treatment, HIV doctors are now advising patients that they will likely lead a normal life expectancy. With treatment HIV does not have to lead to full blown aids.
Unfortunately too many people still assume that nothing can be done and that death is inevitable. Of course it is if you dont do anything about it. For the cost of 3,000 baht a month, Thailand even without the 30 baht scheme can and does treat people who continue to lead full lifes. Unfortunately it seems that the stigma question is still there plus a serious lack of knowledge among Thai healthcare professionals as to how to correctly treat this illness. The key is for anybody with HIV to get regular testing and then when they fall below certain CD4 levels to move onto HART treatments. These will if taken correctly, keep the virus in check and under control. This is the message that needs to be understood as well as the obvious efforts to prevent transmission in the first place, but lets not give up on people that are HIV positive.
Personally I have been overwhelmed by the attention given to the Tsunami and wonder if this energy could be equally deployed to help kids with HIV as an example. One pub raised over 150,000 baht in one night for the relief operation. That money would pay for a kids medicine and checkups for about 5 years. Something to think about perhaps.
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I don't know about the first class lounge, but the business class one, near gate 15 has a long way to go.
Crowded.
No wireless internet. "Sorry not working, you can walk to the other end of the terminal to the other lounge......."
Well done THAI.
Well technology is not exactly TG's forte. Even in the first class lounge they just have a PC in the corner and unless they have changed policy, you still have to pay to use it for internet access. Wireless? Not sure they even know what that is
Oh and if you think that business class lounge is crowded, try the small TG one in terminal two I think that has windows overlooking the gates and down the stairs from the main terminal level. Hopeless and way overcrowded.
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They said that about the hotel as well - however its never been successfull and has been hit hard by the Conrad opening and a rejuvinated Nai Lert Park. Even before the Conrad opened and with all of M Thai occupied by high end Multinational businesses they could not get anywhere in terms of occupancy because they felt their product was unique and they were pitched 20-50% higher than other comparible hotels. End result is a disaster and now effective management has been given to Meridien. Personally I think the hotel will continue to struggle and the condos will as well.
I disagree...that reasoning really does not apply to quality residential condos in a prime prime location....
also Plaza Athenee Hotel suffered to a degree from not being part of an international chain... Conrad is part of the Hilton chain and Nailert was part of the Hilton chain (now under Raffles management).....now Plaza Athenee Hotel is under management of the Le Merdien chain which should help it. International travelers naturally gravitate towards familar brand chain names (especially ones with loyalty programs)......
As with all real estate, the proof will be in the resale values. I merely observed that they screwed up the hotel by pitching the price too high and then asuming because of their location (next to M Thai Tower) that they would be able to sell rooms at a premium. The reality was very different - most corporations kept their travellers in Marriott, Regent, Nai Lert Park and Dusit because it was cheaper, signifigantly so that they felt their is no point in paying that price for a product which was frankly very poor value for the price. I agree with your comment about loyalty programmes for sure but Meridien does not have anywhere near the right coverage in Asia Pacific for business travellers. Therefore if a traveller is driven by loyalty programmes he will continue to stay in Starwoods, Marriotts & Hyatts out of preference.
Personally I quite like the location having lived in Soi Rumradee for 6 months but I still think they are way too expensive.
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I have several questions and hope you may be able to help with some information. If I
was to own three houses in Pattaya 1 to live in and the other 2 to rent, and at the end
of each year I pay to the solicitor the amount of 12000bht for the company and tax.
(1) Do I have to pay more tax, what is the tax %
(2) is it better to have each house in a separate company or under 1.
(3) Do I need a work permit to show new tenants to the property and also collect the
rent.
(4) In a Thai friend was to collect the rent do I need a work permit)
(5) Do you have any other information that might be helpful to me.
Thank you for your time and help in advance
Kind regards
12,000 is out of date. You should be declaring in full on your company tax return the full rental income from each of the houses your company own. From this rental income you have to pay from memory 15% of that rental income value in a property rent tax over and above the normal corporation tax. The rental income can be an element of the total rent i.e you charge rent for the house and then a fee for furniture and fee for services (eg communal charges, gardening, pool cleaning if you have it). Assuming your total monthly fee was say 25,000baht, you could split the rent for house, furniture fee, service fee 3 ways and then you pay 15% only on the rental income as opposed to the full 25,000 charge to occupy the property. Your contracts need to reflect this exactly. Some Thai landlords say only 10% of the total rent is for the accomodation, other 90% split between furniture and services. However I feel that is taking advantage and difficult to justify to any tax authorities.
If you are the only signing director and are resident in Thailand, then you should obtain a work permit however many do not. If its in Pattaya, there is a very strong liklihood that the tax office WILL thoroughly audit you to ensure your paying taxes correctly. They have done it to me and because I followed the above principals and pay tax on the income, they were very happy. Technically you are working unless you contract out the management of the property to another 3rd party and get proper receipts and contracts however that can be expensive. I have a work permit already and was advised that no need to get a second one added to my blue book for this property interest. Multiple houses might be worthwile to consider a work permit.
If you structure as one company and then decide to sell a house, your company will pay a large amount of tax as it will have to be shown as a one off profit on the company. Odds are you will not have a correct invoice from whomever you are buying it from, therefore you could hit big time - corporation tax is typically 20% on company under 5,000,000 baht capitalisation, which could dent any profit that you may realise from a sale. Also land transfer taxes have to be taken into account but that may fall to the buyer.
You must keep the furniture receipts if your charging for furniture and they must be considered acceptable receipts (i.e your company name on the bill along with the name and address of the seller) - again a good accountant can assist you here.
Furthermore if you go down the work permit route, you must be registered for VAT and then the payments for services and furniture will be VATable. House rental is not VATable.
You should take proper advice on this from a reputable accountant and not some local legal advisor in a real estate office. Tax authorities are getting very hot on this in Pattaya as its an easy income stream for them and very easy for them to track who is owning what via companies. By the way you will also need to pay rent on the house you occupy into your own company. Unless your getting a very good return from the property, the fee's and taxes may well outweigh any financial benefit in doing it.
Hope this helps
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Expensive compared to other Bangkok condo Bt120,000/sqm
I think expensive has to be the operative word in this. So far as I'm aware, no condo property anywhere in Thailand (including Phuket, Samui, Bangkok, etc.) has ever sold for more than Bt.100k/sqm. A few years ago All Seasons were selling at Bt. 80k/sqm and everyone thought it was mad - but this just seems to be extreme.
The question I have: what kind of return can anyone possible hope to get from this. Also, keep in mind that farangs cannot own more than 49% of the building (unless they have PR status)?
So, you're selling to 51% Thai market - at 100k++/sqm...
...and for what, a place behind the back of Plaza hotel with absolutely no view, horrid access and little in the way of nearby amenities.
Crazy is not the word!
SM
Actually, there are other places that have sold for higher than 100k psm, e.g. the Rajadhamri project launched in 2003 by Sansiri, and more recently The Park Chidlom, is also averaging above 100k psm. Even some Grade A resale condos like Somkid Gardens and some freehold units on Lang Suan have been known to transact above 100k psm. But these prices have so far only been achieved in the Ploenchit area, ie Wireless, Lang Suan, Ton Son, Somkid, Chidlom, Rajadhamri, although for Ruamrudee itself this is a record.
Even though capital values are still far below other regional centers like Hong Kong, I tend to agree that prices are toppish because like you point out, the returns are not too fantastic. A recent report by JLL put investment yields at 4.6-6.0%, which means that the upside is quite limited if you consider that pension funds here are taking in about 4.5% for other investment grade properties. And why should foreign funds move in when they can still get 8.5% in KL and 9% in Shanghai, other places with a comparable risk profile?
But the thing about this market is that many of these high-end purchases are not purely rent driven, for example there are many rich people just parking their funds now that equities have taken a tumble. People also hope that they have bought into an increasingly rare piece of real estate because a few years down the road, it would be impossible to find a replacement as this part of town becomes fully developed. So these high end buyers are looking more for longer term capital appreciation, which from my experience, they can't go wrong, but they may have to sit out a few intervening property cycles.
As to the Athenee project, all I can say is that Mr Charoen has already made his money back by stiffing his Singapore partners with a high land price, and they are in turn trying to make it back by jacking up the selling price. Charoen will make a second windfall from the condo sales if all goes well.
The Athenee Residence has the advantage of being located on the best piece of available property in Bangkok...sure, the price may seem high now...but 5 - 10 years from now people will have wished that they bought there.
The construction is being done by a first rate Japanese (with Thai partner) company. The 'fittings' are deluxe. The fllor plans are the most creative.
Access to both Wireless Road and Ruom Rudee is a golden gateway. And the proximity to the Skytrain is super.
They said that about the hotel as well - however its never been successfull and has been hit hard by the Conrad opening and a rejuvinated Nai Lert Park. Even before the Conrad opened and with all of M Thai occupied by high end Multinational businesses they could not get anywhere in terms of occupancy because they felt their product was unique and they were pitched 20-50% higher than other comparible hotels. End result is a disaster and now effective management has been given to Meridien. Personally I think the hotel will continue to struggle and the condos will as well.
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Anyone tried it yet ..wot do u recon...
Thai Airways First Class lounge service ranks top in latest airline ratings.
The President of Thai Airways International is on record for stating that he wants to position the airline within the top three in Asia, and that such achievement depends on many planned changes coming into effect across the airline's airport and onboard environnments.
Their latest First Class lounge standards at the home base airport in Bangkok are a sure indicator that the airline is well on it's way to achieving these changes. The THAI first class lounge was recently ranked 1st in the world for combined quality of product and service in the Skytrax 2004/5 league. Ironically, THAI will only be using the facility for the next 12 months, as the planned opening of the new international airport in Bangkok will see the airline opening newer and further improved facilities.
Commenting on the lounge ratings, Peter Miller of Skytrax "our lounge ratings are the result of an exacting analysis of standards. We are not interested in which airline has the largest lounges, or necessarily the most technologically advanced services - we look for the combined quality of product and service. A good airline lounge is somewhere you feel relaxed, genuinely welcome, and the expected product facilities are available."
"The airport experience is now one of the most critical elements of today's air travel enjoyment, and in First class, passenger expectations are at their highest. Customers prepared to pay these fare levels want the best quality of service - from start to finish or their journey" added Miller.
Whilst not the largest airline First class lounge, Thai Airways was commended for the high quality of furnishing and lounge ambience. "It is a relaxing lounge" said Skytrax. Staff service is efficient but not intrusive. Washrooms are beautifully presented with an extensive choice of L'Occitane amenities - in lounge catering offers an array of cold buffet food as well as hot dishes prepared to passenger requests.
To help alleviate the general stresses of flying, customers can also enjoy neck and foot massage services during their lounge stay. Internet facilities are available, and for those with longer stays in the lounge, Thai Airways provide personal DVD players with a range of movies to enjoy.
The top airlines in the First Class lounge category :
1st - Thai Airways Int'l
2nd -South African Airways
3rd - Cathay Pacific
4th - Emirates
5th - Gulf Air
6th - Singapore Airlines
more....
I used it a few weeks ago and thought it was 'fine' - good service but hardly in the "blow me off my feet" category. Nice ambience and not too large. Toilets were a major improvement over the old ones but no showers. SQ first class lounge at Changi and CX First Class in HKG are both better in my opinion and have better selection of food & drink however TG does score well with the personalised service to your seat and wide range of international newspapers, whereas the others are help yourself affairs and locally printed newspapers only.
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Hi gaz
I have to pay 80% CIF, this means duty on the agreed value of the car and 80% duty on shipping. ie CIF (cost including freight)
I had to prove what i paid for the car to the Thai Commerce Dept and this was done by showing an invoice from the car auctions where i bought it, also it must be checkable by them to make sure it was not a false invoice.
One other thing i forgot to mention was that i had to show an engineers report on the car to show it was roadworthy.
mike.
Out of curiosity what is the actual amount of duty in Pound or baht terms and how old is the Supra. I have wondered before about importing car from the UK and would be interested to now how they valued it.
Many thanks
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Lee Quan Yew figured it out, but he was a lot smarter than Thaksin, and his interests were in creating a wealthier country of people, not a wealthier self.
Lee Quan Yew has become very wealthy in Singapore - how wealthy nobody really knows but certainly capable of paying for a exclusive 747 to bring his wife back from the UK when she has a suspected stroke about a year ago. Interesting that his wife is also a shareholder in many of Singapores most financially well of companies. However even taking that into account, I'd say Singapore has a pretty good balance and the prime factor seems to be their choice to pay public servants VERY high salaries to mean they become wealthy by doing their job correctly and without the need to look for other avenues of income which is what typically happens in Thailand. Lets face it who would go into Politics here unless they were either rich and wanted more influence or who were poor and wanted to use that influence to become richer.
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I recall reading that last year the TAT turned to the Asian market when the Europeans stopped travelling because of SARS. somehow I suspect that there is only a limited market in Asia ready to travel to Thailand with the right disposable income but looks like the TAT counts numbers of arrivals over and above how much they spend once they are here. Hey they could always do what Indonesia did after Bali bombing and start charging tourists for visa's - now thats a novel idea to encourage tourism
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What about nightlife venues? I can think of a couple of places in BKK that are death traps in the event of fires and in Pattaya, Lucifers should be closed down for lack of fire exits. In fact the authorities are already aware of this one but seem content that 500 people can crowd into one large room with the only exit being 20 meter long corridor and about 1.5m wide and I for one would never step foot in there again for that very reason. When the police raided it couple months back it was chaos and that was without a fire or smoke causing people to panic. Imagine a fire somewhere in the entrance to the the corridor and you have a disaster waiting to happen. I sincerely hope it never happens but am not holding my breath.
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Unless they have sunbeds in British Prisons (which would not surprise me anymore), how would he explain his lack of colour when he comes back from his 3 month holiday in Thailand
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With the aid that has been provided from farangs around the world, finacial and otherwise, would it not be a show of appreciation to reciprocate.
How about the laws being changed on home/land ownership for example.
The king under these circumstances has been known to pardon prisoners in Thailand for any gratuitous help to its country. So why not the goverment?
Why would the govt wish to change the law? There are already plenty of ways around this including the most common way which is for the farang to set up a company and then coming under the tax collection net by paying rent to himself to stay in his companies house. Sure, we as farang would like the law to change but I dont see any pressing reason why the Thai's would want the law to be changed. I would hazzard a guess that in say Pattaya and Phuket, there must be at least 10,000 Thai companies owning property paying taxes typically around 15,000 baht (as an average) so that would equate to 150,000,000 baht in tax payments just by leaving it as the status quo. Not a small sum by Thai standards and could be way higher than my figures show. Almost all well educated Thai already know these loopholes exist, but of course can proclaim quite rightly that foreigners cannot 'buy' land and take over Thailand which of course supposedly appeals to the masses of uneducated Thai's. I suspect the reality is that the poor Thai's dont really give two hoots about foreigners owning land but that way it leaves more for the wealthy Thais to buy up cheap and then sell on to the farang thus keeping more for them in profit. Its called an uneven playing field.
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Is it possible to commute from a Bangkok suburb (like Minburi or Bang Na) to 15km east of Pattaya each day? How long would that take at rush time? I really don't want to raise my kids near Pattaya ... too much sleaze (for their little eyes). Plus all my friends are in BKK. Any suggestions? How is Chonburi for living?
Have a look around Maprachan Resevoir - its about 10km's inland from Sukhumvit Road and very convenient for the motorway up to BKK, about 10 minutes away but very quiet area. Many large houses owned by welathy Thai's and farangs who do not want to be in centre of Pattaya. Lots of villages being built and single houses on large pieces of land. Regents Int school nearby this area which acocunts for why most of the expats on big allowances and school fee's live around there.
To find it, you would come down the highway from Bangkok and where the 36 splits to go to Pattaya and Rayong, you take the Rayong direction. Past the petrol station on the left hand side about 800m from the split you will see a bridge crossing the 36. Turn left and then go on that bridge over the 36 road. Just keep going on this road for about 2 km's and you end up at a T junction with the resevoir straight in front of you. Turn left takes you to where most of the housing is connecting to Siam Country Club road which goes straight down to Sukhumvit and into Pattaya.
The Resevoir area is zoned and tightly controlled planning wise, so no industrial activity is permitted in the area so its basically farming and houses. Having said that the housing is quite expensive on the whole (at least by normal Thai surburban standards) and very few places avilable for cheap Thai ghettos - therefore immediately around the resevoir no Karaokes, late night drunk Thai hangouts etc. Its probably as idyliic as anywhere you could hope to find on the Eastern Seaboard. Lots of people use the resevoir for fishing, canoeing, windsurfing as well as cycling around the resevoir. Many houses for rent in the area including an estate I have seen advertised that is just high end exclusive (and expensive no doubt) large houses for expats which is near to Horseshoe Point Resort. Family who own Horseshoe Point are also one of the richest in the country and no doubt it helps that they own about 1500 acres of land here which tends to keep a tight control on what happens in the area. Quite a few restaurants opening up around the resevoir as well, but you are only 15 minutes from Sukhumvit Road and the main part of Pattaya for supermarkets, shops, cinemas etc.
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Anybody help here ? Where is Jomtien Park Villas,I've read that its 800metres from Jomtien Beach but i have no idea where exactly.Is it built or under construction, any info on it. Its not that Auction place is it ?
Yes this is the place that had the auction
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Singapore seems to be very quiet on this issue. Given its per capita GDP is one of the highest in the world, they should have been doing more. Also they are nearer to Aceh than Jakarta is but I have not seen or heard anything about how there massive military capacity is being deployed to assist their neighbours.
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The problem is not so much at BKK but at the point of departure. From Australia, they are particularly strict to check that you either have a visa or have a round trip ticket and they do more than a simple glance at your passport to check the visa is for the right country. Many times I have flown in from the US on return legs of round trip tickets and the check-in agent had no idea what the visa looked like, so they have ended up reading China and India visa's and saying thats fine for a flight to BKK (despite correct Thai visa in passport but they did not look that far through the passport), but in Australia, they look specifically for the Thai visa EVERY time.
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Thats what everybody wants to know - was it mentioned at the auction that people were buying land that had not been split or without a valid chanot?
On the back of the sales brocure in Thai only (as was stated by previous poster) developer is in the process of applying for 'jatsan' (pre-allocated village) - implication, the land will be split in to separate chanotes when this occurs on or before 31-August-05.
The sales note sheet has a payment schedule date: for payments of 30% by Jan 05, then 10% per month -- then 10% on the Transfer date of August 31st which is when you would get the chanote.
Nothing was said at the auction about not being able to do an immeadiate transfer - so this is a great point. If one didn't inquire they would assume the deed is ready for transfer.
The only thing that the auctioneer did say is that he had someone who 'wanted to know this and what about that and what about this?'. As if the person asking didn't trust (oh shame) the developer. The auctioneers advice to the 'doubting thomas' -- don't come (and bid)!
One of the worst ways to buy a property in Thailand (IMHO) is time payment scheme like this (for obvious reasons). If it was me actually buying one, I would insist on paying the 100% on the date when the chanote is actually ready (minus the 250,000 deposit to hold the land) so I can pay the money at the land office and get the deed. Unfortunately I don't think this would have been accepted as the term of payment is set forth in the Auction Day notes.
So assuming you have bought one of the finished properties, you surely need to pay 100% now as its finished but you dont get any ownership papers until August 2005.
That kind of approach by the auctioneer is unprofessional. The auctioneers are OWNED by the developer and they just bought in this retired guy to do the actual event from what I understand. Plus the buyer pays a 3% fee to the auctioneer, not by the developer which is what would typically happen in a house sale.
Also if I am not mistaken, any village of more than 9 houses, the developer must have a Thai permit which protects the buyer and lays down certain laws that must be followed such as common area juristic persons etc. These developer licences are not available to Farangs. Also if they are doing it this way, are they going to be paying VAT on the selling price to the tax office. They should be. Again now its a high profile project, I would hazzard a guess that the VAT office will be watching this very closely as a way of getting incremental revenue, not least of all because work permits are not available to farang developers unless the company is VERY large such as a Raimon Land. Therefore developer company must be VAT registered and include VAT on every house sale price at 7%. As the owner of the land currently is a company, and they split out the land, then that company also has to pay corporation tax on the entire profit of the project. Should get interesting.
One thing that has not been considered yet is the cost of the tea money for splitting the land. Now this project is common knowledge, you can bet that the land office have just increased by 500% the costs for 'smoothly' splitting the land into seperate chanots, given the fact that they know they are all sold and that the developer is caught between a rock and a hard place.
I really think the problems are just beginning for this project.
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Because unfortunatley they begin not to care as long as the cash is rolling in, I could'nt even think of how many bars I would never use the toilet in.
This of course and the fact that other drunken farangs don't have any respect for property.
On the subject of toilets, seem to recall the ones in the Blues Factory would NOT make the "good bog guide" in my humble opinion unless you have done them up in the last year.
On a plus note, the ones in Electric Blue and Dollhouse are good and always clean as are Mistys in Pattayaland 2, so it can be done. Carousel as a bar smells like a toilet so heaven knows how bad they are inside the actual toilets. The winner though of my "good bog guide" must be Riva's at the Grande Sheraton in Bangkok - the toilets far outshine the rest of the club.
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Always enjoyed Pattaya for what it was. Sadly this trip i cut my trip short to the city & travelled elsewhere.
Never seen the bar scene as bad as this year. No real buzz about the place. I reckon i have been once to often. Definatley looking for somewhere new this year.
Pattaya is evolving - get used to it as it aint going to be reversing anytime soon unless Mr T loses the election. Having said that, its heaps better than Bangkok these days and every time I am in Pattaya (eg last 2 days), it seems to be very busy, although I tend to focus on Walking Street area more than anywhere else. I used to like Pattayaland 2 but have not been there for a year or more as all the bars seem to have big problems in getting attractive women working there.
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If you go to Bumrungrad avoid getting drug prescriptions filled there, the mark-up is huge and unless it is a very rare thing you can easily get what you need at a pharmacy outside, there's a good large on on the south side of Sukhumvit near the expressway bridge, walking distance from Bumrungrad. Good luck.Hi Sheryl.
All hospitals charge more than pharmacies for medicines but you need to consider the following:
1. Convenience
2. Quality of the medicine (generic or original manufacturer)
3. Follow up if anything goes wrong
Bumrungrad does not massively mark up generic or original drugs. For example a pharmacy sells a tablet at 6 baht, the same tablet from Bumrungrad is 10 Baht (an actual example), however if the hospital doctor prescribes original products, there is normally a reason for it. For example, the HIV medicine that I pay for a friend of mine, is available as a generic medicine in Thailand however the lab that produces it has failed in its ISO accreditation. Therefore the doctor recomended the REAL product, however was happy to suggest using a generic medicine for another part of her HIV treatment. The doctor felt the risk was too high to take and that the problem of buying generic medicines in pharmacies is that you cannot be SURE they contain any active ingrediant.
This doctor had no axe to grind, she is not paid more whether you take the medicine from the hospital or not but it was her opinion and for this patient, as her ongoing care advisor for the rest of her life, she wants her to get the MOST appropriatte medicine. For me the difference in cost was about 2,000 baht a month which I can afford so I said no problem, we go with the Glaxo medicine. Of course as you would expect the medicine is correctly boxed, instructions in multiple languages etc - no room for any confusion. Last thing you want is your doctor saying well, the reason the treatment failed is because you did not buy the medicine from the hospital and therefore they cannot be sure exactly what you have been taking.
Obviously not talking about generic pain killers such as panadol here but real medicines.
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I also noticed a lot of farang couples bidding. I wonder how they indend to take title of the land.
Thats what everybody wants to know - was it mentioned at the auction that people were buying land that had not been split or without a valid chanot?
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Hi all:
My wife and I are done being fat. Because we're both vegetarian, our diets are more carbohydrates than anything. We don't really have the knowledge to figure out the right foods for our bodies, but we definitely know that the ones we eat are not the right ones (but ohhh, they taste so good!).
We are looking for a nutritionist in Bangkok (preferably western or western educated) that can help us. This person would hopefully also keep an outside eye on us, so we don't relapse and pig out. We would really like this person to do housecalls, but if not...we could go to their location.
Anyone know anyone ? Thanks a million!
Matt
Bumrungrad has two nutritionists on staff in a special nutrition department. they are the only one's I am aware off.
Thai Airways First Class Lounge
in Thailand Travel Forum
Posted
Yeah dont hold your breath - we have been waiting for the new business class seats for only 4 years and still no sign of when they are coming. Must be very very special seats that take 4 years to make.....