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I moved from Chiang Mai to a small hamlet 10k outside of Prachinburi in May. Wife's grandparents house. Her grandfather was dying ( he died 2 weeks after we moved in ) and the family wanted someone to take care of the house.

So far I am adapting.

I have found that life can be nice if you can converse in Thai. I'm not fluent as of yet, but can rattle of sentences and be understood.

To me, that is the secret of having a comfy exsistence in the sticks.

The hamlet I'm in ( I call it a hamlet because there are only approx 300 here ) is family and friends of the family and everybody knows each other.

Makes it pretty easy if I need something.

I have started running again after a 3 year break, which kills 3 hrs in the morning.

Here's a pic of the street in front of the house...no neighbors in sight.

I am having a house built in Nom Hom which is just outside of Prachinburi early in the new year into a very small village I am trying to keep an open mind on whether I will be able to adapt but I will give it a fair try I did try to look up your village on Google Earth but it did not show

First off, I sincerely hope all will be OK with the scare.

Be very careful. Consider my difficulties and the other posters' experiences. It almost seems you may be entering a situation similar to mine which I may conclude to be intolerable. All families are different, but Thai families are traditionally extremely close, especially between mother and daughter. Upping and moving back to Pattaya sounds easy, but may in actuality be extremely problematic. Even weekend visits to Pattaya (a good idea), may become difficult to arrange. It is quite possible you also may have major problems living in the village.

You already have health concerns. Please be careful not to compound them. Don't lose control of your day to day life.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the advice by the time we move I will know move about my situation with my health problems and the baby will be 1 year old so I guess I will have plenty to keep me occupied we also have planted up a small bit of land so I can help keep my eye on that and delegate (no work permit needed lol) what needs to be done

If it does not work out I intend to try 50-50 between Pattaya and the village life before going back to Pattaya full time

I live in Pattaya at the moment and after a cancer scare I decided to by land and build a house near her family so I know that my lady and baby will be OK if anything should happen to me. We intend to try and live there when the house is finished but return to Pattaya for the weekends (about two and a half hour away) but I have made it quite clear that if I cannot get on with living in the village we will move back to Pattaya but I will go with an open mind

You might also wander down to the local school and help out with some English tutoring. It's always welcome and could help you feel more a part of things so when you walk around people wave and accept you more.

I think that you might need a work permit for doing that

I think that I am going to need 3 unit in my house 1 for the master bedroom which will be an inverter type which I intend to run all day but at about 29C the other 2 will be normal types because they will not be used much you do not have to have all units the same It is not only down to cost the inverter types are known to last longer

I think you should set temp to 27C as indoor temp in the afternoon would peak around 31C when outdoor is at 35C. You will need the AC unit to run longer to bring down humidity as well, not just temp.

I set the temperature in the bedroom to 29C at which I can sleep with no covers on and I use it as a cool room during the day

I think that I am going to need 3 unit in my house 1 for the master bedroom which will be an inverter type which I intend to run all day but at about 29C the other 2 will be normal types because they will not be used much you do not have to have all units the same It is not only down to cost the inverter types are known to last longer

They also I believe are quieter to run on the motor unit because you do not have the start-up noise which might be important depending where you have to site the unit

UK are not testing to see if people have the H1N1 anymore (just telling people to stay home and get somebody to get their drugs for them) once it gets past a certain level the resources are not enough to test everybody in the end they just estimate how many

I will bit the bullet so to speak I have used BPH for the last 2 years my baby was born there and we use them for him and I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer there most of the time I have had no problem with billing and when I have it has always got sorted even when they rung me to tell me that they had OVERCHARGED me by about 15000B and asked if I could come back for a refund

The cost of anything depends on different peoples ideas where some people are happy to sit in a waiting room for 3hrs to save a little money others do not want to do that I being one of them so I go to BPH for most of my problems I find that the doctors bill is between 400-600B +150B for facilities which is around 10-13 pounds if I could get to see a doctor in England for that ammount when I wanted to and not have to wait for 1hr or more or told I could have an appointment in 3or4 days I would of had done so

This Forum is about Pattaya/Thailand

I am from England also

When I need to see a doctor or make a trip to the hospital I compare prices and services given by different medical institutions here in Thailand

Total waste of time pontificating of well it would cost Xpounds back home

But a lot of people money is in England and some have pensions from England me included so the British Pound comes into the equation but I will put it in your language I would always pay more for a no wait service which normally means that the cheaper hospitals are normally more busy than an expensive hospital so that is why I go to BPH but I keep an open mind to the service that they give me which is why I never had my operation there

I will bit the bullet so to speak I have used BPH for the last 2 years my baby was born there and we use them for him and I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer there most of the time I have had no problem with billing and when I have it has always got sorted even when they rung me to tell me that they had OVERCHARGED me by about 15000B and asked if I could come back for a refund

The cost of anything depends on different peoples ideas where some people are happy to sit in a waiting room for 3hrs to save a little money others do not want to do that I being one of them so I go to BPH for most of my problems I find that the doctors bill is between 400-600B +150B for facilities which is around 10-13 pounds if I could get to see a doctor in England for that ammount when I wanted to and not have to wait for 1hr or more or told I could have an appointment in 3or4 days I would of had done so

I had an apses removed from my leg at the "Bangkok Pattaya Hospital" earlier this week, as it has left a small wound i need to go back daily & have the dressing changed, I had the dressing changed yesterday, 475 baht, been back this morning to have same thing done, bill was 775 baht.

I asked the cashier why the increase in price, she said ask the dept. I told her your the cashier i'm asking you. She just said i don't know?

I fail to understand how the price can increase 300 baht for the same procedure in less than 24 hours?

I know your only talking small money, but it's the principal. not the money.

Why asked the cashier she only ask you for the amount on the computer you should go back and ask the department that dealt with you they are the ones that do the pricing if you do not want to do that then ask to speak to a manager they will say they are not available but if you stay at the counter long enough in the end they will find one I know I have done it using both methods and got the price reduced

Thank you everyone again.We went this morning to Bph hospital for the monthly check and,oh my gosh,the bill was about 4200 bath for a few miniutes of check.

No medicine was given(that because my wife has no finish them yet),no ultrasound.

When we went to ask why last month only 1700 the answer was:the price increase every month with your wife pregnant status(i hope you understand what i mean,because i am not English).So this is scary me about what we will do when it will the time:go there or try Banglamung?We live in Thepprasit road.This situation is scaring me a lot.What do you think?

If that was me I would go back and ask the DOCTOR to give you a break down of the bill about a year ago the price was 4000+B for an ultrasound the doctors fee is normally about 500-600B + 150B for the nurses and facilities we have just come back from BHP after having baby checked over after an infection cost 580B including the Doctors charge of 400B

My baby was born in BHP 4000B C-Section I had no complaints I stayed with her all the time she was there they made up a sofa for me to sleep on I had no complaints at all and was very pleased with the service we got I thing that a normal delivery was 30000B

I have never been charged more that 600B for the doctors fee at BHP and we have been there many times over the last 18 months

Once a month I transfer from my UK account to my Thai account. The UK bank charge GBP 13 to send it and the Thai bank charge 0.25%, with a min of Bt 200 and a max of Bt 500.

Costs around GBP 22-ish and is in my account 2 days later usually, though they say 3-5 working days. The exchange rate charge alone from my UK bank is 2.99% of their rate. Assuming you sent GBP 1,000 this would cost me GBP 29.90 in exchange rate differences, let alone the ATM fee charge they levy and the Bt 150 charged by the Thai bank.

I use Nationwide and get money sent to SCB I get charged GBP 20 but I normally get about Bt1 more than the exchange booths give and I transfer in large amounts Interest rates in the UK are not worth worrying about unless you tie up your money for long periods

Just seen this thread for the first time today a good Forum to talk to people about prostate cancer is http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35 I have been dealing with prostate cancer since January and this site helped me make my decisions they offer advice but expect you to make your own decisions and then offer good support I decided to have my prostate remove which was done at the end of August and I have no incontinence problems and I think that the ED side of things will be OK

Just to clear a few things up maybe a bit late but may help somebody later I was told that the only hospital in Bangkok that does robotic prostate surgery is Siriraj Hospital in but they have only had it for two years so I was a bit worried about the experience side so I went for open surgery done by Dr. Viroj Chodchoy at Bunrungrad with whom I felt very comfortable with and I seemed to have been looked after very well

I was recently denied payment by BUPA for a heart stent operation. They claimed a three-year-old cholesterol test which was 11 points over 200 proved a pre-existing condition. This does not even meet their own definition of pre-existing condition.

Has anybody else been denied payment for a similar situation or required a lawyer for payment?

When I went for insurance my cholesterol was 204 but it was enough for them to exclude any heart problems from the cover

Above thread is several years old and price was old then so expect it is more now. With private hospital you obtain room of your choosing and often available. In public hospital it will be availability (often full). Nursing care should be better in private hospital but I have some doubts on that. Paperwork, or anything out of the ordinary, is normally easier at a private hospital. But for most people private hospital is there choice as they can attend anytime and be treated in short order - a public hospital OPD visit requires early arrival to complete paperwork and then long waits for doctors that may never arrive (they are extremely overworked).

As to why private expect the reasons are varied. Some for status. Some for respect; that is often lacking in public facilities. Some for conveyance. Some for having a personal doctor. Some for better facilities; cleaner, brighter, newer. Some to keep up with the 'Joneses'. As good as doctors are at public facilities they all face restraints - time is the obvious one but this includes medical tests and drugs. This can lead to the often used shotgun approach of providing a fist full of cheap medications in hope that they will take care of the untested problem. Although private does not eliminate that risk completely.

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But I found the most important thing is you can pick a hospital that speaks your language it makes thing much safer

Well shoot thaisail, why don't you ask in the PHUKET FORUM instead?

offset, you say you already HAVE internet service from Banglamung Cable and not just television?

Yes I have Banglamung TV in two rooms plus Internet had them for nearly a year now

How is the service ?

Did you use the despicable TOT or CAT before as a comparison ?

I have had the service for about 1 year had big trouble at the beginning but to be fair to them they worked really hard to get the service working one day I had 9 engineers working on it they never charged me until I was happy The service is quite good I have 2MB service but I do get disconnected 2 or 3 time a day but for normal use it is no problem I had TOT in my previous house I think that the cable is slightly better than the TOT was but you must always remember to get a good TOT service you need a short telephone line I also use wireless with the cable connection

Well shoot thaisail, why don't you ask in the PHUKET FORUM instead?

offset, you say you already HAVE internet service from Banglamung Cable and not just television?

Yes I have Banglamung TV in two rooms plus Internet had them for nearly a year now

Anyone using the combined package from Banglamuang Cable TV ?

Is the internet line run thru a coaxial cable or phone line ?

I do not have a phone line with them but I would guess that it is all done through the coaxial cable my Internet is done via the cable

So here is the latest rant about overcharging.

So they don't even put up a fight, surprising. They say ok she can have medicine but has to stay for an iv tonight because they started. Ok whatever so wait another 60+ minutes for that to be over with and then get a bill for just under 2,000 for the works - including a 1,000+ charge for the pills (ciprofloxacin, paracetamol and domp-m)

So looking at the bill which was under 2000 less 1000 for take away pills leaves less than 1000 for seeing a doctor having her urine tested and one course of IV treatment I do not think that was to expensive did you bother to find out the cost per night for the extra IV treatment and then making a decision

Thanks for the update and best wishes for a speedy recovery

Thank you Sheryl for your advice which helped me make my decision and I would have no problems with my experience to recommend Dr. Viroj Chodchoy he dealt with me in a very professional way unlike another doctor that I saw

I just thought that I after being given some good advice from an earlier postings that I would let you know how my operation went I had it carried out at the Bumrungrad by Dr. Viroj Chodchoy I found that the hospital was clean and I was looked after very well when I needed to be The doctor was very good and attentive answered every question that was asked and was never in a hurry to get me out of his office or away from my bedside after the operation Everything that I asked for was done with no complaints but the most important thing that I found was that it was all made easier because everybody in the hospital spoke very good English which on its own is worth any extra cost One thing that I found strange against the UK is the Doctors rounds was before 6am

I agree with Sheryl, a lot of what the OP stated does not add up. Sounds like a double dose of BC....

My wife had "the shot" two times, and it rendered her infertile for about 4 years!!!!

We actually thought we could not have any children.... and then gradually her "system" returned to normal... and POOF, knocked up!

The only complaint is, due to all of this, we started our family fairly late....

My G/F was on injections for about a year she came off them and about 14 months after our baby was born may I ask how you knew she was infertile

I would stay away from the so called 'good' hospitals.

One of my daughters was born in the top one -Bamrungrad and yes they did the "she needs ICU" thing, which of course she didn't. Cheating bastards

The next one was born free in a Govt. hospital and much better.

I took my wife to the best private hospital in Isarn and was told that she had a pulmonary embolism by two doctors. They told me that she could die any minute. After a couple of nearly unbearable hours, they changed their minds - fuc_king idiots.

I know two recovering alcoholics that went to the top hospitals in the country and now are drug addicts.

NEVER believe what the doctors at these private hospitals tell you!!

Had an operation done in the Bamrungrad last week found it to be good nurses very good doctor very professional all worked out good but I did my homework before deciding which doctor that I felt comfortable with in UK terms I did not think that it was expensive I had the option of open surgery or Robotic but the only hospital that could do Robotic was a government hospital but the doctor was a little bit to up his own backside he was telling me that he would do my surgery in about 2hrs where most of the surgeons in the USA take 3/4hrs and they have much more experience with these machines than anybody in Thailand I could see were going to be language problems and compared to the Bamrungrad there was no comparison although I am told the Royal Family go there so if you need treatment make your own judgement am do not forget you normally only here the bad stories

You will always get bad reports about a hospital the number of people that go through them in a year means that you will have bad references you do not have to get the drugs from them you can always ask for a prescription and get them yourself a business is there to make a profit a customer has the right to use that business or find another one most hospitals give the names and experience of there doctors so do your own homework when you can they will normally give you a estimate for any procedure that you need so shop around if it is an emergency as anywhere else you have to take what you get I must admit that in Thailand it is difficult to get recommendations for doctor but there again in the UK you do not get a lot of choice (but I think that is beginning to change) and do not forget it is much cheaper in Thailand than the UK so they might add a few things on in the UK they are already in the price where in the UK can you see a specialist privately for 20 pounds at a good quality hospital

I forgot to add find a good hospital where all the doctors nurses and anybody that is important to deal with your case can speak good English