Theyreallrubbish

Correct, those who lived in UK during the Mad Cow/BSE period are typically prevented from donating blood. So that's another reason why there are so few donors registered on the Central Blood Register (CBR). It means that everyone with an interest in there being good stocks of Rhesus negative blood need to encourage people to find out their blood type and, if they can, register for the CBR and any similar lists. If I recall correctly, when the Mad Cow/BSE ban was put in place it reduced the number of potential donors on the CBR by something like half. So the pool of donors got smaller while the pool of those who might need blood stayed the same, or increased.

"Oh, was going to go give blood and found I can't in Thailand as I lived in the UK during the period stated. From the BNH RH-ve site: "Patients and laboratory animal studies have shown that vCJD can be transmitted through transfusion. Therefore some countries, including Thailand, prohibit donations of blood from people who have resided in the UK between 1980 and 1996 for several months (more than 6 month in Thailand)."

And I'm O negative. What a shame.

Don't seem to recall this rule in the UK though!

The availability of rhesus negative blood is a real issue in Thailand and Asia more broadly -- see below from a recent magazine article. It's not the fault of the Thai hospital system it is the rarearity of the blood type here. BNH Hospital's Central Blood Register -- (do a google search, this system won't let me post links) -- is a potentia life-saver for anyone in Thailand with Rhesus negative blood. There are surprisingly few people currently registered on it and donors can only provide once every three months. So the supply of negative blood is dangerous low at any point in time. If you are rhesus negative please register with the CBR. If you are caucasian and don't know your blood type please get it checked -- I can probably organise for this to be done for free with BNH.

"We were also pleased to be joined at All Chambers Sundowners by BNH Hospital to promote its Central Blood Register. Given the extreme rarity of rhesus negative blood in Thailand, anyone with a negative blood type owes BNH an enormous vote of thanks for maintaining the register. Without it, there would be no mechanism for monitoring or replenishing the (almost scarily) small amount of rhesus negative blood available. If you are Caucasian and do not know you blood type, I would strongly encourage you to have to have it checked – less than 1% of the population in Thailand has rhesus negative blood, yet it is found in 15% of Caucasians. That means it is in very short supply and if you are Caucasian there's a much greater likelihood of you needing it!"

Oh, was going to go give blood and found I can't in Thailand as I lived in the UK during the period stated. From the BNH RH-ve site: "Patients and laboratory animal studies have shown that vCJD can be transmitted through transfusion. Therefore some countries, including Thailand, prohibit donations of blood from people who have resided in the UK between 1980 and 1996 for several months (more than 6 month in Thailand)."

My ex was the same as the OP. I bought some lamb and she cooked it for me having never had lamb before. She brought the finished meal to me with a look of utter disgust on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she said it stinks and asks if I'm really going to eat it.

I start munching on the lamb making mmm mmm sounds while she looks at me with the kind of face we pull when seeing Thais eat insects for the first time.

I then started waving a bit at her to get her to eat it. She reacted as if I'd asked to eat dog crap so I went back to enjoying it by myself.

I kept asking her to try a bit and she kept refusing but after a while, watching me enjoy it so much (I hadn't had lamb for years and always loved it), she eventually tried a piece.

One of the biggest mistakes of my life persuading her to eat that piece of lamb. Possibly one of the most expensive mistakes I've ever made.

From that moment on she wanted to eat lamb at every meal. My food bills shot up four fold and more. Every western restaurant we went to she ordered the lamb chops which were usually the most expensive thing on the menu. I'd ask her what she wanted to eat and the answer was always, "Lamb!"

Advice to all of you out there, for the sake of your wallet, continue to let your Thai SO think you're eating filth and enjoy the lamb on your own.

What about O negative (Universal donor?). Would that be of use?

Reports have been mixed but do not believe any two entry are being issued and even one entry may be questioned, at least for some. There are also some being asked for tickets to match travel and hotel reservations and perhaps even the normally not asked 20,000 baht at border. But reports are too few to be sure how many are getting second looks or what the exact criteria is. There is a pinned thread with latest posts that you may wish to review.

I got a double entry. Applied Wednesday 31st Aug and issued next day. No additional docs needed.

Didn't see anyone else asked for extra docs.

Didn't see anyone upset when picking up visa

Didn't get asked for proof of 20k at border. Didn't see anyone get asked.

Your mileage may vary

I have DTAC and when I turned on the data today it did a software download with a blue and red arrow I've never seen before, but clicking on it wouldn't tell me what it was.

I cannot figure out how to stop international roaming on SG2 (my first Android phone so not experienced with it)? Is there a setting for voice calls in/out to be fixed to a network? When I choose preferred network it sometimes roams to Laos when the Thai signal is weak. Can I stop this happening for voice calls?

In network in the settings turn it off "auto" and on to the network you want it to stick with.

I did this in Laos so it would stick to DTAC. Worked for data as well

I was in Vientiane yesterday and today. Didn't get asked for anything other than the usual, passport, form, photos and photocopies of passport. Didn't see anyone else get asked either. No new notices saying any new requirements now or upcoming.

Didn't see anyone get rejected and I got a double entry tourist visa with no red warning stamp and its not my first tourist visa and they're all back to back. Also, its less than 6 months since I got my last double entry tourist visa from Vientiane.

Watching the guy check my passport it seemed all he was doing was counting Thai visa stickers, not checking the dates as he didn't fully open the pages it was on.

Taxi driver outside said the staff told him they were rejecting if 4-5 tourist visas in passport. Based on my experience this seems more likely to be the policy than the OPs assertion they're rejecting after one visa based on dates.

No questions at the Thai border and didn't see anyone else get questioned.

Obviously I may be extremely lucky, so don't base your life plans on this one post, but the only thing I noticed different at Vientiane was the lack of people. At 11 a.m. the machine was at ticket 62! When I've gone before that number would have been 362, or even 462.

Oh, and of course you now need to pay for the visa.

They were handing out free "Tourist" prepaid sims today at Chiang Mai airport. Its from TRUE.

On this SIM most international calls at 1.5 Baht a minute. Local calls are 1.25 baht a minute. 1 hour of free wifi a month at 17,000 hotspots.

The packages are volume or time based. The top package is 750 Baht for 3GB on 3G and 3GB on Edge and unlimited wi-fi hot spot use.

The top time based one is 349 Baht for 100 hours on Edge and wifi and 15 hours on 3G.

I'm guessing when your 3G time/data runs out it drops you to Edge and when that runs out it starts charging by the minute. Does anyone know for sure?

I know you don't care about the phone calls, but they seem to have a whole package set up for tourists as the sim is free and a few printed leaflets came with it describing the tourist package.

Just another option for you.

I've had one for about 3 weeks now. The first phone that has impressed and excited me since the Nokia N95.

So fast and the screen is beautiful.

Its replaced my laptop, books and all other things I'd carry around.

Battery life is not great, but the other day I watched 3 hours of video and surfed the internet for about 4 hours and still had 34%. And it was in Vientiane, so it was using signal from the Thai side of the river. (Supposedly it takes more battery power when the signal is low)

One of the more amazing things it does is that the voice recognition is actually good enough that I use it instead of typing most of the time.

Thanks for everyone's help but neither site has the lenses I want.

I'm going to try ordering online from a US site.

Any known problems with customs?

There are eyeglass shops in both Airport Plaza and KSK that have B&L signs in their windows

Take your lens prescription box in and ask them to order

I went in those stores as described in the first post.

From the other posters link it looks lie B&L have moved on to PureVision2 which is why its hard to get the originals.

Oh well, probably good to move on to the new ones

I tried 3 places in Kad Suan Kaew. Two of them just immediately said "No have" as soon as they saw the box.

One place went through the little order book they have and then said that my exact type was unavailable in Thailand.

Anybody know a shop that's good at supplying these things that might have them or be able to find them?

I got these in the UK and they've been perfect, but the stock I brought with me is running out and I'd like to get exactly the same again if I possibly can rather than start with different ones.

Seen a LOT of checkpoints all over Chiang Mai in the last few weeks. Proper ones. Seem to set up around the roads that students go down, but that could just be because that's mostly where I drive.

I got stopped at one for not wearing a seat belt (in rush hour traffic) and the police officer apologised profusely while writing the ticket and I couldn't pay on the spot, not even the full amount.

Also seen what appear to be drug check points in town at night where they're searching vehicles and motorbikes, They shine the flashlight through the windows before waving me on and lots of motorbikes and pickups by the side of the road being searched.

Seems the police are getting back to work now that the period of weak central government is coming to an end.

What if your previous employer has gone out of business?

Put it on TV classifieds will sell easily if the price is reasonable. How much do you want for it and what country was it sold originally.

I agree I sold a chipped one with a bunch of games and lots of extras in just a day or two.

but mine isnt a chipped one 1 game: GTA 4

Then it should work as media expander which the chipped ones don't (after being banned anyway)

For 3 k cheaper than buying a stand alone box. Although it is noisy.

No use as a games machine with only one game though as all the games sold here are copies. I don't even know a place in Chiang Mai that sells real games.

Although if someone wanted it chipped it should only be another 2k or even less now, but when I bought a chipped one in CM it had to be ordered from Bangkok so I dont know if they have the chips here.

Put it on TV classifieds will sell easily if the price is reasonable. How much do you want for it and what country was it sold originally.

I agree I sold a chipped one with a bunch of games and lots of extras in just a day or two.

I have a 3.0 Diesel Fortuner, which is basically a Vigo with a different cab and also a 2.5 L turbo diesel Chevrolet Colorado

The Fortuner despite being a much heavier vehicle and an automatic was a LOT faster and also the different weight distribution made it feel very stable on the road even at 180+. And I've taken it on the Chiang Mai - Mae Sai run many times and its weight made some of the corners tricky, but its power and torque made up for it.

The 2.5 lt Colorado, even though much lighter and a manual is far less powerful and seems to have a narrower power range than the Fortuner. Its also got the very bad characteristic of pickups in being very front weighted and thus very prone to becoming unstable.

The Fortuner would easily beat every pick up on that route through both power and a greater ability to hold the road through corners, despite me feeling the Fortuner's weight made the corners tricky, it still was much better than any pick up.

I have had a Vigo keep up with me for a long distance, but he eventually fell behind. No other pickup can even get close

Have to be honest that the only real advantage I've received from speaking Thai is not needing a girlfriend to get things done. When I have a GF I tend to let her take care of stuff. Never needed it for work even in all Thai companies.

The other advantage is that it widens your dating pool to all the women in Thailand who can't speak English. Those who've never had contact with a foreigner before are less cynical and often make a lot of allowances for my bad behaviour assuming its a mysterious part of farang culture they have to make allowances for (And by bad behaviour I don't mean the usual, I mean playing video games for hours and hours.)

Other than that I haven't seen many benefits. The vast majority of Thais don't have anything to say and those that do tend to be fluent in English.

Reading the signs in Thai in parking lots helps me find the lift sometimes and its helped me avoid a few parking tickets.

As I posted before, chatting with the neighbours in Thai merely shows that they more squabbles going on with each other over minor nonsense than they do with me over me being foreign, richer than them or not being neighborly

Everyone seems to think this is due to anti-foreigner feelings.

I'm not so sure.

In my neighborhood I'm the only foreigner and I don't talk to the neighbors much, but when I do they're all happy to tell me stories about all the other people that are similar to the stories they've told the police about you.

Basically just petty bitching and gossiping and when the guy with the car gave them an opportunity to say it anonymously, oh my how they must have loved the ability to gossip to a policeman who would write it down!

Many of us believe that Central World should not be rebuilt. Instead a People's Park should be built with a large memorial to the citizens slaughtered by the military in the 1976, 1992 and 2010 pro-democracy demonstrations.

My recommendation to increase and expedite investment and tourism

1. Make it easier to get work permit for the investors

2. Provide security in the tourist area especially Rachataprosong, buy getting especial security force to guard it instead of useless police

3. Provide incentive for the business that have been effected, for example No vet for 6 to 12 month

4. Organize especial programs like music, fair, do not need another night Bazar

5. Need special BTS and MRT fair for next few month

6. Lower the hotel prices and let the world know

I am sure more things can and should be done but these are few quick ones come to my mind

Certainly if you want foreign visitors making the visa and work permit part easier and more predictable will encourage that.

I'm not sure if there's a security problem in that area. My security concerns are that foreigners are increasingly being targeted by Thai criminals, with a not irrational belief that since the foreigners leave, they're more likely to have the police not pursue it. It used to be that crimes against foreigners got extra police attention as they wanted foreigners to feel Thailand was safe. Since criminals knew that they avoided committing crimes against foreigners. Police need to stop delaying investigating crimes against foreigners on the hope they'll leave before any work needs to be done and start making crimes against foreigners at least as risky as crimes against Thais.

I'd also say go back to the old way of not enforcing Thai religious holidays or other restrictions for foreigners. For some poor guy that has worked 50 weeks for a 2 week holiday and then arrives needing to relax and finds that for half his holiday he can't drink is going to make him go somewhere else next time.

Start an education/advertising program like Singapore did telling the Thai people that foreign tourists and investors are important to Thailand so please make them feel welcome. Again, Thailand used to do this and the sense of being made welcome and that the Thais wanted you to love Thailand was much stronger.

All 4 of these things are just going back to the way Thailand was when it became a great success attracting tourists and investors. Thailand seems to have become more anti-foreigner and has taken its continuing success so much for granted that they've made themselves less attractive and less competitive.

None of this is Bangkok specific. For Bangkok's restoration specifically, if you're rebuilding then enforce codes to widen sidewalks/pavements and improve the street furniture. And try to keep the areas cleaner. I see foreigners walking in areas where the sidewalks are good and the city feels safer and more attractive. Where possible plant more trees. Bangkok has one of the smallest proportions of its city green of any major city in the world.

Hide all the telephone and electrical wires wherever possible.

Make crossing the road safer as well by improving crossings so people feel their kids are safer. Put up protection barriers at kerbs where possible.

I'd agree to hold events, but make more of them cultural rather than just shopping events. We tend to forget that the exoticness of being in Asia attracts people. Having a Gucci sale doesn't promote that.

Stop the police scams for cigarette butts. Make taxis always use the meter. Generally just reduce the unnecessary aggravations.

Will the landowners agree? Will the leaseholder (Central) agree? And can we have another memorial to those killed and injured by non-military personnel?

The landowner is the Crown Property Bureau. You can guess their views.

And you're right, Central paid billions of Baht for a long term lease on the land, so they would have to be compensated. And the compensation would not just cover the lease and building costs, but the income that they'd have to forgo over the life of the lease.

It could end up being the most expensive memorial in the world.

Perhaps alternative ideas should be put forward

how do you unlock the car from a window crack? and how do neighbors always know what is going on outside of their homes with regards to parking? do they all sit outside chewing on grass and drinking tea all day?

The crack at the top I could get my fingers into, which allowed me to push the window down far enough to be able to get my hand in to reach the lock and open it.

And its a row of shophouses, so they almost all have businesses, so yes they know what's going on at all times as they're sitting in their businesses with the roller shutter open all day and much of the night.

Ok? Mysteries solved to your satisfaction?

must have been a very old car. i doubt u would have pulled a move like this on a merc or a benz.

have any of you guys ever considered blocking your driveway with a plant/cone?

It was a Mitsu Lancer. 2 generations back. Probably about 12 years old.

I've put down plant pots and they considerately moved them to the side before parking.

The thing is, I didn't mind them parking there as long as they'd move the car when I asked. I'm never in such a hurry I can't wait a couple of minutes. But they parked one of their cars and then left in another, leaving me unable to get my car out. Meaning I was trapped at home and I'd arranged to meet someone. Strange mindset that rewards someone being kind enough to let you use part of a property they pay the rent for, by acting so selfishly.

^^ They acknowledged that Pattaya is a special interest zone by lifting the curfew. They should do the same with religious holidays. Tourists are mostly not Buddhists and shouldn't be forced to sit in their hotel room on their holidays. Wake up Thailand.

Besides, as Marx said, "religion is the opiate of the people". Why does religious people always have to impose their religion on others?

It used to be that they'd allow the international hotel bars to continue to serve alcohol. A sensible compromise as what they really want is for Thais not to be drinking.

how do you unlock the car from a window crack? and how do neighbors always know what is going on outside of their homes with regards to parking? do they all sit outside chewing on grass and drinking tea all day?

The crack at the top I could get my fingers into, which allowed me to push the window down far enough to be able to get my hand in to reach the lock and open it.

And its a row of shophouses, so they almost all have businesses, so yes they know what's going on at all times as they're sitting in their businesses with the roller shutter open all day and much of the night.

Ok? Mysteries solved to your satisfaction?