monkeycircus

was listening to 5 live upto about 25 mins into the second half and then got an announcement that due to rights restrictions there would be no further coverage,anyone else had this?

yes i did! dam_n annoying as i had worked out how to delay the 5 live commentary using two laptops and a audio cable (and radio delay software) i had the perfect set up and then it cuts out...will it be like this for all the games....arrrgh

never really got Ko Lanta...its big and underwhelming. i travelled to every beach and not one of them was even remotely in the same league as krabi, ko lipe, ko phnan ngang, ko chang etc etc etc

@intothefuture i agree with you on many of your points, it just makes me feel really frustrated to see, over the past few days, people coming out with utter garbage, about red snipers shooting innocent people, targeting journalists, targetting medics....its just bullshit propaganda. and its not backed up by any evidence....because of the catastrophic way these protests ended, it seems to of allowed people to dehumanize a whole swath of society. I understand people are angry about the burning and looting,, but please....the people who did that have ensured the red shirt movement now lacks any real credibility, shame for them, as 99% of them had genuine peaceful and justified reasons to protest. If some people are so desperate to spin this situation that now the red shirts were shooting their own people in the temple, or shooting medics....even in a thread which the OP states the opposite as being the case, then they are spinning too far. No one side came out of this with any honor.

i disagree with your point about central world. if you have videos and people making speeches saying they are going to burn the city down. and you have tanks, and the protest has ended, i cant see why they couldnt of parked a couple of them outside the place and ensured it wasnt torched. They must of had intel that it was going to happen, and if they didnt then thats pathetic too. All i have seen in the past week is a series of unpleasant blaming and propaganda excercises, all of which is succesfully deflecting from the real tragedy - 75 civilians were killed, and 5 soldiers were killed. for all their massively armed black shirt terrorists, thats a pretty large discrepancy of casualties, and the fact people are trying to spin it just makes me fear for the future of the country. On these various boards over the past few days, you get the impression people are happy with killing and they want more. its sad, really sad.

im quite amazed and saddened by the state of debate on this forum. and to be honest, the way most of the commenters on here act, shows little compassion or hope for reconciliation. You can spout your contempt and vitriol of all things red, and vice versa, and nothing will change. Not attempting to understand or forgive or change is why after many thousands of years of human existence people are still killing each other over bullshit. Its not enough that 80 people have died. its not enough that 75 of them were the red shirt protestors...now you want to blame them for shooting there own suporters, reporters, medics....its really pathetic. There were firefights going on, people were killed. unarmed people. its fuc_king sad. is that not enough? the army did some unreasnable things, the reds did some terrible crimes when they new the game was up. This operation was 2 months in the planning. the videos of those leaders saying they were going to burn down bangkok were available months ago. i saw them...and the thai government didnt? they had no soldiers guarding bangkoks most expensive piece of real estate? pathetic handling of this whole even. why the fuc_k were they even allowed to protest anyway - they were operating with impunity it seems, and the government could of stopped them before they became entrenched. as soon as you start seeing a situation as complicated as this from only one side, you have lost. and things will continue to get worse, and if you cant see that then youre blind.

er...no...i havent considered that scenario. you HAVE seen the videos of the thai soldiers firing into crowds of people havent you? its not rocket science (the countless video clips of this happening, by the way could be considered evidence....i cant believe this is even being debated!) of course....these videos were all biased news reports etc etc

im no apologist. i just think the death toll speaks for itself. of course, there is a school of thought that says if they are stupid enough to confront the army, then they should expect to get shot....but you have to ask why they were ready to die...its because the armies actions were heavy handed and it just inflamed the crowd. they were meant to be containing the protest and instead it spiralled out of control. Infact, you have to say that no matter what your political leaning, the whole protest has been completely mismanaged from the very start. obviously some of the soldiers were extremely brave and were ordered to do what must of been a horrible job, but why get sucked into pointless street fighting. were they separating terrorists from genuine protestors? or were they using deadly force when rubber bullets would of done the same job? we are talking about 60 lives here...its a lot.....not to mention the injured. central world will be rebuilt, but whos gonna rebuild these families?

@mic6ard But when you start painting the government's use of force as being unnecessary and the REDs were unarmed, well that really below the belt.

you think it was necessary to kill 60 people to clear the protest site? have you not seen the countless pictures of clearly unarmed people lying with their brains in the gutter? including medics. the reds may of been armed, but the majority of the casualties were on the first few days, before the army even got near the camp. those guys they were shooting at were armed with catapults and mlotov cocktails. deadly force was unnecessary and inciteful.

i understand why people now disregard the entire redshirt protests as being nothing but a sham for Thaksin and a violent agenda. after all, history is written by the victors. you should remember that this government operates an open policy of censorship and media control. websites are blocked, youtube clips are removed, movies in the cinema are edited, etc etc etc. this government is control of an army (or vice versa) that deals with burmese refugees by dragging them out to sea and abandoning (murdering) them. Yes some of the redshirts have behaved like animals. yes criminals have taken advantage of the anarchy to commit crimes. but the government had 2 months to orgnaise that crackdown. 2 months. the list of casualties is ridiculous. the army tactics were poor. they were heavy handed and innocent people were killed. their tactics incited more violence, protestors were ready and willing to die for their cause (or 1000 baht a day thaksin handout, whichever you think is more likely). and now after the dust is settling, the red shirts are getting the blame for everything, including shooting themselves, shooting journalists, and shooting member of the public.

i think as always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and i dont see anyone in this situation coming out with any honor.

someone has to stop Thaksin though, that much is clear

infact what i saw happening, and this was mainly from social networking reports, not cnn, was a massive amount of footage showing the army doing some pretty dreadful, or at the very least dreadfully irresponsible soldiering....slowly the government spin machine started telling us what we were seeing was wrong.

im not sympathetic in any direction, i think killing is wrong plain and simple, but now the government spin has kicked in so much that apparently everyone assumes that the red shirts were shooting(targetting) journalists! really? on what evidence or basis...the only targetting of journalists i can rememeber was that canadian guy, by the army. and the bodies in the temple, they were reds, shot by reds. and all the reds had massive amounts of heavy weapons....and yet only 1 army causlaty vs 60 reds...the spin is making me dizzy. of course, the thai government was as good as gold during this conflict, CNN and BBC are the bad guys...of yeah, and Amnesty.

after the terrible burning, looting and destruction, its very easy to say that all the red shirts were therefore terrorists. its not that simple. almost all of them were not, they were not just all there because they were brainless Thaksin puppets...it is also worth remembering that many Bangkok residents also support(ed) the red shirts for their basic principles for democracy. and it is also worth remembering that for the first 2 0r 3 days of this conflict, the army WAS shooting unarmed people indiscriminately. It was well within the medias right to report these facts. and they are facts, as represented by the massive death toll.

perhaps the media made a poor attempt to understand the whole picture of what was happening in Thailand, but lets face it...even people who live here cant agree on whats happening.

To Moderators....... would it be possible to have a thread in which we just got peoples eyewitness reports? this is now about 58 pages of the same old arguments, and within it are maybe 4 or 5 interesting and useful comments from people who have actually seen what is happening on the ground. This could be a valuable resource considering the shocking media coverage, but instead its just become a platform for my ignorant opinion is better than your ignorant opinion.

To Moderators....... would it be possible to have a thread in which we just got peoples eyewitness reports? this is now about 58 pages of the same old arguments, and within it are maybe 4 or 5 interesting and useful comments from people who have actually seen what is happening on the ground. This could be a valuable resource considering the shocking media coverage, but instead its just become a platform for my ignorant opinion is better than your ignorant opinion.

video 1 - journalist caught in crossfire. you cannot see the people shooting him, how far away they are, or guess at their intentions. calling it attempted murder is nonsense - this is the inevitable result of indiscriminate firing. if he was being picked off he would of been shot as he was running away.

video 2 - you do not see what happened to that soldier lying on the ground. there was a gunshot. there is a soldier unconscious. no soldier fatalaties have been reported. if you say you know what happened in that video you are lying.

angkor beer from cambodia is also great.

as for thai beers, apart from Leo, they are really pretty bad. obviously its just an opinion, but seeing as i do drink a lot of beer, and have done all over the world, i feel i can say it with personal authority.has anyone here been to vietnam? Bia Hoi! now thats the way to do it!

what kind of idiot offers forged passports for sale on the internet and expects to get away with it to the extent that they turn up to hand them over in person?

sounds like your depressed. try excercise, running or swimming, or i always find some kind of task that takes your mind off things - like cooking, painting, etc. where you have to concentrate on something quite relaxing. maybe start each day by making yourself or your family a cooked breakfast? try learning to cook thai style as well, as this will ensure your family/gf/whatever, actually eat it.

no one really seems to be mentioning the fact that the OP hasnt actually had an HIV test yet! all this talk of medication is irrelevant. until you get an HIV test, whats the point of panicking about it?

if you want a fast and anonymous HIV test, visit the thai red cross clinic, near lumpini park. it costs roughly 200 baht, you get your results in 30 minutes, its anonymous, and they are also a great source of advice/support.

good luck!

so long as they let me have a beer AND a gin and tonic, without looking at me like im a criminal, everythings just fine

in my time at the school, we were always discussing the entertainment potential of the place. all sorts was going on there - wish i had a picture of the woman to show you guys.... a LOT of make up. plastic face. huge fake tits. still got a few friends who work there...they came halfway through my two year contract....suprisingly enough noone re signs for an extra spell....

however perhaps the cache of weapons may have a connection with the schools unlikely and recent WASC accreditation?

consider the following facts:( some of which i just made up)

1. personally having any other stds greatly increases the chances of you yourself contracting HIV. (this ones true)

2. 99.9% of sex workers have multiple stds. you cannot go through that much volume and not pick up other stds. (99.9? this is nonsense. the majority of sex workers ive met protect themselves. and if you protect yourself you wont have an STD)

3. sex workers will work while they still have their period. there is also the risk of their period starting during sex. (you really are just making this up)

4. frequent sex means they are more likely to be bleeding and have lesions inside of themselves. (possibly)

5. the majority of sex workers participate in unprotected sex...(wrong) put it like this, Thais have almost no concern whatsoever when it comes to unprotected sex(racist, and wrong) the goodest of good and the baddest of bad girls will not insist on condom use, they will often even suggest otherwise. so if you think that they are not using the logic that, outside the office, the rule does not apply, you are seriously mistaken... on the other end of the stick, one looks no further than Thai Visa to see the male perspective to this issue.

6. the majority of sex workers will seek a relationship with a man outside of work and he is very likely to himself be at high risk for HIV. he is very likely to not be a lawyer, but instead a minimum wage earner and more likely to be an IV drug user. (again, you are speculating wildly. perhaps the scenario you mentioned is relatively common, it sounds feasible, perhaps its not....how on earth would you know either way)

6. you have a cut anywhere in your body. a sex worker touches herself, she has blood, she touches that part of your body. Very simple, very not unrealistic. (so now we have a very simple and realistic scenario where a hooker is rubbing her internally bleeding sex organs and rubbing the blood over your fresh wound? where exactly do you party john?)

7. When you hear numbers like 2% of the population has HIV.. you have to first trim that number down and figure out what percent of the demographic you will be in contact with are infected? It becomes much scarier. If we eliminate under 13 and over 70, for example, how much higher does 2% rise? What number do we use, 10-15%? (i dont know john, what number shall we use? shall we just make one up? great idea! )

8. HIV can be undetected for 6mo in your body. you continue infecting others without knowing it. (modern hiv testing will detect hiv antibodies in the vast majority of cases after about a month. most people produce antibodies after around 25 days. after 12 weeks you can have a certain result)

So, for unprotected sex

.125 (12.5% chance of having HIV) * (1/500) (random guess of contraction rate) = 1/4000 chance per encounter

1 month of encounters = 1/133 chance

3 month = 1/44 chance

6 month = 1/22 chance

**i have no idea how much a condom changes these numbers.(dont you? it changes them by removing all risk)

**i have no idea what kind of testing is done in these establishments. (thanks for the warning)

quite how such a woman ends up with the power to make decisions that could and did ruin childrens educations is beyond me. if you go to the thai labour department and mention Siam International School, they will laugh.

i remember she went to an eductation fair one day, at whcih some schools like Harrow etc, had a string orchestra playing. her response to that - fire the music teacher, as Siam dont have a string orchestra.

for all the people she royally fuc_ked over, i pray that she goes down. of course..... she wont.

i worked in this school for two years! some of the previous posters speculations are quite near the mark. when i arrived in the school, the co owners were starting their divorce. the male owner was living in the swimming pool changing rooms. he was eventually forced out, leaving her in sole control of the school. this woman is an unhinged lunatic. despite the school having excellent facilities, and competent, dedicated staff, she was hel_l bent on running the place into the ground. we would turn up for work, and overnight she had rearranged the entire school curriculum on a whim. or fired all the thai staff. or refused to pay anyone who had offeneded her etc etc. this went on for years. the school was losing money hand over fist, and she would turn up in a brand new mercedes SLK, sporting a brand new pair of tits. the stories i have from my two years at that place are never ending.

the ex husband tried to re-enter the premises at one point, and the PE teacher, (a big welsh rugby player) was ordered to stand at the gates with a baseball bat.

eventually all the parents forced her to leave, threatening to withraw their kids from the school, at which point the husband regained control. throughout this entire time, she was having an affair with the thai IT technician, who may be the 30 year old mentioned...as the husband is her age.

i always knew she was insane, but the cache of weapons took me by suprise! im sure the previous poster was right - there was murder planned!

you really couldnt make this shit up!

wow...cheryl....can i just say thanks so much for your advice and information....that is far and away more than i expected from my posting...

i have seen loads of different drs....and thats been part of the confusion...apart from the hiv/cancer/tb.....which they all mentioned, the opinions have varied massively - so i have been walking around either feeling like death is imminent, or that i just need some sleep....

i ruled out those 3 anyway, thank god....i was thinking of CFS myself...the only other symptom which really applies is the disrupted sleep....i dont know....ill be sure to follow up with this reccomendation cheryl, and thansk again for taking the time to help me!

im in bangkok.

i have seen....specialists in BNH (they were the ones who told me i had either cancer, TB, or HIV)

i have seen....specialists in Vejithani (lad prao, where i live) they also mentioned those possiblilities, but also that it could be 'nothing serious'

i have seen ....specialists in Chulalungkorn (where the biopsy was performed)

i have had extensive HIV testing at the red cross....

like i said, now im feeling ok...just faituged. and confused!

I am a 31 yr old male. healthy....normal weight.

2 years ago i discovered some swollen lymph nodes in my groin. 6 months after that i developed one in my neck on the left side. during this period...i felt really ill...i had receding gums, stomach problems, tremors, white coated tongue, a whole list of things. for anyone who knows, some of these are classic symptoms of hiv infection. but all tests came back negative. (within correct window periods etc)

last november, i discovered another large lymph node, by my collar bone (sub-clavicular) upon examination by a GP, they found another (axillary) by my arm pit. these nodes were larger, and palpable. during this time period i lost 5kgs very rapidly. i was worried again about HIV due to condom breaking incident. BNH basicly told me that i had a possiblity of cancer, HIV or TB. my blood labs were normal, apart from a slight nutrition deficiency. chest x ray showed no TB. so i was certain i must have HIV. results again negative. had biopsy on clavicular node. came back normal. my nodes are still swollen, but apart from that i am feeling normal...except for periods of EXTREME fatigue.

obviously all of this has been mildly stressful...especially the conflicting diagnoses from different Drs. and im sure anxiety has got mixed up in all this.

i went back to the dr to complain of my still swollen nodes and continued fatigue, and she ( a new one) seemed to think that i had no problems accept uninterrupted sleep, and sent me on my way with 30 lorazepam.

just wonder if anyones got any thoughts on this? thanks in advance!