prodriver

Doing this saved my grandfathers life. If it's recommended by doc, then do it. Man up as uncomfortable as it probably is.

It is not the least bit uncomfortable or unpleasant, you lay on a trolley, you get a shot and you go to sleep, when you wake up you can remember nothing of what happened and your body feels exactly the same as it did before the procedure, after a couple of minutes you can walk around and there's no after affects from the anesthesia..

I agree with you that if you get put to sleep first that there is no discomfort. I have had it done twice, once whilst asleep (Siriraj) and the second one whilst awake (Thonburi Hosp.)which was MOST uncomfortable!!! Still, no more colonoscopies for me as I now have a stoma and my backside is sewn up!!

Another good reason for doing yearly extensions based on retirement is that in the past when they have raised the amount of money required they have "grandfathered" the amounts to those already getting extensions based on retirement. Not so for extensions based on marriage.

Not seen any mention of it so far but when I went to the Immigration office in Kanchanaburi to do my 90 day report a couple of weeks ago the building wasn't there....demolished!! The ground where it once stood was marked out as if it was going to be rebuilt.

Anyway the temporary office is to the left as you enter through the main gates.

I would also like to thank you for taking your time to tell this story. I have considered becoming self insured because I use the Red Cross Hospital here in Bangkok which is also very reasonable and I am told they have the best new graduate doctors from Chulalongkorn University which is regarded as the best in Thailand. My insurance renewal is almost ready and this tread might help me make the final decision. I can live with a fan instead of air conditioning and all the bells and wistles you get at the private hospitals; they are not really important to me. Hope you are back to normal soon Gary.

Bob my doctor was from Chulalongkorn University, too. When he suggested immediate surgery I was a bit hesitant and asked him if he had ever treated anything like this before. He said that he was more than happy for me to have a second opinion. I was really impressed by that and said I didn't need a second opinion I just wanted to know he had treated this before and that he knew what he was doing. He said he had and I asked him how many years it had been since he had qualified and he said three and that he went to Chula - I said "Let's do it Doctor, that's good enough for me."

g

erryBScott - wow! It was such a pleasure to read about your treatment in the gov. hospital. I've had several good reports about good treatment in gov. hospitals and no end of nightmare accounts about private places; the common one being rip-off charging.

Pattaya International seem to the best one here; I have been many times and they have never been anything other than very caring and professional. Can you tell us the name of the hospital you attended?

Ratchaburi Hospital, about 100 km due west of BKK - Chulalongkorn University has a medical school here so many of their undergraduate and post graduate students work here and many of the doctors are Chula graduates.

Ive just finished chemotherapy treatment at Ratchaburi hospital lasting just under 6 months. I must admit that in all that time, I've never come across another westerner there.

Good hospital in my opinion. I used to stay in the chemo ward in a room with 8 beds.....300 baht a day and they would turn the aircon on usually between 10.00 and 16.00 hours each day although the Thais didn't like it saying that it was too cold for them.

Will be seeing the oncologist there on the 22nd of this month.

The above reply is quite simply not correct.

The British Embassy in Bangkok require three months bank statement showing income being paid in, nothing else.

That's not correct either.

I've done extensions based on retirement and obtained the necessary letter from the British Embassy and have never shown a bank statement.

Like you, I'm a Brit and have lived in Thailand for quite some time (seventeen and a half years) and the current situation regarding the pound is not good. Just a matter of tightening one's belt and hoping for better days......wishful thinking??

The UKP is now worth 30-40% more than it was when you moved here, what exactly is your problem?

My problem, as you put it, is that I've seen the pound soar to over 90 baht to the pound whilst living here so the current rate is somewhat galling.....regardless of what it was when I first came here!

Perhaps I should also mention that the previous year when I was 21 year's of age (1967), I and three mates from Tottenham (I was from Wembley) bought an old icecream van and converted it to a dormobile. I mention my age as the others were just a bit younger than me so we put the insurance in my name.

We then toured some of Europe in it travelling through France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. It was the time when there was a restriction on the amount of money one could take out of Britain. We had an absolute ball but with our limited funds, I won't tell you how we managed to make ends meet....ahem!!

Like you, I'm a Brit and have lived in Thailand for quite some time (seventeen and a half years) and the current situation regarding the pound is not good. Just a matter of tightening one's belt and hoping for better days......wishful thinking??

As I've said before, If and when they up the anti from the current rates you are more likely to get 'grandfather' rights from an extension based on retirement than one based on marriage. Worth noting I think.

I live in Kanchanaburi and have been quoted 50k to drill which I thought was quite high. A Thai friend nearby had one drilled for 12k but that was 5 years ago. Another friend also had one drilled for 12k in Surin but again maybe 4 years ago.

I also live in the Kanchanaburi area and think that 50,000 baht would be about what they charge these days considering that I paid 30,000 baht more than ten year's ago.

is this so u can all go to a bar together and speak welsh while ignoring anyone who speaks english just like in your parochial homeland

Is that from personal experience, or just rumour?

Afraid to say but it has happened to me in some pubs in south west Wales.....and I'm Welsh (but have a london accent)

I have to fill in a 'life certificate' every year to enable me to receive my pension from Sweden. I used to travel up to the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok each year which was a pain! I have since found a lawyer where I live in Kanchanaburi who will verify that I am still alive. Costs me 300 baht and is accepted by the Swedish authorities.

Don't know if there are any lawyers that can provide that service for you up in Chiang Mai.

2. There are two advantages (other than amount of money) to the marriage for some. Can obtain work permit and if financial requirements change likely to be grandfathered.

The main reason for me changing from an extension based on marriage to one based on retirement was because I was thinking ahead and from what I can recall the chance of "grandfathering" was more likely to happen if extension is based on retirement. Just look at those that have been on an extension based on retirement from the late 1900's that they only have to show 200,000baht in the bank. I seem to recall that extension based on marriage that used to be 200,000 baht went up to the current 400,000 baht that's required today. i.e....no grandfather rights.

Did you get a 5 year license or a 1 years License?

If you got a five year you should have had a 1 year before, so no need to do the colour tests or reactions tests again.

Just got my 5 year licences for the second time and had to do the colour and reaction tests too. This was in Kanchanaburi. They said it was a newly introduced requirement.

Really? I got my second 5 year licence in Kanchanaburi in 2009. Had to do the colour and reaction tests again. So not exactly a new requirement.

Further to my previous post, I have checked on the relevant website and according to the "pension calculator" with 12 year's worth of NI payments made he should get £42.98 per week when he reaches pensionable age. This is based on him becoming 65 this year.

No

You need 30years

Actually under the new scheme as announced yesterday you will need 35 years.

I don't think that's right. You are talking about getting a full UK state pension. I believe that "humblefalang" would be entitled to a reduced pension having paid into the system for 12 years.

They had a McDonalds within the Tesco/Lotus complex when that first opened but it didn't last very long. If your info is correct, it seems that they are having a second go at another location.

It should not be forgotten that about 800 US troops, many survivors of USS Houston, were put to work with the Commonwealth and Dutch personnel. The number of 'farang' fatalities varies according to the source, but for sure that it pales intio insignificance compared to the number of Asians, many of them Thais, who perished.

As I've mentioned before on this forum, Thais were not involved in the building of the railway so no Thais perished due to working on the railway.

I got dengue fever about 16 year's ago when I was going 'up jungle' exploring the old railway track of the Thai/Burma railway from the 2nd World War. I suffered flu like symptoms for about a fortnight but didn't see a doctor until I came out in a red rash all over my body. He took one look at me and said laughingly "You've got dengue fever but the red rash is the last symptom and you will be back to normal in a couple of day's time". He also said that I wouldn't get it again as my body will now have built up a resistance to it. What he hadn't told me was that there are different strains and that my body is only immune to the fever that I got.

From what i understand, the bridge over the river Kwai was blown up in WW2.

The bridge that stands there today is a different bridge at a different location

so the whole thing is a false statement.

I believe that is correct.

No, that is totally wrong!

The steel and concrete bridge which still stands today was partly destroyed by bombing in June 1945. You will notice that the two spans which were hit are now a different shape to the rest of the spans.

Photographic evidence is available.

Big Jimmy phoned me a few weeks back. He bases himself up at Sangkhlaburi these days.

Irish Sean still about. Saw him at Ting Tong Tony's funeral back in October sporting a full beard.

Blackpool Ray back in the UK although I've heard that he is saving up to return here.

Sean from New York still around.

Muzz no longer here.

The other Coventry lads? You mean Cov Dave the teacher?....yes he's still here.

If you have paid into the system and receive a full UK State pension, your wife who has never worked or lived in the UK will still be entitled to a UK state pension of sorts based on your contributions when she reaches the pensionable age for women.

I have filled in the application form for my wife as much as possible for her to apply when she reaches the age of 66. I will surely not be alive by the time she gets to 66 so she will already have been alloted a NI number from when she applies for the bereavement payment of £2,000 after my death.

I have a LloydsTSB account and have a credit card issued through them. I have used my card occasionaly here in Thailand in the past but fairly regularly at the moment. Have not experienced any problems with 'blocking' so far.