Bangkok Barry

Prostitution is one of Thailand's most successful exports, known throughout the world. The poor chap was only doing his part in boosting his country's balance of payments.

The common theme in this, apart from the same Neanderthal, is that the police appeared to do nothing in either case. No surprise there. She is now being given a different policeman to deal with her case. No mention of disciplinary action for the policeman who did nothing.

The fact that she has no idea tells you all you need to know.

I think not. When I was there for a test about a dozen Thais arrived with overnight bags ready for admission. They'd also been conned into thinking it was necessary, and being Thai probably accepted it without question as the doctor was of higher status.

The private hospital doctor seems to be good. She spoke English and was informative. The other doctor I saw seemed to want to get me out in the shortest possible time, didn't even check for glaucoma until I asked. Bad vibes about him. Which is why I'm returning to the private doctor.

No. And interesting info on the eye drops 'dosage'. Thanks.

I'd guess, from what you say (and of course it makes sense) that such overnight stays are quite rare, rather than compulsory as they appear to be in Thailand.

I've actually stayed at the private hospital before when I had acute food poisoning, and had to sleep on the couch as the bed was rock solid hard. So it isn't something I'd look forward to, even though it appears to be inevitable. Wife can't stay as we have six burglar alarms (dogs) to be attended to.

It's nice to see a photo of the man who is utterly unable to discipline the 'taxi' drivers in Phuket. But he does have a nice jacket, so his good taste in fashion is something I suppose.

And last week a Chinese tourist. No protest there at the crossing.

In many cities the area would be used for emergency vehicles to wait until needed, so they wouldn't have to travel from afar to reach an incident. Often the police will wait there, but in Thailand of course that would be out of the question.

Dropping off is different to parking.

I wrote a few weeks ago about my eye problems and Thailand's Top optician being unable to correct it with new glasses. I received some excellent advice amongst the usual irrelevant comments. As a result of the excellent advice I attended a private hospital for a proper test, where I was told I had cataracts in both eyes and glaucoma in one. Surgery could be done on the cataracts for 25,000 a time. Okay. But I would need to stay overnight (extra charge of course but free food and dark glasses included ). A two-minute Google check revealed every single entry saying that no overnight stay is required. USA, UK, Australia. Nowhere. A friend in Scotland had it done, with tea and biscuits after and then home. In New Zealand, a friend took his father to be seen, in and out in three hours including recovery time. So I went to see a doctor who has a clinic in Kalasin and who works at the government hospital there. He confirmed the cataracts and said I didn't have glaucoma and my eye pressure was normal. You'd think a government hospital would charge less, but he wanted 20,000 plus an extra 5000 for him. And he also said I needed to stay overnight. What makes cataract surgery so dangerous in Thailand that instead of going home straight away as you do in the rest of the world we have to stay in hospital overnight for observation, I wonder. I guess the answer has to begin with M or maybe B. It's the same thing. And it seems I'll have no alternative but to give in to the system. Then I have to get a third opinion, somehow, on whether I have glaucoma or not.

Where I come from, the UK, we don't have kids roaming the streets with guns. There was also the kid on the rampage in Siam Paragon, and another instance in recent months somewhere I've forgotten. And before anyone comments, yes the UK has serious knife crime issues, but that is on a different level to kids carrying guns and those attacks are almost exclusively within one ethnic group (which the police officially refuse to confirm by saying they do not rank crimes by ethnicity.)

It tells you a lot about Thailand, doesn't it. You and I and everyone else knows that if a Thai had kicked the doctor then there would have been no social media outrage and hundreds turning up to protest.

Yet another brain-dead Thai who advertises illegal services on-line. Step one thinking = good way to attract clients. Step 2 thinking (not available to brain-deads) = if potential clients see it then so might the police.

Well, 17 years and counting. So a pretty pointless post from you, don't you agree?

Sure: "By Mitch Connor" Sorry. I should have written 'for a Thai publication known for its errors, written by a college dropout'.

Correct. Perfectly adequate.

That's what I meant. Passengers are their source of revenue and so they hike their prices to make up not having passengers during the pandemic. They are only interested in themselves and how much revenue they can generate, not whether or not passengers find the prices high. If they had empty planes as a result that might change, but they don't. As for your other comments, ah yes. Nostalgia indeed. One of my first trips to Bangkok was on Tarom, after buying the ticket from their one-room upstairs office in Regent Street in London, if I recall.

Indeed. I used to take the bus from Somdet, Kalasin to Bangkok but pre-pandemic the flight from KK was cheaper. Now it's around 1000 so still a much better option.

I absolutely would not fly Nok. They often cancel flights as I've read they pay so little they are short of pilots. The last two times I used them, before I gave up, their flight from Khon Kaen to Bangkok was over an hour late and they used a propellor plane. And whenever I'm at DMK, using Air Asia, there are always, always cancelled Nok flights on the board.

Note that BA are only flying three times a week but daily to KL. Might be an option to go via there? Check the fare for both. As for profiteering, it might be because they ran on empty during the pandemic and need revenue to stay operational? And if people are prepared to pay it, why not? I'd call that responsible business practise. Airlines work for themselves, not the passengers. Same as any business.

I agree with all that @sqwakvfr has said. If KL, there is a decent hotel right at the airport that I've used, but if booking overnight make sure you don't book the cheaper day rate. Places to eat in the airport, of course, a few minutes walk away on a dedicated pathway, as well as a restaurant in the hotel.

When I first moved to my house in Kalasin Province I filled two very large plastic sacks with rubbish that lay by the road in the area outside my house. But when you see how many Thais keep the inside of their house or the area outside it you can expect little else. Then there are the several reports we've had on AN about Thais, always women, who leave a rented property filled with rubbish and excrement. When you have the mind of a child I suppose the challenge of acting as a responsible adult is too hard.