owenjones

Thanks both.

I listened to the pronunciation, but...

A man saying it in perfect Thai and my wife speaking Uttaradit...

It bears no relationship, but I am sure that we are talking about the same animals.

Thanks a lot, guys :-)

Owen

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

As you write for grasshopper is probably correct - my hearing, unless there isan Uttaradit dialect.

'Big' because it was 3"-4" long (like a cricket), whereas in the UK they are an inch long. It landed on my hand and flew off, at least I didn't feelit jump.

I'm sure you are right about the other one as well.The picturelooks like it.

When I said 'gallot - squirrel' to my wife, she said, 'No,definitely not. Gra-dtae, not the same".

That's all I know.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

Owen

Can anyone translate these two words, please:

jakaten (like a big grasshopper)

gathere (cross between a rat and a squirrel)

I just saw them in our garden, but my wife only knows in Thai

Thanks,

Owen

At least they put "snipers" in quotes in the lead .... but this is blatantly a bit OTT on reporting .. The lead should have read "BB Guns"

I agree, it's crap reporting.

Many people only read headlines and it gives a completely skewed view - the very opposite of the end-story.

The quotation marks don't help either - a lot of people think they mean emphasis these days.

Yes, I was thinking the same last night, but I don't have a phone or a camera.

Neem (my wife) and I saw the most amazing bugs yesterday evening at our local shop, where we sometimes stop for a beer.
We've never seen them before.

I saw the first one looking at me at seated head height from about 2' away.
I thought it was a spider hanging by a thread.
It was about as big as an average medicine capsule and it had its legs spread just like a spider.
Then I noticed that it had wings and was flying.
It could obviously hover, but it flew very slowly and for all the world, just like James Bond on that jet pack!
It was flying upright as if it was standing on its back legs.

I reached out and it just went up a little out of my reach.
It flew around a bit, very, very slowly.
Looked at the clock on the wall, looked at my wife, came back and looked at me and calmly hovered up or back out of reach if we moved towards it.

There was a bit of yellow and some green on its body.
It was amazingly calm, never darting or buzzing off.
All in all, it was about the size of the first joint of a large man's thumb and flew upright like that.
Then another one came in, slightly smaller, but not much and they flew around close together and inspected us again, as if the first one was showing the second one around.

This went on for 15 mins and they made no attempt to land or fly away.
And then they did, together, very slowly.

What do you reckon they were?
Two aliens with jet packs or has anyone seen these things before?

I have a house in Kalasin but my wife has had a small apartment in BKK for almost 20 years.

I use this as my mailing and official address and makes life easier for all paperwork, including visa extensions, etc at CW and also driving licence renewals.

I spend a week - 10 days there when I come back from work and a few days before I leave again so sort of 50/50.

The manageress of the apartment block has a BIB partner so they are well aware of my presence and no questions ever asked.

This seems to be a new thing, but I don't know.

No-one up here has ever been told that before.

He is certain that he was told that if he uses his multiple entry retirement visa to leave TL and comes back, he has to report to Naan within 24 hrs of arrival in TL.

How do you do that when the office is closed on the weekend anyway?

A retired friend of mine just came back from Naan with a 12 retirement extension and a multiple exit permit.

He thinks he was told that he has 24hrs after re-entry to report in to Naan if he goes away.

He's pretty worried about it, since he normally flies into BKK and speds a week there before coming back up here.

It is not 24 hours after entry it is due 24 hours after moving from one location to another.

The 24 hour report is not normally enforced.

Hi,

'after moving from one location to another' - what after moving house?

He still thinks he's got to rush back to Naan when he comes back from Canada.

Are you saying that's not true?

A retired friend of mine just came back from Naan with a 12 retirement extension and a multiple exit permit.

He thinks he was told that he has 24hrs after re-entry to report in to Naan if he goes away.

He's pretty worried about it, since he normally flies into BKK and speds a week there before coming back up here.

Can you bank the prizes as well as the points?

I live well-north of Pattaya but go there often, can I claim a prize and hold it over until I get there?

If you're only going for a month, you don't want to go too far out.

Soi Buakhao should be far enough.

You can have a quiet beer there or walk to the beach through Soi 7 in less than minutes.

There are cheap and expensive hotels, apartments and guesthouses.

My friend went the other side of Sukhumvit and had to pay 200 Baht each way just to go for a beer in town or for his wife to go shopping for western food.

A friend of mine went to the 'Prince of Wales' (or something like that), but wasn't impressed.

We went to Pattaya three weeks ago and my wife was shocked to see it still open.

She had read months ago that Tops had been sold, but I don't know the details.

None of that sort of stuff happens in the villages.

You can keep the cities, although when I have been to them I have never had a problem there either.

After reading the Wikipedia article, i am sure that this is what I have - shingles.

I was pleased to read that it is very rare to get more than three attacks as this is my third (all within eight months).

Thanks again for your help,

Owen

This is interesting:

Go to the Wikipedia page on Shingles and click on the Thai version in the left hand column, then get Google to translate that back into English for you.

It is hard going in places, but you will get the drift.

See the cures at the end.

Owen.

After reading the Wikipedia article, i am sure that this is what I have - shingles.

I was pleased to read that it is very rare to get more than three attacks as this is my third (all within eight months).

Thanks again for your help,

Owen

Brushed against something in the bush or sea?

Definitely not the sea.

Could be a hairy caterpillar, I've had trouble with one before, but I just got a rash.

it is very tender today and has formed a scab along its length.

It looks like a burn, but then we are back to millipedes (or not).

Or even a whip mark.

Still every Thai I show it to says it comes from within and no one seems to think it is either unusual or serious, unless it goes 'right around your neck, when it will kill you', although I haven't met anyone yet who knows of a case of that, so that bit is probably folklore.

Scab, you have not mentioned that before. Millipede burns don't scab, the skin dies and flakes off. Many many years ago I lived on the mainland of southern Thailand in a small village far away from anywhere. I was not working so would go castnet fishing during the morning before going up to the hills with the old ladies of the village gathering various vegetables and fruit. An amazing time given I then spoke next to no Thai and they spoke zero English. Anyway, I would get the occasional mark such as you from brushing against some kind of vine or something if it touched my bare skin. In time it would result in a very light scab but would not leave, on me, any indication some time (month or so) later.

I didn't treat the other two.

They remained dry and pealed off.

The masseuse told my wife how to treat this one and the surface is alternately wet and sticky and then dry like a scab.

She used green massage cream on the first day and aloe vera since then.

Doesn't look bed bug related in the photo though people react to the bites in numerous ways. They are attracted to co2 so the upper body often gets bitten before other places but I have not seen a strip of skin dying before. This is more like the effect of milipede secretion which is a chemical burn and may or may not cause the skin to die. This is why I mentioned a strap as leather is often treated with something that causes burns to the skin if it's not washed off. Shingles can cause a burn like feature along nerves around the back and chest but not on the shoulder as far as I know. Jelly fish tendrals?

Thanks everyone for your help.

Shingles now seems to be the most likely answer then.

Gumbo wins the prize for suggesting it first..

Owen

Brushed against something in the bush or sea?

Definitely not the sea.

Could be a hairy caterpillar, I've had trouble with one before, but I just got a rash.

it is very tender today and has formed a scab along its length.

It looks like a burn, but then we are back to millipedes (or not).

Or even a whip mark.

Still every Thai I show it to says it comes from within and no one seems to think it is either unusual or serious, unless it goes 'right around your neck, when it will kill you', although I haven't met anyone yet who knows of a case of that, so that bit is probably folklore.

'Gnoo sawat' - my wife calls it - hit with a snake's tail

or probably , 'gnu suwat'

Brushed against something in the bush or sea?

Definitely not the sea.

Could be a hairy caterpillar, I've had trouble with one before, but I just got a rash.

it is very tender today and has formed a scab along its length.

It looks like a burn, but then we are back to millipedes (or not).

Or even a whip mark.

Still every Thai I show it to says it comes from within and no one seems to think it is either unusual or serious, unless it goes 'right around your neck, when it will kill you', although I haven't met anyone yet who knows of a case of that, so that bit is probably folklore.

Doesn't look bed bug related in the photo though people react to the bites in numerous ways. They are attracted to co2 so the upper body often gets bitten before other places but I have not seen a strip of skin dying before. This is more like the effect of milipede secretion which is a chemical burn and may or may not cause the skin to die. This is why I mentioned a strap as leather is often treated with something that causes burns to the skin if it's not washed off. Shingles can cause a burn like feature along nerves around the back and chest but not on the shoulder as far as I know. Jelly fish tendrals?

Looks to be a hard rash of some sort [not insect related]. Sensitivity or allergic reaction?

Log or bundle of sticks on the shoulder causing a reaction?

I don't have a work permit

The affected areas are isolated. If it was caused by a millipede then it must have just stopped for a rest allowing time for an straight burn, if it was alarmed it would have curled up.

Yep, I've gone cold on the millipede idea.

So have I, close but doesn't quite fit. Rope burn perhaps? The blue mark you mentioned sounds like a scar which is even stranger given it does not hurt at the beginning. Have both shoulder marks been close together and in the same direction?

My first one was in Jan 2011 on my right thigh.

Second one on my left calf a month later.

Third on my left shoulder two days ago

I am told there is a fourth on my lowest left rib, but it doesn't look the same to me, although I am assured that it is from the same cause.

It looks more like a pink bruise about an inch in diameter, but it is oval.

Doesn't look bed bug related in the photo though people react to the bites in numerous ways. They are attracted to co2 so the upper body often gets bitten before other places but I have not seen a strip of skin dying before. This is more like the effect of milipede secretion which is a chemical burn and may or may not cause the skin to die. This is why I mentioned a strap as leather is often treated with something that causes burns to the skin if it's not washed off. Shingles can cause a burn like feature along nerves around the back and chest but not on the shoulder as far as I know. Jelly fish tendrals?

Looks to be a hard rash of some sort [not insect related]. Sensitivity or allergic reaction?

I have had four since Christmas.

But I can't think of anything to have brought on an allergic reaction.

I don't see why my wife hasn't been bitten.

She keeps the house pretty clean, so I think it does come 'from within', but what it is no one can tell me, because no one but me speaks English where I live.

Owen

Perhaps I could suggest that you ensure you drink a fair bit one night, and have a torch ready when you get up to pee.

Or get one of these remote taser batteries.

Do they sell them on eBay?