unhappyfarang

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OK. Listen.

Firstly cut ALL the crap out of your diet. Don't eat anything fried. Eat natural, nutritious, wholefoods. Shoot for 5 small meals per day - Wholegrains, clean, lean proteins - meat, fish, poultry, non - fat dairy(organic if possible) and plenty of fruit and veggies. You also need some "good" fats and oils.

A handful of nuts per day and a tablespoon each of codliver oil, flaxseed oil and extra virgin olive oil. Drink plenty of water and slam down a few cups of green tea. Avoid booze. Forget supplements.

Don't jog. WALK - at a clip, 30 minutes a day, more if you can. When you get into better conditon start walking as FAST as you possibly can up steep, long, hills. Whilst walking do some yoga'pilates on the move, suck your gut in, flex your midrift HARD and breath deeply (depending on where you are of course).This will knock bodyfat off you like no tomorrow.

Your body works as a unit. Forget losing fat in a particular area. You need to move if you want to get lean and fit. As you get in better physical condition your body will seek out and FIND any excess fat on you and eat it away.

Over the past month or so I have been exchanging messages with a Thaivisa board member. Without going into too much detail, I have been going through a pretty tough time in the UK and the person I was exchanging messages with helped me considerably, in a supportive sense.

It came as a suprise when, after a break in contact, I tried to message the member but the message wouldn't "go". I then noticed, looking at the members profile - that they have been banned. I don't know why, but that isn't my concern.

I'm a bit of a brainless f***er and the answer is probably obvious. No doubt any replies to this post will soon make me aware of that. Could I post up an email adress, again assuming the banned member still "stops by" the forum for a look?

Thanks fella's ( and gals)

The topic title pretty much somes up my question. Is Black Rice nutritious/good for you??

Being a health food nut I am very interested in any new products that come along. At the moment Goji Berries seem to be the new superfood in town. (here in the uk). They are also heavily marketed with some wild claims about the benefits of consuming them. One day I read an article about how good they are for you, then another day I read an article saying that they're not so good. They're pretty expensive too.

Anybody here able to enlighten me?

I hope so, at the moment I am drinking close to a dozen cups a day! I actually drink white tea as it is supposed to be even better than green - although white tea is actually green in colour.

The reason for the high consumption is due to the wonderful health benefits I have been lead to believe are associated with green/white tea. Just checking really to see if these tea's are as good for you as they say. Anybody?

Please. I am not a Troll. Excuse any lack of clarity or perceived contradiction in my post. Neither am I looking for sympahy from anyone, just a place to release my thoughts. Sorry, I always seem to use the word partner/wife interchangebly. We are married. My wife cannot give me the support I need. She is a very simple woman from Issan who doesn't understand mental/emotional issues. She is in the background just taking care of practicalities - cooking etc. But I am certainly alone with my problems. I do have serious mental health problems and right now I'm in a bad way.

Insensitve and sarcastic remarks don't help. Constructive replies have been helpful.

Thanks for the advice. I'm am in the process of a breakdown, I'm trying to resist, but the resistence is making things worse so I guess I just have to go with it. When I was 27 I had a nervous breakdown in a hotel room which I just about survived. I am completely and utterly wasted guys, I just can't take it anymore. I am so damaged I can't even walk outside of my flat onto the street. Passing cars are enough to make me jump out of my skin. Yesterday I went for a job interview in this emotional state and was fighting back tears the whole time, I just wanted to run away. I couldn't even answer the interviewers questions properly. I am so exhausted (mentally/emotinally), I can just about write.

I don't know what happened to me, maybe something in a past life? But I have struggled with complex phsycological and emotional problems since childhood and throughout my teens and twenties have been constantly on the verge of suicide. I always felt not good enough in my fathers eyes and throughout my life have always hated myself for never being able to live up to the standards he expected. When he killed himself it was like now I can NEVER live up to his standards. His death wounded me deeply and I have never really gotten over it, in fact, I have never even FACED the trauma, Iv'e always tried to look away from it, put it aside, but it is there, inside and has just added to the afflictions I already battle with.

I try, oh how I try, but every day is a fight just to stay sane. The stress of the call centre ruined me, I HAD to leave, it was like I was being strangled. Now I am unemployed and as a previous poster already said - probably in a worse postition. I have no money and I have bills to pay. I have a Thai partner who has financial obligations of her own (family in Thailand) and is working a menial cleaning job to meet the demands of her family and trying to help me out with the bills here. But it isn't enough. She came home in tears the other day with her hands all broken up from the detergant she uses in her job.

I have been through the mental health system numerous times - pills, therapy, cbt but I just can't shake it. I know that there will never be any restbite from my Illness and I am becoming dog tired of the daily fight. I don't know what to do right now, I just can't see a way out.

I NEED outdoor work, something in nature but I just can't seem to break into anything. Thecallcentre job has robbed me of confidence and self - esteem. It's not fair on my partner either, she is a lovely woman and deserves better. When she comes home tonight I am going to tell her that she should return home to Thailand. I can't give her a life here, I can barley take care of myself.

My Mother is selfish and my 3 sisters stupid. I have cast off "friends" as they weren't giving me any support, in fact the opposite. So I am alone, with this crisis and this forum.

I am seriously unwell. I have an appointment with a Mental Health worker in September, for what it is worth. People tell me to pull myself together, if only it were that simple.

All roads are blocked right now and its almost like I feel my life force ebbing away. I'm in a very dark, scary place, enough to bring any man to his knees. anyone that has suffered with mental illness will know exaclty what I mean.

This post probably reads like a 6 year old's writing, but I don't care - I'm just hitting keys, reaching out.

I need whatever support I can get. God help me

Appreciate your input. There is no way my old employer would offer me my job back. Even if they did, I don't think I could handle another day there. in the end it really became that bad - It was an awful place to work, probably the worst there is.

I am trying to cope, stay positive etc but the strain and constant distress I've been experiencing has all but crushed my spirit. I literally feel helpless. Confused, so confused. I have never felt so opressed my whole life. I am DESPERATE for work, I can't afford to dither, waste time with interviews for office jobs loaded with questions to try and trip me up to then be told I wasn't successful. I'm emailing my CV (for what it's worth) to recruiters who say that they'll be in touch should anything come up. Yesterday I walked about 10 miles to a building site ( I actually look like an office boy ) and asked for work but I came up amongst barriers - experience? Do you have a "card"?

I don't have time to train etc I need work right now, this minute. I'd shovel S***T for 16 hours a day 7 days a week, I don't care what I do, I'm not workshy, But I need a position right away, any position. F***K, I can't even make basic living costs. I am panic striken - frozen.

Right now I only need helpful input, so please no unhelpful, sarcastic replies - there are plenty of other threads where you could do that. I'm going down, fast.

I rang social security to ask them how long my claim is going to take - they said at least a few weeks??!! yesterday my UK landline company sent me a red letter, same for water company. Credit card company is relentless and want to know what's going on.

No support, friends etc hence my presence here. Anybody in the South of England here that can get me any work - QUICKLY? If so, please post, please post.

The stress became too much to bear. So I QUIT. I am now f****d basically. I am 33 years old, no worthwile experience and no degree. I have just made a "claim" for benefit. the meager amount, assuming I qualify, won't even keep me afloat. My creditors are already sending me letters as I have gone over my overdraft limit on my current account and my bank have cancelled my Direct Debits so they're unable to collect the minimum payments from my account. I Know this might sound f***D up, living in the UK but I don't even have enough money to EAT!

I've been trying to apply for other Call centre jobs but I keep getting knocked back. It's like employers want bright, young, graduates. I've emissed the boat and I'm scared. I never thought my life would end up this way. It's like a bad dream, I'm DESPERATE. My stress levels have gone through the roof and I am burnout, It's been such as struggle - The stress of the job, the treatment by managers, meager wage and the fight to keep the wolves from the door. I feel helpless, completely powerless.

My parents never had any money, I was raised in a crap area. Since a kid I've always felt oppressed and immobile. As I said in my original post I also have phsycological and emotional problems too - I have OCD, which is out of control right now. I just can't handle it anymore.

I'm not lazy, I'm not a bum, I don't drink, smoke, use drugs, eat junkfood or womanize, but I just can't escape this poverty. I feel weird, like in those dreams when you trying to run but you just can't move, your limbs feel so heavy. I really don't know what to do.

My Dad screwed my head up when I was a kid, then killed himself when I was 23, My mum is neurotic. I don't even have a support system to fall back on. I've always been a loner and I don't have a social network, any mates in manual trades who could get me a job or anything.

Went for a job interview with the Royal bank of Scotland yesterday ( callcentre again ), but did'nt get the job. I was bombarded with trick questions which I just couldn't get me head around. I'm so exhausted and depressed. I'm inarticulate.

My GP has refered me to a mental health specialist (again), who will just prescribe med's and therapy (again).

I'm in a hole gentleman. Please, please, please anyone..

Anybody else?

If you are indeed getting "stoned", I'd be more concerned that you are using drugs in a Country that has some of the harshest penalties for Drug use/supply/trafficking in the world. Surely you're not using drugs in Thailand.

Don't need, Don't need, Don't need SUPPLEMENTS!!!!!!! I never understand the Bodybuilders love of supplements. ALL the nutition you need, you get from food. If you need to supplement drink plenty of MILK - the best quality protien supplement there is.

Forget "Whey" protien ( the byproduct of dairy fermentation) and certainly don't take Creatine unless you want to radioactivate your liver (latest findings are very scary).

MILK and SQUATS. Old timers did it this way. Supplements don't help one hiota. I don't care how they're packaged/marketed etc

Chinese proverb --- " If 200 million people do a stupid thing, it's STILL a stupid thing " - hence the mass production/consumption of supplements by the masses.

The only person who GAINS from supplements is the person who sells them to dummy bodybuilders

The lucky one's that live there - wake up and LOOK where you are! Please don't bitch, moan and complain about the small stuff, Thailand Is the best place on the planet and there isn't ANYWHERE better. Thailand - AMAZING Thailand

My first visit was in march 2001. Coming from the UK and never travelling further than the med, Thailand was a MASSIVE culture shock for me. People talk about how s***y Bangkok is, I LOVED the City. Phuket, and her Beaches, especially snorkelling around Phi Phi Island gave me the feeling of being in some kind of dream world, paradise on Earth.

The friendly, approachable people, the glorious food and exotic fruits, women side saddle on the back of mototaxis. Temples, Monks, Stunning Sunsets. The endless humm of motorcycles, the hot tropical nights, Beautiful women everywhere.

Interesting, travelled, sometimes querky farangs! The timelessness, the lack of constricting regulation, like I feel, here, in the West. well - behaved children, cheap, tacky markets - the simple friendships with Thai people that I made.

The easy - going vibe, internet cafes everywhere. Then up north amongst, probably the most decent people on God's planet - The people of Issan!

Thailand, She stole my heart. I truely love the Country and have a deep respect for her and her people. Know this - the petty annoyances that peole complain about on this forum - visa's etc. FORGET it, these trivial matters are nothing in the scheme of things.

I live in the UK. Not a day passes by when I don't think about Thailand. The love I feel for Thailand and the sadness that I just can't organise a fulltime move there feels me with the same pain that you feel when you lose your childhood sweetheart. I LOVE Thailand that much.

I have never felt right, here in the UK since - like I don't belong here anymore. A smell, sound, anything that "Brings up" memories of Thailand, be it a Thai resturant or whatever, gives me an almost panicy feeling of wanting to be there.

Smiling street vendors - sliced watermelon.......................

But then again, anybody who uses "OLD SPiCE" isn't likely to have an opinion that matters much.

The above post seems to have a sarcasitc tone. It baffles me that somebody takes/has the time to log onto an internet forum and contribute NOTHING of any worth towards a thread.

I have emailed desbo about the position

I think some of these replies to my original topic are tarred with delusion. Expats regardless of social status, networks, income, interests etc will ALWAYS be viewed as 2nd class citizens by Thailand and her people. Every farang in Thailand is viewed as a guest, although some guests may be more welcome than others.

Whilst farang/expats squabble over social status, Thai people don't care a dam_n -- "up to you".

I've never driven a Lotus elite either

Of course, nobody knows for sure. But it would be interesting to know the statistics. I mean, it shouldn't be too hard to find out the approx number of expats in Thailand, number of Thaivisa members, then do the math.

I can't be f***** though - Anybody have a rough idea? OK. I'd say about 5-10 % of expats are users of the forum. Anybody else?

Of course you could "Live" without the internet ( remain alive), what I mean is, if you weren't ever able to access the internet, and therfore thaivisa again, for the rest of your days, would it effect your happy, eating, drinking and loving life?

With regards to Sociology, I must confess, I am rather ignorant. But as I get older I can't but help notice that selfishness and greed must be contributing factors to the dysfunction of the Society of which I am apart - I live in the UK.

So is it a " Every man out for himself, ****** everbody else" attitude that contributes to Social Isolation, here, in the West? Of course everybody needs to make a living and provide Shelter, Food etc for themselves and in many cases a family too, so prehaps it's just the busyness and lack of time to think about others?

I am 33. When I was 26 I met, ( In Thailand), married, and brought a Thai girl back to the UK, where we now live, still together, 6 years later. One of the first things my wife commented on about life in the West, was the lack of community and the feeling of being alone, which is natural to somebody coming to a strange new Country from a considerably different Culture, in her case Thailand.

But she is still baffled that people can live, side by side in a residential street, all their lives and not even know their neighbours.

When we return to Thailand for our annual holiday and to see the family in Issan, and are in the village enviornment, with all the goings on, It strikes me how isolated people are in the UK, usually chronically so.

Anybody with a B.A in Sociology?

In my teens/twenties I stupidly had tattoos om my arms, and a small tattoo on my hand. I regret these things more than anything else I have done in my life and they have caused my significant phsycological stress, I won't even go to a public swimming pool, here, where I live, in the UK.

I have decided that I want them off, all off. There seems to be different methods of removal, from creams that apparantley penetrate the skin and break up the ink paritcles over time, to the more common method of laser treatment.

I have never seen the outcome of a treated tatto by either/any method. My local hospital has a skin laser clinic (non-nhs) and they claim that laser is the best way. The fees are incredibly expensive.

This is a major decision so if anybody could share knowledge/experiences of tattoo removal - Best methods, where, recommendations etc then I would be very grateful.

If neccassary I will travel to another country for treatment if it is of sufficient quality/price. The costs, including travel, may work out cheaper than treatment in the UK.

I spoke with my GP about possible funding for treatment and he said it was out of the question.So please, how/where/what should I do to get these wretched, self - imposed scars off my body??

Also. My skin seems to "keloid" really easily, would this effect choice of treatment?

TEFLMiKe - It's the original poster here. I genuinely didn't mean to cause anybody to get upset. As I said in my original topic, my belief, my sincere belief, is that any genuine person who takes it upon themselves (and has the courage to), leave their homecountry and use their skills to improve the education of Thai kids in Thailand is worthy of respect.

Prehaps I shouldn't have used the term "Third World", although not a nice term, apparantly, by definition, Thailand is a Third World Country - Economy, infastructure, corruption at every level etc - Or developing may be a better description.

I am reasonably new to this forum and when I started looking at posts and replies I was suprised that, whenever I came across a " I want to live in Thailand, what job could I get", type post, their seemed to be replies saying " Whatever you do, don't get a teaching job", by some, usually in a sarcastic fashion.

I don't have any negative views whatsoever about English Teachers. As I said, I am respecting of somebody who is helping kids speak English. My original post seems to have brought about a conflict, even slight hostility between posters, this wasn't my intention.

I'm not an expat. I live in the UK, although I have been to Thailand several times - I am married to a Thai. I have never mixed with expats in Thailand so I have never, at first hand, heard any negative comments about English Teachers in Thailand. I don't follow Thailands events/press here in the UK so any incidents (As some posters have refered to in this thread) about wrong - doings by English Teachers in Thailand is something I also wasn't aware of.

Please, I'm the original poster. I sincerely have no intention to inflame, or cause conflict with anybody. I live in the UK, have been to Thailand 5 times but have never crossed paths with an English Teacher. So as an expat, which I am not, I don't have any negative views at all about people teaching English in Thailand - Couldn't even say I've heard of any negative things in the press, again as I don't live in Thailand and don't follow her press.

If anyone asked me to imagine what a person teaching English in Thailand would be like, I'd say, bookish, soft, intelligent - middleclass, genuinely wanting to contribute to Thailand in their own way.

I used to work in a Callcentre in the UK and the young graduates who used to temp there(fitting my discription), who went off to Third world countries to teach English seemed like, ordinary, pleasant, decent kids -seeking adventure/change.

I was just suprised when I came across this forum and some of the negative comments made by posters when, say prehaps somebody voices an interest in coming to Thailand to teach and they get a whole lot of negative replies, usually tainted with sarcasim. ( "What ever you do, don't come to Thailand to teach English" etc etc etc)

I just was interested to know why there is this blanket negativity about English Teachers on this forum. I don't have this negative perception. I am not a troll and I apologise if my post gave that impression. As I mentioned in my O/P, to my mindm Teaching English In the third world is a noble cause, deserving of respect.

As