lifemagic

I sent an email to siriraj about three weeks ago asking for a consultant recommended on this forum. Just got this back today:

Dear Sir/Madam,

At Siriraj, we have many doctors who specified in many fields.

Please be informed that at Siriraj, we cannot do a consultation and estimate the cost via email.

To pay a medical visit or receive a treatment at Siriraj Hospital, please follow the instruction as below;

Please ask your Thai friends or you need to find someone who can speak Thai to make an appointment.

But since that time, I actually went to Siriraj, for the second time, to ask the costs, tried to get to the international desk and then tried to get to the specialist centre on the second floor, also recommended. Couldn't get past the front desk, who led me around, asking different desks in different places advice, continually referring to me farang, farang etc, eventually passed over to another angry woman who explained, for an estimate I'd have to go to different departments and ask, so best to pay for a consultation and then I would be told, but she can't say how much the consultation will cost.

Since then I've come onto Malaysia. I've visited UM government clinic. Everything in English, shown full prices straight up in a list, the same as the Malacca state hospital. I have to pay double what locals pay but still in the ballpark. Shown respect by every single person whom I spoke to. Ten times less chaotic. Consultation is 100 ringet for foreigner, but that's a maximum per visit, regardless of how many consultants you see on that day.

I'm trying to set up a web site at the minute (finding it a bit hard). If I manage to get it going I'm going to write up a full guide for nomads to access the Malaysian system because, for more complex things, it does seem better to me. Not only that but the shopping for medical supplies, i.e. compression was easier, Lazada delivered it to my guesthouse.

Quick update. I booked a ticket to Bangkok on Tuesday and will try Siri, as recommended. Last time I just got the runaround there, but I've at least worked out the location of internal medicine department. I emailed them and the recommended Professor Tubtim Sangruchi is not available there, so any other recommendation is useful. I can't get any quotes at all from Thailand, but two places in Malaysia are quoting around four to five hundred US, not inclusive (so no idea really, but progress somehow). 

Thank you again, so much, for the reply. I'm send a PM describing the history/progression. 

No idea, to be honest. Three thai doctors have said get a biopsy, the last one mentioned MRI, they charge me full whack for this but don't tell me specifically who to see or where to go. 

    It was at BCH an internal medicine doctor said about the MRI. I get the idea very few places can do this.

The Christian hospital told me to get a muscle biopsy to diagnose myopathy, with an MRI to make sure the sample is from a site of recent damage, plus some specialized blood tests. I went to the siriraj building by the river some time ago to get the price but was shunted around different departments and ended up with a nurse who seemed to be pulling figures out of the air. It felt a bit chaotic and I'm not really sure of the next step. 

    Roughly what price and where to start are step one. Thanks if anyone has ant ideas.

Ok, I'll have a look, thanks.

Where can I find the beige coloured, open toe full strength medium size compression stockings that come up to the knee? Millions of places have futuro brand but not the serious ones for vein issues. I usually go to the hospital pharmacy in St. Louis but they are around 1300, I think maybe marked up a little, though they are imports I guess.

    Thanks for any pointers.

I just want to leave a brief update/review of the physical therapy department at Bangkok Christian Hospital. Although the first session was OK, it wasn't great overall. I went three times in total, different person each time. Each one has no idea of what they're supposed to be doing with me. There's no element of showing me how to continue myself when alone. They put me alone behind a curtain for treatment with a single person, though Thais are treated with a few people. When the timer goes off I hear Blah, Blah, Blah FARANG FARANG FARANG Blah Blah Blah FARANG FARANG FARANG being shouted across the room. I mentioned it to the guy, that my name is on the file if they want to use it but he told me this is polite. This is on top of the loud speaker/tannoy that blares announcements into the room. It isn't particularly cheap here so personally, for foreigners, I'd recommend looking somewhere private. 

Update: I went to bch. They told me docs are 1000 per consultation. Saw an ortho who didn't examine me, I asked for brace, diagnosis of myopathy and physical therepy. He sent me to another woman in internal medicine. Spoke much, much better English an examined me a bit. Said I need a muscle biopsy elsewhere and specialist blood tests to diagnose myopathy. Possibly can never be diagnosed. Very likely incurable. 

    Next sent down to physio. They didn't have brace but said just be careful. They had no notes and no idea I was supposed to start therepy. Eventually, after a few calls to the docs they said I need five sessions for 800 each, and gave me the first one. Hot pack 20 mins then about 30 mins isometrics. Very nice guy and I felt quite good doing it.

    Total bill just over 2500. I have to go back later. 

Thank you.

I dislocated my shoulder exactly two weeks ago in Malaysia and am now in Bangkok. I've worn collar and cuff plus upper arm bandaged to my torso. 2 months before this my hip partially dislocated on a bus and I couldn't walk for a day. 

Yesterday I had a horrible experience trying to see an ortho in St. Loius,. I gave up. Reading the forum, I'm going to try the Christian hospital in Silom tomorrow. I hope to see someone and get advice on exercises to do when I start taking the bandage off, if I can get support for the shoulder while exercising as it comes out very easy. Then a possible diagnostic outline; I already have undiagnosed myopathy and my legs are weak. I'm 47 and it's been trouble since I was a kid. I never had any real care though and want to try strengthening the muscles generally with physio.

Any recommendations in case it doesn't go well tomorrow? I am, sadly, not rich ?

I was coming back to Cambodia, therefore they didn't know my actual intention when giving me the waiver. 

If you meant 'came back' after being denied, he told me to. He said they close at 10, do it before then.

Good to know, thanks. Visits on previous passports yes, but not many and no overstays.

Just want to clarify. My UK passport was issued in Phnom Pehn. I've been here since December. I have no visits or visas for Thailand and I went to Poipet to enter Cambodia on a new tourist visa (as I know most people are doing things the other way around and trying to stay in Thailand).

I just want to share my experience in Poipet last week. I have a UK passport, no Thai entries at all. It was issued in phnom pehn last  December where I'm volunteering. I have tourist visas with extensions and I renewed by day trips to Bavet (Vietnam).

Well, I checked in a hotel Poipet side  and went to the border about 7pm. The guy looked through it and asked if I was coming back (to Cambodia) the same day and I said yes. He said they don't allow this. I'd have to be screened. They sent me off to another desk where a guy was playing music on his phone. He asked what I was doing and I told him the truth. He said they don't allow one day entries like this. I said OK, then I'll stay in Aran and come back tomorrow but he said no. I have three one day visits to Vietnam in my passport and on this basis he can't allow me to enter. Please go back, have my exit cancelled any fly in, and then it will be no problem.

I stayed calm and friendly (golden rule number one) and discussed it for about half  an hour. He spoke English OK but kept saying he doesn't understand a word  and is looking it up (clearly chatting to someone, headphones never  came off). I asked to see the person in charge but he said they're on holiday. Quite arrogant really. Anyway, after about half an hour he said go and book a hotel,  and show the booking on the screen of  my tablet.  Then he changed  his mind, told me to go to the casino and ask for a printer.

So I went in the casinos. No one helped. I went to True coffee outside  the casino, as soon as I  walked in holding my passport and looking worried, he said 'prints are two dollars a page, for air ticket, yes?'. Well no, a hotel, thank god he didn't ask for an air ticket.

I booked a seven dollar bed on agoda and paid it, printed it, tried to go through again without saying anything but was referred to the screener. Short argument about whether it was a paid booking (it was). So he took  the sheets and my passport to the three people on duty and showed them while they stood and laughed at me, talking in Thai with the word 'booking' hahaha repeated frequently. I just kept nodding and smiling. He went into a booth, stapled the papers together and stamped me in for a month.

I went to the next  building and came back to Cambodia.

So looking back, bit of a close call. A cancelled stamp in my passport wouldn't look good. The problem was  the day trips, plus I admitted it. It's ironic, all the trouble they go to to make sure people don't stay too long without a visa... and my trouble was they were worried I wouldn't stay long enough. Anyway, the moral is, don't ever admit you're on a day trip.

OK. Thanks. I did look into online wills. I hoped to get a solicitor to do it for a number of reasons. One, it's insured if there's any issue. For some reason I  don't fully understand, it's safer as mental competency is covered. Then some things I want to do are non-standard, i.e. specifically leave digital currency seperate from the residual estate, plus include a non-uk charity. 

I have just inherited a house share and cash in the UK. I have UK accounts, use my neices uk address and have no other family. I'm in Phnom Penh on a tourist visa. Non-resident fo tax purposes. I need to make a will, print it and sign it while I'm here. Is there any solicitor in the UK who will do this for me by phone or email? The ones I asked said no because of guidelines about mental competency. 

OK. I went to the sony shop in Paragon and they said it's not imported by Sony in Bangkok but to try MBK. I ended up going to proplugin and found something very overpriced but possibly reasonable... but they don't take mastercard, so I'm going to rush over today and pay cash.

Well, I kind of found it. I went to Homepro in LatPrao road. They had various bags of weird stuff, like little balls, but I did find something called soil, the picture on the front looks like soil and the bags were just one kilo, so it kind of looks as though my experiment might be a go!

I've had the mad idea to try growing veg in plastic bottles on a (covered) rooftop. Yes, blame youtube.

I live in a volunteer house in Cambodia where I could do this on the covered roof. I'm about to do another three month semester, so there's time. It's just a proof of concept, to see if I could take it further in the future. I'll be visiting Bangkok for just a few days next week so I don't really have time to hunt around. I want to go to a shop (not market (and that's easy to get to)) and buy some soil and seeds that give me a fair chance. I know nothing what-so-ever about this. It would be great if the seeds had at least a label in English (I know instructions is asking a lot!), and the soil would need to be fairly small, like a kilo or so?

Thanks for any tips.

Hi,

    Can I buy the Sony ECM CS3 Lavalier anywhere in Bangkok? I live in Phnom Pehn but will visit for a couple of days next week. I want this particular one as it's to make videos for Udemy.com, and this is the one they recommend... plus it's cheap.

    If not, what/where is a reasonable cheapo one? I'm using a borrowed Microsoft headset at the minute, but it ties me to a computer as it's USB only. I need one I can plug in my cheap Android tablet, record away from the computer, and then use Videopad to sync the audio and film. My budget''s only around 1000-1500B as I'm a volunteer. I've looked at proplugin, which is the place everyone seems to recommend. They have the Audio-Technica : ATR-3350is so I've contacted them to check if it's in stock. Is there any other option for me?

    I did think, perhaps there's a usb to three band 3.5mm. converter to put the microsoft headset through the tablet, though I'd still have to wear a headset, which would be odd if I go on to do a talking heads.

    Thanks for any advice.

This is incredibly helpful. I guess if it was serious I could go and get a long term rent. What would constitute 'long term' I wonder?

I know my niece is using an agent. No idea if they're paying gross. If they're not (and cannot) this might be too much trouble and I 'd be better off with a reit. 

Thank you. It's great to hear hmgov won't tell the bank. The main nightmare of being given everything in cash and nowhere else to put it!

OK. So I had the gist of it right. I won't be liable for tax. I still have to put the return in as it's rental income, but if it starts next month, the tax year finishes April, so as an expat I have to file a paper return, deadline October 2017. Declare myself non-resident and just never tell the bank. I can live with that.

Can I still use the NHS, as (to my understanding) I have no permanent address here or right to work, so I'm still ordinarily resident (or is that pushing it)?

Some years back I was unemployed but got received some money when my mother died. I had to sign off so I enrolled with open university and moved around SEA on tourist visas. I graduated and volunteered full time at a social enterprise school in Cambodia. I'm still living on that money, interest and dividends is about 600pa. My legal address in my niece's house, for bank and share accounts, though I've never actually been there.

Now my aunt died and so she left us a house (my niece and I). We decided to share it, rent it out. I'll get about 5000pa from it. Then I realised, I'll have to fill in a tax return as, even though I don't make anywhere close to the threshold 11k pa. all rental income has to be declared. On the tax form I have to state if I'm resident for tax purposes. As far as I can work out, I'm not as for the last three years, I've made one trip back for about three weeks. I think I'm still ordinarily resident, based on having only tourist visas, no permanent abode here (or anywhere) and no paying job. The solicitor put my name and my niece's address c/o as my address, though for banking there's no c/o.

I've never made enough money to have to file a tax return before (and won't now). I'm mainly worried, declaring myself non-resident might trigger issues with my bank and share account. Would it? I could perhaps just take the cash for the house, invest it, and I'd have a 5k dividend allowance, beyond that I'd be allowed to earn another 10k before owing anything, so no need to file a return. Is that right? I'm trying to set up an online business, but can't imagine ever earning enough to have to pay tax anywhere. I just don't want the residency to be an issue.

Though I unfortunately live in a fan-cooled fleapit.

Do you have any spare rooms?