gerryBScot

38 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

The OP's situation is clear, but lots of folks come to these threads for generic info.   So far, nobody's posted whether a Brit can drive in Thailand using their valid back home license, for how long, and whether an IDP is mandatory.

 

In years past, there were mods and participants that actually posted good info.  I miss that.

 

Plus ca change ... 'twas much the same before, Impulse,  but yeah, there were some real experts on here who offered critical, authoritative advice. I think we'll use Uber for those trips to more out of the way places. For instance, I need to check out Huai Mai Teng Reservoir in Ratchaburi province, on the main road to Chombeung from Ratchaburi ... I need to get there for about 6:00 am ... in order to check out if a certain species of bird, River Lapwing, fly in for their morning feed on the gravel there! Back in the day I had my own wheels so no major issue. There are a few other trips I would like to make involving brds for which wheeis wheels will be essential so I suspect I will indulge myself and hire a car with a driver. Thanks for your help.

On 1/2/2024 at 12:28 PM, ding said:

 

 

1) It would cause severe disunity. There would be conflict between religions, obviously. Even if everyone agreed to allow Christian doctrine only, we just have to look at Northern Ireland to see what might happen.

 

On the subject of the  recent history of Northern Ireland, it is to AA's eternal credit that at the height of The Troubles AA provided one of the few interfaces between the conflicted communities. I believe this was instrumental in lowering the sectarian kill and easing tensions. I am an AA and have little truck with its critics - it is clearly not for all, and there are other ways to get sober, but AA is authentic and works.

No worries JB I am just really checking if it is an absolute no-no and of course, it is! I am not sure I can renew my THai drivers license as I no longer have a resident visa.

3 minutes ago, McTavish said:

Best I've found and will return again and again - Suvarnabhumi Ville Airport Hotel

 

They have several shuttles for pick up and return available 24hrs.  Rooms are spacious and clean plus 24hr restaurant and adjacent mini-mart.  Inexpensive too!

Thanks I like the sound of this, especially if they have a 24 hour pick up service. 

5 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Budgeted price range?

between 2-3,000. Thanks.

10 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

It's against the law for ANYONE to drive without a valid license here and there's a very good chance you will get stopped at some point and asked to produce it.

Thanks for this, Mike, flashbacks of getting stopped everytime I joined the motorway at Klong Toey/Lumphini, every time even with a license, I had to pay the same cop 200 THB due to some imaginary infringement, and it certainly helped in those cirucmstances that I could produce a valid Thai licence.

Hello again very much looking forward to returning to Thailand in June for a family holiday. Two adults and two teenage kids, 15 and 12 respectively .... how they grow. We are on the ground just after midnight and wonder if any folks here could recommend a decent hotel with a  family room for us, possibly in the Lat Krabang area, somewhere we can crash into so to speak. We are not undULy interested in facilities as we will travel onwards to the the provinces the next day, just an easy to access place with 24 hour reception as we might not be checking in until after 1:00 am.

Just an update .... you may have noticed that Sarasas is now the subject of an investigation by OPEC, that part of the Thai education ministry which regulates the private education sector. Check out the news  if you want to know more.

Can anyone guide me to a school supplies store in Chiang Rai. I'm looking to purchase typical classroom stuff like mini whiteboards, graph paper, protractors, compasses, etc. Many thanks.

Many thanks for these recommendations. Hua His Lab Center looked perfect and so with advertised opening times I arrived at about 08:30 to be met with a notice saying staff are out. Had I not phoned I might have waited for another 1.5 hours. So  I headed to San Paolo rather than wait. If you intend to use this facility maybe go at its advertised opening time of 07:00. The frustration is the waste of money on Grab taxis. At San Paolo hospital they tried to sell me a health check package which I didn't actually want. I guess that is their job. Well organized with a European doctor and a Filipino receptionist. So I got the tests I wanted though they couldn't understand why I didn't want to see a doctor. For information the PSA test can be done with results in 1-3 hours at a cost of 1,500 THB.

Hi Randy I don't know Isaan geography so I don't know where Roi-Et is in relation to these meetings but you can try work out which will be nearest to you from this list: North East meetings . Hope all goes smoothly with your transition. In fellowship and unity Gerry B

Hello MrPatrickThai and all ... what is important is people are not drinking one day at a time. I have to say with a few years' distance from AA Thailand I was actually quite disappointed by my experience in the fellowship there. I consider myself one of the lucky ones in getting sober in London, England and by virtue of that I was able to venture forth and get to Thailand and now China and at 61 I am still doing stuff that is amazes me.

Personalities are big in AA Thailand as far as I can see. I loved that meeting at the hospital in CM too but I also recall one old timer behaving as if he had seigneurial rights! I think of the newcomer in central Thailand who had a copy of an established member's personal story thrust into his hands and who subsequently received a terrible bollocking off the same member when he rolled in a few weeks later after further experimentation because he hadn't paid for the book! Not surprisingly this incident and a list of other nonsensical goings on at meetings didn't actually help our  struggling newcomer very much.

I often wondered how it came to pass that we lost our rooms at McCormack and at the church in Ruam Rudee in BKK. Maybe better options became available, I don't know, maybe just natural progression but I wonder if we had outstayed our welcome or whatever. The Hua Hin thing saddened me too with a big falling out a few years back resulting in in a split - I happily go to both groups when I am there but AA was never about factions, it was, is and always will be about unity.

I still say my prayers as learnt in AA and prioritise a strong connection with my higher power. I still have connections with AAs and I get to meetings when I can. I hope to make a few when I grab a short week's break in Thailand next month but will not be in the north. I think the spiritual life is the only alternative to AA but truth is it has to be based on AA's programme. So keep saying your prayers and giving it away.

I have never met such an ungodly, money-grabbing bunch as Thailand's Catholic clergy. From working in Catholic schools in the Kingdom for almost ten years I was shocked by how badly they treated everybody, especially their correligionist Filipino employees. A European priest who has lived and worked in the region for over 50 years expressed the view to me that education had caused so many problems for the Catholic church in Thailand. He talked about being in a newly opened school in the 1950s with 40 students and 5 teachers, and lacking the proverbial pot for urination,  and how 60 years later that same school had 6,000 + students and 500 teachers and how it was swimming in cash with Thai priests occupying all the executive positions and milking it. Catholics might represent a small overall percentage of the population but the Church is well established in Thailand, it is influential and well connected and it is incredibly rich, in large part thanks to education. I sincerely hope Francis kicks ass and reminds the clergy and religious in Thailand of the need to be Christ-like and act as role models, and thus offer Thailand an alternative.

I am passing through for a few days at the beginning of October and would like to get my blood tested as part of a general check up. All the usual suspects including PSA and full liver count. Can anyone recommend a clinic that can do this for me in HH at a reasonable cost? Many thanks.

I was always troubled by the guy at AA meetings in BKK whose idea of a good night out involved a few alcohol free beers in a 'bar'. Whilst acknowledging no one has posted any view about alcohol free beer being a solution for those with a drink problem I am not sure this thread belongs in a sub-forum about drinking problems. 

Just an update. The immediate prospect of return to the UK and all that might have entailed for me has passed. I have been offered a new contract for a period of 12 months with effect from 1st August 2019 to 31st July 2020 with all significant benefits preserved. So we can stay together in China as a family and continue to plan for our futures on the basis of real income that should hopefully divert us from using homelessness services in the UK. The inside track is subject to health I'll get 1 year contracts until I am a gibbering idiot ..... Once more thanks to all for their contributions. We're in Thailand in February for two weeks ....Chok dee na krup!

It's clear from this thread that meetings need strong chairs (!), strong trusted servants and strong conscience processes. We don't need debates.... The minute someone starts using 'you' as in 'you don't need to do the programme', ' you should....' the chair needs to tell  the speaker to use 'I', talk exclusively about their personal experience, not offer advice and not cross share. If that doesn't work a quiet word after the meeting, if that doesn't work a group conscience ... And the trusted servants should model this in their sharing too by talking about how the program has helped. But every group needs a core group of culture carriers who are clear about this stuff and also how to deal with it.

4 hours ago, maprao said:

it is advice he is seeking not judgement.

Many thanks to all for some excellent advice and as a result I am certainly more clued up on developing contingencies and different approaches in the event of the worst case scenario. I am truly blessed in having a wonderfully supportive wife and great kids and I know they'll do whatever it takes to get us through any difficult times and I think they know I'll do the same for them. Once more thanks for the input and I'd welcome any more advice.

2 minutes ago, fanjita said:

Are you sure you want the kids to be separated from their mother for such a long period?  Or are you using the kids as leverage to be housed?

 

Genuine questions and not intended to rile you.  Just that it would add clarity as to your underlying motive(s) to separate mother from kids.

 

You'll also be aware that if money is tight then getting the kids mother here permanently is going to be an uphill struggle.  

It's all going to be an uphill struggle in that worst case scenario but getting ready and being prepared will help. Being apart is not something we would want but these would be far from ideal circumstances.

4 hours ago, Neeranam said:

If you read the whole thread, you'll see that some think that anyone can join Alcoholics Anonymous, even if they don't have a drink problem

I don't want to be misunderstood here. I'm simply against kicking people out. I really don't want the responsibility for someone's death or harm if I tell them they are not an alky and that it is therefore by implication ok for them to imbibe. I think AA's essential character would change dramatically if challenging people became a feature of meetings. But of course it doesn't work this way in the real world. People drift away usually if meetings have no meaning to them. I've yet to meet anybody who was at an AA meeting by accident or in error. Once I was at a meeting where a journo declared they were there for research purposes and a trusted servant took them outside and explained how and why it worked and that because of this, no, they couldn't sit in, even for research. I rather fancy this is the big problem in our meetings in Thailand - our groups lack trusted servants who are grounded in the fellowship and its traditions, members that know how to deal with the range of folks and situations that can crop up.

Thanks for the replies and pointers and thanks to Old Git for crowd control. I said this was just simply preparation for a worst case scenario and that has not materialised yet. But yeah Maprao I would be taking your approach which would be to re-establish myself on my own funds and most of all to establish a local connection. Ultimately I would wish to be self-financing without having to rely on the state. Yes Ally I would be heading to Scotland and I now understand the homelessness situation there is different, possibly better in fact. As I say I am simply thinking ahead and to a worst case scenario. So thanks for these pointers.