gerryBScot

I would also like to thank you for taking your time to tell this story. I have considered becoming self insured because I use the Red Cross Hospital here in Bangkok which is also very reasonable and I am told they have the best new graduate doctors from Chulalongkorn University which is regarded as the best in Thailand. My insurance renewal is almost ready and this tread might help me make the final decision. I can live with a fan instead of air conditioning and all the bells and wistles you get at the private hospitals; they are not really important to me. Hope you are back to normal soon Gary.

Bob my doctor was from Chulalongkorn University, too. When he suggested immediate surgery I was a bit hesitant and asked him if he had ever treated anything like this before. He said that he was more than happy for me to have a second opinion. I was really impressed by that and said I didn't need a second opinion I just wanted to know he had treated this before and that he knew what he was doing. He said he had and I asked him how many years it had been since he had qualified and he said three and that he went to Chula - I said "Let's do it Doctor, that's good enough for me."

gerryBScott - wow! It was such a pleasure to read about your treatment in the gov. hospital. I've had several good reports about good treatment in gov. hospitals and no end of nightmare accounts about private places; the common one being rip-off charging.

Pattaya International seem to the best one here; I have been many times and they have never been anything other than very caring and professional. Can you tell us the name of the hospital you attended?

Ratchaburi Hospital, about 100 km due west of BKK - Chulalongkorn University has a medical school here so many of their undergraduate and post graduate students work here and many of the doctors are Chula graduates.

So to the OP I'd say you were lucky

Yup I was definitely lucky. Absolutely. However my condition could easily have been wrongly diagnosed too, and indeed often is. My surgeon confirmed he cultured the bacteria he removed from my body so he knew exactly what he was treating. Now that's what you are supposed to do but it isn't always done. I was seriously impressed by this young doctor and very lucky that he was on duty when I checked in. I wasn't surprised when he told me yesterday that Friday would be his last day at the hospital as he is going back to BKK for a four year course in Orthopaedics - he'll be a major asset wherever he works.

I wish your mother-in-law all the best and hope they can save her life.

If I'm not getting too personal .... what has this all cost you so far?

Ed just over 30,000 THB and I expect the skin graft will add another 10,000 THB. Just for your information I had nine days in a hospital in the Philippines with cellulitis prior to this; the Necrotising Fasciitis developed as a result of the scar from debridement for cellulitis getting infected. Nine days in a Philippine hospital cost 100,000 THB with one single surgical procedure. Everything right down to needles and swabs was charged there. So I think the Thai public health system can be extremely good and very affordable....comparable in some respects to the UK National Health Service; what I mean is your health comes first, not your ability to pay. I was never asked for a penny during my stay at the hospital and didn't have to deposit funds on admission. I accept quality will vary from province to province and that there will be no shortage of horror stories but I was genuinely impressed by it. As well as saving my life it really has refreshed my jaded and cynical outlook on the LOS.

I did one a few years at St Louis' Hospital in Satun, Bangkok; I think it cost about 3,000 THB, maybe 2,000 THB, can't exactly recall. It was pretty simple: blood test, piss test ( though of limited value as non-fasting), chest x-ray, EKG, stress test and a review meeting with an English speaking doctor. You can chop and change according to your needs, for instance you can have an analysis of a bowel sample if you wish. In real terms it was probably a lot more expensive than going to a local hospital; I've just been discharged from hospital here and on the bill the EKG and chest x-ray cost 200 THB each. But they had a dedicated section at St Louis, it is easy to get to by BTS, and if you are time limited might work well for you; look them up on the web and you'll get a phone number to make an appointment direct with the department; I imagine they'll have a slot for you tomorrow if you want.

In the great scheme of things I doubt if Thai school children are profoundly different from other school children. Of course there are subtle differences as some of the above posts make clear; shouting angrily in the classroom doesn't really work. One of the issues you will encounter in the class room is that you'll teach kids who don't want to be at school and don't want to learn English or anything else. You will enter class rooms and sense that a number of kids automatically switch off on your arrival. This manifests itself in pen clicking and banging rulers mindlessly etc on desk tops - nothing uniquely Thai about any of this. As a reformed shouter, I decided to try to problem solve some of this. At the start of class I get desk tops cleared of everything including pens and pencils so the students can't pick up things and I usually go straight into an activity that gets them doing things and preferably up out of their seats. I don't get involved in long intros and explanations. Science more so than in many other subjects allows you to do this - depending on your students' age proceed into experiments with an emphasis on them doing, get them interested this way and you might find you are able to overcome their resistance - and, of course, make it fun.

Whatever it costs it is obscenely expensive.

Thanks Lopburi, better sort this out.

Could anyone advise if there has been or if there is about to be a change in the operation of the rules regarding visas for children of foreigners. My wife and I ( Filipino & British respectively) re-entered at Swampy last night; as Non-B visa holders we entered on re-entry permits and everything ok. The officer expressed some surprise that our kids, both under 5 and using British passports, did not have visas; no problem as he stamped them in for 30 days. Today a colleague was told at Nakhorn Pathom immigration that her child, aged 2, needs to be on a Non-O visa dependent on her visa. Can anyone advise as I'd like to keep our two on the right side of the system and I would hate to be hit with a huge overstay fine next time we leave the kingdom. Many thanks.

Yeah the Openbills are usually tolerated because they eat the snails which are a major threat to the rice crop. Their range is increasing dramatically both north and south - they are now being reported in numbers in Malaysia and in Laos; twenty years ago they were almost an endangered species here in Thailand. I imagine they taste foul as opposed to fowl if you get my meaning!

In the UK the quality of my maths and science education was very poor and I think it was generally recognised this operated across the board. One reason for this has it has always been very difficult to recruit top, even good maths and science graduates into teaching, because better opportunities are available in other fields. So no major surprises about the quality here in Thailand, and indeed if this low quality was restricted to science and maths, then it would be almost acceptable; however on the basis of four years teaching here in a small up country bilingual school and talking with other teachers, the education system sucks here. It doesn't appear to have any concern with helping children think, process and evaluate information or indeed use their brains: quite the opposite, methinks. This ASEAN business might finally give everyone here the big wake-up call.

Yeah the food experience in The Philippines can be challenging. First of all there isn't the same sort of street food culture as in Thailand where as we know all manner of eateries appear in the evenings most of them serving up cheap,delicious meals and it is a joy to sit out in the cool evening breeze and watch the world go by with a fresh fruit "pun". Not here in the Philippines where it would be considered dangerous to eat on the street at night unless in some sort of enclosed area. Over the years I have got to grips with the food but with difficulty: chicharron and lechon, cuts of pig, can be delicious but can also be expensive; it's worth exploring the soups which are usually big servings - bulalo, a soup with beef served on the bone with loads of vegetables, dinuguan, blood soup served with rice cakes (not everyone's taste), fried aubergines, lentil soup; fried/ barbecued fresh fish and prawns are good; we spend most of our time in Negros in the Bacolod area and we eat lots of Guimares mangos which are delicious and cheap -Guimares is a small island next to Panay (Iloilo) famed for its mangos. Good bananas too with lots of variety.There is an abundance of fast food eateries: Jollibee, MacDonalds etc churning out the usual fare. I think the cakes are the best in the world. In Bacolod there is a shop callled Calea and I reckon it serves some of the best cakes I have ever eaten - cheesecakes, triple chocolate cakes, mango ice cream cakes and good coffee too. It seems to me Filipinos themselves really like to bulk out on rice - my wife eats rice three times a day and doesn't feel as if she has eaten properly unless she has had rice and of course the local rice feels much rougher than its Thai jasmin equivalent. And of course noodles - they eat a dish here called "pancit", fried noodles with meat and vegetables which they often flavour with lime juice and soya sauce - I'd rather eat "pad thai" or indeed any kind of Thai noodles including Mama - I really don't get on with pancit!

I just checked cebupacific and you can fly BKK Clark with 20 kg of baggage on Saturday 12th May one way for 4000 THB.....cheap as chips. It will take at least 2 hours to get in to Manila by road and you'll be arriving at Clark after midnight so you'll probably have to spend a night there.This will increase your costs as you'll need to get ground transportation to a hotel, probably a taxi...and then you'll need to get to the Manila bus....all little costs.

I think the cheapest fares are generally to be found online; I usually fly cebupacific and keep a regular look out for their promo fares but as has been said you have to move quickly once you've seen a good price.....

I would suggest you beg, borrow or steal a copy of Allen Carr’s The Easy Way to Stop Smoking and read it before you do anything else. After this you can use a variety of aids but in the end, IMHO, it comes down to will power. I quit over seven years ago with a 40-60 cigarettes a day habit and a serious heart condition. I had probably been smoking a packet a day for about 25 years which had escalated in the previous 15 years. I had recently watched my mother die slowly from lung cancer. I wanted to smoke everyday for the first two years of giving up. As a full blown addict I adapted AA mantras to help me: the first cigarette is the one that does the damage and is the one to be avoided; one cigarette is too many and twenty is not enough; if I don’t have the first cigarette I can’t have the second or third….. I was undoubtedly helped by the fact that I was living in the UK at the time and that smoking in restaurants and other public places had been banned. And then one day, probably about two years in, I became aware that I didn’t want to smoke and there was no voice in me telling me I should. I get occasional urges which I have been able to manage. The general restriction on smoking, even here in Thailand, undoubtedly helps. But you can quit and you will if you set your mind to it. Good luck!

Hey, folks. My sober run ended at day 77. This was about 4 weeks ago. Since then, I have had 3 more times of going out and getting drunk, plus 2 times of moderate drinking. Yes, sadly, overall in that 4-week period, that's a lot more drinking than I had hoped for.

However, another longish run starts for me (well, it started 2 days ago actually). I plan not to drink at all till May 4 (I have a ticket to a dance music event that day) and I am confident I will succeed. My aim for now is to REDUCE my overall alcohol intake and I think I have done reasonably well since late last year (but as I wrote above, this last 4-week period was not good, as I overdid the drinking).

If I can keep having occasional longish sober runs (let's say 15-60 day runs) and occasional 'only-moderate-drinking sessions', and some rare drunk times , I will consider myself quite successful and content. I know some of you might think this would not be a success but oh well, what can I say. I think I can always improve, bit by bit, anyway. And, one day, I might decide to totally quit drinking.

Hey JemJem thanks for posting.

When you "evaluate" your recent drinking do you associate any of it with having a good time? You don't mention this. Was it fun? Did you have a nice time with your mates and buddies? Did you do things you regret? What was it like? If you feel able, please share

Please also be aware I will never tell you that you are an alcoholic and I will never tell you that you are not: only you can decide that for yourself. Beware of people who try to persuade you either way. It can only be your decision. Keep well. G

A further consideration is I can' think of any Thai school that will be bothered about your THai ability. THey are quite strict in my school about teachers who haveThai that is good enough to use in the class - most schools want you to use ENglish exclusively in the classroom. You'll pick up plenty of Thai simply from being here but I would suggest you keep learning it separate from work.

Gone quiet again guys, would be interesting as Jemjem said to plot your progress, even if you return to drinking, would be interesting to hear the reasoning. On another note, there have recent reports of injury/assaut to foreigners, many of them incapacitated, or at some stage in the proceedings judgement impaired by alcohol, another good reason to stay in control of your drinking, especially in a foreign country.

The great thing for me has been that no one has ever had to tell me what I did or said in the time I have been sober. The spiked drink is a common stratagem and explains the phenomenon of blokes waking up in hotel rooms with no plastic, no passport, no money and if they are lucky a sore head; dead if they are unlucky. Life becomes so much simpler..... but that doesn't mean easy. As they say the great thing about being sober is you get your feelings, the worst thing about being sober is you get your feelings back. <ore power to your elbow.

A nice gesture. I just hope they can get escalators working. It can be quite a hike from the street to the platform and not all stations have elevators at street level.

I am Scottish, born and educated in Glasgow & Edinburgh and retain a clear Scottish accent which has probably been softened considerably by a 25 year sojourn in The Smoke.......not a trace of Estuary English in me although I could listen to the likes of Harry Redknapp talking all day. I make a point of speaking clearly and slowly in the classroom and spend a lot of time working with kids on the correct pronunciations of word endings and contractions. For Mathayom I've been using material like English in Mind - it features a great range of accents - North American and British; in Prathom I use Let's Go and have made a conscious decision to stick with the American English; I don't make any effort to use a US accent but I use the audio files extensively and rate the Grammar Chants highly! I think it is rather important that learners are exposed to the rich variety of English across the globe as Received Pronunciation is really the exception not the rule. I have no shortage of private customers and in fact turn most of it away as I want the time off. I rather fancy the parents get to know who the good teachers are. My filipino wife, who uses a few wonderful bits of filipino English - "I'll be the one to go ahead" - is a far more accomplished and experienced English teacher than I'll ever be, as are many of her colleagues, though there are others whose English is a little bit dodgy. I think many of the language learning experts often point out that L2( Second language) to L2 is often the best way to learn a language. I remember many years ago doing a Thai course which was taught by an American and it really was brilliantly taught; this was because he was in part a real S E Asian specialist but he was also a great educator and understood a thing or too about how to teach a new language and general principles of educational psychology. But if you came into my classroom you might think I was Irish, many native speakers do, but most people hear an accent but more importantly appear to understand me and engage well in my lessons. Interesting, thought-provoking thread. Thanks.

I use Thanchart Bank which doesn't have the same coverage as Bangkok or the big players but never had any problems with their online banking. They use the a one time code for most transactions which is sent to your mobile; I also like their log in - you have to use a numeric password of 6 digits - you can't key the numbers in using a keyboard but have to click the numbers on an on-screen grid and the lay out of the numbers changes every time you log in. The only problem I ever had was using the debit card to make a purchase in a store- I was debited twice for the same single transcaction - both debits within a space of a minute of each other for exactly the same amount. I had to go to the branch and fill out paperwork but the money was re-credited within 72 hours.

Just wondering how you're all doing?

Thanks. My sober run continues (day 76 today) but I am really getting bored like this and my aim is actually NOT to go back to drinking heavily (in fact, my aim is NEVER to drink a lot, 'a lot' being an amount causing a bad hangover the following day. I might or might not set a specific limit beforehand). So, if I can manage to drink in moderation, I will be content.

Well, if it ever happens that I fail to drink in moderation and get drunk and have a bad hangover the following day, I will just consider it as a rare setback. I am 90 percent confident that I won't go back to former 'frequently-heavy-drinking days'.

Hey JemJem your day count is excellent. Just a suggestion - before you drink again go to an AA meeting and just be open-minded. Preferably go to one in a city where there are likely to be a lot of folk and no one will bother you, as it were. IN fact if you can go to a few to get a flavour of what's on offer.

I don't think anyone ever went to AA because they got drunk and woke up with a bad hangover. I think we went because inter alia we understood all the "rules", "limits" and "controls" weren't working - these come in many forms: only drink at weekends, only drink beer, only drink red wine, at least two clear days between drinking sessions, never drink on an empty stomach etc, etc. None of this is fun in real terms when you realise (or choose not to realise) that one's self-imposed controls are not working. I once tried to keep a drink diary recording how much I was drinking - it lasted three days as it became such a chore. I tried many different approaches including changing from Singha to Chang because I was getting drunk too quickly! I didn't realise Chang was actually stronger! I make this suggestion about checking out AA, and I stress it is a suggestion only, because I don't want you to throw away your new found sobriety too quickly. I used to be 95% sure I wasn't an alcoholic! Almost ten years since I last drank I think I am truly blessed to be able to say to you I am a sober alcoholic and my strength is in fact being able to say this and not drinking one day at a time.

Good to know you don't need documents to be legalised as it is an inconvenience and an expense - not that I plan to have any more kids but good to know for future reference.

On the issue of counter-signatures I have British friends here in LOS who can vouch for me as required; I think, however, a national from any EU country is acceptable ...... if that helps.

You will also need to get the Thai birth certificate translated into English by an authorised translator and then get it legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). I did this buy email/post and can recommend a firm in Bangkok who did it for my daughter about 7 months ago. Transferred the money into their account. About 1800 THB in total, which includes a 700 THB fee for taking it to the MFA. I don't know about the postal issue - I think you can send all your papers to Bangkok but somebody else will advise on this - we're near enough to Bangkok that it wasn't a major problem to go in person.