gerryBScot

north wheels are excellent - they'll have a car ready for you on arrival at the airport. check their website for rates etc.

As a home boy, specifically a weegee, I can confirm that you can take a man out of a tenement but you can't take the tenement out of a man; in much the same way there's a bit of Begbie, an Edinburghensian no less, in us all especially when we are <deleted>', or in my case when I was <deleted>'. Good to see such quality tourists in LOS! Hoots mon

the deleted word was [&lt;deleted&gt;'] which in the local patois is short for full, which means steaming drunk....!

As a home boy, specifically a weegee, I can confirm that you can take a man out of a tenement but you can't take the tenement out of a man; in much the same way there's a bit of Begbie, an Edinburghensian no less, in us all especially when we are &lt;deleted&gt;', or in my case when I was &lt;deleted&gt;'. Good to see such quality tourists in LOS! Hoots mon

no but he can stop secondary smoking by ENFORCING no smoking in public places and bars

Public places are fair enough.

Bars belong to bar owners and are not public.

If I walk into a bar that is filled with ladyboys, I don't like it, so I walk out.

If you walk into a bar filled with smokers, and you don't like it, you can just walk out.

Being a transvestite, and or liking transvestites is a personal choice.

I don't care for guys that want to be girls, but a smoke, in a bar is something I do like.

Can you see the paradox?

Would you be cheering if they started persecuting gay people?

I personally think two men having sex is disgusting, but it's none of my damned business.

Don't get me started on what I think about ladyboys. I will say this though. They are more dangerous than cigarettes.

I don't see where the government should have a say in either situation.

Smokers should smoke outside and respect other folks that don't like it, OR go to bars where the owner says it's OK.

I know the owner of the TQ in Pattaya would never allow a katoey thru the door, but I can smoke in there.

I'm fine with that. It's HIS bar.

Blanket laws that restrict personal choice I disagree with.

I am with you in terms of choice and free will in general terms: ultimately if you don't like eggs, well don't eat them. That seems entirely logical. However in the case of smoking there is no doubt that the ban on smoking in the UK in places like restaurants saved me on a number of occasions in the early days of cessation. I watched friends traipsing off outside to spark up for their post-prandial smokes and I distinctly recall the relief of the temptation of watching someone spark up being removed. That's why I can understand the approach to banning smoking in public places.

no but he can stop secondary smoking by ENFORCING no smoking in public places and bars

Well said. Therein is the problem in most of S E Asia - at best, selective enforcement, at worst non-enforcement and this is replicated in many critical areas such as environmental protection etc.

From the International Justice Mission about the decline in Cambodia of the sexual abuse of minors. May be of interest to readers.

https://medium.com/@IJM/transformation-cambodia-7bd981cbb90c#.x7z1voksv

I came here to live 15 years ago,and immediately started a love affair with beer Chang.I know some say its crap and a killer,but i loved it.I always had bags of confidence and plenty of money,so booze wasn't a shield or;a booster of any kind,i just loved it.I hung around with drinker's and considered sober life a bore.Most of the times were a haze and i wasted a lot of good times,having good times.I was always a happy drunk,and never turned on a friend or anything like it.One day i was so drunk that i tried to open my next door neighbour's front door.I was the guy that was always up for a drink,any time,any where,any place.I traveled over Thailand,and to be honest,there's only a few of them that i remember.I always rang the bell(several times in the same bar) and i was considered good value to the bar owner's and the girl's.I even found that booze,to me was a sexual enhancement,so that part of my life didn't suffer.About 5 years later,i collapsed in a bar and found my self in the Bangkok Pattaya hospital.I was told "dry out or check out"(of life) That was the wake up call.A few years of being dry later,i bought a bar(cant keep away,your thinking) It was successful,and all through that time i was still dry.I saw what booze did to people and how they behaved and sunk from being normal people to falling about drunk's.

My point is that i survived.I am still dry today,i daren't take a drink,and my choice of refreshment now is Soda water. iI never went to AA,because of the religious angle, not my thing.

A guy,a teacher friend of mine came in one night and i enede up telling him my story.A few nights later he came back and gave me a piece of paper with a poem written on it.

This is it.

Ode to a drunken man.

It was late in oneOctober,when i was far from sober.

And i thought my troubles spread from far to wide.

My feet began to stutter,and i fell down in the gutter.

And a pig came by and lay down by my side.

A lady there espied me,and came over for to chide me.

'My God' she said,'your in an awful way

'You can tell some one who boozez,by the company he chooses'

And the pig got up and slowly walked away.

In rememberance of days gone by.

KKD

Nice story. Glad you've been able to turn the tables on the drink.

I wouldn't dismiss the option mentioned by Stradivarius - it's outstanding as it is a training resource for hotel and hospitality students at Mahidol; the food in particular is great though I've only used it when at conferences; delegates who stayed in the rooms rated them highly. 10 minute walk to the PMH venue .... however it only has a few rooms as it is not a fully functional hotel so it may fill up when events are on at PMH. Do you know where you can get the event schedule for this venue?

Thx for this. I went to the place below the condo chain as recommended and it worked a treat.

Need to get some mugshots done for job applications etc; any recommendations for same day service in Hua Hin - and open tomorrow Sunday? Many thanks.

Interesting. I took Naltrexone once and it did remove the physical cravings after the first drink. I was 27 and had been drinking alcoholically for over 10 years.

If you are not an alcoholic, I believe this drug doesn't work. If you are an alcoholic be very careful with this drug as all it does is temporally patch up your alcoholism. Alcoholism is a progressive disease, which wil get worse even if you are drinking or not, taking medication or not. there is a danger of when you stop taking the naltrexone or forget to take it. Alcoholism is a fatal disease - better to abstain - there are ways to do that in Bangkok.

It is not supposed to remove the physical cravings after the first drink - that would be a miracle.

What it does is block the opiod receptors so you don't get the same buzz from beer. Over time this helps to reduce the desire to drink. The key is that it works over time (the Sinclair method) and there are plenty of peer reviewed studies that show it works well.

There is no evidence that Alcoholism is a disease. Nicotinism is not a disease and heroinism is not a disease. Booze, cigarettes and drugs are simply addictive substances.

That's exactly what Naltrexone does - removes the craving for more alcohol after the first drink and also prevents binge drinking and the DTs, in my experience. Have you ever taken it? Are you an alcoholic? Are you a doctor? Do you know anything about what you are talking about? Do you drink?

According to the people in AA meetings 13 or so years ago, they agreed I was an alcoholic.

I have not taken Naltrexone, it wasn't around then or I'd just not heard of it. It wasn't the way I got out from under the problem.

If you read about the Sinclair method, it works over time, that was my point. It retrains your mind over time (and over a number of drinking attempts). It requires you to carry on drinking in order for it to work. Without drinking it is ineffective. It helps to break the association between alcohol and the buzz it gives you.

So I wanted to be clear that it is not a cure after 1 drink, it is a cure after many.

Naltrexone does not prevent withdrawal symptoms. It merely blocks the opiod receptors, which in turn prevents you from getting a buzz of either booze or heroin.

Are you sure you went to AA meetings? I have never heard of any discussion ever taking place at any AA meetings about whether anybody is or isn't an alcoholic. Only you can decide ....

Pedro as far as AA is concerned you are a troll.

Thanks Johnniey for posting this important letter. Jung's observations about the hazards of recommending any sort of spiritual approach is highly insightful and there is ample evidence to support it in the comments critical of AA published here and elsewhere.

I'm disappointed but not surprised by your response. I'll leave it there. Good luck.

Pedro why don't you set up your own group, call it Scientific Recovery or whatever you want, so that the lurkers can make a start. There are folk who read these threads who are caught up in this problem called drink. I really don't care where they go for help but I would like them to feel able to approach you, AA and any other body or individual who might be able to offer assistance and support if not guidance and advice.

That's why I take exception to you misrepresenting AA. Let me correct your latest howler about AA - it is not 100% will power. You could say its origins lie in the acknowledgement of its founders that reliance on self will and will-power were the real reason for the downfall of most people struggling to quit drinking. As the book you disparage says a few sentences later ... 'without help it is too much'.

I had a long history of trying to do it on will power; I think the phrase is to 'white knuckle' it; in 30 years of drinking I was once successful in not drinking for 4 weeks; usually I didn't last a week normally little more than 3-4 days. It never got better. I got sober in London. What really helped was the informal support mechanisms that enabled newcomers to hang out with other sober drunks between meetings. Yeah that involved drinking a lot of coffee and tea but it really helped me and a lot of others stay sober. I found it very useful to be surrounded by like minded people and no one ever suggested we should have a 'wee one' or maybe a joint just to take the edge off...

So please do something to help drunks and please if you are going to take a pop at AA get it right and consider the implications if your posts are keeping people away from AA. That might be a good thing from your perspective, but you are not offering them an alternative other than a specious debate about treatment models.

I've not got an appointment just told his clinic is on a Tuesday daytime and I should come in then as a new case. I don't have an appointment as such but was hoping to be seen and no doubt it will be a bit as you describe.

I recommend Prof. RUNGSUN RERKNIMITR. US trained and US board certified.

Sheryl I've been in touch with the hospital and Prof Runsun holds a clinic at Chula on Tuesdays and I am going in to see him next week. Many thanks for the recommendation. I'll let you know how it unravels.

Once armed with the belief it's not your fault and that there is something wrong with you that isn't wrong with 'normal drinkers', then you are absolved to continue the habit as it's not your fault.

Pedro I agree entirely with Sheryl's response to you about taking personal responsibility for your drinking and your life. I am a typical example of someone who blamed everybody for everything that was wrong with my life. It was in AA that I was first encouraged to take responsibility for my own drinking and that, for me, meant forgiving my father, who had been dead for 25+ years before I made it to AA. I held him responsible for everything that was wrong in my life including my drinking. He was my excuse. I was still brimming over with resentment towards the poor man 25 years later. Nobody told me what I had to do. I didn't get a sponsor immediately. I sat in meetings and hung out with AAs in between meetings and, as I was in London, I had an enormous choice of meetings. I went up to my home town in Scotland a few months into AA and one morning found myself with nothing to do as a friend cancelled at the last minute. I decided to go to the cemetery where my father's body was buried. I had never returned there since his burial and I was embarrassed to discover that a memorial stone hadn't been put on his grave. I spent half an hour there that morning and made my amends to him like a sort of jibbering idiot. That wasn't part of that day's plan, it wasn't part of a bigger plan, it just came to me as the next best thing I could. I walked out of that cemetery with the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders. For the first time in my life I recognised where my father had been with his drinking and the only regret I felt was that he and a few others had never made it into the rooms of AA.

What worked was not the direct approach that I had to take responsibility for my drinking: think, traditional teacher ranting at students à la Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall - 'you must take responsibility for your drinking, if you don't take responsibility for your own drinking then you will......' - but I heard many people talking about resentments and the AA dogma on this: resentment is the number one offender for alcoholics, it kills more alcoholics than any other reason. You see I didn't know whether I was an alcoholic at that stage, but I knew my default mental state was resentment, you could say 'locked on 24/7'. That really helped me progress especially when the wags started to expatiate: you know a resentment is taken, not given. ( I really didn't like that at the time because I couldn't exactly argue against it!) Then someone added that having a resentment is the same as allowing another person to live in your head rent-free. That's how it worked for me and to a large extent continues to work for me. One guy told me and I really respect him for it: Gerry, you need to understand you cannot be stupid enough for this programme. You can be way too smart but you can never be too stupid.

Take it easy.

Sounds like inflammatory bowel disease of some kind, based both on reported symoptoins and their duration and the protein in the stool.

It may be necessary to do a colonoscopy.

This type of problem is much more common among Westerners than among Thais, need a doctor trained in the West.

I recommend Prof. RUNGSUN RERKNIMITR. US trained and US board certified.

He is on faculty at Chula and may be possible to see him through their "after hours" clinic (though may be a long wait for appointment, and you'll have to go in person to make the booking).

He is also at Samitivej but that of course is expensive and since you may well need a colonoscopy, worth a wait to see him at Chula. http://www.chulalongkornhospital.go.th/index.php/2015-11-05-06-19-39/2015-11-05-06-20-07 ("clinics after hours". I think it is the 13th floor. You need to register on ground floor first to get a patient number. While the hours start from 4:30, nurse may be there and able to do booking say an hour before that).

He may also be available at this private clinic. I am not certain if it is still operational but if so cost would be in between Samitivej and Chula rates. https://www.medigo.com/en/clinic/thailand/bangkok/digestive-health-clinic-53bd12e8ba522#staff

I don't think there are any tests worth your doing before you see the specialist but I would suggest probiotics and also an elimination diet. Start by stopping all dairy first, except yogurt, give it a month and see if that helps. Sometimes people not previously lactose intolerance become so at a later age.

Thanks Sheryl brilliant as always.

Over the last 12 months I have been experiencing diarrhoea at periodic intervals, perhaps once a month. I just got up out of my sick bed today after 36 hours of it culminating yesterday morning in some heavy vomiting. I am confident it is not food poisoning as I did most of the cooking at the weekend and it was all fairly straightforward stuff like tomato soup and pasta, we all ate the same and no one else at home is showing any ill effects. After the vomiting things seemed to ease but I have a bit of diarrhoea remaining but it is not explosive. The last time I went to the local doctor they examined my stool and established it wasn't bacteria but that there was a high level of protein in it. To cut a long story short, I am considering a trip into Bangkok to see a specialist and I wonder if someone could recommend a doctor to me? Also are there any tests I could get done locally which might help in diagnosis and elimination? Many thanks for your assistance.

I should add I am not flush so would be looking to go to somewhere like St Louis or Bangkok Christian as opposed BRG etc.

As an AA member I have never really considered that I have a disease. What I believe is I suffered from a mental illness, a problem of perception and major issues in dealing with reality. I have self-diagnosed in this respect. I have never had any form of psychiatric care or assessment. I can only describe this mental illness retrospectively in the sense of understanding and accepting the choices I made in my life and which facilitated me into almost drinking myself to death. I expect my death cert would have said 'cardiac arrest' or its medical equivalent and made no mention of alcohol or alcoholism. When I was ready, and I got ready very suddenly and unexpectedly, a spur of the moment decision as I was on my way out for a drink after a short period of abstention (3-4 weeks0 , I phoned AA and was directed to a nearby meeting and the rest, so to speak, is history. Like others assert here, I am not in a debating society. This has worked for me. I accept that I cannot safely drink again and more's the point, I don't want to drink again today. If the head alcoholic or the committee said to me: Gerry it's a mistake, you're not an alcoholic, you can drink safely.....etc. well I think I would chose abstention as in my own mind today I associate not-drinking with happiness, contentment and fulfilment. As I look back on my life I am clear I was absolutely nuts to have persevered with alcohol for so long, given I had the perfect introduction to it by virtue of growing up in a very alcoholic home. I set out intent that I could do it myself and do it better than my poor old parents. So I am comfortable saying I was completely insane and I mean mentally ill.

But for now, Dr. Carl G. Jung noted in a January, 1961 letter to Bill Wilson, one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, "You see, alcohol in Latin is spiritus and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum." In other words, the highest form of religious experience counters the most depraving poison - high spirit against low spirit. Dr. Jung is noted in the annals of AA history as naming the solution of "a vital spiritual experience" for his alcoholic client Rowland Hazard, who sought and found it in the tenets of Oxford Groups. Rowland then helped Ebby Thacher find this spiritual experience in the same way and eventually Ebby carried that solution and the means of its acquisition to Wilson.

I think I'll go with Dr Carl Jung , The American Medical Association, The World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American College of Physicians , Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine who say alcoholism is a disease.

Do you disagree with all of them and if so, what are your credentials?

Thanks for this Sawan Chan 7, good to be reminded of Jung's extraordinarily insightful formula: spiritus contra spiritum and of his peripheral role in the background. I also think your three dimensional definition of the problem is really helpful: physical, mental and spiritual. And it is what happens to alcoholics after the physical withdrawal symptoms have been addressed that is the $64,000 question. It is comparatively simple to detox a drunk but it is what happens afterwards that is critical. I'm personally glad I made it through the doors of AA. Sadly I've known a fair few who paid the ultimate price. But I would never have met Irish Tom who told of attending his first meeting in Ballybog and being greeted by the chair: Hello Tom so you've finally made it. He asked: What you knew I was an alcoholic? The chair replied: Tom the dogs in the street knew you were an alcoholic. Have a good one!

It's good to be alive this Sunday morning and to be able to function without a drink or the prospect of getting drunk today. I spent yesterday afternoon in the rice paddies to the north of Phetchburi with my six year old son looking at eagles, harriers and other birds. I had a relaxed Saturday night with my wife and our kids before an early sleep. My son is playing in a football tournament later today so we'll head for that.I've got some reading to do for some personal study (non-recovery related) I'm doing so I'll spend a couple of hours on that this morning. Work tomorrow. Life is good.

I really don't know what this therad is all about. Written by an alcohol-addict?

All what you want to know is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

or find other websites as netdoctor. There are many.

If you need help see a doctor!

If you insist on quoting me sawadee1947 please do so correctly. As you well know my question was: I really don't know what this thread is all about other than bashing AA? The underlining is the bit you left out and by editing it in this way and then closing it with a full stop you have completely altered my sentence and its meaning and have misrepresented me. But hey no problem, it happens all the time. As you might be cognitively challenged I am suggesting by my question that Pedro is trying to put forward a set of arguments to attack AA. That's fine in so far as it goes but in my view is a little irresponsible on his part. My point is he is not offering any alternatives. Thanks for the link.

Pedro I really don't know what this thread is about other than bashing AA. It reads like a troll. You've already had a go at AA and me in another thread telling me how I must feel because of my experience of AA which was so way off the mark as to be mildly entertaining. FYI I am still sober and still feeling good about myself and far away from the knife edge.

If you don't like AA, then move on. However I am concerned that you're not actually offering anyone an alternative beyond theories of disease and addiction. If you are rattling this morning, whether literally or metaphorically, what use is a debate about addiction or treatment? I am trying to conjure up a drunk waking up and thinking: Hey I have a big problem with booze, the problem is I don't know whether to go 12 step or controlled drinking model.

The notion of a desperate active drunk as someone with choices is absurd and is the exclusive construct of social scientists. I never met a drunk who ever did anything about their drinking unless there was some huge pressure on them equivalent to someone putting a sawn off shortgun in their mouth and saying: you better stop drinking. As a species we drunks only get it together when we absolutely need to : like when our liberty as at stake, or our spouses have walked out on us, or we are in the disciplinary process or a major health scare. True to form many of us revert to getting drunk the minute the danger has passed, regardless of the promises we made to bosses, judges and spouses.

So Pedro I have no problem with your views but I think as someone who purports to have turned the corner on their drinking, especially if you post here, bearing in mind that some fragile anxious folk might be reading this, you have a responsibility to provide them with some real alternatives and practical things they can do. In the alternative, i.e. you have nothing to offer in terms of what to do, I don't think you should bash any source of help because you might inadvertently drive people away from seeking help.

Whether you like it or not AA is probably the most accessible help for anyone who is rattling this morning wherever they may be in the world. People can make a phone call, send an email, and they will get some sort of response in the near future. You can attend an online meeting where someone will be happy to talk to you 121. Hell, you might get a car load of AAs arriving at your doorstep. There is no need to wait for an appointment or referral process.

While I am an AA myself I am not here to slag off any other service or approach. There are may ways to skin a cat. Good luck in your efforts.

So basically I have to complete the form, etc, contact the UK Visa Application Centre for an appointment to submit the paperwork, attend the meeting, pay over the money and then come back to collect the passport when it has been issued.

What I don't understand is why I have to pay a courier fee for the passport to be delivered from the UK Passport Agency ('UKPA') to the UK Visa Application Centre in Bangkok. I could understand the fee if the UKPA mailed it directly to my house but this seems a really oppressive charge which amounts to profiteering. Also massively time consuming. So I have to make two runs into BKK on working days to deliver the application and then pick up the new passport

Any views?