SantiSuk

Don't discount Thai towns or cities (or even villages if they are close to a decent sized town or village) in a less touristy area of Thailand. I have loved being immersed for the past 16 years in a village that is 20km from a town of 10,000 ish people (Kantharalak in Sisaket province) and 85km from a regional City of some 200,000 - Ubon Ratchathani - Thailand's 5th (ish) biggest town. The weather is great - no pollution to speak of and by being immersed in a community of ordinary Thai people and feeling part of it somehow makes life relaxing. There is typically also a community of foreigners who develop social things for local residents to do that extend beyond bar hopping - eg golfing groups, house parties, fishing, weekends away in Thailand and regionally. I'm convinced someone living in places like that develop a network of friends/acquaintances (fellow expats and Thais) far more readily than if one lived in Bangkok/Pattaya etc. I enjoy visiting Bangkok and Jomtien (latter in preference to Pattaya) and am lucky enough to own a condo in central Bangkok for monthly visits. I wouldn't want to live in Bangkok full time - traffic and time taken to get from A to B. Pollution. Rip off merchants like many taxi drivers. Nor would I live in Pattaya (sorry folks but too many falang with strong views on life, love and other people that typically don't accord with my laid-back outlook. I just feel more empathy with my fellow Isaan resident falangs. The Isaan ladies living in Isaan are just far more charming and human than the ones who have dedicated their futures to Bangkok and Pattaya. Food is not just cheap, it's very cheap. Immigration is a breeze around here. Rarely takes more than 15 minutes to get in and out of Sisaket town Immigration for annual or 90 day visits and one is treated with respect. Just my take. I accept that everyone has their own recipe for living. I only ask that, if you really want to find out what will turn you on for your future, that you widen the range of places to try out beyond Pattaya and Bangkok. Final thought is that Hua Hin area has always struck me as a possibly acceptable halfway house between BKK/Patts style and the type of regional rural style I love that is so embodied by my part of Isaan. I would like to be nearer beaches, but not at the expense of giving up my present living environment. Good luck with your quest. Seek out a Hash House Harriers group (drinkers with a running/walking problem) to extend your range of expat and local friends and to keep active. "On On" to a fulfilling life, Steve aka "Flash Git".

The usual' hang-em-high response that might be expected of falang in Thailand who respond on social media to this type of occurence. I hope y'all never have to face mental health problems yourselves (and no - I am not assuming that is the case but it certainly looks like a possibility).

The accident was my fault - I fell asleep at the wheel. First accident I've had in 55 years of driving, but that's no excuse. I was aware I was feeling a bit sleepy but thought I could focus through it. Wrong - learnt my lesson the hard way - should have stopped for coffee then stopped for walk-around a couple of times in the 80km journey (it's not rocket science, I'm an idiot). Have felt the need to do that keeping alert/refreshed act one time since and it worked well. I didn't have crash repair replacement within my then insurance. Noticed it as an option for the 1st time when I looked at my AA Insurance agent's postings after the accident! I'll deffo think hard about it at next renewal. Hiring a car locally in Isaan for a weekend (48 hours) cost about 2,000 baht and I must have done that 4-5 times in the 6 months. Otherwise my wife was good hearted about letting me borrow her car, so not a slam dunk that I will take it up, though some could justifiably comment that with my apparent risk profile I should be doing so. I'll think hard when I see the cost for renewal early next year. Another mistake - had I known it would be 6 months of repair I would have investigated notifying my local Land Transport Office that the car was off the road. I renewed my Car Tax recently (that's what my wife calls it - I'm a Brit so I call it Road Tax) - talking about that tax disc you put inside your windscreen corner. Went to renew my Road Tax earlier this week as it had expired in June - one month into the repair period. I asked my wife to enquire if it was possible that I did not need to pay for the full one year period given that the car was off the road being rebuilt from June to a few days ago, expecting that they would say you should have notified us at the right time so no, to which I would have asked 'what if I get a letter from the repairer or insurance agent saying that the car has been off the road. Unfortunately my wife gave a display that is so typical of Thai wives I believe (based on reading Asean Now and it's forerunnner, Thai Visa.com, for 15 years). She knew the answer (she never knows the answer she just guesses) - "you just have to pay up for a year like everybody else" quoth she. I didn't have the energy to try out my basic Thai with the Road Tax counter ladies against a backdrop of wifey agreeing with them; counter staff had already shown a distaste for communicating with a foreigner. So I shut up and paid up - anything for an easy life. Anybody know the rules about Road Tax and vehicles being kept off the road out of interest?

I was a bit out of it on the day after the accident and the day after. My wife took the decision to accept the offer when approached by the local dealer who had come out on call by a rescue van called by the police I think. I was not gonna grill her later over the detail as I know she will think I'm criticising her for choosing an outfit that took so long and she doesn't deserve that. For the poster who asked if I feel comfortable driving it. Yes - after taking the drive with the test driver then spending time driving it myself, cautiously then fastish, since delivery (haven't tried above 110kph yet). In the crash it was slowed down by small trees and didn't have a real hard bang against big trees. Panels up front were a bit beaten up, but the frame looked OK and engine had not been moved. Nowhere near write-off territory which is why I think the time taken to repair it was OTT.

...and I have just taken delivery of my Fortuner after 6 months in their repair shop in my local town. An unbelievble number of broken promises along the way. OK - it was a major rebuild and the car looks new and beautiful on return, but front end rebuild only and 6 months fer Chrisakes!

If you are relying n a so-called 'independent analysis' LOOK TO SEE WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING DONE, by WHO AND LASTLY AND IMPORTANTLY DO A BIT OF RESEARCH ON THE WEB INTO WHO THAT ORGANISATION IS. Sorry about the caps. I once bought a prostate supplement from one of these typical snake oil salesman outfits promising a recovery "within days from my ever swelling gland. Obviously that was going to be BS. The product was supported by an independent website that identifies the critical factors that suggest a recommendable product and then does exactly that. They recommended this product so I thought I would give it a go. I'm still using the product - it did nothing originally but then started to work a little. My point though is that much was made by the product provider and the independent reviewer of this and other providers products that my particuar product had come out on top. Now go down to the level of detail that names the outfit that did the critical testing of the product by a survey of users specially selected. All looks hunky dory about the survey until you Google search on the name of that testing organisation. Oh dear! Apparently the staff in that independent testing organisation are raising alarms about the motives and ethics of their bosses. We know what that means - well - I suggest it means that money/profit is the objective not reliable analysis. So can we rely on this outfit, on those who hired them and on the product itself? Form your own opinion. Like I said - I have decided that the supplement industry is full of snake oil salesmen. Do lots of work on the web before spending your money. Don't buy the expensive 6 month supply mega packs. Try it for a couple of months and form your own view.

Was thinking that this is the responsibility of the restaurant owners' community to sort out, not nutters with baseball bats. If I were a customer and became intimidated by an outsider with the restaurant taking no action I would go talk to the most senior person and make it clear that if the restaurant was not going to do anything about it I would walk out without paying, or maybe with a deduction. It maybe that the customers have to take the initiative in getting ultimate police action. I remember being approached by a semi-intimidating beggar as I sat outside a Phnom Penh restaurant on a tourist street. I got up and went to the manager and asked if he was going to do anything about it. He ummed and aaghed and I made it clear I would walk and never come back. He immediately went and confronted the beggar and I did go back a few days later and the manager came over and said he was happy I had taken that action because he had since talked with a few of his neighbouring restaurateurs and they had all decided to support each other in stopping the street beggars coming to table.

I doubt that many would support your derogatary remarks about standards and regulation being applied by public authorities to public transport, particularly as regards the carriage of our kids.

Are police allowed to charge those found carrying a weapon on routine searches in Thailand, Australia or the UK? US obviously no, given the 'right to carry arms' culture This problem has to be gripped and should be adopted in any right thinking nation. Get the w@nkz off the streets!

If I compare my teenage lifestyle (60 years ago) with that of my teenage daughter mine was far more outdoors and involving physical excercise - and I think I was typical - ie not particularly sporty in any structured way but certainly out and about. Now it seems to be all about social media, sitting for very long periods with a phone or laptop and much less physical contact with friends. Do other older falang here with families recognise that as a major difference? Needs further research and probably significant action by governments.

Strikes me that living in an area where there are loads of falang is much riskier than living "in the sticks". I'm not saying that the latter is risk-free, but certainly less risky. For me the Bangkok's and Pattayas of this world are places to visit, not to live. Each to his own. You are welcome to express your contraray views that the rewards exceed the risks.

Got the dates wrong and cannot edit. First hip replacement was in August 2022 and second was in September 2023. Also the price both times was close to 650,000 baht.

Just to say that I can confirm your "double the price" comment about Bumrungrad Hospital Bangkok and the thumbs up for their physiotherapy department. I have had both hips replaced at Bumrungrad, the 1st 4 years ago and the second 2 years later. The cost both times was about 600,000 baht. That said, I was very pleased with the results and their physiotherapy department is first class. The Bumrunrad experience is like staying in a 5 star hotel. I was walking with a frame during the 4 day recovery period in-hospital the day after the op and with a stick 2 or 3 days later. I was walking unaided within a couple of weeks of the op. I have had no pains or walking difficulties since The surgeon was Dr Charlee Summatavanich who told me back then that, in addition to the high number of such operations he had successfully carried out, he was the chairman of the Thai-wide surgeons' group that conducts such operations.

Agreed - probably the best forward line up as individuals that we have seen in our lifetime (I go back beyond '66) and a few excellent attacking midfielders. Have a chance of winning if we play to that strength, but I fear Germany in particular will be able to crack our less than exciting defence. Our main weakness is Southgate - nowhere near the tactical quality of the top EPL coach/managers (Pep/Mikel/Ange/Jurgen, different league).

As you can see I live in Sisaket province. In my 15 years here I have had experience of hospitalisation at Ubonrak and Rajavej in Ubon and recent experience of consultations with so-called specialists at Princ in Sisaket. Ubonrak is the only one of those 3 where I would contemplate having an operation. Rajavej is OK for walk-in consultations with a peripatetic doctor - they have two who seem to do most of the work fielding walk-in consultations - one is a cardiologist (he's good at that, and also good on diabetes for my other half) and the other a neurosurgeon (untested by me in his specialist area but seemed a good knowledgeable guy generally. So, Rajavej is probably not much use there specifcally for hernias, though they possibly do have an arrangement that brings in a specialist surgeon either from the big Ubon Public Hospital Sapphasit or potentially from any hospital in Isaan or even Bangkok. In any case I found being hospitalised in Rajavej (for Covid 3 years ago) to be a pretty soulless experience with little face to face contact with nurses or doctors (maybe just a covid thing) - the place looks/feels faded to me, as though It could be closed at any point. Ubonrak is much brighter and the staff are fine, meals are ok etc. I have not been impressed by the quality of supposed specialists at Sisaket's Princ hospital who were on various occasions recently lined up for me to consult about spine, colorectal and ENT issues. But first if you want to test out Ubon's capabilities you really need better local feedback about the capability of specific surgeons undertaking ingeunial hernia work in the city, with specifc emphasis on Ubonrak. I recommend that you join one or both of the Ubon expat facebook groups ("Ubon Expats" and "Ubon Ratchathani") and pose your questions there.