MarkyM3

The first part of the sentence is true but the last part is rubbish imo. Bi-confused is probably closer to the mark, LB lovers are not attracted to regular men at all. There is a reason LB are called "the third sex". Ultimately, a lot of it is wrapped up in online fantasy in most cases. Looking at LBs online or walking around Sukhumvit, some of whom looking more stunning than real girls, isn't the same as having a relationship or bedroom engagement with one. Ultimately, they are a biological male under all the window dressing. Becoming more and more apparent when they get past their sell by date, which is in the mid 30s at best. I suspect the OPs friend will probably find that out fairly quickly. I had a brief dalliance with a LB in Thailand and realised I had been drawn into fantasy, not reality. My 2c. Up to those that do want to do it. Calling them perverts and referring to it as "dirty sex" strikes me as incredibly narrow-minded. Everyone has their own way through life.

Yes we heard you first time. Says it all doesn't it. What if your kids turn out to be one, God help them!

I take Russians at face value. Some are friendly and I'll reciprocate but plenty are miserable and ill-mannered ime. They've also let Putin turn their country into a pariah state. He still enjoys plenty of support as well. Whaever people may think of wars the West is involved with, I'd rather be living in a liberal democracy than a state that deals with its opponents by poisoning them or disposal via other means. And the guy who mentioned on the positive aspects of Russia having "no LGBTs" - charming (and no I'm not LGBT). WAC.

Is the option of paying 400 baht per month open to any expat or those on certain visas? Because I see a lot of posts from people on here who can't get medical insurance. I'm genuinely interested because I plan to semi-retire to Thailand for some of the year in future. Regards the NHS, plenty of faults but I've had good experiences with it for serious issues. Had brain surgery done and it was performed quickly by a class-leading surgeon. Great after-care as well. Sounds like you have had good experiences with the Thai system but I've heard complaints from Thai friends who have had to go queue early morning and wait a long time to be seen.

I'm not clear if he had a licence to ride a motorcycle. Insurance wouldn't pay out, helmet or not, if he didn't. Certainly, the travel insurance policies I've had made it clear that no license = no insurance if hiring a bike. Not sure if the bike rental supplied their own insurance as part of the deal but it would unlikely to be extensive.

I first pitched up in Thailand in my early 30s to backpack (now in my early 50s) but had travelled around Europe on my own in my early 20s and knew I had to be careful. I think a lot of it comes down to personal attitude and upbringing. I tend to think Western society has become too much like a nanny state and that's reflected in parenting approach. People are more wrapped in alternate reality driven by social media imo.

Why would the British government have anything to do with insuring its citizens overseas? No country does that afaik, the potential expense would be huge and encourage laissez-faire risk taking. I feel really sorry for this guy and his family but you have to be insured and follow the rules. He's 24yo, not a kid. To begin with, anyone hiring a motorbike in Thailand who doesn't have the UK license is asking for problems if they have an accident, thought most seem to ignore it. And even if they are licensed, if they are not wearing a helmet, as required by the policy conditions, then a payout will inevitably be refused. Insurance companies aren't benevolent funds.

Saw a long TV interview in English with her when I was in Thailand recently. Definitely good looking (so was Yingluck for that matter lol) but intellectually unimpressive. Thaksin et al will be back seat drivers for sure. Top Silpa-Archa was also interviewed and came across a lot better imo. Excellent command of English language due to overseas education in UK and US.

Thanks for background. I l just found 2 weeks wasn't enough. Hence my original point about visa duration. Regards pensions, the UK state pension doesn't kick in until 66 for men. But that isn't intended to be the primary source of retirement income for most people, it is nowhere near enough. Most professionals will retire at age 60 with private pensions. Those working for the police, fire service etc. can retire age 50 or earlier on very good pensions. Other sources of income like property investment, private investments have become somewhat more significant now than just the traditional pension route. I am officially due to retire age 60 (I've just turned 52), but could retire at age 55 on a reduced pension if I want to. My plan is to semi-retire in next 12-24 months and only work 3 or 4 months per year on contract until perhaps 60 and dip into other income sources. Once my company and state pensions are both active later in life my savings drawdown will slow right up. By sounds of it, if you've worked for govt. for a long stint you'll be on a very good pension arrangement sheltered from inflation, which is great. Private arrangements just aren't going to live up to that unfortunately Cheers ????

Well...the US has a population of approximately 5 times that of the UK yet the 2 countries are near enough level on that graph so..... Most of the Americans I come across in Thailand are either retirees/near retirees or college aged kids. I don't tend to see lots of people in between that age group. If you've only got 2 or 3 weeks' vacation in total for a year then a holiday from US to Thailand seems a stretch....longer than flying from Europe and there aren't any direct flights at all now.

Yes....in fact it's illegal afaik to offer less than 20 days paid vacation in the UK, even at day 1. Plus you have 8 days public holidays on top. I'm a frequent visitor to the US so I'm aware of the big difference in the working culture between US and Europe. I'm in early 50s now but can say I've been getting 28-30 days of paid vacation since my early 30s or earlier (I didn't start work until mid 20s due to college). Plus 8 days public hols. And I buy a n extra week of vacation from my salary as well. So this year, I'm on 7 weeks plus public hols. I can say that it would be very rare for any employer in the UK to offer less than 25 days at outset for a professional job (I'm in IT working for a bank, nothing special). Plus the public hols on top. I have also taken 2 career breaks during my working life, each of 6 months. Spent 5 months last year in Thailand on break #2. They were unpaid, of course, though I got my pension contributions paid 1st time around. Where the US definitely pulls ahead of Europe is on raw salary. But things like vacation and healthcare, the attitudes are much different. As you are probably aware, health schemes in Europe are funded by taxation generally. Higher level jobs offer private medical insurance as part of the package which can get you quick treatment but public health means you won't risk being uninsurable if you have serious medical issues. I had a brain tumour removed in 2019 - the entire treatment was done quickly and involved no direct cost to me. The issue with public health comes with waiting times for less urgent stuff. My sister is a US citizen and I visit often so see both sides of the coin ????

US leave patterns do not reflect the rest of the world thankfully. It's standard to have 5 or 6 weeks vacation from the outset in UK, continental Europe and so forth. I fly the best part of 6000 miles from London to Bangkok and 2 weeks doesn't cut it I'm afraid if you want to relax properly. 3 weeks is the minimum trip for me and I frequently come for longer if possible. Getting over the jetlag takes a few days, for starters. OK, so I can buy a Tourist Visa from the London embassy and have done several times previously but it's an unnecessary hassle and expense. Your advocation of 5-10 days being fine for most visitors may be applicable for someone living in Singapore, HK who flies in to Thailand for a quick visit but I think you're totally wide of the mark for those outside the region or who don't work on US employment terms. As for reverting to the 30 day visa, it won't keep out those abusing the system. Look at all the corruption in the immigration service and the numerous Russians currently holed up in the country. Would have made far more sense to stay at 45 days.

Hi, My ladyfriend in Bangkok is looking at the possibility of setting up a small online business to sell high quality, hand-made goods overseas. Handbags and other personal items, prices from around 2000 baht upwards. Whether or not there's a real market for that is open to debate but she's keen on the idea for now so who am I to question it LOL.... Anyways, just wondered what platforms were best for selling out of Thailand? Ebay is one I've used here in the UK over the years to buy and sell and, while the fees are a pain, they have genuine global reach and are able to handle everything including payment handling and distribution, case resolution etc. Is that true for accounts registered in Thailand as well? Any other recommendations for platforms? I've used Amazon Marketplace once or twice but their fees are higher than Ebay and have seen some iffy reports about them. Seems they are more geared towards dropshippers. How about platforms closer to Asia for selling to Singapore, Hong Kong etc? Cheers

Using a UK credit card with FoodPanda...no issues and consistently good service in Bangkok. The one time they were excessively late, emailed me a 50 baht voucher, unprompted.

Bear in mind I have been on Nebido for 2+ years previously and steady state apparently isn't reached for some time due to the cumulative effect of injections and their half lives. That is what I was told. I was injected every 90 days roughly which coincides with the stated half life of a jab (stated as 90 days +/- 40 days depending on the individual's endocrine system). The principle seems roughly similar to doing daily 5mg Cialis/Tadalafil, which has a half life of around 18 hours and you end up with a steady state of 8mg per day on it after 5 days. Anyway, whatever the case, looks like I am still carrying accumulated Nebido as I can't see how I could have logged 1550 ng/dL on Tostran 6 pumps. I'll see how what it looks like back to minimum dose of 4 pumps when I go back for a test in a couple of weeks. Decided I don't want to go back to Nebido, although it's convenient. Will consider injections but they need to fit in with travel between London and BKK. If you read my earlier comments, due to me using an anti-epilepsy medicine which apparently decimates the LH which tells your balls to make T and sperm then it has been suggested on a forum I should ask about HCG monontherapy. Plus I want to retain fertility as I might still want kids. However....now age 51 so declining T may well be a factor regardless. Regards AI, been using Anastrozole for a long time but I'm very sensitive to it. Come around to view to try and avoid it if possible. Not used any for 3 weeks now. Cheers for input!

Just to add....I mentioned previously I had my last Nebido (injectable slow-release testosterone) injection in early Nov 2021. Having re-read the manufacturer info, it says the half-life of this is 90 days. I tested for T levels of around 700-750 at the end of January, nearly 3 months after the last Nebido injection and without using anything else. I would usually have had another Nebido injection in the next week or two but didn't and switched to gels. I didn't use gel much at all for the first month or two thereafter because I was conscious of the influence of Nebido in my system but didn't appreciate the amount would only be halving every 3 months thereafter (on basis half life is 90 days). Therefore, it would appear there is still quite a bit of Nebido in my system, even now, which would explain high T readings with using standard Tostran dose as well. It looks like I will need to wait several more months for Nebido to fully disappear from my system and hence tailor the Tostran dose in the meantime. Back from 60 to 40mg Tostran gel now and will test T and E2 in a couple of weeks to see if I'm back in range. Thinking that when the Nebido fully disappears, I will finally end up back at standard 60mg dose or thereabouts or look at alernative treatments.

It's Tostran topical gel (called Fortesta in the US). I'm on TRT in the UK and that's my current prescription medication (I brought it with me when I flew over to BKK at beginning of Feb). Have been taking the standard dosage of 6 pumps a day. I had applied it to the thighs as directed (4 pumps). I also had 1 pump on each shoulder. And yeah, I was pretty shocked by that reading tbh. And the E2 as well, though both excess T and E2 seem to follow the same trajectory. The blood draw was done from my right arm and that wasn't contaminated to best of my knowledge and I hadn't used it for gel for at least a week previous. I'm now going to stick to thighs only. Did more checking on Tostran/Fortesta (US equivalent) and the manufacturer recommends taking blood draws 2 hours after applying gel. Mine was done 6.5 hours later but the figures should be slighly lower if anything yet still got that high reading... Anyways, I've cut back from 6 pumps to the recommended minimum starter dose of 4 pumps, as per UK manufacturer instructions, and I will get another T and E2 test done in 2 weeks at 2 hours after application. Manufacturer instructions say if the T figure is between 500 and 1250ng/dL then no dosage adjustment needed. Lower than 500 and I go up by one dose. If it's still too high then that will be interesting... Will need to see what the E2 says as well. I've stopped taking Ansastrozole now, as discussed previously. I'm taking 5mg Cialis daily, for ED but also supposed to have beneficial effects on E2 aromatisation.... Btw, I shave my otherwise hairy thighs and shoulders every few days to ensure gel is absorbed properly.

The draw was done 6.5 hours after putting gel on so not sure that's correct. Readings are supposed to decline throughout the day on gel, mimicking the natural T cycle. Did some research and endos with patients on gel recommend blood draw 6-8 hours after gel application to get somewhere midpoint between peak and trough. Which is what I did. I could get a test done before applying gel but that's going to be an absolute trough figure. Strikes me my figures are way too high at 3.30pm if I'm logging those numbers. I'm near double the upper limit for T and over double for E2. Didn't speak with doc as I'm not on their program. Back to UK on 30 June so no point me joining. If I move to BKK fulltime I'll probably do so. Btw - agree on the gel and worry about transferring to gf. Same issues for me. I also found it caused some skin irritation for a while though that's abated now.

Hi again.. Had my blood test yesterday at Maximum....gel applied at 9am and blood draw done 3.30pm to try get something towards midpoint between peak and trough. My T and E2 figures are pretty crazy... T - 1551 ng/dL E2 - 97 pg/ML Others pretty normal: SHBG - 19.8 nmol/L Albumin - 4.56 g/dL Prolactin - 16.83 ng/mL TSH - 0.99 Free T4 - 1.03 ng/dL I last had a Nebido injection in early Nov 2021 after being on it for approximately 2 years so it should be out of my system by now. I am currently using 6 pumps of Tostran gel daily, applied in the morning, each delivering 10mg of T. That is the recommended daily dose (starting dose being 4 pumps, maximum 8 pumps allowable). I used Tostran for a time when I first started TRT before going onto Nebido and never saw T figures anything like this, in fact I ended up on 7 pumps iirc. So somewhat at a loss to explain these figures. I haven't had any gel in that area for a week at least (I use thighs and shoulders nearly all the time) so that should not be a factor. I keep the gel in a room at around 26c and give it a shake each morning before applying so don't see it has mutated lol - in fact, I asked the distributor a few years ago if Tostran had any issues with heat in the tropics and they said no. So, going to cut back to 4 pumps for now and go back to Maximum for a test at the end of the month and see if anything has changed. Been taking Tadalafil 5mg daily for last week (and did so thru mid March to mid April) which is supposed to usefully suppress E2 as a side effect (discussed in my previous posts, my primary purpose is for ED at least partially linked to my Epilim use). Yet I'm still way up on E2, clearly due to the excess T aromatisation in my system. Not used Anastrozole for 2.5 weeks. My blood pressure was 122/74, so pretty normal.

Yeah, I'm coming around to the view that anastrazole isn't helping, either with the Nebido I previously used or the Tostran I used briefly in the past and now again. I need to work on optimising the T dose and method of delivery. The UK public health system has quite narrow treatment options defined, whereas private consultants don't. Hence my need to get a proper TRT specialist involved after 3+ years of treatment not working consistently. My case is also probably more complex than most. The origins of my low T may well be due to having to take an anti-epileptic drug (Epilim) from my mid 20s. Unfortunately, it kills T and libido/erections in a fair proportion of men, though I never found that out until I was into my 40s..... Someone told me HCG monotherapy should have been 1st port of call for treatment because that would stimulate LH production in my brain, telling my balls to make T and sperm, which the Epilim apparently messes up. Unfortunately, most endos have no knowledge about this stuff. I found out by doing a lot of research. But my age (51) is probably also a much bigger factor now, HCG...still haven't ruled out having kids even though I'm now 51 so that's my primary motivation there. But I did read it has other potential benefits though, as well. But if you are feeling good on your TRT protocol and kids aren't a factor then I agree no reason to use it. Looks like I have my bloods appointment with Maximum on Friday afternoon and I'll get the results within 24 hours.

Hi Hummin...thanks for the info. I've been in touch with them today, as it happens. They didn't try to sell me that package except as part of a screening for joining their TRT program, which I won't be since I'm already under treatment in the UK, where I reside most of the time. I don't need the bits outside of the hormone panel because they are stable for me over time. I've asked for the following: Free T (T + SHBG + Albumin) E2 Prolactin Thyroid (TSH + free T4. I'm take 50mcg Levothyroxine for hypothyroidism so free T3 isn't useful to check) Cost is 5000 baht. I did check with the place Greg mentioned and it was barely any cheaper. Plus I live in the Sukhumvit area anyway, so I'm going to go with these guys. I already use Tostran gel daily applied so I've asked if they can do the blood draw mid-afternoon, to try and get a T figure roughly between peak and trough. Will see. Cialis was also mentioned in this thread. I did use daily 5mg for some time and I have read studies show that it has suppression effects in the long term on aromatisation of T to E2. So I'm feeling that plus using Anastrozole use may have pushed my E2 down too far. I'll be interested to see, anyways. Seems some treatment places are favouring the daily use of 2.5 or 5mg Cialis now as it apparently has other favourable properties in the endocrine system, rather than for it's usual use for ED treatment. Do you use HCG btw? UK public health doesn't prescribe it as an adjunctive to T. It's either or, whereas private specialists seem to be more into the idea of using both. Certainly, it's something I want to look at with a private TRT specialist, along with the rest of my treatment protocol, when I return to the UK.

OK cheers. I did message Pathlabs via FB Messenger asking about the tests I want but I'll try Max if I get no joy there. I'm only in Thailand for a few more months before I return to UK and I'm planning to hire a private specialist as soon as I get back. I get it all free on public health for now (and probably can continue to get T via that method) but my experience is I probably know more about TRT than the endos I've had assigned to me. One of them tried to prescribe 1mg of Anastrozole per day - <deleted>...I obviously declined.

With Nebido, I was doing 0.25mg pf Anastrozole twice one week, then one 0.25mg on the other week. Any more got me too low over time. But.... I could also seem to go the other way and get E2 readings over the recommended max which made it so hard dialling in Anastrozole on Nebido (I requested full blood tests before every injection, despite complaints from doctor/endo...). With the symptoms of high or low E2 being similar to some degree, it really makes it hard to know what's going on without a test. I switched back to Tostran after using it briefly in the past and I'm somewhat regretting it rn, given how I feel. I'm not sure what is going on with my T and E2 levels without a test. I can get my blood panels done free in the UK but I won't return there for over 2 months so would like some figures now. Fed up of <deleted> libido and it sure isn't helping my relationship with gf here, that's for sure.

Yep, I read up a lot on it. I'd rather not use it but found my E2 levels went high on both gels and Nebido if left unattended. A key problem is I seem to be very sensitive to it and a bit too much either way affects my readings a lot. Probably one reason why TRT has not been going well for me. Feel like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place rn! Btw...I'm currently getting 3mg of T (6 pumps of Tostran) daily. That's the recommended dose. My last Nebido injection was November 2021 so that should be out of my system now.

Which gel did you use? I'm on Tostran (Fortesta) again but unfortunately I'm having a worse experience than with Nebido, though I don't know if that's due to the AI (I have stopped used Anastrazole for last 12 days to see what happens but nothing positive, hence why I wanted to see if my E2 is out of whack here).