roger1999

Work is proceeding well on that site. Plans were to open the hotel by the end of this year, and they seem on track to do that. Nimmen is no longer "Farongville." By day it's Chinese and Thai with some westerners, and by night it's mostly young Thais and some Chinese tourists.

Taoism is sometimes referred to as a pre-Buddhist belief system. There are 100+ English translations of the Tao Te Ching, the keystone work of Taoism. They are all rather different and hard to understand. It took me awhile, but I've written a modernized version meant to be easier to understand. The e-book is free on Amazon for the next four days. It's illustrated!

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Ching-Illustrations-version-ebook/dp/B01D4A7O38/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458466543&sr=1-3&keywords=duane+bruner+tao+te+ching

The video is over a year old.

I've heard the beer at the Maya Roof Top bars charge "European" prices, but I heard this just after they opened so it may be different now. I've never been asked to order food when drinking around Nimmen, but I hardly ever do.

Thanks, Nancy. She went to Siriphat (not Suan Dok as I previously thought) and was told the waiting list is too long and they can't even put her on it. That seems odd to me since we had funds to pay. She is indeed at the age of menopause so I'll ask her to keep that in mind.

Thanks. I'm being told she doesn't qualify for the 30 baht procedure in Chiang Mai as her formal address is in Pitsanoluek. I've no idea if this is true. Might be an option to get her down there ASAP.

A Thai friend was told by a doctor in Bangkok that she needs to have a hysterectomy. She's p[lanning on checking into a hospital in the morning. I'm guessing Suan Dok is the way to go? I understand that since this is a pre-existing condition, getting medical insurance is out of the question. At least, she's been told that many times. Any idea as to cost? Apparently she'll be in the hospital anywhere from 1-4 nights. She's not particularly strong, so I'm guessing 3-4 nights.

I've got some friends who will pitch in. Thanks.

"Noise" topics are common on this thread. I just found this noise generator which helps block out offending noises. It's online and free. The interface needs a bit of work, so watching this video helps to understand how it works:

If memory serves their website use to have a "positions available" section, but I'm not seeing that now (I just now went to the website.) This was maybe 8 years ago but at that time they needed a PhD (field: I do not recall) and the pay was 40,000 baht/month, as I recall. I may be wrong. It seemed awfully low to me.

I play a CD with white noise (rain) when my neighbors get too loud. It works well.

What happened to Blar Blar? I thought that place did good business, and I thought it was subsidized by the beer Chang guys. It'll be interesting to see what goes up in it's place.

"I am currently in the USA. My coverage is not in affect in this location. Knowing that, I purchased 150,0000 baht worth of travel/medical coverage from the same company. This cost me next to nothing. Maybe 2-3,000 baht."

Roger I'm not taking a shot at you but seriously... you didn't do your homework very carefully! $5K USD emergency travel insurance while in the USA???

On a recent trip to the USA I paid a fraction of "2-3,000 baht" and got USD $150,000.00 in emergency medical coverage. For a little more I could have gotten full coverage (actual cost) and USD $4.5 million in liability insurance. 1st plan is a USA company (I think), 2nd plan French company.

PM me and I'll send you the brochures and the contact for my broker.

I hope things go well for you. What city and state are you in?

PM sent. Thanks.

FYI - a friend living in Washington D.C. went to the emergency room last night at 7:19 PM. He was checked into a room at 4:00 AM. Possibly he got some service before that, but the system appears to be broken. At least in big cities. My friend has great coverage via his employer.

If you want to know the name, send me a PM. Name and shame is against board rules, as far as I know.

FYI - urgent care facilities in the US probably cost far less than ER services. Agreed that a trip to the ER will cost in excess of $5,000.

What use is a travel insurance policy without the 24h emergency assistance number. This is normally operated by a specialst third party company on behalf of the insurer. Does your policy have this service? Can it be googled?

You would expect the agent to be able to get this sorted quickly? Try contacting the british insurer direct and see if they can get things moving. My only experience with travel insurance is from the UK but they always have the 24h assistance number. Travel insurance for 2000-3000 baht premium for the USA( the most expensive destination for travel insurance) sounds quite low or its a very short trip.

Helpful. Thanks. I called their UK Headquarters and was told that the line was only for UK policy holders. I was then put on hold for a while when the email arrived from the Thai branch.

Finally I heard back from the Thai branch of the UK insurance company. Their response: Go to the doctor, pay him, show us the paperwork when you get back to Thailand and then we will decide if we can reimburse you.

I guess I am changing my insurance company soon.

Are you daft? Purchasing a mere 150,0000 baht worth of travel/medical coverage in the US might cover a few stitches in an emergency room visit, but not much else.

Wrong. I have already seen a nurse practitioner at Walgreens (cost was $0.) She assured me that a sonogram on my arm (her suggested next step) would cost far less than $5,000.

If through AIA, BUPA or AXA, they all have fairly large offices here and should be easy to contact.

I would think so as well. Not in this case. I spoke to my agent roughly 1 hour ago. She mentioned that the insurance company was closed yesterday. Any insights on that would be helpful.

You've made it 36 hours...why go to the ER? Generally, the number you call for pre-certification is different than your agent.

Bangmai, I am in the USA. Please re-read my post and help if you can. It is entirely possible that I have had a stroke. I don't think so, but maybe. FYI -- I have no coverage in the US outside of the policy I purchased in Chiang Mai. From a British company with offices in Thailand.

Ok not to destroy your hopes but you called at 19:00pm Thai time.

You will not be getting an answer anytime soon.

Try making contact during business hours

I first emailed them 36 hours ago. No response. At the same time I contacted my agent via SMS, email, and a Facebook message. Getting no response from anyone I called my agent roughly 40 minutes ago.

I am based in Chiang Mai. I have had medical coverage from the same company since 2009. In that time, I have paid them roughly 350,000 baht. In the last 12 months I had a medical condition costing about 70,000 baht and the insurance company paid for that. Good for them.

I am currently in the USA. My coverage is not in affect in this location. Knowing that, I purchased 150,0000 baht worth of travel/medical coverage from the same company. This cost me next to nothing. Maybe 2-3,000 baht.

I now have a medical issue (in the USA) and the insurance company and my insurance agent are not responding to emails.

Five minutes ago I called my insurance agent and told her she has 1 hour to get back to me with official notification that my visit to an emergency room will be covered.

Truth be told, I have no idea if my travel policy covers this. I simply want an answer and hopefully I will get it in 55 minutes. I am not hopeful.

You need to show your business plan to wealthy individuals who have the extra cash to invest. If you don't know any people like this, it's not going to be easy to get anyone to listen to your story. If your idea is compelling enough, who knows? You will need a very slick presentation.

There are also a lot of crowdfunding websites, but crowdfunding a tourist attraction in CM won't be an easy sell, but raising cash never is easy.

A bank is never going to invest in a CM tourist attraction. Banks are accountable to shareholders and they need guaranteed returns.

Just my opinion and I hope others pipe in with better ideas.

Yes, you need a business plan first. No one will take you seriously if you can't manage that first step.

I am the OP. I appreciate the responses so far and hope for additional confirmation that I will receive a 30 day entry stamp at Mae Sai when the extension on my current visa expires.