jboras

I think you will find that a Aussie chap owns the bar, he looks like David Boone or Merv Hughes with his handlebar moustache.

He needs to step in and not press charges.

Even that may not work!

Similar situation in Chiang Mai a few years ago with a German friend visiting. Had his passport held by police. Threatened with 3 years jail. It took us 3 weeks of hard bargaining but we got his passport back after paying the police 50,000 baht, no receipts, no records, no charges.... We all watcehd as 3 of them shared the money! 30,000 for the chief and 10,000 each to the junior police.

My friend has vowed never to come back to Thaialnd.

Never has to this day 8 years now...

Advice to visitors, don't get mixed up with police, even for the slightest of matters. Generally the law is how the police interpret it themselves in Thailand and there are as many version of the law as there are police. Don't mess with them. It's expensive to get away... They have the guns and cells. Laws as we know them in Australia and civil rights ... just don't exist in Thailand! The police are poor fellows, they have to even BUY their own uniforms, bikes, petrol and bullets... They can't do that with 9,000 baht monthly salary! So their supplement their income from Thais mostly, drunk drivers, unhelmeted bike riders, speeding (you try tell them otherwise) drivers and the good cash crop of foreign visitors threatened with jail until they pay!

Enjoy your visits to Thailand and stay away from the wrong arm of the law!

I disagree. My experience is totally different. I have had hiv for 11 years, never went into having aids.

(no cd 4 below 200, no opportunistic infections)

You can go "home" if you want to, but it's not necessary. Care is good and plenty here.

You have to be proactive and surf a litlle or ask around.

I was diagnosed in 1997. I started drugs immediately, my cd 4 at 220 - not sick though, stayed in Thailand, kept my job leading a company.

It's not like that for everyone but it's so for a majority of hiv positive people now.

After a few months on meds my cd 4 s were back to normal and they stayed that way.

The last few years I switched to generic Thai retroviral drugs. The chemical molecules of these drugs

are identical to those of brand medicine. Monthly med costs and testing are affordable (see pinned information in this forum).

The doctors are good in Thailand,there's so much hiv around they realy are experienced.

My doctor goes to all the aids conferences and is very abreast of all new developments (Paitoon BGH), we meet monthly and I ask my questions based

on what I read up on.

Ok, time to take my meds. (one time daily). Good Health!

Like I said!

I didn't want to start a debate as to when HIV becomes AIDS. There will be as many differing opinions as there are people in the arguement!

AIDS = Acquired Immune Defficiency Syndrome. (Like.... your immune system becomes defficient because of a nasty virus we caught and it just can't help or repair itself!)

Stop your medications and tell me if you have AIDS or not!

Please don't I am only joking I dont want you developing any resistance to your medical combination!

I have seen many a young people (here in Thailand) die since my infections as they thought "I have HIV not AIDS" and not seeking help! Some helathy that "melted" away in a matter of a few months! Also they had no access to the drugs!

If things have changed in Thailand and people can get "FREE" meds or cheap meds great!

I still visit Australia once a year to get my supplies of meds replenished "free" and get my testing done "free".

If Thailand has changed great!!!! When I went to BNH in April 1998 I was told to make "funeral arrangements"! That the drugs only work for a while. This was the HIV specialist at BNH then... I hope she is still not there!!

You know that in Africa they still believe that HIV and AIDS are not related.

I hope you don't agree and give HIV+ people advise as such!

It's cruel!

Your friends Cd4 count is very low <200 is considered in the AIDS category and medications may/may not work.

Your friends cd4% is extremely low not srprised given his low cd4 count.

What is surprising is is his viral load count which is not considered high. This would make me beleieve that your friend has been infected for quite some time and has only just found out now. He has probably been infecting others along the way if he has been having any type of un protected sex. A CD4 count of <500 makes a HIV carrier very infectious.

Your friend needs immediate action. Medications that he requires are not available in Thailand for free! They cost. A Lot! Tell him to go home where he will get them for free, if he is British or Australian.

He must get on to a very good HIV specialist to start HAART imeediately! HAART = Highly active anti retroviral treatment.

jboras, thanks for an informative post, but the CD4 is not <200, it is over 300. That together with a comparative low VL make the advice to defer HAART and follow the CD4 periodically not unreasonable. When to start treatment is a an area of debate even among physicians specializing in the field. There is agreement that it should start as soon as CD4 dips below 300, (although some governments for reason of cost will only provide free ARV at lower counts), general agreement not to treat when above 500 and differing views about treatment for people who fall between 300-500 with the VL often the deciding factor.

With CD of 331 and comparatively low VL decision to wait and follow the levels is not unreasonable in this case.

Hi,

I should have left that out and not start a debate about when to start therapy.

I put the counter there as my doctor; when he first talked to me 11 years ago tried to explain HIV/AIDS relationship to me.

To clarify:

if CD4 < 200 or

patient displays more than 3 type of infections/illensess he can be classified as an AIDS patient rather than HIV patient.

What I have found out over the years of battling/living with this disease... DEFINITIONS mean nothing...

You are infected with HIV you have AIDS full stop!

It's only a mattaer of time before your immune system looses its battle to this virus (and it will without treeatment) and gives up and you die! My doctor said why wait! Start early and stop the bloody thing in its tracks! Better to tackle the virus while your friend is healthy than to wait until he is sick! Believe me it's not nice! Not nice at all! and.. I was just mildly sick...

I have seen people at the Center where I go for testing annually, their counters are better than what mine were at the start but the medications just dont seem to help. The virus has mutated so much and if your friend is infected with a virus that is already resistant to the drugs, they won't help he will die. Good news is that new variants of the drugs are coming out faster than the virus can mutate and they are ahead of it. I am talking about Australia, I do not know where your friend is from. HIV drugs in Australia and testing is FREE! for Australians that is...

My advise to you to give to your friend.. go home... if he is from UK.. get a good doctor and start therapy immediately. I am sure UK like Australia if your friend is <500 will give him the drug therapy free... It's a matter of life or death.

Once he starts his therapy immediately (with me 3-4 days) he will feel fantastic. He will be able to stay awake all day, go for walks, he will feel re-born! IF THE DRUGS WORK! It's amazing the feeling you get, it's like you get a new body! I never realised just how sick I was until that time... The night sweats stopped, my peeling skin on my face dissapeared and all my mouth ulcers vanished. AND I started talking to my frinds with sense once again. If this was 2000 years ago I would have called it a miracle and my doctor certainly deserved the title of you know who!

His doctor within 3 weeks will call him back for a test and he should be close to undetectable Viral Load if not within 3 months he shouldbe undetectable. If he takes his medicine he will stay like that forever.. have children and not infect others, even with unprotected sex.

The Thai doctor (Dr. Kesanee at BNH) gave me 3-6 months of life (in 1998) and said "Sorry not much we can do for you! So sorry!" Boy was she wrong! It took me a few days to get over the initial shock... "Shit that's it I am dying" and I am glad I got on the phone to Australia and somebody talked to me straight telling me to get on the next plane "home". That word "home" never sounded so good even though it was coming from a stranger.

WARNING! There are lots of crack pots out there, natural therapies, blood transfussions, etc, etc.. THEY DONT WORK!

ONLY DRUGS USED BY YOUR GOVERMENT WORK! NOTHING ELSE..... NOT EVEN PRAYERS!

Sorry to be blunt! But with quick action your friend may outlive you and be very healthy until he is an old man and die of natural causes like a heart attack!

Please advise him to stop having sex or any exchange of bodily fluids as at the moment he is very infectious.

He may infect loved ones that may not have easy access to the medicines like a Thai companion!

If you need to talk to my doctor, .... I can pass you his details if this forum allows. He is currently lecturing at the Queensland University to Virology majors.

The drugs I am on are 1 Tablet of Viramune and 2 tablets of Truvada. (This dosage will vary depending on body weight I am 100Kg) Once a day. That's it! I forget that I even have HIV! LIFE IS GREAT!

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I'd just like to update everyone on what has happened so far in case you're curious and perhaps my info can help anyone there too.

My friend went to re-test his HIV status. He's confirmed HIV+.

He also did some examination. He has some symptoms - swollen glands.

His CD4 cell count is 331, CD4 % 20.3%. His viral load is 13,800.00.

With these results, the doctor advised to do a:

A) Hepatitis Ag and Ab test. He's clear but not immunized.

Repeat his CD4 test in a months' time.

C) Do a HIV Genotype test.

D) Urine exam for syphillis.

When he wanted to do the geno test and the Hep immunization, the nurse & doctor told him that he is currently not in a good state of mind and body because he's in still a state of shock and being in this state of mind and body would affect the results of the tests that he was supposed to do. He had no motivation, no appetite, crying all day and night and thinking about death, avoiding all friends and being in a state of panic thinking about medication straightaway. What's worse, he may lose his job due to the current recession.

Also the doctor said that he needs to do a series of CD4 tests to check whether he really needs to take medication or not. There's no point to take medication too early or else it will not be effective if it's not required.

I told him that needs to try very hard to be strong and think positive, which I'm sure is very hard to do in his situation. After days of comforting him, when I thought he was ready, I told him straight-up and said that nobody lives forever, and you should live the life you want to live and don't let this stop from doing whatever you're doing. With medication nowadays, people with HIV+ can possibly live longer if they maintain a healthy lifestyle.

He has hope and moving on slowly. He has started to eat well again, going back to the gym like his normal schedule, and smoking less to nil.

I've been giving him moral support and slowly day by day he's facing this. Hopefully in a month's time, his mood and state of mind is ready for these tests.

Hi,

I hope that your friend acts immediately and does not sit around some of these "stupid" answers I am seeing here (sorry guys but this guy needs help urgently!).

Your friends Cd4 count is very low <200 is considered in the AIDS category and medications may/may not work.

Your friends cd4% is extremely low not srprised given his low cd4 count.

What is surprising is is his viral load count which is not considered high. This would make me beleieve that your friend has been infected for quite some time and has only just found out now. He has probably been infecting others along the way if he has been having any type of un protected sex. A CD4 count of <500 makes a HIV carrier very infectious.

Your friend needs immediate action. Medications that he requires are not available in Thaniland for free! They cost. A Lot! Tell him to go home where he will get them for free, if he is British or Australian.

He must get on to a very good HIV specialist to start HAART imeediately! HAART = Highly active anti retroviral treatment.

Western countries have many combinations of HAART they can give to HIV people and they have options of chaning the combination of HAART should they be infected with a a mutatnt strain that has already developed resistence to some drugs.

In Thailand they will shake their head (doctors) and tell him he's got 3-6 months left. This is/could be reality if he does not start treatment. Your friend would have already noticed that he is forming mouth ulcers that just wont go away, skin on his face that just seems to peel of on it's own, herpes outbreaks that may be more frequent and difficult to rid of, and finally he may be having the sweaty nights while his body is trying to work out how to fight this HIV infection. Also he will be falling asleep every few hours as his body is just too fatigued fighting the infection.

Now to others he may just seem tired and quite normal.

HE IS VERY INFECTIOUS with the readung you show above and is dangerously low!

Get him home and get proper treatment for him. He will not get it in Thailand.

I know! I went through this 11 years ago, my reading similar to your friends and offered no help at all by any Thai doctors! Because they can't! I caught the plane home after I called my doctor back home. Lucky I did!

11 years later.

My CD4 is 2000+ (normal is 800-1200)

My CD4% 48% (normal is 46-48)

My VL Viral Load = undetectable that means they cannot find any virus when I test every year.

I have fathered 2 children since then and my wife is not HIV+. As my cd4 count is so high we dont use condoms.

I take my medications once a day it's just three pills and LIFE IS GREAT! WORKING AND LIVING NORMALLY!

BUT your friend must get a move on and not sit there feeling sorry arsed for himslef. There is help and it is NOT in THAILAND! Don't waste valuable time as his counter are seriously low.

Some good news for your friend:

When I tested at BNH 11 years ago:

My Cd4 = 260

My CD4% = 26%

Viral Load (tested in Australia, Thais didn't even know what this was) 65,000+

Once started the medications my counters became as they are now (above) 3 weeks after taking the medications! They work!

... and I forgot to mention uncontrolled diarhea (hope the spelling is understood)... running to the loo during a meal... many times....and he may be getting upset quite easily (with himeself and others around him) as he is frustrated by the fact that his energy levels are just zapped... my doctor said it was the onset of toxoplasmosis...

All cured now! But take medicine religiously every morning!

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

I'd just like to update everyone on what has happened so far in case you're curious and perhaps my info can help anyone there too.

My friend went to re-test his HIV status. He's confirmed HIV+.

He also did some examination. He has some symptoms - swollen glands.

His CD4 cell count is 331, CD4 % 20.3%. His viral load is 13,800.00.

With these results, the doctor advised to do a:

A) Hepatitis Ag and Ab test. He's clear but not immunized.

Repeat his CD4 test in a months' time.

C) Do a HIV Genotype test.

D) Urine exam for syphillis.

When he wanted to do the geno test and the Hep immunization, the nurse & doctor told him that he is currently not in a good state of mind and body because he's in still a state of shock and being in this state of mind and body would affect the results of the tests that he was supposed to do. He had no motivation, no appetite, crying all day and night and thinking about death, avoiding all friends and being in a state of panic thinking about medication straightaway. What's worse, he may lose his job due to the current recession.

Also the doctor said that he needs to do a series of CD4 tests to check whether he really needs to take medication or not. There's no point to take medication too early or else it will not be effective if it's not required.

I told him that needs to try very hard to be strong and think positive, which I'm sure is very hard to do in his situation. After days of comforting him, when I thought he was ready, I told him straight-up and said that nobody lives forever, and you should live the life you want to live and don't let this stop from doing whatever you're doing. With medication nowadays, people with HIV+ can possibly live longer if they maintain a healthy lifestyle.

He has hope and moving on slowly. He has started to eat well again, going back to the gym like his normal schedule, and smoking less to nil.

I've been giving him moral support and slowly day by day he's facing this. Hopefully in a month's time, his mood and state of mind is ready for these tests.

Hi,

I hope that your friend acts immediately and does not sit around some of these "stupid" answers I am seeing here (sorry guys but this guy needs help urgently!).

Your friends Cd4 count is very low <200 is considered in the AIDS category and medications may/may not work.

Your friends cd4% is extremely low not srprised given his low cd4 count.

What is surprising is is his viral load count which is not considered high. This would make me beleieve that your friend has been infected for quite some time and has only just found out now. He has probably been infecting others along the way if he has been having any type of un protected sex. A CD4 count of <500 makes a HIV carrier very infectious.

Your friend needs immediate action. Medications that he requires are not available in Thaniland for free! They cost. A Lot! Tell him to go home where he will get them for free, if he is British or Australian.

He must get on to a very good HIV specialist to start HAART imeediately! HAART = Highly active anti retroviral treatment.

Western countries have many combinations of HAART they can give to HIV people and they have options of chaning the combination of HAART should they be infected with a a mutatnt strain that has already developed resistence to some drugs.

In Thailand they will shake their head (doctors) and tell him he's got 3-6 months left. This is/could be reality if he does not start treatment. Your friend would have already noticed that he is forming mouth ulcers that just wont go away, skin on his face that just seems to peel of on it's own, herpes outbreaks that may be more frequent and difficult to rid of, and finally he may be having the sweaty nights while his body is trying to work out how to fight this HIV infection. Also he will be falling asleep every few hours as his body is just too fatigued fighting the infection.

Now to others he may just seem tired and quite normal.

HE IS VERY INFECTIOUS with the readung you show above and is dangerously low!

Get him home and get proper treatment for him. He will not get it in Thailand.

I know! I went through this 11 years ago, my reading similar to your friends and offered no help at all by any Thai doctors! Because they can't! I caught the plane home after I called my doctor back home. Lucky I did!

11 years later.

My CD4 is 2000+ (normal is 800-1200)

My CD4% 48% (normal is 46-48)

My VL Viral Load = undetectable that means they cannot find any virus when I test every year.

I have fathered 2 children since then and my wife is not HIV+. As my cd4 count is so high we dont use condoms.

I take my medications once a day it's just three pills and LIFE IS GREAT! WORKING AND LIVING NORMALLY!

BUT your friend must get a move on and not sit there feeling sorry arsed for himslef. There is help and it is NOT in THAILAND! Don't waste valuable time as his counter are seriously low.

Some good news for your friend:

When I tested at BNH 11 years ago:

My Cd4 = 260

My CD4% = 26%

Viral Load (tested in Australia, Thais didn't even know what this was) 65,000+

Once started the medications my counters became as they are now (above) 3 weeks after taking the medications! They work!

Don't forget also:

When you can proficiently translate to your mates what your wife is saying in English coz they don't have a clue what she's on about... only you do!

Whatmyname?

Some loosing everything

There is nothing unusuall

reapping all the rewards of dowry, take care money, etc. etc..

just realize how stupid you have been to believe....

If you are asking yes, I fell for it too... 3 times!

A bad speller and a slow learner!!!!

Bad speller maybe... If you have time to sit and scrutinize peoples spelling on a forum... wow!

Slow learner? I think not... 1st was a Thai met in Singapore working at a computer store in Sim Lim, 2nd was a teacher working in Chiang Mai, 3rd was working at BKK Bank... all the same...

Maybe I should try a bar girl! Maybe their ambitions are cunningness is not as high!

If you rent the girl, you are only a punter. Why do so many foreign men never understand this? I believe the Thai word to describe this relationship is mia chao.

Hey guys wake up!

Foreigners are nothing but "Bah Kahs" to Thai ladies.

I have seen many a friends in similar situations but none resorted to murder.

They just took it in the chin and carried on. Some loosing everything, even their homes overseas to the Thai ladies. They sell up overseas and buy everything here in their Thai wife/gf name and then get pissed off when they get the boot as they have nothing more to contribute!

There is nothing unusuall for a Thai lady to marry more than once a year and play a dozen or so husbands at the same time! While her true love, a Thai husband, probably pretending to be her brother is around with her kids reapping all the rewards of dowry, take care money, etc. etc..

True love... as long as you can financially support it yes!

If you are asking yes, I fell for it too... 3 times! There were times when I was plotting how to commit the perfect murder as it hurts to loose a fortune and be betrayed not betrayed just realize how stupid you have been to believe....

SEX the no 1 export for Thailand I should have listened to that warning when i first set foot here in 1985. I just didn't realize that don't export it, they use it to lure all the foreign funds to Thailand!

According to the Thanchart website, The Thai Bankers Association has decided that cardholders of foreign banks will be charged 150 Baht for each withdrawal by debit or credit card, effective April 17th.

Not good news.

Why Not?!

Australian, European and I am sure most banks in the world are and have been charging for this service... and a lot more that 150 Baht.

Be greatfull it's only 150baht.

You should see the charge when I use my Thail ATM in Australia... I am sure Ned Kelly runs Aussie banks!

A girl I know, aged 20, has told me she's applied for a visa to go to Belgium. She'll find out if she's got the visa next week. She is not my responsibility but as she has no money and no Belgian sponsor/boyfriend, I would be surprised if she got the visa. She has also made no secret of the fact that she will be working in Belgium as a "dancer". She's no innocent having worked in Pattaya.

It's really none of my business, but she's a sweet and vulnerable girl (her mother was killed in a fire when she was 15, father gone and she had a baby with a Thai man at 16 - a familiar story perhaps) and I'm concerned about the possibility of trafficking and what could happen to her if the set up is not genuine. She told me a friend of her grandmother lives in Belgium and he/she is presumably behind the application.

My question is, what precautionary measures could I take to be in a position to do something should she disappear once she gets to Belgium?

None!

Her hard luck story is not new.

She is probably rolling it out on you and a week later you will be asked to sponsor her.... so she can visit her sick relative in Belgium.

Then try and find her in Europe! Because there is no such Visa as "Belgian" Europe has the Schenken Visa which is valid for any European country. It Must be applied at the embassy of the Country of 1st Entry.. She is then free to go to any Country in EU

Good Luck... enjoy yourself and stay of of trouble!

My Thai gf just got a tourist visa for Canada from their embassy here in Japan. I'm American and was hoping she could visit the UK or Australia on her flight to Canada for couple days... then after she returns from this trip she can try for a US tourist visa. Which visa is more easy, e.g. more likely to get, in Bangkok: UK or Oz? Do either country have a transit type visa where she can just go in for a day or two then catch the remainder of her flight to Canada? She has friends in both countries that can vouch.

Thanks

As long as she can satisfy the embassies issuing the Visas that her visit is genuine "tourist" and with support from you she should be able to get a Visa for either Country. There is no such Country as "easy" especially for Thais.... They must meet a certain criteria before a Visa is issued.

1. Genuine Visitor

2. Able to financially support themselves for and during the visit (normally by way of bank statements)

3. Letter of support from buyfriends or husband

4. That they have compelling enough reason to return to their Country after their visit and not run away. eg. work, assets in Thailand, etc..

If it is s agenuine visit and can meet their criteria she will get it easy. If she could get it for Canada there should be no reason why she cannot satisfy the embassies of other countries to get a Visa

My Thai GF just got an offer to work in Australia for two months. It's somewhere on a ranch or farm during some sort of harvest season. Not sure what. I'm supposed to get more details later. The offer for her to make 65,000B a month is a big deal. They pay for flight and visa. But I see it as the same as we do in the US with migrant workers, pay little, expect to get a lot. Even in Thailand it's the same as with Burmese workers. I think the pay is too little for what is expected of her.

Anyone with experience on this subject? What is she really getting into? Are my suspicions correct? What the minimum wage in this case if you know?

There are working holiday Visas for Australia.

Just make sure that when the Visa is issued it does not have the condition: 8101 No Work : or she will be breaking her Visa conditions and will be rounded up held in detention and deported, if caugtht working illegaly.

My good mate works in the Compliance Section at DIMIA Melbourne and they do weekly roundups of farm workers that are working illegaly at Australian farms, also other places like brothels. Or workers that are not working where they are supposed to be working!

Australia is a very fair country, play by the rules and you will be OK. Break them and you're out!

You can't have a conversation with a Thai woman about anything other than food or sleeping.

Anything else, outside these two vitally important functions, is a waste of time.

I think you need to meet some different Thai women.

which can't be found in the bar

Funny Thread... I bet 99.99% of farangs have met their wives at bars.. and 99% have lost a house or are about to loose a house to their Thai wife and/or their Thai husband that has been in the background all thi time and may have suddenly popped up! The other 0.01% have met their wife either at a wedding of a friend, party of a friend... and I'll bet they pretend never to have been in bangkok!

Where in my post did I say anything about bars, sh1thead?

Hi, I have been reading the forums diligently trying to figure out my visa options and was wondering if yall could clarify for me. Here is my deal:

Im a US citizen and I want to travel to Thailand for a period of at least one year. I have a girlfriend (Thai national) there and it is possible that we will get married at some point. We are both divers and wish to travel all over the surrounding region on dive trips (Bali, Japan, etc..). I am a PADI instructor and may at some point want to obtain a work permit. I have well over 500,000 B saved. I am 38 years old. I have a one way ticket to Bangkok for the middle of June.

If I understand what I have read, I should be able to obtain a 1 year, multiple entry, non-immigrant type O visa for this purpose. My girlfriend said that she would be happy to provide a copy of her passport and a letter of intent to submit with my application if need be.

My question is: Do I have my information correct, and will I be granted this visa on these grounds? Do I need to submit a medical form with my application, and/or a criminal background check? I am planning on submitting my application to the Washington DC office. Any advice you can provide me would be greatly appreciated. Sorry if this is a dumb question...I have tried to make sense of it all, but this is my first visa. Thank you in advance!

Morgan

Not being married to a Thai National with legal marriage paperwork, best you will get is a 3 month single entry Visa.

One way ticket... don't even think about flying without some type of Thai Visa in your passport. You may be refused to board the plane in the USA or you could be refused entry in Thailand....

Girlfriend? Must agree with other writer... not much! Can be rented very cheaply here in Thailand and more than one at a time too!!!! Don't tell her about you 500K baht... the love will run out when that does!

Have seen a lot of "Green" guys crash and burn in Thialnd and leave with nothing nit the clothes on their back! 38 still Green!

Hope all goes well for you and you don't get any jail time!!! The laws in Thailand unfotunately are not what they are meant to be if they are meant to be at all!

I have lost 3 houses... just put it down to book of experiences.

If you choose to live in a Country where basically there are no firm laws then good luck!

Best thing is to bend over spread your butt cheeks and supply your own vaseline to ease the pain a little! If they are intent on sticking it to you they will! Our emabssies are powerless to help!

Many a fortunes have been imported into Thailand and LOST! (Words of advise from my embassy when I lost everything).