Tropicalevo

Another (small) win for the TM 30's?

An excellent response sir.

Thanks for the update and good luck When my local branch of Krungsri bank closed (Choengmon) I was moved the the branch at Central Festival. Big Mistake. The staff at the local branch were brilliant. If they could not answer my question, they would contact someone at HO. They were 'can do' people. CF branch - 'cannot. Staff who does that gone home - come back Monday. Cannot do this transaction on weekends - no staff. And so on. Always busy and long waits. It took me three weeks to make an overseas transfer in USD (medical insurance). No one in the branch could do it. When I complain to HO they suggest that I transfer to the Nathon branch. - yeh sure. 40 minutes each way. For the accountant as well for the business account.

His 'pants on fire' methinks. At least it keeps the press happy.

It is very sad that these 'politicians' would rather waste their time on a personal vendetta instead of fixing the country's problems.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-south-african-town-where-penguins-rule-180978901/

Unfortunately for most, it is the only way for them to see animals - live. I am not condoning zoos, but the alterative is say, 10,000 USD to go to one of the African countries.

There is no betrayal. It was decriminalised (not legalised) for medicinal purposes only

No problem thank you. I am pretty relaxed about death in Thailand. I have been to quite a number of funerals. The hardest part was for my wife's family (from the UK) when they saw me collecting the 'ashes'. They wanted some to take back to the UK but the request from them was 'no bones'. I had to sit on the floor with a hammer pulverising the bones for them. (A friend recently told me that it is quicker using a dumbbell!) Now taking the ashes back to the UK via a stop over with friends in Turkey is a whole new TV series. (Clue - suspicious white powder in the suitcase.)

Or they just did not put enough wood and petrol at the head of the pyre. (When my wife was cremated, there was more bone than ash for the urns.)

I have sent you a PM.

The resident doctors here do that. They never prescribe tablets for me - they write the name down and I buy outside. For urology, the doctors fly in for the weekend consultations. There are three of them on rotation. One recognises me from the TURP procedure and does the same as the resident doctors. The other two just do the prescriptions for the hospital.

The bill was correct. Try re-reading the first three lines of my original post. THAT was your dumb mistake

Most snake wranglers release them in a safe area away from people.

It's a shame that the politicians with a conscience have resigned instead of the ones who took the bribes.

Respect sir. (I had forgotten.)

When I used to brew my own beer back in the early 1970's the recipe included sugar. (Home brew kits). The beer was rubbish but it was all that I could afford having just got married. It was drinkable but I would not give it to guests.

Do you have any experience at hiring unskilled workers?

I would guess that the folk posting sad emoji's on my post do not have an understanding of wage rates for unskilled workers in urban areas. Remember that unskilled construction workers receive 200 baht per day or less. 13,000 baht a month is an OK starting salary for staff that are covered by the labour laws, receive all of the government holidays, and they also need training. There are unlimited overtime opportunities. That is why they were queueing for up to 12 hours for the opportunity. Unskilled restaurant workers do not receive this much as well as lots of others here in Thailand. I pay our staff this salary when I first hire them. Cleaners, gardeners, pool boys etc. They are VERY happy with this figure and we train them. I also pay their social security and their taxes. Some staff have been with me for 12 years! (Not on 13,000 baht - they all get regular increases as they become more experienced.) Do not judge Thailand by western standards.

Here on Samui, many locals swear by Papaya 'tea'. Many online sites for it and many against it. Just search papaya leaf tea for dengue. This is just one https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3614241/ For the patient's treatment, the leaves of the plant (Figure 2) were collected and thoroughly washed with water. The leaves were grinded in fruit juicer with water. As the taste of C. papaya leaves extract was very bitter, some amount of sucrose was added for easy administration. About 25 mL of leaves extract was administrated orally, twice daily for five consecutive days. Before extract administration, the patient blood was evaluated for total platelets counts, after 24 hours each time. After extract administration the patient blood was rechecked for platelets counts again for five consecutive days. After which the patient starts improvement. A couple of my neighbours say that it helped their symptoms.

I would not worry too much about that but it does depend on your age a fair bit. I have chronic bronchitis (COPD), chronic kidney disease, gout and totally deaf in one ear. None can be cured. I have had those problems for most of my life - I am in my early 70's and still working. (Breathing is a bit of an issue though) Just enjoy life.

Thanks for the speedy reply. In all of my life, I have never had a credit on a debit card before, so I am genuinely interested in 'is it the bank or the hospital' holding my money. NB I have a bit of a reputation at this hospital for always arguing about my bills (I self insure). I also insist on my Resident's Discount.

I have three printers - all canon with cartridges. My accountant does a lot of printing, so I originally bought one with ink tanks (Canon again). Nothing but trouble. I only print about 6 pages a day max on both of my printers. Now and again, I will print a 'Welcome folder' - about 12 pages. The three canon printers have been golden. E470's. With a scan option. Perfect for casual printing. Even the 'paper wasting' accountant loves the reliability. They are clunky and not ultra quick but easy to install and only 3,000 baht. Before these, I had a Canon MX366 with a scanner and fax options. Had it for about 12 years. No problems. Sadly, Windows 11 does not support it and so it is sitting there unloved, looking for a new home.

I went to a well known private hospital last week for yet another minor procedure. I paid the bill and yet again was told to wait to collect my medicines. I used a debit card. When I collected the medicines, yet again, I was prescribed pain killers and anti inflammatory tablets. This is in spite of me telling the doctors 'please only prescribe must have medicines'. So, I complained to the pharmacist who very nicely said sorry and offered to have them removed from the bill. Back to the cashier where she said that she had refunded the monies for the first bill and I then paid the money for the second (lower) bill. Again, using the debit card. Next day, I downloaded the online statement. (A lot of transactions go through my bank account.) No credit for the first payment. So today, back to the hospital for a follow up after last week's procedure (the urologists are only there on Saturday and Sunday) I took along a copy of the bank statement since last Saturday. Still no refund. I then asked the staff at registration to find out why. Response after a short wait was 'it takes up to a week for the refund to come through'. I pointed out that today was the eighth day. 'It could take longer'. was the reply. A debit card transaction takes the money from the account immediately. A credit has a delay. Back to the heading. Who has my money? Is this standard practice for all debit card credits or just this particular hospital 'taking its time'?

So banking apps never use QR codes? How do do the people pay then? I was under the impression that people use their banking apps to pay bills, via QR codes. I admit, I have zero apps on my phone from outside sources. I do not live in the UK and I do not have a car, but I would have thought that the people scanning the code are using a banking app to pay for the charge. The money is going to a fake account. It is not just the parking QR codes that are a risk. This is happening on many phone scams where they send you to a link. The scammers are pretty clever. Using any QR codes carries a risk.