Earl

Where do you draw the line Eek? What if they were radical Islamists doing the conversions for benefits? Would that be OK? How about a cult? Many people including me believe the Mormons ARE a cult and they are very active here. I am not Christian but making getting help CONDITIONAL on conversion can't be very Christian (in the purest sense, which is of course hard to find these days).

There are a LOT of Mormons living here; both farang and converted Thais. Many live right here in the moobaan. There are also many Jehovah's Witness here; Thai and farang.

There are many missionaries in Laos though under many guises, English teachers primarily.

Where do you draw the line Eek? What if they were radical Islamists doing the conversions for benefits? Would that be OK? How about a cult? Many people including me believe the Mormons ARE a cult and they are very active here. I am not Christian but making getting help CONDITIONAL on conversion can't be very Christian (in the purest sense, which is of course hard to find these days).

There are a LOT of Mormons living here; both farang and converted Thais. Many live right here in the moobaan. There are also many Jehovah's Witness here; Thai and farang.

There are about 16,000 Mormons in Thailand. For an official history and demography of the Mormons go to http://www.ldschurch...n-Thailand.html It tells of the infamous incident where two Mormon missionaries crawled up on a statue of a Buddha and took pictures. This happened in 1972 and the two (of course there were two) were jailed for six months.

... snip ... If anyone has high fever for a few days with headache, body aching without any specific source of infection, it might be it. Go see your doctor and get some blood test done. You may just get the complete blood count to screen whether it is likely to be dengue fever or you may get Dengue IgM for the specific test indicating recent infection ( normally after day 5 of fever to get positive results) Once you get infected with one strain it is unlikely to get it again but it does not mean you will not get any other strain cos there are plenty of them. It is a simple disease to contain if you know what you are dealing with and get appropiate advise and treatment.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun PMNL,

We'd like to add to your wise words that one characteristic of dengue is its very rapid onset, accompanied by fever, as the virii "exponentially explode" in numbers after an incubation period.

In our case we went from feeling quite good to being in a remake of the movie "Night of the Living Dead" in the space of twenty minutes ! At the time we were setting up a computer facilitiy in a private school, and spent the night in a resort next to the school : it was a "night of horror," and when we came down to try and eat breakfast, we were weak and dazed; the resort staff was scared by our appearance.

The issue of whether you can have some immunity to other strains (there are four major serotypes, or strains), after having one strain of dengue, seems to be a subject of argument among scientists. The Wikipedia article on dengue Wikipedia Dengue reports on Halstead's thesis :

"There is significant evidence, originally suggested by S.B. Halstead in the 1970s, that dengue hemorrhagic fever is more likely to occur in patients who have secondary infections by another one of dengue fever's four serotypes. One model to explain this process is known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), which allows for increased uptake and virion replication during a secondary infection with a different strain. Through an immunological phenomenon, known as original antigenic sin, the immune system is not able to adequately respond to the stronger infection, and the secondary infection becomes far more serious.^[27]"

And also reports the hypothesis of "short lived cross-immunity" as possibly being one factor in the varying degrees of dengue from year-to-year.

best, ~o:37;

The Original Antigenic Sin occurred when Eve ate the apple thus making all humans vulnerable to dengue fever. Genesis 3:14

I wasnt in this group, nor have I played golf for a few weeks, but I must admit that I find golfers playing on their own very annoying. I am not sure of the etiquette in Thailand, but in the UK you would have no 'standing' on the course. Most of us will let single golfers through, but some days when you get 3 or 4 of them one after the other you just dont.

A license to play golf is only required in a few continental Europen countries as far as I am aware.

You come across from your post as an agressive person, hence maybe why you find yourself playing alone and not having people welcome you into their group.

Just my thoughts.

Iain

Some countries have a license to play golf? ? Does one also need a license to play tennis? ping pong? Hopscotch? What countries would these be?

People choose to live in Penis Envy, Iowa and are happy there. As they say, "wherever you go, there you are." In the meantime I am surprised that no one has mentioned the glorious used book shops here in CM. Backstreet Books and Gecko (of the ever-feuding Georges), Shaman books and more have an abundance of reading materials. And perhaps you might consider taking up meditation. Good luck.

Whilst Laos is safe for a visa run I would suggest that the locals are quite nasty under the surface, the cops can be very corrupt and any country that passes laws that allow them to arrest foreigners if they have sex with the local women when not married needs to be avoided. Also, more than a couple of days boredom does set it.

Being a Brit, Burma holds some appeal but no idea what it is like.

The total lack of rule of law in Phnom Penh would be frightening if I ever made a serious investment there (by which I mean the police/army are renown for turning up and just taking over successful foreign run businesses - a bullet in the head the result if you are stupid enough to complain). Living a low profile life there would be okay but perhaps boring in the end?

Parts of the Phillippines can be good but I believe you are taxed on your worldwide income there if you become a resident unlike Thailand, which would cause problems if you bought a condo (and could not do a runner).

Both Malayasia and Indonesian suffer in comparison to Thailand on living costs and accessibility of the locals,

With very cheap flights I am actually inclined not to retire to just ONE country and flit between several in Asia, which would also solve most of the visa problems.

Having lived in Laos for many years I am shocked that you would say that the Lao are quite nasty under the surface. While this might be true for a few, the Lao are some of the genuinely kindest people I have ever dealt with.

Neti pots can be purchased at the YOGA STUDIO behind the M apartments near the blind school. Here is the link: Yoga Studio Chiang Mai, Thailand - Specializing in Yoga Intensives

Enjoyed an excellent salmon cream cheese toasted bagel. Not skimpy with the portions and the bagel was just right. Followed by a superb coffee with the best oatmeal cookie I've ever had. I will definitely be back to eat myself through the menu. Saw a cheese blintz on the menu.

Ah yes, I remember this hospital. Blood tests are normally quick and painless affairs, but here I was dealt with by a katoey nurse and I think he/she must have used a knitting needle instead. A bit of bruising? oh yeah. The next day my arm was about as pretty as the nurse in question. Owwww

- but that was a while ago now. On a serious note, it's great if the hospital has established a system like the OP has mentioned ... more Thai businesses should do the same to give themselves a competitive edge

Laughter at the expense of transgenders is so easy.

Further to my story about smashed gates and faulty air-con. We got a call today to say that the guys from Siam TV can not fix the problem as it is too technical (whatever that means) and so Mitsubishi is sending their technician from Bangkok next Monday, which will make it exactly five weeks with no air-con in the bedroom. We live in hope ! Maybe I was a little pissed at the attitude of Siam TV, but I have lived here for over twenty years and I am used to Thai BS. I have never had a problem with Niyom Panich, apart from the same funny delivery hours. My wife tells me that both of these businesses (Siam and Niyom) are owned by wealthy chinese (similar to the ex-P.M.) who care only about $, not the customer. Whatever the outcome next week, I will still NEVER buy anything again from Siam TV. As I said earlier, we run a very profitable locksmith business and I believe that customer service is most important - good service means they will tell their friends - bad service means they will tell EVERYONE !

Your wife tells you that the company is owned by wealthy chinese who only care about $ ? Sam Walton is not Chinese and he has destroyed small town America. Mr. Toyoda is not Chinese and he seems to have knowingly sold dangerous Toyotas. Are we saying that non-Chinese care more about their customers?

Difficult customers? The patience of our Thai hosts is legendary. I've seen customers pound on counters (once there was a sign in Topps--in English only--requesting customers not to pound on the counter). I've seen customers throw money at the cashier. I've smelled countless customers who don't bathe. Everyone is not like the kind friendly warm Thai Visa people.

I was just in Buddy's twice this week and found the staff quite helpful and friendly. The owner himself is a great guy--always willing to assist. The staff IMHO there is top notch. And these people deal with some of the most difficult customers, yet are still quite friendly. That is the reason that Buddy is so highly recommended.

Suan Bok Had. The park in the southwest corner of the moat. The time is more like 6 am. Enjoy!

PowerHouse is cleaner and more hi-so, particularly during after work hours. The equipment is limited and it feels a bit tight. Fitness Thailand is huge with an array of machines, great view of Doi Suthep (which the previous site of PowerHouse had). The folks there are friendly enough. Seems more down home. The owner of PowerHouse seems to dabble in Christian proselytizing occasionally which, for some, might be a problem. Fitness Thailand is also half the price, has free internet with a computer and the Bangkok Post and lots of classes.

You could try Su Casa, their sister restaurant down off Neimenheimen, they specialise in Tapas there.

The thread topic here is Mi Casa restaurant, but Su Casa is owned and operated by the same couple, so I will proceed:

I've eaten at Su Casa four times since it opened, each time hoping I will enjoy the experience.

The tapas at Su Casa are okay, and the home-made bread is superb.

For the food alone, I would go back, but ...

The clanging, crashing, atonal noise ["music"] played loudly on their sound system is enough to take away any appetite.

The colored garbage attached to the walls ["modern art"] is almost enough to make a sane man vomit.

If that's not enough, the place is often populated with metro-sexuals, same-sexuals, and the mis-guided farang females who dote on them.

Doesn't enhance my dining experience.

Proceed to Su Casa at your own risk.

Unless, of course, you like that sort of place, then you might enjoy the food.

-- Oneman

Chiangmai

.

Fortunately this is Oneman's opinion. Pity that homophobia can affect one's appetite. Sad that leaving one's country does not always result in appreciation for diversity.

I can confirm, from expensive personal experience, that Fujian is very good, but charges for it !

Less costly, and with a nice view towards Doi Suthep, was the restaurant on top of the Duangtawan Hotel, sorry but I forget the prices (it was a year ago) , only remember the meal being very pleasant.

I think this restaurant ha sthe best views in Chiang Mai, but I felt that the Dim Sum was only middling to say the least.

i found the dim sum at Duangtawan of poor quality and when i was there they didn't even have the dim sum carts.

Impresso does a great coffee. Also OCTOBER where the barrista is a coffee obsessive. Nice little coffee shop but no garden, sorry. From Suthep road take the right on Nimman and then the first left at the light. It is about half way up the street. Quite pleasant. And what about the coffee van parked outside of Bangkok Bank on Suthep Road. Excellent value.

This is a nation of 65 million with an extraordinary variety of humanity. You are the mirror and the treatment you receive from others is the result of "what you put out there". If you genuinely see the beauty and love in folk this will be reflected back to you. Just wear your best smile and make it come from your heart. Drop those western defenses and attitudes. People here are really quite nice . . . if you are.

From my personal experience I also recommend buying Jim Higbie's ESSENTIAL THAI and his book on grammar. My AUA experience was okay but I think that depends upon which teacher you end up with and you don't get to choose. Unlike the other writers I was not impressed with Ajarn Boonmark. I suggest finding a non-English speaking Thai friend and chat away. You will soon find out how good your Thai is.

I thank the OP is the one in red. .

Monks and foreign activists in Santa costume protest to mark Asian Climate Action Day outside the US consulate general in Chiang Mai Wed. They campaigned for the US to cut down on emissions and mitigate destructions.

Could you please tell us a bit more about this protest?

incidentally does anyone think that the starbuck's at tha pae gate is anything other than an absolute eyesore? one of the most attractive things about this city is its ramshackle and authentic architecture mixed with various thai styles and different boutique hotels, guesthouses etc. a cookie cutter corporate coffee shop looks horribly out of place there, as will the golden arches.

I think the The Starbucks is a really nice looking place and they did a great job on the design. It was an ugly shop house.

I agree.

Go on a meditation retreat at Wat Chomthong.

I'm going to get myself into trouble, but I think that the food at the Veggie restaurant (with the same name) is far over-rated. It has a wonderful atmosphere, but the food is the same old Veggie stuff you get everywhere in Thailand - nothing special.

I wish that someone would do a vegetarian restaurant that was not all Eastern food - like Green's in San Francisco - as it can be wonderful and healthy and no one is doing it out here.

Go back and order something else. The food is hardly the same old veggie stuff one gets everywhere. I recommend the banana heart salad;

Puppies are also available at Care for Dogs which finds homes for abandoned puppies. Lanna Dog Care specializes in spreading loving kindness towards dogs and spnsors a very successful sterilization campaign. Perhaps you could donate to these groups if you decide to purchase a dog. All acts have consequences.

I had an overpriced underflavored lunch at DeNaga a few months ago but friends who stayed there raved about their breakfast. I also thought the service was a bit ho hum by the pretties who were quite pretty.