Shiver

10 minutes ago, CanuckThai said:

I had a conversation about this, with my neighbor (also farang) and his wife (Thai) this week when we ran into each other, at the grocery store.  

 

We weren't bashing Thailand, but definitely agreed that the panache is lost over time (for him and I).   We are at different stages (him being retired, myself still working), but both here long enough to see/experience enough of the + and -.   ...and the - can begin to outweigh the + once the jungle fever wears off.   

 

He joked a bit and said, if anything ever happened to his wife (he winked at her), he'd pack a carry-on bag (abandon everything) and be on the first plane to.....  Even his wife, says the only thing she misses when they're not in Thailand is the food.   

My feeling is that what you said likely speaks for the majority of both us and spouse.

The only surety I have is that it's a lot better on balance, given my own parameters, than living in UK.

2 hours ago, masuk said:

I moved to Thailand 6 years ago, and in the first 48hrs, discovered I'd been scammed.  Names can't be mentioned, but the volunteer teaching job had cost me $600, and the program had been cancelled.  So much for selling all my household goods plus an almost new car.

Working at anything was not permitted, not even on-line teaching, so I changed my visa to include a retirement extension, which I've renewed ever since.  Just the ghastly annual queues and pre-dawn waits.

But to be honest, it was the deteriorating finances which eventually broke my staying power.  The baht had been 30 per Aussie $, but gradually dwindled, and along with bank charges both ends, and the Thai bank giving a very poor exchange rate, the telegraphic transfer of my pension was costing me $70 each time.

Being a farang, of course, I didn't expect free services of any kind, but an unexpected major dental treatment, a few visits to the doctor and a largish pathology bill, and I was cleaned out.

So, tail between my legs, and I'm back in Oz now;  yes rental costs are more than Thailand, but the air is breathable, the beaches and sea are clean, and there are a lot of freebies for us old guys, from bus travel to doctors, rent subsidy, pathology, dentistry, hospital and my medicines bill per month is now $100 less.  

So I'm not complaining.  Apart from almost 3 months of pollution each year in the north, the people are nice, made friends with the locals and farangs, winters are very acceptable.

If I want to complain, I'd like to invite the powers-that-be in Chiang Mai to travel by foot a few days a week, and see how deplorable the footpaths are, the lack of safe crossings and the proliferation of poles and signs, and the accumulation of rubbish in the side streets.

Ha ha.  Being an Udonite and going to Chiang Mai I thought it was unusual enough to see 'actual' foot paths that I was drawn to take pictures of them (and I'm not exactly the camera happy guy).

Grab taxi is gearing up to use LoyalCoin in Philippines (which will be coming to Thailand also as they roll out the service).  If some enterprising group combined that with their existing GPS then the meter wouldn't be needed.  Both Cab and Customers phone would show the same start and end coordinates.  Prices can be agreed at time of accepting the job so all parties know there's no funny business.

The 'others' behind the scenes can negotiate their own terms for protection money, and leave the customers out of it.

7 minutes ago, dufusdonald said:

Why would the US taxpayers be footing the bill?

A lot of the money invested in Tesla comes from the U.S. government.

22 hours ago, grollies said:

I think you are struggling with your comprehension skill set.

A payment is the 'right to remedy' and should be what is considered commensurate with the damage done.  $100mill is no better than $0 in a case where it wasn't assets stolen, but a kind of damage that cannot be undone.

In reference to the diver case, if I were to address you in a way that you consider 'not flattering', does that mean I owe you my assets for your interpretation of words expressed? 

I think I comprehend it just fine.

1 hour ago, DinoSabanovic said:

To me this stupid. How can someone say something negative about the company and workers that work there and get away with it? And when it is responded to that accusation, get all frustrated and threaten to take legal actions. Musk responded and that was normal human reaction. The thing "pedo" is a bit much but I do understand him. 

Not surprised at all that the U.S. legal vultures would like to have a shot at making a name for themselves, but it looks like it's rubbing off with U.K. too.

Doubt we'll get a lawyers 11 a side match out of this one though.  My bet is Unsworth doesn't really want the hassle, but is positioning himself for an incoming phone call to say 'geez, how much?' where he settles out of court for 'an undisclosed sum' and a gag order.  Nice retirement, and since it's Elon, that means the U.S. tax payers will be footing a large portion of the bill.

Remind me to have a waiver drawn up for any Twitter trolls I come across on any given day.  The world must be in amazing shape if these kind of things are the biggest issues around.

I no longer have any respect for either of them, despite prior achievements of both.

14 hours ago, grollies said:

...I personally hope Big Vern now sues Musk for, let's say, $100m.

Okay, I'll use creative interpretation also then...

Messing with kids is wrong, but if there's money involved (like $100m) then it's okay(?).

Money has nothing to do with this issue (well, apparently it does, but it shouldn't).  It's about caring for others, helping in the best way one can, empathy, and being a human with integrity.  What happens on media rarely produces anything any of us want.

Stepping back to take the macro view, both parties are trying to do the right thing for the football lads, where the f does all this other stuff come in to assist that?

17 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

Musk has always struck me as kind of OK as far as billionaire entrepreneurs go, but in the end so many successful people are just a holes.

Very poor form to call someone a Pedo in a public slanging match.

Please guys:  Pedo does *not* mean Pedophile.

Reminds me of the time that in UK a Pediatrician had bricks through the windows of their house by the pitch fork mob because they didn't even know their own language. 

It's like the Crowd stupidity IQ thing (100 + 100 + 100) divided by 3 = 50

2 hours ago, kcpattaya said:

You call that a "model" in England?! What a joke!
My God, sometimes it is good to remember why I am living in Thailand. 

Maybe "Former top model" would be accurate.  It's not insulting and not mis-selling a pigs ear either.  None of us will look as good at 90 as at 21 by popular standards.

Not professional sure, but you may recall that the diver said Elon could take his device and stick it where the sun doesn't shine.  This response wasn't a "baseless attack".

Secondarily, Elon took instructions from the on site professionals.  Garbage in garbage out.  If they don't give a good specification then what could anyone achieve for them?

Thirdly, a Pedo means "relating to a child".  Whatever the mind of the reader wants to make of that is beyond the speakers control.

I'm not defending Elon too much as there are some things he does that I really don't agree with, but then again I wouldn't blame a political wing for talking about politics. 

Haters gonna...

In other news, here's Bob with the weather.

Also,  when I've looked at books with old pictures of Thailand people, many of them were females who were topless if unmarried.

2 hours ago, wotsdermatter said:

Extraordinary.  Do my eyes deceive or does this not say, "Any person..." then later states, "...himself,...", and, "...his..."?  If so, how can a person of the female gender be included in this paradox, i.e. absurdity.  Sexes in this report show that they are exclusively different, because the article begins, "Any person...."  Does Thai law not differentiate between the two.  What if a Thai "lady-boy", for want of another term, did the same?  Would that person be charged the same and fined in the manner or would the punishment be less?  Just curious.

 

I think here the majority of silicone augmentation is technically male.

20 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Gout is caused by elevated uric acid levels but this is not the same as acidity in the blood or body. Blood and cells of the body are slways slightly alkaline and maintained at a constant pH of 7.35 - 7.45. Deviations from this occur only in several illness/organ failure and you will be in critical condition in an ICU. Elevated uric acid levels do not alter this.

Whatever the lemon juice may or may not do, it's mode of action has nothing to do with making the body less acidic. Nor is there any need to do so.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

I would have thought if you give the body some acidic stuff, and separately some alkaline stuff, then the body will take what it needs and flush out what it doesn't want.  Different parts of the body keep their own levels too.  Eyeball not same as blood, or different parts of your stomach for example.

I find that in many issues it's all about breaking a cycle and things get back to normal quickly, be it multi-day squits, edema of a body part or whatever.

Remember all that fluff about alkaline water?  Turns out it was nothing to do with pH, but a side effect that made a lot of hydrogen available.  Explains the variable reviews somewhat.

I'm sticking with the inflammation theory though re OP's question.

41 minutes ago, seancbk said:

 

Not everyone is retired and not everyone is married.

Some of us have to go somewhere every 90 days for another tourist visa.

 

That was my issue too.  Not yet 50 and didn't think using my missus for gov't paperwork was smart, respectful or effective.  We call ourselves married, rings on fingers etc, but gov't has no role in that.

5 year visa was the least hassle route.  Sure other countries have better polices, but I've made my life here.

A lot of immigration places in Thailand have never seen one.  That was true in Udon, and the only other person I know 'up north' (works offshore so he checks in at BKK) went bike riding into Laos with a friend presented at a less popular tourist crossing point when leaving Thailand for a week and there was all kinds of consternation and phone calls as they'd never heard of the visa either, whilst a co-friend on an O visa waltzed across the border.  Fortunately they're available 24/7 on the end of the phone in BKK.  Hopefully that will happen a little less now it's featured in a story that gripped the nation and much of the world.

I do think it's a nice gesture from Thailand, as it's a token of gratitude and friendship.  Depending on culture, buying things for people can either be appreciated or taken as an insult (as in 'you couldn't afford xyz so I'll do it for ya').  Sort of  like a 'keys to the kingdom'.

And....[drum roll], courtesy Elon, Thailand now has a submarine!  A space submarine at that!  I wonder if it has a brass handle?

If they ever sell their story, I hope any returns are split not only with the football lads, but also with the Phuket boating tragedy families, as that doesn't appear nearly as newsworthy sadly.

20 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Not sure how many Thai ladies you will find that will peel an orange for you and put it in your lunchbox everyday 10 years on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you split the segments around it or just place it in front ?

I had a foot issue that everyone was asking if it was gout.  I've seen people with gout and it's a very difference experience.  I needed surgery to cut out a deep infection, but anyway.... a friend who did have occasional gout always carried his perfered brand of tablet because he said if he feels the first tingle, if he takes one of those then it will stop it.  He'd used the same brand from UK (don't recall what it was), but I took the box to Boots the Chemist and they didn't have it.  They said it was very old, and they had another that was also very old that was the nearest they had.

I wanted them not for gout, but when I read the label it was basically a very strong anti inflammatory.  Used them on my foot which was near impossible to walk on and had to hop (prior to the surgery).  It worked a treat for me too.

So I would suggest that rather than modifying diet I would look for a natural anti inflammatory that can be incorporated into food.  In this day and age, with the environment, chemicals and all the other stuff we're not genetically ready for, I suspect that we all suffer from inflammation in some way or other, and may be doing herself (and yourself if you choose) a huge favour.  It's on my list to investigate, and I'll start by looking at mushroom extracts since I've had such amazing turnarounds with some of them (I'm not talking about the stuff you get in your soup ?

On 7/6/2018 at 6:37 PM, stephen tracy said:

I used to have the exact same experience every morning in an area I lived in BKK once. I finally stopped one day and asked them why they started drinking so early (as by then we were on a wave/nod of the head acknowledgement of each other) and it turns out they were taxi drivers who worked nights so this was like after-work beers for them. They offered me one during the chat and although I would never normally crack one open that early, it felt rude to refuse.  

Good on ya.  If anything, maybe follow the actual social norms, not the prescription.  They don't, I'm sure.

2 hours ago, bermannor said:

Absolutely nothing, fine stuff, as long as it's not a 6-pack already for breakfast (brunch for expats).

right temp, right place. right time, can be as beautiful as a Thai girl.

I was as happy as can be with a couple of buddies today on a lazy Sunday afternoon in the sala by the pool, and said repeatedly that I'm soooo happy right now.  Then my #1 (and only one) lady came and destroyed everything by installing her plans on my life.  Of course I did the only thing I could and continued as I was.  Fk!!! Give them a mile and they think they own all the acres.  I think I need to buy her a holiday in the village for a month and see if she still wants to know me.  Any outcome is fine by me.  And yeah I have some beers on me, but that's just not polite on a mans lifetime efforts Sheila. 

7 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Or maybe you are like some of us who truly do not want to meet her and basically do not care.

 

I actually agree with you.  Throw on some braces which many have and there you go.

Although, many will not admit it.

One night fix the safe word is "ATM".

Long term safe word is "Security".

One connects to the other, is there anything more to debate?

On 7/5/2018 at 4:58 PM, Hummin said:

?‍♂️

 

most of us is like Aladdin

Not everyone likes a lad in.