Methuselah

Nothing "freak" about the accident.These potholes are a danger,particularly to motorcycles,and even more particularly at night.

Maybe have something suitable.Had hoped to sell my 230 sq. m. on Jomtien Beach,but could consider rental if an appropriate tenant was interested.

My condo fits pretty well all of your requirements with spectacular views.

Am visiting Jomtien tomorrow and staying until August 3rd,then returning to Chiang Mai.

Perhaps a politically correct modification of an extract from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" might be appropriate:

"What do you know about this business?"his Excellency said to Alice.

"Nothing"said Alice.

"Nothing whatever?"persisted his Excellency.

"Nothing whatever."said Alice.

"That's very important,"his Excellency said,turning to the jury.they were just beginning to write this down on their slates,when the White Rabbit interrupted:"UNimportant your Excellency means of course," he said in a very respectful tone.

"UNimportant,of course,I meant,"his Excellency hastily said,and went on to himself in an undertone,"important-unimportant-unimportant-important "as if he were trying which word sounded best.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/chlorptech.pdf

Under Physical/Chemical properties,chlorpyrifos is described as having a mild odour---.

The ministry of Health statement contradicts this by stating"chlorpyrifos generally emits a strong odour which was not noted by the two surviving women"

Are we being misled?

Interestingly,pharmacological descriptions of chlorpyrifos state that it has a mild sulphurous odour.

Had initial investigations been sufficiently thorough and scientifically scrupulous,the answers would have been available a long time ago.It would appear however that the seriousness and implications of the deaths may not have been understood by those responsible for the immediate investigations.

Hospital staff in any western hospital may not have picked up the possibility of organophosphate toxicity{rare events rarely occur],and would probably have concentrated their efforts on life support,and advanced life support--i.e.treating the symptoms and signs.This presumably occurred in Chiang Mai with the girls from New Zealand.

The deaths of the English couple should have immediately alerted authorities to the likelihood of an inhaled toxin.A meticulous inspection of the hotel should have been undertaken,and relevant room samples taken.A top forensic pathologist should have been in charge of the post mortems and relevant specimins taken.A low plasma cholinesterase level would then have clinched the diagnosis of organophosphate poisoning.

Unfortunately,the seriousness of events was realised too late,so authorities now are probably correct--we will never discover proof of the cause of deaths.All we have is circumstantial evidence,speculation and red herrings.

I would be interested in what tests are being conducted oveseas,and why laboratories are taking three months to analyse sampes.

Perhaps I'm being a bit generous,but I am relatively confident that Thailand possesses personnel qualified to diagnose the causes of the deaths.From the medical personnel to the senior police there would be few people that would not realise the significance and seriousness of the deaths.

Many theories as to the cause of these deaths have been presented in this forum,but there is almost unanimity that they were accidental in nature.In caravan communities similar deaths occur,almost invariably due to a gas leak in faulty plumbing or engineering.

My premise is that the cause of the deaths has already been established by the authorities and hopefully corrected.

The problem lies with the loss of face to the hotel owners,the tourism industry and percieved reputation of Thailand.

Hence the totally unacceptable,to foreigners,diagnosis of co-incidence.No eggs on anybody's chin,no litigation and no loss of face.

TIT!

The most likely reason for emergency heart surgery would be ischaemia of the heart requiring coronary artery bypass surgery.This ischaemia would be secondary to decreased oxygen supply to the heart,caused by either decreased oxygen tension in the blood or coronary artery spasm.One must suspect carbon monoxide poisoning as the most likely culprit.

My instinct is to dismiss as a red herring the possibility of theft as motivation for this disastrous outcome.

The whole scenario requires thorough investigation by the top forensic pathologist in Thailand.

You are lucky that you are aware that you have a high blood pressure.The good news is that it is very easy to control nowadays,with a vast range of medications to return it to normal levels.

Obesity and alcohol consumption are two main predisposing factors towards hypertension,as is cigarette smoking.Your physician will no doubt advise you on these matters.

You did not want a lot of unnecessary tests,but as there are a number of medical conditions that can cause hypertension,you would be well advised to have blood tests to exclude these conditions{eg. diabetes,kidney disease,excessive steroids in the blood stream etc}.These tests are quite inexpensive.You will also need an ecg,although an exercise ecg is probably not essential.If yor pressure is really very high then an echocardioraphic examination of the heart could provide a lot of useful information.

It would be unethical on the part of a physician to just give you medication without some tests.

Also do not go into a pharmacy and ask for blood pressure tablets,or accept well intentioned advice from friends on the basis of something that worked for them.

It is also useful to self monitor your pressure with a reliable automatic blood pressure cuff,can be purchased for about 2000 baht at Boots.

High blood pressure is becoming endemic in the Western male nowadays,and I would not worry too much as stress only contributes to an increase in pressure.

My recommendation is not to try to be treated as cheaply as possible,for you will definitely receive substandard care.

If some TV contributors have recommendations based on their experience,then that would be the path to follow.

Good luck.

Thanks for your considered response, which will be of interest to many, I'm sure.

I paid 5000 at Boots as wanted the best ( I hope ) available BP cuff. It's only since the diastolic went over 100 regularly that I've become concerned enough to do something about it.

I'm overweight ( who isn't at my age ), but not morbidly obese, never smoked, haven't drunk alcohol for over 20 years, and had an active lifestyle till 7 weeks ago ( who can exercise in this heat ).

Don't have diabetes or excess cholesterol.

Best guess is a life with far too much stress.

Yes, the ECG sounds like a really good idea.

Thanks for all the contibutions. It's in situations like this that TV is so brilliant.

I'll probably go to Pattaya International for the initial consultation, and hope it's not too serious, or expensive. If the latter, I'll have to think about going "home" to get the benefit of a lifetime paying tax.

Your physician should aim for a diastolic pressure of 70 to 80 mm Hg.Sounds lower than most people would advise,but is associated with a decreased incidence of cardiac events,and is the more modern recommendation.

You are lucky that you are aware that you have a high blood pressure.The good news is that it is very easy to control nowadays,with a vast range of medications to return it to normal levels.

Obesity and alcohol consumption are two main predisposing factors towards hypertension,as is cigarette smoking.Your physician will no doubt advise you on these matters.

You did not want a lot of unnecessary tests,but as there are a number of medical conditions that can cause hypertension,you would be well advised to have blood tests to exclude these conditions{eg. diabetes,kidney disease,excessive steroids in the blood stream etc}.These tests are quite inexpensive.You will also need an ecg,although an exercise ecg is probably not essential.If yor pressure is really very high then an echocardioraphic examination of the heart could provide a lot of useful information.

It would be unethical on the part of a physician to just give you medication without some tests.

Also do not go into a pharmacy and ask for blood pressure tablets,or accept well intentioned advice from friends on the basis of something that worked for them.

It is also useful to self monitor your pressure with a reliable automatic blood pressure cuff,can be purchased for about 2000 baht at Boots.

High blood pressure is becoming endemic in the Western male nowadays,and I would not worry too much as stress only contributes to an increase in pressure.

My recommendation is not to try to be treated as cheaply as possible,for you will definitely receive substandard care.

If some TV contributors have recommendations based on their experience,then that would be the path to follow.

Good luck.

Important scientific research like this will require more than a snap poll of TV contributors.However,to be fair,I am assuming that you are using TV as a pilot study.

Be prepared to devote considerable time and effort to this long overdue project,which may be sufficiently important to warrant a government grant.

The problem with your pilot study is that it is retrospective,and in order to achieve statistically significant results the study will have to become prospective,which will undoubtedly take considerable time.

Also you must be prepared to enlist the assistance of a qualified statistician,for I would anticipate serious difficulties in applying objective statistical analysis to your study.

You will also have to choose a random study group,excluding any person who has previously visited Walking st.,this will narrow your options.

Despite the hurdles involved in your project,I would not want to discourage you from persisting with your objective,and hope that the results of this pilot study prove helpful.

I was most impressed by the name of the soi in Sattahip--SOI SHAMBLES!

I think Pattaya deserves a similarly named soi, or perhaps rename Pattaya--Muang Shambles.

Other possibilities spring to mind,but might well be deemed libellous against local institutions.

A friend of mine experienced the same challenge.He found a shop in the basement of Central,near the Pattaya Beach rd end.

Had a good range of quality silks,and the shop assistant spoke good English.

Although the article only mentions the role of the BIB on a couple of occasions,it would appear to anyone unaware of the situation in Thailand,that the BIB were actively assisting the red shirts.This surely must be a major embarrassment to the Thai government,who will face a very difficult task in implementing law and order in the future.

Without the support of the military,one fears what would have been the outcome of the protests.

Most governments would introduce a full scale enquiry into the lack of implementation of the law by those entrusted with this power.I wonder if it will happen.

The rumours that Mr.Thaksin is suffering from prostate cancer may be of some relevance in this discussion.For those suggesting that a sex change operation may be a practical move on the part of Mr.Thaksin,he actually could be offered either pharmacological,or surgical,castration as a treatment for his prostate cancer.This would have the effect of creasting breast enlargement,therefore killing two birds with one stone.

Also as a precedent he could quote the Scottish justice system's release of the Lockerbie bomber on medical grounds,and hope,with the aid of Mr.Amsterdam,to receive similar sympathy from the Thai judicial system.

Have enjoyed excellent Italian food in Bangkok and Chiang Mai but would be hard pressed to recommend anywhere in Pattaya.Mediocrity seems the norm,but more in hope than confidence will give La Luna a try.

In emergency requests such as this,the knee jerk reaction is to help in whatever way one is able.However if one were to reflect on blood transfusion services in general,individual donations for a particular individual only occur in special circumstances,for example liver transplantation,when living related donor may be used.

Most blood transfusion services have a pool of donated blood and blood products which are transferred to the requesting hospital blood transfusion lab.

Very few elective surgical procedures require large amounts of blood to be transfused,the exceptions being major heart and blood vessel surgery,as well as the forementioned liver transplantation,and a few others.

I think all blood transfusion services world wide are grateful for any blood donation,particularly at times when a large number of trauma victims are probably stretching existing blood stocks to the limit.Bangkok civil strife would provide an example of this.

Few surgeons/anaesthesiologists would embark on major elective surgery in the absence of adequate transfusion backup.I would imagine that this principle would apply in a Chonburi hospital.

I am sure that given present political circumstances in Thailand every blood donation will be welcomed,and the proviso regarding over 60's may well be to prevent adverse effects of the donation on the donor.

Heatstroke is particularly prevalent in weather conditions of high humidity and high temperatures.The high humidity decreases the evaporation of sweat which is the most important body cooling mechanism we have.Paradoxically a frequent symptom of impending heat stroke is shivering,which is caused by a breakdown in our body temperature regulating mechanism.

Should you experience shivering in current climatic conditions,discontinue physical activity immediately and drink plenty of fluids and electrolytes.

Played golf today,and can testify to the horrendous humidity.

Most residents of Jomtien could not have failed to be impressed by the substantial time and effort devoted to the reconstruction of Thappraya rd.

Had a snap poll been taken mid-construction few people would have expected a masterpiece of civil engineering.So one must give credit where credit is due,the road did last two weeks of fairly intense traffic,and there seem only to be a few areas of collapse.

The obvious solution is to dig it all up,and start all over again.

John Mcadam{1756-1836},where are you?

Two months may seem a long time ago,and a lot has changed since then.However I would be interested to learn what exactly was wrong in the way the government was running Thailand two months ago.

I hope Tiger {Woods}puts up a better show in the Masters at Augusta.

Doesn't seem like a happy ending!

I wouldn't bet on the involved insurance company paying the bills.

Eating chocolate and rendered unconscious moments later??As far as I am aware no orally ingested hypnotic works within moments.The majority of hypnotics take at least 30 minutes to take effect,due to the delay in absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract.

Any drug spiking would have taken place before eating the chocolate,although there is a strong possibility that the victim's testimony may have been influenced by drug induced amnesia.

Presumably the first step in Pattaya's bid to hold the Winter Olympics.