LordDude

We're going back a while now but there was a time when I was friends with at least 4 people residing at Suan Pailom. What's more because I was travelling around a lot myself and didn't have a permanent base, I spent many a night there over a period of a couple of years. My feelings about the place are that it's fine in the earlier stages of the dry season but once the rains start it's a bit of a nightmare because everything you own gets stupidly damp. I once left a bag under the bed for a few months and later pulled it out to find it covered in mold. I ended up having to throw it away. I also had a pair of walking boots with rubber sealing around the top and after a single rainy season the rubber had all cracked and fallen off. Insects abound also and you have no way of keeping them out. I can remember coming to use my travel iron for the first time in a few months only to find that a whole colony of ants had set up home inside of it. Later, the exact same thing happened with a computer monitor.

The army base nearby plays the national anthem loud as possible at 8am every day, so should you fancy a lie in after a night on the tiles, you'll find yourself struggling.

Aside from all that it can be a really nice, chilled out place to be. You just need to be able to deal with those little annoyances that I mentioned.

Hope that helps

Cheers

4 days into April already and no signs of the current situation improving. My plan was to visit toward CM towards the end of the month but right now I guess it's akin to a lottery whether things are good or bad at that time. Hope you guys living there are managing to get through it without too much discomfort; however, having spent 7 dry seasons there including the horrendous 2007, I know full well that it can be thoroughly miserable if it affects you badly.

How is the air right now? Does the recent lack of posts on the subject suggest improvement?

Missus Dude and myself plan to visit Chiangers next month but I'm loathe to book the flights until it becomes apparent that the burning season is over and the air's moving towards a healthier state.

Third. This chart deals with monthly and yearly averages. The meaningful representation of PM counts are usually 24-hour or 8-hour averages. Why? Because greater concentrations of PM in the air even in a shorter amount of time do disproportionate lung damage compared to medium-levels over a longer time period. So, we look to the number of instances where PM 10 levels exceeded 120 ug/m3. 18 times in 2010 and 16 times in 2009 is A LOT, especially for a region with the size and population of Chiang Mai. While we don't know what the PM 2.5 levels are, we know that PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels generally share a correlation. Sure, there has been a decline from the 39 instances of PM 10 exceeding 120 ug/m3 in 2002, but that doesn't mean 15+ instances is a good record by any means. I guess I'm not sure what this is trying to prove. Certainly air quality is still quite bad during the burn months.

This is indeed a great post.

I left CM in 2008 with the air quality undoubtedly being one of the most influential factors in my decision to do so. While some expats were happy to say that the smoke was only for a few months a year and that they could deal with it for the benefits of living in the city the remainder of the time, I wasn't at all at ease thinking what damage I might be doing to myself on those days when the PM10 reached record figures. I think Siouxsen is correct in suggesting that lung damage could be sustained on those days and the fact that I now have a hypersensitivity to any airborne particulates just consolidates that in my mind.

This problem just continues to rear its ugly head year after year after year and nothing ever gets done about it, which is truly sad, particularly for those who have no option other than to endure it with no hope or possibility of relocating. Denial is at the root of the problem combined with a culture and education system that puts little emphasis on teaching the relationship between actions and their consequences. In the year that the PM10 levels exceeded 300, there was a story in the City Life magazine in which Pim wrote about her gardener's clandestine meeting to discuss with his colleague how they might go about secretly burning the garden waste without attracting the attention of the authorities. That said it all for me. While locals are entirely unable to make a connection between their own actions and the visibly poor air, as well as their sore eyes, tight chests etc, it's unlikely that there will be an end to the situation.

Likewise, the idea that candida overgrowth in the gut or elsewhere in the body causes a multitude of vague symptoms is totally unfounded. Candida is normally present in small amounts in some parts of the body, and is harmless. It may overgrow if the other bacteria that normally keep it in check are wiped out (commonly occurs with antibiotics) at which point it causes annoying things like thrush in the mouth or vaginitis. Still doesn't cause the long list of symptoms that several fad books aqnd web sites (most of them selling something) have attributed to it. In immunsuppressed people, such overgrowth can occur even without antibiotics. Candida in the blood stream (candidal sepsis) is virtually nonexistant in immunocompetent persons and is a life threatening condition.

Sheryl, I'm sorry but your argument is based on your support for western medicine's denial that gastric or systemic candidiasis is a genuine medical condition and, as history indicates, there are plenty of time when western medicine just doesn't get it right.

I did have a long list of ailments and I was given a positive diagnosis for mold in the stomach (by, I might add, a company not selling or promoting cures or treatments) and, after more than 5 years of suffering with it, I finally cured myself by leaving behind the damp air of Chiang Mai. I agree that the internet is awash with quackery but here in the real world I've met others who've suffered from systemic mold/fungal infections and have also had them positively confirmed by independent sources.

A positive Candida diagnosis can be very difficult to obtain and I'm not sure any labs in Chiang Mai are equipped to test for it (but I may be wrong there). I used a German laboratory who sent me a swab and sample kit that I sent back to them and results were with me in a couple of weeks. Turns out that I had aspergillus niger in the gut and not candida, but symptoms were almost identical and as they're both fungi, treatment is the same.

I took the following every day based on their purported anti-fungal properties:

Garlic (be careful because it's high in sulphur and may upset your stomach)

Turmeric

Extra virgin coconut oil by the teaspoon (available at Rimping, Aden Shop and others)

Apple Cider Vingear (Rimping, Aden etc)

Neem powder (available from the Indian stall at Warorot Market

Houttuynia Cordata a.k.a. Yaa Plu Kao (available in capsules from the shop at the Vegetarian Society on Mahidol Road and also from Aden I think and maybe from Suan Pak)

Asiatic Pennywort (you can buy the raw herb from markets)

Pysillum Husk (GNC have it)

I wouldn't trust colloidal silver because it's very overpriced here and as there's little in the way of quality control in Thailand, you have absolutely no way of guaranteeing its potency or PPM.

Additionally I followed a rigid diet alkaline-based diet (fungi thrive in an acidic environment) with no fruit, very few carbohydrates (and then only complex ones) and lots and lots of vegetables. I don't eat meat or dairy anyway but since these both promote acidity in the body, they are best kept to small quantities. Nuts (except peanuts) are okay but avoid buying them by the kilo from markets where they've been sat and had chance to develop mold.

Hope all that helps.

Fascinating post. Can you say what made you send off for a test? You didn't actually say if it worked or how long it took. I think with such a strict regime you've cured every ailment you've had.

You also seem to have decided on a kitchen-sink approach. i.e. thrown everything at it. Was this your own idea?

Pennywort is used a lot by the massage ladies. It's also known as 'Bua Bok'. They sell the leaves and bottled juice, sweetened, in local markets. Thais also eat alongside their meals.

Yaa Plu Kao is not in my Thai Herbal. I read now it's used in TCM and is a gardeners nightmare. So, I'll resist planting it.

Neem is easy to find by the road. Grab some leaves dry them out, put them in your coffee grinder and bob's your uncle. Likewise Turmeric Root. I know someone who used Neem to replace their Warfarin. The Thai Doctor, to my surprise, approved. But you DO need work with your Doctor. Since Warfarin is rat poison I know which option I would go for.

I sent for a test because I'd spent a fortune already on gastroenterologists who weren't able to come up with anything better than "You've got IBS, live with it".

My approach to the problem, once I had a firm diagnosis, was based on information gleaned from candida sites and forums. There aren't many sites dedicated to aspergillus niger itself, since this is a mold that tends to effect the lungs rather than the digestive system and is actually more prevalent in animals. However, on the basis that they are similar pathogens, an anti-candida regime seemed appropriate.

Anyway, things got better for a while but then reverted back a while later. It wasn't until I removed myself completely from the damp environment that Chiang Mai presents that I experienced relief for any significant period of time.

My guess is that fungal-related illnesses are probably much more common than we realise in Westerners who've chosen to live here; we just haven't had the advantage of our bodies adjusting to the humidity gradually like the locals have. I remember once pulling a shirt that I hadn't worn for a few months out of a wardrobe and seeing mold spores on it and thinking that it was no wonder I'd gotten mold in my body.

A positive Candida diagnosis can be very difficult to obtain and I'm not sure any labs in Chiang Mai are equipped to test for it (but I may be wrong there). I used a German laboratory who sent me a swab and sample kit that I sent back to them and results were with me in a couple of weeks. Turns out that I had aspergillus niger in the gut and not candida, but symptoms were almost identical and as they're both fungi, treatment is the same.

I took the following every day based on their purported anti-fungal properties:

Garlic (be careful because it's high in sulphur and may upset your stomach)

Turmeric

Extra virgin coconut oil by the teaspoon (available at Rimping, Aden Shop and others)

Apple Cider Vingear (Rimping, Aden etc)

Neem powder (available from the Indian stall at Warorot Market

Houttuynia Cordata a.k.a. Yaa Plu Kao (available in capsules from the shop at the Vegetarian Society on Mahidol Road and also from Aden I think and maybe from Suan Pak)

Asiatic Pennywort (you can buy the raw herb from markets)

Pysillum Husk (GNC have it)

I wouldn't trust colloidal silver because it's very overpriced here and as there's little in the way of quality control in Thailand, you have absolutely no way of guaranteeing its potency or PPM.

Additionally I followed a rigid diet alkaline-based diet (fungi thrive in an acidic environment) with no fruit, very few carbohydrates (and then only complex ones) and lots and lots of vegetables. I don't eat meat or dairy anyway but since these both promote acidity in the body, they are best kept to small quantities. Nuts (except peanuts) are okay but avoid buying them by the kilo from markets where they've been sat and had chance to develop mold.

Hope all that helps.

California Wow is located in Central Airport Plaza, so unless if you're staying anywhere within the moat, then yes, it will require at the very least a 15-minute songtaew ride to get there. Then add on the fact that it's on the top floor and you realise that it becomes a little more difficult to get to. It's certainly among the best gyms in Chiang Mai in terms of equipment and the training environment, however, it's not somewhere that you can nip to and from easily by any means. Hope that answers your question.

I'm with H2ODunc too on this one. I ran the story by my old feller, who's now 72 years old and still working in insurance and he said that in over 40 years in the claims department, he'd never seen a UK insurance company decide liability in favour of the person hitting someone from behind. A court might see things differently but not many cases make it to court because of the open and shut nature of the situation.

Priceless has obliged me with the number I need, so mods can go ahead and close this thread now.

Cheers

Hi folks

I'm outta town right now but would like to make a call to Peera Pharmacy on Ratchadamnoen Road. Does anybody have the number already or could grab it for me on passing and PM it to me please. It'd be a gesture greatly appreciated.

Cheers

10-foot poles?

yeh that part lost me also

I think the author means that such poles would be used by men to keep a distance of 10-feet between them and any manly-looking female that began to show interest.

One time, I was stood just inside the doorway of a narrow shoe shop waiting for a friend who was busy perusing its wares and I thought I'd get away with letting go one of those innocent little pops that generally passes without consequence. Oh dear, how wrong I was, it turned out to be far from innocent - an extreme case of SBD in fact. The giant floor fan that was positioned just behind me successfully diffused the stench down the length of the shop and 20 seconds later my mate came running towards me with his eyes watering and muttering "God, let's get out of here some dirty b*stard's dropped one". We stood outside and I watched with something of a sense of pride as the entire shop emptied of customers in under a minute. Laugh, I nearly died!

7by7, your input is, as ever, greatly appreciated; certainly by me, if not by everybody else.

Khop khun mak krup

Lord Dude

Hi all

Seems like this particular sub-forum has been swamped of late with questions relating to UK settlement. I guess the more questions that are raised and answered, the more info is available to others involved in the application process.

Anyway, enough rambling and on with my question for today. The thread title says it all basically, I'm wondering what the embassy is looking for in terms of evidence to show how the applicants trip will be funded. Is there something specific required, or are all the documents already included that detail financial statuses of both sponsor and applicant sufficient?

Cheers

@sanmiglight

Well, man, that is YOUR opinion. Fact is, that scientifically proven methods of weight training and diet are what should be aspired to. Especially when giving advice to people that have no idea, then they can make their own opinions.

Anyway, like I said, you just don't want to do the real work. You never looked like a steroid freak, and you were never a huge bodybuilder. How do I know this? Because your knowledge of training is nonexistent. You might go to the gym sometime but then you get bored/discouraged, then quit.

Are you trying to tell me all scientists tell people to work out the steroid freak way with creatinge and supplements. And that scientists dont recommend running as part of a balanced workout? And that eating a healthy diet of fruit and veg and lean meat and rice and pasta needs to be supplemented with expensive protein shakes ....... you are aware that your body can get all the nutrients it needs from food alone. Im not saying protein shakes wont help in becoming bigger quicker but there is no need for them for the average guy who goes to the gym.

Doing your 4-8 reps of weights is a w4nkers way to get strong you end up looking like you walk with potatos under your arms, lift reasonable weights nice and slowly in the correct motion doing 10-15 reps is far better i can assure you will feel the burn after several reps.

But we are talking about getting healthy like the geezer on the pic not to become an angry steroid freak like you aspire to be, the reason i got so big was i get tendonitis in my knees and couldnt run or do leg exercises for 6 months hence only done upper body and became far too big but youd know far better wouldnt you.

As for you telling me i dont keep fit, well thanks for telling me all the effort i put in throughout my life was a waste and that i keep quitting, maybe that 6 weeks of intensive boxing training 3 days out of 4 in the summer heat of Pattaya April/May 09 never really happened.

All this bitching isn't doing the OP any favours. What he wanted was some advice on how to get big quick and your initial post offered advice that would be appropriate for someone wanting to maintain general fitness but not for someone looking to gain mass in a short period of time.

I couldn't agree with you more that staying in shape by cross training is a far more preferable option to just getting a hulk-like physique that would have you struggling to run for the bus. There is nothing wrong, however, with weight training to look good - after all isn't that the primary reason most people head for the gym? Indeed, we all suffer from vanity to some degree. Increasing fitness and improving general health is usually the secondary goal for most gym users.

I think the reason you've gotten so much flack in this thread is not necessarily that you offered bad advice but rather that you offered advice that wasn't appropriate to the OP's goals.

Not good advice here, I'm sorry to say.

Running for 45 mins 3 times a week may not be necessary for a hard gainer i.e. an ectomorph. Sure it'll keep you fit but it's likely to impede growth if anything.

300 situps every other day is entirely pointless. The abs are no different from any other muscle group in the body and therefore do not respond to excessive training any more than other muscles do. You wouldn't do 300 bicep curls every other day now would you? Quality, not quantity is the key with abdominal exercises.

Lifting weights that you aren't struggling with is unlikely to bring solid muscle growth. Muscles need to be overloaded in order for the fibres to break and grow back bigger and stronger. This simply does not happen with light weights / high reps. If you're NOT struggling to complete a set then you aren't sufficiently stressing the muscles and will see little change in them consequently.

Doing legs 3 times a week leaves little time for rest. Growth takes place during rest periods NOT during workouts.

Creatine is by no means a waste of money, it's scientifically proven to enhance performance and if you understand anything about energy processes within the body, then you'd know that creatine as an oral supplement can assist in the production of adenosine triphosphate through the phosphocreatine system.

That bloke in the picture doesnt look as if he lifts heavy weights more that he has worked out for a long time.

What ive said works for me, if i were to lift exceptionally heavy weights which i used to i end up looking like one of them them steroid freaks who walk around Pattaya, in the short term itll make you look good but after a while youll end up being fat as not many people are going to lift heavy weights for the rest of their lives and that extra muscle will turn to flab.

300 Situps isnt the same as doing 300 curls well unless you done the curls with extremely low weights if you done 3 different sections of your abs this would work.

As for Creatine, ive taken it several times and it just bloats you out by retaining water.

If you do legs upperbody 3 times a week each on alternative days this gives a day to rest and enable muscle to growth.

But different things work for different people you need to know your own body, but the guy who posted below who said consistency is important applies to everyone.

Sorry, I don't wish to appear argumentative but there are a few points that you are way off on again here.

Doing 300 situps is exactly the same as doing 300 curls or 300 of any resistance based exercise. Please tell me how the abdominal muscles differ in their biological composition from any other muscle in the body? They don't and for that reason doing huge numbers of reps 3 times a week will not bring tone or growth.

Extra muscle will turn to flab? Muscle is muscle and fat is fat, the two are entirely different things and it's a physical impossibility for muscle to become fat. What can happen however is that eating the same number of calories required to sustain muscle if you are not working out with the same intensity as you previously were, will result in excess calories being stored as fat.

I stand by what I said about creatine. Study anaerobic energy systems and you'll understand why and how it works.

You think one day's rest between leg sessions is enough? Uh-uh. One day between different muscle groups maybe but one day between the same is definitely classed as overtraining.

Not good advice here, I'm sorry to say.

Running for 45 mins 3 times a week may not be necessary for a hard gainer i.e. an ectomorph. Sure it'll keep you fit but it's likely to impede growth if anything.

300 situps every other day is entirely pointless. The abs are no different from any other muscle group in the body and therefore do not respond to excessive training any more than other muscles do. You wouldn't do 300 bicep curls every other day now would you? Quality, not quantity is the key with abdominal exercises.

Lifting weights that you aren't struggling with is unlikely to bring solid muscle growth. Muscles need to be overloaded in order for the fibres to break and grow back bigger and stronger. This simply does not happen with light weights / high reps. If you're NOT struggling to complete a set then you aren't sufficiently stressing the muscles and will see little change in them consequently.

Doing legs 3 times a week leaves little time for rest. Growth takes place during rest periods NOT during workouts.

Creatine is by no means a waste of money, it's scientifically proven to enhance performance and if you understand anything about energy processes within the body, then you'd know that creatine as an oral supplement can assist in the production of adenosine triphosphate through the phosphocreatine system.

Go running 3 times a week for about 45 minutes.

300 situps every other day, vary the type of sit up you do.

Lift weights that you arent struggling with aswell as pressups, dips, pullups.

Do leg exercises 3 times a week 4 different exercises 3 sets on each and 10-15 reps.

Do upper body exercises 3 times a week 3 sets and 10-15 reps on each, have 18 different exercises to make sure you do your whole body but only do 6 exercises per gym session.

Keep clear of all that protein powder and creatine its a waste of money and just eat lots of fish and meat and lots of fruit veg and salad, and i cant see the need for a fitness instructor most the time these people havent a clue.

If you can do without the benefit, then I would not claim purely to try and strengthen your application as it may well do the exact opposite. Ticking yes in this box is not going to be a plus point on your application and may be a negative point too far if your application is borderline pass/fail.

Point taken, thanks mate and thanks 7by7 for your input too.

Troll....

Excuse me? And on what evidence do you base that ridiculous accusation?

To the guys who took the trouble to make sensible suggestions, thanks.

I'm aware that I have to show evidence of ability to support my wife and from advice already obtained, I'm hoping this won't be a problem because I have a reasonable amount of savings, no rent or mortgage to worry about and a firm offer of a job beginning in October. Right now I'm simply making use of the time I have before then to gain an extra qualification which will increase my earning capacity for the future. With the visa form asking for my national insurance number I just wondered if they would make checks and see that I'm not in the system currently, either through earnings or benefits and that might go against me in some way.

If anybody else has any constructive advice, it'd be appreciated.

Hi folks

Hoping someone can help me out with this one. The Thai wife will be submitting her settlement visa application shortly and I'm in a bit of quandary over the financial side of things. I'm currently not working and studying for a qualification that I will obtain by September. I haven't been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance since beginning to study because I don't want the DSS breathing down my neck and telling me I have to take a job if one comes up, thereby interfering with my study schedule. I have some savings and am in the fortunate position of having parents that are happy to help me financially while I'm unemployed. We have been relying on these factors to convince VFS/the Embassy that my wife will be financially supported until such time that we are both employed, however, having seen the question on the visa application form asking "Does your sponsor receive any money from public funds?" (or sthg like that), I'm wondering if I might be wiser to get into the system, so that I can write "yes" to this and supply details of a fortnightly JSA payout. As my course is predominantly distance learning, I can study it in my spare time, so technically I would qualify for benefit but this could end up adding considerable time onto the finish date of the course depending on what happens with the Job Centre. Obviously, I'd sooner just crack on with the study but if signing on will improve our chances of getting the visa then I'll go ahead and do it.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Lord Dude

And there was me thinking that serving tea and biscuits to old ladies twice a week might go in her favour! We'll leave the reference out then I reckon.

Thanks a lot guys.

My good lady was over in the UK for six months last year on a visitor visa, during which time she assisted my mother for two days a week as a volunteer at a centre for OAPs. We're applying for settlement soon and have considered submitting a reference from the coordinator of the charity that runs the centre (saying she is a dependable character and would make a reliable employee in a paid position) but it occured to me that technically she may have been doing something not permitted by the rules of the visa. Can anyone confirm whether this is the case or not? I'd like to think that this reference could be of benefit to our application but am concerned we could botch the whole thing up big time if voluntary work is not permitted on a visitor visa.

Thanks in anticipation of responses.

I spent 5 hours at Siriraj Hospital last Sunday. It seemed that everybody there had the flu except me. I didn't wear a mask, didn't hide, and didn't get sick. The flu goes around every year. What bothers me is the stupid Bangkok Post. Announcing another swine flu death, when the people they are talking about died of cancer during brain surgery, or kidney failure from years of drinking and partying. The weak die from the flu every year, it isn't because of it being the swine flu. Pandemic doesn't mean epidemic. Pandemic hype to epidemic proportions. paw leaow!

I gotta agree with you there 100%. I've had the swine flu and it wasn't much worse than a really bad cold and it came nowhere close to being as bad as a dose of regular flu (if there is such a thing) that I got about 10 years ago. This is a moderate virus by all accounts and unlikely to be of serious consequence to anyone in a reasonable state of health. The vulnerable die every day from diseases that the rest of us shake off easily, so it's high time the media quit blowing this thing out of proportion and causing unnecessary panic among the masses.

If you don't want any nasty benzodiazapenes and the addictive properties that come with them, then go and get the antihistamine-based sleep inducer called Sominar. The generic name for it is doxylamine sulphate and it's fairly potent but without any of the hangover symptoms that come with Valium. Everyone's favourite pharmacy on Rachadamnoen (first one on the left as you come down from the gate) stock it and it's fairly inexpensive. I've used it on and off for a long time without experiencing any dependency. I can go months on end without taking one.

Siamea Cassia is a Thai herb that promotes drowsiness but it's believed to be toxic to the liver if taken for long periods. You can buy it from many outlets that sell Thai herbal supplements such as the Aden shop, Baan Suan Pak, the Vegetarian Society and that vege restaurant on Suthep Road (not Krayatip that stays open late but the other one before it that closes mid-afternoon). Just don't take it more than a month without a break for at least a month again. Sporadic usage is fine I believe.