siftasam

The BBC lost its reputation long ago. Have we forgotten the pedophiles and Operation Yewtree?

Bangkok Ready 'Only the uber-wealthy are allowed to be corrupt in the UK.' It made me smile because I can remember 'Swizzlewick'. OMG, is anybody else that old? I here lean my tottering frame on Wikipedia: 'Swizzlewick was a twice weekly 1964 BBC comedy drama series created by David Turner about the day-to-day events of a corrupt local council in a fictional Midlands town. The series was an early target of the 'Clean Up TV' campaigner Mary Whitehouse who thought it unsuitable for an early evening audience. An episode in August 1964 featured Mrs Smallgood, a character parodying her, who was depicted launching a "Freedom from Sex" campaign. A leader in The Times criticized the series for suggesting councillors were less than honest.' All good clean fun. It has almost all been wiped. I know the feeling. I'm not totally free from Sex though, Mrs. Smallgood!

Is it interior sprung? The bed I mean.

Be careful of Songkran! If she shrinks, it could be a hospital job.

Looks like some dirty rat got there before him! And who's she calling? A friend? Is she cute too? What's her telephone number?

English? Or American English? My daughter attends a school that advertises in big gold letters on the side of the entrance building its 'English Program' (ugh!)

Almost 10% of children clinically obese! OMG, I wonder what the figure is in the UK and in the USA! I was an unhappy boy at school from age 13 to 16 (like many more, I suspect!) and 'took refuge' in junk food and fizzy drinks. I blew up to over 15 stone (maybe 96 kilos). I had to crash diet from 16 to 18 and was greatly helped by taking up yoga. But it's been a curse that I've lived with all my life. For heaven's sake, parents everywhere, don't allow kids to get fat in these teenage years! Sugar is a 'killer' I'm 76 now and the fight never ends. I've been careless in my diet for the past two years and am now suffering with a fatty liver - so, I must diet again! Absolutely nil sugar! I've lost 6 kilos this year from 99 to 93 and more to come because I feel much better for it, although changing diet radically can be very tiring at first. I hate to see kids sitting in the 'burger bars' - it brings back such painful memories. And beware of diabetes, to which Asians are prone. Do I remember Malaysia introducing very strict laws about reducing sugar consumption?

'Just imagine what the UK pension retirement age might be if we Brits were not so weak, servile and supine.' And misled, misinformed and misgoverned.

Amazing to be stuck in traffic in Nong Hoi and seeing hundreds of leaves from the many yang na trees cascading down in the strong winds. Apparently there are over 1000 of these trees between CM and Lamphun. They looked like plummeting bats! Dipterocarpus . The Resin tree.

I am owed money and Lazada do not care. Pathetic.

NEVER NEVER buy anything from Lazada again. Disgraceful customer service.

In the UK they'd be classified as illegal immigrants and returned to where they came from and b#gger Belgium.

I will blame whoever took my money from my credit card. Have you tried contacting a bad shop directly? I had this problem with the wrongly delivered goods last year. The shop wasn't interested and would only communicate with Lazada. It took weeks to sort out. Thanks. I will check my credit card next week for a refund. Lazada has not sent me a message to say that I have a refund - YET. 'Hope springs eternal in the human breast'.

I will NEVER again buy anything from Lazada. I have used them for 10 years which means that their service used to be OK. In the past two years, however, it has caused me innumerable problems, stress and expense: a. Incorrect goods delivered from a bad shop. b. Lazada informing me that my goods have been delivered when they have not. The shop tells me to cancel the order as the goods are no longer available. I cancel it BUT I foolishly paid by credit card (unusual for me) and it seems from Lazada that they are not interested in giving me a refund and I have been 'deleted from its system'. My Thai friend says she has no problems with shopee.

Three little stories: Get to like or love a Thai 'bar girl' or 'massage girl' and the same question often arises: "Why are you doing this?" (Yes, I know it's dumb to ask) The first bar girl I knew said, "It's better than before, when I was working in the rice fields." God knows, I understand. But I do wonder about the effects on their mental health. One very beautiful massage girl was charming but cold, 'clinical' and emotionally 'empty'. She said "Why not? I will meet a rich man this way. I not have to love him. That's good for me." I got to know her well and she told me (honestly, I think) that she 'had no father' and her mother had sold her to an old Thai man for sex. She had had problems with her jaw ever since as every day he forced her to give him oral sex. When her mother sold her she was 12 years old. For her, being a 'prostitute' might have been 'a suitable job'. I'm sorry to say that. A girl like that, emotionally and physically damaged, needs good laws and regulations to help her. Another I knew well told me that she worked as a 'bar girl' in order to give money to her young English boy friend. He did not work but sat in their room all day watching football on TV and drinking beer. One night in the bar she was crying her eyes out in the corner and wouldn't show me her face. She had not earned enough money for her boyfriend and he had beaten her up. Another works in a reputable massage shop that offers' happy endings' but nothing more. She has many customers and she told me that 'all of them' asked her to have sex. She said she didn't have sex with anyone. But she needed money to pay for her mother's new house in Issan. Would you trust her to be your girl friend? It's easy to forget how little (or 'no') education they've had. I find them now not to be trusted. They're clever how they manipulate their clients. Most of them will have Thai boyfriends anyway (although they'll deny it of course). But I liked all of these girls very much. They deserve better. However 'hard bitten', they need protection. From themselves and from their greedy parents (how impossible is that?). And protection from bad farang that we all know exploit them. So bad these guys that some bars won't admit them. The guys who wait until the girls are so drunk from working the bars that they can pick them up in the clubs in order to have sex without a condom. These guys exist.

Some comments here seem to apply to the UK also. May I say that the very best grammar school teacher I had in England would never have got a teaching job today. 'Those who can teach, those who can't become inspectors'. Oxford University has made remedial lessons in English available for History undergraduates. Am I correct in thinking that education generally is better in Singapore and South Korea than here and in the UK?

Can these refunds be backdated? I've had applicable funds for several years and never claimed.

I've lived near to CM for 14 years. I am still very fond of it, although certainly the criticisms of the 'traffic flow' are justified. But in some places it used to be worse e.g. 10 years ago when I lived in Nong Hoi. Huay Kaew on a Friday afternoon was awful - 1 hour to get from what is now Maya to Nong Hoi. Talking of Maya, I like the shopping still, although we miss the bowling at Kad Suan Kaew and the only toy shop in CM (?) 'Toys 'R' Us' at Promenada. There are more coffee shops than 14 years ago! Still good Thai and farang restaurants. Grab taxis are very useful and much cheaper than taximeters. My family buys lots of Grab/Panda grub that is of good quality. Loh Kroh is even much more of a s###hole, but who wants to go there? There are some great spa massage places and not too expensive. The girls there are certainly pretty enough! I'd never go to a rip off bar in Loi Kroh any more. Loi Kratong was good - especially on Nawarat Bridge and the parade down Tha Phae - and I'm sure the Flower Festival in February (not had for 2 years?) will be beautiful. Chang Klang is still good! My favourite farang restaurant is there, I have a lovely condo at Astra, the new Astra Sky looks wonderful (but pricey!) and my daughter goes to the excellent Montfort Primary School just off CK on Charoenprathet. There are 2 new spa massages on Chang Klan but cheaper and better ones elsewhere. Don't be too hard on CM. It still has a lot to offer. I agree totally with 'Joinaman', but I'm sad to see the Art Museum closed up. That was great fun for the family! I suspect the tuk tuk drivers have become greedier but I haven't taken one in 4 years. At 76 years old, I drive to Pantip Plaza and Nawarat every school day and so easy now to drive on Super Highway from Lamphun to CM! I have enough favourite places to enjoy myself, have a good beer and enjoy good farang and Thai food to last me for the rest of my life. I'm also a member of the Gymkhana Club so can play snooker, tennis or golf and eat their lovely cheap food in beautiful surroundings. C'mon, guys, is there sch a lot not to love?

Not even Leonardo could have thought this one up. Heath Robinson might have, though. http://socks-studio.com/img/blog/William_Heath_Robinson_Inventions_.jpg

If Balde and Fati can play in the World Cup, why can't I? I'm better qualified than either of them!

Whenever I hear a Thai girl say "Me no money", I always correct them.

I won't rush into surgery just yet, but, as you suggest, talk more to the doctors/surgeon about possible 'management' and drugs and, particularly, about the size of the stones. The soreness is not quite bad enough for me to take painkillers. Thank you, 'Sheryl', for your so excellent and helpful post. I'm taking careful note particularly of this: 'When asymptomatic gallstones are found on the scan (common finding) the options are (1) expectant management (watch & wait) (2) surgery (3) drugs to dissolve the stones, though these take months to a year to work and often fail to. Most often, expectant management is advised unless the stones are very large. About 80% of people with asymptomatic stones will never develop a problem...The larger the stone, the greater the risk that it might obstruct the common bile duct which can be very serious.' And LS24 your experience is certainly a great thing to bear in mind - thanks! The McDougall videos I will watch - thanks, 'scubascuba3'! And the supplement recommendations from 'mstevens' - so helpful too.

A belated but very sincere thank you for all your replies. The problem seems to be now out of my hands(?) I felt soreness on my right side last week and thought at first it was a kidney infection/ UTI. I had a similar soreness 10 years ago that turned out to be very small kidney stones which thankfully 'passed'. I went to a different hospital, had a blood test, a urine test and an X-ray. The culprit is gallstones, so once again a doctor has advised that my gallbladder be removed. I see no alternative since I'm told there's nothing can be done without surgery to stop or ameliorate the problem; so next week I'll check that this is possible now considering a problem I have (high PSA prostate level) and a problem I had last year (a DVT in my leg). I'll read back over all your wonderful comments and recommendations and, I'm sure, I'll comment on them more. Again, may I thank you all very much indeed!

Thanks to your help, I am happier about my Bangkok Airways booking that did not show my complete name i.e. it did not show my two middle names. Bangkok is my stepping stone to Zurich and I read on the Swissair website/booking section that providing middle names is an option. I wonder if computers or computer operators 'don't want to bother' with middle names. My problem now is with my Thai partner. I booked Swissair tickets using the translated name on her Thai ID card. She has now applied for a Thai passport which has translated the name differently i.e. the spelling of the two names has differences compared to her ID card. The Passport Office of course will not amend this, so I now have to try and arrange for Swissair to change the spellings in order that her Passport and Boarding Passes show the exact identical names. She never told me that the name on her ID card (which she will now of course replace) was, so she says, translated by her for the ID section at her Amphur when she was 15! Do you have any experience of this?

And go back 10 years more to 1956! I don't need booze to work out that this England squad would beat Southgate's: Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor, Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews, Billy Wright, Johnny Haynes, Jackie Milburn, Bert Williams, Ronnie Clayton, Roger Byrne, Jimmy Dickinson, Nat Lofthouse, Don Revie, Dennis Wilshaw, Ray Wood........1956 was also the year that Bobby Charlton aged 18 scored twice in his debut for ManU and Denis Law aged 16 made his debut for Huddersfield Town) Harry Maguire and Eric Dier? Duncan Edwards would have trampled all over them!