al007

18 hours ago, huawei said:

The uk for example is a country where you pay tax if you are non resident, for example on rental income if in access of claimed allowances.

 

of course you pay tax on "earned income" earned in that country , that's the case in every country you work, less the available allowances.

 

you are a tax resident in a country ( Thailand) doesn't automatically mean you need to file a tax return. If you are here for over 180 days and the monies you transfer in are from a capital sale for example ( like the sale of a house) which clearly is not income or other income and it was from a prior tax year you do not have to file.

 

where you live is where you pay, again that is not true, not all counties assess you on your worldwide income..e.g Thailand. Thailand is remittance based.

As a retired UK Chartered Accountant I can confirm the above to be correct

there are many on Thai Visa who believe they are tax experts, they are not do not rely on what they say, and ask them about domicile and tax residency, two very different things, many still have UK domicile and their worldwide assets will be liable to UK IHT on death

Incidentally transfers to a non domiciled wife are not IHT exempt

Comments on these matters should be left to the professionally qualified, of which financial advisers are not qualified to give sound advice

I wish to add a brief post ( which is today my norm as it keeps me away from those who I upset)

This morning I was called by another TVF member who has just returned from prostate surgery with my surgeon in Dehli, ( he also visited Chulalongkorn on my suggestion) he was very positive and happy about the experience

This brings us to four, who have had this option and Holep surgery in Dehli, ( cost US$3,000 to 4,000) and there is another  gentleman on his way in the new year

I have substantial experience of hospitals here and in India, which in many cases can be a far better option, (see also my threads on Chulalongkorn)

Anyone wanting more information please PM me, and that way I do not get accused of breaking the forum rules and guidelines

I am a mere retired Chartered Accountant who has by experience the hard way a certain amount of experience on Thai and Indian hospitals

Be careful what advice you follow, and check their credentials, so far I have yet to find one doctor on TVF giving advice

I note HRH The Queen Mother has recently been at Chulalongkorn again

This must be yet another accolade, and endrsement for this govt hospital, she would only go to the very best regardless of cost

I personally believe it to be the very top when it comes to cancer treatment, AND/OR quality of imaging equipment

No doubt she avoids the queues mere mortals like me are subjected to ! !!  !!!

Ostomy supplies CONVATEC

I have searched the net for supplies at sensible prices, the problem is generally shipping costs, esp from USA

Chula prices were OK but prescription required, plus a lot of hassle I contacted the manufacturer in the USA, who sent me to their Thai subsidiary, the prices are cheaper than Chula by around 12/15%, and they will ship free if order over 1,000 Bhatt, seems a very good deal to me

Also very easy, I asked for best price as I have no insurance

ConvaTec
Unit 5, 9th Floor, M Thai Tower 87 Wireless Road, Lumpini Phatumwan, Bangkok 10330
M : +66 86 326 9665* T : +662 614 7000 
www.convatec.com

Kindly see the price, how many of each would you like to buy, and kindly send your Full name , mobile phone no.,and address for shipping.
I have CC Khun Chanida, She will process the purchasing for you.


401540  It must be 401504 -- > drainable pouch 564.96 THB/box ( 10 PC/box)
411806  -->  flat moldable wafer 1,498 THB (10 PC/box)
183910 --> stomahesive paste 278.20 THB/tube (1 PC/box)
nitric adhesive remover TR101 --> 299.60 THB/bottle

Best Regards,
W******n *******k

For my own reasons I am reducing  very substantially my own posting on TVF, I have just helped another TVF man go for Holep Laser surgery in India

I will always do my best to help other members especially if they PM me

Condoms kill  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received the following comments from a nurse I am in contact with who replied to my comment that I would not choose him as my doctor

I am rather amazed and would be interested in fellow TV members input

"By the way, having now read that article, I must say I am unclear why everyone is assuming he deliberately dragged the man. Reading the story, it sounds to me like he was driving drunk and it took him 20 meters to come to a stop.

Both the accident itself and delay in appropriate response quite likely due to the alcohol and I can readily envision someone in a drunken haze driving, feeling an impact,  and needing a few minutes to figure out that he had to stop. He was inside the car, not seeing it from the outside and unlikely to know the man was beneath his wheels, it may have even taken him some minutes in his drunken state to come to terms with the likelihood that  he had a hit a person.

There is of course no justification for driving drunk, so he is fully responsible for the damage caused, but  while very bad this is not the same thing as intentionally, cold-bloodedly  dragging a mean under your car because you don't value his life as people are reportedly saying."

Seems to me a nurse condoning the actions of a doctor, to me unacceptable, he should not have been driving 

5 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Key question: will their policies then come under Thai or UK insurance regulations?

It is likely, note I only say likely, that if the premium is pain to a uk company you are likely to be covered under UK FCA and Insurance Ombudsman, two separate organisations, if it is The Thai subsidiary of a UK company unlikely to have cover

Before paying premium ask if FCA regulated,  then check with FCA and they will confirm one way or the other, at least you then know and can make your decision on an informed basis

Danielsiam

Seems to me you are not getting much help

I understand the return to phillipines difficult 

Remember generally child birth is reasonably easy if your wife is young and fit

Seems to me you maybe need to seek out help of small local hospital, government of course, and ask them for help and advice

Stay positive there are many caring nurses, and it is a midwife you need not a high tech brain surgeon 

Good luck

I need to note his name carefully and avoid being operated on by this monster

Very horendous and awful for the victim I suppose the doctor will offer 50,000 to 100,000 and expect it to go away

This is a man who has taken the Hippocratic Oath

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

The key to how long between patch change will be the underside after you remove (or with good eyesight looking through).  Change in color would indicate seepage but as long as not close to edge probably can extend usage.  Doctor insisted should be able to get a week each time - but for me it is less.  We were told to use the adhesive tape around patch but if you do not need more power to you (it can be hard to remove as sticks well to any body hair).  Also find using cotton stick as if an eraser over the patch immediately (getting into all areas) creates a good seal and no need to remain holding it in place after this is done.

Yes it has been difficult to get information on how long between changes, I find it interesting a doctor told you seven days I was told three days

I also self pay and whilst I will NOT compromise safety money is important

I am also told changing too often may damage the skin

For me I was told to lie down and massage to create good contact, down side of doing this other than time is zero

Today my weight dropped below 120 kilos for the first time down 23 kilos in the last year, I have two targets 110 kilos then 100 kilos, well actually 99.999kilos big difference psychologically, (the last 5 kilos has happened since the operation

OK the dreaded colostomy/ostomy bag, 18 days post op

I have the two part system from convatec

I found a lot of information on utube, but am also learning

I have modified my diet and eat more often and smaller amounts, I eat a lot of low fat yogurt with honey, mashed potatoes, fish, soup, lightly poached and scrambled eggs, a lot of apple juice, I am tending to stay away from that delicious big steak, not so difficult as can be hard to find here in thailand, I aim to eat easily digestible food, and stay away from raw veg and raw carrots, a lot of papaya, bananas and pineapple, also a lot of liquidises drinks, I try and avoid sugar

I continue to dring my samsung but have cut consumption and now add soda water as the bubbles help the system

I do not eat anything like a lot of kale that will form an indigestible lump

I chew everything more carefully and well

I read about those who have blockages and I want to avoid that, also some soda water helps with the gas bubbles to keep all moving

A lot of common sense works well

This is a lot like the toilets here be sensible on what you put in

I monitor the bag carefully and worry about that breakage or explosion, when I feel it half ful or filling with gas, I empty it and that is reactively easy, I have a plastic stool I put next to the toilet, and before starting spray with air freshener, I can the sit comfortably next to the toilet, with the bag over it

I close the bag with elastic bands like they use for food here, I use TWO as a retired sailor it allows for redundancy

When I have emptied I have a small water bottle and pour in water wash around and empty again

I generally have to get up once in the night to empty

there is a lot of talk about changing the wafer/gasket the piece stuck to the body, and there seems no norm, any where from three days up, I use an adhesive release to help when removing

I take the bag off every day or second day leaving the gasket in place, I reuse this first washing in water, the soaking in water with a dash of detol added helps to remove the odor, then final wash in fairy liquid and hang to dry out of the sunlight as the sun UV degrades the plastic bag, when finished smelling good and clean

How many times can the bag be reused, do not know, if it breaks definately too many times

A little vaseline on the tuppaware type join greatly helps, I have done with and without

The gasket I am changing about every six days, when doing this before sticking it all back it is very important all very dry and clean, when back in place a small amount of heat from a hair dryer on the adhesive plaster and the lie on back for at least 30 mins continuing to press in place, if it starts to come away later a little 3m tape secures things

When the bag is off I can shower and  with just water , wash the ostomy on my body, I also have a soft paintbrush that I can gently clean the ostomy with, this is then cleaned in detol

Supplies from Chulalongkorn are as competitively priced as I can find on the internet, the adhesive remover is expensive, I can buy it cheaper from amazon but the the shipping kills the benefit

I will investigate Srinakarin  University hospital KhonKaen for a stoma nurse ald also check their prices for supplies

It is important to watch for skin color changes and if things go bad gangrene can set in

Cleanliness and holiness go together and here is very important

Keep smiling, I thought this was going to be impossible to accept scared me greatly, really not so bad, and remember in life acceptance is a very big thing 

1 hour ago, faraday said:

I didn't make my decision to have Surgery only on price, although that was a contributing factor.

 

I chose the Army Hospital, as they are trained in many other disciplines & should be prepared for other medical outcomes more so than 'conventional' hospitals.

Also, the bedside manner of the Clinicians was excellent, & they were more Senior.

 

At BKK hospital, the Doctors were part time & junior in attitude & experience. I could cite examples, but this thread isn't about denigrating certain hospitals.

 

I very much like what I hear on the Army Hospital and it is not so far from me in KhonKaen

I had a friend who had a hernia operation and he was very happy, he is a man who goes backwards and forwards between here and the UK and he said quicker and better than the NHS no waiting time

Comments from others on what surgery might be available would be beneficial

How come there are no red flag warnings on hospitals here

Thai Scowl

I think they are making up stories having just read their terms and conditions

Further to my earlier email I have now read your terms and conditions, and believe you are misinformed and not telling me the truth

Thai Scowl Airline

My discussions continue, they have stated below if you request a wheel chair at the airport they are entitled to ask for a fit to fly cert, I did request one the day before but can not prove that, I will have to start printing my own they do not say from whom the cert must come

I am still not sure I believe them, but give them enough rope and they will hang themselves

Years ago as part of my yacht insurance the fire protection system had to be inspected each year and signed off, I discussed with the insurance company and sent them each year the certificate signed by myself and this was sufficient they confirmed in writing

Another small print to avoid payment was each Captain had to have a hurricane plan, again I wrote one and filed it with the insurer each year

To Thai Scowl

Please note you have not answered my question concerning the colostomy bag, and the right of passengers to fly with one

I am a little cynical about some of these associations, like Small Luxury Hotels of the World, pay your subscription and your are in, Also in UK Guild of Master Craftsmen with Royal Warrant again pay and be accepted, I have first hand experience of both, generally the people running these organisations make very  very big money

Ever tried to get a newspaper to publish a bad article about a large advertiser same thing maybe, same with those who pay subscriptions

The whole hospital system here is pretty unregulated and in many many cases no professional indemnity insurance

As always Caveat Emptor ( for those who do not know this expression google will help)

As time goes on I learn more when having shall we say a discussion with a hospital over negligence and was reminded  in a round about way about deformation laws here, I responded but not applicable if in the public interest and what I have to say I believe to be in the public interest

They soon moved onto what I wanted for settlement

An amazing story with a happy ending

We hear many stories of insurance NOT paying

This is however Thailand

I am not sure how you managed it but probably no where else in the world would an accident policy have paid anything for this, at best routine wear and tear, or was it precipitated by an actual accident, in any case very interesting

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So if that's what you get from places like UCLA and Cedars, you only have to wonder and imagine, what you potentially will get here

 No do not go there

Different view, low level menial tasks like cleaning and hygiene maybe done better by Thai

So where ever we go there are risks

Living is guarenteed terminal only indeterminable is WHEN

At least in Thailand can maybe hang on to more of our money

We need to remain positive or we will die from self inflicted stress

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

That's a range of 2.5 million to 6.6 million baht.  I think I need to find an anesthesiologist! 

anesthesiologist  !!

Just been to macro, I use the trolley like a walking frame on wheels in disguise

On the way home stopped and bought another case of Samsung, locally the lady enquired did we sell it, No, were we having a party, NO, my husband is just rather partial to it

Not for the weak hearted but this is my anaesthetic ( i am four time the legal drinking age in the uk) of choice I have post surgery significantly reduced my consumption, before I used to drink with water, now I have modified and add soda as the bubbles help the flow of solids to my colostomy bag

So it is truly medicinal

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

That's a range of 2.5 million to 6.6 million baht.  I think I need to find an anesthesiologist! 

 

Yes and I would need two visits

Wow, and yes if there are a few inadequacies in treatment here, maybe we have to accept that, and lets not forget I will be facing another similar length  hospital stay when reversal is done and again more bills, I am pencilling in similar costs  for my own budgeting,  even though operation next time will only be around two hours

All the inadequacies I identified; with perseverance and determination, I was able to remedy, and did not die; being simply put down to post op complications and file closed

For me I am not worried and can cope financially but the USA would be a whole very different story

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

But just based on his own account, I found some things I considered to be pretty disturbing, and not unexpected based on past accounts of medical treatment here:

--nurses reluctant or refusing to follow doctor's instructions.

--needed medical equipment not available or not being provided.

--reluctance to provide sufficient pain medication to a patient clearly in considerable pain.

--general lack of transparency/clarity in interaction, whether it be the hospital's finance office being unwilling to provide specific cost information, or the nursing staff not being able to communicate directly with the patient.

Thank you for your summation of some of the problems I encountered

I believe staying positive even in negative situations helps 

One of the very reasons I started this thread is to let others know, these things happen and we can contribute to our own luck, to be forewarned is to be forearmed

Sometimes to challenge is difficult, and generally upsets

Since coming out of hospital, I have learnt even more about some of the inadequacies of the nurses, especially at 22 hrs after surgery when the nurses say fever is rising, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to know this is a critical time in recovery, I have seen no doctor for around 13 hrs,I am told I was only given antibiotics for the first 24 hrs, I want to hear from a doctor not a nurse that no more are required.

I was prescribed paracetamol, I thought by a nurse, I had to be very strong and when told there was no doctor available, it was Sat night insist they get one from casualty, or somehow I was going to get myself to casualty where I was certain there was a doctor

I called a doctor friend in khonKaen and he said insist on a doctor

I look back on this was I correct definitely in my personal view, and I got a doctor, my first question have you read my notes, are you aware my immune system maybe lower than many

Eventually the fever subsided, but if out of control could have quickly gone the other way even through this period of fever, my times between monitoring stayed the same

I would urge others to remember this and in similar circumstances do the same

I still remain with my original view that bearing in mind this is Thailand, I feel Chula is pretty good and probably no worse than private hospitals and definately better than many, I also remain grateful

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

For us told room assigned when admitted - then on admittance told have to use ward until after surgery and then room assigned if available.  As 2 1/2 days before operation (to fast/clean system) was not a pleasant experience and very hard on wife having to travel each day.  Would not do again. 

Excellent but without knowledge we turn up, and are faced with immediate decision, refuse to stay or leave, very tough time to make that decision also very hard on the loved ones, also leaves me without interpreter

I am now working on plausible reason as to why I have to have private room all the way, need to think a bit, maybe need some phobias !! language is one and need for interpreter but alone will not be enough, maybe nightmares and screaming in the night, do not want to disturb other patients getting better but still need to do better

2 minutes ago, faraday said:

Not wishing to dilute this thread, just adding my experience for the Surgeons fee on my hip replacement - which was 4 months ago today, at Udon Army Hospital.

 

My op was 4.5 hours, & his fee was 15k baht. I was surprised at how little it was. Lovely private room was 1800/night.

 

Sure I've got the bill somewhere, if anyone is interested in seeing it.

 

Btw Al, thank you so much for taking the time to make these threads. They are so helpful.

 

Of course, I wish you a speedy & comfortable recovery.

 

 

 

 

In my not so humble opinion, anything on hospitals surgeons and how we as expats deal with medical here in Thailand is very valuable content

You now I believe I know quite a lot of Chulalongkorn ( I am definately no expert) however what lopburi3 says about availability of rooms is so very important to me

When we know of a hurdle or pitfall with advance warning it is easier to negotiate

25 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

For Chula it was before the new building but for another very large Bangkok government hospital have experience from one year ago where room could not be assigned until after surgery and only if available at that time.  In most hospitals it can be an issue from my understanding.

This may be very important and worth noting for those who follow my route

The Room booking appears to be in the admission in the old part of the hospital, next time I shall visit and smile or whatever well before admission

It makes to me, at least a very major difference on the acceptability of the hospital,also wife has 24/7 access not the case in the public ward, the ICU does not matter as generally you are at that stage out of it

35 minutes ago, webfact said:

to persuade them to cut some of their prices by up to 80 per cent

Wow there must be a lot of gouging of customers

How about the govt cutting fuel prices