connda

I've been to enough wet markets in Thailand in the last 15 years where there are no prices on the produce. If the prices are posted, I look at quality and price. By the way, I don't know a Mom & Pop market in our village that posts any prices on their produce. Items in display cases and coolers? Yeah. Produce laying on the table or in a box cooler - nope. You gotta ask. But there are certain fruits and vegetables I like and I know the going prices locally. So no - I don't try to barter down posted prices although I've seen other farang attempt that. That's sort of my definition of being a Cheap Charlie.

Tweekers are a truly paranoid bunch. Best to steer well clear of established meth-heads.

Spend three years isolating the human body from pathogens and your immune system can't do it's job. The immune system needs to be challenged by pathogens to work. So China put itself in a bubble for three years. Now they "open up" and everyone's weakened immune systems are getting crushed. It needs to run it's course. And for people in Thailand who have been masked up and avoiding contact with people for the last three years? You weakened your immune system. So for those concerned that the Chinese Pandemic is going to overflow into Thaland, ask yourself: Have you been in an self-imposed isolation bubble for the last three years. If so - perhaps you have something to worry about. If you've just lived life as normal, you probably have a robust immune system that has already been exposed to some variation of Covid and you have the antibodies fight it.

You won't find Tramadol 50mg at Boots with perhaps the exception of Ultracet which is over-priced 37.5mg Tram + Para. Look around at regular pharmacies. 1 in 10 will carry it. Most do not carry it because of the regulations they need to follow to dispense it. Then read through this thread and note something: 1. Some people can take Tramadol and use it responsibly. If you use it long term, you will have to contend with withdrawal symptoms at some point in time but there are ways to alleviate them including tapering. If you take it long term - use it for 8 months, then taper, then quit for 1 or 2 months. 2. Other people are prone to addiction especially when it comes to opiates. Tram can make you feel very pleasant, but not forever. Them people up their dose to 100, then 150, then 200 - they aren't "using the medicine." They are now abusing it. And you don't want to abuse it. There are plenty of horror stories out there. You've got to ask yourself: "Am I going to use Tramadol, or is Tramadol going to use me." If the answer is the former, it is a very useful pain-reliever for moderate pain, If the answer is the latter - months or years from now you'll be writing how Tramadol is the Devil's Brew with withdrawals worse than heroin. Bottom line: Addictive personalities should probably stay away from it.

Before I retired? Me too.

Do you know how fast a 6 digit pass-code can be hacked? That's my point.

The report has no weight in the judicial system. Well, granted. A politicized DOJ may try to implement the Jan 6th Congressional Star Chamber recommendations, but? It will go to the SCOTUS and get shot down. "Our Democracy is in danger!" Agreed! By a one party duopoly and 'public-private partnerships' which reek of classical fascism. It seems money buys the power. Average Joe's and Jill's can't compete with the corporate and billionaire donations that buy the election results. Thanks SCOTUS ruling on Citizens United. It ushered in fascism and a system where the rich and wealthy can buy election. Look at how much money was poured into the 2022 election by ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. They'll never claw back those funds. And then Soros - one man destroying the integrity of the US legal system. "Yeah, feel free to go to your local store and steal upwards of $900 in merchandise. Misdomendor and released without bail. Slap on the hand if you show up in court, if it goes to court, and the Soros backed DA won't file charges. But be a conservative in Washington DC on Jan 6th. "Insurrection!" The current US ain't the country I was born into 70+ years ago. We've taken two steps forwards and three steps back. I'll just sit back and wait for the ad-hominid comments.

Get your Covid vaccinations and boosters regularly too. Safe and Effective!

Yes I do. I don't worry about it. If you do worry about it, link the medical studies which conclusively prove (i.e., statistical significant) that high cholesterol - by itself - causes heart attacks. Best of luck. Now - high cholesterol and certain lifestyle choices (smoking for instance) - different story. Damage your circulatory system and - yep - cholesterol will fill in that damage. If you're worried though? Keep taking the statins. Just get your liver and kidneys checked regularly. "Statins are perfectly safe!!!" Ok! I said, keep taking them.

Covid? Learn to live with it. Let your da*m immune system do it's job.

No. Not based on the current minimum wage. A cost of living increase for the recent inflation - ok. But that isn't going to bring it to 600 THB/day. By the way. We pay are own laborers based on skills, productivity, and unfortunately gender. Based on those factors we pay between 300 to 600 THB/day. Before some Westerner has a mental breakdown, come live in rural Thailand before you melt down. Then get a grip on that the plate of somtum you bought for 20 THB 10 years ago - still costs 20 THB today. In Bangkok? The cities are insane and a crucible for inflation. Which is why I don't live rural.

Download our banking app. "Safe and Convenient? Just download at Google Play." ???? Ok <Goes to Google Play and installs my bank's application.> They only need access to most of my phones functionality: Camera, mic, contacts, location, etc etc etc. Then you login by just clicking their icon. Perhaps the first time you need a user-id/password. Might even need 2-factor authentication (going to the phone you're holding). After that? Bob's Your Uncle. Just click the icon and your in! I don't see how Android is either safe or secure. Possibly convenient (or not). What do you think?

I used it for three year for a rotatory cuff tear that I refused to have surgery. My minimum effective dose was 50mg/day. Over time and based on the pain I'd go to 150mg/day. But my average dose pretty much stayed at 50mg. Over a three year period of time and daily stretching? It healed. I cut the dosage to 50mg a day, prepared mentally for a few uncomfortable days, and quit cold turkey. No need to list a bunch of links about withdrawal horror stories. I understand the withdrawal symptoms as I first used it for long-haul Dengue Fever which was just nasty and lasted close to two years. So I've withdrawn before. It takes awhile for your brain to reset itself. I used it; I didn't abuse it. Don't abuse it and it is useful. Abuse it? Well, then you deserve the hell of sever withdrawals that you'll eventually face. No sympathy from me.

It's used by old people to control the pain of things like Rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic pain like knee, joint and muscle damage. Unlike NSAID and other OTC 'pain killers' they don't destroy your kidneys or your liver. Yes. You need to control the minimum effective dose and be willing to quit using Tramadol occasionally (which means going through mild withdrawals) as opposed to keep upping the dose (stupid in the long run). It's effective and useful, especially for those of us in the "elderly" category. They should worry more about "young peoples" methamphetamine usage as meth is now plentiful and cheaper than dirt throughout Thailand.

"Only the "well-heeled rich" should be allowed to stay. Kick these Cheap Charlies out!" Hubris. The 1300 THB / day pays the daily wages of 4 Thai nationals. Take a university course in Economics instead of promoting status consciousness.

Plus 20 minutes of signing the paperwork while stretching the cramps out of your hand every 5 minutes.

That's Chiang Mai and some surrounding Northern province. Guess I'll just wait with the eight dogs for the knock on the door. "We know you stay in Thailand not real. You have fake marriage. You fake marriage with Thai woman for 15 years. You just pretend to be married. You stay with 'false pretense!' (although I doubt they'll be able to say that phrase.)" Hi, would you like to come in for a cup of coffee? Don't worry about the snarling dogs. They don't bite.

Congress controls the purse strings; they do not control the judiciary. Checks and balances. Which makes America great. Now, they will attempt to control the judiciary, but it will never make it pass the SCOTUS as it is unconstitutional. For those whining that they don't like the way the US system is set up. How un-American. For those who want to attack ad-hominid with, "You're a Trump loving MAGA supporter and insurrectionist!!!" Sorry - I don't like Trump. I'll only admit to being an independent conservative who believes in the validity of the US Constitution. Spent eight year in the US military to protect US Constitutional values. I think most of the Congress needs to be cleaned out and replaced (legally) with like-minded conservatives. How many years in the military to the rest of you 'Americans' spend? I don't think many of you served a day in the service of the United States. We're a minority. And I don't like either the democrat or republican parties. There are some really good people on both sides of the aisle, but they all are a minority. The rest? They are destroying the country has they make themselves millionaires. "Come on man!" We gotta have a 1.7 TRILLION dollar budget? The Congress and Senate are collectively destroying our Republic. As well as the Administration. All of them.

Sorry you're a farang who can't negotiation prices in Thai. By the way, if you live in a village, the villagers are not going to screw you based on skin colors if you are married to a Thai wife living in that village. Ain't gonna happen. It's a big problem if it does.

I don't live in Pattaya. I live in Lamphun Province. The fruits and vegetables in the local markets are a fraction of the cost of Big C in Muang Lamphun. The fruits and vegetables grown in the village are even less. Suggestion? If you want cheap fruits and vegetables , move to rural Thailand.

You're kidding me. She was a wealth of information and assistance to the Chiang Mai expat community. RIP lady. You'll be missed.

I started smoking at 14. Yet managed to graduate at the top of my class in university (graduating class over 2000 students). If I hadn't smoked pot as a kid, a teenager, and in my 20s, I probably would have been another Einstein. What a loss.

Where were the Hull Technicians? Were there any trained Hull Techs aboard?

If they have had minimal training they learned how to make flotation devices out of their trousers. That's if you actually have had training and practice and don't loose your head. However. Even in this relatively warm waters, if you are in water below body temperature long enough you'll experience exposure and loss of strength. Those sailor cut loose from their ship have one goal: stay afloat and expend as little energy as possible and wait for rescue. Just an utter disgrace. Flotation Device Out Of Pants

Dressing up like a captain or an admiral doesn't mean you have the skill sets to be a captain or an admiral. Speaking of which. The captain and the entire chain of command up through the head Thai admiral should be forced to resign. Ships don't just sink. They're built to be water tight if you have a trained, functioning crew following protocol. The 'engine room flooded?' How? Lack of safety equipment? Why? Obviously lack of basic seaworthiness protocols and criminally lax command. "The Navy" didn't screw up. Specific people in charge of the proper maintenance and operation of that military vessel HTMS 442 Sukhothai <deleted> up beyond all repair to coin a common US Navy phrase. Speaking as someone with eight years in the US Navy, four years on ships, and multiple deployments. This is a disgrace.