jsflynn603

Can anyone recommend a Thai speaking lawyer in Chiang Mai. My fiancee need a simple Court document for sole custody of her child. (Yes, I know there is form that can be done at the Amphur but a Court Order holds more weight in certain instances). I am told that it is not difficult, and I will not deal with this lawyer so it's Thai to Thai.

Someone who is friendly and not too bloodthirsty (is that an oxymoron?) would be nice. Please feel free to IM me.

Thanks

Too bad one did not rupture--the outcome would likely me more humane.

Once in the Rocky Mountains (Western USA) a small plane carrying quite a large amount of cocaine crashed. The pilot was killed upon the crash.

The plane crash was seen, and when a search crew found it there lay a dead 600lb grizzly bear covered with cocaine. It seems that he found the bags, ripped one open and tried to eat it. Wow--that must have been some rush.

I'm confused.

Using surrogate mothers is quite common these days of medical tourism. Thousands of Americans, Brits, German, ect. couples that cannot, or do not want to "carry" a child routinely go to India where clinics arrange for the couples in vitro fertilized egg to be placed within the womb of the surrogate mother who is paid to carry the child to term, and not infrequently to age one or two, whereupon the child is retrieved. This is common and legal in India, so is this illegal in Thailand? And who are the fathers? Are these children created from the egg/sperm of a couple who cannot bear a child? When this is done in India the child, though born in India is not considered an Indian citizen. I would think that here the egg/sperm parents would not consider their child, even if carried to term by a Vietnamese in Thailand, either Thai or Vietnamese.

There are lot's of "takers" in India, for it is one of the few ways to earn perhaps $5-15,000 to be used for a grand wedding.

Is it the surrogate carriage of children that is forbidden, or the illegality of the Vietnamese mothers "working" in Thailand without a permit?

*lol* At one restaurant in Chiang Mai (though not particularly upscale) I remember a large puddle forming about a toddler in diapers who was walking about. The child was related to the owner and I think that the mother worked at the restaurant. The puddle remained to be tramped through by many oblivious customers. Gosh they did not even have one of those plastic signs that said: "warning wet floor -- slippery"

Perhaps a sign at the entrance: Children of all ages are welcome after cordectomy" would take care of the problem.

Frankly though I've been through this in America, and I agree, in an upscale restaurant you are paying in part for the ambiance--and a squalling child of any age should be removed (or cordectomized on the spot.

In a "family" restaurant like the great Korean bbq at the corner of Chiang Mai, I think they're fine.

It was still inexcusable the hotel remained open after continuing deaths. Cheapo owners excuse to control poor house cleaning issues. And of course there will be no prosecution other than possibly the exterminators being taken down as the hotel owner is related to people 'in uniform'.

Sanitary conditions aka "poor housekeeping" has absolutely nothing to do with bedbugs. Roaches, yes--poor cleaning allows a rapid build-up of roach population, but bedbugs no.

All it takes is one single gravid (pregnant) bedbug, actually it takes less than that because the bedbug "glues" eggs and can glue a few on the bottom of a piece of luggage later to hatch in your home. Even if you keep your home immaculate, you will develop an infestation if a few hatch.

Bedbugs eat only one thing--humans. So unless you keep humans out of an area an infestation is always possible.

Consider the ongoing and untold stories of bedbug infestations in airplanes, trains and cruise ships, yes airplanes, and I suspect with increasing frequency are becoming infested. Think of it. One gravid bedbug walks off a piece of a traveler's luggage, lays her eggs in the crevices of the seating. A few weeks later you have a few bedbugs. The bedbugs are happy, for on many airplanes the lights go down and people sleep--yummy. Since many people do not react to bedbug bites, and never notice them, and many who react to them notice them weeks later--nobody ever considers the airplane.

There is NO pesticide capable of killing them because they sense it and go into hiding between walls and can go months without coming back out. Unless one uses a gas (or rips the walls and ceilings out, a pesticide applicator never reaches them all, with one possible exception DDVP (Vapona) yet even there I don't think it would work.

You can freeze them and heat them to death--that is all. Here is a sad story of victims of a property owner, who was a victim of a traveler, who was victim of another place...and so on. (Plus they were victims of a pesticide applicator who was illiterate in his trade, or just plain stupid, plus possible lack of Thailand's government having adequate rules for licensing and training requirements). In America the applicator would be charged with Manslaughter. The owner was probably besides himself trying to get rid of them and so someone fell into the "more is better" trap. I hate to say it, but almost certainly, there are still live bedbugs in that lodging, hiding within the walls willing to wait weeks or months to return to feed.

In America there are large semi's (moving trucks) designed to take all the belongings in the house, the TV, clothing, stuffed toys, mattresses, etc and heat them to, I believe 126 Fahrenheit for a number of hours. Then the inside of the house is heated with dry steam, or if it's winter, water is drained from all plumbing and the heat is shut off for the requisite time to pass. Zero degree Fahrenheit for one or two days is sufficient to kill all stages of bedbugs.

Suggestions: When traveling research how to identify bedbug infestations. Enter a hotel room, and place your bags in the center of a hard floor with no cracks (bathroom floors that are tiled are perfect because bedbugs don't go there--because people don't sleep there. It's not difficult to be able to identify bedbug fecal smears (digested human blood) in the edging of mattresses, or hiding spots. If found--take bags and leave, plain and simple. If you are stuck there for the night keep your bags high along with clothing. Bedbugs transfer no disease so the bites are harmless unless you have an allergic response. But in this scenario you could consider yourself "possibly contaminated" because the eggs are too small to find.

At this stage you may become the vector for distribution of bedbug/eggs and there is nothing that you can do short of finding a freezer and sticking all your stuff in it for one or two days (wrap camera/laptop in plastic and do not re-open until the entire device reaches room temperature because internal condensation can destroy the device) If possible wash clothing in water at 126 Fahrenheit or hotter (which is becoming hard to find as we go "greener" (many washers now limit water temp to 98 degrees)).

Never (if possible) place a bag/knapsack/jacket underneath the seat of a night traveling plane or train. If you must, consider yourself possibly contaminated--always use overhead bins. Yes, upon my return from Asia my carry on luggage was wrapped in a plastic bag, and frozen for two days along with my shoes. I washed all my clothes and took them to a nearby laundromat and dried them, running the dryer 30 minutes past dry.

I live in fear of these buggers because I own an apartment house and because infestations are increasing wold-wide. I need only one tenant and one gravid female to become infested. I've estimated that eradication will cost me about $20,000 for my triplex.

A side note: True story: An Emergency Department received a person barely conscious, convulsing, with diarrhea and a set of strange symptoms. Shortly after the patient was being treated, one then another of the medical personnel became violently ill. One died, several were severely ill but recovered. The cause: The patient committed suicide by ingesting an organophosphate pesticide. Either the persons breath, or belching created a poison nerve gas. Sarin, the war gas that was used some years ago in Tokyo's subway is a gas organophosphate.

My wife though misses her big SUV we had in the USA and constanly asks me do I miss my Harley Davidson . My answer is no . My Honda Click does just fine. I didnt come here to try and get rich and keep up with the Jones next door . I came to enjoy life ........

Now this I admire... A man who can be happy with a Honda Click, who formerly had a Harley Davidson, has truly adopted a Buddhistic approach to Thailand!

(No cynicism implied or intended)

My fiancee needs a copy of her birth certificate. She was born in the Doi Saket area of Chiang Mai, she does not know if it was at home or at hospital. She did have one long ago but lost it so it should be at the government place where records are stored.

Would someone kindly post or send me a message here telling the name, address and phone number of the proper government agency? Also, someone told me that government offices were closed all days this week--is this true? Or will it be open tomorrow?

Thanks

Nope for a few reasons. The first is the question: Is it venomous? If not, why not just let it be? It's too small to step on you, so if not venomous it can't harm you (though most snakes that are provoked will bite (a few play dead)) At my house when I'm working on a stone terrace or wall, I'll leave a cavity occasionally so a snake can find itself a good house, and I find it rather rewarding to see one who is out "sunning itself" zip into it's hidey-hole. If it is venomous I'd kill it, but then I have a 12guage shotgun which at 15 feet will essentially vaporize it's head. I wouldn't try to trap or kill it with a shovel though. "Most snakes bites occur when someone is trying to kill or catch a snake." From: http://www.billabongsanctuary.com.au/aussie_animals/eastern_brown.html Billabong Sanctuary has a lot of highly venomous Eastern Brown snakes. I've read that same sentence other places too... Live and let live, if you can...

What part about "cluster" does Thailand not get? They were either DPICM M483, a projectile with 88 bomblets, or the M864 that carries "only" 72 (but offers "dud" protection. From Wikipedia: "The first true DPICM was the 155 mm M483, produced in the 1970s. By 1975 an improved version the M483A1 was being used. The projectile carried 88 M42/M46 grenade like dual purpose submunitions. The 155 mm M864 projectile entered production in 1987, and featured a base bleed that enhances the range of the projectile, although it still carries the same M42/M46 grenades. The base bleed mechanism reduces the submunition load to 72."

The perpetrator of this article is insensitive, rude and mean.

Can you fathom what this felt like?

Idiot!

What an obscene and sad April's fool joke. For the first time I am disgusted by Thaivisa.com

I'm over 50, so this, if passed will affect me, since I'm in the middle of the K-1 fiancee process, so if anyone hears more about this please post.

*shrug* If it passes, there goes my K-1 application, ไม่เป็นไร.....

I don't have 40,000 baht in a bank either. Frankly anyone that keeps that much in a bank hasn't a clue how to handle money these days, though I will say that keeping a quantity of baht instead of dollars or Euros (or Pounds) may be in fact quite wise, (our Canadian, Australian, Singaporean and Nordic readers can ignore this...) not because of the measly interest, but because of inevitable currency restrictions that America and/or European/British will most likely be enacting within the next, not to many years. Laugh if you wish to, but if you want to, before you laugh, look at the history of Iceland's crisis--even if a relative died in another country you could not take Icelandic kroner with you unless you had special permission.

Notwithstanding the above discussion, banks offer little return in this economy.

This statement is a joke:

"Thai nationals cannot be prohibited from marrying older foreigners abroad, however Thai embassies will warn them of the possibility that Thailand will not recognize the marriage if they return to Thailand"

In most cases a woman is better off being married in a foreign country, and being considered single in Thailand. For instance a woman who marries in America and who does not register the marriage will be considered married by America, but is "single" as a status in Thailand.

Unless the law has changed a woman legally (as considered by Thailand) married "will lose a few of her legal rights, and some privileges regarding land ownership will be restricted."

"Thai men do not lose any rights if they are married to a foreigner and the marriage is registered in Thailand."

Note: This is true as of 2008, see a lawyer to see if the law has changed

"She can still buy a house or land, but the foreign husband will have to sign a declaration at the land office that the money used to purchase the land is all hers. In case of a divorce, or her death, the foreign husband will have no claim to the house or land."

This is an odd and unfortunate set of rules. A Thai male can will the property (or it's sale value--I'm not sure) to his spouse. A Thai female who is considered married cannot.

Note 2: The italic quotes are taken from the book "Thai Law for Foreigners," by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, 2008, Paiboon Publishing.

Unless Thailand forbids women from leaving, which would be draconian, this law would change little and certainly not stop males aged over 50 from marrying women, they will simply go to a nearby country.

This is a knee-jerk reaction to Cambodia's problem with Korean men marrying young Cambodian women and then mistreating them. While a certain amount of husbands mistreating wives (and wives mistreating husbands) (for instance having the family try to kill them with an ancient musket, and failing that, beating the poor guy to death with a club and then feeding the remains to the Royal tigers) there seems no evidence that what has occurred between Korean men and their mistreated Cambodian wives is occurring in Thailand with foreigners marrying Thai women.

ใจเย็น, ใจเย็น…

And when the dollar drops to 25 baht per $, and then to 20...and then to....

And when the Pound drops to....

And when the Euro drops to.....

In time this will come to pass....

Sound stupid?...Sounds NORMAL to me

Not to pick on Thailand, but I'll never forget a photograph of a resort in the Philippines. The main circuit breaker box was situated so a person had to go through a swimming pool, and then stand upon a tiny ledge to turn the breakers on or off. Indeed, water and electricity do not mix.

I was surprised to see recently though that a blender that I purchased in Chiang Mai had a "space" for a grounding blade, though the blade was not with the blender, and of course my condo did not have a receptacle for the grounding blade even if the part had been included.

Absolutely shocking!

"Gay men remain the group most affected by HIV in Thailand, followed by housewives, men who have sex with sex workers, men infected by their wives, and injecting drug users."

Gay men, I can see as being the number 1 group. But if you read the sentence it turns into housewives second, and then third men who have sex with sex workers, and fourth, men infected by their wives. Thus add #2 and $4 together and it appears that the "wives" are the villains.

I suspect that the reality is Gay men as #1; Men who have sex with sex workers as #2, and housewives infected by husbands who have sex with sex workers as #3.

Now let's look at the number of cases of female cervical cancer, including fatalities caused by cervical cancer. The virulent strains of HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) are endemic amongst sex workers. Men who have sex with sex workers and then return home to have sex with their wives infect their wives. This leads to a greatly increased risk factor to wives with men who have sex with sex workers. There is an increased risk to males but it is tiny compared to the risk to females.

The problem here is that condoms reduce, but do not stop transmission of HPV because virus can be shed without a visible outbreak, and on skin areas not covered by a condom. Therefore men who use condoms and use sex trade workers eventually become infected with one or more of the Cervical Cancer causing strains of HPV.

Bottom line is that epidemiologically speaking there are two killers related to the paid sex trade, HIV and Cervical Cancer caused by infection from HPV..

C'mon Public Health--epidemiology is a science, let's have some bottom line facts and not double talk about housewives being the villains here because they aren't.

Bangkok Post right (for once)<br><br>I certainley felt it for 5 or 6 seconds with mild movement as back was aginst wall plus water movement in fish tank.<br><br>A friend on the 14th floor of condo in Chang Clan road says was very scary and every one outside as building moving<br>

Hmm....I just moved out of the 12th floor at that same building (there is only one Condo bldg on Chang Klan road that high) His floor says "14th floor," but it's really the 13th floor, so I was only one floor down. (Now most new buildings in Thailand have 12-13-14th floors, but back a while, builders did what some Western cultures that believe the number 13 is bad luck, simply called the 13th floor the 14th floor.

I know a bit too much about concrete and the exterior stairways of that building, made of concrete, to me look like they were poured "wet." The stiffer the concrete mix is when poured the higher quality it will be (compressive strength) but often contractors water it down because a stiff mix is hard to work with, and a soupy mix is very easy. This results in inferior strength concrete (sometimes changing 2800psi concrete to 1200psi), and when this is done, often it shows up as cracks. Of course the cracks don't go anyplace because of the iron rebar inside it, but the I suspect that many buildings in Chiang Mai (which are the only ones I have seen) use concrete that would not achieve the compressive tests that they are supposed to, and compressive strength does count quite a lot during an earthquake. I wonder what those exterior walkways look like now.

From the top of the same building you can look out over the "Old City" within the moat, and see the tallest object visible in the old city. It is a ruin of a Wat that was damaged beyond repair in an earthquake back in the late 1800's.

I was talking to my gf on video chat when a second temblor occurred, she had heard that the first one was a 6.7, and was clearly a bit shaken--but I think she was all the more shaken because tomorrow she finds out if she passed an Engish exam she took yesterday.

*lol* Because all I know how to say is mai bpen rai; mai rue; and arroy maak maak! They would just look at me and smile. I'm hoping that some of our Thai members who deal with home mortgages might help.

Silver Wheaton's a dynamite stock with excellent management and a great business model. I purchased some in October, 2008 at $2.55 Canadian (yes it did go that low and a tiny bit lower one one day, I just happened to have a "stink bid" in that took, sold it when it ran to $14 (unfortunantely). Then I bought it back around $16 and it ran to $30 and I sold it again (unfortunately). It's taking (they all are) a real hammering today, but my personal opinion is that it's a stock to hold to the very end of this crazy market. Extremely well run and when you look at its income stream it just get's bigger and bigger as the next 3 years come up.

I suspect that in a year or two it'll start paying huge dividends. Though how for down this market will go is anyone's guess, but if it hit's $30, I'm all aboard...

The funds are selling frantically, this may be a repeat of 2008, who knows? It (SLW) had a bearish engulfing candlestick today so it could drop that far...we'll see (see: http://www.tradershuddle.com/20110316186326/Candlesticks/silverwheaton-had-a-bearish-engulfing-candle.html)

I like Alexco, Excellon, Scorpio, and Great Pather all traded on the Canadian exchanges. I may be American but I don't like dollars--I'll take Loonies anyday.

I hope this does not spread to Thailand, I'm engaged, but darn, I only earn $2,249 per month. Gosh, I'm pleased I went to Chiang Mai instead of Cambodia!

Seriously though, this means that a guy who is 56 cannot marry a woman who is 45. That's just downright silly.

From what I've read Wallaby hit the nail on the head.

If a Thai, born in Chiang Mai, who has good proof of income, and good credit wishes to purchase her family residence, now owned by a non-family member, which consists of two ~60 square meter houses, single story, typical concrete construction, in fair condition, on a half hectare piece of land, and wishes to take a 400,000 baht mortgage. What are the usual bank terms?

Here in America, most resident house sales come with a 30 year mortgage. What is the norm in Thailand? 10, 20, 30 years? Care to guess annual percentage rates these days?

Her parents live in one of the houses at the moment.

Anyone care to venture what the above property "range" might be. The location is just off Rte 1014, a few kilometers past Bo Sang (where you go to buy umbrellas if you are interested, while you are in Chiang Mai). Bo Sang is about 10 kilometers West of Chiang Mai.

Thanks

Predominant winds this time of year are west, thus called the Westerlies. It is unlikely even in the event of a major physical explosion that Thailand would receive any plume or cloud of radioactive materials simply because the wind doesn't blow that way. North America, on the other and certainly might. We'll know in three or four days.

1 microsievert per hour translates to about 144 millirems (sort of like pounds and kilograms). The average human receives about 340-360 millirems every year from various sources, so this would seem reasonable. Though even a one microsievert per hour increase over background would get a part of it's cause by radioactive idodine. Radioactive Iodine with a half-life of 8 days is the real threat here. I'm not sure but hope that the person in charge knows when the benefits of prophylactic potassium iodide use exceeds the risks. (Note: risk of KI usage is very low).

Reply to post in other thread:

Thanks, I understand this point of view, but cooling it with sea-water would have the same effect as boric acid. - The reactor would never be up again. This is talked about since more than 12 hours.

The problems seem to be with the injection of sea-water and boric acid.

Although Boric acid isn't a standard regulating compound in a BWR, it is just an additive to the coolant, and does no harm to the reactor. It regulates the reaction in much the same way as the control rods do. When flushed out again, reaction starts back up.

The boron in boric acid is a neutron modulator also known as a neutron absorber.

The core reaction produces neutrons, the neutrons hit another element and can release two neutrons which hit another element each releasing two neutrons...thus increasing core reaction and of course, heat. So the use of boric acid is an attempt to quench the ongoing nuclear reaction as well as cool the core. Sea water will cool the core but absent the boron modulater, will not act to slow the nuclear reaction.

That boric acid was used is another bit of evidence that at least part of the core (fuel rods) have melted. The problem is that once part melts, if the melted portions flow together (at about 5080 Fahrenheit) neutron flux increases, the reaction increases, and heat increases. If enough of the uranium/ceramic pellets melt and flow the molten mass can become critical. This would likely result in a physical explosion, not a thermonuclear explosion but would be catastrophic. This was the great fear at Chernobyl and luckily though the core melted, the molten mass never managed to come together in a critical mass and enough neutron absorbing material was piled on it to slow the reaction.

There is a bogus radiation map circulating, purportedly from the Australian government predicting deadly radiation exposure--it is BOGUS, don't believe a bit of it.

Still, the absence of quality reporting on the incident is quite worrisome to me.

My god what has this got to do with the question i asked

Pat

Not a lot Mate, unless you expect to never die in your retirement.

, c) the fac that top grade medical insurance and nursing are available in Thailand.

I don't often blatantly disagree here, but I shall with this statement.

Though I am no expert on insurance, from what research I have done, it seems apparent that as soon as you have a major issue, either the policy price will explode, the policy will be canceled, or any issue remotely related to the major issue will cease to be covered.

Thus, unless someone can point me in a direction where I can find lifetime coverage that is guaranteed without the above caveats I'll say that for the most part insurance available in Thailand is smoke and mirrors. Contrast this with Panama where a reasonable payment gives you quality health coverage without the above caveats. What use is a policy that vaporizes when one issue manifests itself?

I really am not sure about the quality of nursing in Thailand. My one experience was a recent one at RAM in Chiang Mai where I eventually refused to let the RN take my blood pressure for the third time on the same arm, when the two prior readings bore no resemblance to each other (nor any resemblance to what I generally get myself). She did not know enough to know that repeated blood pressure reading on one arm results in venous congestion resulting in increasing and erroneous numbers. Further, though she had a high quality sphygmomanometer on her desk she refused to use it, instead relying on an automatic blood pressure cuff which often gives erroneous results. I will say that this RN was clueless.

Now this nurse did not know how to take a blood pressure--but that says nothing about all Thai nurses and I really don't know how "good" they are. What I do know is that if you develop bone cancer here or another disease known to create severe pain--you will suffer horribly before you die. The use of opioids and the synthetic analogs are not used for palliative care, they are only used in Intensive Care Units. Thailand has essentially no (correct me if I'm wrong) palliative end of life care. The concept of hospice especially that of hospice utilizing appropriate pain control does not seem to exist here. This is inappropriate in today's medical world, and one can actually use the word "cruel." I hope in time Thailand addresses it's end of life care and embraces dignified hospice and palliative care.

Dying of bone cancer, or another extremely painful condition with proper pain control allows comfort and a dignified end to life for the person dying and for those around her. In the absence of advanced palliative pain control--your death will be a nightmare. This is something to think about. Until this condition changes I strongly suggest that a person maintains ties to an advanced Western health care system, you may not even need to avail yourself of it, but if you do...

I have noticed that a MAJORITY of Thai men do not rinse their hands after using the urinals!

do you wash your hand after touching your nose or ears? is your pecker dirtier than your nose or ears that requires washing your hands after peeing?

I always wash my hands after picking my nose--why? Because I'm colonized with Staph aureus (SA). Staph aureus (SA) that is drug resistant is called MRSA. About 60-70% of nurses are colonized with SA, it's not a problem with them as their body is used to it, but it can cause an infection if transferred to a break of their skin, or another person's skin. In American/European population about 30% of people are comensally colonized with SA within their nares (nasal openings). Everyone should wash their hands after picking their nose.

Actually the skin on the penis, unless on needs to retract the foreskin which increases risk, is probably less a risk than nose-picking, though most humans are colonized with Staph epidermis, a common commensal (=usually present) pathogenic bacteria.

What astonishes me is that in most eateries there is soap and water to wash one's hands, but almost never any sort of clean towel (such as a paper towel). Sometimes there are air dryers but usually there is a communal towel.-

Now consider the "rinser" hanging next to most toilets. They do a good job cleaning and lessening the need for toilet paper but they must splatter fecally contaminated droplets everywhere, including back onto the hand holding the rinser. If a person washes her hands, especially if no soap is present, and then uses the "communal towel," there is a great conduit for transfer of E. coli bacteria.

Consider though the scenario: A cook uses the toilet, and washes her hands thoroughly with soap and water, then uses the communal towel, transferring a few micrograms of E. coli back onto the hands. Said cook then cooks two hamburgers, picking up the buns to place on top and transferring a microgram of E. coli to each bun. Now there are two "foments" (items that can transfer bacteria). I sit down with my Thai gf, she eats her burger, and I eat mine.

The next day I am sick with TD (Traveler's Diarrhea) (Thailand is the 4th or 5th most likely country to contract TD), but my gf is fine. Why? Because she is essentially inoculated against that particular strain of E. coli, but I, being foreign to the area am not, thus I am sickened until my body develops antibodies to the E. coli, or to enterotoxins that that particular strain produce. Once that occurs, I am unlikely to become infected again if E. coli is the culprit.

To protect oneself (and others) carry a small bottle of 70% alcohol gel. Note: There have been many, many cases where non-alcohol antibacterial gels were ineffective, and some cases where the non-alcohol gel actually harbored pathogens.

It was difficult, in the end to sort of the gold price versus the "fabrication fee." Originally the quote was 20,200 for the gold and 500 for the fee, but a bit of very light mention of a discount reduced it overall from 20,700 to 20,400,' reducing the total by 300 baht. It didn't seem important to me as to where it came "off."

As far as never being exposed to 24kt, or 23kt jewelry, Naam's comment is generally true, for most American people and unquestionably Asian gold products, as related to gold content is the best in the world. I would add though that at one time I made and sold jewelry that was 99.8% pure gold, and the balance was aluminum. When mixed together the gold turns lavender, and is often called "purple gold." It is a non-malleable metal though, and quite brittle and so must be inlaid, which I inlaid into titanium, tantalum or niobium, machine turned rings. Though I have no photos of my work here in CM, you can search google for "purple gold." A nice image of an inlaid piece can be seen at: http://www.webexhibi...sofcolor/9.html

Powderpuff's comments also are quite true, but while in America one might get (if lucky) a 70% return on the value of the contained gold, relative to international wholesale price (London PM fix really is not used much anymore, due to volatility. I suspect that were I return the necklace today to a different gold seller, yes, I'd lose the fabrication fee, and a few percentage of the gold value, but I'd suspect that I'd achieve closer to a 90+% return on gold value. Therefore I believe buying Asian gold comes closer to owning jewelry as "intrinsic wealth," something that jewelry in America generally does not do.

Thai,Chinese, Vietnamese, Indians (others too) have held onto the concept as gold has intrinsic value. Fiat currencies come and go, and while gold has little "function," the Asians, Indians, and other wise people realize that no matter what gold, if nothing else, acts as an insurance policy. Politicians can debase currencies as we are seeing throughout the world simply by turning up the printing press (or entering digits into a computer) but not one can create an extra ounce of gold unless it is dug out of the ground. (Excluding transmutation in a nuclear reactor which can be done, but is not economical).

There, now there is ample fodder for the "tear to pieces" crowd...hehee...