czGLoRy

not sure if it is the same in CM, but in bangkok TOT was hands down the worst internet. WE had it for a long time and it eventually stopped working, customer support hung up on us whenever we tried to call about it, it was super slow when it worked and couldn't DL files, etc. We had true which is also bad and it was infinitely better.

AIS 3g and 3bb premier are better solutions if you have a choice.

didn't read AZ's response before I wrote this but he is pretty much spot on.

eating "less" isn't really a good idea in and of itself. Eat 6 times a day, but smaller meals, this has been proven to increase your metabolism, and you won't be hungry throughout the day. Drink a lot of water. Easy and healthful thing for most people to do, the majority of people are dehydrated most of the time.

Then, the biggest step by far is diet. Replace bad things in your diet with healthy things, easy, just use common sense.

Eat vegetables with every meal

Avoid drinking calories.

Eat chicken, rather than pork or beef.

Eat fish! Fish are awesome sources of protein and are packed with nutrition, especially given relatively low calorie count.

Dont eat bread. Cut way back on the rice.

Easy enough!

Try exercising. Do something you enjoy for cardio, run swim bike play basketball, whatever you lke. Then, doing a weight lifting program is great for getting in shape. Look up starting strength. It is the best program to use for any beginning weight lifter hands down. It only takes about 30 minutes a day as well! Weight lifting isn't just for "getting ripped" its great for cardiovascular health, burns a ton of calories, and muscle mass increases your metabolism, which means you will burn more fat as well.

Enjoy~

caffeine is your problem, not coke specifically.

try substituting it with a healthier caffeine source. or, if you can and want to you can try to kick the addiction to caffeine. I believe caffeine is about as addictive as cocaine, and it has withdrawll symptoms. You can replace coke with, dare I say, diet coke, or something like black coffee. I am addicted to caffeine myself, the one time I quit for a month I felt a lot better. I am not an expert on it, but when you first drink caffeine it elevates your energy level, increases alertness, raises blood pressure, heart rate etc. A lot of beneficial effects and some minor side effects. When you drink caffeine regularly, you build up a tolerance and lower the effect. At the same time, being addicted to caffeine lowers your "base level" of energy. So, you have less energy than you normally would if you were not using caffeine at all. After you drink caffeine, you return to your base leve of energy or above it depending on how much you take. So, quitting caffeine is pretty difficult. Try squatting with real weights. The starting strength is basically

3x5 Squat (3 sets of 5)

3x5 Bench press

1x5 deadlift

on day "a"

then day "b

3x5 Squat

3x5 military press

3x5 pendlay row

Monday day A, wednesday day B, friday day A etc. up to you. It really is hands down the best way to go about a lifting program as a newbie, but at least look into it!

thanks guys...

I will make new batch of soup tomorrow but i will use chicken instead of beef... I will not stop running when i start my weight training... I will just add on.. My short term goal for march month is to do 100 situps/ pushups/squats every day... Then increase more over time...

I know that the coke is my problem, but i just cant stop... After a few days i feel all like shit with bad headaches for hours... The only thing i have to replace it with is sun quick, not sure how much better that is...

The final battle has begun against the kilos now... I want to look good on my birthday this september, liposucktion is not really an option...

I have a before picture, and there will be a september picture, and yes... I have gotten smaller, even after a few days of pizza and whiskeys...

Thanks agai and i will try to follow your advices...

Although there are some side effects, they seem to be about as bad as caffeine (without being addictive). I do think I will order some aniracetam to try. The side effects reported all seemed to stem from a lack of choline, and my research on the subject makes me very inclined to try it with a choline supplement as well.

TY very much for the info ont he legality! Here is what wikipedia says fwiw

Piracetam has been found to have very few side effects, and those it has are typically "few, mild, and transient."^[43] A large-scale, 12-week trial of high-dose piracetam found no adverse effects occurred in the group taking piracetam as compared to the placebo group.^[44] Many other studies have likewise found piracetam to be well-tolerated.^[43][45][46]

also the last reply about doing crunches and leg exercises to spot reduce is pretty ridiculous, as is implying you shouldn't be able to breathe normally while working out. Also, low weight high reps is not going to help more than burning calories and wasting time. Its impossible to spot reduce. Starting strength is a higher weight lower rep program that will work out your entire body and give you a better fat to muscle mass ratio. And having more muscle means having a better metabolism.

Before beginning any specific exercise regimine, do some research on forums and stuff like that if you want to be productive in the gym. Yoga is awesome too btw, and starting strength is not just if you want to get "ripped" and lift 1000 kg, although it can do that for you if you wanted too.

The soup is okay and sounds like a pretty big improvement over what you have been eating. Try throwing some peppers (spicey or not) in the soup, very nutricious and delicious. Beef isn't healthy, I think it is one of the worst meats you could eat. Try chicken (not KFC or fish, or seafood.

You could basically eat an unlimited amount of vegetables and not think about it and be helping yourself out. Find vegetables that are easy to eat and you enjoy. If you don't like plain vegetables you can think of more creative ways to prepare them that are still healthy. Things like carrots, celery with a small amount of peanut butter and/or raisins, salads are great. Same with fruits, bananas, apples, oranges, and any fruit you see really from the local fruit dealers are all solid.

If you had to eat as few things as you possibly could I would think something like

Any vegetables in any quantity

Almost any fruit in any quantity (debatable)

Fish

Chicken

Eggs

Imagine you own a modest plot of land and have to grow all of your own food. Say it is a 100 meter plot of land and you are a talented farmer. If you could never leave to get things from the market, and were stuck here for the rest of your life, what foods would be at your disposal? Avoid dairy (except eggs) and limit the pork and beef, and eat what you like. Is this meal you are about to eat from your imaginary farm? Lets check: KFC -- close, no cigar. Snickers bar- Nope. Big mac- we have te beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoe, but not processed bread. Also should limit the intake of the beef and not really eat cheese. Nope. Should be a reasonable way to check if you should eat these things.

Soup, do you have all these ingredients? Yes! but should limit the beef, so maybe substitute it with chicken? Its okay though.

Nuts are a great source of carbs, protein, and most have a good amount of fiber. Things like almonds with seasonings (like salt or a modest spice powder) are great healthy snacks (of course I know salt isn't healthy for the nits but substuting salted nuts for a big mac is even a reduction in just sodium intake by itself).

Fruits are delicious and there are cheap fruit vendors everywhere. The mangoes with peppers (not the sugar) are great and very healthy, papayas are probably the healthiest that I see in their carts often. also, drinking a lot of water during the day and especially before meals is great advice. Will help you eat less when you "feel hungry". Most people are dehydrated anyways, so you will also feel a lot better if this is true in your case as well.

So eat food from your farm. Vegetables, fruits, eggs, chicken, fish, water.

You are allowed to eat these, and just these . Enjoy!

Set aside a cheat day, one day a week where you can eat whatever you like. If you stay true to eating healthy throughout the week, you will get a day to look forward to that will help your urges to eat a doughnut or whatever. When you stay with the diet long enough, you will eventually realize you are feeling a lot worse on your cheat day, and dread it, then cut it out altogether.

Also, most people overlook what they drink. If you drink starbucks, a lot of their coffees can have around 700 calories each. If you are drinking this daily, that is a huge source. Try straight black coffee, artificial sweeteners, or cut out the coffee altogether.

Alcohol is also calorie packed. Doing straight shots is a more efficient, and less calorie intensive way to get hammered

Rambling a lot, best of luck!

I saw the bit about weight lifting, don't listen to anyone about weight lifting until you look into starting strength. If you did research, you would find that until you are a pretty sesasoned weight lifter, there is nothing that is even CLOSE to as good or effective. Its also a very quick program and takes like 30 minutes every other day. Don't know if I can link it, but just google "starting strength".

If you want to eat whatever you like, and not diet, just think of healthy substitions you won't mind. The coke is a huge problem in your diet and if you can cut one thing out, coke would almost certainly be the best to get rid of. 1 litre of coke is 400 calories per day. Roughly 7,000 calories per kilogram. That means over the course of the year, coke is "costing" you 20.85 kilograms! That means, drop the coke starting TODAY, and keep your diet exactly the same. In one year, you would be roughly 21 kilos lighter. Obviously a rough example and there are a load of variables, but think about it.

Is a litre of coke a day worth even 10 kilos to you per year? And if you are not burning these off, they will become EXTRA weight in the future.

I cant deleter any part of the quote so gotta quote whole thing I guess. You will save between 100-500 baht depending where you are going in Sukhumvit. Opting to use a non metered taxi is nonsensical. (NORMAL taxis, not talking about limo services, which I would never use but I agree are safer). I find the haggling types and the tuk-tuks you negotiate with are among the most scummy taxis. You might try Phuket out if you like the negotiating with taxis. 300 baht minimum going anywhere, around 6x the price in BKK. Also, the metered drivers carry bags for you and help you out of te car I would say around 80% of the time. The time I got ripped off was around 2 pm though, bright as could be.

I reckon the consensus looks like the taxi stand. I mean, I'm not a frequent taxi user at Suvarnabhumi but I have used the taxi stand before, the price (Bt350) was agreed before hand and the driver asked for that and got more. Whilst waiting for my connecting flight just over a week ago I saw people trying to jump over the barrier at the departure entrance to save themselves Bt50 (a pound for goodness sake!) and the coppers having a right pop at the drivers for trying it on. There were also police vehicles sounding sirens and giving warnings over their speakers to drivers who dropped off and then hung around.

I would recommend the taxi stand, as for the meter, how much are we talking about saving here? Bt100? Ok if you fancy having a strop and jumping out of a car with your luggage over £2 then go for it, but as with any taxi in any city, agree the price before you get in and you'll be fine.

When it comes to spitting out the dummy and having a pop at people about their IP addresses when all someone asked about is a taxi.....

Hey, I was wondering if it is legal to buy / use nootropics in Thailand. They are basically supplements to enhance cognitive performance/memory. The ones I am interested in particular are the racetams. Pramiracetam was at a local pharmacy, but it was quite expensive. These supplements are shown to be almost 100% nontoxic but often provide a load of benefits. I was interested in buying from amazon or ebay some aniracetam to use. Is it legal in Thailand? Thanks!t

(sorry I posted this in the wrong forum on accident. I can't seem to find a delete post, or a way to start typing anywhere but the very top of the document. If a mod could move/delete this i would appreciate it!)

Hey, I am a 21 yo American living in Thailand. Have lived here for a year, and plan on staying longer. I have never had health insurance on my own, and I think it might be a good idea to get a plan. I typically just pay for everything out of pocket, which is mostly fine for doctors visits (I do see doctors way more than is typical for my age, although I have nothing more severe than asthma.)

Should I get a health insurance plan? I don't know about any specific plans, but would preferably like to not spend too much, have it cover things like severe accidents. It would be nice, although maybe not even worth it, for it to cover things like general doctors visits, check ups, etc.

Anything fit the bill?

Thanks

Living in Thailand spoiled my trip to spain! The fact that a five minute taxi ride cost $25 US , the complete lack of public transportation leaving me stranded at 6 am in the cold rain , having a trip to 7/11 cost 5x as much, and each mean being $15 US or more as opposed to at least $2. Also, everyone was rude, and the biggest thing of all, most clubs charged $20 US on entrance and each drink was at leat $15!

Made me realize why I like Thailand at least! couldn't wait to leave.

Oh yea, and like the guy above me, daily massages are the nuts. Got a few massages in Spain, cheapest one being about $75/hr and it was terrible.

Also, the very common scammers / thieves in Spain were even MORE common than in Thailand, but they were aggressive, as opposed to passive-aggressive ones in Thailand

I have the PCX, it blows any other scooter out of the water. If you are going for a scooter, there is no way you would be dissapointed with the PCX125. Its awesome. Doesn't feel like a toy anymore.

Someone posted his experience with the Tiger Boxer 150 which has 4 shock absorbers. The engine was okay but his riding style meant it was maxed out a lot and strained. Charlie owns the Boxer 250 RS and is happy with the bigger one.

A scooter might be good for town and short trips, but for long tours, a real motorcycle would be my choice. Got value, I like the Honda step through models with EFI. The CZ-110 i gets great fuel economy and is bullet proof. Spend the THB 35,000 on something else?

Ride on,

Chris

its not about eating less, its about eating better. Your diet seems pretty terrible (coke, chicken wings, spaghetti). You should be eating things that are nutricious , and generally avoid anything wthat comes with a label (or would come if you bought it at a store). You said your a runner, so if you need a better source of carbs try things like potatoes. Nts fruit, vegetables chicken . Reading starting strength and follow the program.

I have taken the taxis are suvarnabhumi maybe 20times in the past year, and have only had two or three problems. One time while arriving from the States very tired, I took a non-meter taxi who agreed for 400 baht to town, but then took me to a shady hotel I didn't want to go to and wasted my time, then said 600 baht when we arrived.

As far as meter taxis go, I have had on that had a fake meter. I wasn't positive about it, but it was 485 baht to sukhumvit, and I thought the "4" up front looked larger than the rest of the numbers. I compared it to another taxi later in the day and it was infact different, rigged meter.

I had another metered taxi turn off his meter upon arriving and said an amount that was around 100 baht more expensive than the fare was, and this kind of confused me on what to do. I did actually remember the amount before we arrived and said I won't pay more than that amount, and he got upset but after talking to reception agreed. So, he cost himself some money and a tip by turning off the meter

And of course I had one that started out fine, but turned off the meter soon as we got on the highway and said 500 baht to town. I was with my girlfriend then who was upset but didn't want to get out on the highway, so I dealt with it. Reported him afterwards. Girlfriend didn't let me call the police

this. Or at least a helmet that is better than the 99 baht styrofoam ones that come with the bikes.

where can one get one of these REAL helments in Chiang Mai?

I ended up buying the Honda PCX 125 after looking into the recomendation here, and doing some research and test driving it. I wanted the Honda CBR-150 a little bit more, but I tried looking all around town for a place to rent or test-drive one and never found anywhere. (Always had to order it and wait for two weeks or so). I might get a second motorbike, which might be a honda CBR, a second PCX, or something like the ninja .. possibly the Phantom whcih was looking better as I looked into it more. I appreciate all of the recomendations, I did look into every bike. I am loving the PCX, even though it is still a motorbike scooter, it just crushes the Click in terms of .. well everything pretty much. Much higher quality, rides very well, feels stable and safe, has a theft protection alarm, bigger, better fitting, more comfortable bike, bigger trunk, bigger tires, bigger gas tank, better milage. Worth the extra 20k more imho. Might have to get a second bike, will report back if I do!

OK. So I rented out a Honda PCX for a month, just to make sure if it's what I want. Bottomline is...GREAT BIKE!!! Rides smooth, very comfortable, great acceleration, stability, incredibly low fuel consumption, not mentioning the design of the bike which makes all the other motorbikes look like a joke, really. I was really impressed.

bought the pcx after a test drive (72500 including the two year theft and a helmet) it's great and I have to say the same as this person

the standby mode works a lot better than I thought it would too. Huge trunk compared to other bikes and very nice design. Would buy again!

Not really much more than a thread hijack, but it doesn't feel right to make a thread to ask this and this one seems finished . Could someone translate this for me please? Thanks!

พี่เก๋ โอมขอร้องนะครับขอร้องจิงๆคุยกันก่อนพี่ยังไม่รู้ความจิงอะไรเลย / รับสายด้วย

I can get a good amount of ritalin very quickly and easily from bumrungrad in Bangkok, when I was diagnosed, when he talks about the ritalin in regards to quantity, he handed me a paper and said "how many do you want". 100 was no problem.

I hear from my friend just now that piracetam combined with choline (anything with B vitamins has this) works well as a supplement available over-the-counter as an alternative treatment.

I would also like to go for a pcx but i dot like the brown seat. I will have to wait unti it is available in black - black

Almost bought a new PCX today, (70,000 with the "discount" of like 2k baht) but I have yet to try a honda CBR-150 and hear rave reviews about this bike. The PCX is a beast of a scooter, and you can tell just by looking at it that it is of a much higher quality than (almost ?) any other scooter out there. I was set on a CBR-150 but I will have to take the PCX for a test drive tomorrow and see how I like it. It is nice and much bigger than you might expect!

Never mind, just found a list.

why not post it, in case anyone searches for this same list ?

That's why I asked instead of driving! I would of course try it around the lot first before buying even

Hey, I am just looking for a reliable Motorbike dealer in Chiang Mai, preferably one that sells new bikes. Looking to pick up a new Honda PCX 125 or CBR not sure yet.

Thanks!

I would prefer to buy new, I am 100 kilos and 6'2 (dont know the metric equivalent sorry 21 yo, so I don't have any knee problems or anything. I would use it for daily commuting, don't know if I would take any long trips but its possible I might. Obviously a good looking bike would be nice, but its not a priority.

The daily commute would be about 15 minutes along a high way both ways, and then a lot of driving throughout the city

So far the CBR is still in the race, but I will have to check out if it is in fact too small. My GF said it probably would be.

CBR, Honda PC 125 and possibly tiger in that order are what I am deciding between ATM. Will check out honda XR 250

Phantoms don't really appeal to me, I cant say why.

so, I have never driven anything but scooters which I take around all the time, but I am interested in ownign my first bike, whether scooter or a bike like the CBR. I owned a manual car in the past, but how steep is the learning curve? Would I likely be able to drive a CBR off the lot?

I will ask in the CM forums as well, but any reliable place to buy a CBR in Chiang Mai?

Sorry forgot to mention I am not particular to an automatic. I have never driven a manual bike but I owned manual car for a few years if it's at all the same. My roommate just ordered a Honda cbr for about 65000 and I may be interested in the same bike. The more horizontal riding position is something new as is the manual transmission so I am a bit hesitant but not opposed to the option