phrodan
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Posts posted by phrodan
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I was going to post this yesterday afternoon but thought better of it - it's in the main forum now for those who don't keep up with this page.
Very saddened by the passing of Gary Paletta, stallwart and longest serving resident of Smith's - he arrived just as they opened in 2009. He broke his hip a couple of years ago and after what seems to be a botched operation which had to be re-done earlier this year, he was never quite the same. Diagnosed with life ending problems a couple of weeks ago, he was in Bangkok for a week or so with his godson and upon return last Friday went straight to hospital. My husband went up to see him on Sunday and said he wasn't sure that he knew he was there, but didn't look good. He went back on Tuesday, I chose not to go - as it happens he wasn't conscious and so wouldn't have known I was there so I'm glad about that. It may sound awful, but from the way my husband described him, I chose not to as I'd rather remember him the way he was last time I saw him, laughing, joking and half drunk. I'm glad he went so quickly, he would have hated being back in hospital for a long time.
He was the first farang I met when we first arrived here, he was already a old-timer at Smith's and saying he'd made a mistake by paying 3 months in advance as he probably didn't want to stay on that long.
He was a good friend to many and will be sadly missed by many more. Condolences to his ex wife and daughter in Phuket and to Philip and the family and close friends in Germany.
RIP Gazza. He always laughed when I called him that, I don't think anyone else ever had, but I always did.
There were times when he was drinking that i would have quite happily strangled him - and many more times when I just loved being in his company and seeing him around. You may recollect the last time we were all together was earlier this year when we called upon you and Mr K - and while slowed due to his sticks, he was still as sharp as ever, and free from the pain that scarred him for way too long due to the repeat operations.
A Vietnam Vet, a polymath, an entrepreneur, a raconteur - this is a man that lived a life so varied and full it would be impossible to list. Humble in his won way, he laughed when it was suggested that he should write his autobiography. "I'm an <deleted>, who'd be interested in my life," he'd say.
Far more people than you could ever possibly have imagined, Gary, far more.
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Many of our best Thai friends have traveled more that we have so I think it depends on who you associate with.
Yup - meeting one tomorrow night who is on tour of Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the UK.
Some of these guys will be shocked to hear that many Thais are RICHER AND BETTER TRAVELED THAN THEY ARE.
Many meaning some but not most. Let's be realistic here. Most foreigners do not associate with hi-so Thais. Good for you guys- and anyone else- if you do, but those people are not really reflective of the nation as a whole anyway.
Hi-So? Hi-So?
Who's talking about Hi-So?
I'm talking about middle-class Thais and there are millions of them.
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Many of our best Thai friends have traveled more that we have so I think it depends on who you associate with.
Yup - meeting one tomorrow night who is on tour of Italy, Switzerland, Germany and the UK.
Some of these guys will be shocked to hear that many Thais are RICHER AND BETTER TRAVELED THAN THEY ARE.
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He has a Thai wife why not get a real visa?
He has a passport, why not get a tourist visa?
He qualifies for visa exempt entry, why should he have to get a visa?
Immigration decides if he qualifies for a visa exempt entry.
They have decided he doesn't.
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^^ I have no published detail - why would I have that? this is the Thaivisa forum, not CSI TV.
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OP - £300 one way flight to the UK next week - £400 overstay fine.
Do your pal a favour, book the flight, drive him to the airport and pay his fine - it's only £700.
That's what good pals do.
When he arrives at the airport he can request an ambulance and he will be taken straight to hospital for treatment.
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I am saying this because I am in contact with forum loads of people who wasted months sometimes years in psychiatry when they just needed anti parasite treatment. The saddest is when it happens to kids,they can't properly express what's going on and end up in psychiatric wards when they are just infected.
Do you want to be that person who took the responsibility to send him to psychiatry?
These places are easier to get in than out
Give your friend some credit and do try to find out what's his infection.
I am personally dealing with a parasite that does have neuro and psy consequences.
If I had not taken things in hands I could have ended like your friend
I know it could go pretty bad if I don't take care but it is possible to manage parasites.
Yes, I want to be that person who sends this chap to a psychiatrist for assessment and treatment. If that turns out to be wrong, nothing bad has happened.
Actually, those places are harder to get IN than OUT, unless you are an emergency, with a waiting list of up to two months.
Getting out is quick and easy, you just tell the doctor you're leaving against medical advice, and unless you have been diagnosed as being a danger to yourself or others, that's it.
The chances of a theoretical infection being overlooked here are pretty slim. It'll be the first thing he tells them, pointing to the dried spot of scab on his forehead where he is
suspecting the next "exit wound" (when it looks like scar tissue with a little indentation where he supposedly dug at it with his fingernail.)
I actually just met him to talk things over, and I dug a bit into his former life in the UK. Has been repeatedly out of work for depressions, always as an outpatient.
Reciting a list of medications I know to see if any of them rang a bell he answered positive on citalopram and lithium. The latter is probably bad news, not necessarily though.
So yes, psychiatry it is. In any event.
Probably best not to engage with a likely troll.
I read and understood what was being said with absolutely no difficulty.
You should be congratulated for your efforts to help this gentleman.
I am awaiting a detailed response from "kitsune" but doubt I (we) will receive one (post No. 46)
I know of a fifteen year old that was recently treated for porkworm, which had attacked her brain. ( Chiang Mai, treatment June 2015 ). The condition is inoperable - apparently they have killed the worm(s) using medication. It was explained to me that the girl continues to have fits ( that's what drew attention to her condition, and as Kitsune said, it took a while to obtain a proper diagnosis ). It's believed that the severity of the fits could prove fatal at any time
As for the worm, I believe it's still within her skull cavity, and they are waiting/hoping for the body to break it down. Some of this info could be lost in translation.
You seem keen to get an accurate medical diagnosis? why? do you think you are suffering from parasites? How long have you been in Thailand? when was the last time you were tested?
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it's not going to be easy.
my refusal (similar circumstances) described me as a pimp, and the girl friend (yeh, I know) as a sex trade item.
i never applied again.
did you get approached by any "people who wanted to help you" as you left the embassy building ? ; by the way.
i felt like i needed a shower when i got out of that place
Feel free to post that refusal letter.
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The SS Rule is off topic.
The £18,600 figure is reasonable. The way it was before we had muppets going abroad to get a ready made family, then showing up in the UK and going straight on welfare.
Any Brit that supports that is nuts.
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Rainy season. The good news is it coincides with the best season in England.
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Did that guy Maxme ever go back to the leaving Thailand thread? Best troll thread for ages.
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To the poster who seems to know everything about the USA but apparently is not American- your rant about Americans is so far from being accurate that I actually laughed when I read it- I am American and not angry at all with you- you simply know little about the country and I have neither the time nor the inclination to enlighten you. I prefer Thailand and I have serious issues with the USA which is my right as an American. Since you are not American you have no citizen rights - only an uniformed opinion.
As an american I can agree with you only on certain points.
One of which are your rights there. They have laws that are made to protect your rights in the USA but in reality they most certainly apply only to people who have money to throw around. Most lower to middle class have no rights if they can't spend a lot of money protecting what the law stipulates.
With an arrest and conviction rate higher than any other country the likelihood of getting true justice is minimal without a high priced lawyer. With the police acting as militia and in so many numbers the chances being arrested is huge even for something not really that bad. Sure! If you get into trouble they give you representation to help the case against you. But in reality they don't really put forth any effort to help and usually plea bargain your case to end it which usually turns into a conviction against you.
Then you have this new issue with allowing all illegals be granted amnesty and turned into citizens simply to gain voters for certain parties. Who pays for their welfare? The true legal citizen. Taxes are outrageous and freedoms are limited.
In Thailand you can live easily on 1000 monthly and comfortably. You can come and go as you please and still have money for travel. Small issues like driving without a helmet or having a little alcohol in your system are easily taken care of and usually fairly cheap. The women are beautiful and sexy and they don't look at you as the old man you are. Their judgments to be with you are based mostly on your kindness and generosity and comfort. I would love to see an old man try to land a woman half his age in the US when he is only middle class. Maybe he could find a nice sweet elephant of a woman with many kids in the US.
The cost of living is definitely cheaper in Thailand. Good luck trying to rent a condo in the US for only 200 a month.
As for the current Gov in Thailand. I have not seen any effect or change in lifestyles with P as PM. Unless you are a junkie drug addict or doing some other serious crime the foreigner in Thailand
The USA is a beautiful place to be in. Thailand is a relaxed and comfortable and cheap place to live in.
They do look at you as the old man that you are. They just do a good job of disguising it.
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You'll be judged and treated by the company you keep.
Perhaps if I was in your company, that would be the case. Thankfully my friends, Thai included, are above judging anyone before they knowing them.
I judged no one - I pointed out an uncomfortable truth.
And if you believe that Thais don't pre-judge people - there's something wrong with you.
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What astounds me is the amount of guys dating "Thai," women in Chiang Mai that don't know that they are either Shan or Mountain People.
Not a chance they will go head to head with a Thai in the situation the OP describes.
Next up from that are the Isaan hookers -
If you think they are going to walk into a medium to Hi-So "in," place in Chiang Mai and start demanding their rights you must be mad.
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Farangs being seen in the company of Shan, Mountain People and Isaan hookers are regarded as lower than a cockroaches belly.
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So if you ever wonder why your lady doesn't speak up - ask yourself this -
Is it because she's too timid and shy? ( unlikely ).
Or
Because she knows she is out of her league.
The sooner some of you realize it's the latter the better.
What an odd post, is the poster trying to tell us about the bigotry of "Thai" people towards "mountain people" and Shan? ...or is he simply displaying his disdain for said minorities as well as the farang that may spend time with them? I can't imagin that someone would spend time with a Thai minority and not know their ancestry as they often like to share their culture and history. The exception being if they are not Thai citizens and fear immigration police, then they will want to hide their identity..... on topic, I would walk if the bar said a promo was not for all customers.
You've got that back to front - but that likely suited your agenda. I am a proponent of the rights of Mountain People. In my opinion, the fact that they are denied citizenship makes matters worse for all Thai society as they are easy pickings for criminality and prostitution.
That does not change the fact that when Shan and Mountain People are confronted in the situation described by the OP, they will fold like a pack of cards. The same applies to Isaan hookers in CM.
The level of ignorance displayed by your average farang to the caste/class system in Thailand is laughable.
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What astounds me is the amount of guys dating "Thai," women in Chiang Mai that don't know that they are either Shan or Mountain People.
Not a chance they will go head to head with a Thai in the situation the OP describes.
Next up from that are the Isaan hookers -
If you think they are going to walk into a medium to Hi-So "in," place in Chiang Mai and start demanding their rights you must be mad.
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Farangs being seen in the company of Shan, Mountain People and Isaan hookers are regarded as lower than a cockroaches belly.
.........................................................................................................................
So if you ever wonder why your lady doesn't speak up - ask yourself this -
Is it because she's too timid and shy? ( unlikely ).
Or
Because she knows she is out of her league.
The sooner some of you realize it's the latter the better.
The better man sees the person, not the race, not the class, without judgement.
Yes - and John Lennon sang "Imagine."
Back in the real World, you are in a racist society comparable to 1950's Mississippi.
And the idea that Shan or Mountain People are going to raise their head against a Thai is ridiculous.
Nearly as ridiculous as an Isaan hooker walking into a medium-Hi/So bar in Chiang Mai and demanding her rights.
So feel free to live within your happy,clappy delusion.
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So did the OP walk into a med/Hi-So bar with a Bar Girl/ex-Bar Girl of any description and get rudely treated by the staff?
Only he knows the truth of that.
You'll be judged and treated by the company you keep.
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What astounds me is the amount of guys dating "Thai," women in Chiang Mai that don't know that they are either Shan or Mountain People.
Not a chance they will go head to head with a Thai in the situation the OP describes.
Next up from that are the Isaan hookers -
If you think they are going to walk into a medium to Hi-So "in," place in Chiang Mai and start demanding their rights you must be mad.
.........................................................................................................................
Farangs being seen in the company of Shan, Mountain People and Isaan hookers are regarded as lower than a cockroaches belly.
.........................................................................................................................
So if you ever wonder why your lady doesn't speak up - ask yourself this -
Is it because she's too timid and shy? ( unlikely ).
Or
Because she knows she is out of her league.
The sooner some of you realize it's the latter the better.
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"zeichen doesn't like to deal with reality"
You are right. Every single Thai person accepts all tons of crap and garbage from every single person. I often see all my doctor friends bow down to waiters when they give bad service or cheat them.
Thais never ask for a pay raise, they never argue or dispute things with anyone, they never stand up for their rights or beliefs. They just all bow down and take everything right up the a**. Or perhaps they do, you guys just don't see it because you hide behind your wife's skirt and force her to talk for you because you don't know the language, or the subtleties of the culture to get what you want.
Fact is that Thais are very good at recognizing the situations in which they confront things. The subtlety is usually lost on most foreigners. There is being humble and then there is allowing your loved ones to be cheated. Yelling and screaming, throwing a fit or doing passive aggressive things to the low paid wait staff isn't useful. However, in my 15+ years living here, I have never been with friends that would allow someone to cheat me or charge me a different rate. Every single family member or friend would back me up if I complained to the manager.
OP, no I don't know you or your girl friend nor your relationship. I don't claim to be an expert on anything. I do have my experiences which I shared. It is a fact that Thai people stand up for themselves when they are in situations in which they can. Your partner didn't for you. All I said is that would bother me. I am not you. It doesn't bother you, so that is what matters. But don't delude yourself that it is cultural to avoid all conflict. I asked a simple question. If your girl friend was with her Thai friends and someone tried to cheat the group, would she also accept it? If she would defend her Thai friends and not you, then yes I think that is a problem. If she acts the same, then no it isn't a problem. That is all I meant.
"Lower status Thais tend to pull a gun or machete when they 'lose their sh_it'.
I feel foreigners are fairly non-confrontational in comparison."
LOL. Too true but those aren't as much lower status as just lower class usually drunkards or addicts. I know I am out on a limb, but I am starting to like every single thing you post. LOL
Were you drunk when you posted that?
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I've been bitten once in a fight - two comments -
One - it was agony
Two - I lost the plot and the guy landed in hospital, done in way beyond what would have happened if he hadn't bit me.
Maybe it is a deep seated fear of being eaten a la cave man days.
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From the moderator team : many thanks for some fine posts that went along with the story on this day and apologies to those posters for whom we deleted posts that would have spoiled the joke too early.
petercool
I'd like to thank the moderator team for a truly hilarious thread. More of this, please
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The best Thaivisa April Fool joke yet.
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Nonsense - Israel has enacted laws ensuring that Palestinians married to Israelis are denied the vote.
How would you feel about someone being legally married and landed in the US being denied citizenship and voting rights based upon ethnicity? It's an absurdity and indefensible.
You are getting into a granular detail.
I assume you're talking about an Israeli citizen marrying a non-Israeli citizen and the question of the non-Israeli citizen's voting rights/citizenship rights?
If there is discrimination based on Arab ethnicity in such situations, I would of course oppose it and see it as a case which shows something we already know. Israel's democracy is not perfect.
But it seems to me you are making grand general assumptions based on special case about which I am not really familiar with. If you think it's on topic to get into such detail with some some supporting information, fine, but I don't.
The greater truth is that Arabs who ARE Israeli citizens DO have voting rights.
Is granular detail the kind of detail which is uncomfortable truth?
It's laughable how people squirm when faced with the indefensible.
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For me, with the results of latest elections, I would describe Israel as an ethnic theocratic republic.
Nothing more...
And surely, not a democracy !
Your day-to-day knowledge of Israel is grievously lacking.
Most Israelis are secular and not religious. There are neighborhoods that could be described as "theocratic", say the Mea Sharim neighborhood in Jerusalem, as well as some conservative Muslum neighborhoods. But for the most part, the majority of the population is secular and in opposition to the religious right. Religion may be used for ethnic identity, and used to exclude others, but certainly its usage for theocratic purposes is severely limited. Even Netanyau is secular for Christ sake.
Democracy in Israel may have limitations, but there has long been vigorous political debate, often acrimonious debate between parties. And the political parties in Israel represent a far greater spectrum of political thought than does the political debate in most western countries, including the US. At the other end, in contrast, we have Thailand, which has nearly universal suffrage but absolutely no real political discourse (apart from perhaps exiled academic Giles Ungpakorn and his lonely voice in the UK), the difference between the parties in Thailand is simply who gets the biggest piece of the pie. So which country one chooses to be representative of "democracy" is highly subjective, with faults to be found everywhere. In the end, to declare one nation to be a democracy and another to be not be a democracy, as a simple yes/no answer, is doomed to get one nowhere.
See - this is where the self-delusion comes in. The acrimonious debate takes place between parties that are agreed on one thing - denying others the vote.
It's a joke - wake up to the hypocrisy.
Let me confirm what I think is your position.
Because Israel does not allow non-Israeli citizens living in West Bank and Gaza (and presumably many more "Palestinian" Arab non-Israeli citizens living all over the world) to vote in Israeli elections, their government structure does not qualify as a democracy.
If that's your opinion, fine. but I think it's up to Israel to decide only it's own citizens can vote just as any other nation.
If instead you are suggesting that Arab Israeli CITIZENS are denied the vote in Israeli elections ... that's obviously totally wrong.
Nonsense - Israel has enacted laws ensuring that Palestinians married to Israelis are denied the vote.
How would you feel about someone being legally married and landed in the US being denied citizenship and voting rights based upon ethnicity? It's an absurdity and indefensible.
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It's obvious the Udon hospital boss doesn't know the going rate for a hit.
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I blame the overreaction to 9/11. As sure as night follows day some pilot was going to suss out that the door was "impregnable," and would pull this stunt - and that looks to be twice now with MH370 suspected of going the same way.
The biggest bare faced lie told after 9/11 was it wouldn't be allowed to affect our way of life - and immediately every single air passenger was treated as a suspected terrorist. Grandmothers frisked, and don't dare carry a bottle of water through a screening point.
We have allowed ourselves to be cowed by morons - and the morons are not the terrorists - they are the half-wits that have made a career out of treating each and every one of us like witless sheep.
And you know that's the truth.
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2016 POSTER OF THE YEAR
in General Topics
Posted
To be fair, it was worth it to see the look on the coffin dodgers faces when they saw the pound plummet.
Hilarious.