Butch

19 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

Following up further on the subject of Kaffir leaves brought up by @Trip that I think belongs in this thread.

They are very sturdy and easy plants to grow. M'Lady has 10 trees growing at various stages of life cycle (I've just counted them), 4 of which are mature and continued to provide fruit (and leaves!) during the 3 month drought with minimal watering.

Even if you only have a small plot it would be worth planting one or two just for the fun of it ... 

My favourite lime, the leaves I use in cooking a lot (Korat chicken, Tom Ka) but have to buy frozen here in the UK.

The lime, added to a Tanqueray Rangpur is delectable. The scent of bergamot from the lime skin is heavenly.

I'd love to attempt to grow one here in the UK but not sure if it'll survive outdoors.

8 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

10 days and counting - Vaseline, check, bigboy anal intruder, check, Shovel, bone saw, Rohypnol, bin liners, cable ties and quicklime, check.

I bet you're looking forward mate. I see you're packed and ready to go.

No idea when my next trip will be.

49 minutes ago, Painter said:

In a previous blog, Sweeny spoke about the "first class insurance, from a reputable company", that he had paid £1100 for. He said he had declared high blood pressure and taking medication for it, and high cholesterol and being on statins, and from experience of declaring pre-existing conditions, they are covered, although the premium is increased to cover any risk, unless he was able to exclude those pre existing conditions from the policy and reduce the cost.

My concern is if he had contacted them as soon as this all kicked off, they would be involved and been able to reduce their costs. As it is, things have got worse, and therefore are likely to cost the insurers more, and, as we all know, they don't like paying more than the minimum....

Chances are, if the insurers had been involved from the start, he'd have been scanned (mri, like he had today), stableised, and be in an nhs hospital by now, having flown business with a medical companion. 

 

Absolutely right mate.

there may well be a disclaimer or small print or caveat that medical attention is sought at the earliest reasonable opportunity. Sadly for him he's plastered everything over YT which won't help his case at all.

Also, if he hurt himself or had a fracture due to a fall and not seeking medical advice or treatment when it was more than clear he needed to , I think that very possibly that liability will then be on him, especially as it's all out in the public domain now.

I had Bupa global up until 2021, their T&C's were such that any medical issues, get tested and they'll cover the costs of the test even if it turned out to be non urgent or needing treatment. It was a case of turn up, hand over the card and let the hospital get on with it.

On 5/10/2024 at 5:53 AM, maxvibgyor said:

Hi

This is Max, getting to know about Thailand before visiting.

THanks

ask away any questions @maxvibgyor and welcome to the forum.

On 5/10/2024 at 9:23 AM, Big_daddy said:

Hello, heard about this forum from a guy in a bar in pattaya 

Hi @Big_daddy Welcome to the forum, please share your experiences and thoughts about Pattaya, we always like to hear from people.

On 5/15/2024 at 6:39 PM, PGH Dave said:

Hello I just booked my first trip to Pattaya. 135 days out. I have a friend that has been living there for 15 years who is helping me with information and everything else. I am looking forward to seeing him and enjoying everything Pattaya has to offer. i have been planning this trip for way too long and finally pulled the trigger and bought the plane ticket. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone do what you can today. Thanks for the add and I will reading up to better prepare myself for this adventure.

hi @PGH Dave Welcome to the forum, this is the place to ask if you have any questions, no matter how trivial you might think they are.

20 hours ago, Mitchell Iver said:

Hello everyone!)))

Hello @Mitchell Iver - Welcome to the forum.

Samitivej is a good hospital with a very very good Neurologist and team.

I've no idea what kind of infection it is or was and how antibiotics are clearing it up, but if he was falling over then it might point to inner ear as well, but I think there may be more to this.

Hope he recovers fully, and regarding insurance, I have no idea why he hasn't contacted them and they should have started the repatriation process long before now. That can mean he either doesn't have it or this is a pre existing condition that isn't covered.

Either way, the moment it was a suspected stroke he should have notified them because claiming at this juncture might throw up some issues, kind of like claiming for getting your leg amputated due to it being broken a week earlier but you decided not to get treated for it.

i'm reading reports he was a heavy drinker - How heavy are we talking about?.

We can overthink things and sink into a melancholy or depressed mood at times.

It's how we cope and deal with the low ebbs and negative emotions that define us in the long term I think.

9 hours ago, sakik2024 said:

Nong Nooch, TQ, and me

 

 

 

 

 

Ahhh TQ when they fill the bar with the poly balls and the girls wear the santa bikinis...It does get bloody hot in there when they do that though!.

No idea how long it takes to clean up afterwards either.

And

And here it is again with the original actors, a few years later.

5 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

I nipped off to the fridge at HT for a drink and thought of this one ...

 

 

I'll raise you

Anyone who's had one of those "public" moments.

Mine was when we were in the Wine aisle at Tesco and my 3 year old daughter pointed at the wine and said "daddy's grape juice" very loudly...

40 minutes ago, Nightcrawler said:

Jimmy is a lover of Pattaya. Seen him a few times. 

He was on a billboard advertising condo's the other year iirc.

Not long until your epic 2 weeks of getting bummed by homosexuals in boyztown trip is it mate?

3 hours ago, Nightcrawler said:

Oops,  I made a mistake in my earlier post. I meant soi Yamato, not Chayapoon. Always get those names mixed up. Soi Pothole has transformed itself from its early days, apart from the rugged landscape under foot 

I plan to hire a m/cycle for a few days and do some reconnaissance missions 

Haven't been to Naklua, either, in recent years. 

Will be trying the new Vegas complex in Diana for the first time in a couple of weeks. 

On my last trip.we visited Dao bar on the DS. Hadn't been there in years, hardly recognisable from outside. Enjoyed it though but few customers there when we visited  

I always used to try and remember the name of that Soi 13/1 as it rhymes with tomato.

Bloody hell mate, not much difference in the two sois LOL!.

Yamato has the HOPS on the Beach road end. It has some of the less salubrious bars on it but tbh, I walked down there a few times and there are a few nice girls populating one or two of them. They're often grateful for the business and there's less hawkers and more interaction than you'd get on say, LKM or Treetown.

However, there is a "full service" massage place just after Hops. 1500 all in including a decent massage, as told to me by a friend.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/cU1aL8mAWYf2modRA

you've also got Wonderful Bar at the top which is cheap and cheerful.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/RoXh3BsHbvsa2Et8A

No idea what this place is though, looks like a GGB of questionable quality, unless someone can take on for the team and find out...

https://maps.app.goo.gl/mWFJKRkuA1V5KwRr9

On 5/13/2024 at 6:03 PM, boydeste said:

Yes, that's the flight I usually take.

Historically it is late most days because they seem to fail to turn it around at Swampy when it originally comes in from Taipei the day before. That puts it late into Heathrow, thus late leaving to come back to Swampy. Often it makes up a bit of time in this direction though!

It wouldn't surprise me if they are slow turning it around going in your direction too, but have never looked at it.

Glad you are home safe, well nearly home!

That's a real annoyance for the BR068 out of LHR. Late inwards BR067 has a knock on for turning the Aircraft around which, as you say, makes for a late departure for BR068 and and nowadays, an on time departure it seems to be the exception rather that the rule.

Kudos to the LHR ground crew who actually manage to blitz the plane and get it ready.

The THAI which arrives often earlier seems to have much more reliable timings, but maybe that's due to THAI getting the priority out of BKK. I just wish they'd offer a premium Econ.

4 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

Long gone mate and along with it the street food that set up outside Far East Rock at around 11am!

IMO the best street food I have ever bought in Pattaya judging by choice, quality, taste and price !!

 

Pump station still there Derek, in name at least. I noticed it in April, one girl working there and it looked in a sorry state.

@Nightcrawler  we went to a bar on Chaiyapoon in Sept 22 together, The "Green Lantern" where they stung you for 200 baht for a JD Coke. That was the only bar we went into though. It was enough of a challenge to keep you out of the ladyboy massage joints that proliferate the area.

Soi Post Office has a few run of the mill beer bars, nothing exciting though - Damini money exchange is down there which is rumoured to offer better rates but I'm not sure myself. Bodega at the top popular with the expats.

Soi Chaiyapoon, Dive Bar, Buzzin Bar, High Rollers are worth a look, I did find that one or two of the girls in Dive Bar won't go with customers though. Maggie Mays is good as well, albeit needs a lick of paint and a more cheerful manager.

I think we all share an element of "cheapness" about us. For me its not about the money, but more about the perceived value I'm getting.

2 for one Chang cheaper than Tiger, I'll go with the Chang. I'll buy cheap T shirts and underpants from LOS because I know they'll last and are fine for work. However, on the flipside I'll use good oil and genuine products in my cars, premium fuel and if I'm out buying food for shopping, decent meat from the local butcher rather than pre packed from Tesco (although chicken wings are better from Tesco).

I also learned a lesson when first with my Mrs, she sent me out to buy a sack of rice, giving me very specific instructions, but I thought I knew better by getting a sack of "broken rice" instead and save a few quid. I was lectured on the fact we only buy broken rice when we have no other choice, otherwise we pay for the best rice we can afford.

Some guys and women are very careful with their money in some ways, and as @Aqualung pointed out, when it comes to big sums and using money to work for themselves in such a way, they have trouble understanding it.

Maybe the old saying "look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves " applies.

11 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Just finished watching a live view of an impressive northern light show.

 

I was on nights last night, but it fogged over so I didn't see a damn thing 😞 

All the locals have put pics on FB etc, hoping for the same tonight so I'll take a run out in the car to somewhere there's no light pollution and hopefully, no fog either.

22 hours ago, galenkia said:

Enjoying 23 degrees on Twickenham Green.

Nice to be able to sit outside in just a shirt.

you might want to put some trousers and pants on though...

3 + years since the above . This is a reflection, not a conspiracy thread.

Shocking to hear Tommy delivering the bad news so eloquently.

It's funny, we still have the odd sticker or sign at work saying "2m" and "COVID - the fight is not over".

Looking back, Those 2 years or so went by so fast. Are we back to where we were by now?.

13 hours ago, bigsteve said:

Hi I'm Steve, I'm 43 from Arizona. I will be visiting Thailand later this year and looking to learn more about the place before then. Cheers .

Hi Steve

ask away any questions mate. We'll do our best to answer.

10 hours ago, Binlid said:

I was called after 3.5 hrs, not for screening but by a nurse from the Minor Injuries dept. I explained what had happened and showed her the medical certificate I had been given at the hospital on Ko Samui. She said this was the second medical certificate she had been shown today from Thailand, it was from a fella that had had a motorbike accident. She sent me for X-rays and told me to come back to this unit and they would look at them, I was waiting about 1/2 hr to get my X-rays done. So I went back to the unit were there is a small waiting room for you to wait until they have time to look at your X-rays. There was one guy in there waiting with his arm in a sling, turns out it was the guy that had come off his motorbike in Thailand, he had been driving a powerful bike with no helmet on Ko Tao and had suffered a broken arm, cheekbone and eye socket, small world eh! I waited 1 1/2hrs for the nurse to call me to show me the small fracture and explain that she would give me some footwear that would take the pressure of my big toe. So I ended up being there just shy of 6 hrs.

They'll probably leave it as is, once calcification starts to take hold after a week or so (bone begins to fuse back together). Keep the pressure off it, take the anti inflams and don't do any Morris dancing.

I busted 2 metatarsals a week before my holiday to thailand a few years ago, but went anyway and walked everywhere with a limp for 2 weeks, came home, got an X ray only to be told it was busted but is repairing nicely, here's a crutch and a spastic boot to wear, and good luck and f**k off.

I missed the post on how it happened mate...where is it?.

On 5/8/2024 at 1:34 PM, Freee!! said:

Short term those B777 won't be going away because Emirates can't get enough replacements quickly enough while it is also expanding the route network and the frequency to major destinations.

However, with the clear advantages of the A350 like but not limited to higher passenger capacity, commonality of type rating with the A380 and better fuel efficiency, I'd say it is a matter of time. Add in the problems Boeing has with quality control and the writing on the wall is pretty clear.

The 777 is a reliable workhorse, if the running costs are comparatively low then they'll continue to use them, plus spares are relatively cheap and plentiful, as opposed to the A380 which Emirates (I think) purchased or retired one or two of them purely to use as spares donors.

We're talking about one of very few Airlines which kept their high capacity A380's during Covid and are keeping them in service while BA et al ditched theirs. Emirates don't miss a trick.

I really like the A350 though. I flew on a Singapore A350 HKG-MNL and it was every bit as good as their A380 offering. Saying that, the buzzsaw of the GE90-115B on a 777 is a rather iconic sound.

On 4/29/2024 at 10:13 PM, galenkia said:

I do 45 minutes at 6mph on the treadmill every day, keeps my weight down as I am not doing anything else currently, and keeps my fitness up.

No interest in weight training anymore, don’t want to aggravate my right shoulder as it can give me pain.

My man-tits start to get sore after 30 minutes.

I've not been to the Gym since mid march, looking after my Dad, working and other stuff have simply meant I've just not got the time to spare.

I know it's an old excuse, and yes, I need to work on my time managment a bit more and get back into it.

Not running it on any BKK or MNL routes as yet, but looking at the order book it's probably going to happen sometime in the future.

https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-announces-first-9-destinations-to-join-its-a350-network/#

I notice they mention PE will be available on 42 destinations by around Feb 2025.

13 minutes ago, boydeste said:

Don't hold ya breath mate, it's one thing many places get wrong, including several bars on the 6. 

 

I managed to suffer the music in "Lust" on Soi 6 for a wee while, but it was so loud as to be bloody offensive.

Excessively loud music can and does deter repeat customers, I'd have stayed there and purchased more drinks had the music been at a reasonable level. Sometimes a manager should "read" the bar and customer base and adjust the volume of the music accordingly.