Stickman

Oh, hell, that's two things we agree on now. BNH is top notch.

I wonder what percentage of expats in Thailand have health insurance? I certainly didn't have it and most of my friends don't. I'm not saying that that is the way to go, more that I am generally curious as to what percentage have a health insurance policy.

You did very well to buy property in Bangkok when you did. I imagine your unit has increased in value about 3 times since you purchased it. And you're in a highly desirable area. The great thing is that if you own a property in Thailand you can live on very little if you want to / need to. All the necessities are relatively cheap in Thailand. That's one big difference between Thailand and the West.

There are frequent reports in the mainstream news in Thailand about the very high amounts of chemicals and other nasties used by farmers to grow their produce. Ask any Thai who takes a genuine interest in their health and they will tell you all about it. A friend in Khon Kaen has a plot of land and his wife grows various vegetables and takes them to the village market every other day to sell them. His reports about the amount of chemicals used is scary. I can't comment on the use of chemicals in farming in America, but in Thailand it's pretty bad!

This is the hard part, isn't it? Just when do you stop...calculating the time / money equation. You don't want to fall short financially, but then you don't want to retire as a frail old man with no energy or drive to do anything. It's the hardest calculation of all to get the balance right on.

Yep, a million greenbacks would be perfect, or a bank balance of xx million baht where xx equals the maximum number of years one reasonably expects to live. (So if you're 50 and expect to live to 88 i.e. another 38 years, a bank balance of 38 million baht should be adequate.) What I don't get with the guys working year after year in Thailand is that for most, saving a million dollars from working in Thailand is just not going to happen. In the West, you would generally earn more but just as important, buying a property, living in it and selling it 20 or 30 years later may realise a good chunk of the number you need to retire. OK, so property prices don't appreciate greatly in every country but the general trend is that property values go up over time. I know here in New Zealand that most home owners i.e. those who are mortgage-free, could sell their property, move to Thailand and have enough to live out the rest of their days.

The problem is not videos in the bar area so much, it is videos inside the bars. A couple of months back a fellow uploaded a dozen videos, some quite lengthy, of video he had taken inside a number of big name gogo bars - about half in Nana Plaza as I recall. And you saw everything - and I mean EVERYTHING! It is not a stretch to say that if those videos had made it out in to the mainstream and picked up by Thais then those bars could have been ordered shut for good and the owners of the bars in deep pooh pooh. Of course, most things can be settled, but once it gets in to the mainstream and the backlash gets big, it's hard for the police not to do something, especially when it is framed as foreigners taking advantage of Thais!

I always found Air Asia fine for short hops around the region - and the fares were always very competitive. What I really did NOT like was the melee at checkinn at Don Meuang. Total clusterfxxk and unbecoming of an international airport.

Sterile & characterless, and unnecessarily long queues at Immigration aside, I don't think it's that bad.

Black Pagoda used to do it and Bar Bar still does from time to time.

I won't even carry stuff for friends, let alone a stranger. The risks are just too great.

And former visitor to the old get togethers at Woodstock.

2Bangkok.com has a rich history of April Fool's Day pranks

Being dutiful to the other half would perhaps be the best description. She does not like to visit Thailand alone, or perhaps it is more that she doesn't like me to be home alone with the sheep...

Horribly hot and steamy in Bangkok today....it did drizzle a little this morning and more rain would be nice....

Complete and total utter nonsense. Get a taste for real food cooked well (or even not cooked at all) and you will find yourself rapidly going off all of this packaged food / junk food crap and lose the taste for it completely. I used to eat a lot of crap but as I adjusted my diet to healthier food I found that it tasted better i.e. it tasted real. And it doesn't mean that you have to avoid all food that might be bad for you - I still enjoy hamburgers - I either make them myself or go somewhere which uses high quality ingredients.

I don't think it is. There was an Italian guy managing Dollhouse for a while several months ago and Dino only came on board around 3 or so months ago, maybe a little longer.

The manager of Dollhouse in Soi Cowboy is Dino. He was appointed maybe 3 months ago. He's an affable American who has managed other gogo bars including Las Vegas in Nana.

I think Coss and I are just about neighbours....he is, I believe, in the next suburb over.

You do have to wonder what they were thinking having sex on a glass coffee table....the inevitable was obvious, surely?! http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sex-tourists-thai-romp-goes-9603386

You can do it at: Siriraj Hospital or at the Police HQ on Rama 1 Road (at one of the office buildings entered from the Henri Dunant Road side). In each of these cases you'd need to be comfortable speaking Thai otherwise you'll need a Thai with you. Alternatively, Bumrungrad used to offer a service whereby they assign a nurse to you and you are taken across the river to Siriraj and it is all done there, with Bumrungrad effectively acting as an agent for you, handling everything and reporting the results - and adding on their fee, naturally.

Merry Christmas to all from Kiwiland.

Coyotes will be dancing there tonight....John will have a heart attack over that, especially when you consider he had this sigh outside recently:

I'd bet the farm they were taken Sunday of last week which was a Buddhist holiday and all bars were closed.

No idea about joiner's fee but seen the rooms in there and not impressed at all.