Today I went to a market place. I Picked up a couple cans of seeds. I got lettuce and a "yard long" beans. I have some trees growing in pots out front. I'll put the seeds around the pot to see I can make a bean and lettuce. BTW. Cost of a can of seeds 10b or about 33 cents USD.

Whoops got sick!

Today I have an ear infection. It hurts. We went in town to a Pharmacy. I told the gent behind the counter that my ear hurt (jep whou) and it itched (caan) and that I had fluid (mee nam). He got out a 7 day supply of antibiotic pills, erythromycin and ear drops with a steriod (dexamethasone) and neomycin. Total cost $3.09 (no help from isurance company of course). Hummm..... Love the Thai version of health care. Doctor in this case not necessary. If I don't improve in a couple days I'll seek a doctor.

Rain, rain, rain. It's been rain here for a few days now. It lightens up every now and then but this is rainy season. The temperatures are nice. The humidity is of course through the roof. The rice is going great guns. I see fields bare one day and in full rice growth a few days later. Things grow fast here.

I got cable TV finally. It is costing me about around $11USD a month. I get 73 channels including FoxNews, BBC, Bloomberg and others. Languages include Vietnamese, German, French, Italian, Indian, Thai and English. I have not seen Spanish. When they came to set it up there were 3 guys, a truck and a bamboo ladder. One guy climbed the pole and plugged it in. That took about 3 minutes. Another took the cash. I had to pay 2 months in advance. The third guy stood by and looked good.

The little street I live on has only 4 residents. There are probably 20 houses in different stages of being built but they have been abandonded. This appears to happen a lot here. They will start a building and not finish it but just move on. The houses on my street still have building materials strewn around and scaffolding still up against buildings etc. It looks they were working and someone came by and said "That's it. Go." Nothing is cleaned up and useable materials are just laying there. Now everything is overgrown with shrubs and weeds etc. Refer back to "Things grow fast here." These places look as though they have been abandonded for years.

Sticky rice

The staple in Northeast Thailand is a sticky rice. It comes from Laotian roots. It is usually carried in a bamboo woven basket from small to very large (like a basket). Pictured is a small one. Put the top on and there is a string to shoulder it. It is the day's lunch box. The rice is scooped ot with the finger and rolled up in a nickel sized ball then mashed into some other vegies, etc and popped into the mouth,

Let's eat

This has to be in my top 3 of favorite fruits in Thailand. I don't know the name. It has a real thick hide but it is soft when ripe. You just dig into it with your fingernails and pull. The hide splits and you see the fruit sections inside. The fruit sections are soft and slippery. They are VERY tasty but be careful! They are very acidy as well. If you eat too many you can get sores in your mouth from the acid. Don't eat the hide. It is dry and makes your mouth pucker. If you goof around with the hide too much you get purple all over your hands.

The typical airconditioner (Japanese)

This is the typical Airconditioner setup in Thailand. A unit mounted high on the wall inside and a small unit on the outside. There is about 3 inch hole through the wall to join the required connections together. These things can cost from about $450 to $1000USD depending on the BTUs etc.

But I digress

Is it my imagination does this U.S. administration respond far to quickly on the racial issues. Do Sotomayor and Gates show what is in store for the next 3.5 years. Should justice now not be blind but open her eyes and judge based on race and should a president of the United States jump to the aide of a person claiming racial bias without first knowing all the facts? The slippery slope steepens.

My expansive Front yard

Thought I would show a picture of my front yard. Think I should get a rider to cut it??

How much is gas in Thailand?

I'm not sure but I took a picture of a service station sign the other day. You figure it out. Caltex

Retirement in another country/where is the money?

Since economic circumstances in the US of A have destroyed many retirement accounts then perhaps countries like Mexico, Philippines, Hungary, India and Thailand are options that retirees can consider and make ends meet with what is left of the retirement.
Do you think is is possible that this was all planned by the banks, the Fed and others to remove wealth from the baby boomer generation. Baby boomers have worked all their lives building what looked like a reasonable (perhaps even a little more than reasonable) living after work life to now have it stripped away in a few short months. Where did it go?? Was the money never there? Was it an illusion built up by a few finaciers? I know the work was put in. The effort was made by many to create wealth for retirement but it did seem a little sureal. It did seem that maybe things were going a little too good.
Now we are faced with about 1/2 of what we thought we had. So are places like Mexico and Philippines, etc. viable? You certainly will not get exactly what you would have had in your hometown USA. But it can be an adventure! It is not the same as packing up an RV and heading across country either. One thing you can get is a VERY leasurely life style. For very little money you can hire someone to come in and clean, do the yardwork, the laundry and the cooking. The win win is that the locals appreciate the job. For example a fair wage for a woman doing house work in Thailand could be $120-200 USD per month (full time).
What about rent? You can rent a great apartment for about $300-350 USD per month. I have rented a small 3 bedroom house with only one bedroom airconditioned for $200 per month.
Utilities? Electric $12-20 USD. Water $5 USD or less. TV $12 USD per month. Internet $18 USD.
Food? Your Pad Thai or Thai fried rice that cost $10-12 in the Thai resturant at home is about 60-75 cents here. Food quality is not exceptional but after you find the things you like and where to get them you are all set. The fruit is exceptional and so varied it is a riot of flavors. Watermelons are about 70 cents all cut up. Small pinapple are about 70 cents as well. This makes me hungry. I better get a snack. More later.

More about USA Health Care fix

We need to set up some health care providers that are connected directly to respected hospitals in Thailand. For surgeries that are not time sensitive but expensive in the US, do a precheck in the US. Buy a ticket for the prospective patient, setup the surgery and send them to Thailand. A $50,000 surgery in the US could probably be had for about $15,000 including airfare, surgery, stay for loved one and a nice vacation afterwards. Save about $35,000.

Insurance companies need to buy into this system. The health insurance companies can save millions. The patients get the necessary surgeries and a nice stay in Thailand (that's the incentive to go). Additionally the staff here in Thailand are going to be 10 times more helpful, respectful and just plain nice.

Perhaps there is an opportunity for insurance companies in Thailand to sell catastrophic health care insurance to persons and families in other countries. The coverage is just for operations and major medical issues serviced in Thailand. The insurance company can setup hospitals and accomodations to service their plan.

Chris made me do it.

I never would have started a blog except for my co-worker Chris from BaxTek Solutions (www.BaxTek.com) made me do it.

Coke products and prices Thailand

Ever been to "World of Coke" in Atlanta, Georgia?? They have about 100 flavors of Coca Cola drink products from around the world. Yesterday I was shopping in the local "Big C" department store (http://www.bigc.co.th/en/) when I came across the Coke section. They had a drink there that was colored green and I thought "Ok. I'll give it a try". Turns out to taste like bubble gum but I later figured out what it really is. It is a combination of Banana and Pineapple flavorings. Yum. BTW the cost of a 1.5liter bottle of coke product is 23 baht or about 69 cents USD.

Fix for Health Insurance and Health Cost Issues in U.S.

Here in Thailand again. Have you heard of the medical vacations to Thailand and India? CNN recently did a Dr. Sanjay Gupta special on Medical Vactions to India. The special featured a woman that needed a heart operation that in the USA was going to cost her $100,000 plus. She went to India and received top notch care with up-to-date techniques, procedures and equipment for $10,000. Dr. Gupta was there and witnessed the operation.
Thailand I find is no different. Medical care in the hospitals here appears to be of high quality. There are special cardiac hospitals in Bangkok. I have seen them. There are world class hospitals here as well. In my small town of Udon Thani, Thailand (in the poor Northeast of Thailand) there are at least 6 hospitals and some that are "International" hospitals. I visited one last year when a friend's son hurt his arm playing at a play ground. She could not afford the visit so I went along and paid the bill. We went to the Emergency room of the hospital. There were no patients there. We were alone and got all the attetion of the Emergency Room staff. The personnel spoke perfect English. They took 2 x-rays. The doctor on duty looked over the x-rays but could not find a break. They gave the little guy a sling and sent him home with an appointment for the next day to see an ortopedic surgeon. I thought "Oh, great this is going to cost me". Total bill was $45. There were no bills in the mail for people to read the x-ray either. The next day we went back to the hospital and saw the surgeon. Again I thought, "Great. This is going to cost." He looked over the x-ray and again found nothing wrong but decided to put a half cast on the boy so he would not move the injury. So we got our cast and went on. Total cost $35.
Now in a hospital in the U.S. the deductibles and co-pays would have likely been in the hundreds. The bill itself probably would have been in the thousands. How do they do it??? Health care is NOT government run or subsidized. They just do. People here tend to be more realistic than people in the U.S. and there appears to be NO problems with litigations. I doubt that doctors here have to carry malpractice insurance. I have heard foreigners here discuss health insurance. The usual response is why bother. The health care itself is cheap enough but... You can get health insurance for a family for about $600 a year. I checked with the hospital administration during my visit and asked about my Blue Cross and Blue Shield coverage from the US. and guess what... They take it. Hummm... I am now 59 years old. If I chose to get health insurance here in Thailand and I do so before I turn 60, the coverage I get can be extended forever. If I am over 60 I can only extend my coverage till I am 70. But as they say... Why bother the health costs are so cheap anyways.
Aother neat thing about these hospitals is that they do accomodate the Medical Vacationer. You can get rooms in the hospitals that are like a hotel room and relatives can stay with you during the whole event.
Consider knee replacement surgery. You can get 2 knees done here with the airfares and a neat vacation after recovery for the price of one knee in the U.S.
Airfares from the U.S. to Bangkok round trip run around $800-$1500.

Getting settled in

It has been almost 10 days since I left the U.S.A. Things are going well. There is lots to do getting settled in. My house is small. Air conditioning in one room only. Trying to get the basics going, like internet, TV and some familiar cooking. I have secured a weak wireless internet connection from a neighbor. I have contacted an Internet (ADSL) company and they were responsive for a day or two but now have disappeared. I have paid them about $125 but now they claim there are no more internet connections in my area and I have to wait till someone drops service. It could be months. I'll have to move rather than wait that long. I'll probably start the TV battle sometime next week or so.
I am meeting some of the neighbors. They are all very friendly to me (except one). Even the dogs in the neighborhood (dozens of them) are warming up to me. I carry a pocket full of dog kibble with me to make friends when I walk. Last night it seemed like everybody was out in the streets walking and jogging. The kids were playing in groups. Many people just brought chairs into the street and sat around.
This neighborhood has VERY little traffic. Kids, dogs and people wander the streets. Only an occasional car drives through. My subdivision is on the road to Khon Kean about 12 kilometers out of Udon Thani down town.
Gas is expensive. I go through about $15 every 2-3 days just taking the little one (7 years) to school and back. I last paid about 90 cents for a liter. There are nearly 4 liters in a gallon.