yankineire

DON'T DO IT THERE !!!! A Thai opened his door into me/my cycle on Sukhumvit, and damaged my lens (and far worse). After the (uglier) damage was healed, I went to BPH to get pricing for an implant (IOL) in ONE eye. They told me 60k THB plus "other expenses that could not be determined until done" (when I pressed, they said "for example, anesthesia, OR fee, etc."). They would not let me talk To a doctor. Next, I visited Pattaya International, got 40k price for "everything". Here, the doctor was available and gave me some of her time for a very small fee (I think it was 500 THB). She is a small,friendly, very smart looking Thai educated in the west. I liked her manner. And research indicated she was well-respected in med community. But a friend advised me to look at Queen Sirikit Hospital. It is a huge, modern military hospital south of Pattaya. The "Walter Reed" of Thailand. Resident farangs are welcome and treated very well. 40 baht bus trip to the door from Sukhumvit. This was worth the trip. And best of all, it turned out to be the same doc I liked from PIH. Get this...it is incredible: I got a comfy 3-day stay in the hospital (pre, op,and post op) which is FAR safer than the "same-day-in-same-day-out, sideways slice, no suture" technique BPH does (notorious for the eye opening from any minor trauma before slit heals). Great food, wonderful bed, great caretakers... and THE TOTAL price of 3 days AND all the extras was 13,500 THB. To be honest, there were a few trips required before the op -and of course follow-ups afterward. But with my laptop on the bus was always pleasant. Now, be prepared. There was no terror or pain to this except the "local anesthesia" (in other words, needle) to the one eye. I will let you imagine that, but it is the same for ANY of the IOL techniques. That was the SOLE discomfort I experienced. After anesthesia wore off,I was surprised not to feel any pain or irritation from sutures (they were so small I could not see them without a very powerful magnifying glass). But the "loose flap" job that BPH does has some VERY serious drawbacks if it comes apart afterward! Last consider the rep BPH has for economic rape against farangs. For example, my friend needed a simple ultrasonic stone removal job. They gave him a 140k quote for the job. He got angry, sent his TG there to get a quote for the same job: 23k. This is typicalof BPH, just ask around. You never hear much about the QUALITY differential, but the PREJUDICIAL pricing is well known. OK, you ASKED for details, I gave em to ya! :Good luck. To end on a positive note, I told the tiny doc (I absolutely love her) that I have had to carry reading glasses for 11 years. She asked if I was tired of that and wanted to be set free. I said SURE. and poof, the new lens is super-focused on now and the glasses have been stomped to death -with extreme prejudice. LOL

I have been staying at Sanya twice a year for all my vacation time. It is a cute, comfy place and was bargain priced. So I am obviously a fan of Sanya Apartments. But my last two stays were HORRIBLE. There is a karaoke bar next door to Sanya (all part of the same structure/bloc) and they play thunder-loud music all night long, from about 9pm to 7am. They must have about 2000 watts of bass/subwoofer equipment, so my room was shaking with each drum beat. The windows vibrate. I tried using ear plugs but the sound is so loud, this did not help at all. I had circular wave patterns oscillating in any glass of wine I poured, no matter what surface the glass rests upon. This should convey to you how extreme this noise pollution is, and how unlikely it is that you could sleep anytime except between 7am and 9pm. Sadly, I had to book another hotel the last trip because I was suffering from sleep deprivation that ruined my holiday. On a personal note, even if the karaoke bar went belly-up, I would not stay anymore. Here is why: First, on Tuesday and Friday, the dirty dusty rock plaza in front of Sanya becomes a tent city, erected by rude plebians with sledgehammers at 5am, and the whole environment smells of dog crap and unwashed Thais. Add to that insanity a constant, deafening sound of several different music sellers who play terrible Lao/Issan "country" music all day long until the sun sets (just in time for the karaoke bar to open and take over with THEIR noise pollution). Secondly, while the owner/namesake, "Sanya" is a very nice elderly Thai lady, her Dutch husband is only nice when he is sober (which only lasts the first few hours after he shows up at 11am). Once he has a few "San Mig" beers (by noon or so) he becomes a cross-eyed sloppy monster, and degenerates through 1-2am when his wife finally drives him home. He slurs and hurls insults all day and night, argues with EVERYONE, and reveals his uneducated, crude swamp-land personality in obscene gestures (he pinched my TG's butt when he was in such a stupor). I will not be staying at Sanya any more and must advise others to refrain from booking there (unless they are totally deaf). Do yourself a favor, if you doubt my objectivity: Go to Sanya (or send a friend there) at 3am. Stand in front of the entrance and TRY to talk to someone beside you... you cannot. You probably can't even hear yourself! Now I stay at either "Greenery House" or "Marin Place", both of which have free GOOD wifi (Sanya's is LOUSY and only works intermittently).