Danah

Such a simple subject and already the tough guys are perilously close to spaming and flaming. Men are so easy. Two things: 1. I did not know that every problem America had was my fault. I learned something. Thank-you for that. 2. "I won't live on my knees." A delicious quote. Nobody gives more gifts than the fool. Who were you trying to impress with this nonsense, the newbies on the site? If you are living in Thailand you have no civil rights. That is called living on your knees. Get some knee pads. Dana

I am now into my second decade of going to Thailand every six months and I have gotten sick or horribly sick every single time. I get sick quickly (around 7 days) and it takes me as long as three months to recover. Thailand for me is a place of sickness. I have noticed that for many expats it is also a place of sickness. When you correspond with them or you visit them they are either getting sick or they are sick or they just got over being sick. They all have clinic and hospital and doctor stories. Many of them go through an anitbiotic program as often as three times per year which is crazy. So they have made the big committment and moved to a place of continual sickness. The evidence is that a lot of western systems of adult age simply can not make the biological adjustment to Thailand. Pretty women but a place of sickness. You always pay. Dana

Pay the bribe. Just look at it as a cost of your vacation. A tax or a tariff or a whatever. . . pay the bribe. When you leave the country you have to pay a 500baht airport departure tax. Do you take the piss over this? Don't be a hypocrite and a poser and a big talker. And don't try to pick your battles in Asia. Pay the bribe or get out of the country. It's Asia. You are in a sewer. Pay the bribe. Dana