The harsh reality of Andy's life in Thailand
Yes, there he was, Andy The Sniffer, as he was called by the many people who knew him in Thailand, well, Thailand without demonizing him, in one of the cities of the cities where people's basic needs were largely provided for.
Andy was a bit down after the doctor's announcement, well, a serious down, actually crazy things would happen if he were ten floors up in his apartment. He wouldn't have been the first and certainly not the last with this kind of announcement, no, he was still reasonably convinced that it really hadn't been his fault. He had stuck to the code 'use condoms' in Thailand. Yes, oh it had happened once that he had perhaps gone a little bit too far for a thousandth of a minute. The girls or ladies had always said 'No problem' and he really had the impression that he had escaped the dance.
He had noticed some unpleasant irritation 'down there by little willy' during the little pit stop at the toilet, a kind of very unpleasant burning, the feeling that she was rubbing alcohol into an open wound. But the amoxicillin was available over the counter for many bacterial respiratory and bladder infections, including various STDs.
Finish the treatment according to the pharmacy, after a week twice a day with a depth charge as a start, the first day four times that pill, that problem was also gone after the treatment. Two strips of ten pieces, a 40 Baht Andy had used them all up, still a bit scared, then. No, this time the doctor came with a different message after a blood test because Andy still had the vague feeling that something was not quite right.
The big six test.
Chlamydia, genital warts, Herpes, Gonorrhea, Syphilis yes, HIV.
The female doctor thought she could still bring it with positive humor when the test came back down to the emergency room after a few hours. That was the nice thing about Thailand, not everything, but many things in hospitals were done immediately as a paying customer.
No, Andy didn't have the first three and that wasn't a problem, very annoying, but can be removed with a cure or nitrogen, a bit like the warts on your fingers. Andy didn't have HIV either, yes actually this female doctor already gave the answer without mentioning it, after a silence of many seconds. Andy sank through the floor, but the doctor had hope in anxious days. A hospital admission with one of the better antibiotic cures via the drip offered relief. Long-term monitoring was also part of that, often years.
A serious blow to Andy's budget considering the fact that he always thought insurance was nonsense, he was never sick and could pay for it himself if he had a little thing.
Or if he wanted to make a haste with his decision because yes, phase three was 'waiting around the corner', dementia and/or psychiatric disorders, you could even experience death because of it. The immigration also saw this as a serious problem, he had heard.
So Andy sat on the bench for a while, reflecting on his life.
No, if he thought about his real successes with the ladies, or rather dreamed away, he preferred to go back to his younger years in the Netherlands. The years that he looked like a young god, not two meters tall but still quite big, a good one meter eighty long wavy hair feminine almost solid athletic build. Andy also did his best at the gym, during the day also a tough job, clear eyes that radiated sincerity, yes the five second glance was often enough to be assured of feminine beauty. Joseph Francis Tribbiani jr., Joey Tribbiani for short, had been his example, The Ladies man. These were the 'golden years' Andy had never been in a relationship longer than three times, no not three months, or three years. Andy was not the man for that either, although he looked like the perfect son-in-law he was in many ways rather old-fashioned and almost 'shy' with many other things, topics of conversation and interest about yesterday and tomorrow also usually ran out quickly. The focus was on 'today', by which Andy meant a 'sunny side up' morning get-together if there was a lot of interest and the opportunity for a nice old-fashioned 'introduction' where no one expected it, which many ladies also enjoyed just as much.
Andy's profession then also gave many opportunities, let's say, and oh well life is not in every rose garden, rose scent and moonshine, regularly most petals lie withered on the ground, and yes. There were quite a few, because Andy was a man with experience in that area from his young years as an adult to now an 'old' man they say. Well, old, Andy was actually just in the early mid-fifties with his age, now, but looked a little bit older. Gray hair and a wrinkled and sagging face, big bags under the eyes, yes a person does not become more beautiful with a face like that. Years ago when he only had gray hair in his early fifties that was to his advantage, or was it perhaps the idea among the ladies that he was an easy victim. It could all be possible, Andy had not really thought long about those kind of old successful evenings, that he had in those days, but now a few things bubbled up.
Yes, even in Thailand many of the ladies had more than a financial interest in Andy, and he did not let that pass him by. Andy was in all his simplicity and financial limitations a man with a memory like an elephant with his, you might say, obsession with women, willing women that is. No, fresh meat as Andy privately discussed his new 'conquests' with his now drinking buddies and a great knowledge of many dozen locations without doing the Nijmegen four-day march for it, he was good at. The cheap 'gems' were not there for the taking, but manageable.
Andy still hoped for a longer stay in the promised land, Thailand, like many older foreign men, and was thinking about how to let all this pass by as much as possible, if not completely silently. After all, a revelation of these kinds of problems among friend and foe is not something you want to hear, Andy thought, just like that. The well-known ladies could handle some nonsense talk about a holiday 'at home' or in the hinterland if questions arose, if necessary a trivial illness or could she also sell that 'trick' to the rest of the 'Thailand forever' bar?
Submitted by william-Korat
About this blogger
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I have been asked to provide some information about the ins and outs of my presence here. Let me state first that I see myself as a part-time journalist at best. Writer is also allowed, who would have thought.
I left for Thailand at the age of 54 after having been engaged, married and in love with my Thai love for about eight years.
The grey clouds in the Netherlands became too dark, the recession, the employer talked a lot, a lot about Poland. The genie had been out of the bottle for a while, and not always the friendliest.
Apartment from 1928 sold for a fat profit after twenty years of living there. And moved into our Thai house that we bought years ago. We are talking about the year 2008.
Like the waves of the sea on a restless day in Thailand, we have now been in calm waters for a few years, provided with my pension.
Hobbies of all kinds within the boundaries of our existence, after reading, writing has occasionally been added.
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As farce major would sing
That's taken from life. Yes, that's a sample from life.
But a good story form to draw attention to the increasing HIV problem in Thailand?
Well, if you keep this in mind, then another story will follow. The use of -cides in Thailand.
Many cides banned in the West, but widely used in Thailand.
Enjoy your meal, we will see you again if you have any complaints in your stomach area or elsewhere.
Father-in-law dead from stomach, colon cancer, brother-in-law in family dead from stomach, colon cancer, brother-in-law has problems, colon, stomach cancer? He doesn't want to go to hospital for a check-up, Wife's colleague, cancer.
And still the bad -cides (is there a good one?) are not banned in Thailand.
However, the Thai government's plan, which was launched years ago, was not implemented.
Thaiger:
Cancer's relentless grip tightens on Thailand, with the National Cancer Institute's figures from 2022 revealing over 140,000 fresh diagnoses annually, claiming some 84,000 lives.
As farce major would sing
That's taken from life. Yes, that's a sample from life.
Ultimately you survive the above, but you have to deal with traffic.
20000/year 55/day. Make sure you are not among them.
And the emerging killer is PFAS. Is there no global action to ban it?
So HIV is a problem, however there are so many problems and sometimes they can be prevented by choice.
C'est la vie.
Hi Ed, I'm kind of forgetting what a 'cides' is, a Dutch expression or something like that.
Yes, it's all taken from life, they said back then in farce major.
As you say, things you are not aware of and do not respond to at all, for example by visiting a doctor or changing your policy, can end very badly.
Andy followed his treatment properly, on time and is free of that scary STD with an S.
After taking medication for a while and then kicking the habit with some other activities around the bar, he was able to start again feeling fresh and fruity.
He would rather not have any memories of it of course, but he has learned his lesson.
Quote from https://ap.lc/madgN
The Ministry of Health is stepping up efforts to combat the rising incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among the country’s youth. Recent data reveal an alarming increase in syphilis and gonorrhea infections, prompting the agency to implement stricter preventive and control measures.
Hi William, I mean crops and pesticides, like pesticides, fungicides and all that. Ha, now I still have to type it in completely.
Roundup is a well-known one, where there is much wrangling about. There are cases where people are compensated for the cancer they have suffered, lawsuits. However, the EU is temporarily allowing this agent again.
You will have to take many things into account. including your so-called medications.
at one point i got a splitting headache, so i went to the doctor. The doctor said migraine.
But almost every day. The penny didn't drop for him and it didn't drop for me at first either.
Took statins for 3/4 year and when the penny dropped (headache from medication?) tried them out and yes, the statins were the problem. So I reported them to the doctor again, went to a specialist, who continued with another one. Every statin I got gave me the same problem and the last one was the worst after 4 days of taking them, then I didn't want to live for a while.
So specialist said he could get it back and forth.(other words)
Read and saw a lot about statins, which I will never consider again.
Also tried turmeric and had to stop after half a year, again a mild headache.
The turmeric or is there other sub substances in it? In any case, stopped.
According to a specialist it wouldn't work either, but the cholesterol was lower, so it's a mystery whether it works after all.
I also added 2 teaspoons of turmeric to water every day.
It may take a while before you notice anything in your body, but if you experience strange things, think about it
“medicines”!! Every person can react differently to their medicines and can show up later.
Also amlopidine, I am now off it and have another. My legs feel better, now testing it out in Thailand further.
Because when I went to Thailand, I got elephant legs and sometimes a terrible itch, but not in the Netherlands, there I had cramps and cramping all the time.
Depends? First of all medicine and secondly whether the humidity in Thailand or otherwise… the food? -cides,?
Thanks for the description of 'cides', I get it now.
It's starting to differ quite a bit from an STD, but it's true that pesticides, medications, etc. can do just as much harm as good.