Posts
Hi to all again,
Before we get started on this fascinating and very sad subject, we must relate something else which we omitted from our recent blog. We became aware early last week that details of our ASB debit cards had somehow been stolen and thieves had withdrawn just over NZD2,000 from our account. We never use them for merchant purchases so it appears that they had been compromised at an ATM, most likely by a surreptitiously installed card reader. Most transactions are cash in Thailand (especially in Krabi) and so we were fairly often drawing amounts out. These cash transactions also included all payments relating to the refit of the "Tiare Taporo III". Fortunately we had just drawn some more cash before coming to Bangkok so, even though the cards are cancelled, we still have a reasonable amount of cash on hand. Hopefully the ASB can get replacements to us before we leave for India!! So, it's not just visas we're waiting for, it's debit cards as well.
However, it now looks as though the new cards will have to be sent to us in India, although we'll not be able to confirm our exact date of travel until later this week, dependent as it is on the date that the Indian visas are issued.
On the 18th. we arranged to join a tour to go to Kanchanaburi - the site of the infamous wartime bridge which was immortalised in the 1957 film "Bridge over the River Kwai" with Alec Guinness and Anthony Hawkins. The film in fact did not render an accurate depiction of the horrific conditions or an accurate story line. And it was filmed in Sri lanka - far from here. A potted history follows:
After the Japanese invaded Thailand in late 1941 they decided that they needed to build a 258 mile railway to Rangoon in Burma to avoid the dangerous supply route around Singapore and up the Malacca Straits where they were vulnerable to British submarine attack. So, they decided to construct a railway from Bangkok across the Thai/Burma border to Rangoon.
This construction involved many bridges, one of which was bridge 277 across the Mae Klong River at Kanchanaburi. This was the bridge depicted in the film. The line to Rangoon was in fact never completed as there wasn't a bridge constructed north of Moulmein until 2005. The whole line was closed in 1947 as much of it was considered unsafe but the section between Nong Pla Duk and Nam Tok was re-opened in 1957.
The loss of life which occurred during the construction of the line between June 1942 and June 1943 has been estimated at 90,000 Asian civilian workers (Tamil Indians, Burmese and Javanese) and 12,000 Allied POW's. This latter figure was made up from 6,318 British, 2,815 Australian, 2,490 Dutch, 356 Americans and 20 others including those from New Zealand, Canada and India. The bulk of NZ's war effort was of course in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy.
The tracks and sleepers used were stolen out of Malaya and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).
The first wooden trestle bridge across the Mae Klong was completed in February 1942 and a later steel and concrete bridge in June that year. Both were bombed heavily by the RAF in Feb., April and June 1945 which finally put them out of commission for the rest of the war against Japan.
Probably the worst example of atrocities committed by the Japanese against their POW's and other civilian workers occurred at Hellfire Pass on the Thai/Burma border. There it was necessary to complete a major cutting through solid rock. This was completed in 12 weeks using the most primitive methods such as pick and shovel. The Japanese guards bludgeoned 69 men to death during that time and countless others died from malnutrition and disease.
An interesting aside is that the famous British cartoonist and illustrator, Ronald Searle, was one of those British POW's, having been captured in Singapore, and made 300 sketches of conditions that they were forced to labour under. Many of these were later used in the subsequent trials of Japanese war criminals and many are now in the British Imperial War Museum in London. He was anxious that there should be some record of what went on even if he did not survive. Among other things that Searle recounts is waking up one morning next to 2 dead bodies of his friends who had died during the night. And with a snake under his head. It isn't recounted whether it was venomous or not. Searle died 3 years ago aged 91.
We were disappointed to find that the whole area around the bridge is heavily commercialised and, apart from a display of emaciated workers guarded by a Japanese guard, no mention of the Allied and other loss of life. No memorials - nothing. The replacement steel and concrete bridge is there and as part of our tour we walked across the bridge and later travelled part of the line by train. The rest of the tour is hardly worth mentioning. We left our hotel at 0630 and didn't get back until after 2000. The vans we travelled in (3 hours each way) were not comfortable and we were taken at different times for lunch on a floating restaurant (awful) and the "Tiger Temple". This latter was a dusty area where we saw recumbent tigers panting in the heat. For a fee you could be taken into the enclosure to pat the tigers but we passed on this. It was run by Bhuddist monks - all it seems for money. We were quite disgusted. All in all a less than memorable day but we were glad to have finally made the pilgrimage to the bridge. At least we can say we have been there.
Jean's hips are quite a bit worse after all the walking yesterday and the cramped seating in the van and she probably shouldn't have gone but she wanted to see the bridge and to keep Jim company. So, we have been having a quiet day today in the hope that the flight to India won't be too difficult.
The next blog will probably be from Chennai in India so wish us luck...........
Cheers and love from us,
Jim and Jean
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Tuesday, 19 August 2014
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Bangkok and waiting for Indian visa
It is only 2 and a half weeks since our last blog but so much seems to have happened in the interim. We have been completing arrangements for our trip to India for Jean's hip surgery.
We've been preparing the boat for another period of enforced inactivity. This has involved much more than the usual preparation because we have had a visitation from bed bugs which are hell and all to eradicate from a boat. Bad enough in a house but it has not been fun. On top of that the pain in Jean's hips has been getting worse and she has had that to contend with as well. We strongly suspect that the bed bugs came from the Udomlalp guesthouse where we lived for the last month of the Tiare's refit. We won't bore you with all the details but we have been using the last of a spray we had bought in Malaysia just in case and how glad we were that we had it. There does not appear to be anything comparable in Thailand so we have been also using surgical spirit sprayed with gay abandon and Dettol which is also supposed to be effective. Certainly towards the date of our departure from Krabi we were noticing a much lessened degree of symptoms (bites!!) so we are hopeful that when we get back in 2 months or so the problem might be resolved. Popeye and A in particular are looking after the boat while we're away so she is in good hands - albeit no doubt straining at the leash after her refit. However, there's another problem with the freezer and Popeye are going to raise the level of the cockpit sole now that there is a resident carpenter. So still a few things to sort out.
Popeye has brought a 6 metre racing yacht more than 90 years old from Europe for restoration on behalf of her owner. 6 metres were an Olympic class for many years - mainly in the 1920's - and are a much sought after classic these days. She is basically the same construction as our old girl and it has been fascinating to see work progressing. The lead keel and keelson have both been removed from the boat in 3-4 days. In France it was stated that this could not be done but here in Thailand they just get on with it and do it. There is huge potential for wooden boat restorations such as this at a fraction of the cost of doing the same thing in western (higher cost) countries and the skill level in Thailand is absolutely the equal, if not superior. They have many years of wooden boat building experience and also the necessary materials. The various timbers available here are equal to the best in the world.
We flew from Krabi to Bangkok on the 10/08 and ensconced ourselves at the Mermaid Hotel (Soi 29, Sukhumvit), which we had booked on the internet at a very good price. The hotel is fairly new and is a medium size boutique type. It has a salt water pool which is great for some exercise, especially for Jean as walking any distance is becoming more and more of a problem. It is also close to IVS Global who are the agents for the Bangkok Indian Embassy's consular services. We went there on the 11th. which fortunately wasn't a public holiday. It turns out that the 12th. was because it was the Thai Queen's birthday so we just scraped in before this. They have told us that the issuance of visas takes between 6-8 working days so we're cutting it fine ahead of our planned departure on the 22nd. Anyway, the experience at IVS could have been worse but was nevertheless an exercise in mindless bureaucracy. The whole process took about 3 hours shuttling back and forth between counters and dealing with the limited understanding of English by the Thai people manning them. But the one issue that took the cake was that we had standard size passport photos and these had been glued to our visa application forms by said Thai workers. Then at another counter we were informed that the photos were too small - despite them being standard size passport photos. So, they had to be "unglued" and we had to have new photos taken with the IVS on-site machine - at additional cost of course. The new photos were awful quality and would never have met the strict standards for a NZ passport but they satisfied these bureaucrats. Exasperating and ridiculous but one just has to go with the flow. The British certainly taught the Indians well in the bureaucratic dark arts! Now we just have to hope that there is no last minute glitch (such as photo size or quality) with the visa issuances because we have no time latitude.
On the positive side, we have been enjoying the enforced stay in Bangkok (especially at the Mermaid) as we wait for our visas. The hotel is very centrally situated in the Sukhumvit district with heaps of cheap eateries around and a small supermarket where we have been buying snack type foods to keep us going!! There seems to be building activity everywhere - either new buildings or older ones being gutted and modernised. The traffic doesn't seem as chaotic as we had been led to expect but it's certainly heavy with all the usual Thai disregard for road rules - if indeed there are any. Unlike India, one could drive here but without knowing how to get from A to B it would be a stressful experience which we don't need. The area reminds us somewhat of Ponsonby Rd. in Auckland with its eclectic mix of establishments, albeit with a definite Thai flavour including massage joints seemingly every 2-3 shops as you walk along. Some of the more respectable kind but others definitely more questionable of the "happy ending" kind!! Might be an interesting experience...........
Along Sukhumvit Rd. there runs an overhead commuter railway which we have used a couple of times. Similar in operation to Singapore's but not as extensive or as clean. Having said that though, at least around here the city does appear quite clean and litter free. You have to wonder in all the endless debate in Auckland about the merits of commuter rail, why overhead structures are not talked about. Monorail in particular is the least intrusive, the least costly and the best thing about it is that it can use existing transport corridors as they have obviously done here in Bangkok.
We have been in touch with Neil on "Galatea" in Phuket but it appears that we will miss seeing him as he will be gone again by the time we get back from India. However, his daughter Bailey and a girlfriend are arriving in Thailand in a few days to join Neil on the boat but flying into Bangkok initially. So, we have been in touch and it will be great to catch up with Bailey again after all these months.
A few days ago we went on a river cruise which was interesting but we've probably seen our fill of Asian waterways for a while. It just emphasised again the huge gap between extreme wealth and extreme poverty which seems to be the norm in Asia. Hotels where you pay thousands of Baht per night just to look at a muddy river and hovels that look as though at any moment they would collapse into the river! And then one can look at the back page of a recent Bangkok Post which has advertisements from 3 car dealerships - Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin! And the streets are well populated with BMW's and Mercedes Benz.
Then yesterday we went on a tour of the Royal Palace here in Bangkok, except that the King and Queen no longer live there. Our guide interestingly told us that the 2nd. film entitled "The King and I" with Julie Andrews and Yul Brynner had been banned in Thailand because it was an inaccurate portrayal of palace life at the time, although there was a period where there was an English governess employed to educate the royal children. But there must have been real conflict with a liberally minded Englishwoman on the one hand and the local repressive attitudes to women on the other. Even today female children of the royal line can only marry Thai men of high (royal) birth. Apparently one royal daughter did marry an American and was banished from the country. She subsequently divorced and has been allowed back but takes no part in the Royal Family's activities.
There's the Emerald Bhudda temple just adjacent to the palace which we went inside but no photos permitted inside. All lavishly decorated with gold paint, tiny gold tiles and bits of coloured glass - very spectacular. The Emerald Bhudda itself is situated up high on a very lavish altar similarly decorated and is said to be coated with real gold and emeralds. Maybe that's why it's up so high! It was disappointing that we couldn't get inside the palace as you would think they'd allow that as their majesties are no longer in permanent residence. The buildings were very European in appearance (mostly Georgian) but with typical heavily decorated Thai roofs. An interesting combination which actually combines well.
The name Thailand means "freeland" and was part of a rebranding of Thailand (from Siam) in 1939 including a flag redesign. Thailand was a partially reluctant ally of Japan during WWII and interestingly New Zealand declared war on Thailand in January 1942. There was only one day of fighting in Thailand when Japan invaded (hours before the attack on Pearl Harbour) in December 1941, following which the occupation was more or less peaceful, except for a growing Thai resistance movement as the war progressed. Japan's interest in Thailand was mainly as a logistical and supply base for it's invasions of British Malaya and Burma.
Tomorrow we are leaving Bangkok for the day at 0630 for Kanchanaburi which is where the bridge immortalised as "The Bridge over the River Kwai" is. More about this in due course but briefly the story as portrayed in the film was nothing like the reality. The railway, otherwise known as the "Death Railway", extended from Bangkok, through Hellfire Pass on the Thailand/Burma border (where most of the 16,000 Allied prisoner of war loss of life occurred) to Moulmein in Burma.
As this is being written it is early afternoon on Sunday 17th. and the sun has started shining again. We look out of our bedroom window at the Bangkok skyline and the Sukhumvit Skytrain where trains pass by every 5 minutes or so. Just across the road workers were re-roofing an old 2 story building and worked until late last night under very inadequate floodlights. OSH would have a fit!! One other thing we must mention is the casual method of stringing high tension power lines. We first noticed it in Krabi where it is common to see them running under shop verandahs and here near a construction site great coils were hanging easily within reach. NZ takes safety concerns to ridiculous levels whereas here and in Asia generally not much heed is paid.
Before ending this diatribe, and on the subject of NZ, we must make mention of the appalling dirty political tricks perpetrated by some really nasty people on the right recently exposed by the left wing activist, Nicky Hager and his book "Dirty Politics". One of these people actually worked in the Prime Minister's office while illegally hacking into the Labour Party website looking for potentially embarrassing material. And all the while being paid by the taxpayer! The reaction from the right which includes the vicious and vindictive Justice Minister, Judith Collins, not to mention the awful extreme right wing blogger, Cameron Slater, is typically devoid of argument and only resorts to more personal attack and denigration. Although we are not really left leaning, we hope that the revelations are enough for most New Zealanders to see the present government for what it really is and vote for an alternative coalition next month. Otherwise all that remains of our state assets will be sold and we will be totally sold down the river via the secretively negotiated Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Lotsaluv from us.......
Jim and Jean
Hotel Mermaid
Sukhumvit 29
Bangkok
Thailand.
----------
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We've been preparing the boat for another period of enforced inactivity. This has involved much more than the usual preparation because we have had a visitation from bed bugs which are hell and all to eradicate from a boat. Bad enough in a house but it has not been fun. On top of that the pain in Jean's hips has been getting worse and she has had that to contend with as well. We strongly suspect that the bed bugs came from the Udomlalp guesthouse where we lived for the last month of the Tiare's refit. We won't bore you with all the details but we have been using the last of a spray we had bought in Malaysia just in case and how glad we were that we had it. There does not appear to be anything comparable in Thailand so we have been also using surgical spirit sprayed with gay abandon and Dettol which is also supposed to be effective. Certainly towards the date of our departure from Krabi we were noticing a much lessened degree of symptoms (bites!!) so we are hopeful that when we get back in 2 months or so the problem might be resolved. Popeye and A in particular are looking after the boat while we're away so she is in good hands - albeit no doubt straining at the leash after her refit. However, there's another problem with the freezer and Popeye are going to raise the level of the cockpit sole now that there is a resident carpenter. So still a few things to sort out.
Popeye has brought a 6 metre racing yacht more than 90 years old from Europe for restoration on behalf of her owner. 6 metres were an Olympic class for many years - mainly in the 1920's - and are a much sought after classic these days. She is basically the same construction as our old girl and it has been fascinating to see work progressing. The lead keel and keelson have both been removed from the boat in 3-4 days. In France it was stated that this could not be done but here in Thailand they just get on with it and do it. There is huge potential for wooden boat restorations such as this at a fraction of the cost of doing the same thing in western (higher cost) countries and the skill level in Thailand is absolutely the equal, if not superior. They have many years of wooden boat building experience and also the necessary materials. The various timbers available here are equal to the best in the world.
We flew from Krabi to Bangkok on the 10/08 and ensconced ourselves at the Mermaid Hotel (Soi 29, Sukhumvit), which we had booked on the internet at a very good price. The hotel is fairly new and is a medium size boutique type. It has a salt water pool which is great for some exercise, especially for Jean as walking any distance is becoming more and more of a problem. It is also close to IVS Global who are the agents for the Bangkok Indian Embassy's consular services. We went there on the 11th. which fortunately wasn't a public holiday. It turns out that the 12th. was because it was the Thai Queen's birthday so we just scraped in before this. They have told us that the issuance of visas takes between 6-8 working days so we're cutting it fine ahead of our planned departure on the 22nd. Anyway, the experience at IVS could have been worse but was nevertheless an exercise in mindless bureaucracy. The whole process took about 3 hours shuttling back and forth between counters and dealing with the limited understanding of English by the Thai people manning them. But the one issue that took the cake was that we had standard size passport photos and these had been glued to our visa application forms by said Thai workers. Then at another counter we were informed that the photos were too small - despite them being standard size passport photos. So, they had to be "unglued" and we had to have new photos taken with the IVS on-site machine - at additional cost of course. The new photos were awful quality and would never have met the strict standards for a NZ passport but they satisfied these bureaucrats. Exasperating and ridiculous but one just has to go with the flow. The British certainly taught the Indians well in the bureaucratic dark arts! Now we just have to hope that there is no last minute glitch (such as photo size or quality) with the visa issuances because we have no time latitude.
On the positive side, we have been enjoying the enforced stay in Bangkok (especially at the Mermaid) as we wait for our visas. The hotel is very centrally situated in the Sukhumvit district with heaps of cheap eateries around and a small supermarket where we have been buying snack type foods to keep us going!! There seems to be building activity everywhere - either new buildings or older ones being gutted and modernised. The traffic doesn't seem as chaotic as we had been led to expect but it's certainly heavy with all the usual Thai disregard for road rules - if indeed there are any. Unlike India, one could drive here but without knowing how to get from A to B it would be a stressful experience which we don't need. The area reminds us somewhat of Ponsonby Rd. in Auckland with its eclectic mix of establishments, albeit with a definite Thai flavour including massage joints seemingly every 2-3 shops as you walk along. Some of the more respectable kind but others definitely more questionable of the "happy ending" kind!! Might be an interesting experience...........
Along Sukhumvit Rd. there runs an overhead commuter railway which we have used a couple of times. Similar in operation to Singapore's but not as extensive or as clean. Having said that though, at least around here the city does appear quite clean and litter free. You have to wonder in all the endless debate in Auckland about the merits of commuter rail, why overhead structures are not talked about. Monorail in particular is the least intrusive, the least costly and the best thing about it is that it can use existing transport corridors as they have obviously done here in Bangkok.
We have been in touch with Neil on "Galatea" in Phuket but it appears that we will miss seeing him as he will be gone again by the time we get back from India. However, his daughter Bailey and a girlfriend are arriving in Thailand in a few days to join Neil on the boat but flying into Bangkok initially. So, we have been in touch and it will be great to catch up with Bailey again after all these months.
A few days ago we went on a river cruise which was interesting but we've probably seen our fill of Asian waterways for a while. It just emphasised again the huge gap between extreme wealth and extreme poverty which seems to be the norm in Asia. Hotels where you pay thousands of Baht per night just to look at a muddy river and hovels that look as though at any moment they would collapse into the river! And then one can look at the back page of a recent Bangkok Post which has advertisements from 3 car dealerships - Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin! And the streets are well populated with BMW's and Mercedes Benz.
Then yesterday we went on a tour of the Royal Palace here in Bangkok, except that the King and Queen no longer live there. Our guide interestingly told us that the 2nd. film entitled "The King and I" with Julie Andrews and Yul Brynner had been banned in Thailand because it was an inaccurate portrayal of palace life at the time, although there was a period where there was an English governess employed to educate the royal children. But there must have been real conflict with a liberally minded Englishwoman on the one hand and the local repressive attitudes to women on the other. Even today female children of the royal line can only marry Thai men of high (royal) birth. Apparently one royal daughter did marry an American and was banished from the country. She subsequently divorced and has been allowed back but takes no part in the Royal Family's activities.
There's the Emerald Bhudda temple just adjacent to the palace which we went inside but no photos permitted inside. All lavishly decorated with gold paint, tiny gold tiles and bits of coloured glass - very spectacular. The Emerald Bhudda itself is situated up high on a very lavish altar similarly decorated and is said to be coated with real gold and emeralds. Maybe that's why it's up so high! It was disappointing that we couldn't get inside the palace as you would think they'd allow that as their majesties are no longer in permanent residence. The buildings were very European in appearance (mostly Georgian) but with typical heavily decorated Thai roofs. An interesting combination which actually combines well.
The name Thailand means "freeland" and was part of a rebranding of Thailand (from Siam) in 1939 including a flag redesign. Thailand was a partially reluctant ally of Japan during WWII and interestingly New Zealand declared war on Thailand in January 1942. There was only one day of fighting in Thailand when Japan invaded (hours before the attack on Pearl Harbour) in December 1941, following which the occupation was more or less peaceful, except for a growing Thai resistance movement as the war progressed. Japan's interest in Thailand was mainly as a logistical and supply base for it's invasions of British Malaya and Burma.
Tomorrow we are leaving Bangkok for the day at 0630 for Kanchanaburi which is where the bridge immortalised as "The Bridge over the River Kwai" is. More about this in due course but briefly the story as portrayed in the film was nothing like the reality. The railway, otherwise known as the "Death Railway", extended from Bangkok, through Hellfire Pass on the Thailand/Burma border (where most of the 16,000 Allied prisoner of war loss of life occurred) to Moulmein in Burma.
As this is being written it is early afternoon on Sunday 17th. and the sun has started shining again. We look out of our bedroom window at the Bangkok skyline and the Sukhumvit Skytrain where trains pass by every 5 minutes or so. Just across the road workers were re-roofing an old 2 story building and worked until late last night under very inadequate floodlights. OSH would have a fit!! One other thing we must mention is the casual method of stringing high tension power lines. We first noticed it in Krabi where it is common to see them running under shop verandahs and here near a construction site great coils were hanging easily within reach. NZ takes safety concerns to ridiculous levels whereas here and in Asia generally not much heed is paid.
Before ending this diatribe, and on the subject of NZ, we must make mention of the appalling dirty political tricks perpetrated by some really nasty people on the right recently exposed by the left wing activist, Nicky Hager and his book "Dirty Politics". One of these people actually worked in the Prime Minister's office while illegally hacking into the Labour Party website looking for potentially embarrassing material. And all the while being paid by the taxpayer! The reaction from the right which includes the vicious and vindictive Justice Minister, Judith Collins, not to mention the awful extreme right wing blogger, Cameron Slater, is typically devoid of argument and only resorts to more personal attack and denigration. Although we are not really left leaning, we hope that the revelations are enough for most New Zealanders to see the present government for what it really is and vote for an alternative coalition next month. Otherwise all that remains of our state assets will be sold and we will be totally sold down the river via the secretively negotiated Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Lotsaluv from us.......
Jim and Jean
Hotel Mermaid
Sukhumvit 29
Bangkok
Thailand.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
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Sunday, 27 July 2014
Fwd: Back in the water at last and more health woes
----- Original Message -----
To: "2XS - Peter & Marguerite" <pjheadlam@hotmail.com>
Subject: Back in the water at last and more health woes
Date: 28 Jul 2014 02:22:25 -0000
From: zmq5985
Well, a lot has happened (water under the bridge as they say) since our last blog.
We re-launched early July after the most seamless refit ever. We hadn't done much of the work ourselves except for stripping and sanding the caprails but we were very pleased with the result. The old girl looks a million dollars again and only adds weight to Jean's oft repeated claim that if she had that much money lavished on her she'd look pretty good too!! However, considering the amount of work done (painting, engineering, stainless steel repairs, electrical and refrigeration), the cost is unbelievably reasonable. Generally labour rates 10-12% of those one would pay in NZ. In spite of that earlier comment, Jean actually does always look good, even without wild shopping sprees!
We still have to finish the work by raising the cockpit sole as carpenters weren't available prior to launching but we can do that back in the water. Popeye has produced some flash new teak name boards to carry the ship's name in gold leaf edged in navy blue and they look great. Capt. Des's suggestion, perhaps partly driven by his 50 year old nostalgic association with the "Tiare Taporo" name, but they will look great on TT3 and will always remind us of our happy time with Popeye and the team at Krabi. Still not finished and attached but nearly, and there will be some festive moments we are sure when they are finally affixed. It is great to be living back aboard with everything pristine - the old girl feels alive once more.
Jim has obtained a copy of Des's book "World Wanderer; 100,000 miles under sail" by Capt. Des Kearns and Des has very kindly written a personal message for us at the front of the book. The original Tiare is mentioned in this book and it is an account of his adventures as a young sailor in the late 60's on various well known sailing vessels, including an account of his rounding of Cape Horn west to east on the small Australian double ended sloop "Carronade". They were rolled west of the Horn and it is a nail biting read - as if Jim needed an excuse to bite his nails!!
Happily Jim's sciatica seems to have cleared up thanks to the anti inflammatories and the exercises he is supposed to be doing (!) but Jean's hip problems haven't been going away. Instead getting marginally worse. We cannot sail with her in that condition so we decided to go to Phuket once more to seek another opinion. We stayed overnight at a very pleasant hostelry with a seemingly endless lap pool which wound its way through the gardens. It was near the Bangkok Hospital and we duly presented ourselves at the appointed time - 1100 on 10/07.
Jean was supposed to have had an X-ray and an MRI but due to feelings of claustrophobia she could only manage the X-rays. However, it was enough for the orthopaedic specialist there to diagnose severe cartilage loss in both hips and recommend hip replacement surgery. As a result we have decided to investigate India as they have the reputation of being the world leader in joint reconstructive surgery. In addition they speak English, which is a major negative factor against Thailand, however competent their surgeons undoubtedly are. One needs absolute confidence in one's surgeon and it does nothing for confidence if communication is even a little bit difficult.
Once back in Krabi we had another appointment at Krabi International Hospital for another try at the MRI, but in spite of it being the newer "open" type, claustrophobia once again prevented the process. So, this time it was arranged that we would come back the next day, this time armed with 2 x 5mg of Valium and that did the trick. The specialist there confirmed the Phuket diagnosis so we now have 3 opinions all broadly saying the same thing. He wanted us to go to Bangkok to consult his "mentor" surgeon at the Bumrungrad Hospital there but our feelings about India haven't changed and we have been pursuing that option.
The next problem to arise was that our Thai visas were soon to expire and so it was necessary to apply for 3 month extensions on medical grounds. Jim needed this as well as he is the "caregiver"!!! We collected medical certificates from KIH and duly took them to Immigration where an overly bureaucratic female Police Lieutenant Colonel said that the wording on the certificates wasn't definite enough! So, back to KIH and battling the language issue we finally had them changed. Then back to Immigration where, after 3 hours or so they finally agreed to grant the extensions. We think their major problem was that Jean was walking around with no apparent problems and yet asking for a 3 month medical visa extension. Anyway, it was getting after 1600 and we knew that they closed at 1630. So, something was going to happen - soon. And lo and behold a few minutes later amid much hilarity with Jean demonstrating the problems with her hips, they duly signed and we parted with the fee of 3,800 more Baht - NZD140.
Since then we have been intensively researching all the options in India and finally we received an email from Liz from "Blue Tango" (who we had met at Danga Bay in Johor last year) telling us about her experience in India with Dr Vijay Bose. We are very much indebted to Liz. So from that glowing report we have been in contact with Dr. Vijay Bose who is possibly the leading Orthopaedic surgeon in India. He practises at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai - otherwise known as the Joint Reconstructive Surgery Centre. The latest technology for complete hip replacement is called Deltamotion which uses ceramic prostheses. It apparently allows much more freedom of movement than previous metal based techniques and is virtually indestructible. We still have to establish whether this is preferable to joint resurfacing which is another option and whether to have both hips done - the left is the worst. Surgery is tentatively scheduled for August 26th. which isn't far away. We should have all these details sorted by the end of this week and then we have to apply for Indian medical visas. Such a bureaucratic runaround, it's unbelievable but one has to go with the flow. We need new photos, a letter of invitation from the Apollo Hospital and confirmed return flight bookings before making the visa applications.
The other thing we should mention is the cost - roughly one fifth of the cost of the same surgery in NZ. Not that cost is a main driver for decisions but it's certainly a consideration when taken into account with the Indian surgical expertise. And to get the operation in NZ on the public health system, you would have to be virtually a cripple in a wheel chair and in extreme pain. What sort of a "free" health system is it which insists that patients are reduced to this condition before they are eligible for treatment? Apart from human considerations, the ultimate cost to the health system is much greater because such patients often have severely compromised physical condition.
In the meantime life at Krabi Boat Lagoon proceeds apace. Popeye is getting busier which is good to see and there is a new restaurant with much better food. The management of this place still leaves a lot to be desired but as far as possible we keep out of the politics which are often hard to understand for us, but that's Thailand. We are becoming old hands at finding our way around. We've discovered a Dutch bakery (run by a Dutchman!) and another supermarket where they sell NZ lamb - but far too fatty. We bought 2 lamb racks but won't be buying them again. The local pork is excellent and heaps of fruit and veges - among them Rambutans, Longans and now Mangosteens. The first 2 are similar to Lychees and the Mangosteens are a type of Passionfruit. Lots of Chinese carrots, onions and garlic. Local beans about a yard long and all sorts of oriental veges. Apparently there is now a new bridge across the Mekong River just opened on the Thai/Lao border the cost of which was shared by the Chinese and Thai Governments so the passage of goods and people into SE Asia from China will be even easier. Chinese influence is spreading all the time - and not just here. NZ too.
More riveting news to come in due course......
Lotsaluv from us,
Jim and Jean
P.S. Have a look at our website (www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com) when you've the time - there are more photos there!!
----- End of Original Message -----
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To: "2XS - Peter & Marguerite" <pjheadlam@hotmail.com>
Subject: Back in the water at last and more health woes
Date: 28 Jul 2014 02:22:25 -0000
From: zmq5985
Well, a lot has happened (water under the bridge as they say) since our last blog.
We re-launched early July after the most seamless refit ever. We hadn't done much of the work ourselves except for stripping and sanding the caprails but we were very pleased with the result. The old girl looks a million dollars again and only adds weight to Jean's oft repeated claim that if she had that much money lavished on her she'd look pretty good too!! However, considering the amount of work done (painting, engineering, stainless steel repairs, electrical and refrigeration), the cost is unbelievably reasonable. Generally labour rates 10-12% of those one would pay in NZ. In spite of that earlier comment, Jean actually does always look good, even without wild shopping sprees!
We still have to finish the work by raising the cockpit sole as carpenters weren't available prior to launching but we can do that back in the water. Popeye has produced some flash new teak name boards to carry the ship's name in gold leaf edged in navy blue and they look great. Capt. Des's suggestion, perhaps partly driven by his 50 year old nostalgic association with the "Tiare Taporo" name, but they will look great on TT3 and will always remind us of our happy time with Popeye and the team at Krabi. Still not finished and attached but nearly, and there will be some festive moments we are sure when they are finally affixed. It is great to be living back aboard with everything pristine - the old girl feels alive once more.
Jim has obtained a copy of Des's book "World Wanderer; 100,000 miles under sail" by Capt. Des Kearns and Des has very kindly written a personal message for us at the front of the book. The original Tiare is mentioned in this book and it is an account of his adventures as a young sailor in the late 60's on various well known sailing vessels, including an account of his rounding of Cape Horn west to east on the small Australian double ended sloop "Carronade". They were rolled west of the Horn and it is a nail biting read - as if Jim needed an excuse to bite his nails!!
Happily Jim's sciatica seems to have cleared up thanks to the anti inflammatories and the exercises he is supposed to be doing (!) but Jean's hip problems haven't been going away. Instead getting marginally worse. We cannot sail with her in that condition so we decided to go to Phuket once more to seek another opinion. We stayed overnight at a very pleasant hostelry with a seemingly endless lap pool which wound its way through the gardens. It was near the Bangkok Hospital and we duly presented ourselves at the appointed time - 1100 on 10/07.
Jean was supposed to have had an X-ray and an MRI but due to feelings of claustrophobia she could only manage the X-rays. However, it was enough for the orthopaedic specialist there to diagnose severe cartilage loss in both hips and recommend hip replacement surgery. As a result we have decided to investigate India as they have the reputation of being the world leader in joint reconstructive surgery. In addition they speak English, which is a major negative factor against Thailand, however competent their surgeons undoubtedly are. One needs absolute confidence in one's surgeon and it does nothing for confidence if communication is even a little bit difficult.
Once back in Krabi we had another appointment at Krabi International Hospital for another try at the MRI, but in spite of it being the newer "open" type, claustrophobia once again prevented the process. So, this time it was arranged that we would come back the next day, this time armed with 2 x 5mg of Valium and that did the trick. The specialist there confirmed the Phuket diagnosis so we now have 3 opinions all broadly saying the same thing. He wanted us to go to Bangkok to consult his "mentor" surgeon at the Bumrungrad Hospital there but our feelings about India haven't changed and we have been pursuing that option.
The next problem to arise was that our Thai visas were soon to expire and so it was necessary to apply for 3 month extensions on medical grounds. Jim needed this as well as he is the "caregiver"!!! We collected medical certificates from KIH and duly took them to Immigration where an overly bureaucratic female Police Lieutenant Colonel said that the wording on the certificates wasn't definite enough! So, back to KIH and battling the language issue we finally had them changed. Then back to Immigration where, after 3 hours or so they finally agreed to grant the extensions. We think their major problem was that Jean was walking around with no apparent problems and yet asking for a 3 month medical visa extension. Anyway, it was getting after 1600 and we knew that they closed at 1630. So, something was going to happen - soon. And lo and behold a few minutes later amid much hilarity with Jean demonstrating the problems with her hips, they duly signed and we parted with the fee of 3,800 more Baht - NZD140.
Since then we have been intensively researching all the options in India and finally we received an email from Liz from "Blue Tango" (who we had met at Danga Bay in Johor last year) telling us about her experience in India with Dr Vijay Bose. We are very much indebted to Liz. So from that glowing report we have been in contact with Dr. Vijay Bose who is possibly the leading Orthopaedic surgeon in India. He practises at the Apollo Hospital in Chennai - otherwise known as the Joint Reconstructive Surgery Centre. The latest technology for complete hip replacement is called Deltamotion which uses ceramic prostheses. It apparently allows much more freedom of movement than previous metal based techniques and is virtually indestructible. We still have to establish whether this is preferable to joint resurfacing which is another option and whether to have both hips done - the left is the worst. Surgery is tentatively scheduled for August 26th. which isn't far away. We should have all these details sorted by the end of this week and then we have to apply for Indian medical visas. Such a bureaucratic runaround, it's unbelievable but one has to go with the flow. We need new photos, a letter of invitation from the Apollo Hospital and confirmed return flight bookings before making the visa applications.
The other thing we should mention is the cost - roughly one fifth of the cost of the same surgery in NZ. Not that cost is a main driver for decisions but it's certainly a consideration when taken into account with the Indian surgical expertise. And to get the operation in NZ on the public health system, you would have to be virtually a cripple in a wheel chair and in extreme pain. What sort of a "free" health system is it which insists that patients are reduced to this condition before they are eligible for treatment? Apart from human considerations, the ultimate cost to the health system is much greater because such patients often have severely compromised physical condition.
In the meantime life at Krabi Boat Lagoon proceeds apace. Popeye is getting busier which is good to see and there is a new restaurant with much better food. The management of this place still leaves a lot to be desired but as far as possible we keep out of the politics which are often hard to understand for us, but that's Thailand. We are becoming old hands at finding our way around. We've discovered a Dutch bakery (run by a Dutchman!) and another supermarket where they sell NZ lamb - but far too fatty. We bought 2 lamb racks but won't be buying them again. The local pork is excellent and heaps of fruit and veges - among them Rambutans, Longans and now Mangosteens. The first 2 are similar to Lychees and the Mangosteens are a type of Passionfruit. Lots of Chinese carrots, onions and garlic. Local beans about a yard long and all sorts of oriental veges. Apparently there is now a new bridge across the Mekong River just opened on the Thai/Lao border the cost of which was shared by the Chinese and Thai Governments so the passage of goods and people into SE Asia from China will be even easier. Chinese influence is spreading all the time - and not just here. NZ too.
More riveting news to come in due course......
Lotsaluv from us,
Jim and Jean
P.S. Have a look at our website (www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com) when you've the time - there are more photos there!!
----- End of Original Message -----
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Saturday, 19 July 2014
Straits Quay Marina, Pulau Penang. We had our anchor chain re-galvanised there and it was a great stay - quite close to Georgetown.
The Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Georgetown , Penang. Very Somertson Maughnish!!
Development happening wherever you look in Malyasia. But particularly noticeable on Penang since our last visit.
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