kaptainrob

Current major storage dams:-

North (7) = 25% usable out of 52% total (averaged)

Northeast (12) = 28% out of 48% total (averaged)

Central (3) = 41% out of 46% (averaged)

Current 51 medium storage dam levels in Northern provinces (averaged) = 46.65% usable out of 59.2% capacity - many, especially in Nan are already 100% full or over capacity.

1 hour ago, Sparkles said:

Brave prediction Rob, end of next dry season is  a loooong way away.I thought you posted ony 20% full need photos

Not brave, we already have almost 50% more storage. 

I posted '... Major dams averaging over 20% now, a 5% increase of usable storage in 30 days ' ... that's across 7 Northern dams.  The actual capacity average (what you'd see in photos which I don't have, sorry Mike), is 48%.

1 hour ago, Sparkles said:

Tradionally the so called "wet season" peters at the end of this month.A lot more rain is need to get the dams to an acceptable level to last through the "dry"

With an ever increasing population I doubt that fact  has crossed the minds that matter that future water usage is growing rapidly.

This is probaly the most consistent rain we have had ,long may it continue

There's already sufficient to last through next dry season.  Dam levels are well above last year already, Northern dams total volume in MCM's (million cubic metres) last year on left and current total on right ....

Major dams averaging over 20% now, a 5% increase of usable storage in 30 days.

Same at Mae Hia/Hang Dong and all the way up to CR according to radar.

Bucketing down in ban wngtan and fantastic lightning show ... 3bb out but power ok for now.

Wife is hiding under covers with AC on full blast expecting blackout .... Mmh, cuddle time!

3rd power cut in 5 days, 3 hours so far this time,8 hours total.

This is a return to when we arrived years ago!

Not much going right here atm,sadly!

Any idea what the multiple explosions were approx one hour after power went out? Sounded like coming from Pa Daet, fire trucks and Police in BWT, sirens heard from Pa Daet direction.

7pm winds turned northerly and then power went out. Now getting some light rain in BWT. Not enough.

My weather app on my Macbook Pro indicates rainstorms everyday for the next week. Sadly, the online weather forecasts say no rain at all, ever.

If AppleMac comes thru with the rain I'll throw my PC/Androids in the khlong.

It's thundering and raining in San Patong - will you be posting pictures of your devices in the khlong?

.... if it ever gets water in it again!

No rain in ban wangtan.

Good soaking rain in the wee hours ... prayers answered!

Nothing on Omkoi radar. We live in hope and prayer ...

Krisada did some work for me a few years ago before I moved to Empress ... closer to home.

Its been drizzling most of the night in Mae Rim. This morning we have had a couple of good downpours and what a difference in temp. Inside its 18 degrees C, outside about 15.

Its a good rain as its giving the ground time to soak it all up (Apart from the heavy downpours). Very cloudy around the hills and it looks like the rain is going to settle in for quite some time.

Good day to do some work out in the workshop. Time for another big brewed coffee.

If on the roads, please be careful...possibly quite greasy and increase your following distances.

A good day to all

Same here

Same here

Same here

Same here

As others have mentioned, the best way to ensure you get the get the quality you're looking for at the best price is to engage a builder on a labor-only basis, with you selecting and providing all of the materials.

You'll need to be sure that the plans you give the builder for a quote are as detailed as possible in order to avoid any misunderstanding or "extra" charges. (For example - flat, stepped, or sloped ceilings. Kitchen and Bath base cabinets, or Thai-style cement and tile, single or double block walls, and so on).

Sometimes you'll need to be able to procure required materials at a moment's notice.

There's a lot of information regarding the cost of various construction materials and quantities required on the CoolThaiHouse website.

Unless you have good building experience then setting on someone labour only is like the blind leading the blind.

everyone thinks builders here are useless (oh yes including myself) and can simply sort everything out themselves.

think again; i thought i could pick up the Thai language easy; horses for courses; if you dont have the experience in construction then I suggest you find someone reputable with an English speaking project coordinator to hold your hand. you will pay more, but it will be stress free.

I have my building story currently running on CTH, give it a glance over and see what its really like for someone who knows a thing or two about building............let me see how many i have sacked....a good few!

Caught up with you on CTH.

Looks like you've still a way to go mate ...

As others have mentioned, the best way to ensure you get the get the quality you're looking for at the best price is to engage a builder on a labor-only basis, with you selecting and providing all of the materials.

You'll need to be sure that the plans you give the builder for a quote are as detailed as possible in order to avoid any misunderstanding or "extra" charges. (For example - flat, stepped, or sloped ceilings. Kitchen and Bath base cabinets, or Thai-style cement and tile, single or double block walls, and so on).

Sometimes you'll need to be able to procure required materials at a moment's notice.

There's a lot of information regarding the cost of various construction materials and quantities required on the CoolThaiHouse website.

Unless you have good building experience then setting on someone labour only is like the blind leading the blind.

everyone thinks builders here are useless (oh yes including myself) and can simply sort everything out themselves.

think again; i thought i could pick up the Thai language easy; horses for courses; if you dont have the experience in construction then I suggest you find someone reputable with an English speaking project coordinator to hold your hand. you will pay more, but it will be stress free.

I have my building story currently running on CTH, give it a glance over and see what its really like for someone who knows a thing or two about building............let me see how many i have sacked....a good few!

CTH?

I supervised our house construction but fortunately had been in the trade before. Was a good learning curve (with masonry) and also sacked many trades incl. the principal builder's supervisor. Saved a lot of headaches in long run but not for the faint hearted.

Examples: Took 4 goes to get internal staircase formed correctly otherwise we'd have been missing one step. Electrician hadn't been paid by builder for rough-in and would complete final fit-off and mains connect despite guaranteed payment (for final) from me. We got another crew and deducted original total from builder. Many trades arrived onsite without copy of plans, tape measure, square, level and other essential tools... I supplied them.

As mentioned earlier, our next builder will be one of 2 we now know to be highly professional and with rates between 12 and 16k all up.

One can build for less, ~ 9k if supervising and hiring labour only.

Steady follow-up rain is soaking in nicely and temp dropped to 24c as at 2000 hrs.

Thank you Buddha

I'm not a regular here, so can someone tell me what Ban Wangtan is or point me to a website?

<pj heads off to Google>

Found a long and acrimonious thread on 'BWT'. Sounds like somewhere I'd rather not be. Fortunately we've already bought our plot of land, in a very unusual moo-ban that is ideal.

Probably by a long time banned BM by name of Thighlander ...

Fortunately for the 100's of of BWT farang owners and residents Mr Thighlander left this quiet green enclave many years ago.

I think this topic needs more pictures of actual rain.

Can someone please post some, whenever this unnatural phenomenon occurs?

Fixed that ...

Sadly there's very little rain in Mae Rim, Mrs CM tells me that the news channel has declared Mae Rim a drought area and that's not too far from the truth! The rain clouds usually come down over the mountains and then skirt to the West of us, when we leave our home and head into CM we can usually encounter rain around Mae Jo, sadly only a short distance away from us, big sigh.

EDIT to add: and accuweather et al have had us down for 100% probability of thunderstorms and rain for three days, today is day 2 and I just watered the garden this morning!

Accuweather is a commercial 'forecaster' designed to suit widgets and apps on smart phones and similar devices. The % accuracy is only good as far as Chiang Mai province, not suburban/amphur/tambon level. The few degrees of change in temp are computer generated based on historical +/- from actual recording stations at Pa Daet or CNX.

For the last few days thunderstorms have been predicted for the next day ,then next morning that prediction is pushed forward another 24 hours.

Such is the way of the weather ... it may not dump on Ban Wangtan but on Sansai instead ... hence the % chance figure which relates to an entire province.

True but when the satellite images and forecasts on competing web sites don't remotely match up it tends to make you wonder.

Weather forecasting is an exact science in some countries but in Thailand its highly inconsistent.

Very true, especially in island nations such as Aus and NZ. Thailand however is subject to many variables and the northern provinces more affected by China or Andaman Sea systems compared with southern regions. Computer modelling is pretty good but requires regional % analysis, not a blanket rain/dry approach like Australia's eastern seaboard.

Also, we live in a valley and most storms will dump over the hills, not in Ban Wangtan ... unfortunately.

Rain, strong winds and thunder, Lamphun, now.

Doesn't look too promising ...