MaxYakov

3 hours ago, George FmplesdaCosteedback said:

Your last sentence is about right.

Maybe you should add "death wish" though.

 

And I don't wish you luck.

I nearly got run over by a push bike on the pavement today.

A55#oles!

 

 

 

If I'm on the sidewalk (aka pavements) it's because I don't have a death wish and the BMA encourages their being shared, out of necessity, with cyclists. If I am on the sidewalk (or even the street!) I'm often trying to figure out what a pedestrian that is deeply distracted by their smart phone and oblivious to their surroundings is going to do. I give all pedestrians plenty of space and the right-of-way.

I have many times had to tell pedestrians to walk on the sidewalk and not on the streets (when it is not necessary to do so), often with their backs to traffic on particularly dangerous streets with high-speed motor vehicle traffic passing them in close proximity. More often than not, they don't want to hear it.

Additionally, I chewed out a young Thai cyclist the other day for proceeding down Soi 26 half the time with his head down into his smart phone which was mounted on his handlebars. I thought I would not see cyclists distracted with smart phones, as are many pedestrians, but I was wrong.  I'm rarely distracted on my bicycle and never use my phone "dumb" phone while I'm rolling. This is unlike many motor vehicle operators and pedestrians.

I nearly got hit by a couple of young farang cyclists who seemed to be having a speed contest on a sidewalk when they should have been on the street. But, in my experience, irresponsible cyclists are rare and I have a lot of experience on Bangkok streets and sidewalks.

Hundreds, if not thousands of pedestrians will be killed or injured by motor vehicles in Thailand yearly. How many do you think will be killed or even severely injured by cyclists? I believe it is extremely rare. If it happened a lot we would be hearing about it, yes?

You made the mistake of insulting me when you know nothing about me or how important my safety and the safety of others is to me. Actually, I believe you were just as successful in insulting yourself.

18 hours ago, jossthaifarang said:

I agree with you to some extent dotpoom, however It is apparent that you have never been stopped by a traffic officer, blatantly asking you for money on the spot in Thai because they cant speak English. 

 

Once you have experienced this multiple times, you too will begin to lose faith in the the Thai police system, as well as the idea that you would ever actually be able to appeal and ruling they come up with.

 

I'm pretty sure every one of the posters above have experience with these bandits.. The only way to appeal is the system that has been in place for countless years, 100/200 baht neatly folded under your licence when you hand it to them, maybe more depending on the offence..

I've never had the pleasure of operating a motor vehicle in Thailand so I've missed out on all the excitement of paying cash, much less getting stopped.

Instead, I ride bicycles and basically do what motorbike operators do and have never been stopped because (I'm told) they think cyclists are poor and have no money. Or maybe they think I'm crazy for riding a bicycle and don't want to deal with a nutter.

16 hours ago, mogandave said:

Wrong again, you're 0 for 2
 

Coming from a liberal, that's a win in my book. Speaking of books, check this:

"The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left" - Dinesh D'Souza

Here's Dinesh discussing his book with Stefan Molyneux (maybe you should cover your eyes and ears?). How do you classify Dinesh? A Nazi or a certified KKK member, perhaps. He has plenty of hair so he won't classify as a skinhead does he? Oh, yeah alt-right, I forgot.  

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

Funny I thought they were about Nazi scum feeling emboldened to show their faces because there's now a perverse fascist in the white house and anti-Nazi Americans pushing back. Nazi Kkk alt right white nationalist white supremacist interchangeable. Not all trumpists are in the Nazi camp of course. But too many for comfort.

So you attempted thought, did you?

That's right, so Trump was elected (via the electoral college) by the 62,984,825 popular votes, a percentage of which were of the American Facists, KKK, Nazis, etc. (identifying these groups as alt-right for the purpose of this reply).

So what percentage do you think, of the approximately 63 million Trump voters, were actually alt-right?

4 hours ago, attrayant said:

 

That would be a pretty significant hijack of the thread.  It seems to be you who are adjusting the meanings.  Fascism is a left-wing ideology?  Really?  Why not do yourself a favor by sticking to the commonly accepted meanings? Fascism, for example, is in most ways diametrically opposed to liberalism (which I think we can agree is left-wing ideology), and usually considered a far-right ideology within the left/right political spectrum.

Why? The "commonly accepted meanings" are "The Big Lie", that's why.

It would be a typical liberal cop-out to declare that a discussion of ideology would be a "hijack" of this thread. Ideology and the freedom to discuss it is what Boston, Charlottesville and Berkeley were about and what this thread is about.

3 minutes ago, attrayant said:

The only insane thing I see is you putting socialism, communism and fascism under the umbrella of left-wing politics.

Ok ... Care to adjust their classification for us ignorant and potentially insane people?

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

 

Yes, and you might have a shot with Faux if your gig with the KKK dries up...

 

You made my point. Thanks! Just like the violent leftists (socialists, communists, fascists) at Charlottesville and now Boston (and, previously,  Berkeley). If you disagree with what I say, then I must be a KKK member. Right?

Anyone who is not a leftist (reference above list) is, by default, a far-right something or other, yes?

Don't you see how insane that position is? Or is it an agenda narrative we're looking at here? In any event, I'm a free speech supporter so go ahead and unload on me.

On 8/20/2017 at 7:53 AM, mogandave said:

 

Yes, but speech that comes from the right is by definition, Hate Speech.

I hear Reuters is hiring. You would fit right in I should think.

On 7/28/2017 at 4:54 PM, joeyg said:

75%

This matches my research. Thailand has a severe and chronic case of the "motorbike disease" and a serious case of general "motor vehicle self-abuse" as well.

"Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet," - Rudyard Kipling, The Ballad of East and West

Peace an Order <> Peace and Prosperity

10 hours ago, taharkin said:

We stopped burning outdoors in my home town of Pittsburgh in the USA over fifty years ago.  Went from the most poluted city in the world to one of the cleanest, most beautiful.  Can be done, but takes business and government working out a plan together...

 

PITTSBURGH yesterday and today--

600 Liberty Avenue 1948--(at noon every day, had to turn on headlights!!!)

  

 

Today--

  

Dozens of Pittsburgh air pollution 1940s shots in this Buzzfeed article [link]

On 7/11/2017 at 8:44 PM, The Deerhunter said:

Just get a forensic accountant onto the job.  Shouldn't be too difficult as long as you are not just a soldier who cannot balance a cheque book.

They should look on one of her old statements of wealth and see what she used to say were her assets.  Who owns the house she lives in and how long have they owned it?  etc etc.  Go from there. 

Shhhhhhhh!

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

Gosh u really into it..Why do u not relocate  to a less industrial greener area of Thailand for example Koh Samui?

If u was going to buy a purifier is there a particular model/brand that u like?

Thanks. I call these things "phony-baloney" projects although I don't see how trying to breathe cleaner air and save money at the same time is phony. But I like to research and build stuff so it kept me busy and off the street.

If I were going to relocate it certainly would probably be out of Thailand. I've seen enough here, Thank You very much. Wish I could help with the purifier. I'd have to research the market and don't want to commit to a purchase at this time (although I should If I'm going to stay in Bangkok). But now that you mention it maybe I should buy one, since I've been blowing money on less important items this year, that's for sure. I'll get back to you (or not).

6 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Hmm i not so technical and u r correct however i feel that when u a/c unit is always on like mine usually is that in such case u need a stronger air purifier then if the aircon is never on in the same room is it? I have lived in Asoke but now live in Jomtien 34 th floor.Again i need study it more before i will purchase an air purifier but it looks like a good investment.

Agreed that at least an air purifier would be good insurance if one didn't know how polluted the air is. In my case, I know exactly what to do to get a rough idea of how polluted the air is.

I would simply run my evaporative cooler/fan with a fresh filter and see how long it takes the filter to get dirty (as I have done many, many times in the past). The filter material on the sixth floor on Sukhumvit Soi 16 (Asok) in a matter of hours of operation will turn grey from pollution (it starts pure white) and in a few days will be absolutely black from the carbon in the air. And this is in a room that is essentially closed to outside air with a door that is normally closed and with windows closed all the time! Unfortunately, for health reasons (!), I have to routinely open the room to the outside rooms in my apartment which in turn are ventilated occasionally from outside air through normal door openings during entry and exit.

Think about it.

I'd be curious to know what your actual pollution is. As high as you are and where you are one would think that it would not be too bad. I, as Lord Kelvin  have a tendency to want to measure something before saying anything about it, 

2 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Hi Max,

some guy said if u regularly change ur aircon filters at ur condo then the inside air quality of the unit is fine.Just only the air when u go outside is bad in most asian urban inner cities..

Not in my experience. In fact I have augmented my A/C filtering because the filters all the A/C evaporator filters I've seen were very coarse and primarily are just for lint and that's about it. This is how and why the 3M Filtrete (TM) additional filtering material is sold specifically for indoor A/C evaporator units because they and their customers are aware of the relative ineffectiveness of the standard A/C filtering. Access your A/C filter and take a look at it and you'll see what I mean.

Also, AFAIC if the doors and windows of a room/apartment/condo are kept closed and the entire thing is air-tight, then it is a closed system like the ISS. Unfortunately, this is very unhealthy because of, at least, the CO2 build up and eventual lack of oxygen from breathing - not from the A/C (unless there is a refrigerant leak, of course). This is why outside air has to introduced into the room/apartment/condo on a regular basis. This will, of course, unavoidably bring in outside air pollution unless somehow the outside air is cleaned before entering. Such air cleaning would be highly unusual and fairly difficult and expensive to do, I should think.

With one of my rooms, I actually built a huge filter for an entire window to bring in cool outside air at night to save A/C (electricity) costs. Very "penny-wise and pound-foolish" of me due the high cost of the filter material, and building the filter and my labor, etc. It was experimental and kept me off the streets a bit.

I also experimented with using a synthetic foam material soaked in palm oil similar to the carburater air filters that lawn mowers use and the oil-bath air cleaners that once upon a time cars used. This was a success based on how quickly the filters got dirty. However, it was a little messy, cleaning the filters, and it made the room smell like palm oil (not so bad actually).

You should think independently about this issue and critically evaluate every statement made by "some guy or gal" (including me). It is largely common sense, AFAIC and experience living in a modern world where man's machines have gotten a little (or a lot) out of control.

I'll give you a hint:

When there is local air pollution, say from a fire at an oil refinery, and it is severe what do they tell the residents to do who might be subject to this pollution that could be life-threatening? If you lived near a large oil refinery or any industry that could potentially, because of an accident for example, produce severe air pollution, you would know the answer to this (because your life, or at least your health, may depend upon it). The people living in close proximity to the oil refinery in Martinez, CA certainly know what to do and there is an automated system to notify the local residents.

There is even a specific term for the action the local residents have to take under those emergency conditions. This is also what people are told to do high pollution days as well in cities where health-threatening air pollution is a danger.

Breathe Freely (if you can).

PS: Perhaps the residents of these highly-polluted cities should be "sheltering in place" during certain times of the day. Of course, that's not going to happen plus I'd bet that most residents cool their abodes directly with polluted outside air so the action would be meaningless.

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

For condos i try always to select units on highest floors as it might benefits air quality. Rarely units that i rent have bathroom windows its usually always enclosed rooms with small exhaust fans for moist air. But with aircon pumping air in the unit i going to need to buy a higher power air purifier. I need research this more.

I don't see why you seem to think that A/C in a room somehow pollutes the room/apartment/condo air.

I haven't seen an A/C unit that has anything to do with outside air other than piping the refrigerant from/to the outside compressor. This is done through piping (as well as the evaporator condensate's being drained to the outside through plumbing). This plumbing is sealed from outside air (unless it's a very sloppy installation - that couldn't happen in Thailand ).

Can you explain your reasoning on this?

PS: Yeah, I don't do "condos", but there was one statement made by a TV commenter that one has to be at least at the seventh floor or above to avoid the bulk of the pollution. In Bangkok, I'd want to be a lot higher that that. I'm getting pollution on the sixth floor in the Asok area. I could be that your location in Bangkok is more important than your altitude w/r avoiding air pollution. But who knows for sure? Anyone?

15 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Interesting is it with a top notch air purifier there is maybe no need to place extra filters on ur A/C Units? As the air purifier will clean all the air in the unit?

Yes, I agree, however, one still wants to pre-filter, such as the outside air bathroom window, and keep doors and windows closed to keep as much load as possible off the air purifier. Its filters can be expensive. I know because I once bought one to put on my evaporative cooler which I converted-to and used as a fan. With the money I've spent on 3M Filtrete filter material, I could have bought a high-quality air purifier. Poor person's solution probably cost more than someone with the higher budget allocated to air purification.

I wear a dust/fume mask when I'm out and about, but I fear it will not stop the 2.5 micron particles. I know it's stopping stuff, though because its replaceable, three-layer filter gets dirty. These are available at Home-Pro.

I don't like to keep my apartment closed at all times and sometimes open it up (balcony and bathroom door) when I've judged the pollution to be at a minimum such early in the morning and when it's raining.

Thanks for the reply!

47 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Really are u convinced it improves the air quality in ur unit?even with the aircon on?which air purifier did u buy?

I've been filtering my room air for the last eight years in Bangkok. The filter material I have used is 3M Filtrete material which I've placed on the air conditioners or certain types of fans. I'm currently using it in the open air/bug-screened bathroom window and an evaporative cooler that's being used as a fan and they get filthy very rapidly just from natural (no powered fan) air flow in and out of that window. The evaporative cooler is used as a fan with all air passing through it being filtered. The filters in this coolers get dirty very quickly even when the room is kept completely isolated except for entry/exit.

I don't see how using (or not using) A/C in a room has any bearing on the air pollution other than if filtering is being used to augment the A/C's existing filtering (which is typically coarse-mesh and will not remove small particles).

I believe doors and open windows are the biggest source of pollution in a room. I always keep my windows and doors closed, except for the aforementioned bathroom's natural air flow (and 3M-filtered) window. I keep the bathroom door closed at all times to limit pollution. The next step would be to install air locks and purify the air in an airlock-protected room/apartment/condo. If you saw how fast and how dirty my 3M filters get dirty you would not think this is a ridiculous idea.

I was going to buy a room air purifier years ago, but decided not to due to the high cost. I'm reconsidering this decision.

Bangkok, where I live, is #4 from various sources. I've always worn a dust/fume filter mask while out on my bicycle. Bangkok has a severe case of motor vehicle disease which will not be cured any time soon and pollution from who-knows-what other sources.

Time, while I still have some, to either consider another country or live where there is clean air in Thailand. Is there any clean air in Thailand?

P.S.: This article didn't seem to draw the same high reply count as more dramatic and much less important articles. Now why would that be?

On 7/14/2017 at 2:24 PM, Dave67 said:

"but added that obstructing rail tracks with objects is illegal and could end up derailing trains." I

 

Trust me  a coin cannot derail a train , 

Are you sure? The baht has been getting very strong lately.

4 minutes ago, ben2talk said:

The solution might be to use a 'Cockroach Hotel' - a classic design which attracts them and persuades them to stay (usually with glue).

 

The added benefit of simply trapping rather than poisoning them is obvious - there's a free pie in it at the end of every month.

 

 

 

Yes, glue traps were part of the solution. I had little patience waiting for them and would go on seach-and-destroy missions. One glue trap caught a roach carrying an egg case (good for 16 or so hatchlings) I still use glue traps as an insect monitoring devices in my current apartment, which is a roach-free zone - and intend to keep it that way. Unfortunately, the glue traps have caused the demise of a few small gekkos that have wandered into them.

(More than one ever needed to know on the subject, I'm sure)

I had a room once that was infested with brown-banded cockroaches. It took me several weeks to eliminate them all and I did it without using insecticide of any type. I also don't recall eating a single one of them.

There were about ten measures that had to be performed. The first being blocking their ability to enter the room from outside (other nearby, roach-infested rooms or building in general). Most people probably wouldn't know how to (or be willing to) perform this first basic step. BTW, and FWIW, the World Health Organization stated that sprays are not effective against cockroaches because they are repelled by them.

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

My ex gf was an English teacher at a vocational high school. She spoke good English but with what I would describe as a Thai accent. 

I used to watch curiously over her shoulder when she was at home marking students school tests. Being an English test I was surprised there was never any written answers on these tests. There were pages of questions with a series of numbered answers with a boxes. Only one answer to each of the questions was correct and the student had to tick the correct box. Without any writing it was easy for the student to complete and even more easy for the teacher to mark. Education the easy Thai way.

We called these "multiple guess" questions as opposed to "multiple choice". 

20 hours ago, pitrevie said:

In the UK apart from a shaver socket which is current limited you are not permitted to have a socket in the bathroom, not even a light switch unless it is of the pull cord variety.

Only one of my bathrooms in Thailand have had electricity or even a light switch. My current bathroom has neither.

The victim in case must have somehow grounded the A/C and not the low voltage charger output (unless as some have pointed out unless the charger had an internal failure).