OneMoreFarang

It seems many people agree that Daikin and Mitsubishi are the favorite brands. From your experience between these two: - Are there main differences with the features, i.e. home automation integration (for the newest top models)? - How about maintenance? Is it easier to maintain one or the other? Buying and installing the units is a one time effort. But maintenance and good or missing features is something that concerns us over years.

Some people like to kill other people (or at least they think they would like it). In war zones they can do exactly that and normally they don't go to jail. I wouldn't do it. But if someone want so kill those barbarian invaders I won't complain.

Maybe have a look at this: https://gharpedia.com/blog/best-location-wall-mounted-air-conditioning-unit/ "For rooms with a 30 feet plus length, Gharpedia advises placing two indoor AC units on the same wall. Placing the AC units opposite to each other can create non-uniform air circulation leading to overloading one of the ACs." I have no idea how good this advice is. I saw it already on several pages and I guess it makes sense to consider the advice.

Like you wrote, they are salespeople and they do what salespeople do. Sell - as much as they can.

I have to admit I am skeptic of these BTU calculators. I tried a couple of them and they all show (sometime widely) varying results. And I don't think any of those calculators ever had a field for the desired room temperature. It is a huge difference if I want to cool down a room to 28 degrees, 24 degrees or even 20 degrees. I would like to see a BTU calculator which asks for the desired temperature and maybe other details.

It seems it is not just important how big and how many but where are they located. I don't remember the details now but as far as I remember if you have a long rectangular room then it is not a good idea to have an aircon at each side of the long axis. It seems to be better to have one or two aircons on the side.

Search in Lazada for room thermometer. There are many of them. This is one example for 115THB. https://www.lazada.co.th/products/htc-1-indoor-room-lcd-electronic-temperature-humidity-meter-digital-thermometer-hygrometer-weather-station-alarm-clock-htc-1-i261380843-s402224854.html

Thanks for all your comments. I learned that if I buy a truck a Toyota with two doors is probably the best choice. I further learned that asking many question in different section of this form gives people a chance to comment about section A in section B. Ok, fair enough, I also do that from time to time. Now, before the moderator can close this question about which pickup to buy let me write a small summary about the renovation part. I am not completely stupid, but I never renovated an apartment in Thailand. My Thai is not too bad and my girlfriend speaks perfect Thai. I.e. I am not looking for a worker who speaks English. I also understand that I won't be able to hire anyone for 300B per day because, as mentioned above, this is the daily wage for an unskilled full time job. But I though I could hire someone unskilled for 1000B per day. But then again I don't want to hire any unskilled guy. Removing furniture and bringing the parts down in a lift does not really need many skills. But the person(s) still have to be skillful enough not to ruin anything while doing an mentally easy (but physically demanding) job. I reached out to several Thai people who I know about this issue and I am waiting for answers/recommendation which I guess I will receive in the next days. I am learning. And at the end of the day I will pay what has to be paid. But I don't want to be overcharged. And we all know that sometimes things are more difficult in Thailand than we though they would be. This is why we have this forum and learn from each other. P.S.: I don't plan to start a "my condo renovation" thread. For privacy reasons I don't want to publish too many details about myself and other people who are involved in this. I don't want to write: I know this guy who did a great job and then tell you I won't tell you his name. I also don't write: This and that guy did a bad job. Because there are those laws in Thailand about writing about other people and there is this climate on TV or AN to tell member: I told you so! I know I will make mistakes and I am sure if I would renovate another condo in a few years I would do it better. But that doesn't mean I want to hear from others, who never did it, what an idiot I am. Many members here are knowledgeable and gave me and others good advice in this forum. I listen and try to learn. And maybe I get some things right. And probably others not so right. If there is anything that I think is interesting for the community then I will write about it.

I asked that question already...

Maybe we should move this part to another section but let me ask: Where did you find those people to take away the rubbish and how much did they charge? One company quoted me 5,700THB for one trip with a pickup to take away rubbish and dispose it. I was not sure if I should laugh or get a heart attack when I read that number. And they quoted that they estimate 7 of those trips...

That's what I thought. And in the moment I am learning that my thoughts were maybe not linked to reality. It seems some people, maybe many people, think like: He just spend x million on an apartment. He must be rich. Now I want lots of money from that rich guy for little work It's still the start of my journey and maybe soon I will meet those reasonable workers and reasonable pickup owners and I will soon forget my idea of buying a pickup. But from the numbers which I heard in the last week I was so shocked that I consider my own pickup. Imagine you walk out of the door and every taxi you ask wants 4 times the regular price. Soon you will think about buying your own car...

Thank you for your comment. I appreciate most of your comments so I am listening. I have already a trolley, I have to pay that deposit anyhow for my renovation, and doing some things myself doesn't mean I (want to) do everything myself. But maybe sometimes I want the option to do things myself. And it's nice to be able to use a car or pickup whenever one needs one. I am also used to driving in Bangkok's traffic. One of the most important issues is what you write in the last paragraph. I bought an apartment and the old furniture has to be removed, etc. I thought to get a better idea about the place it would be best to first remove all the furniture. I thought this should be a few days of work, and obviously whoever removes old furniture doesn't need much skills to do that. So I asked a few people and companies for prices. And I was gobsmacked, just like you. What they quoted was best case about 4 times higher than what I thought would be reasonable. And my idea of reasonable rates is more than double of the minimum wage - for unskilled work. So after I received those quotations I thought to myself: For that kind of money I can do it myself. Will I do it myself? Maybe part of it, I am not sure until now. Will I pay astronomic prices for unskilled workers? I don't think so.

I have glasses to use when I drive and I have glasses when I work with small electronic parts. I could use those glasses also for reading but my eBook reader allows to use bigger font and that is good enough for me. 99 % of the time I never use glasses to work on my 24" desktop computer screen. The reading glasses are for shorter distance and the "driving glasses" for a longer distance.

Thanks. In my experience 10 year old cars have problems. I really don't want to have to repair it and not have it available. I am willing to spend more money on a newer model if that makes sense. I guess if it is too new (i.e. a year or two) then it loses too much value after a year. Or not?

Thanks, I will have a look at those Toyotas. Which model, year, diesel, gasoline, specs? I never bought a pickup in my life so I have no idea about these things.

I live in the middle of Bangkok. Normally I ride motorcycle and I don't need a car. Every couple of weeks I use a taxi if it is raining or if I have a heavy bag or so. Now I will renovate an apartment. There will be some garbage to dispose and some things to buy and transport to here. I guess I could rent a pickup when I need it. But if I rent a new pickup truck then I guess I have to be very careful that the loading area doesn't get damaged. And if I hire a person with a truck then this is maybe not flexible enough because maybe I have to book that truck a day or more in advance. For that reason I think about buying a used pickup truck, use it for a year or so, and then sell it again when I don't need it anymore. I want something reliable which I can sell again after maybe a year without losing too much value. I have no idea how much I would have to pay for such a pickup truck. And I guess I should also have a good insurance. I have car and motorcycle motorcycle licenses and I am riding everyday in Bangkok's traffic. Which pickup truck (brand, model, about how old) would you suggest? Or is that whole idea not a good idea?

These days electronics if often all on one board. If anything, even a 1 cent component, does not work then the the whole board does not work and the manufacturer will tell you to replace the whole board. This is the easiest and fastest way to solve the problem. Just make sure that if the motherboard is not the problem then you don't have to pay for it. If a talented technician knows exactly which of the thousands of components on the board does not work then he might replace that part. But maybe troubleshooting to find out which part is broken takes hours. This is why replacing is often the cheapest solution - not just for aircons

Take a thermometer and measure your room temperature. Set the aircon i.e. to 22 degrees. Then measure (not just in front of the aircon). If the room temperature is not 22 degrees then do the same procedure in front of the owner and then let the owner sort out the problem. You are entitled to a working aircon. It is not your job to analyze the problem and find a decent technician.

Yeah, I know one of those victims (over 20) who was rescued in Korea. After she returned to Thailand she looked for the next opportunity to return to Korea to make more money - until she will be "rescued" again.

I don't have to read that to imagine it must be bad, really bad. I am sure many girls, even the underage girls, know exactly what they are doing. I know at that age they shouldn't do that and they have a limited perception of reality and the consequences. But if a 15 year old girl is willing to sell herself to make money then I wouldn't call that human trafficking.

And the price tag is possibly not even a money issue. I know a Thai woman and her farang husband. She is about 40 and her first husband walked away. She has her own business and I am sure she makes good money. But, once I had a business appointment with her in her office. She called me about an hour in advance and she told me she won't be able to make that appointment. The reason: She felt like she has to go shopping now and then. She has to! Not that she needed to buy anything urgently but she had this: Now I have to go to Emporium for shopping feeling. I am pretty sure she had enough money to do this with her own money but I imagine the headache having a wife like that.

One wall will be removed without replacement. The main floor is currently parquet and the bathroom and kitchen are tiles. In the future I want tiles everywhere. I also think it is best to let the company/person who installs the new tiles remove the old tiles and maybe wood because they know in which condition they want to have to floor and walls for the new installation. A few small walls will be added or extended. I remove the 2nd bathroom and instead increase the size for the kitchen and the other bathroom.

Thanks, you make some good points. I guess it should be possible to give away furniture and appliances. I guess this should be my first step. And it's also good to know about the weight and limitations of the lifts. I have to admit I didn't think about those until now. Luckily there are not too many walls to remove. I will measure them to get a better idea about the weight and I will also check the lift limitations. Thanks!

Obviously it is sad when 15 year old girls do this. I think maybe we/society/politicians/... should think about why they do that. I guess they want to earn money. So what do they do with the money? How many of them do it because the mother is sick and in hospital and the little brother has nothing to eat. And how many do it i.e. to buy the newest phone or clothes or whatever teenagers do these days? Maybe it's time to educate those teenagers that having the newest phone and designer clothes is not important. But then, from whom do they learn that? Maybe from their parents or older siblings? Or on TikTok, etc.? I don't have a solution for all this but I find it strange under how much pressure kids (think) they are.