hullaballoo

I've found it in my local hardware store and paint shop (on Sukumvit 71, but any reasonably stocked one should have it). Just ask for poon khao. Very cheap.

People in vast swathes of the Greatest Nation on Earth were without power for weeks in the wake of hurricane Sandy, a storm of no particular magnitude compared to what this part of the world experiences every rainy season, plus (with all due respect) Samui is a small and fairly insignificant island. Let's perhaps not get too carried away extolling the superiority of the West.

It IS extremely annoying and could be handled better, but how often and at what length does the point need to be made before we can get back to practical questions?

(Thanks to the people who've been posting updates, by the way. Very helpful.)