BigBabyJesus

I purchased ThreeBond 1104 Liquid Gasket at Home Pro in Phitsanulok.

I think the best ATV made is Suzuki. They are one of the toughest vehicles ever built. When I lived in Alaska, once you got a certain number of miles off into the wilderness the only ATV's you ever saw were the Honda's and Suzuki's.

I could not find a Suzuki here, and the Polaris's I did see were ridiculously priced. So I imported a 500cc 2011 Suzuki King Quad 2011 LT-A500XPL1 Power Steering2011 LT-A500XPL1 Power Steering, with a winch, blade/bucket attachment, rear mounted 100 liter spray system and a rear trailer hitch. It's a real monster.

I use it when cutting big bamboo poles. If you have ever done this, you know how the poles are all tangled together in the tops and it is difficult to pull them out. I just cut the base, wrap a tow strap around it and use the ATV in 4WHD, with axles locked, to yank it right out, then drag it to where I want it. I also use it for dragging around logs. I use the sprayer to spray weeds and fill it with water for fire control when burning. I use the bucket for moving gravel and manure. I use the blade for spreading dirt and gravel. The winch is just handy to have. By the way, you need ballast on the back when using the bucket and the 100 liter spray tank filled with water is the perfect solution.

I have a 4' x 8' utility trailer for my truck and can use it with the ATV -- no problem. I also designed and had fabricated a small versatile aluminum trailer for the ATV. I often use it to haul poles and fish traps.

Importing it from the US paid dividends. I saved money over buying a new Polaris here. But it was a real pain. As usual, Uncle Sam has his private parts out when you try to do anything, If you want in import and cost analysis, PM me.

By the way, there is no licensing or registration for ATV's in Thailand. Out in the village area where I am, police never bother any vehicles. There are no concerns about driving it on the road. If you are in town, this might be a problem. But mostly, except to go from one land area to another (e./g., hauling poles or manure), I am not on the road much.

"Eliminate ants forever"

These guys have been around for more than 100 million years. I don't think it's possible to eliminate them in a couple of weeks, months or years.

You obviously haven't tried the borax solution.

A relatively non-toxic method to completely rid yourself of ants is to use good old fashioned borax. Mix up two batches: (1) Batch 1, mix about a half tablespoon of borax with a couple tablespoons of bacon grease; (2) Batch 2, mix about a half tablespoon of borax with a tablespoon fo honey and a tablespoon of water. Place the mixtures on small saucers or pieces of aluminum foil and spread it around your dwelling. In about two or three weeks, every ant will be gone.

The ants in my house had become overwhelming, getting into all food stuffs, into bedding, clogging electrical outlets and destroying electronics. I finally had enough. It has been well over a year since I employed this method and I have had a ZERO ant problem. After about four months, a few ants reappeared. I just put out another dose of borax and bacon grease where I saw them and they were soon gone.

The biggest problem was that I could not find borax anywhere, and I looked high and low in pharmacies, general merchandise and farm supply stores. Here is my solution that will work for any farang anywhere in Thailand. My wife is a high school teacher. I just Googled borax and pulled up the Wikipedia page, which showed the chemical formulation, etc. I printed it out and asked my wife to take it to the chemistry teacher at her school and asked him where to get it. In top Thai form, she immediately told me he wouldn't know. I insisted, so she took it to him and he did know, as I knew he would. He directed her to a tiny chemical supply place in town (Phitsanulok) called "The Science Center." I showed the guy in the store my printout and he produced the borax immediately. It came in a one pound (454 gr.) jar.

Just a few days ago, I received a shipment by Post of motorcycle parts and tools from a friend in the US. No duty.

Frankly, can't blame the park folks. If I had to blame somebody it would be our friends on Harleys with their straight pipes. This causes a lot of dislike for bikers in the US as well. Some people do not care for the gratuitous noise that sets off car alarms, etc. I have noticed a recent explosion in these super loud [and expensive] bikes here in LOS -- or maybe it's just the season.

I remember attending bike rallies in the US (mixed brands). There was always a clutch of Harley guys up early in the motel parking lot standing beside their their fired up bikes twisting the throttles. Here, I have roosters for that job.

The OP broke an important rule: NEVER SHIP BY UPS, FEDEX, DHL OR ANY OTHER PRIVATE CARRIER. Always ship by post. The private carriers use in-house customs agents and are corrupt.

One time a friend in the US sent me a toy stuffed rabbit that cost $12 (it was kind of a joke). He sent it by FedEx, charged to his FedEx account. He enclosed the receipt and made all declarations as to contents and value. The corrupt private customs agents assessed $45 duty and charged it to my friend's account! Maybe allegations of corruption seem harsh, but how else could $45 duty be levied against a $12 toy stuffed rabbit? We had no idea this had happened until after my friend got the bill from FedEx a month later. But then, it was a fait accompli; what could we do?

I have imported over $8,000 in motorcycle parts from the US (using post) and have never paid one baht in duty. I have a friend ship, always using post and used boxes and handwritten labels. Never lie on the declaration; that's fraud. But it is not fraud to simply be vague. I imported expensive aluminum side cases for my bike. I had only one packed to the cardboard shipping box and had my friend put in a couple of paperback books, a couple of magazines and a handful of hard candy. The declaration said: "Box, used books and magazines, candy." Sailed right through. Shipments from commercial interests with computer generated postage and labels always attract attention.

I buy all my DID X-ring chains in the US (Japanese made) and have a friend ship them over. There is just too much counterfeiting going on here to screw around with things like chains. I don't want to deal with it, so I just make an end run around it all. My method has served me well with high quality chains and sprockets (and other stuff -- e.g., I save a lot of money on spark plugs).

Went through the process last month and it was not asked for, however the usual games were in play. First they asked for a document that has never been required, which I instantly produced from my "Every Document that has Related to My Life Since Childbirth" Folder. This was not well received at all so they attended to other paperwork of some sort for 15 minutes or so, then started with me again. Last time the officer filled in my form wrong so I had to go back a week later and sign a new one, this time was a classic, my nationality was cited as Chinese , my partner who had been on the lookout this time pointed out the error and had it corrected, with little enthusiasm, if not I would have been called back to resign again.

I read the above post with amusement. I, too, keep an "Everything They Could Possible Ask for Folder." So when they ask for some new thing never required in the past, I smile, crack open my binder and pull it out. Maybe it is my imagination, but this seems to annoy them. It is as if there is a rel desire to cause me to have to go get something, or come back again. It truly seems to be a game, and I actually kind of enjoy matching wits.

On my last extension, they won the game. I had my bank letter , dated same day, and my passbook showing a 400K deposit that had been untouched for more than two months. Since the balance had been untouched, the bank computer could not "update" the book. So immigration made me take the passbook to the bank, deposit 100 baht, then get the book "updated" to prove that the balance had really been there for two months. It was annoying, but I just laughed and said, "Touche'." I got my kicks by, instead of depositing 100 baht, I made a withdrawal, taking the balance down to exactly 400K. This obviously annoyed the officer who told my wife I was playing a dangerous game. I just smiled. Next time, of course, I'll be sure to have a same day stamp in the passbook in addition to the letter.

To set up an account with Schwab or any other financial institution in the States, you need a physical address in the States. This is because of the euphemistically named "Patriot Act." If you have a physical address you can use (and call it your own) whether it be friend or relative, you can set up a Schwab account. Schwab doesn't care where you actually are or what your IP address is, so long as Patriot Act requirements are met. This would include sending paper to your designated US physical address, having friend/relative forward it to you (could be done by scan and e-mail), and your completion and return of the forms to Schwab.

Yeah, its a hassle and takes some dome, but worthwhile for the long haul. It's just the way it is today.

And as an American, I have to comment to Neversure. The hatred for America is not for the American people, nor is it for America's inventions nor the marvelous things it has given the world. The hatred is for what it has become. The Patriot Act for example, many parts of which are an affront to the Bill of Rights. The takeover by Big Business, which has turned politics into a big money game for the rich, people like Romney. Also the constant US meddling. The untempered support of Israel, which runs a gulag in Palestine. The so called hatred for America has been earned. It needs to be turned around.

I am an American and while I love America, I hate what has happened to my country. It makes me feel angry and bitter. It is one of the reasons I am here. I don't really know if it is better here or not, since I often don't even know what's going on. Perhaps I am just like the ostrich with his head in a hole. All I know for sure is that I feel a lot better here, not having my face slapped daily by the deterioration of the US. I was uptight and stressed in the States. Here, I am content.

If I'm at home and the power goes off or a brownout condition occurs, I start flipping my circuit breakers to off because I want to try to avoid the in-surge of current or reduced brownout voltages...that places a real strain on electronics/electrics...and it can definitely make the ones with motors (fans, A/Cs, pumps, etc) jump!!! I also have a whole house surge protector installed and use surge protected power strips to plug my electronics into. I made/installed the whole house surge protector and also modified/upgraded the power strips to ensure I had 3 modes of surge protection...that is Line-Neutral, Line to Earth, and Neutral to Earth. The great majority of surge protector power strips you buy only come with surge protection on Line-Neutral...better than nothing, but it only provides one mode of protection for voltage spikes. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to make/design/modify surge protectors unless they have a good understanding of electronics/electrics and have modified/repaired electronic before.

Anyway, I live in western Bangkok and several times a year I will go through power-out or brown-out conditions. And once or twice a month it's not uncommon to have a momentary lost of power (like less than a second) as the power company is apparently balancing/switching loads around my part of Bangkok....you don't have enough time to do anything during such brief events but no doubt it causes some healthy voltage spikes.

Sure, many electronics have been designed to better deal with surges/brownouts, but such conditions are not what the devices normally operates at/likes to see. I have installed an analog panel meter on the input side of my circuit breaker main panel unit so I can easily and quickly see what the voltage level is doing. I've watched it numerous times during power outages and brownouts and the voltage can easily vary from approx 20V to 200V before the power problem is truly solved and it becomes a rock steady 220V on the panel meter. If the voltage is too low/unstable, I turn off circuit breakers (to included the main circuit breaker) off until the power problem is fixed....when the problem is fixed I switch back on the main circuit breaker and then the individual circuit breakers one-by-one to prevent hitting the whole house/all circuits at once with one big surge.

I particularly hate brownout conditions where the 220V drops to something significantly lower, like 100 to 180V. Although many electronics nowdays are designed to work from approx 90 to 240 VAC it can still place strain on the electronics as it switches between 120V and 220V operations. Plus power spikes on a steady 220V don't do electronics any good....it stresses them....it can just slowly kill some...it might take years...or it might just take days...even with surge protection built-in...depends on the quality of the design.

This Link gives a nice little explanation of power surges/brownouts...it's talking 120V operations probably in the U.S...but just double the numbers to related it to 220V operations in Thailand.

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Pib,

You have whole house surge protection? Exactly what make and model are you using. I am having a tough time sourcing a decent unit in this country. Thanks!

Down load the following PDF file http://surgelogic.co...01Rev0812.pdf , go to page 11 the surge supressors listed here are very good and will protect your whole house.

Single phas you need 1

3 phase you need 3

You will need 2 spare pole spaces in your breaker panel for each device. If you don't have the spare spaces there is a adapter which allows for external mounting.

We have installed these devices on over 60 locations and with the exception of a location have had no problems with large spikes or surges.

The exception was a surge that originated inside the houses electrical system.

They are designed to take care of large surges, the ones that blow everything up.

They are fairly easy to install, but I suggest a Qualified Electrician do the job, and that he follows the installation instructions EXACTLY.

Nothing will protect agianst a close direct lightning strike, but this device will take care of 99%.

Read and follow the instructions carefully.

You can download a excellent PDF document that is very informative http://surgelogic.co...9701Rev0812.pdf

Look at page 11 , these are the devices we use on a regular basis, and they are readably avaliable here in Thailand.

The PDF download is very informative and has wiring diagrams also.

For sensitive devices I still suggest a good UPS with a surge suppressor we use APC http://www.apcth.com/ agian never a problem.

If you have a adsl or dail up internet connection, we find that most of the computer that fail are due to the voltage surge comming in on the telephone line (conductive coupling of a electrical surge dur to the phone line being in close proximity to an electrical wire)

The UPS's have a surge supressor built in to protect agianst most of the phone line voltage spikes, UES IT! Read the manual and be sure to install the phone jacks in the proper place.

Remember "Safety is NO Accident"

Ksamuiguy,

I seek to install "whole house" surge protection in the house I am building. I prefer Type 1, but it is hard to find. I looked with interest at the Schneider "Surgelogic.com" catalogue you posted. Problem is, that catalogue is for the North American market, whose electrical system is not the same as here.

By the way, three phase is not available where I live. What we have is single phase, 220V, 50hZ, two wire (line & neutral), with third ground wire to earthed rod.

I looked at the Schneider catalogue for Thailand and the highest level of protection I could fins was the Type 2 QO-SPD225 (equivalent to the north American QO2175SB from p. 11 of your catalogue), but the level of protection is significantly below what I seek. In your catalogue, the product I like is the Schneider SDSB1175B, which, as I said, is for the North American (split phase) market.

Do you know of any comparable device available or that will work here? Do you have a model number? If you have this information, it would be very helpful. This problem has been driving me nuts.

Surely there must be a device available for Thailand that offers more than 15kA (QO-SDD225) of surge protection? I sure would like to find and source it.

The exact same thing happened to me at the Nan Immigration Office. I just told them I had paid all the required fees and did not intend to pay anymore unless we called Bangkok and cleared it with them first. That was the end of it and I got my visa extension.

Some people who are weak and insecure will tell you to pay, like they do. But when you pay bribery or extortion demands, you just make it worse for everybody else. If everybody said "No," there wouldn't be any corruption. The "victims" of corruption are as responsible for it as the perpetrators. It takes two to do the tango.

Your wife might disagree with me because she is afraid of the police and afraid of losing you, but stand strong. You will not have any problem at all.