MW72

I'm amazed so many expats are apparently either worried about the cost of water or still lugging heavy bottles home from the shops.

Surely this is one of the absolute basics to life here?

Well, there are a number of threads on "Living on hee haw", and I thought it was worth asking. The number of people who i) look as if they have nothing, but ii) pay 15 baht for a bottle of water is amazing. I'll fill a bottle in a food court but loads of people seem happy to pay a third or a half of the cost of their lunch for water.

You do realise that some people will now think you are talking about donkeys (hee haw)? There is probably someone out there thinking not only are you tight when buying water but you are living off donkey flesh.

Blame America, They started it!

Blame Bush and Blair -- THEY started it!

Blame god.

Which one? All of them.

Nothing has held back the development of the human race more than religion.

God hates us all!

He is right....better than having some red mob burning downtown Bangkok again.

Better less democracy than deads on the street.

Nobody can condone the political violence that took place in the past but how many died? 40 Thais die every day on the roads but I don't see your beloved ruler doing anything about that. You just keep on believing he took charge to make his beloved thai brothers and sisters safe and happy.

He's been sounding like one of those since day one.

Edit: Your post will likely be removed for containing the D word. Maybe mine too. These are the times we live in.

the only thing that can stop a bad dog with a gun is a good dog with a gun.

priceless

and the NRA apologists will be along to say that "Guns don't kill people, People kill people" ...... oh wait.....

"Ms Carter, who had not undertaken a hunter education course," and had he taken the NRA hunter course like I as it is required to get a hunting lic. or purchase ammo then he would have never put a loaded gun on the ground. Yes - morons shoot people not guns. Why the hell would he even have one in the chamber if it was not in his hands under complete control - almost the vary first thing you learn.

I have a six shooter - but I only carry 5 rounds in it. The hammer is down and safety is on over an empty chamber - even cowboys in the old west did that - it called not being a <deleted> moron..

edit ah I see Ms Carter OK she is a complete moron.

Yes a complete moron who is legally entitled to own a gun.

I love the way the OP is denying it is about saving money but clearly states in post 22 that it is about avoiding the fee.

I reckon he edited that video as his first sad attempt to pass the wrong way through the one way barrier was an epic fail.

Coming to Thailand for years apparently but can't pronounce Khao San correctly. My Thai is rubbish but even I know it is a cow sound not a co sound.

I've never denied it was about saving money. I go in metered cabs to save money. At home I get the cheapest rate mortgage I can, hey I even import my cameras from China to save a lot of money. I have no problem saving money. If you'd have looked at post 1, or even the video it's about saving BOTH time AND money.

Correct - I did pass the wrong way thought the gate originally. Well spotted.

This is my second time in Thailand. The comment in the video about "many times" was merely at attempt to get the driver to drop the 50 baht thing and put the taxi on the meter.

I don't get why you are so negative? I've just got into a lovely guest house in chang mai. The internet is fast, there is no card to cut the electricity out when I leave and it's LESS than 200 baht a night. I don't judge things by how much they cost me, but how much I like them. I'm looking forward to a day exploring here. I'll rent a bike and have a great time. I'm happy - I don't feel the need to be negative. I hope you can get to that point soon.

Post 7 is where you deny it is about the money and then post 22 is where you claim another poster is contradicting himself. That's why the negative post.

You doth protest too much.

Nothing wrong with living on a budget. just don't bite and when people state that and try to deny it.

I love the way the OP is denying it is about saving money but clearly states in post 22 that it is about avoiding the fee.

I reckon he edited that video as his first sad attempt to pass the wrong way through the one way barrier was an epic fail.

Coming to Thailand for years apparently but can't pronounce Khao San correctly. My Thai is rubbish but even I know it is a cow sound not a co sound.

Just to make sure no one in my household gets hunted down I've removed the F5 key from all of the computer keyboards

what does F5 do? I am new to this.

Ctrl +F5 forces a website to resend all data.

F5 will used cached data so not so heavy on the web server.

100 people sitting at the same website hitting Ctrl + F5 constantly will crash many low quality web servers.

(That's all the Thai government servers)

Careful now, you could be accused of having a subversive thought there.

Not to worry, the RTP can't catch people in the real world never mind the cyber world.

It would seem from your OP that you have no background or experience in mechanical or electrical engineering so the best advice is to ignore anyone who tells you to take things apart and start sticking screw drivers in. The fact that you have already turned on and off 4 or 5 valves without knowing what they do is not a good sign.

You are lucky in that you are renting so it is not your responsibility to fix this or to pay for the repairs. If you have a half decent landlord then he should get this sorted out quickly for you. Keep calling him and tell him you have no water and you need it sorted ASAP.

From what you have said about your system I think what I and Crossy have said is probably closer to identifying the problem than any other ideas. Crossy has phrased it better and provided a nice drawing. Chances are it will still mean nothing to you. Please don't start taking components apart and playing with shit unless you know what you are doing as you may end up with a bill from the landlord or even worse a serious injury.

When it gets fixed make sure you find out how the system works, what each valve is for and what to do the next time.

To be honest, when I first encountered the loss of water pressure in the house I turned four or five valves on and off and tried different configurations with the pump plugged in (and then not plugged in), but the end result each time was that the only way I could get water pressure was to plug the pump back in. There is a sound coming from the tank that sounds like it is filling up, but that has been going on for the past three days so it should be full by now, yes? My landlord isn't available for a while. I guess I'll just keep it plugged in until he can send someone to take a look at it. Thank you kindly for your assistance and advice, sure do appreciate it.

I hope your landlord sorts it out for you soon. Without being able to seen the pipework and valves everything is a guess. As you are still hearing water entering the tank this would suggest that the water main is still on even if at a reduced rate, however the tank should have filled by now. The fact that it hasn't suggests that the tank is being emptied at least as fast as it can be filled which is maybe why the pump is running constantly. The pump could even be circulating the tank water depending on how it is piped.

Make sure when the landlord sends a guy round to fix it that you get a sketch made of the pipework and valves and a step by step guide on which valves to open or shut to switch on the pump the next time the water main goes down.

It sounds like you never had a problem with pressure before even with the pump switched off is that correct. If so it would suggest you are mains fed and the pump is a back up for when the main is off.

Yes, yes! That is correct. I never had a problem having decent water pressure in the house when the pump was unplugged.

Ok the next thing is the pipwork configuration. It is difficult to tell from the photos how the system is set up. Did you close or open any valves before you turned on the pump?

I will explain how I would expect the system to be configured. It probably isn't as TIT.

I would expect the water main to feed the large plastic tank you have. The tank then feeds the pump which pumps the water at pressure into the house. The pump should run automatically and turn on and off as there is demand. If the main was to fail you then have a tank full of water and a pump to keep you going. Perhaps in the past the pump failed and a by pass pipe was run from the water main and connected to the pipe entering the house. This would then bypass the tank and pump and feed the house with mains water. When you turned on the pump did you open or shut any valves? If you didn't then it is also possible that the pump pressure switch does work but you are currently pumping water from your tank back into the water main hence the reason it is not switching off. Keep an eye on the level in the tank. Your pump should have dry run protection but you never know.

It sounds like you never had a problem with pressure before even with the pump switched off is that correct. If so it would suggest you are mains fed and the pump is a back up for when the main is off.

Yes, yes! That is correct. I never had a problem having decent water pressure in the house when the pump was unplugged.

Ok the next thing is the pipwork configuration. It is difficult to tell from the photos how the system is set up. Did you close or open any valves before you turned on the pump?

It sounds like you never had a problem with pressure before even with the pump switched off is that correct. If so it would suggest you are mains fed and the pump is a back up for when the main is off.

Have been visiting LOS for almost 40 years. Drove around Chiang Mai, Lampang & Chiang Rai this month. I commented several times to the missus that the driving attitudes seemed markedly better than ever before. Nowhere near as much passing on blind curves and driving at insane speeds etc. Was I dreaming or has anyone else felt the same?

I don't know what the roads were like before but drive from Lampang to Phrae. Around 20 km out of Lampang you will hit the mountains of Wang ko sai. That's where the fun and games begins. Passing lorrys on blind corners. See a few accidents there. All down to impatience.

Mass and energy are related. Neither can be created or destroyed. The mass of your body is in effect stored or potential energy. You convert it by respiration into chemical and thermal energy thus adding to the state of entropy. If you were to say the weight went anywhere then it would be the atmosphere for the CO2 and thermal energy, and the toilet and atmosphere for the H2O.

Buy a new SIM

Enough information on how to verify that your SIM is registered has been published plus an extension to the registration time.

He may still be able to transfer his existing number to the new SIM.

Assume - makes an Ass out of U and Me.

It was extensively advertised months in advance that the NBTC required sims to be registered.

However, seems that didn't happen in your son's case.

7-11 have sim cards for purchase.

The mandatory registration started on February 1, 2015, as required by the Thai government's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). At the time, there were approximately 90 million prepaid SIM cards, of which only about 6 million had been registered. One may assume that all postpaid / billed SIM cards would not require registration, but I still recommend you check by the *151# code.

After July 31, 2015, phones which are not registered will still be able to receive incoming calls but will not be able to make outgoing calls, nor use data connections, not send SMS messages to other users.

Every 7-11 in the country carries SIM cards and Top Up Credit. There are over 7,000 7-11 stores in Thailand. (That’s one store for every 9,428 people in the country.) Also any big mall is going to have phones for sale as wall as official DTAC, AIS and True Move retailers.

Not much point in complaining. Whilst I understand your frustration you seem to have missed (or are choosing to ignore) steven and crossy's points. Not only was this widely advertised but simple instructions were provided on how to check if your sim had been registered. You chose to ignore the guidance and now want to complain that the inevitable has happened.

Buy a new sim and learn from the experience.

All a bit negative but I hope you are successful in getting them to let him keep his old number. I just don't think you have a valid complaint.

Just letting you guys know that Yesterday, I went to the SOURCE. (the original TRUE shop where my son went (with his mum) 1 and a half years ago where he gave his passport... (which they since proclaimed was NOT registering, but just a Name Check).

after getting the Manager of the shop and a guy that could speak english, he spend about 40 minutes with me.

and guess what ?

FINALLY, he found,, on his own system, that indeed my son had given his passport 1 and a half years ago, with all the information that they needed for his phone to be registered!

he tried re-allocating my sons number to a new son, but it failed (a system error).

so he said he will call me tomorrow. (which is today).

this morning I got a call from a woman at TRUE telling me that my Sons number is now ACTIVE again and , as of 30 minutes ago, his Phone has now just got signal. (and I have confirmed his number is now back).

So, all is well adn FIXED and Solved, (thanks to a little perserverence at the Original TRUE shop).

Basicall: My son HAD registered, (as he had Assumed).

BUT: because it was 1.5 years ago,, (way before everyone else), many of the TRUE shops didnt process the Early Applicants correctly.

I did register my own phone (about 6 months ago, in another TRUE shop).

I did not go back since then to check that they actually did the registering correctly at the TRUE shop.I also Assume they did it correctly.

When I pay a Water or Electric Bill, I ASSUME its taken care of. I dont need to phone the call centre and check the payment went through.

i cant see anything wrong in my son doing his registering 1.5 years ago, (which is probably way before any of you guys registered), and he assumed the shop 'did its job correctly'.

Anyway, its all done now, I am happy to say

I'm glad it worked out for you.

Buy a new SIM

Enough information on how to verify that your SIM is registered has been published plus an extension to the registration time.

He may still be able to transfer his existing number to the new SIM.

Assume - makes an Ass out of U and Me.

It was extensively advertised months in advance that the NBTC required sims to be registered.

However, seems that didn't happen in your son's case.

7-11 have sim cards for purchase.

The mandatory registration started on February 1, 2015, as required by the Thai government's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). At the time, there were approximately 90 million prepaid SIM cards, of which only about 6 million had been registered. One may assume that all postpaid / billed SIM cards would not require registration, but I still recommend you check by the *151# code.

After July 31, 2015, phones which are not registered will still be able to receive incoming calls but will not be able to make outgoing calls, nor use data connections, not send SMS messages to other users.

Every 7-11 in the country carries SIM cards and Top Up Credit. There are over 7,000 7-11 stores in Thailand. (That’s one store for every 9,428 people in the country.) Also any big mall is going to have phones for sale as wall as official DTAC, AIS and True Move retailers.

thanks for the replies.

My son lives between me and his mum; (separated parents). He is 13 years old. (not really the age to be up-to-date with current affairs & news).

He said that when he was in the TRUE shop with his mum (about a year and a half ago) they said that he needed to register his passport with them. which he did.

he said that when he heard about everyone in thailand needing to register their phones (this year), he assumed that he had already done this... (as the woman in the shop was talking about registering his passport).

even I would have made that mistake... (as the misleading usage of the word REGISTER, the first time around).

Anyway.. thank you ('steven100') for the lovely information about 7-11

he said he has about 200 contacts in his phone book. (and his phone number was an expensive Purchased one).

if he gets a new number, he has to find a way to let 200 people know his new number.

which again, seems a huge task.

his mum just told me that she has NOT registered anythig, EVER (with DTAC) and he phone is still working fine without any issues.

i might try the idea of TRANSFERING his number to another operator (if they allow me).

otherwise I can try complaining and complaining to TRUE and see how far I can go with this.

again, if any other ideas come to your mind, please let me know

Thanks again

Buy a new sim and learn from the experience.

All a bit negative but I hope you are successful in getting them to let him keep his old number. I just don't think you have a valid complaint.

So you're saying the brutal tactics of Assad, and his father before him, had nothing to do with the Syrian civil war? I guess it was the US that started it...along with all other civil wars around the world?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bashar_al-Assad

Human Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have detailed how the Assads regime's secret police routinely tortured, imprisoned, and killed political opponents, and those who speak out against the regime.^[114][115] In addition some 600 Lebanese political prisoners are thought to be held in regime prisons since the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, with some held for as long as over 30 years.^[116] Since 2006 it expanded the use of travel bans against dissidents. In that regard, Syria is the worst offender among Arab states.^[117] The Syrian mukhabarat is Alawite dominated.^[118]

Plenty of articles on the net talking about this is you want to take the time to read them and understand what caused their civil war.

Good post. There is a guy at my work who seems to think that Syria was some sort of Utopia under Assad Snr & Jnr and that what has happened is all America's doing. He's the type of guy who believes anything he sees on Youtube without researching for himself. Plenty of good info out there but also plenty of nonsense.

RTP don't have a clue should have left it for awhile ..? In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime.

Stick a tracking device of some kind in the jerry cans and bury them. Sit back and wait for a bite.

I wonder why she thought the jerry cans contained explosives. My first thought on seeing a jerry can is fuel.

But these were buried... If she picks mushrooms under those trees regularly she would notice the ground has been disturbed

And that is why she jumped to the conclusion that they contained explosives?

Now I'm really confused. I just can't see the thought process that leads to that conclusion.

I wonder why she thought the jerry cans contained explosives. My first thought on seeing a jerry can is fuel.

Agree, IMHO what is also urgently needed is urgent education of the good people of Thailand to understand how democracy really works and why it's the best alternative.

To my mind two items come up quickly.

- The people need a much better, more accurate understanding of the features of a valuable democracy, the processes that make it work and what needs to be protected to ensure real democracy is not destroyed or damaged. This must include making the people understand that they are part of the process and they have a lot of responsibility to protect democracy.

Why? Just one example, from my discussions with many Thai folks there is a major falsehood. There is the solid belief that the reason why all farang who come to Thailand have 'unlimited' money is because their government / their leader at home is rich beyond believe and the leader / the government continuously hands out large amounts of money to all citizens. Therefore Thailand needs the same, we need a leader who is super rich and hands out big money to everyone every month. The belief is that this is democracy.

- There should be election laws which require all parties to regular publish a detailed manifesto, which (by law - aligned to the constitution) must be aimed with specific details at building and maintaining a civil society where there is equal opportunity for all, there is an appropriate level of sharing the wealth, the law is respected and the law is applied equally to all citizens. And more.

The manifesto must be specific, at appropriate times (e.g. at the start of election campaigns), new / adjusted policies must be 'costed' by an outside committee and the results published in numerous newspapers, on TV spots, etc. And all parties required to take part in TV debates which are moderated by respected people, and the public invited and encouraged to send in questions / phone in with questions, etc., and the questioner has the right to nominate who on the panel for each party represented must answer the question. Etc.

Up until few years ago Thailand had the richest head of state in the world. Only Vlad Putin returning as the Russian prez has changed that stat. I am sure most Thais would be as surprised as I was to find out this little fact.

I am in no way commenting in a negative or positive way on this fact. Just stating a fact. Long live the King and all that.

Trump, brash New Yorker, builds up Southern campaign

By BILL BARROW

NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) —

The Norcross crowd cheered Saturday when Trump called most politicians "stupid," laughed as he mocked his opponents by name and roared when he chided the media. When a few young attendees tried to protest his remarks on immigration, supporters drowned them out, one man repeatedly screaming, "Go home!"

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-11

Sounds like their having an in depth debate on the finer details of Trump's policies.

Reference the Nobel Laureate, it is worth remembering that Einstien was wrong about Quantum Mechanics. He was wise enough to admit it.