EnlightenedAtheist

I often suggest to use some kind of white noise to attenuate. A fan or a air purifying machine works quite well. Low recurrent frequencies are much better accepted than their high frequencies counterpart. And when they are irregular, both are annoying. I am looking into a really comfy ear plug that works. After that, I suggest to analyze the sound profile that you want to attenuate, mask (frequencies, db levels,...), and then use this website (http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/soundproofing101/triple-leaf-effect/). However, if birds bother you, a complete new species could compromise the initial idea. This is why I think the first 2 methods are better. Fortunately, insulating heat does improve noise attenuation a tad.

7 hours ago, kamalabob2 said:

You can buy most anything to build a home in Thailand. Just not on display at your local HomePro | Thaiwatsadu | Global House | Home Mart or local family owned builders merchants store. However I picked up catalogs and spec sheets for sound proof wall insulation last week at the Architect Expo. I visited over 800 booths in a four day period to pick up brochures for modern building materials to consider and price for my next home building adventure in Buriram Province.  The blue is what the batts look like when installed in your Thailand house wall. The grey is the actual material to stop sound. Gypsum drywall boards would be a common wall material when using the wall insulation in Thailand. 

Any material that no insect can love in some of the products? The gypsum board are covered by paper, so they could be food for the critters. I guess you could paint all side and hope they cannot munch through.If its fibreglass, then I think that would be a sound  product (pun intended).

https://www.rt.com/uk/425873-kirkham-novichok-salisbury-poisoning/

https://www.rt.com/news/424047-russian-mod-syria-statement/

The whole affair is a blatant lie by May, Macron, and Trump's government because the West is losing their hold on power. China will soon be #1 and Russia will overtake the USA.

3 hours ago, EnlightenedAtheist said:

A young (probably) trophy (probably) wife for a 68 y. o. man, both of whom don't share the same culture or language (and a whole lot more). This is a recipe for disaster. How many more of these do we need to get it?

EDIT: One is hard enough, but 2.
 

That could drive someone off the rails (or railings to be more exact), and in many more ways than 1.

Help me think ... (An election might be coming now. I (or my friends) did not think this one through well enough at the beginning. I have no answer that could help me be re-elected. I cannot say/do what the public want me to say/do to upset my base (judges, military, the elite, yellow shirts,...) and I cannot say/do what my base want me to say/do, keep this ... So I am throwing this one back at you to ... screw up!  I am an egomaniac and egomaniacs never admit of screwing up.)

Obviously she has some mental challenge or some other challenges (incl. the darken visor idea). Maybe she was tired or sleepy (Some people must wake up too early to work). Maybe she drank the night before. There are many possibilities outside the most obvious one.

I find some  of the comments by people making fun of the person's inability sad and retarded. Ironically, they might be just as brainless as her (if straight and emotional intelligence matter).  Some describe the video as funny. I wonder if they were sad that she did not kill herself. 

The more I stay on these forums the more I feel that some comment to make themselves look and feel better. Like I say --and I repeat for the ones who did not get it then first time-- I think some of them are challenged too.

20 hours ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Trump the deal maker put real pressure on KJU, as opposed to empty words and showboating from his predecessors. This new peace on the Korean peninsula is 100% thanks to Trump and his strong actions. It is not surprising that the liberal media is trying to avoid Trump's success here, but trust me, us regular Joes are cheering him. Like we said after the election Trump could fix the economy, drain the swamp and bring peace to the Korean peninsula and the liberal media would still be banging on about some nonsense or other - we were right.

100%? YCBS (You cannot be serious!)

Deal-maker? Define "deal"? Is a deal when you tell someone that if you do not do this, I will kill you? 

While I am not a Dem. or a Con. because they represent pretty well the same corporate (incl. arms sales) and multinational interests (by doing nothing or protecting them). The whole system is so fucket up by idiots who believe that one group is the answer to all the problems. 

There is a lot of research linking all kinds of diseases to air pollution. Please post links to research showing how pollution affects the human body and cause diseases. Discussion needs to be on the research and not opinions, anecdotes, or hearsay.

2 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

If you want that level of cleaning here in Thailand you have to go to a periodontist who will do what is referred to as deep cleaning or scaling

 

A regular dentist will not go below the gum line but a periodontist will because plaque has to be removed so it will not separate the gums from the teeth.   The only difference I have noted between US periodontal cleaning and Thai periodontal cleaning is the in the US they use the manual scraping tool first and then the water jet.  Thailand is the reverse  

Thank you. I went to the Suandok dentistry school to do the cleaning and, at the time, I did not see any "older" dentist checking. This might explain that.

How much do you pay for a periodontist doing the scaling then in LOS and how long did it take?

Last year I decided to clean my teeth, something I have done for years in my home country. To my consternation, they used one of those motorized rotary with a metal tip (like a file) to do this. It took them not more than 20 min. to do all my teeth. In my home country, it took usually took an hour. Price: 800 B..

Am I the only one who has noticed, but, from what I hear from Thai friends it is the norm here?

The issue is that a few days after some teeth became very sensitive to cold/arm (rinsing teeth after brushing and such),... My wife mentioned the same thing (she had the procedure too). To me, it seems that these "machines" are ill-suited to do a precise enough job, so that they don't take too much enamel. I am concerned that a) they are doing ti on purpose so that my teeth will eventually need more work or (b) they are not aware of the issue (because no one tells them or complain).

In my home country they use a manual tool to carefully remove plaque and a softer, sponge-like motorized to polish the teeth after.

If you have a current abroad licence it is relatively easy. No exams. You just have to provide them with some of the usually sh*t papers. You would think all of those stupid depts (ie: immigration) would know something about database so we and they don't have to enter the same data 30 million times over. 

10 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Steady on girls! Taking jobs meant for Thais. Work permit prob's ahead? Get your donation money ready.

I disagree.

This is not a job Thai people undertake (well). I think they could get a special visa under the expert employment visa (or whatever it is called visa).

On 27/02/2018 at 1:06 PM, gunderhill said:

Not our room but I remember a  man who cut short his  stay by about 7  months out of a contract and then when told the security deposit  would be forfeited he proceed to  cut the air  con pipes, washing machine pipes  and damage as much as he could, scratching all kitchen cupboard  doors, furniture breaking the bed etc etc

These  new rules are OBSCENE.

Many tenants are quite dirty/careless in fact Id say the majority, many move in and out without ever  cleaning.

There should be a better formula. A blank "you lose all of your SD" was obscene before. The pendulum is swinging the other way. That's what happens when things are not fair.

2 hours ago, bubba said:

But the air quality measurements at AQITH are based on particulate matter (PM 2.5). Ozone and the plant produced chemicals such as terpenes are not particulates.

 

My completely uninformed and unscientific opinion regarding why the particulate measurements are higher at the more rural monitoring stations as compared to the more urban stations is perhaps due to a combination of:

 

- More exposed land and hence more dust becoming airborne.

 

- More burning with resultant particulate emissions.

 

 

Mmm! Interesting point!

I have not a chance to read carefully the fine (pm 2.5 or pm 10) details on the AQI site! I had other more important matters to attend lately.

"

Quote

 

What is the AQI?

 

The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or unhealthy your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing unhealthy air. The AQI is calculated for four major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act: ground level ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. For each of these pollutants, EPA has established national air quality standards to protect public health. EPA is currently reviewing the national air quality standard for nitrogen dioxide. If the standard is revised, the AQI will be revised as well.

 

They also state:

Quote

"When the AQI is above 100, agencies must also report which groups, such as children or people with asthma or heart disease, may be sensitive to that pollutant. If two or more pollutants have AQI values above 100 on a given day, agencies must report all the groups that are sensitive to those pollutants. For example, if a community’s AQI is 130 for ozone and 101 for particle pollution, the AQI value for that day would be announced as 130 for ozone. 

It seems that those two statements do not jive though. But, you are correct in that they do not seem (from my reading on the site) include all values in their AQI pm 2.5 count if there are other AQI values of other elements that are lower.

Yet, I read this: "The composition of particulate matter that generally causes visual effects such as smog consists of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, mineral dust, organic matter, and elemental carbon also known as black carbon or soot." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates#Sources_of_atmospheric_particulate_matter)

You say that "terpene" is not a particulate matter, but  "sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide" are!  I read that ozone is O3, a gas and it is definitely a chemical too. "terpenes" is definitely a chemical as well.

It seems though that AQI is not taking into account the additive effects that all of those chemicals would have. We do not have a count on terpenes as well.

On the other hand, it is true that those other chemicals (the O3, NO3 and SO2) are usually --on their own-- not a concern in CM.

So, it seems that the other lower values do not affect the AQi final count in CM. I would have thought that they would matter. 

I wonder if there is a cumulative effect of absorption of those lower levels on the human body and I wonder if children are not more affected that humans (maybe the lower values in green related to use for those other chemicals) affect children more.

I also wonder if those other chemicals (like burned pesticide chemicals) are benign and okay for the human lungs, blood systems, including the brain. I read that the smaller they are the more toxic they are.

On 07/04/2018 at 8:11 AM, orang37 said:

Looking at today's Chiang Mai air measurements at aqith.com:

 

Interesting that CMU Campus is currently #124;  Nimman is #91; and, Thapae at #84.

 

I'd expect Nimman , and Thapae, to be higher, but given exact sensor  locations are not published, and the fact today/now is a Sunday/AM ... can we hypothesize ?.

 

~o:37;

This research might explain why some areas that have more trees have higher reading, Here is an excerpt:

Quote

 

But oxygen is far from the only gas that trees and certain other green plants release into the air. One of these chemicals is a hydrocarbon known as isoprene (EYE-so-preen). It can react with combustion pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides. The result is the formation of ozone. A component of smog, ozone can irritate the lungs and aggravate airway diseases, such as asthma.

 

Cars and trucks are major sources of nitrogen oxides. And these oxides don’t interact only with isoprene. They also react with certain scented compounds that trees can spew. Among these are monoterpenes (MON-oh-tur-peens) and sesquiterpenes (SES-kwih-tur-peens). These terpene reactions can help create lots of other very tiny airborne pollutants.

 

Galina Churkina works in Germany at Humboldt University of Berlin. She and her team wanted to probe how much the chemicals released by trees could affect city air.

 

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/trees-can-make-summer-ozone-levels-much-worse

Notice that the crackdown is occurring as we get closer to the election. In the meantime, those schools had lots of teachers to choose from, keeping salaries down. But, I guess, it is good that they are doing it know. This govn't is really showing Thais that they can do it occasionally when it suits them.

14 hours ago, Brunolem said:

So it's worse than I thought...but not surprising.

Here in Sisaket, far away from any industrial activities, and little or no crop burning, the air is terrible!

Me and my son are on anti-allergie medicine (running nose) all year long, and eyes infections are frequent in the population around, depending from where the wind is blowing.

 

We have done a fine mess during the past decades, which is maybe why our dear leaders are in such a hurry to go to war, so as to wipe the slate clean...one way or another...

I have been pointing out that the problem is even worse that what people make it to be. The indiscriminate use of pesticide (probably in higher dosages that are required) compounded by the burning of the crops that are spread with those create a very toxic mix in the air. If it is not Thailand farmers and people, it will be from Laos. There is an idiot leader and a herd of corrupt underlinks there too. Go to homepro and buy those masks at once.

2 hours ago, Cheesekraft said:

Apr 23 and we still are hitting high 100s, 180 today.

Forecast for rain this week. Let's cross fingers that it dampens everything.

Some people told me --dismissively-- a while back back in the smog and smoke thread that there were many possible solutions to solve this matter, but none would amount to anything. Now, I see the conversation continues to be along the line that Thais will never change and since other countries are doing it, there is nothing that can be done about it. Still, there are reports that there are fewer fires than before in Thailand. If they are credible, what happened? 

Btw, since people are choosing to be off-topic, let me indulge a little and broach the topic of change --or the lack of thereof-- that some have spoken about. Change takes time and perseverance because systems and habits are hard to break. I know by experience. Some of us have had to wait for 250 years (ahahaha) to see the English spelling system be cleaned up and very few English-speakers, who usually scream and shout bloody murder when the air needs to be cleaned up as this thread demonstrate or scream when Thais don't seem to reform anything as people do on this forum on all threads all of the time, are suddenly so UNwilling to empathize and reform because it is unpleasant to do so. Maybe there is a lesson or a trait that unites all humans somewhere in here. In any case, the reaction has been swift --and not-- as I bet some even go as far as blocking me from even broaching the topic. While I might be perceived to be off-topic, I am not. A newspaper, a few journalists and a few people (incl. Thais) tried to alert the public and start a demonstration last month. That is one way to affect change. However, did you see how the mayor of Chiang Mai dealt with the problem? There were some Thais who were interested in change, but they couldn't. So, if we are going to talk about impediments to change, we should also add that to the tally: brute dictatorial force of an elite group or another form of that reaction when something unpleasant is being showcased. It seems that people are simply unwilling to change their ways. Btw, from what I hear, China -- the prototypical dictatorship-- is trying to clean up its air (and act) now. I know that it has taken too much time, but it is taking place. There is hope. Change takes time. Let's keep the pressure up. Not sure if the financial impact (loss of tourism) had more to do with the reaction, but the reaction was swift. It looks like they were very sensitive to the bad publicity.

In any case, can those people who said they had lots of means to clean up the air list those? To be frank, I am not interested in personal solutions (use of masks,  filtering systems,... ), but societal solutions (that could benefit the whole population not just YOU). I am not talking about farfetched plans either.

39 minutes ago, StreetCowboy said:

I've cycled into the office three times this month, and there's still a week to go.

 

What have you guys done?

 

 

Sure. This is a personal decision that is beneficial for the environment. Do you think it is beneficial for you to breathe the polluted air? Unless you are using a 3M filter mask, you surely will do a lot of damage to your body and could even die. Don't laugh. I has an acquaintance of mine that kicked the bucket while exercising in Chiang Mai in March. It was defin. the air. Btw, I am using a fan right now, but I would prefer a/c. This is beneficial for the environment, but I am still breathing crappy air. Still, I am not breathing it like if I were biking.

The question is looking for solutions that deals with the source of the issue. The issue is people are breathing crappy air.

Governments could give incentives to buyers to buy electric cars too like this Canadian mayor/coun cil/city decided to do: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/laval-offers-citizens-2k-subsidy-182110662.html Should I phone the mayor of a Thai city that is plagued with bad air myself? I don't think it is my business, but I can Thai citizens to do this. Many want change. I am sure. I am sure if women knew what we know, they would.

2 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

I never knew lubricants are illegal in the Kingdom.

 

Grease ... palm should be!

21 hours ago, Marvo said:

Re "Rules changed..."
This year we (wife & I) were required to bring a friend to the immigration office to "vouch" for us as still living together as man and wife.

Also the photos in and around the house needed us in the SAME clothes, taken by (and with) the visiting immigration officer. Previously the photos had to be wearing DIFFERENT clothes in each picture.

I just can't keep up with all these changes!

Where is this? Did they give any rationale as to why you need to have the same clothes? Maybe this is to defeat a scam. I will ask an acquaintance here to know if this is a standard here and, if so, if he knows the reason.