kamalabob2

Guitarzan:  You are setting a fine example in your community to sit back and allow the Thai craftsmen to put in premade support columns with no pesky rebar steel, to go with the flow and use 6 baht grey wall blocks, a metal roof in the color your wife likes. Plenty of time to go to HomePro or HomeMart and buy insulation later. No need to bring your wife to the Architect Expo in Bangkok later this month to see most every USA and European style home building product is in fact available in Thailand and energy efficient building products are available by special order in Ubon Ratchathani.  Just go with the flow, let the Thai people do what they already know as they have proven they know how to build quality homes for 930,000 baht in your village. No need to ever put a Infrared Handheld Non-Contact Thermometer on those grey wall blocks which you can buy for 379 baht on Lazada. Just let them build they way that is easier for them. Easy to see the fine craftsmanship on the welding in the photos. Why cause marital strife over your crazy farang ideas of energy efficient autoclaved wall blocks. No need to remind them to look at the pitch of the roof on your plans, just let them build with less steel and a different slope. Certainly in the USA you would allow folks with a 9th grade education to be your construction project manager. Following house plans is so burdensome and you want to get along with those highly educated workers. It is their money and they will be paying the PEA monthly bill so no need to worry.  http://asa.or.th/architectexpo/  In truth you have time to source some energy efficient home building materials in Ubon Ratchathani.  Home Hub has a Diamond Building Products PC, SCG staff must be at your Home Mart, all the energy saving items are already in Ubon Ratchathani. For 930,000 baht you deserve a nice COMFORTABLE home. 

I've replaced the carburetor in a Patco brush cutter with a genuine Honda engine that I bought in Buriram in 2005.  Seems the family had used poor gasohol in the machine. A genuine Honda carburetor for the Honda GX35 is easy to buy at an authorized Honda Power Products dealer in Thailand. I'd personally steer clear of copy parts for any machine I want to last for more than one year when in fact genuine parts are readily available in Thailand for mainstream brands such as Honda. Patco is a fairly large Thai company that uses genuine Honda Power Products in several items they assemble. 

So far my Milwaukee 18 volt batteries have worked fine in a garden blower that my wife uses daily. I've owned a Makita 18 volt drill for several years and no challenges to the battery. I'll buy the Makita 18 or 36 volt chainsaw on Wednesday in Buriram so my wife can use it in the village for small projects. I'm tempted to get the Makita calking gun when I build another house in Thailand. 

JD pools Bangkok office designed my concrete swimming pool in 2006 in conjunction with a Thai Buriram home designer. The swimming pool plan and pool house plan was in fact submitted to and approved on the permit to build.  The architect specified Weber swimming pool tile adhesive and Weber tile grout. I selected Kera Tile 4 by 4 tile.  It has worked out well. Paul Bodkin maintains my pump and filter. I realize Buriram is a province where sometimes you must pay travel fees and lodging costs for selected trades men to come and to high quality work. I understand why some expats pay a higher rate for a native German plumber to install Pimaflex pipe inside a home in Surin Province or Buriram Province. 

Easy to buy genuine Zinsano accessory or replacement parts for the better series of high pressure washers at any full line Zinsano dealer. Probably not Big C, HomePro, Robinson's, Tesco or Makro in Buriram. The Zinsano rep in this photo understands and speaks English. I've enjoyed the Caspian pressure washer with Induction motor. It seems to have the same power s the Karcher pressure washer I bought in 2007 at HomeWorks in Bangkok. 

PPR pipe comes in all manner of size and pressure strength. I've been very happy with PPR water pipe in Buriram. In fact in I installed it for garden water taps with ANA brass fittings. Both have served me well for many years. I had some stainless steel garden hose holders fabricated in Buriram and that has proven a better value than plastic garden holders. 

You can speak English in several provinces, face to face, with solar installers. My wife is keen to have solar air conditioning and solar heated hot water in a Buriram Village home. The solar powered DC brushless submersible well pumps have proven a popular item in her village. 

The same office in Buriram or Surin where you would obtain the free chain saw permit is the office where they have the application to drill a deep well of a certain size. In Buriram that office is in the same building as Anti Corruption and Thai Immigration. I'll go on record that the 4000 baht Chinese submersible well pumps are not the same quality and longevity as a made in the USA or made in Mexico pump. The talent and experience of the well installer does impact your experience in Thailand. Solar deep well submersible well pumps are readily available in most provinces in Thailand. A water pump can last over 10 years and should cost more than your daughters last Vivo or Huawei mobile telephone. 

I see plenty of water tanks and drip irrigation filters on show in Buriram this week at the Buriram Home Builders Expo. It is not a boring shopping trip as the technical staff are very helpful. Netafim is a brand of Crop irrigation and Rainbird is a garden sprinkler system I am familiar with in Buriram Thailand. 

You can have solar water pumps installed in Surin by several companies. Certainly worth the time of the OP to meet in person and speak to a native UK English speaker at the Buriram Builders Merchants Expo the next few days in Buriram. Whole House solar, solar exterior security lights, solar hot water heaters, deep well submersible pumps, both solar or ac are on show with English speakers to explain options. 

DeWALT current model batteries are easy to buy in Thailand. Stanley Black & Decker will sell batteries direct to end users at a posted price and will sell for a discount to any authorized dealer in Thailand. If the battery is fairly new, and was originally imported to Thailand for a tool sold in Thailand it is simple. Some of the DeWALT tool demonstrators I spoke with today in Buriram made me consider a pair of larger capacity LiIon batteries. 

The OP might check with DR Fixit line of repair solutions in Thailand. The MD of this building materials company attended High School and University in Texas. He told me that they will soon have a cost effective line of floor coating for grow rooms in Buriram Thailand. His focus is to provide solutions to construction challenges in Thailand. The woman I buy Dr. FixIt wall and floor coatings from in Buriram speaks Thai German and English. Dr. Fix it has catalogs in English as well as Thai language. Global House, Hardware House and independent builders merchants stock this brand which offers solutions to problems as outlined by the OP. 

May I suggest anyone with questions about Zinsano water pressure washers consult with a technician who speaks English. Or you could speak with the Karcher high pressure washer importer representative or Bosch or Hitachi pressure washers in Buriram for the next four days. The same reps will also be at the Architect Expo in Bangkok at Impact in late April and early May 2019. 

I know of expats who have died in a public hospital and the Thai spouse refused to sell land, gold jewelry or a truck to pay off the public hospital debt. The expats had not taken the time to buy medical insurance, and did not plan for serious medical treatments. If they had life insurance, it was not allocated to pay off a hospital debt. I know of other expats who have delayed payment on a home building contract and departed Thailand on very short notice if they became aware of spousal infidelity. Why finish the home for the now "ex girlfriend" and her Thai boyfriend. I am fortunate enough to budget for Aetna Health Insurance for in patient coverage. 

Thank you for posting. lopburi3

It would be very prudent for an expat to have a proper will in Thailand. I must point out that your spouse needs a will unless you care to spend time, money and more time in Thai probate court. I've met too many expats who spent serious money on lawyers during probate in Thailand, when if the spouse had a will it would have been much less money and far less time. Years in probate court if you get the right "family".  I paid 4000 baht for a proper will for each member of the family by a US expat attorney in Bangkok in 2005. Certainly is an experienced expat attorney in Korat. A will will make it far less costly for your spouse or your designated beneficiary to obtain funds from a bank account. My wills were stamped by a licensed notary and were in Thai and English.  Spending the time and nominal money to have a will for each member of your family will save grief when anyone passes. 

I have bought National Brand primer and exterior paint for a village wall. It has served me well in Buriram. I have bought Dulux paint four years prior for the same wall. National paint is a budget brand of Delta paint in Thailand. Under 1000 baht for five gallons. Like any inexpensive paint it is mixed at the paint plant. It took a bit of Lanko 107 and Dr. Fixit to patch the wall prior to sealer | primer. I've learned it pays to primer the rear side of the boundary wall, so less damage to the side on my wife's land. 

I have also seen Weber "color Poxy" in Buriram which is a "High-performance epoxy-resin adhesive for tiling on all substrates"  Here is the link to another pool tile grout for use in swimming pools in Thailand.    

https://www.th.weber/en/webercolor-poxy

This deep well DC water pump, three solar panels, a control box, panel stand, DOS water tank and all matter of fittings were bought this week in Buriram. A UK expat supervised two Thai technicians who installed this water pump system installation today. This March 1, 2019 photo of a working solar powered water pump on a home building site in Buriram Province is affordable and a very good option if the PEA demand too steep of an upfront installation fee for a remote location in Isaan. Not every expat pays for land near suitable PEA power lines or PWA water supply pipes. I've paid for both utility connections on land in Buriram Province in 2006 that was located on a private road in the middle of town.  Solar power was not a sensible option in 2006. 

Some jugs are worth paying 125 baht. 

No end to "inexpensive" power tools in Thailand. Repairs can be a challenge on the fake names. Maktec are made in the same factory as Makita tools. Same Makita Tool company, different components in the Maktec tools. If an expat was looking to buy a proper set of genuine Milwaukee 18 volt tools with three long lasting batteries it is worth looking for the set on sale in 2019 in Thailand. This cordless power tool set I viewed in Buriram includes two 18 volt 5ah batteries and one 18 volt 12ah battery. This is not something you would see at Global House or Thaiwatadu. The cordless tool set is priced less than my daughter's last Huawei  mobile phone. The Milwaukee Tools will last twenty years longer than that mobile phone. 

If the OP searches on line he can find a news story or forum posting about the expat who moved out a rental after a small fire. He claimed he was not at fault. He was a smoker. He left the Kingdom for several months. Upon his return to Thailand he was thrown in jail. Seems his landlord went to court and won a judgement of sorts. It is a cautionary true tale of not blowing off a Thai landlord. Police can be incentivized and you will be at a great disadvantage. 

You can buy a small pressure washer at Big C, Tesco, Makro, Homepro, Global House, ThaiWatsadu or via Lazada. However no matter what you pay to buy a pressure washer you might someday want it fixed the same day. Good luck with any of the above on repairs. The "send to Bangkok" process is fraught with delays, misunderstandings, hidden costs and rude surprises. You might consider buying a Karcher or Zinsano or Hitachi or Bosch pressure washer from a store that actually fixes the unit. No matter what size. I've owned a Karcher that I bought in 2007 in Bangkok at HomeWorks and it works fine 12 years later. It cost over 20K, so I eye with interest models from Zinsano that represent a decent value in Thailand. The pressure washer that Buriram Supply air conditioning staff bring to my home for the annual cleaning is under 100 bar.  Jack's Resort in Buriram cleans each hotel room a/c unit once every two months with a small Zinsano pressure washer. 

If the OP wants to see professional gas installation examples he might visit the annual Architect Expo held in Bangkok the first week in May 2019. Think about the professional gas installations of a Buriram Robinson food court restaurants. Think about modern restaurants in large new hotels in Bangkok. There are real companies that, for a price, can install safe gas for cooking. Any Teka appliance dealer can sell you a free standing range that has gas burners and a gas oven. I know of more than one Buriram Village home with gas large tank water heaters similar to a gas water heater in the USA.  Gas installations and gas water heaters are not in the same price range as a multi point electrical water heater. Or even not in the same price range as a Stiebel Eltron electric tank water heater like I have seen in Buriram. Anything is possible in Thailand for a price.