kamalabob2

I have worked with more than one home decorator, and met more than one paint company representative in Thailand. Matt higher grade paint for the ceilings. Semi Gloss or Sheen for the walls. High Gloss on doors and door frames. EVERY major paint brand in Thailand has different grades of paint. it is quite clear in the paint folders what paint will last longer and has better attributes. Nippon Health Care Matt on the ceilings, Nippon Weatherbond Flex semi gloss paint on the interior, Nippon Colourshield Plus SolarFlect semi gloss paint on the exterior.  I was advised to NOT have any white walls nor do I have any white ceilings. TOA Super Shield is a popular house paint. 

https://www.buriramhome.com/buriram-guest-bedroom-suite/

Thank you in advance. I can not find a valid phone number of the Buriram Golf Course. It is on the Army Base. If anyone has a working telephone number it will save me a long drive.  Thank you. 

Your electrician did you no favors by using yellow conduit buried. He might not be aware that black HDPE with a red stripe has been the better choice of conduit for over 20 years in Thailand. Black HDPE conduit is readily available in Thailand. It is superior when you bury electric cable. You might consider a Honda generator. Long term satisfaction. Please rad the instruction book on how often to change the oil, no matter which generator you buy. Honda EU22i is a great dependable generator. It is not loud. It is a current Honda Power Product in Thailand. You can join two of this model together if your needs become greater. 

The OP would benefit to go see a LICENSED electrical contractor in his province. Who has residential references and a copy of his license. In 2008 I paid a licensed electrical contractor in Buriram to provide power poles, cables, 3 phase transformer, etc.  That licensed electrical contractor worked with my home designer, and the not so licensed electricians who were working days for the electrical contractor building the Buriram BigC.  I was able to see homes done by both teams. I was able to speak with home owners and see their Schneider electrical panels. The home builder in my case WAS NOT a certified electrician, so he had nothing to do with electrical choices and nothing to do with electrical installations. Frankly I see first hand "builders" who have little to no real electrical knowledge go and try to do the electrics in a home which often leads to trouble. Wrong size main feed cables, wrong size cables from load center to hot water heaters, the list goes on and on. But a licensed electrical contractor can eliminate these problems. I saved the booklet submitted by my licensed electrical contractor to the PEA office in Satuk for the approval of 3 phase power to my home. I show that document to folks who have electrical questions in Buriram.   Buriram Home with 3 phase electrical Transformer

This is an interesting forum topic. I must be "lucky" with the PEA. I also own a 3 phase transformer in my name on my wife's land. I also paid for STEC concrete poles my licensed Buriram electrical contractor installed along a private street in Buriram Province. I paid for the "connection" to PEA power at the public road. I did not buy the transformer, poles, cable or equipment from the PEA.

The change from "temporary meter rate' to normal three phase 30/100 meter rate was quick and painless. The PEA in Satuk came to my home and checked for grounding, looked at the Schneider load centers and signed off. I also have paid to have a hornet next removed from my own power poles on a private street. PEA and local government were involved as they had to shut down power and restart the power in a safe manner. The OP was given some great sincere advice on this thread. I do see a real difference in "focus and attention" given to expats at the Buriram PEA main office building depending on who they are with and who is doing the translations. The OP may want to reconsider a lawyer and instead go with a Thai the PEA staff will take seriously. Being overcharged by a utility is not pleasant. It is worth it for the OP to see things made right. 

If the OP brings that pump to a full line Mitsubishi water pump dealer that has a repair department he can have staff show him the different grade replacement tanks for that particular water pump. The repair staff cna line it up perfect and test it for leaks while the OP is present. Not all "stainless steel" is the same grade in my observation. It would would not take but four days for a motivated Mitsubishi dealer to order and receive a replacement tank, original or copy brand, for that pump. 

If the OP installs those three styles filters prior to the water storage tank he is well advised. May I suggest he also have a 2nd sediment filter installed not just prior to carbon & resin, but one sediment filter installed AFTER the carbon and resin filter tanks. If his household pump is installed (after a non return valve) after his water storage tank he will enjoy great water pressure in his home. There is no end to the options on water filters, so the suggestion to have his water tested is advice I would heed. I certainly agree about the virtue of bottled water being delivered to a home for drinking and cooking. The material his water storage tank is made of really matters.  Inexpensive PE blue, grey or green water tanks would not be my first choice.  The sunlight shoots right through those budget tanks. The better tanks are made from LLDPE.  No shortage of marketing phrases such as Nano or Elixer on a water tank label.  The better grade water tanks will have green PPR pipes installed inside the water tank at the water tank factory in Thailand. 

7.0 Diamond brand aac blocks are OFTEN used by Thai builders. Diamond Building Products stock, as do some retailers, the lintels 7.5 wide, 20 cm tall and a variety of lengths. It is NOT difficult for a Diamond brand dealer, or Q Con brand dealer to order lintels or blocks. The challenge is they get a full truck load at a time, so you might have to wait until they get enough "tonnage" to have the truck leave and drive to the plant in Diamond Sariburi. It is the retailer who pays for shipping of bulk materials, such as autoclaved blocks in Thailand, so a truck that hits the weight limit is crucial to keep transportation costs down. This video is of an expat who used Diamond wall blocks, Diamond lintels, and some other energy efficient home building materials in a small village. 

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With all due respect, HomePro would not be my first choice to buy a water pump. They do not stock professional water pumps such as the Mitsubishi 7 stage Super Pumps.  Homepro, Global, ThaiWatsadu are not authorized to sell or service professional Mitsubishi Super Pumps. Another GREAT very dependable brand of home water pump is DAB.  Not sold at Homepro. Mitsubishi and Hitachi make some nice consumer models of water pumps. A slightly less expensive brand of water pump at many stores and even on lazada is ITC.  A longer warranty than most. The pumps are actually made in the Hitachi water pump manufacturing plant in Thailand. This brochure will help any expat in Thailand better understand water pumps:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cbIExYqThl4ww41ygtl8ZrNu_oX0RsCe/view

In Korat better grade water pumps are sold BMC in the downtown. In Buriram Ruangsangthai across from the PEA on 2074 sells hundreds of water pumps every week. Both BMC and Ruangsangthai also fix water pumps at the same location you buy the water pump. Grundfos is a fine brand of water pump at that price point. DAB and Mitsubishi Super Pump will be less money than Grundfos for similar pumps in Isaan Thailand. Before you BUY a water pump, be sure to ask WHERE and WHO will fix it during the warranty period. Homepro is always on my list to select porcelain floor tile, Samsung appliances, but not a place with a wide selection of better quality water pumps. 

theft, credit payments from customers, pilferage to consider

Malawi is correct "The Animal Hospital in KK University will as a last resort."  I had two cats treated at different times, at this hospital. One was suffering and in the  final stages of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. I forget the fee, and they did offer to allow me to see the cat prior to the procedure. I did not know at that time of such a vaccination or test for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus.  I urge cat owners to pay for the vaccination. 

Icon Architectural Hardware, Veco, Mature Lock, VRH and Hafele all make several "series" of door hardware. You can see the differences in person. Support to the end user of some brands is better than others. The MD of Icon attended University in the USA and has a real sense of customer satisfaction. Mature Lock MD replaced a digital door set after 10 years of use at no charge. Some brands stand behind their products and some brands run the other way. 

If the OP or others are installing the multi point 8000 watt water heaters, they may consider the advice I received from Stiebel Elton:

For your question, the answer is in the red text

For 8000 watt multi point Stiebel Eltron

1) What size electric cable is best from the load center to each heater?     2.5mm or 4.0 mm or 6.0 mm

 // 10 mm is the best for 8000watt multipoint unit , If choose 6 mm is  ”just” ok

2) What size circuit breaker? // 40 amp

3) Should this breaker be a RCBO breaker or normal breaker? // RCBO breaker

Safety is my #1 concern. // Stiebel Eltron, too J

Further information you require, pls do let me know.

Best regards,

     Vivi

Sometime Woodworker:  WOW you are doing far more involved projects in your workshop.  Excellent. Thanks for posting. 

The workshop area is not air conditioned at my home in Buriram. The Mitsubishi wall fans seem to last longer, be far more quiet than typical wall fans I had bought in Buriram. I need to straighten up the work bench, but so many on going projects to keep me busy in Isaan. The bill PEA electric bill would be higher in cost if I had air conditioning installed. No doubt I would install Daikin inverter air conditioning. 

Thanks sometime woodworker for the detailed breakdown of the PEA electric bill in Buriram. Frankly I had never read the bill before other than how much to pay. I am so old fashioned I did not realize you can pay your PEA bill on your telephone via mobile banking. For 12 years I waited at the PEA office in line to pay. Folks with sensible size homes that use less units of electricity in Buriram would pay less per unit than I paid in July 2020. Thanks Sometime Woodworker for explaining the payback period for solar power in Thailand in a more accurate manner. 

People sometimes post that they can not understand a PEA electric monthly bill in Buriram, Thailand. I took the time to actually read my July 2020 invoice today. I used 563 units of electricity and paid 2393 baht. I figure with the meter charge I pay 04.25 baht per kilo watt. I have an APP swimming pool pump, Mitsubishi spa water pump, Mitsubishi 7 stage super pump and eight air conditioners on this home. All of my garden lighting is Solar powered. All of my security lighting is solar powered. The WASP electric fence is on 24/7. Five of the bathrooms and both kitchens have Stiebel Eltron 8000 watt multi point water heaters. Far too many large screen TV's. I run the Daikin Inverter air conditioner anytime I am in the home office or in the home theater. I do not have a/c in the kitchen. All five bedrooms have a/c. Every light is LED. It is easy to see I use more UNITS of electricity some months than other months. Could be my daughter staying home more often and running her Panasonic inverter a/c.  I hear other folks speak about 9,000 baht PEA monthly bills and I wonder what sort of a/c units or water pumps do they run. I checked and the highest PEA bill I ever paid since 2008 was 4310 baht for a month. I run my swimming pool pump 12 hours a day. There was no discount on the electric bill, but my units used from June 16 to July 16 are less than the previous month.  I figure I have paid 421,113 baht to the PEA for 12.5 years of electricity.  I hope this can help people with the payback period for solar power for a similar size home in Buriram. The a/c units are cleaned twice a year and the home was built with the autoclaved white thermal blocks. You can see photos of this six bedroom home with a 3 phase transformer I bought in 2008 in Satuk at: https://www.buriramhome.com

I stand corrected. 

Thai Carpenter sells some excellent brands of wood working tools, and maybe some brands not as excellent. Certainly a wide variety of tools are sold by Thai Carpenter.

The OP might want to look at the video and then look at his local labor force. The wall panels make sense for a major contractor who is doing many walls with no windows. If the contractor is willing to invest in the tools and training. Normal AAC blocks seem within the scope of local home construction crews. The weight on the wall panels, might be a deal breaker for most local crews. There are other walls panels on offer at the Architect Expo, and for condo builders or office builders certainly a strong contender. 

Ana and Sanwa or VRH manufacture in Thailand excellent, affordable water valves for under a sink. The length of the pipe thread matters if you have tiled walls. There are a host of terrible valves prone to failure sold in Thailand. In 12 years I have not had to replace any VRH or ANA water valves in my homes in Buriram. I have been 100% satisfied with both ANA and Sanwa metal ball valves on exterior pipes and the ANA brass garden taps in both a village home and a city home in Buriram Province. PVC valves are prone to failure at an inconvenient time. It costs so little to step up and buy a long lasting plumbing valve in Thailand compared to the junk a typical Thai home builder will try and stick in the home building list of materials. 

https://www.buriramhome.com/buriram-master-bedroom-suite/

or in a guest bathroom

https://www.buriramhome.com/buriram-guest-bedroom-suite/

I am in a position to see customer returns of defective plumbing fixtures, and see fixtures of brands bought at several different home improvement stores in Buriram. I also speak face to face with home owners that are 100% pleased with plumbing fixtures. Well water with calcium or iron can be challenging for many brands. Some brands do not last three months. Some do not have proper ceramic valves. In 12 years of home ownership in Thailand I have never had to replace a Toto bathroom tap, a Waterpik shower head, a VRH faucet in the kitchen or bathroom, or Teka Kitchen mixer tap. I had a porcelain Cotto basin tap fail, but the Cotto normal fittings all function and look great after 12 years. There is a lengthy list of brands that people are disappointed with.  I won't name and shame on a forum, but I keep track of those brands. I had to replace the floor drains in every bathroom that originally were Vegarr brand. I put real VRH 304 floor drains in and have been 100% satisfied. I have personal experience with how plumbing fixture companies in Thailand REALLY handle a warranty claim. Some are excellent, some shockingly <deleted> poor. It pays to save the store receipt and save the warranty card. I have grown to appreciate a company that stocks spare parts for plumbing in Thailand. Some budget hotels install cheap shower heads and bathroom taps as they replace every two years. They do not even try to fix a failing plumbing fixture. 

Very impressive wall with proper drainage. One of the very best I have seen in Isaan. Thanks for posting the photos. 

All of the previous posts are spot on. I will add he should put a voltage meter to test the actual voltage at the socket. Water pumps will stop working if the voltage drops or is above a certain voltage. This is built into a quality water pump such as that Hitachi water pump. That is why so many pumps that do not work at a consumers home work perfect at a repair shop. The voltage is wrong at the cunsumers home, and it is sufficient at the repair shop. 

Real Property appraisers are licensed in Thailand. I went to my local bank and got the contact information for a real licensed appraisal company they hire before they will grant a loan. The property appraiser came to my home, did measurements, look at approved building plans, looked at the property title paper, took many photos. Then they spent time at the land office to verify information. They did did "comps". I paid for the appraisal to set a selling price lower than the appraisal price. It was made clear the same exact home in a "village" would be worth less. But the same home is some more desirable neighborhoods in Buriram it would be worth more money. Location, Location, Location seem to be universal rules of real estate values, not just in Thailand. It was suggested we paint a bedroom a different color so we have taken that action. The fee for a residential appraisal is based on how many structures on the parcel. I paid 7,000 baht since I have three structures on the one parcel of land in Buriram.  I was told by the bank, that a prospective mortgage applicant would also have to pay for an appraisal since often homes are priced higher than a bank wants to loan. This is but one part of a licensed home appraisal in Buriram. 

https://www.buriramhome.com/buriram-house-appraisal-floor-plan/