JRinger

"However, Seri Suparathit, an expert in public disasters from Rangsit University, yesterday expressed opposition to the plan, saying it would not work as the water level in the eastern Bang Pakong River was higher than that in Bangkok.

He suggested that the best solution would be to remove the floodwalls along Canals 9 to 13 and focus on pumping water out at 50 million cubic metres per second."

Someone has a massive pump!

Do you know how mush water 50 million cubic metres per second is?

50 million cubic metres per second is a block 368 m long by 368 m wide by 368 m deep.

Now the floods aren't 368 m deep. Let's say they are 1 m deeep. So the area of land that will be pumped in one second is 7,000 m by 7,000 m. (31,251 Rai)

Yes, 7 km x 7 km pumped dry every second.

Pumping that much water would need the electrical power form about 10 power stations!

Sorry for the comment - I'm an engineer and an engineer always has to check the numbers.

7,000 meters x 7,000 meters = 49 million square meters divided by 1600 sqm (one rai) = 30,625 Rai ...only a difference of 626 rai. (from your 31,251 rai)

I'm not an engineer so I could be wrong...

I always thought they perhaps refused assistance because then the world will get a close up look at distribution of supplies, etc. and it would make it more difficult to pilfer and resell supplies?

A couple of days ago, I read that the U.S. had donated $15 M - (450 Million Baht in "Flood-Aid.") I have spoken to many Thais and, so far, not one was aware of it. We can only hope that some of that 450 million baht will get to those that need it.

Normally, I'm not a gambling man, but to this I would bet 'very heavy' against it.

As one is aware, the United States and Thailand have been "friends" through out the Vietnam War era and afterwards. Annually there is military training done with the Thai army and navy from the US forces. The Thai government accepts this with no problem. It is a "shocker" for the Thai goverrnment NOT to accept help from the American military that has the resources of helicopters and men to assist in this massive, MASSIVE tragedy. I suppose "saving face" has something to do with it???? - Who knows.

If I remember correctly, the USA accepted foreign assistance with the Katrina flooding. All civilized countries accept help (such as Japan this year) when they need to save lives during a tragedy. (ok, Burma does not-- is Thailand wabt to be likeBurma?)

The US and Thailand have been friends since 1945 when the US prevented Great Brittain from classifying Thailand as the enemy and occupying it.

I think you may want to go back a few more years to Lincoln's time when he (the U.S.) gave horses to Thailand.

A good friend had house design prepared by thai-land-house and they also saved him quite a lot of money on windsor doors & windows.

They get a discount because they send windsor a lot of work, you may want to contact them to compare prices. They prepare detailed drawings for doors & windows and include installation fees.

25 pages of answers and people still don't understand that it doesn't matter what we think. Thailand has its own idea of how its country should be run. For every ying there is a yang. Who gives a rat's azz? You either enjoy someone's company or you don't. As the old saying goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Accept things as they are and either stay or leave. None of us has any control over who runs the country we currently live in. It's the same whether we live in the USA, the UK, Australia, Germany, Thailand or somewhere in Africa.

25 pages is a clear sign that 'it does matter what we think'. Why else would there be a forum for discussion? I don't think the subject was about 'intelligent conversation' with a country, it was about having a decent conversation with Thai people.

In my observation, it appears there are a lot of people/forum members who spend a great deal of time 'discussing' everything imaginable in Thailand. Your words of wisdom, "accept things as they are" are certainly from a well centered, Buddha-like attitude and of course, valid in a different area of discussion. ...Why do people come to TV to discuss things? could it be that 'intelligent conversation' is limited in the real world. Why do people seek out farang meeting points? I believe for the same reason, can't get the intellectual stimuli from our wives or gf's. Of course, I'm speaking for myself which puts me in the 'independent thinker' corner while most Thai's are all happy being in the same corner.

I spent many years working in Bangkok amongst suits who all had degrees that, in my opinion, didn't make them any more intelligent than my neighbor who only finished high school. I've worked with bank presidents, CEO's, etc., etc., and I was not impressed with level of intelligence and/or limited views of just about everything. In fact, 'money' appeared to be the highest priority of conversation. This was also true while living amongst non-educated Island folks..

But to recap your words, "it doesn’t matter what we think", kindly disregard all the above...

Are Thais Taught Anything About The World Outside Of Thailand

Why should we farangs care about this?

one simple reason is being able to spend more quality time with Thai wife/gf, friends & family discussing more interesting, sophiticated and intelligent things other than peanuts & bananas, and spending less time on this forum.

Being of the assumption that the general Thai population can't hold so-called interesting, sophisticated, and intelligent conversations.

These common guesses derive from those that either don't comprehend the language adequately for decent chat or tend to stay with the same old laddened stereotypes.....

or if you happen to live in Isaan.

Sounds like you're happy with "peanuts & bananas" although there are others that enjoy intelligent conversation, and no guesswork at all, an assumption no doubt....but 20+ years of experience. and then again, I'm not one to sit around and talk about football or tennis, etc. So, looks like we're all different, congradulations.

I don't speak Mexican, not worried about it.

Nor does anyone else in the world, speak Mexican....No such language...

Possibly debatable. ¡Caracoles!

and what isn't "possibly debatable"? Is Singlish an official language?

Are Thais Taught Anything About The World Outside Of Thailand

Why should we farangs care about this?

one simple reason is being able to spend more quality time with Thai wife/gf, friends & family discussing more interesting, sophiticated and intelligent things other than peanuts & bananas, and spending less time on this forum.

I don't speak Mexican, not worried about it.

Nor does anyone else in the world, speak Mexican....No such language...

Oh please. Not gold again.

Rarely has gold ever produced a positive return after inflation. And that doesnt take into account the cost of ownership (aka likelihood of being robbed), or indeed the fact that owning gold provides no interest or dividend at all.

And to recommend gold as a short-term investment to "widows and orphans" is, in my opinion, total insanity.

....So, in your (armchair) expert opinion, what else has done better?

gold is easy to buy and relatively easy to store (safe deposit box, etc) and easy to sell, transport, etc. unlike stocks, etf's, etc. I bought gold when it was at $720/oz and have been buying since......are you suggesting I've lost money (if I cash out)???

and gold doesn't stink like pig poop...

Richard4849

Yes...only problem is that it's illegal. Small detail, of course.

I'm pretty certain prostitution is illegal as well, although not enforced...

Incredible how politicians here twist the interpretation of the law to their own dodgy logic to support the 'innocence' of someone so obviously dodgy. This is the old way in Thailand and they overlook the fact that a burgeoning educated middle class will not have the wool pulled over their eyes any longer, in the same way the poor will no longer let themselves be ignored.

Let the courts decide, and that is, a court not stacked with friends of the accused.

The thing about Chalerm and Thaksin is they have doctorates in Law and Criminology, yet us mere graduates can see that their PhDs are more about how to skirt the law than apply it in the spirit of justice.

It might surprise you that Thaksin's Phd is "honorary" (Texas University) and not earned the traditional way. Don't know about Chalerm, can only assume.

Interesting .I came to live in Thailand in 1989. I wanted to get away from ALL of these western influences ,you are raving about. I have never been in a macs, once in a kfc( awful shit, Thai cooked chicken is so much better), never in a pizza hut, once in a pizza company. What crap it was. Tried a burger king ,NEVER again. This country is called THAILAND. I came here to live in THAILAND.Not some quasi "americana crap" country. Yes ,I do eat some western food ,AND Indian . but not S"h38"t. None comes from "fast food " sources.Unless it is Thai fast food , cooked by Thais, Great - I love it. So, I live in a small village , totally FREE of all this Sh&t. I live in Thailand. Not americana. There is enough corruption in this country ,without you lot forcibly corrupting it further.and destroying it.

Finally ! Someone with common sense & vision. I whole-heartedly agree with you and came here in '88 for the same reasons.

The buddha taught about mindfulness and carefulness; so lets not bring buddishm into what sounds like basic backwards ignorant behaviour by someone who knows no different because everybody else in the village is doing same same, ja?

Thank you for saying that. Far too many people are ready to ascribe all manners of wrong doing to Buddhism.

Stupidity is not part of Buddhism.

Anyway, since when were the Thais most of us know "real" Buddhists in the same sense as how many farangs are "real" Christians?

The "ism" part sure is...

The guy in the village isnt selling 9Mb for 200B. He's selling a share of his 9Mb for 200B. And he's probably selling a share to many other people also.

Look at it this way:

he subscribes to 9Mb for (say) 1000B. He sells it on to 10 other people for 200B each. He has a net gain of 1000B per month, after costs, which he uses to pay for a second private 9Mb connection which he keeps for himself.

End result: he gets his connection for free and 10 people pay over the odds for a shared connection.

Spot the loser.

..hardly a loser if you're getting reliable internet access @ 9mb for 200B/month... (the half empty glass vs the half full one)

Phuket depends on tourists for its well being, full stop, If it wants to shoot itself in the foot because it's officials and people can't collectively persuade the mafia that what they're doing is ruining it for everyone, then they should suffer the consequences. The Ambassador is only being helpful in suggesting how important it is, because he gets all the complaints first hand and ends up posting warnings on his foreign office website.

Taking this step further, I produce travel guides for the web and iphones, and concur with many other travel writers that tuk tuks and jetskis should be avoided, we warn readers off them, same as shopping at King Power in Suvarnabhumi, we make it clear that the local officials aren't policing it, so alternative transport or watersports should be used to avoid rip offs. If and when less and less people use these services, many will hopefully go out of business eroding the base of their mafia cartel.

any link or direction to one of your travel guides?

depending on the season i pay between 280 and 420 Baht...

...per day

Regardless of the weather, my electic bill has never been more than 400 Baht....per month

The biggest advantage of having a 'yellow book' is the fact you can get free treatment at government hospitals, including medicines.

According to the rules at Srinakarin Hospital, Khon Kaen, you need to be married.

Just to correct you a little there 'JRinger'. You have to prove you are married to a Thai national before the 'yellow book' is issued at the Ampur. The hospital doesn't enqire if you are married, as that check was/has already been done prior to issuing the book. The rules are enforced by the Ampur, not the hospital.

You don't need to correct me, even a little...I have a yellow book and guess what, I'm not married..any more false information to add? This is what makes this forum great, armchair experts such as yourself that think they know everything and all the answers.

Anything else you profess to be an expert on you may want to reconsider before posting it.

The biggest advantage of having a 'yellow book' is the fact you can get free treatment at government hospitals, including medicines.

According to the rules at Srinakarin Hospital, Khon Kaen, you need to be married.

...in order to buy up value stocks...

don't buy equi.shit.ties!

Not so long ago, you said the same thing about gold !

Alas, it's a bit late in the day for that advice. Thanks again.

No worries matey, you are not alone, join the rest of us, we are all in the same boat. LOL.

No we're not. If we were, it would surely sink.

The best place and city life aren't always conducive......for some.

I believe it would be extremely difficult for those out there attempting to extend suggestions to where you might be comfortable, as there will be a multitude of variables, experiences and situations that surely differ from the next. Well intended as they might be, you'll get a score of responses......many wondering why folks, such as yourself, inquire about such a rhetorical situation that leads nowhere.

Best to take some time and explore the broader region for yourself. 4-5 months should suffice. You should be able to secure your utopia by then.....or perhaps not.

Best of luck to you.

Very well said zzaa09. Copy and pasting your response in several posts would do this forum justice.

I can't believe some of the questions posted; "where should I live", "what should I eat", "how much to build a house", etc., etc.,

Some people have no sense of adventure and the internet has made alot of people lazy and unimaginative.

Don't install a toilet bowl without a seal ever !

The rubber type is best.

Someone installed a toilet bowl in our place (when I was away).

The bowl was placed directly on the tiles and cemented on.

After a few weeks the bathroom started to stink.

Brown lines started to appear in the tile grouting and around the edge of the bowl.

You can imagine what that was!

You can not get the bowl to adhere to shiny floor tiles using cement!

So we had the bowl removed, and a new one fitted with a rubber ring and cemented direct to the concrete.

A few points to consider:

The concrete around the oulet should be chiselled out to get as large a surface area as possible for the

cement to adhere to the concrete.

The rubber ring is fitted over the outlet pipe.

The bowl should be turned upside down and the void filled with wet cement.

The chiselled out floor area is also filled with excess cement.

The bowl is then inverted and pressed down, forcing the neck of the bowl through the rubber seal,

squeezing out the excess cement. (If possible keep the neck clean so that cement does not get on the

seal. Some silicone grease can be used to ease the fitting but don't use any oil-based lubricant)

The bowl should be checked for level in both directions and square-on to the wall.

The tiles need to be cut to fit around the bowl leaving a small gap for grout.

Accuracy is needed for this job!

Now it will look neat and the bathroom will not stink!

Although your advise may satisfy some, most of it is incorrect not to mention all the work involved; chiseling, mixing concrete, etc. Just cutting the tiles to fit nicely around the base will take hours and I doubt it will look very good either considering that good tile saws are almost non-existent.

Most toilets have two holes on the bottom lip of the fixture where it meets the floor. These holes are not for filling with cement. They are for bolts that attach to a steel plate that's been fixed to the concrete (or wood) floor. The wax rings (or rubber cones) are necessary to make a seal and prevent unwanted leakage.

The idea of cementing the toilet down prevents or makes it's difficult to make repairs later on and they can tip over.

Most of the better toilets sold in Thailand come with the steel plate, bolts, wax rings or rubber cones.

If your toilet doesn't have the steel plate, not a problem. drill a couple holes in the concrete and place lead anchors to attach the bolts from the top of the toilet rim. and instead of wasting a lot of time trying to cut the tiles perfectly around the base of the toilet, just cut the tiles around the steel base plate and mount the toilet on top, apply silicone sealer where the toilet meets the floor/tile and you'll have a very nice finish.

and the installation picture in you post may be suitable for most, you may want to add a p-trap/s-strap under the floor to make sure the sewer or septic tank smells and deadly methane gas doesn't fill your nose, easy enough to make with pvc fittings.

I have a wireless alarms system that I brought from he UK and installed here (works on 868MHz), works flawlessly except for the early days when I had used some passive infrared detectors. The problem I had was that unless the PIR's were configured for very low sensitivity it was possible for Ghekko's or other insects wandering across the front of them to set off the alarm.

I ended up removing the PIR's and going for magnetic contacts on every door / window which now works great, except for the high number of magnetic switches I needed (22 I think). The other issue can be batteries. The ones bought locally in Thailand don't last as long as the ones I bring from the UK. The UK ones last for a good 2 years.

The system also supports X10 devices so I can control lights and sockets through the existing electrical power wires. I have various lights coming on and off through the night when I'm away from home

The system has GSM which alerts me of any alarms / problems and also allows remote configuration. I installed the main control panel in the roof space supplied from a UPS with a small remote keypad near the front door and in the bedroom. The system also has three different arming levels depending on what you want to arm (perimeter, partial and full arm). Also can add smoke / gas / flood detectors to it.

Very happy with it and it has worked in anger 1 time when some scumbag came in through a back door while we were away from the house. Alarm went off, GSM alerted us, he bolted when the alarm went off and got nothing. The guy next door wasn't so lucky as the thief must have broken into his house before climbing over the wall to my house.

Here is a link to the website - http://www.quicksafe...rglar-alarm.htm

M.

Well, that's certainly a lot of useless information and link for wanting information about "alarm/security products available in THAILAND and not the U.K., unless you're from the U.K. and make periodic trips.

What about a good wireless system available in Thailand? and not only the Chinese crap?

I honestly applaud the effort as foreigners do have rights - But whilst this may be sound in theory. In practice it fails as most Thais believe that Foreigners have no rights under the law and until the Thai population at large is (re) educated to understand that , shock, horror, we have rights too, nothing in practice will change.

That is a two way street. If you will read the posts so far you will notice that what you say the Thais believe is also what the majority of the posters so far believe.

It would be interesting to here some honest opinions on the subject. I have a skeptical outlook on the opinion of people who constantly belittle Thai's. I find it easy to not do that by realizing I am in another country by choice.

Part of the reason I chose to live here is because they are different here. If I tried to judge them on them not being like back where I came from I would be with the Thai basher's in a heartbeat. And shortly after that on my way back to where I came from.

No my post was not about belittling and bemoaning Thais. It was about stating fact. We have rights which are guaranteed by law, however most Thais are unaware of the law, which was written by Thais for all people living in Thailand. All I'm saying is that perhaps Thais should educate themselves about the laws they themselves wrote (especially those involved in the enforcement of the law). Being in Thailand by choice is irrelevant as these laws should be applied to all people in Thailand whether or not they are here by choice or otherwise.

My post was aimed at promoting awareness amongst Thais of their own laws.

Edit. As part of the broader picture; this awareness should help Thais understand their legal rights as well and prevent them from being exploited and feeling powerless.

Maybe you should mount some loudspeakers on your truck and drive around through all the villages reminding the Thai's of their rights and how they should treat foreigner's. I've seen very fews laws enforced here except for criminal acts.

If you live here and think you have any rights you're dreaming although on the other hand, if you live a quiet life and do your best to avoid stepping on toes and making noise, you may end up living in peace.