milesinnz

I am not sure what would be worse.. Bangkok Hilton or the front line in Ukraine ???...

2 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Haven’t had your morning coffee? That was a bit harsh.

 

I never made any comment about Cambodia which everyone knows is a far poorer country than Thailand overall. I simply said that there is also poverty in NE Thailand.

 

I live close to the Cambodian boarder and see every day the big American Cars with Cambodian plates. The signs in the private hospital here are in Khmer and Thai as most of the patients are from over the boarder. There are clearly also a lot of  wealthy Cambodians who live close enough to do their food shopping in Thailand. 

you don't understand Cambodia at all.. "and see every day the big American Cars with Cambodian plates".. these are the corrupt.. you can see Rolls Royces and other exotic cars regularly crashed in Phnom Penh almost every night - the drivers often run away or someone comes to collect them - some causing injury or even death to ordinary Khmer - where do you think the money could come from ? Cambodia is the most corrupt country in SE Asia.. and figures very poorly in the world ranking as far as corruption is concerned - I think even falling in recent ranking... I know Thailand is corrupt, but the dynasty in Cambodia is more akin to North Korea than Thailand. you were comparing the poverty in NE Thailand with the poverty in Cambodia.. I forget your exact words.. by any measure the poverty in Cambodia is many degrees worse than Thailand.. the recent news,,, I think I am correct in saying that Cambodia has the poorest mental health in SE Asia... why do Khmer cross the border in such numbers to work in Thailand in the lowest paid jobs if there is any sort of equality at the bottom of the social ladder  ?... why do people in Cambodia seek to go to Thai hospitals if they possibly can ? There have been a number of recent cases where Thai's have been lured to Cambodia to work in high paid jobs but as then imprisoned and forces to work scams - that is regularly in the news...

15 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

There is plenty of poverty in NE Thailand 

Some real data... Cambodia is rated as no 38 in the most poor countries in the World.. nothing like Thailand... you just shot any credibility you had to bits. I know NE Thailand very well... I can have what I can call a third home there (Udon)... the farm and my main family involvement in is Northern Cambodia - mainly Anlong Veng which was the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge. The mother of my daughter there is a senior Police Officer so I know well the social issues as we discuss and try to take action in those areas that we can. You are living in an arrogant delusional bubble and don't have a clue what you are talking about...

4 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

You don’t need to go for a totally off-grid setup like mine. The inverters in the video are now only ฿17k and PV is only ฿6 per Watt. So a 5kW system is going to cost less than ฿50k plus installation.

 

 

 

Here in Thailand you can buy a Neta V with V2L for ฿500k for battery backup for your home solar system.

 

 

I have several video on my EcoHouseThailand channel about my setup. We are 100% off-grid (no meter) we have rainwater harvesting for household and drinking water. We use solar thermal for hot water and solar well pumps to irrigate our fruit trees and veggies. 

 

I was asked by a teacher friend to produce a video on Self Sufficiency that he could use with his students:

 

 

I agree you don't need to be completely off grid.. you can often get 80% of your requirements met with 50% of the cost..  I have a good route for equipment from China.. Alibaba I have been using for 8 years... but I don't think you appreciate the poverty there is in  Northern Cambodia.... the lack of jobs is a huge issue and this leads to drugs and crime. I can get a turnkey package from China... but we have a lot of other priorities. Our concern is for the local economy and local people and this is where a lot of our effort is being aimed.... we will be using solar, but modestly and where it is most useful and needed...

5 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

I designed my home to maximize passive cooling via stack effect ventilation and a fly roof to create a venturi effect by funneling wind across my open third floor. I was hoping that this increase wind speed would make domestic vertical axis wind power more viable. There is a video on my channel testing wind speed for wind power and I really don’t think it’s viable in NE Thailand.

 

EVs with V2L and domestic solar are definitely the most viable option. Here is a video from my series on V2L powering my home. I can power my house all night from my car and use less than 10% of the car’s battery. It then takes less than an hour to charge it back up the next day.

 

 

I watched your video.. thanks.. very professional and I suspect an expensive setup. I don't see many Thais being able to achieve this. I am more of a minimalist. We will be taking some simple obvious steps to make the houses cooler... insulation and white walls is pretty simple start. There would be few people in Cambodia (which is in the bottom 40 most poor countries in the World) who could afford such a setup - and if they could they would likely be the corrupt who don't care about anything but themselves so they will be driving around in big 4 x 4 s or expensive exotic supercars. I continue to follow developments in solar panels and battery technology which I expect to continue to improve. I am leaning towards China supplied battery car equipment to repower small petrol cars in Cambodia. Also we are aiming for close to complete self-sufficiency on the farm - but we will still have diesel tractors. I think the bigger risk is an economic dislocation rather than running out of carbon fuels or even the effects of climate change. It will be interesting to see how fast things move and in what direction on all of the social and economic challenges we face.

15 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

When you install solar on your home in Thailand you are not required to submit any paperwork unless you want to be part of the Rooftop Solar program, which very few people do as it's not an an attractive scheme. So no record is kept of domestic solar installs, so as I said "5% solar is only commercial" 

 

 

Demand for electricity at night is a fraction of that during the day, that is why night time electricity is half the price of day time use. 

 

 

Battery prices have continued to fall and as the Thai government wants all new cars sold to be electric by the year 2035 most homes will have access to 50kWh+ of battery storage. If consumers could be incentivized to sell some of this stored power back at times of peak demand it would be a win win.

 

You have not mentioned wind power which tends to produce more at night. Thailand has long coast lines and shallow coastal waters 

 

I hope you are right. We are both speculating about the future. I have considered wind power for Cambodia, but there is very little wind for most of the year - so I am not even going to consider this. I have no idea what offshore wind farm potential there is for at least Thailand. Cambodia is considered a low wind area for sailors. The key I feel still lays at the feet of battery costs and storage potential and length of battery service. Do you currently see cities in Thailand that can operate at night on batteries ? And if the Thai government is really so pro electric vehicles, why don't they start by electrifying the railways ? There have been some interesting developments in Germany I believe with trucks getting their power from railway type pantagraphs on major routes and switching to battery for the end local roads - seems a pretty smart idea. I have just looked at some data for China's road energy usage up to 2030. The use of electricity is so small, it is hardly measurable on the graphs provided. Best described as insignificant showing a rise in diesel and petrol usage. This article was published in March 2022 (I have no idea what the projections are for Thailand - I also assume this does not include agriculture). https://www.tycorun.com/blogs/news/what-is-the-energy-consumption-of-transportation

7 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Unlike you I am a member of number of online solar and EV groups in Thailand and demand for both is through the roof.

 

Thailand EV sales in 2023 went up 684% vs 2022, now 12% of total new car sales

https://paultan.org/2024/01/09/thailand-ev-sales-in-2023-went-up-684-vs-2022-now-12-of-total-new-car-sales-byd-top-neta-second/

 

Most of the EVs sold in Thailand now come with V2L, meaning that the owner has access to a massive battery storage. 

 

When it comes to solar you ask "you think that average Thai can afford your level of investment." Solar is far cheaper than an EV maybe you didn't know that. You don't need an off-grid system like mine and many Thais are buying them. I have 2 Thai friends in the solar install business and they have never been busier. You claim "renewable is 5%" this is only commercial solar not domestic, which is not recorded. 

 

Yes natural gas is currently the main source of power for production of electricity generation but basic economics dictates that solar will grow rapidly in Thailand as it is the cheapest form of energy. 

 

 

 

I don't doubt it is going through the roof.. I will be installing solar on our farm in Cambodia... but at only 5% being renewable in Thailand.. and that will be the total renewable... I don't know what % will be solar... there is a long way to go... where does all the power come from to run the night time aircon, all the businesses and factories at night.. and Thailand does not even have an electrified rail system. So all the Kubota tractors are going to be replaced by electric tractors ?... how many electric tractors are there in Thailand ? Solar capacity has to go up by a factor of 10 just to get to 50%. I really have no knowledge of how factories and businesses would be powered at night - don't forget all the aircon. Battery ??? "Solar is far cheaper than an EV maybe you didn't know that".. what are you trying to say ???? Thailand is a country with economic problems and where personal debt is huge.. so Thais will borrow more ?... but I would say the sooner they can get battery buses in BKK and other major cities the better. My issue is with the numbers... so what happens at night ? Thailand runs on batteries ?

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

You obviously don’t know much about solar in Thailand.

 

* There are no high import duties or import bans on PV, inverters and batteries here. Solar components are falling in cost all the time

* Installation cost here are laughably cheap

* There are no permitting requirements for domestic solar

* Thailand is located close to the equator, meaning that solar production is excellent all year round

 

I use my solar system to power a 450m2 house, 2 EVs and an electric motorbike off-grid - I don’t have PEA/MEA

My EV has bi-directional charging meaning that I have the equivalent to 6 Tesla PowerWalls of backup power.

 

Future improvements:

My solar system makes more power than I can use, but I’m not allowed to feed it back to the grid.

In Europe they have dynamic pricing of electricity that reflects the wholesale rate, meaning that sometimes rates go negative and you get paid to charge your EV and at times of peak demand like early evening prices rise and you get paid a substantial amount for feeding power back to the grid.

"Approximately 60 percent of electric power in Thailand is generated from natural gas. With domestic gas reserves projected to dry up in the next 10-20 years, liquefied natural gas (LNG) will play a critical role in ensuring long-term electricity security"..  renewable is 5%.. and that might not all be solar.. large scale solar power storage has not been solved other than perhaps pumped water. I wonder how much your power investment represents ? you think that average Thai can afford your level of investment..  residential power is about 1/3 of the power consumption of Thailand... so how are the factories, trucks and businesses going to be kept going at night.. all by battery power.. you don't seem to have a grasp on the issues..

I wonder where all the power is going to come from. I remember reading an article some years ago, and I am sure it said a lot of electricity is generated from gas... but the gas that Thailand has is due to run out very soon. So I guess they will be importing natural gas ? to make electricity, to charge electric cars. Why not just put the LPG straight into the cars. And what about the trucks.. electric trucks ?  .. they have not even electrified the rail system... I wonder if Thailand is heading for a power crisis in a few years time ?.. and with the weakness in the Thai economy where will the money come from to pay for the imported gas. I do not see the Mekong or solar power being sufficient for Thailand's needs...

4 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

I thought they have some kind of military training, most people wouldnt be able to handle a weapon, 

indeed.. NZ has a lot of foreign imports... just because they are White does not infer they were originally from NZ.. NZ now takes all kinds of riffraff with only pathetic checks by NZ immigration - which is designed to make it hard for the honest decent people to get into NZ... getting a license for a pistol in NZ is not easy....

No problem, he can rent himself out in a UK prison for the next 7 years.... won't be a thousand pounds a night...

Don't know if it is still not been changed.. but at Suvarnabhumi Airport, the big map of the World, New Zealand is upside down. I mentioned it to someone in authority in 2016, but in 2018 it was still upside down... now imagine if some other country misrepresented Thailand... oh the screaming and the authorities would be balling their eyes out and making demands it was fixed together with toilet roll long apologies.. on another note, having just left BKK for Hong Kong.. there is no free Internet at BKK.. few power points.. Hong Kong, the Internet is free and lightening fast, and power sockets everywhere... maybe those running

Suvarnabhumi Airport are still using paper and fountain pens ?

but but but... there is no sex industry.... Thailand is a playground for families to come and have a family holiday. Prostitution is illegal so it cannot happen....