Swelters

If you live in the sukhumvit area and you want to get a better idea of where you are on the flood potential scale you can access a detailed map at villageinthecity.com. I will follow this tomorrow with some calculated estimates.

I urge the moderators to come up with some means of diverting the flood of irrelevant political commentary on topics like this which impairs the usefulness and credibility of these forums.

Swelters

If you live in the Sukhumvit area anywhere along BTS i have put together a detailed map of ground elevations which is based mostly on Google Earth data. You can find this at villageinthecity.com. The small version on the home page gives you the general idea. Click on the link Bangkok Flood on the upper right to see the detailed version.

Tomorrow i will try to put together a forecast of flood depths for this coming weekend using this map which i hope will be helpful to those living in this area.

Swelters

My best estimate as of mid day monday oct 24 for worst case flooding in next week, dark blue= 3 ft, lt blue=foot or two, yellow= few inches, green= mai pen rai. Based on new BKK topography and Google earth combination.

http://pic.twitter.com/0XFWgJzx

swelters

This is a great map Swelters, just the sort of thing that the government should be producing.

I went ahead and signed up for twitter, but the image there is just a low resolution as it is here. Could you post a higher resolution image on flickr or photobucket? The first time I looked at it I just about had to change my pants, but on closer inspection I'm pretty sure that I'm in a light blue zone, not a dark blue zone. I've sealed up one door, sandbagged the other, disconnected the only power socket that was lower than waist high & moved the car, so I am prepared for 1 - 2 feet of water, but if I'm in the 3'+ zone, I'll change my strategies entirely (ie. pack up the car & get the hell out of Dodge! ).

Thanks, will work on it this morning.

Swelters.

This is really a great map...go to Google map and turn on terrain function (Google earth plug-in may be required)...check Google map against swelters map and you know what the color means on Google map. A Casio pro-trek watch will tell it too.

Yes I was told as well that they are going to use Vibhavadi-Rangsit road to channel the water.

This will be another disaster move as the small canals alongside it (next to where I live) are already filled up for 70% and it will result in an overflow and massive sideways flooding.

My sandbags are ready but do not think it will be enough to stop the water.

Glad you found it useful. Will work on this in the morning.. If you are along Sukhumvit the area I estimate as possibly one meter is out beyond Bang Chak BTS. My Thonglor/Ekamai area maybe a foot, less as you go west of Samitevej Hospital.

My best estimate as of mid day monday oct 24 for worst case flooding in next week, dark blue= 3 ft, lt blue=foot or two, yellow= few inches, green= mai pen rai. Based on new BKK topography and Google earth combination.

http://pic.twitter.com/0XFWgJzx

swelters

I hope this is better

My best estimate as of mid day monday oct 24 for worst case flooding in next week, dark blue= 3 ft, lt blue=foot or two, yellow= few inches, green= mai pen rai. Based on new BKK topography and Google earth combination.

http://pic.twitter.com/0XFWgJzx

swelters

However, Prayuth said he will not file a libel charge against Jatuporn given it will only be a waste of the court's time.

That about sums it up. Not worth agitating the red thugs, and anytime Jatuporn opens his mouth, be careful no to be downwind.

This is who the Thai people voted for.....

This is who some of the the Thai people were paid to vote for

What all of them ?

Why are so many people champions of the elitist and even more unfair, corrupt system that was in place before the reds were democratically voted in ?

Remarkable impassioned opinions from these non-Thai citizens. Is it imagined that they are granted reciprocal respect from the Thai that they admire so much?

Any updates where we can buy dehumidifiers? I can't use an airconditioner since I will use it to keep valuables dry and free of mold. If you use an airconditioner, and then turn it off, water will condense as droplets on surfaces and make the objects wet and this actually makes the mold problem worse.

what none of you technical 'exburts' -no offence meant - seem to know is that a dehumidifier works exactly like an airconditioner. the only difference is that most dehumidifiers blow the dried but warm/hot air into the room. those units which don't are even more inefficient because the exhausted air will be replaced with humid outside air.

summary: forget dehumidifiers in tropical countries. period!

What you as a non-expert with imputed broader wisdom don't understand is that dehumidification is often accomplished by overcooling air below the comfort level and then reheating it to comfort level. This sounds inefficient to you but this is only partially true because there is usually provision for heat exchange between the front and back end of the process. This is why my failed experience with the dehumidifier is more likely due to leakage of outside area into the cooled space.

That having been said, I would hesitate to recommend a DIY dehumidifier supplement in the tropics without proof that it accomplishes what is required.

swelters

Thanks for these helpful replies. Anyone have info on costs of IRA distributions from these accounts to other US banks?

If you have every done your 90 day report by mail and have received the bottom portion mailed back to you at your address, would this or any other letters/mail/bank statements sent to you at this address be sufficient proof?

Is the proof of 90 day reporting required now for TM7 retirement extension at Chiangwattana?

Does the Bangkok office require stuff on 90 day reports for annual DM7 retirement extensions? That's a new one from my experience. I'm delinquent on it, is it going to be a problem if I don't have that?

Thsnks for recent news on this,

swelters

Pardon if this has been covered.

I am dissatisfied with my long time IRA bank, Wells Fargo, they just added a $100 per trade fee. So I am looking elsewhere. I am a Bangkok domicile. I've been told Firstrade is pretty good, but I see they charge $30 per wire which is not so good for regular draws. Also they don't allow beneficiary assignments from abroad (more Patriot Act paranoia, I assume). Has anyone taken a comparative look at the various US brokerage houses for this purpose?

Thanks much for any info or referrals.

swelters

We find that you can do a nice upgrade to loft style for about 10,000 THB/SM or a good cleanup and semi-modernization for about half that. I wouldn't do it without a highly experienced and tough Thai partner (my wife).

But the payoff is great living at half the price of a condo, as you can see from comparative cost data at villageinthecity.com where I will continue to post information.

Here is the end result:

swelters

Buy an undersized air conditioner. It works exactly the same as a dehumidifier with the benefit of some cooling. Many air conditioners are over sized and the compressor doesn't run long enough to remove moisture from the air. The result is a damp cold that is NOT comfortable.

Good advice in my experience. For the record (I am OP) I found and bought a dehumidifier, teamed it with my undersized aircon, and it provided almost zero improvement. My room is leaky, humidity seems to infiltrate even fast than heat.

Within a few hundred meters of my MRT stop:

Your location is probably along Rachadapisek road...lol

I've owned a first class condo off Sukhumvit for eight years. The building is beautifully maintained and accessible to the apparently healthy Japanese rental market.

It has not been a good investment. It is difficult to find either buyers or renters for condos. At best appreciation of these properties over several years does not exceed 5% pa net inflation. If you consider vacancy factors and other overhead the rental return on investment is low, you'd be better off with your money in a savings account. If you like Thailand shophouse conversions (see photo) are a much better buy and more interesting in my view. Some data on this at villageinthecity.com. But renting is sounder all around for most people.

swelters

As an experienced user of this site and longtime non-immigrant resident of Thailand I notice, on searching this site, an odd absense of useful information for anyone needing to do business with the Immigration Bureau. For example, immigration forms are very difficult to find here and available in useless format, the old Suan Plu immigration office is still listed as active, there are little or no references to the location of the new Chaengwaana office, etc.

Can anyone speculated why a site that is so rich in advertisments for baldness and potency meds and expensive immigration services would not want to provide such essential material?

Swelters

Have the blogs, a venerble feature, been removed?

May I politely ask whether the Thaivisa blogs have all been purged?

I left a credit dispute unattended in the US and to my horror the creditor got a court judgments without my knowledge which allowed them to simply debit my US bank account for the full amount of their claim plus expenses. A big shock to a guy who always paid his bills on time. Is this practice as easily applied to Thai bank accounts? Any experience on this appreciated.

If it's paved, then I would confirm if there are legal rights obtained, there should be but there probably aren't. Then what other options do the locals who use the road have? I'd check with the locals what they feel. Unless she is planning to use the area where the road is, then it might be more prudent to continue to allow them access.

There could be risks with allowing people to use your property too. My ex father-in-law allowed his neighbours to pass for convenience for years. Then they started to grow veggies by the path they walked every day, then daddy closed off access and the neighbours got angry. Then the neighbours forgot after a week but they understood that they had stepped over the line and since the path wasn't open, they took the long way around

Careful, if not plan to use, better not

Thanks, thoughtful and helpful ideas

My gf purchased some country property that contains part of a old paved road built by local government and used fairly regularly by locals as a convenience.. The road is shown on land titles, but the part that is on her property is not shown on the titles, as shown on the illustration below. She wants to close the road on her property. "It's my property," she says, "and it doesn't lead to any land-locked property, so it's not necessary for anyone."

I say that either or both the local government or the locals have probably acquired the right to pass over the years and you'll just lose face by having someone order you to open it again.

What do you think is a. fair; b. legal?

Thanks for any ideas.

Swelters

There has been some acrimonious discussion of this topic recently but the topic is worth considering with some sobriety because it happens so frequently and is quite sad in its consequences. Let me ask this: how would the Thai handle a situation in which a trusty employee is discovered filching from the postage petty cash, the wife pads the expenses to send money upcountry, or the maid steals some money from a rude guest?

Swelters

It is not my movement. I probably would be better off personally if the Yellows stay in power.

However, I do question the motivations of the farangs here who seem to be filled with an obsessive hatred for poor people who are just trying to improve their lives. I really am starting to wonder if this is all about maintaining the status quo so that it remains cheap to live here - I get that, but it seems rather selfish to me.

This is an excellent point, I've wondered myself at the motives of those --mostly fahlang, I take it -- who seem to have such admiration for the conservative wing of Thai politics. One can hardly imagine that their feelings are reciprocated.

Those withj money anywhewre in the world get things first. That is the way the capitalist world works. In this case though it is nice to know the side effects will become apparent on our betters before we are to be participate in the world's biggest drug test.

Indeed, just think of the improvement in traffic conditions and air conditioning savings that would come if the vaccine proves fatal. Try to look at the bright side.

Swelters

just wondering, thx.

You will barely get by with your car, maid, private schools, and import lifestyle. In this condition you will doubtless be exactly as happy as I am on thirty percent of that amount without the foregoing benefits/headaches.

Both of us will take comfort that we could half our expenses again without hardship to be taken seriously.

Swelters