notrub

23 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

In that case you likely should have a CVFT done and Rutin can do that (many hospitals can not) - (takes about 30 minutes) and cost is likely about 1,500 baht (but have not had there for some years).  You will have eye pressure test as routine and if CVFT shows indication of glaucoma they will want to keep it low and may have to start taking medications for that (eye drops).  Glaucoma is something you will not normally notice so if you need be sure to take medication (which may be a bit expensive and/or require cool storage).  Once known you can use a local doctor/facility to buy medications and if CVFT is periodically required go to another facility to obtain (it will be a print out test that any good doctor can understand).

Thank you.  My mother had a vision problem and I have forgotten what it is called.  Her vision failed from the centre out and she said that there was just a grey blob in the centre of her view or line of sight or whatever.  It meant that she could not recognise people because there was just this blob where their head was.  Is that glaucoma?  My sister just wrote and what my mum had was macular degeneration. 

Thanks how241.  I got it about the glasses etc. but I was used to having an eye examination every year by a fantastic doctor in France.  It takes 1 year to make an appointment unless it is an emergency (he is a surgeon too) and so I have not been able to see him for some time.  My father had glaucoma and it is one of the things he checked as I understand that it can be hereditary (I think that's the one).  

So yes, it will cost perhaps 10K baht (including travel and hotel) and involve driving to and in BKK and back but I would like to be sure that my sight will be OK.  

Different subject.  My partner (soon to be wife) and I live a simple life in rural Isaan.  I mentioned to Pim that the hotel&hospital are near the train line and we could go into BKK centre and she just said 'why(?)'.  I said maybe a bit of shopping and she said 'what for(?)'.  What a lucky guy I am not to be dragged from shop to shop all the time (as some are).  Sorry if this comes across as being sexist, I don't mean it to. 

So, thank you all again.  Whether or not to trust the local doctor has been on my mind for some time.  I am not wealthy and I don't have insurance for this sort of thing so the money spent is gone for good (as I don't have a job to earn some more).  I needed a nudge and some information and that is what you all have provided.  Good.  I go on Tuesday next.

Thanks for your reply.  I filled to pool back up yesterday afternoon and it has maintained exactly the same level since then, about 18 hours (I filled it to a grout line).  So it looks like the problem has been solved.  Hope so.

I used Weber 2 part grout and swimming pool adhesive tiled onto a render that I had put PVA and waterproofing additive into.  Quality pool tiles too.  I am about 100 km away from anywhere and the cost to get a contractor up, or down, here was a lot.  My pool cost a lot less than 500K baht all in including over 100m2 terrace tiled onto a concrete base.  

I was a contractor so I thought why pay 1,5M baht just for a small pool and a little bit of tile surround?  I had local people doing the heavy lifting and was here the whole time so it was OK.  We found a supplier of 'super blocks' (about 14cm thick) and used lots of rebar and good concrete on about a 15cm slab with 6mm bar in it.  Good drainage under too as I had read of the dangers of pools floating on improperly prepared earthworks.

My friend Peter built one exactly the same using my excess blocks (I had to buy a truckload from Korat) except he did all the blockwork himself and the tiling too.  My missing water is the first  problem either one of us has had, fingers crossed.  That is, after finding out about muriatic acid.  There were some adventures with algae before then. 

We just snapped a level line on the final course of blocks and cut them off with a grinder.  It is good to see the water level on the grout line all around the pool.  Not something I take for granted having built 2 houses here.  There have been mixed results when setting  a standard of quality in the morning and it being continued through to the end of the afternoon.  Nothing surprises me any more but this variation of workers following instructions did not start in Thailand.  I am sure you have had similar experiences.

Thanks again for your comments and information about salt chlorinators. 

Kind Regards, Burton

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I am going to Rutnin Eye Hospital next week.   It will be good to find out what the problem is and have confidence in the doctors doing the assessment.  Thanks for the information and encouraging me to go.

I see on their web site that there is a full eye examination special price for 11,000 baht but the fellow at their phone centre in said a simple exam would be around 2 to 3,000 baht.  Any comments?

Also, if I have small cataracts I would be inclined to have them removed immediately.  What do my fellow Thai Visa members think?   

Thanks again for the help.  I am very happy to be going to this hospital.  

Kind Regards

Hello again,  When I first posted about the filter cleaning it was just to share my experiences.  I was a building contractor and had worked in Canada, US, UK, France and a bit of volunteer work in Nepal in the mountains.  That last one was assessing and repairing health posts for a charity in remote areas of the country.  I have a thirst for knowledge and like to learn and share when I can.

If it is not taking advantage of your position as a professional I have a question to ask.

By coincidence I have just had a surprise problem with a mystery leak in my pool.  The water level went down 10cm overnight and a further 5 or 8cm the following day, yesterday, and then stopped.  I was waiting to see if it would drain completely or stop at the return jets level or the lights but it did not go below the line of dark blue tiles.  Above the jets and lights and about 15cm below normal water level.

I have just finished inspecting the grout and tapping the tiles all around that level.  Although a few tiles don't sound so 100% good (95/100) the grout is solid and without any cracks or visible defects.  

I have drained the pool by about 4 cm below the leak line and will let it dry.  I will then apply a good, soak in, coat of waterproofing agent to the grout and let dry before refilling the pool.  We used swimming pool tiles, glue and grout about 1 1/2 years ago.  I was here when the tiling was being done and they soaked the render before gluing the tiles.

I am thinking that at the level where the leaking stopped the tiler may have used old grout or some such thing.  It all looks the same in colour and texture, however.  It seems that dropping 10cm overnight is a lot for it to just seep away.  I think that is about 2 1/2 M3 (?).  I have visually inspected the area around the pool (but it is tiled) and the pump and pipe area for extra water but can see nothing unusual.   

So, if you don't mind me asking this-what do you think?  

If you prefer not to comment I will understand and thank you for your earlier advice.

Regards, Burton

Thank you.  I guess I'll drive down and face the dreaded TM.30.  I just tried 'stretching' my eyes from the corners towards the left and right last night and the sub titles became sharp and clear.  Normally they are a bit fuzzy.  Great news to think I can avoid surgery.  Thanks again.  Kind Regards

1 hour ago, LosLobo said:

The diagnosis for astigmatism is not complicated there are online charts where you can self check for this problem.

 

If you look at the moon and it appears egg shaped you definitely have astigmatism.

 

Any optometrist can easily test and develop a prescription for you.

 

The pin hole test shows an improvement in vision can be achieved with prescription glasses.

 

Previously you couldn't remove immature cataracts but with modern techniques removal at any stage is now possible.

 

That being said removal of overly mature ones can be problematic.

 

Removal is recommended when the cataract starts to affect your daily life not just because you have been diagnosed with one.

 

Cataract corrective surgery will not correct astigmatism per se, (additional though not entirely necessary surgery will be required).

 

 With an IOL you will lose that ability to flex your eye lens and therefore focus, so you need spectacles to perform this function for you.

 

And with the spectacles your astigmatism will be corrected.

Thank you very much for your encouraging comment.  The eye doctor that I saw is a real doctor and also has a ' day job' at the local hospital.  He does not appear to be touting for business but who knows?  The only reason that I want to have my vision corrected is because of the flaring of lights at night.  It is dangerous to drive at night and so I rarely do so.  I am typing this without any problems and watching TV is OK but would like it slightly sharper.  

My eye doctor in France is the real McCoy but he is there and I am here.  I am in the north of Buriram province about 100km from Buriram city, Khon Kaen  and Korat.  I would go to a private, costly, hospital for tests but how to know the competence of who will be there testing?   I would prefer not to go to BKK if poss.

The optometrists, and the doctor too, went through the lens selection routine and not of them corrected my vision.  That is how the pin hole test came up and then the doctor suggested surgery. 

I have never needed glasses except in the last 10 years for reading.  Now I have a tablet E reader so I don't use them at all.  

Any ideas?  Thanks.  Kind Regards

Thanks for your comment.  Now that I have found out how to clean the cartridges I am a happy guy.  Unlikely to change over to a sand filter due to cost etc..  What you say about the Emaux salt chlorinator is very interesting.  My friend bought the same equipment as me and his chlorinator literally exploded.  He was near it at the time but was not injured.  Had he been looking at it he would have been blinded.   To be fair, we had problems with stable electric supply at the time.

I have a bag of Sodium Bisulphate that I have been using to lower the PH but never thought about it as a filter cleaner.  I have only ever seen dishwasher soap for sale one time in TOP supermarket and it was 4 or 500 baht for a small box.  From what I understand it contains a degreaser similar to TSP but am not sure what it is.  

I put about 1 KG of tsp into about 30 or 40 (?) gallons of water (one of those big blue chemical barrels 70cm high by 40cm dia.) and that seems to work very well.  3 or 4 day soak.  I am following this with a weak acid bath just to see how it turns out.

Using the muriatic acid in the pool has been a big improvement over the 'clear pool' and other products that cost the earth and don't work nearly as well.  

What is the name of the Australian company you mentioned please?  I am not keen to change the emaux one but would go for another brand if it fails. 

It seems that you have many pools while I am just trying to keep my little 4x8x1.5 effort functioning clean and clear.  It is my first pool and we constructed it ourselves following You tube research.  We used big blocks and filled the cells with rebar and concrete.  Then tiled onto a rendered surface.  It has been a steep learning curve.  The few other pool owners that I spoke to have had them constructed for a high cost. 

Nice to exchange a few ideas, thank you.   Here is my home.  A bit messy but comfortable.  Kind Regards

I went to a respectable eye doctor who eventually (long story, short) had me look through a pin hole and my vision cleared and was focused .  He diagnosed cataracts and proposed inserting a fixed focus lens in one of my eyes.  I have just read about astigmatism and how one symptom is flaring of lights at night.  I have this problem and I find it very hard to drive at night and avoid doing so if at all possible.  This experience is fairly recent and I have had good eyesight all my life (I am 71 now).

Here is my question:  If I have astigmatism will light flaring be cured by cataract corrective surgery of lens insertion?  (This is the important part for me.)  I don't have any need to improve my vision except for the light flaring problem and can drive in the daytime without difficulty.  I see dogs, children, oncoming traffic and potential hazards without any problems.  I read that astigmatism can be corrected by contact lenses that correct the shape of the eye, for example.  The tests (diagnosis) for this condition seem to be complicated and may require very special equipment.  Any comments please including where I might go for tests, if required.  Thank you very much in advance.  (BTW I am not insured for this sort of thing here in Thailand but can pay as req'd)

What a lot of unpleasant comments!  For a real laugh take a look at what is going on in the UK and USA.  Yes, there are some problems here but the blatant racism and corporate theft in those countries makes almost every place else look good.  So, shut up and eat your porridge Grumpy Grandpa.

I have recently been introduced to muriatic acid and to trisodium phosphate.   I have an Emaux salt chlorinator and cartridge filter system.  Using muriatic acid to control algae has worked out very very well.  Much much better than all the costly swimming pool products sold under various brand names.  I have been using sodium bisulphate to lower my PH level although muriatic acid can be used for this too. 

I rarely add salt or chlorine although a recent algae bloom taught me the lesson to catch it quickly b4 it gets out of hand.  That was b4 using the acid and I added lots of powdered chlorine to get the water clear again.  Mostly the salt generator keeps the chlorine levels to an acceptable level.  

Filter cleaning has been a costly, time consuming learning curve and I am writing to share my solution and ask for comments.  I tried using floor cleaning soap with predictable results if the cartridge is not thoroughly rinsed rinsed before reinstalling.  A big mistake was to use a HP spray to wash as this simply drives the dead algae and dust into the filter membrane.  'Hosepipe pressure only' works very well on a properly cleaned cartridge.   

I have recently been soaking my filters in a TSP solution with a soft brush brushing rinsed and let to dry in the sun.  Drying seems to make a difference but don't know why.  Sunshine kills bacteria and with several filters it does not interfere with the process.

My friend uses muriatic acid only for cleaning and that works very well.  However, I have just been reading that the acid locks oil etc. into the filter and it should be cleaned b4 the acid soak.  So for me that is a TSP soak, rinse then acid. each for a day or 2 in a weak solution.

These are private pools so there is not a big issue with tanning oils or dirty bodies/feet and swimsuits/shorts.  Mostly algae and dust.

Here is a question.  How does the TSP react to the acid?  Will it cause the acid to become neutralised or create some deadly combination?  I intend to give the TSP soaked cartridge a good water only soak and a rinse before putting it into the acid wash.  Then a good water only soak following the acid bath and hosepipe spray down.  Then dry.  Don't plan on any acid neutraliser as this is already in the pool anyway.

Any comments will be very welcome.  Thank you.

Gee!  What a lot of thoughts.  Sorry to offend but...

This recent report has come out in spite of the producers of harmful chemicals efforts to suppress this sort of information.  

Aside from poisoning our waterways and produce a very big issue has to do with agricultural workers who have no protective equipment and no choice about what they use on a daily basis.  

If you think that multinationals have your interest in mind cast your thoughts back to the behaviour of big tobacco.  And, they are still doing it.

Thailand intends to ban 3 particularly harmful weed killers but 'our pal' Trump is pressuring them not to.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/10/thailand-pesticides-dow-monsanto-syngenta-trump

Among the 3 is Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide, otherwise known as 'Roundup'.  In the link above there is a link to an article addresses the Roundup product specifically.

I am writing about this because several months ago there was a 'friendly' but heated exchange in this forum on the subject of weed control and Roundup.

I am also writing because it is an example of what happens if a country 'cosies up' too much with the US and the Multinationals associated with them.  Not to say that Unilever and Nestles are US companies (?) but they are comfortable there.  They are not nice companies.  They are not your friend.  Enough about them for the moment.  (Different topic).

Home pro seems to have promotions on quality mattresses almost all the time.  I have bought from them and am happy.  If you have time wait until a super save offering discounts on the discounted price.

Also get a homepro member's card (not a charge card).  You collect points and sometimes will offer extra reduction to members.  Also, if you want to return something they can look it up and find the item and the date.  Or buy another of the same thing.  No receipt required, in my experience.

 I have not done this here in Ban Mai Chaiyapot, Buriram, but look notice boards in condominiums In pattaya.   A friend has seen nearly new stuff going for a song as the owners have sold up and just want to get rid.  

Also look on baht and sold site.  Nearly new things sold by people on the move to somewhere else.

Thank you again for your many replies and helping me to understand about gravity fed water supplies.  I am convinced now that the best solution will be to install a constant pressure type electric pump from my ground level water tank.  My well is about 30 or 40 M from my house.  So, I can put the 1000L tank behind my house fed by my submersible pump and then hook up a second pump beside the house to provide water and will have enough pressure to pass through a filtering system and arrive inside with more than a dribble.

The two main brands of pumps I see are Hitachi and Mitsubishi, would anybody care to recommend which brand and model please?

I am going to get the water tested before spending any more money on this, however.

Thanks again folks.  This forum has helped me out many a time.

Thank you for taking your time to reply.  We have town water to our property for garden and shower too.  The showers work OK with the pressure from the town.  The main reason we have a well is to hopefully have drinking water that is better quality that the large bottled water we now buy at 10 baht per.  (Also get rid of the water dispenser tipper thing in the kitchen)  I was thinking of gravity feed as my friend has so much trouble with his pump, although I have another friend who has trouble free experience.  Really the well will feed one tap in the kitchen having passed through a filtering process.  I do want more than a dribble so I hope 3 M is enough.  My friend has 'Big Blue' 3 filter but is not reverse osmosis.  Comments?  Thanks for the OK on the pressure switch Crossy.

I am taking the water to a testing lab in Buriram to see if it has poisons from the rice fields in the area.  I saw on  FB 'rural life thailand' that some people use paraquat which is legal in Thailand.  But don't know what they use here in Ban Mai Chaiyapot (Buriram Isaan).

Our borehole well is almost 40 M deep with water starting at 17 M.  I put 24 M of pipe for now but can easily go deeper if needs be.  I only put 24 to allow another almost 10 to lift to the top of the tank.  The pump supplier said it could lift water 40 M. 

Thanks again for taking an interest in my little project.  Really helpful.

I would like to install a 1000L tank  3 meters higher than my house and supply well water by gravity feed.  I would like to use a ball cock on the feed pipe to stop filling the tank and I would like to turn off my submersible pump by a pressure switch that will shut off the electric feed.  I see lots of these switches in lazada that are rated 10 amp. and are priced at about 500 baht,   The pump is 1 1/2 HP and fed by a 1.5mm3 wire pair.  I understand that the running of these pumps draws low amps but the start up draws a lot.  One switch is rated as below

  Non-inductive current: 10A, full load current: 8A, and instantaneous current: 72A;When rated voltage is 250VAC

would this device work as a shut off for my pump?  Thanks for any comments.    

On 9/11/2019 at 9:25 AM, sandyf said:

In theory yes. but for that to happen you need lower vents, I had that in mind but decided against it would lead to unwanted residents.

Cavity walls should be tied and my window frames serve that purpose. I do not have any internal cavity walls but again if I did the door frames and pillars would probably make ties unnecessary. Insulation against sound would be improved by injected foam but the cost/benefit ratio is debatable.

The cavity on my walls is also open along the top and after 10 years has never posed a problem. Having the cavity has been quite effective, in the warmer weather we have the AC on in the bedroom overnight and that keeps the internal temperature comfortable during the day until the following night.

Great looking construction!

Sandyf, If the picture posted of the wall with siporex (aerated cement) blocks faced off with quality red brick and cavity between is yours, congratulations!  What a nice neat job that is.

I am still not a fan of cavity walls but if you want to construct that way you have shown an excellent example of how to do it correctly.

The red brick that I referred to are 4x4x10 cm approximately and are commonly used here in my corner of Isaan as infill between load bearing frames.  They are very bad for lots of reasons.  Nothing like the quality bricks shown in your photo.

I like siporex blocks the best and they can be used as a load bearing wall, although I have never seen it here.  They are completely inert and do not suffer from condensation or insect infestation and I have never seen a mouse attempting to chew through my walls (why bother, they use the door).

They are lightweight and easy to build with.  They are ready to take a render (use the correct product) and are easy to fasten to with simple nylon inserts or various expanding bolts.  They are easy to cut through if you want a new door etc..  If you make a ring beam at window/door lintel height it makes that job even easier.  Lintels are supplied made of the same product but it is easier and much (much) cheaper just to form and pour concrete lintels.  With this climate there is not the same problem with a thermal bridge that you would find in colder countries.

Rockwool is a good product and the compressed version is easy to use.  It can be load bearing on a roof and put down (onto sheets of some product) as a single matt with metal frames (to fix the roof cover) laid on top screwed down to the structure below. This is called built up roofing.  

It is so easy to build here without the freeze thaw cycle to take into worry about.  I know there are other problems but freezing is not one of them. 

My GF and I will be getting married this year.  I have already built a house and pool etc. etc., her a new car and all the rest.  I have an usufruct on the 3 rai of land that I paid for and built our house on.  I am 71 she is 55 (grown son) and divorced many years ago (I have seen the confirmation papers).  My 2 children are adults and have been provided for.

We have been together for about 5 years, get along, she has a nice (poor) farming family and well thought of in the village.  I am recently divorced and have the paperwork on the way.  I am OK for money for my visa etc. but I also have a small UK pension payable to my wife on my death.  My GF will get this if we are married, otherwise it just stops on my death.  The visa issues will be easier too I suppose.  I have spent about 3 or 4 million on the house and land which she will get on my death, of course.

What are the formalities about giving the parents money and handing over some gold?  I told my GF that she can have some gold or I will build her family (mum, dad, sister&husband, nieces etc,) a new house that will cost about 1.5M THB.  But not both.  

I hear about farang giving 2 to 300,000 THB and/or a lump of gold to the family on top of paying for the celebration.  This seems to be a point of honour.

On the gold subject, where is the best place to buy rings and other similar, small, items?

I have gone along with the blessings for house building and other 'donations' but this marriage payment is not clear to me.  What is the skinny on that?  We are in a rural village in Isaan, Buriram province.

What other obligations might be lurking around the corner?  I am not a wealthy guy, but we have enough for a good, modest life.  I am not keen on providing whiskey and food for a thousand people, however.  I don't even drink anymore!

Any thoughts and comments will be welcome, Thank you.

For any house built with 'hard' materials the buildings I have seen start with concrete columns on a pad maybe with driven piles too, depending on where you are.  Then there is a ring beam on grade with another at 3 meters or so.  Whatever you put in to form the curtain wall is not usually structural, even if it could be.  I use siporex or expanded cement blocks.  A beam between the columns 1/2 way up is normal and of course lintels over doors, windows and other openings.  Do NOT use red terra cotta brick as they are small, take a lot of time to place and are fragile to fasten to for kitchen cupboards (or anything) and are basically <deleted>.   

Contractors know how to build this way and all the equipment is owned or easily rented by the contractor.  All the rebar cages can be bought cheaply already made up.  Be careful to wrap the columns in plastic wrap, cling film, that is sold everywhere.  Get 50 cm rolls and wrap around the column horizontally.  

The contractor knows how to do this and how to price it and employees know what to do too.

I us a fairly shallow pad 40cm thick 120x120 or so and the grade beam rests to the pad and buts into the columns.  I use a floating slab that must be poured on top of the gb and tied into it with rebar connection.  this is not so common in Thailand and they tend to pour the slab on grade between the grade beam and not keyed in by much.  Stupid.

A cavity wall is not common here and will not function as a cavity if it is filled in.  They are a bit good in the UK but there is no point to them here.

Thank you mikebike.  The manual on this site is different from the other 3 that I have.  (One main English instruction book and 2 pamphlet colour illustrated user friendly guides in Thai.)  I will try out the connect my phone to the car part but getting into setup makes me wary as the device does work for some limited features, GPS, bluetooth etc. and the screen is in English.  The car came with one year wifi/operator assist and SOS included but that has now expired.  It is nearly 3,000 baht annual subscription that would, again, provide a host of features that I was unable to use during the 'free' year.   I have not resubscribed and would, in fact, like to get a free year's subscription once I figure out how to use it. 

What makes this galling is that I saw a clip on You Tube where a Toyota T-connect executive described how this system would become the hub of internet personal and commercial services.  This will include co coordinating logistics for 'just in time' networks worldwide, as well as more mundane features.  The staff at Toyota clearly have no training and were able to get my device functioning using the pamphlet that I cannot read and working as a team experimenting with different setup options.   

Any ideas about how to communicate with a Toyota help line that 'helps'?

Thanks again for the link.

I bought a Toyota C-HR hybrid about 1 year ago and it came with T-Connect Telematics multi media, connect to the world, plan your trip, create a music play list, call yer mum and on and on.  It comes with 3 sets of instructions.  The main, detailed, tomb is in English and is as useful as reading a dictionary.  There are also 2 user friendly pamphlets that illustrate all the wonderful features of this system and how to achieve the settings you might want in 3 easy steps.  Unfortunately it is in the Thai language.  The headings on each page are in English - 'Spot search, find my car, dealer, restaurant and where to get service and emergency help'.    The second, larger pamphlet, is similar with headings such as 'change my profile, traffic information, navigator, My Toyota Wifi etc. etc...'  

Both of these are well illustrated with detailed, step by step instructions about how to use these features.  All in Thai language.

I have been told month by month 'So sorry Sir, next month' and most recently 'So sorry sir, never will have, ever'.  I have gone to their website, and FB page with similar results.  I have explained repeatedly that Toyota is one of the world's biggest car makers with markets in every English speaking country in the world.  That these pamphlets in English do not exist is an impossibility.  The salesperson at the dealer said she had called the Top, Top, Top Toyota company office and was told that they will never provide these pamphlets in the English language.  

For 1.1M baht one might think that they could get a pamphlet airmailed from an English language speaking country.

Any ideas please?  I could call Toyota in Australia or the UK or? but do not have a customer help line that picks up except by robot and asks all the same questions these automated systems ask.  I have also tried calling and emailing Japan with no luck.

Any suggestion will be gratefully received and thanks in advance for any help provided.

41 minutes ago, lkv said:

In countries where the money actually goes back to the people in other forms, perhaps.

 

The money flows differently in Thailand, though. Once it gets where it gets, it will be siphoned through the companies of brothers, wives, nephews, cousins, father in laws, that provide services to the Government of no real value, but priced very highly.

Sounds just like the UK.  Except there, in the UK, the siphoning off tax payers money runs to the billions (of GBPs) to pay 'contractors' providing services that are normally the government's remit.