notrub

All the soil around here is sand and I have never heard of a bedrock that exists at any depth at all.  Wells are drilled here down to 40 meters and there has never been a mention of a rocky band of any kind.

What I am getting at is the theory of a floating slab and how it must be made to 'float' on a sandy base?  If the slab is thick enough it should be able to settle evenly without breaking.   

Thanks rdg. for your comment.  I don't understand how a pile going straight down on to sand without a base footing of some kind can be an improvement on a thicker slab onto, say, 120x120 pads with a 40cm grade beam running between on the surface.

In other countries, where I have worked, core samples are taken to determine the depth of stable ground but nobody around here does that (that I have heard of). If there was a band of rock it would be common knowledge from all the well drilling locally here in Ban Mai Chaiyaphot, Isaan area.  I think the sand goes on to a great depth.  

I think the local contractors do what the other guy did without giving it much thought.  I see that these column piles are used a lot and they do drop a weight down to pack the base but still don't understand why that is better 3 or 4 meters down as opposed to a very thick monolithic slab on the surface.  I am going try to track down an engineer but don't know where I will find one yet.

There is a lot of wriggle room for other options when the quote for piles is 500,000

I found a supplier of 'super blocks' btw in Korat that are standard size but 14 cm deep and of very good quality too.  They are 10 THB each and delivered in quantities 1152 pieces.  

Thanks for your comment Cooked.  That is what I have in mind.  A 20 cm slab with 16mm rebar onto a grade beam on to pads is going to resist a lot of uneven settling.  I have built in Canada and France but there has always been some bedrock not too far from the surface.  Except in Calgary, Alta and the piles we used there were huge, maybe 1 or 2 meters in diameter.  I saw in Hong Kong a building site for a high rise and they were putting in piles dug by hand by a husband and wife team, 1 pile per team, but don't know what they were doing at the bottom or what soil conditions were down there.  They were deep, very deep.

Does anyone have comments about the use of these slabs as an alternative to pile driving please?  My single story house is built on 120x120x 40cm pads about every 4 meters with a 20x40 section continuous grade beam between, no piles.  The 10cm+ slab is tied into and  poured on top of this GB.  After 1 year no sign of any movement.  My friend is being told he must drive over 100 piles 5 meters deep at a cost of over 500,000 THB.  I think a floating slab should work OK Any comments please?

I need some WW mesh panels 10x10 (spacing) x 6mm flat panels not rolls.  Any help to find a supplier in Buiram area please?  Thanks 

Further to cataract treatment here is a link to regeneration of the lens using stem cells.  http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35762713  pretty neat.

Thank you very very much for comments re eye cataracts.  I saw a Dr. Nithidol here in Buriram who runs his private practice weekends and is the eye specialist at the main hospital here.  He has asked for 20,000 THB for the operation and this seems OK to me.  Are there different types of fixed focus lenses or just the one?  Thanks again. 

It seem as though I have a catarac problem.  All the lens options on the test glasses were not satisfactory.  The doctor (a real one) asked me to look through a pinhole in a disc held in front of my eye and suddenly my vision cleared.  I tried this again at an opticians and she confirmed that I have cataracs.  The doctor offered to remove my cloudy lens and put in a clear one.  The problem with that is fixed focus and, while I understand the concept it is not clear to me how that would affect my daily life.  Also, is that the only option?  I have read that lazier treatment has been effective and I would assume this sort of treatment would not affect being able to focus on different distances.

I am 70 years old and have had perfect eyesight all my life.  Now night driving has the starburst lighting effect and so I avoid driving then.

Any comments or help please?  Thanks in advance.

On 11/02/2018 at 9:45 AM, carlyai said:

I also wanted to build a cement block pool like grollies and visited the supplier in Chonburi. Trouble was the cost of the truck to deliver the blocks to me in Kuchinari was the same cost as the blocks, so you're looking at a cost of 2x . That made me change my mind and go for poured concrete and rebar pool.

Nice blocks but, and the joining shop supplies pool tiles, water stop and all pool building supplies.

If you go for the blocks I'm sure grollies will put you right on the construction, if you go for a poured concrete and rebar construction I can help.





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Thanks Carlyai.  It looks like I may have found some blocks that will do the trick.  A bit narrower than 20cm but are good quality.  I am going to look at them tomorrow or so.  They come from Korat about 100km from here.

I would be very interested in your comments regards pumps, filters, lighting etc if you can help with that stuff.  I am in Ban mai Chaiyaphot about 100 km from most of the big towns and so can easily go to the best suppliers.  Thanks in advance for your help.  Burton

thanks, B

Thanks  I went to the AIS shop and they very politely offered to sell me a new one (11,000 or 12,000 THB).  I went to the Samsung shop next door and sent it for an estimate.   6,890 THB (about).  I ordered a new one no contract from Ladaza for 7,100 THB.  But I still have the broken one and would like to repair it if poss.  The water got into the top part.  The new series A is waterproof and see a series S  on the web that is also waterproof.  The A is good for several meters for many hours.

I just got a samsung J7 pro on contract with AIS.  I checked Utube and it showed this phone survived a water splash trial and also lasted 50 seconds being totally immersed in a tank of water.   Well, I was not so lucky and my J7 failed after a pretty short dunking in the pond.  I took it to the Samsung shop and they came back with a quote of 6,800 THB to repair it.  I just ordered a new one from Ladaza for 7,100 and that is OK.  But I have this brand new water damaged J7 pro and would like to repair it if I can get it done cheaply.  I can send it to any town in Thailand or any country that has a reliable postal service.  Any ideas please?  Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks.  Did you build a pool using cement blocks with the cells filled with concrete and rebar?  I have seen this on Utube but don't know about any done in Thailand.  It will only be a simple rectangle 4x8 x1.5 meters deep so it is not some enormous project.  Thanks very much for the information.

Thanks.  Did you build a pool using cement blocks with the cells filled with concrete and rebar?  I have seen this on Utube but don't know about any done in Thailand.  It will only be a simple rectangle 4x8 x1.5 meters deep so it is not some enormous project.  Thanks very much for the information.

I bought a Samsung AR18KVPDLWKXST model air conditioner unit from home pro in Buriram and they came and installed it in my home.  The cooling function works just fine but when I tried to get some warm air recently that function does not work.  What the instructions say is to select the temperature in the AUTO mode and it will heat or cool as required.  The man at the shop said it is an air cooler conditioner and of course it is only to make air cool.  In the publicity for this unit it clearly states that it will cool to 16 degrees and heat to 30 degrees and any temperature in between.  The hand set is clearly marked with  cool and heat options as well as the auto option.  The temperature selection on the handset reads from 16 to 30 degrees. It is still under guarantee and I want to get it fixed before it expires.  I have been trying to get a technician from Samsung to come and look but they think I am crazy to expect an air cooler to heat.  In other countries I have seen this type of equipment used for heating as well as air cooling.  

Can someone help me about this and to find out why the unit does not heat?  Thank you very much for any help with this.

I am trying to buy standard cement blocks 8x8x16 inches or about 20x20x40 cm.  I will try to attach a photo but if I don'e succeed there are images that come up when you google cement building blocks (cement blocks standard).  All I can find are the 7cm thick poor quality bricks/blocks that are sold everywhere. I am near Buriram.  I want to use these 20x20x40 cm blocks to make a swimming pool.   Thanks in advance for any help.

Call me stupid but I bought a motorbike from a garage with the promise of a green book to be sent the following week.  Friendly and helpful people.  I have a bill of sale and a photocopy of the green book and a business card with the name of the garage on it.  The serial number matches too.  The garage is a small junky looking place with 10 or 20 bikes for sale in front and they advertise on Kaidee.  No green book arrived by post (surprised?) and phone calls just get the answer that some other entity has been contacted and maybe they will send the book next week.  Any ideas about how to move ahead with getting this garage to honour their promise or how I can get a green book on my own?  We are not talking big money (14,500 + 3,000 repairs) but it is a nice little bike and I would like to keep it.  Also don't have 17,500 THB to toss away without a worry.   I cannot take it on the road so it just sits in front of the house.  Can I get it insured with only a photocopy of the green book?  They are in Korat about 100 km from my house so going there to confront them is not an option that I would like to do. Anyway, they are big and I am small. Thanks for any ideas.

I am looking for a used Honda click and see that many have about 33,000 km on the clock.  I understand that might be normal turnover time and genuine.  But is there a practice of turning back the km's on used bikes in Thailand?  Also on old analogue type of odometer if the numbers don't line up is that a telltale sign of rewinding the device?  On the new digital odometers, can they be clocked?  Any thoughts generally  on buying a used bike here?  New ones are not so much money, so is it better just to go with new?  Thanks for your help.

Thanks very much.  Very helpful.

Regards, Burton

Thanks, very useful.  Any ideas about insurance on the job in case of accidents etc.?  Thanks again

Thank you for comments.  I took a look at ladaza thanks.

Thanks for the reply.  I thought so too.  But if he quits his job and works cash in hand for me does he lose benefits such as health insurance or some kind of social security?  I had thought that sick pay for employees is not the norm even for those employed in a shop by the month.  Is this true?  And for insurance at work from say, falling off a ladder.  What happens then?

If he did want to declare being self employed are there costs for him?  Would he get insurance etc. in this case do you think?

My brother in law (sort of) works full time away from home (Isaan) in BKK.  He has had full time employment with the same company for many years.  I don't know his day rate but think about 350 or 400 THB per day plus OT sometimes.  He is a good guy of about 45 yrs old and hard worker.  My wife's family are farmers and don't expect much from me so it is a pleasure to do things for them.  I was thinking that we need help keeping our 3+rai cleaned up and have projects from time to time.  What are the rules to employ this fellow  full time and have him work for us and allow him to take 1/2 time for their own rice fields too?  Currently sister and elderly mum and dad do most all.  They have 15 or 20 rai of rice.  No debts for that or for cars etc..  They have not much money but they are not 'poor'.

I would like to know what are the rules to legally employ and pay him and what overheads there would be on top of his wages.  Also, can I even do it legally?  I have only a retirement visa here without a business.  And for insurance and health care etc..  I have had a construction business in the past and have a general idea about employing people and the problems that can come up so I have my eyes open on this.

I am thinking 10,000 THB per month as a start point so it is not big money we are talking about.  It would be good as he could be at home and help on their own land and be our odd job man too.  

I am asking about this to be able to keep it in mind as a possibility but have not decided or mentioned it to anybody.

Thanks for your comments, bad experience examples welcome too.

Hi, thanks for the reply.  It says kWh over the counter and WATTHOUR METER under the rotating disc.  Single phase.  I took a picture, below.

So if that 1 unit is, say, 4 baht and that was 1 hour's usage then 24 x 30 = 720 hours x 4 baht = 2880.  My bill for last month is more like 1200 plus tax, however.  We have only 20 w led lights x 6 at night and a fridge and a couple of fans and the small AC is on low almost all the time in the bedroom.  And one heated shower used 2x per day normal not long time. 

It is not so important just now but we are planning a pool and I have a sauna that hasn't been used much recently and I am curious what I could be getting into with that.  

Thanks again for your comments.

Still trying to figure out my electricity costs.  My meter has a 5 digit number above the spinning wheel.  It read 01559 at 13:30 and 01560 at 14:30.  A difference of 00001 in 1 hour with the ac, fridge and a fan on.  How does that unit relate to what I pay?  Please.

A number that stays the same on 2 bills is Ft -0.2477.  I pay between 1,200 and 1,700 pcm so it is not a big.  I would just like to know.

The guy at the local electric company is not very helpful and my wife does not really understand the bill either.  Even she is Thai.

Thanks for any help on this.

Re home brew insect sprays.  What about wood vinegar?  Also, what fertiliser for coconut palm trees please?  Can I just put the same mix as used for rice around here?  That is 16-8-8 (I think).  Thanks for comments 

I am also looking at health insurance here.  I have a retirement visa.  I have heard that this will be compulsory before long.  True?  I am 69 and healthy.  Your figures with costs etc are in what currency please?  I have been told by a German doctor that Cigna is the best bet here in Thailand.  Thanks for any info.