MrDetUdom

Hi. Does anyone know how to get a Kor Ror 11 after getting divorced?

A bit of back story. I had a lawyer do my divorce, and getting sole custody of kids was number one priority.

Today, I went to immigration to renew visa on basis of supporting thai children, and they asked for Kor Ror 11.

When I said I didn't have it, they said my lawyer had messed up my divorce. I don't know who is wrong or right.

But in either case, it seems best to get a Kor Ror 11. The thing is, my kid is already legitimated. I'm on the birth certificate,

we got married after the kid was born. And the official divorce settlement from the amphur says that only I have parental power.

So did my lawyer screw up? Or is immigration screwing up? Can I even get a Kor Ror 11 for my situation?

Thanks if anyone knows the answer

Hi everyone.

I want to build a carport adjoining my existing house. I've google'd up a couple of builders, but they won't do anything so small scale.

Anyone know or can recommend a builder who can lay down a concrete slab and put a sheet metal carport on top?

Thanks. I'll organize my travel accordingly.

Anyone know what happens if I apply for a visa extension (I am on a spouse visa) and then leave the country temporarily and am still outside Thailand when the visa application is decided or when my current visa ends?

Hi guys. I have a car with an LPG conversion kit. I think it needs a simple fuel filter replacement (although it may turn out to be a bigger problem with the LPG system). I took it down to the Honda service center, but they said they cannot do LPG related parts. Anyone know any garages that can handle this? Can I go to any garage or are there only certain ones that can handle LPG? I don't even know what terms to search in google to find a place.

Thanks Michael for the info about pumping in from the street. As it turns out, they came and dug up the street today and fixed it all up. It seems like some debris got stuck in the mains pipe and they had to clear that out. So now we have water again. That was a lot quicker than I was expecting.

2 minutes ago, tonray said:

Oh..I thought your tanks were filling but a very slow rate

No. Our neighbors (land is lower than ours) have this. But we get nothing at all. The pressure is just that little bit too low.

But thinking about it now, maybe buying another pump will be the cheapest/easier route, as otherwise we are just totally screwed. I already smell like <deleted> after a day without showering. (I used a couple of those big 20L drinking water bottles to wash the kids, but not enough left to wash myself).

I suppose I could buy another water pump and connect it directly to the water meter and have the water pumped up onto our property from there. It seems like a big expense/a lot of work for something that will hopefully be fixed in a couple of weeks.

3 minutes ago, tonray said:

Don't you have a pump ?

Yes, but the pump inlet is connected to the outlet from the water tanks. We need the water to get into the tanks first.

When they came and looked, they pulled apart the meter and water comes out from there. But if you lift the hose from the meter outlet just another 10 cm, there is not enough pressure for water to come out. And the meter is lower than our entire property.

Hi guys.

I have a big problem. PWA has screwed up our water supply, and we have absolutely no water. We can buy bottled water for drinking, but that won't help with showers/flushing the toilet/washing clothes. We have a big water tank. Are there any services that will drive a big tanker of water to our house and fill up our water tank?

Actually, we have 2 water tanks, but one of them is blocked up. I guess it needs cleaning. Anyone know anyone I can pay to come and clean the tank so that we have 2 usable tanks?

As for the PWA, I got them out to look at the water. Turns out the water is coming to our house, but not enough pressure to get to even our lowest tap. While there, the neighbors came out and commented that there have been water pressure issues for weeks now, and PWA seems to have no idea how to fix it, so I guess this will probably drag on for another few weeks until they fix it.

Thanks again guys. Me and family went in and drove around, checked everything out. We went in to The River for a sales tour. It was absolutely not my style, but it did look like they were targeting up-market. There was a Lamborghini in the parking lot, and the sales told us it belonged to a guy who lived there and owned 2. At first I thought it was a BS sales stunt. I don't understand why someone who owns 2 Lamborghini's would be choosing this kind of place to live. However, I got in touch with the Ubon Homes guy, and we had a long chat, and it just seems like this is the kind of place that the Thais like. The fact that it is a gated community makes it seem more exclusive/desirable to them. The info I've heard about that area and the flood plains they reclaimed makes me doubt living there. I've seen how Thai construction companies love to cut corners. I don't see why it would be any different with the reclaimed land around the River.

Thanks too transam. We drove around the lake there, and were quite surprised. It was actually quite nice. I think I would be pretty happy living in that kind of area. There were loads of blocks for sale, as you said, but we probably don't want to go through the hassle of building a new house given that we're not sure how long we would stay. Its also a bit of a catch 22 situation - if the place we choose to live is nice then we will probably stay longer, but if we are not prepared to invest long-term then we won't get a nice place. Also, where is this tech space at Sunee? I've been to the Starbucks there, but had no idea there was a tech space so close.

Thanks for the info!

Michael, the area around Huai Muang lake is one of the places we have been looking. The River is also one that my wife likes. Good to get some info about cracking at Sirimongkol 6. Our house in Det Udom also got cracking because we were in a rush to get it finished and didn't let the foundation dirt sit for long enough. I guess they rushed the build of Sirimongkol 6. I think the River is still under construction, right? We heard that the floods didn't quite make it up to the River, maybe another 20cm of water and it would have flooded. But the flood water would have been great for getting the foundation dirt to settle.

For the office, it doesn't actually need it to be an office. I just can't work at home. Our youngest is 2 years old. It is impossible for a 2 year old to understand that daddy can't play with him because daddy has to work. The reason I would look for co-working space is because it is the cheapest and most effective office. In Bangkok, I'm paying 800baht per month which includes unlimited coffee. I could just rent a regular apartment, but a regular apartment doesn't usually have the right kind of layout for working. I mean, all I need is a room with a toilet and air con. No need for a shower or kitchen or bed. But the kinds of places like that in residential areas tend not to be good places for concentrating/getting work done. I really need a place that is quiet during the day. But if a regular apartment is the cheapest option, then that would be ok. My current arrangement (I work in Bangkok and commute back and forth between Ubon) is also quite expensive.

Thanks NiwPix. I hadn't seen that co-working space. I'll check it out. For the ubonhomes.com, I've seen it but it seems way lacking in terms of stock actually inside Ubon city. Almost everything they have is outside the ring road. I know most Thai's tend to sell/rent out properties just by sticking up a cardboard sign on the front of their houses, which makes it really difficult to look if you are not in the area. I'll have to get the wife and kids in the car, and we'll drive around. It's just difficult to do when you're dragging 2 small kids along who just want to go to the playground in Central.

Hi Everyone,

I was looking for a whole bunch of advice about Ubon Ratchathani city. Me and the family are currently out in the countryside part of Ubon, out past Det Udom towards the Laos border. When we moved the family out there, it was only going to be temporary, so I continued to run my business from Bangkok and fly back and forth. However, 2 years on and our temporary situation has become semi-permanent, and I'm sick of the travel and spending so much time away from wife and kids. So, we are thinking of moving to Ubon city. We've tried tracking down info, but have not had much luck, so onto the questions.

1. Serviced offices/shared offices/co-working/office space. I've tried looking and have never found anything like this. I did find a co-working space on the net, but it had gone out of business before I could get a chance to check it out. Do any of you guys/gals know of this kind of office space? My business is basically just freelance work, so I don't need or want some kind of huge office. Just a room with a desk/toilet/air conditioner. Which brings me to 2:

2. Where is the central business district? Is there any? I've spent a lot of time driving around and looking. There isn't really any part of town that looks like a business center. There is maybe that area stretching out south-west from where immigration is, but even there it just seems like loads of cafes/restaurants, not much business/offices. The few days I've come into town to get the car serviced, I've used the Starbucks in the Sunee Hotel. But that area all seems retail and not business.

3. Where is a nice residential area for family with small children? My wife likes the area around Central. There is a housing estate (Sirimongkol6) and a few others near there. Personally, I hate the idea of those cookie-cutter houses. But, as my wife points out, those estates usually have a playground and sometimes swimming pool, which are huge bonuses for the kids. What do you guys with small kids do? Are there any public facilities like that for small kids, or are we better off getting into a housing estate that has them?

Thanks in advance everyone

We bought a second-hand Honda CR-V just over a year ago, and want to get it inspected for registration and also for periodic maintenance. The problem is, every suggestion/recommendation we've been given cannot handle an LPG car. We live outside of Det Udom, but apparently there are no mechanics capable of LPG out here, so we have to go into Ubon itself. Anyone know any places, or have an LPG car serviced somewhere? If you have a phone number, that would be perfect, so wife can call em up before we make the trek into Ubon.

We had a dodgy local builder build us a house just over a year ago. Although we definitely have no water leakage, there are already signs of corrosion in the roof steel. Is there anything that can be done to fix/prevent this? I have read in this forum about some red oxide paint, but many people claim it is useless. The builders should have done whatever is needed, but I have zero faith in their ability to get anything right, and it seems like something I need to get fixed up ASAP.

Does anyone know if ventilating the roof cavity is effective for cutting down on cooling bills? Every time I climb up inside the roof, it is hot as hell up there. It seems like a bit of ventilation would cool things down a lot. Kind of like the image below, with the air coming up from under the eaves and then out through the gaps in the ridge:

2 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

A 1.5KW solar system can generate what?  80% of that over what? an 8 hour period during a day.  I don't think you have to worry about turning the meter backwards if you have anywhere close to normal load.

Sure, we average consumption way more than 1.5 kW. But its not constant. On days when we are not at home, the only thing on is the fridge. So during those periods the meter will run backwards. It is a big issue in terms of pay-back period when you look at it as an investment. With only a 1.5kW solar system, we would never have to turn the solar off, so pay back in maybe 5 to 6 years. Our usage varies from around 300 kWh during winter (which we do get in our part of Thailand) up to 1100 kWh last month. With the next step up (3.0 kW solar system), there is a risk of the monthly usage going near zero during the winter months. So then we'd have to turn it off, and the payback period blows out, and the risk of getting caught if you forget to turn it off also blows out.

I also imagine there is some risk if the meter reader happens to come by when we're not at home and everything is turned off. Then he would get to see the meter spinning backwards in front of his eyes.

But in terms of cost, not getting a battery and simply using the grid as a battery saves a huge amount of money. Without that, it simply would not be worth it. In winter when we don't need aircon, our usage is highly peaky. We have an 8 kW hot water system and electric stove at around 1kW per hot plate. If the solar was only turned on for those, but then could not spin the meter backwards in between, it would be basically useless.

This topic is a bit old, but I just talked to a solar installer in Ubon Ratchathani. He basically said:

1) It is illegal to run the meter backwards. However, the meter will quite happily run backwards and the PEA won't notice or take any action unless you start going negative.

2) Which means you have to disconnect your solar system if you are going away for an extended period.

3) Officially, you are supposed to inform the PEA. They will have a structural engineer go look at your roof and an electrical engineer check all of the wiring before you can hook up. This costs money. It also means you are on their radar to check for your meter going backwards.

The upshot of all this, the installer recommended getting a system slightly smaller than your regular monthly usage, and then just install it without telling the PEA. Disconnect the solar from the grid when your away.

The 1.5kW system we looked at was 70,000 THB, plus 7500 THB for installation without informing PEA, or 12000 THB with informing PEA, but there seemed to be room for negotiating. Anyone got any feedback on whether this price is high or low, or if this kind of system is even worth it?

10 hours ago, jayceenik said:

One on each side of Ring Road 231 going East before HWY 2050 intersection

Thanks. That's on the opposite side of Ubon from us (we are on HWY 24 on south side), but thanks for info anyway. It turns out there is one quite close to us, and one on HWY 24 on the approach to Ring Road 231, so the situation is not quite as dire as a google search results suggest. Both are purely LPG stations, though, and not part of regular service stations. Curious that the big service stations do not stock LPG.

Hi,

I just bought a used 2008 Honda CR-V. The dealer didn't mention (and I didn't realize until we got home) that it has an LPG conversion kit in it. Looking around online, it seems like LPG is not so common in Thailand (and is incompatible with NGV which is sold at regular petrol stations). So, does anyone know which brand of petrol station I should be looking for, or is LPG refill sold only at specialized LPG-only stations?

I'm also wondering if there is some con to having LPG that I'm missing. The price of the car was quite cheap (430K baht for 2008 CR-V which appears to be in very good condition, much better and cheaper than any of the other CR-Vs we looked at). The dealer not only didn't mention the LPG, but went out of his way to tell us to fill up with Gasohol 91. Normally, LPG conversion kits make a car more expensive. So is there something here that I'm missing, or was the dealer just incompetent. (And for the record, the only minor problem with the car is that the odometer shows 130K kms, but the service logs that we found in the glove box show that it has been regularly serviced every 10K kms up until the last service at 210K kms, so someone has clearly done something dodgy to the odometer).

Thanks. So it looks like I'll have to go ahead and get a proper marriage visa before I can get a tax id number.

Hi. According to international tax treaties, etc. I am a Thai resident for tax purposes (because I live here and this is the only place where I have a residential address). However, I have no income in Thailand and do not even have a work permit for Thailand. But due to recent international tax stuff that the US has pushed through, my Hong Kong bank requires me to provide them with a tax identification number for Thailand. Does anyone know if such a thing even exists, and if so, how I can get one?

On 11/14/2017 at 5:12 PM, RichCor said:

I'm was a bit worried about the ~12-13v differential the poster was writing about in the shower. Was that measurement taken from the water Heater NEUTRAL and Heater GROUND to the wet floor? Ouch!

Yeah, this voltage was between the water heater ground and the wet floor. (Or actually, between the hot/cold water mixer and me holding the other multimeter electrode while standing on wet floor). It wasn't like this when the house was finished, but has appeared gradually. (It first became noticeable after we got an air conditioner installed, which led me down the false path of thinking that was the issue).

Basically, the house was built during the rainy season (although it was originally supposed to have been finished before the rainy season started), and we have around 1 m of backfill on the original land level. (The original land was marshy). So when the house was first built, all of the rebar in the walls would have been in good conductive contact with the ground water in the soil under the house, which also had the earth spike put in by the builder. At this point, I think we had a good earth connection and the structural steel was effectively "bonded" (I don't know if this is right term) via the wet soil under the house.

However, as the dry season has progressed, all of this water has dried up/drained out. This has broken the electrical connection between the rebar, the earth spike, and the local electrical earth level. Since the original earth spike is underneath the middle of the house, it's not really going to get any more water. So it is basically useless as an earth spike. I guess it will begin to function again when the rainy season starts up again next year. I put in a new earth spike that is deeper and that is also outside where the soil will get when rained on, but it also doesn't appear to have a very good electrical connection. I think the entire region here just becomes dry as a bone during the dry season.

For the "bonding" that I did in the roof, I didn't actually connect to the roof or rebar (which are welded together and have been painted with some kind of coating). I connected to the reinforcing wire that they use in the concrete block walls. I only connected to the ones sticking up around the bathroom. Because of the poor grounding here, my guess is that instead of dragging the house voltage down to ground level, this is actually pulling the entire house voltage up to neutral (which gets up to around 20V when the water heater is on). Anyway, it fixes the tingle in the bathroom.

For the actual roof itself, I wasn't sure what to do. It seems like connecting that to the earth via the CU would create a problem in case of lightning strike? I don't know if that is a valid concern, but we do have one of the taller buildings in the neighborhood. Presumably there is now a conductive path that goes: roof -> rebar in walls -> concrete wall -> reinforcing wire in walls -> earth wire -> CU -> earth spike. Given the poor earth connection, I was thinking of driving another couple of earth spikes at different points around the house. If I connected one of those up to the roof metal, it would provide a lightning conduction path as well as hopefully getting a better ground connection than we have.

Normally you can connect up the USB cable and use the software to change the beeper settings, but the Smooth D doesn't have a USB port, so I don't see what options are left than cutting the beeper wire.