wpcoe

Thanks for the feedback about the wall texture. I've got mixed feelings about it, but the room the contractor showed me looked SOOOO much better than the walls I've got now. I've got to keep reminding myself the grass always looks greener on the other side...

The actual labor began today. What a whirlwind of activity. A very well-coordinated group effort with the team players doing their jobs well, it seems. It was hard to keep an eye on the activity going on simultaneously in three rooms (two bedrooms and the living room), but what I saw seemed impressive. QUITE a contrast to past experiences I've had! Within three hours of starting, the old ceilings in two of the rooms were torn down and the new gypsum/dry wall already screwed into place. (The third room we're keeping the old ceiling and just putting the drop ceiling around the perimeter.)

The contractor did suggest something that I agreed to, but with some doubts. The "ceiling" over the balcony is plaster over concrete and suffered cracking and rain leakage (I'm on the top floor). The leaking had been repaired by the condo maintenance, but there remained ugly cracks with discoloration. The contractor suggested putting a gypsum/drywall ceiling over the plaster. He showed me another unit he had done it on, and it looked okay. But, I'm nervous about having gypsum outdoors. I don't recall the ceiling ever being wet from rain before (other than from the drip), so hope it is okay. Any comments or ideas on that?

The 45 meters of crown molding was a misunderstanding/disagreement. In two rooms, the drop ceiling is only on three sides and I only want the molding under the drop ceiling. I think I was overruled, and the fourth side of each of those rooms will now have crown molding, too. The 45 meter measurement was before allowing for waste, BTW.

There are no current Thai standards that relate to Wiring Rules.

Boy, that sure explains a lot!

The wall texture that's applied to many homes in the US is simply wall compound that is sprayed on, and sometimes "knocked down" for effect. If you spend any more than $50 per room, you're being robbed. There's a spray-on flexible epoxy-based product, but it's likely to be expensive in LOS. My preference is to keep the walls as flat and smooth as possible. Too, you can hang some large pictures...

I've given up trying to find any contractor/designer that can do such a mundane thing. It's always an uphill battle just to get them to do what I have decided I want, like a simple 30cm x 30cm drop ceiling around the permiter of the room ceiling. How difficult is that? But you wouldn't believe the resistance and refusals I've encountered. Today I had a drywall/gypsum "expert" measure my walls with a high-tech laser device and he proclaimed I needed 45 meters of crown molding. After he left, I measured with a plain old measuring tape and the correct measurement is just under 40 meters. So, I will be paying for 45 meters of molding plus whatever the proration into square meters is for the ceiling itself. I surrender, only because this is the closest I've come to a contractor that will do almost what I want. Just where would I find someone to spray on wall compound and level it out? I don't think I have the stamina or patience to find out any more.

Regarding the pictures, if I hung any more mirrors or paintings to cover the wall flaws, I could charge admission as the Thai branch of The Louvre.

I've been on low-carb diets a few times (months at a time) and never noticed a boost in the libido.

(mods, if the following is not appropriate for/allowed in this forum, please delete from here down!)

Regarding porn and pandas, there's an old joke something like this:

A male panda in a China zoo was showing no sexual interest in the nearby in-heat female panda. Zookeepers tried everything they could think of. Then they decided to show some Chinese porn movies. After a few viewings, they noticed some stirrings and yes, the male did indeed mount the female. Just at the point of orgasm however, he withdrew and ejaculated on the female's chest. (Just like he saw in the movies.)

Yeahbut...

If no one will forward your mail in USA these days without a notarized statement, I would have thought that my mail forwarder would have asked for me to submit one. Who's to say I'm not Osama with a little foresight?

Including his estimate for the ceiling work and the work I've already had done -- install kitchen, retiling, combining two tiny bathrooms, install new doors, new aircons, furniture, etc -- I will have spent about B500,000 already.

After enduring a full 35 minutes of "network errors" and "timeouts" I was unable to edit that post in time to correct the amount: It should read B400,000 (not B500,000) that I will have spent.

the spray texture used in Thailand is much too thin (max 1.5mm) to cover any wires and blemishes in the plaster.

this is highway robbery! i have done my whole house (600m² living area) with texture before painting and paid only a peanuts surcharge. i am not sure how much the surcharge was but i could always ask.

I should have mentioned in the opening post that he said the blown-on product is imported from Germany. Maybe because the local Thai equivalent is inadequate? <shrug> Do you think there are different qualties/thicknesses of Thai spray-on gunk?

I'm tempted to ask how much your blown-on covering is priced, but if it is so thin that it wouldn't cover the existing imperfections and/or the newly imbedded wiring, I guess it doesn't matter.

One "problem" I have in my own mind is that this condo only cost me B1.3million to begin with. Including his estimate for the ceiling work and the work I've already had done -- install kitchen, retiling, combining two tiny bathrooms, install new doors, new aircons, furniture, etc -- I will have spent about B500,000 already. The sprayed walls would be nice, but another B60,000???? ROI is not everything, but it *is* a factor...

Firstly, do you like a textured wall pattern? Personally I prefer smooth walls. I had all my wiring re-done or moved around, and where new channels were dug out there is no noticeable sign. I agree that skimming and plastering are not a highly developed skill here, but there must be some contractors around.

The walls currently are not exactly smooth. Not sure what the previous occupants had done, but there are lots of patches, drip marks, etc. A lot of sanding effort might take care of some of that, but OTOH could make the areas noticeably smoother than the rest of the walls?

The room he showed me where he had done the texture treatment looked fine. It looked MUCH better than the condition of my walls currently, regardless of electrical wire placing.

Designers, designers, designers, Contractors, contractors, contractors. I've about had it up to here with designers and contractors. Either they give a B1,000,000 estimate for what I later had done for B100,000, or they insist in "enhancing" my request with their own over-blown ideas, or they simply show up for an initial visit and then disappear. This latest guy is the first one I can really work with. He put his best tactful/low-key sales effort for the wall texture and a much more elaborate ceiling system than what I wanted, but he backed off and agreed to work with me without his enhancements.

How does one find a reliable, competent contractor? I've been relying on recommendations of neighbors and folks in the condo. This latest fellow was a recommendation from a ThaiVisa.com poster, and seems to be the best one yet.

I have estimates from a contractor to put drop-ceilings in my 2-bedroom condo. I also inquired about putting the wiring inside the walls ... it currently has that oh-so-Thai charm with the wires exposed by being tacked to the wall surface. I'm 50/50 about putting the wires in to the brick wall. I've seen some perfect jobs where you could never see that the wall had been modified, then again I've seen where it is clearly obvious that a channel was dug into the brick to "hide" the wires.

The contractor suggested using a spray-on finish to hide any blemishes. I don't know the name of the stuff, but I've seen it a lot in tract housing in the USA: an oatmeal-texture substance is blown on to the wall and before it dries it is trowled down, leaving a textured pattern. It seems like it would work to cover not only the newly-embedded wires but other patch jobs that have been done to my concrete walls by previous owners.

My hesitancy is the cost: For my condo, which is a 76 sq meter unit (including balcony and bath and kitchen which would not be included in the new wall surfacing) he said it would be about B20,000 per room. Does that seem a bit steep? I realize I've not seen much of this type of work in Thailand so the economy of scale doesn't work in my favor.

Any thoughts on the whether this wall covering would be a Good Thing or not? What about input on pricing? And, lastly: what is that bloody wall covering called, anyway?

Before you leave you need to get a form notorized so that they know you are not Osama. Without the form, no one will forward your mail in USA.

I've used a mailbox service with mail forwarding in Honolulu for the past 12 years and never needed any notorized form.

Anyone know what substance we're talking about here?

Sure hope this doesn't lead to an increase in substance abuse...

Well the new airport was a well known nesting area of said birds and everyone knew it.

Yeah, but they got rid of the cobras, didn't they? DIDN'T THEY???

looked for me as in the other airports - at least you had a chance to get your luggage double speed

As I was standing there, I was trying to visualize the size of other airport's carousels. These are definitely smaller than Don Muang's when you consider that the old ones used to fan out toward the back wall and also run behind the wall outside. Gave a much longer moving space to hold bags. The downside to that was that it took longer for your bag to come around a second time in case you missed it the first round.

I hadn't thought about that: the speed of the bags appearing might be what caused the double-stacking. It was pretty much a non-stop flow of bags from down below. A seemingly endless flow since, of course, mine were amongst the last ones to appear.

On another thread it was mentioned that Thaksin's son was born in the USA and carries a US passport. (It was mentioned in the context that even if it is "proven" that he is not eligible for tax in Thailand, that the IRS -- the tax agency of the US -- could nail him since US citizens are taxable on their worldwide income including capital gains).

If Khun Oak is in fact a dual-pasport holder (does anybody here know if that is true?) then as a US citizen he can sponsor US citizenship for his parents, and voila -- Mr/Mrs Shinawatra can be legal US citizens!

What was the point of bringing his younger sister with him? She was not scheduled to testify, and he was supposed to testify alone. Did she endure the media crush just to sit outside the interrogation room door for two hours?

Crikey. The very next thread I read (Pension + Bank Account/no Deposit Length Required, Confirmation Of TV Advice Given) begins with the statement by ProThaiExpat:

I am pleased to report that information provided by lopburi3 and Sunbelt Asia were "spot on" when they advised that there is no time length required for your bank account deposts to be in account before extending non-imm O based on retirement when you combine pension with bank account.

So, that answers that!

If you have a 40K pension this will work as well with 400K money in the bank. These funds do not have to be in the bank for 3 months with a combination of the letter.

Does the on-deposit-for-three-months provision NOT apply when one is qualifying for an extension based on a combination of income + savings? If so, I don't think that has been clearly stated before, and is a significant point.

I experienced my first Suvannabhumi arrival this past weekend with checked luggage.

Are the luggage carousels a standard size? Granted, I arrived on a full 747, but when the bags were coming up the conveyor belt to be dropped onto the revolving carousel, the bags were double-stacked ... meaning the outer perimeter of the carousel toward the passengers was full and a second layer was created above then, requiring people to reach waaay over to grab their large suitcases. I can't recall that ever being the case elsewhere. Yeah, sure, a couple bags always drop on top of another, but the almost the ENTIRE perimeter area was FULL and bags kept being added at a steady rate.

Can't wait to see what will happen when full A380's start arriving!

I thought that you can't lock your luggage due to inspections? When I come there I'd like to be able to "secure" my luggage, but they don't allow this at least in the States.

In the US they do allow you to lock your luggage. You can purchase a TSA-certified lock at most department stores, and secure your suitcase with this lock. I have a cheapo lock; after the TSA agent hauls my inspected luggage to the check-in counter (after the xray stuff is done), I ask him/her to lock my suitcase. I hand over the lock and they cheerfully comply.

If you lock your luggage with a non-TSA-certified lock prior to the xray scan, and TSA has a need to open your luggage, they will, which may result in the damage to your lock. Otherwise they will merely "pick it", and then relock it when their inspection is complete. This has happened to me in the past. Nothing was missing from my luggage, and a note was inserted into the luggage by the TSA to indicate what they had done.

I departed Chicago O'Hare last Saturday on UA (ORD-NRT-BKK) and asked the check-in CSR if I could lock my suitcase. She pointed to the TSA screening machines behind the check-in counters and told me to wait by the machines and tell the TSA folks I wanted to lock my suitcase. I was sternly advised by those TSA folks to stand away from the machine, but they gladly put the lock on the suitcase for me.

Last time I departed BKK, I had my digital camera stolen from a checked (unlocked) suitcase. It was a small Sony (DSC-T1) and I kept it wrapped in a yellow terrycloth wrist band, at the very bottom of the bag. When I got to Japan (it was just a one-segment BKK-NRT trip) and opened my suitcase, I almost didn't notice they had gone through my bag ... nothing was disturbed. Only when I saw the empty yellow wristband did I realize my camera was gone. They knew EXACTLY where it was, so it seems like whoever was watching the X-ray/screening machine in BKK was involved. <sigh....>

I took my first flight out of Suvanabhumi on Jan 2nd, and after pushing back from the gate, I was mortified to see DOZENS (if not hundreds) of birds flitting around without a care in the world.

There were lots of white birds which looked like egrets. At one culvert alone I counted 14 of them. Then as we got closer to the runway, there were small flocks of black birds flying around.

Folks, birds are deadly to turbine jet engines. A friend of mine was on that UA flight in 2004 that aborted takeoff because of an engine flameout due to bird ingestion. A complete passenger evacuation ensued with injuries.

Before the airport opened I had read reports that there were efforts underway to remove the bird population. Those efforts seem to have been quite a failure.

It's only a matter of time before an aircraft has a serious problem due to a bird strike/ingestion. Yes, airplanes are designed with redundancy so that an engine shutdown, even on takeoff, should be no problem. But with the number of birds I saw, and with swarms of them roving the area, it's not out of reason to fear a double (or more) engine shutdown. Count the number of engines on a 737, 777, 767, A320, A330, MD80, etc...

Daniel: There have been reports that there is no place to have your photo taken at the new airport, so if you plan to get a re-entry permit at the airport, be sure to bring photos with you.

they have gone back and forth on this bpass issue but its full on now.

No, they apparently are still going back and forth. I arrived last night and was not asked for a boarding pass. I was watching other Immigrations officers at different podiums and they didn't ask either.

The reason I was so alert was that I lost my boarding pass on the airplane and was trying to see if it would be a problem. It wasn't.

Just to show how random (and bizarre) the consistency with the banks is:

In July I opened two accounts (a typical savings account and a bond fund account) at the Jomtien branch of Siam Commercial Bank with just a 30-day visa-waiver stamp. The staff could not have been nicer, and each time I visit, the branch manager makes a point to say hello. I already had a SCB savings account at the main Bangkok office, and had gone ito the Jomtien branch simply to update the passbook, when they suggested I open an account with them now that I live in Jomtien, since I would avoid out-of-province fees for transactions. They further suggested the bond fund account for a minimum deposit of B50,000 to obtain ~4% rate of return.

Now, today Nam Plah posted this:

I tried to open a savings acct at a Siam Commercial Bank in Jomtien with a Tourist Visa and was informed they required a "Certificate Of Residency" from the immigration dept.

With the level of technology, doesn't that hotline have "caller ID" so that the calls can be traced, and perhaps some children be taught a little lesson when the Boys In Brown knock at the door?

When you say "it dont work" ... what exactly are you clicking on/entering and what is the reply? i.e. How are you attempting to access the other (networked) computer.

Do you have Client for Microsoft Network, File & Printer Sharing, and TCP/IP enabled on both computers? For TCP/IP, do you have DHCP enabled, or have you assigned IP addresses to either/both computers?

Also, make sure you have some share-able data on each computer. If you don't enable some shares, there will be nothing accessible, much less transferrable, via the network.

Do you have firewall software enabled? If so, is it configured to permit a local LAN like you are attempting?