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I have seen in the USA a product called jack's magic blue stuff which removes copper and allows the filter to collect it.

Has anyone seen this, or anything like it, in Thailand ?   Normal copper stain removers remove the copper but it is still in the water (filter won't trap it apparently) and at some point it will reattach itself to the grout again.  

If I have to use a Thai copper stain remover (and then drain the pool I suppose), does anyone have any recommendations?  Always good to use one that is known to work !

The problem I reported below may be the copper algaecide I used.   Adding lots of chlorine afterwards to try to get rid of the staining may have made the situation worse and turned the stain black.  That would make sense.

All help welcome

Yep. Instructions on the tub were in Thai and had no idea it could cause so much havoc.   What does confuse me is that the PH is always low (as I understand it the chlorinator works better if PH is slightly low)  and still was after I added the algaecide.  The only time the pool has had high PH was when constructed and the builder had a PH of 8-9+ and was dabbing algae with chlorine tablets.  As soon as I saw this I got rid of him and had to put in a lot of acid to get it back to neutral.

do you know anyone in HH who can do a good job ? I am quite happy to buy all the materials.

After having had no issues with the pool for many years I have a sudden huge outbreak of black algae.  Free chlorine at spa+ levels, PH about 7.  After very heavy rain I always chuck in some chlorine granules (salt water pool) as extra insurance.  I then decided to add for the first time some algaecide. Blue stuff.  Must have copper in it as the concrete overflow went green. As did the grout.  Cleaned to waste a couple of times, and then a week or so later after more heavy rain the pool went black (including the plastic fittings) in a couple of days.  Free chlorine levels still very high, PH about 7.  Still not sure how it all went black.  Scrubbing at the top level black stuff with an aluminium brush is taking a lot of grout off (it was crocodile platinum).

Looking at my options I think a complete regrout (incl acid wash after removing the grout) would be the best way forward. Replace plastic fittings in the pool. Replace sand in filter.

Pool is 12 * 4 * 1.4m.  tiles are 10cm

What kind of price would I be looking at, or, indeed, can anyone here recommend anyone for a quote.

I am in Hua Hin.

Thanks.

I am flying to Chiang Mai from Hua Hin in a couple of days.  The airasia website says i should look at the destination for details of what i need.

I have looked and looked, I cant find details , but i do have an old list from facebook that says only 1 AZ required.  No mention of antigen test.   Is that right ?

I have tried contacting Air Asia , but after 90 minutes and finally getting through to AVA, the connection, from their end, timed out after i explained the problem :-(

Anyone any experience of flying into chiang mai or has a link to the current requirements.

Thanks,

Looked at the deemoney website and it doesn't accept transfers to GBP, EUR or USD.  Just seems to like asean countries and others in this area.

Has anyone heard anything about them reopening transfers to 'the west' .  Thanks.

My Thai wifes visa application for the UK has completed, and it is ready for pickup in BKK. I am up there next week, so would like to pick it up. As well as the receipt, the instructions from VFS also say my wife has to provide a letter of authority. What does this mean ?

Is it just a hand written letter saying owner of passport AAnnnnnn gives xxxxxx (me) the authority to pick up the passport ? Or does it need to be notarised ? Is there a standard format ? Has anyone done this before with VFS ?

I should point out that it appears there is no way to get in contact directly with VFS to ask.

Thanks

Hi,

A friend is on a round the world by landcruiser holiday and would like to ship the car by container to Thailand from mumbai, store it in a bonded warehouse for a few months , and then pick it up from the bonded warehouse to carry on with the trip. The warehouse can be anywhere in Thailand.

Anyone have any experience with bonded warehouses ? And can anyone recommend anywhere specific. Presumably a place used to storing cars would be the most appropriate.

Thanks

Hi,

I seem to recall that to create a juristic person for a housing estate (not a condo) required a majority (pref. 75%) of owners to provide details. Whether the owners of the land plots were actual people (thai) or companies set up to own the land plots wasn't an issue.

However, today, a lawyer is now saying that companies (regardless of ownership/structure) are not permitted to be those who agree to this. More than 50% of the owners of both land and houses must be thai people. It would appear that this would stop most estates from ever creating a JP and will therefore always be under the control of the developer.

Can anyone verify/contradict this news from the lawyer.

And how are you supposed to notice it before driving it ? BTW, The engine number does not indicate whether it is a new engine or not (they all start Z20D1). Even Chevrolet dealers don't know how to tell the difference by looking at it. Does anyone google engine numbers before taking delivery ? if you had read all the above you would notice I say that no documents say what the engine power is, just the size.

Both the new and old are 2.0L diesels. And you can tell the difference between a 5 speed auto and 6 speed auto ?

When spending over 1.6m baht, I think you have a reasonable assumption that what is delivered is what is advertised. It is a pity as the captiva is one of the very few European style/spec/safety orientated cars over here at a non-extortionate price. for example, I think it is the only car with curtain airbags all the way from front to back for example.

I think the letter to both USA and Thai head offices is the way to go to start things off.

Hi,

I am not sure how to progress with this as I am not clear what product laws there are in Thailand. If anyone has any experience of something similar, or a lawyer that practises in this field etc I would be most grateful for any information. I have looked at the Chevrolet site in the USA thinking of escalating it over there, but it is not obvious how to do that.

Details below.

In July 2012 I ordered a new Chevrolet Captiva LT with AWD and the VCDi engine. The car was delivered to me on the 31st August 2012.

When I was selecting the Captiva, I looked at the Chevrolet website, and the Captiva Brochure. In both cases, they said the engine was the 163PS engine with the 6 speed gearbox. There was no mention of the previous 150 PS engine. I mentioned to my thai wife and the sales staff at the time that it had the new engine which was better than the old one.

The website as at May 2012, i.e. before I ordered, can be seen at the wayback machine

http://web.archive.org/web/20120528053137/http://www.chevrolet.co.th/vehicles/view-all-vehicles/cars/captiva/models.html

The Captiva brochure has a date on the last page of 10/10/11. The manuals included with the car, both Thai and English, only mention the 163 PS engine and the 6 speed transmission. When I received the car, the registration document arrived over 1 month later

In July 2013 I received an insurance update form. On that, I noticed that the VIN number was 2011, and that the engine was rated at 150PS. Looking at the blue book that arrived a month or two after I took delivery of the car, that also has 150PS.

I went to the Chevrolet garage and spoke to the manager. She assured me that I had the new engine, and that all the Diesel cars had the same information in the blue book (registration document). She was so sure, that she showed me other registration documents from Diesel Captivas that also said 150PS. Some of these appeared to be after the date I had bought my car.

I was still not sure, so I asked what the visible difference was between the 150PS and the 163PS engine. No one from the garage knew, so the manager called Chevrolet Head Office in Thailand. They checked and said that I had the old 150PS engine with 5 speed box.

I pointed out that this was unacceptable. I had bought a car with the new engine and transmission and had been sold a car with the old engine and transmission. Apart from not enjoying the proper performance, when I come to sell the car, it will not be worth as much as a car with the new engine.

To avoid problems, I suggested that they took my car as a trade in and sold me a new Captiva with the new engine. Of course, there would be a small extra payment to allow for the year of use. The manager refused, saying that she could not do that. I then asked her to talk to Head Office. After 2 weeks and a number of phone calls, I have been told there is no response. Head Office do not seem interested in sorting out the problem.

On the paperwork when ordering, there is no mention of the output of the engine or the number of gears in the transmission. It is just a 2.0 Diesel.

I really doubt you are being disconnected by 3BB for using bittorrent.

I'm guessing there might be a problem with your modem, perhaps overheating with the increased workload or something. Try to get hold of a different modem to test.

It is on 12 hours a day in constant use and no signs of any trouble until recently when i start downloading files using bittorrent (which i have used for 5 years+). admittedly this is taking traffic shaping to the ultimate, but it would save 3b having to purchase morer international gateway bandwidth... btw, downloading large files directly (i.e. office 2010 straight from MS) isnt causing a problem.

hardware is fairly good. quad processor, linksys wireless, USB 3 motherboard, win 7 etc.

I have been on 3B premier for over 5 years have had no problems previously with bittorrent downloads. However in the last few days my internet connection is being terminated within 10 minutes of starting up bittorrent. This is happening in the morning, afternoon, evening and even sunday morning. If i dont start up bittorrent then the internet connection stays up. No other sites seem to be affected.

I hope this isnt going to be a permanent state of affairs. How are other providers doing ?

Hi,

in the UK and Europe, 'weather stations' that measure temperature, air pressure etc, and save highs / lows are very common. The really useful feature is the remote sensor that you place outside so you can see how cold it is in the morning. Most of them allow upto 3 remote sensors (purchase extra) and you toggle between them on the screen.

I dont want to see how cold it is outside. I want to measure the temperature in the roof space. I am trying to work out whether insulation or roof venting tiles would make a difference. To do that i would like 3 remote sensors. One would be placed just above the ceiling, one half way up the roof space and one at the top of the roof. Using the weather station i could quickly check all 3 sensors at any time of day and night, rain or dry and see what is actually happening in the roof space. That way, i could determine far better whether anything needs to be done, and what would be the best way to proceed.

Has anyone seen anything like this in thailand, or has a solution (digital thermometers connected upto infra-red transmitter/receiver etc etc)

Thanks

Hi,

Slight issue with my wifes sister (thai).

She has been to a couple of hospitals where they, to be honest, dont seem to have the best equipment and have come up with varying diagnoses that appear, on the symptoms, to be unlikely. tests seem to have been haphazard and the same tests have produced different results.

Today she was admitted to her local hospital (where she hadnt been before) with severe symptoms. I would like to bring up the road (50km ) to where i am, as i can put her in a private room, and on past experience, know the doctors here speak very good english and wont try to make large amounts of money out of her, but will recommend if she needs tests elsewhere (MRI, CT, CAT on the spine is one thing i want).

When asked/told that he husband (thai) would like to take her elsewhere, they refused ! They also told him that we couldnt take any documentation/information with us when she does leave to take to the other hospital.

Is that right ? does every hospital have to start from scratch wrt tests/treatments etc ? Seems very inefficient and dangerous.

What rights does the patient have in this regard ?

thanks

If not arrested and jailed the fine is likely to be the only issue under current policy. But it would be far safer making a border crossing/return for 15 days if you are eligible for visa exempt entry.

If only it wasnt 4 hours (at best) to the nearest border, and then a boat, which i am not that enthusiastic about if its a bit windy i would do it...

I am on a 1 year multi non-imm 'O' (have had 3 or 4 now). My next leaving date according to the stamp in the passport is next wednesday 15th sep, but it would be far more convenient if i could leave a week later (for a 10 day trip to europe). Apart from 3,500 baht of fines at the airport, is there any other sanction that will be imposed, or could it cause problems getting my next 1 year visa ?

thanks

Sounds like the phuket flight is just an extension after / before bangkok for the previously mentioned weight / fuel/ runway reasons?

if you read the post above yours, you would see it goes via KL.

The times given by the OP dont make sense for direct flights between Phuket and Doha.

However, the original press release from Qatar in June said it was NOT direct, which would explain the times. No plane change, just a stop.

"The Doha-based airline will phase in the route expansion over a four-month period with daily flights to Phuket – after Bangkok, its second destination in Thailand – kicking off the growth drive on October 11. The new flights will operate via Kuala Lumpur."

and looking at the qatar airways website and doing a trial booking, shows 1 stop (in both directions) and a time of 10.15 hours in both directions. Still good for Phuket based people though as luggage can be checked through.

I saw the train when I was in a traffic jan in Rama 9. Looks very nice. Nicest train I ever saw. It beat bullet train , TGV. etc.

In which case, you would love either Paddington Station or Liverpool Street. These are effectively british rail locos from a few years ago that have now also been built for Thailand. max speed 160km/h, which makes it Thailands fastest train !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_360

Only one is in use on the Heathrow Express, but they are used on the slower Heathrow Connect.

Has anyone lost their international upload/download speed this morning around 10:30. I am with 3BB and for the last 12 hours I have had good speed (the correct speed) and now it looks as though someone has just decided to kill it (hey we don't want good service do we). Just would like to know if this is a countrywide thing or my local area in Pattaya.

yes !! Also with 3B - premier package.

It started getting slower here in Hua Hin an hour ago, and it is now really grinding along. Gmail hasnt worked at all in that time. Same sort of thing happened a couple of times yesterday morning and the day before.

Who needs 24/7.

Problems here in Hua Hin since last Thursday afternoon. i am on maxnet premier 4MB. before last thursday, very stable and quite often close to the paid for speed.

Since then, hopeless. effectively drops every few hours (the connection is still there according to my router status) or so, and slow. upstream rate as reported by the router has been down to 100kbps (instead of 1,023 ish ), and the power (db) seems to be lower than i remember from the past. can take upto an hour to get a good (working) connection again.

foreign sites are slower than thai ones (which didnt use to be the case for me). Have 3B introduced some internal net monitoring software/hardware which is causing problems ? just seems a bit co-incidental that the problems started just after the clearout in BKK.

DSL Status: Connected

DSL Modulation Mode: MultiMode

DSL Path Mode: Interleaved

Downstream Rate: 4733 kbps

Upstream Rate: 1023 kbps

Downstream Margin: 29 db

Upstream Margin: 10 db

Downstream Line Attenuation: 18 db

Upstream Line Attenuation: 4 db

Downstream Transmit Power: 9 db

Upstream Transmit Power: 20 db

Worked first time. Thanks

Question. Channel 111 is Sports HD - should i be able to get this through a dreambox, or would i need a special box from true ?

so when will PAD people be prosecuted for occupying govt house for over 100 days, and the airport for 7 days ?

Or are double-standards still to apply ?

this is at court currently...

when will Thaksins mass-murdering of almost 3000 people (war against drugs) be prosecuted? It was well before the PAD even exists...

Not sure i see the similarity between the PAD actions and Thaksins war on drugs.

PAD should end up in court first and then it would be the precedent for how the Reds will be treated.... But will they be in court first... that is the question.

so when will PAD people be prosecuted for occupying govt house for over 100 days, and the airport for 7 days ?

Or are double-standards still to apply ?

UK banks are so far behind it is quite scary. AFAIK None of the onshore banks allow you (online) to transfer money internationally. However, acounts in Spain, Germany, France (personal experience of those) do allow you to do international transfers online. Even Natwest private banking (op mentioned this) doesnt allow online transfers internationally.

RBS international does allow international transfers online.

But, it is now refusing (inline with other UK banks) to send credit cards to thailand. I pointed out that had sent me my last one 3 years ago but said that must have been a mistake. Natwest wont send debit cards either. However, banks in the rest of europe dont have any problem with this.... And are they losing money through fraud than the UK banks ? Not that i know of....