Skylight

22 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Bigoted thinking? This is the problem with the world right now. You cannot say anything without being accused of not being PC. I care not one iota for PC. Means nothing to me. The facts are the facts. Check out these charts, and then tall me about Koresh, Falwell, and the Burmese. 

 

 

 

Bigoted thinking is bigoted thinking. Nothing to do with PC or personal computers.  Yeah, I am going to define it as personal computer.  

How are you going to slow down a people of a certain faith? A short little guy with a funny mustache did tried that at one time early last century.

Just because people are born in a certain country, it doesn't mean that they take on that country's main religion.  Young people are more likely to be atheist.

Extremism/fundamentalism is the issue.    Bigoted old people is also an issue. 

On 7/21/2020 at 1:36 AM, salsajapan said:

 

Wow, how can someone reach the point to knowing nothing and be proud of it as you do on so many topics ?!

 

 

You noticed that too.  He's everywhere.

This is how estate works.  Creditors can the sue the estates until they are satisfied through probate  - there is a short time-limit. 

The beneficiaries get to keep the rest.

Probate is time consuming and expensive and reduce the estate to zero.  I recommend everyone put together a comprehensive will.

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Let's look at some other neighbors:

Philippines USD 3104

Laos          USD 2566

Cambodia  USD 1504

Vietnam    USD 2551

India         USD 2037

Myanmar   USD 1299

 

Be careful with using GDP per capital.  It depends on what are you trying to use it for.  PPP would be a better measurement of purchasing power than nominal GDP.

Even PPP would not cover unique situation in certain country.  For example, in the US, the middle class would need to make more and save more to 

plan for medical emergencies or expensive childhood needs like braces (it's around $7,000+ per kid now and insurance usually cover only  $2,000).  Medical saving is rarely needed in the EU.

The Thai middle class is growing and you can see recent university graduates doing extremely well in the eastern seaboard and in Bangkok.  No doubt they will grow to become factory managers and country managers of MNC's in the future.  I am even further encouraged by the bold leaderships of recent events by high school students.

12 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

This is a very broad topic. Depends on alot of variables. Many are predicting world population will begin to drop. There are alot of nations at zero population growth, or negative population growth. This will help alot. Not to sound xenophobic, which I am not, but we need to figure out a way to slow down Muslim population growth. 24 of the fastest growing nations are Muslim. That is a huge issue. The world does not need alot more people, at this point in time. 

 

I believe the environment will be our top issue and concern. Despite the naysayers (usually politically motivated) I see signs of man made global warming all around me. It is getting hotter, and drier. Just look at California. That will likely result in a lower quality of life for future generations. I believe mankind will survive for a long time to come, but the overall quality of life will be lower. Water quality, air quality, depleted fish stocks, etc. It can be turned around, perhaps, but it is going to take alot of wisdom and political will, and there do not seem to be many politicians these days with any wisdom or concern about the future.

 

On the other hand, within 10-20 years, I am fairly certain that 80% of all vehicles will be electric or hybrid. Oil and gas demand will drop precipitously, which will benefit the planet enormously. Few have compassion for big oil, so they either get with the program, or get left behind. As for Gen Z, it remains to be seen. If Thailand is any indication, we might be in good hands. The youth here are impressive, and seem to really care about the future of the nation. They will likely drive out the spectacularly toxic Thai army. Much change will take place here. Hopefully, the dinosaurs like Prayuth, Prawit, Pipat, Anutin and many others will be a historical footnote, about regressive men and their greed, ignorance, apathy, and lack of vision. 

Slow down Muslims? This kind of bigoted thinking is creating different problems in the world.  The problem is not Muslims or Islams. The problems are fundamentalism Islams, Christians and yes Buddhisms. 

You can see this everywhere. With Jerry Falwell Jr and David Koresh in the US and with the Burmese in their massacre of the Rohingyas.  The New York Times has a article on this using interviews with Burmese soldiers. We all know the devastating impacts Bin Laden and his ilks.

It depends.

Like anytime in the past, it depends on how well you chose your parents and lucks.

But for anyone born right now, if you able to learn new skills, adapt to technologies quickly, and be able to learn other languages and cultures, You will do extremely well.

If you are good with your hand and able fix things but without the desire to get formal credentials, you will not do well.

If you an artist of any kind, life is not going to be easy.

But if you can combine artistic/creativity with technology, you can do well.

There are some in Bangkok, relatively expensive for the size.

Rental is fairly cheap in Khorat, the storage unit business might not exist.

On 9/8/2020 at 6:31 PM, BritManToo said:

Those with least overheads will survive.

You would need minimal outgoings for the next 2-3 years.

Everyone else is going bust.

There is really no way for any airlines to survive without state interventions.  The market went down 100% overnight and now it's still down 70%

19 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Heat does build up under the roof as the sun gets hotter, e.g. we have concrete roof tiles, under those tiles we put thermal reflective sisalation to reduce the time that it takes for the heat to penetrate the concrete roof tiles, once the heat is in, it's trapped and will work it's way through your ceiling and into your home, unless you put in for example, R38 Stay Cool batts which will keep the trapped heat in the inside of the roof space, and it also stops your air conditioning from escaping through your ceiling and into the inside of your roof space.

 

Putting in vented eaves and vents at the front of the house (gable roof) the heat is push to and sucked out by the whirly birds, this is the way we have set our's up and it works like a wind tunnel, I know that because when I get on the ladder and open the manhole I can feel the hot air being pushed passed my face toward the whirly birds which are at the back of the house.

 

We purchased the thermal reflective insulation from HomePro: http://www.polynum-insulation.com/index.php?goto=bep

 

R38 Stay Cool batts from SCG: https://www.homepro.co.th/p/213896?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItfrk-crd6wIVTx0rCh0rrQ75EAkYBCABEgLZ_vD_BwE

 

Whirly birds can be found at most places: 

I can say that inside the house it can vary between 5-10 degree on really hot days, and for the two winter months here in Issan we are warm from the insulation.

 

Not a cheap exercise but if you want to stay cool and don't like air cons and big electricity bills, this is the way to go.

 

The builder told me it wasn't necessary to do all the above as the house would be cool, I doubted him, put in the sisalation when the tiles were going on, left the whirly birds and stay cool batts out for a year and proved to him how wrong he was, because the house would warm up by 10am and then be hot the rest of the day requiring air cons, but after that year, we put in the whirly birds and R38 batts and it would take till 2pm to get warm (comfortable), still no need for air cons until before bed.

 

I didn't know about the R38 insulation before.  I would definitely budget for that.    Upfront cost seems to be an issue with designing cooling building.

I have talked to a couple of architects in the West about their passive cooling buildings, the biggest issue is that builders are reluctant to spend the extra cost upfront even though it will payback in a only few years.

I'll definitely consider whirly birds.

18 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Yeah aesthetically it would be a little bit out there but I am sure you got a cool house.  I'll have to think about it for a long while.

How is the design treating you.  The house is pretty cool all day?

Yes.  But the land will far be away from major roads, schools, stores.

Might work if you looking for a quiet place. 

2 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

Can you explain what you mean by "can't get out"? Emirates and Qatar have flights out every day to many destinations as do a number of other airlines. The fact that you would prefer to be in China or Vietnam rather than your home country is of no interest to Thai immigration.

I think the OP said they have another job in a specific Asian county lined up.  The difficulty must be getting out and to that specific country.

10 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Yes gable roof with vents, white colour reflects the heat, white roof would be good but aesthetically wouldn't look good. Whirly birds are not noisy at all, make sure you buy good ones with good quality bearings.

 

Thermal reflective sisolation and ceiling batts like R38 stay cool are great for keeping the heat out and in the attic above the ceiling so the vents and whirly birds can suck out the hot air. Wide vented eaves, 900mm-1200mm even better depending on the design. trees for shading help too, no concrete near the house as it heats up and deflects the heat. 

Yeah aesthetic would be the biggest drawback.  Flat roof might hide it well or I just need learn how to live with it. 

Trees are important. 

We'll need to plan the house orientation well.

8 hours ago, CGW said:

We have a flat roof area painted with white reflective coating, too hot to use during the hot days as too reflective, needs cleaning a few times every year! 

It is visible from "Space" though ???? 

Do you mean that it's too hot to the touch?  Heat should not build up underneath the roof or does it?

On 9/3/2020 at 4:09 AM, 4MyEgo said:

When we built our house 5 years ago, we decided against having a 2nd level as we know how hot it can be upstairs, although the downstairs can be kept cooler in theory with a 2nd storey.

 

While saving on the 2nd storey I decided to go for a long single level dwelling with 3 metre high ceilings and a high attic space which can stand up in the middle, and it allows all that hot air to be pushed from front vents on either side of the front of the house directly below the gable roof, with two whirly birds at the rear which creates a wind tunnel sucking the hot air out, those whirly birds are spinning all day and night, we also put in vented eaves, and the biggest outlay was the thermal reflective sisalation and R38 stay cool batts, but easily off-set against the 2nd level.

 

I believe this is why we have a cheaper electricity bill, that and not requiring the air conditioners during the day, although when it does get over 40 degrees we do turn them on around 4pm.

 

 

That was a great design with 3 meter ceiling.  I guess you had gable vents put in.  Paint everything white helps as well.

Are the whirly birds noisy?  Ridge vent for the roof would be a less noisy solution but it is a complicated design.

I am toying with the idea a white roof. 

13 hours ago, tgw said:

people can be strange.

I had a Thai friend who had a dangerous medical condition that required just a small ambulant operation to fix.

can you believe she vehemently refused to get treated, first citing costs, and after I told her it was free, I had to raise the voice and scold her so that she finally accepted that I bring her to emergency care. tried to get out without treatment too. not a friend anymore.

Yeah, public hospital medical care should be free to her.   One of Thaksin's doings. 

Someone should bring her to a public hospital.

The social welfare and old people social security are still lacking but the universal healthcare part is pretty far along.

On 8/26/2020 at 4:58 AM, opalred said:

i am 76 and been here 16years  never had insurance as if i needed dr or hospital i go to public  and cost very little  if i had  paid insurance over those years would be in millions  the wife found out if i had to go to hospital would pay a small fee /now if something major happened go back to your own country /or go to india

Like everyone is telling you, you have a terrible plan.

It would too late once you get sicked or get dumped in a hospital.  You won't be able to fly to India.  They won't treat you if you don't have insurance or not able to pre-paid.  You should go read about horror stories out there.

There was a Youtuber who got cancer and he had to pre-paid every steps along the way and that probably slowed down his treatments.  He ended up going back to his home country to died.  The guy was just turning 60.

6 hours ago, stouricks said:

Went to my barber today, Bht 50, took 20 minutes, thats 150 a hour. How much should he give to the monks.

 

50 to support the program and temple or 100 to really support the program.

Blood pressure fluctuate through the day by a lot.

So take measurement throughout the day.  Relax when you are taking BP.  Don't cross your legs. 

If you can't get it to 120/130 any time during the day, stop salt intake and smoking.  You need to be on medication.

Too much caffeine is not good either.

Exercise regularly.

1 hour ago, Mama Noodle said:

Ive taken millions of baht out of Thailand with no issue and sent it back home through simple bank transfers. 
 

As long as you have a thai bank account in your name and all of your funds going into Thailand funnel through that account, you can send back out of Thailand the same amount you’ve brought in throughout the years  

It would not likely be due to legal or technical reasons.  There are other reasons.....

On 9/6/2020 at 10:10 AM, gamb00ler said:

Here's my expenses for wife and I on Sep 14  flight from LA:

 

$2715 ASQ  for two (85K B), extra big room

$1842 EVA Air for two

$79 car rental Las Vegas --> LAX

$300 COVID test result in 6 hours for me only

$138 for Fit To Fly for two

$106 for USPS overnight/return to consulate (O visa for me and wife has expired passport)

$10 for headache meds.

 

If I hadn't foolishly decided to leave Sun. night/Mon. AM, I could have paid only $125 for COVID test.  Since most private testing labs are closed on weekends my only option was to get test on Friday and pay for the super expedited results.  At least for 300 I got to cut the nasal swab queue and my samples were walked through the lab as well.  I also get a real fancy result certificate  555.

 

For those having difficulty getting a clinic or Doc to do the Fit To Fly I suggest reaching out to your local Thai community.  Most likely there will be Thais who have also gone through the process and know of an accommodating facility.  That's we ended up doing.

I'll be the $10 headache meds must have been extra-strength.

At least the car rental is cheap without having to return the car back to Las Vegas. 

20 hours ago, zzzzz said:

HUH?

i have brought $$ in, brought land, built a house, ( took 1 month longer than the 6 month contract stated), sold land and house 10 years later and took the $$ out and came in right on budget, even down to the custom kitchen.

Zero problems

 

 

Phuket

#1 would not be due to capital outflow regulations but probably the experience of most people moving to Thailand.

#2 most (probably the vast majority) people  under-budget a house building exercise.  You are awesome to be able to do it within a budget.

14 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

While all of that is true the problem is that you will also have the same humility as outside. I manage to maintain the internal humidity at under 70% even when the outside is at over 95%., I’m usually at least 10~20% under ambient and a similar 10+15 degrees under the maximum daytime temperature, often without AC.

For me the lower humidity makes using just fans OK for most of the daytime 

You are going to need either AC or dehumidifier if you need to reduce the humidity significantly.   A little breeze and air movement should still help though.

17 minutes ago, tifino said:

I could see a coupla new Southern Thai islamic states annexing the 'islands' in the middle 

 

 

and the locals then float massive rice paddy sidewalk markets, to restrict passage...

Like the new Panama Canal in Nicaragua that went nowhere after almost a decade .  This one will go nowhere.

On 1/13/2020 at 7:40 PM, Mattd said:

The air inside the roof space is degrees warmer than the outside air, by some considerable margin, the heat is radiated in to the space from the roof, which is then exacerbated by the lack of movement, don't believe me, then try going in to the attic for a while!

At least if the space is ventilated it allows some of the hotter air to escape and creates movement.

Agree.  The guy who said vents are pointless was totally wrong.

Not only air in an un-vented a lot hotter, it will radiant down.   I keep reading some older TV posts with people saying that since the "ambiance" temperature outside was so hot, there was no way to cool the inside of the house with vents and windows.  Completely untrue. 

With heat convection effect, the air hot will rise and any air flow or breeze will provide cooling relief.   It is possible for the inside of the house to be cooler than outside with the right ventilation/insulation/shading even before using the air conditioners.