gejohesch

Yes I have (USA, many times) and it's true it's not usually a very cozy experience either. One difference here is that the online process to prepare to enter the USA (I cannot remember what it's called, used to cost sthg like 15-20 USD) did not ask for much info, whereas to obtain the Thai TR visa, I already had to pass a number of hurdles / justifications.

I’m a EU citizen. I came in via BKK 1 month ago. As I planned to stay for a long period and did not want to go to the local immigration (in Khon Kaen), I got a visa for 60 days from the Thai embassy in the country where I am resident (not my own EU country, but another EU country). I expected to go like a breeze through immigration at the BKK airport but the officer there asked me so many questions I could not believe it. In particular he repeatedly asked for my boarding card. I could not understand as I had already given him my boarding card for the flight from Dubai to BKK. Eventually, I thought OK that guy wants the whole story, does he not? So I fished from my files and docs the boarding pass for the flight from Europe to Dubai. That seemed to satisfy him to some extent. That was beside questions on where I was going to stay, which was with my GF up country. So this is where I’m a bit puzzled: with a visa from a Thai embassy, for which I already had to provide all sorts of docs including my GF’s details (bat prachachon, tabian baan etc), why should I get such a barrage at immigration? The officer was at the limit of being unpleasant. I struggled to stay calm, knowing full well that showing any sign of impatience or frustration would only make the process lengthier and more painful. <deleted> is going on with those people? Is that the way to welcome foreign visitors? I have a long history with Thailand, I even worked in Bangkok for a few years (with a Thai company). I must say, if it was not for my GF of so many years, I would have stopped coming back to this country a long time ago! There are quite a few nice and welcoming countries other than Thailand that I can think of, easier in many respects and not more expensive!

Fort Knox must be jealous!

Well, the thing is 1) I do not know about the local snakes; and 2) my wife's brother-in-law who was there was very fearful of the snake, saying "antarai!", so I decided not to take a chance!

Yeah, I know, I already regret it

Well, looks are not the question, whether good or bad!

My wife and one of her brothers-in-law found it at the back of our garden, hiding in a sack of charcoal. My b-i-l was very fearful and would not approach it. I killed it myself with a machete. In hindsight, I may have over-reacted, but better safe than sorry!

One more thing - I hope I'm not abusing your patience! Maybe I have not mentioned that the room on the inside of the problematic wall is a bathroom. It's tiled halfway up to 1m60, and the tiles have not shown the dampness I have been talking about. It's only the wall higher up that gets damp. I can think of 2 reasons for that: 1) the water falls from the roof and only (mainly) penetrates the wall just below the roof, say over the upper 0.9m of the wall. 2) The mortar used for tiling added up an extra layer of insulation to the wall. Or maybe it's a combination of the 2! In any case, as the paint got ruined to a degree by the dampness, the wall needs some minor repair on the inside. Instead of painting again I was thinking of tiling the wall all the way to the ceiling. I think I can do that myself (I have done just a bit of tiling in a friend's place), back buttering the tiles with mortar (not just putting mortar on the wall) to make sure there is no gap between the wall and the tiles. I know some of you are professional tilers, so there could be so further advice on this tiling idea?

I will still try o get a gutter put in. I did not exclude it! But the best is to combine with some repair on the wall itself, I think.

Good explanations, I think I understood nearly everything. Quite a good summary, really, if I put it together with the comments from others that followed. It's still a bit hazy to me right now, but I think that if I print the whole discussion down and highlight the relevant bits and pieces - including the countering arguments - I will eventually be able to go to Home Pro, Global House or Watsadu, expose the problem sensibly, get the appropriate products and get down to doing the job. Of course, if I was in a more "civilised" part of the country, I would just get a skilled worker to do it, but here I am in the sticks.... At the end of the day, I may not end up with the "perfect" wall, but I'm confident I can significantly improve the problematic wall. Thanks a lot to all!

I lived there a few years. Pleasant enough when you know your ways around, but way too hot, I would say close to unbearable climate. Also, so-so architecture. Not much in terms of beautiful sites and streets where it is a pleasure to walk around - just compare with for example Lisbon or Mexico City.

Good comment. I thought about that too. However, if I could fill some of the gaps and reduce the water intake somewhat, maybe with several roller passes, that would already be a gain, would it not? As for the hydrostatic pressure membrane, it sounds a bit mysterious to me (as already said) but I will look it up to understand the concept. Thanks again!

Thanks!

It is a garden wall, and it's a pretty good idea indeed. Everything would be fixed within a few days and for a few 1000's baht. I would rather hesitate talking about it to the neighbour, though, we had some issues building stuff elsewhere close to his lot in the past.

"Can you get a galvanized steel guttering formed up to fit between the two walls and channel the water away ?" That could be the best idea! Collect the water right below the roofing, where it comes from, and evacuate it.... I will see if we can arrange that. If it can be done, there will be no need to improve the wall further below! "Or you could purchase a two part acrylic epoxy waterproofing membrane and apply it to the inside wall surface and 300/500 mm of the floor. Such a product is designed as a barrier to rising damp, from memory it can be painted within a day or two but not later. I’m a ceramic tiler and have used a product called Ardex WPM 300 for this purpose, give it a Google." It sounds interesting but, not being a professional at all, it also sounds a bit mysterious, and like the sort of thing I would not be able to do myself. And finding a worker in Isan who would understand the concept and be able to do the job properly..... our village is 10's of kms away from the nearest semi-important agglomeration, most people around here are not used to fancy work. Btw, the more I do work around my wife's 2 houses (quite a nice compound), the more respect I have for professional builders!

Well yes maybe, but that would require some work on the roof first, which I could not do myself. Of course, that would be a way to access the upper part of the wall, which is probably the one that soaks in water the most!

Yes, the roller idea is a good one. Remains finding the appropriate product to put on the roller. A probable issue here is that the blocks were poorly cemented, it was a sloppy job (not uncommon in Isan), which means that there are lots of small gaps or entry points for water. Not sure just rolling some stuff over the wall will be sufficient. Maybe I can try to put cement (a liquid enough formula) on a roller first to try to plug the gaps as much as possible, and then do a second pass with water proofing product.

That's interesting. Thanks!

Thanks for this. I take note.

"First thoughts are why with only a 20 cm gap it's getting that wet. Usually an overhang of the roof should give the wall some shelter." Good comment. I did not mention that the other wall gets to a neighbour. We would not want to extend the roof over that wall so as not to get all the rain water into the neighbours! I know, I know, it was very silly to build so close to the neighbour in the first place, but now it's done that way, we are not going to bring the building down! ".... never liked the idea of giving advice if I couldn't view the situation, so if possible find someone with some knowledge and let them view the issue" Good advice! "Finally is there any way to get a roller on a long pole down into the gap to 'treat' the area. If so Thai Watsadu have multiple products that can help with waterproofing. By the way waterproofing is all you will achieve, most buildings aren't watertight." Sounds like a good idea indeed. Interesting comment "waterproofing vs watertight". "Sorry I cant't be of more help than that. " You have helped a lot already, thanks!

As said, rendering the outside is a major issue due to limited access. I keep your suggestion of using a silicon sealant paint inside, however, thanks.

I thought of doing sthg like this, but I don't think it would be possible to do it well enough as there are some 4 metres to do along the wall and the gap to the other wall is only 20 to 30 cm, i.e. access to do the thing right is just not there.

Here is my problem: - A wall in a house owned by my wife (in Isan) is not watertight. When it rains heavily, water “sweats” inside of the house. Fortunately, not too much, but the resulting dampness does not feel good nor healthy, plus it gradually ruins the paint. - The wall was built with “blocks” which were not well cemented. Usually, I see such walls get “surfaced” with smooth cement on both sides, but in this case that was only done on the inside. As a result, water can easily penetrate the wall. - It would be straightforward to get a worker to do that cement “surfacing” on the outside, but here is the actual problem : the wall in question was built (regrettably) too close to another wall and it is not possible to get into the space in between (it’s only 20 cm wide). Therefore, I’m looking for a solution that would involve doing “something” on that wall from inside the house. - Could I for example cut openings at regular intervals in the wall, stick my arm out and “surface” the outside, then plug back the openings? That sounds like quite an effort but I would only have some 3 or 4 square metres to do. - I am vaguely aware of more sophisticated techniques such as injecting resin into the wall, but as I understand it, that is really something to leave to an expert (obviously, I’m not myself an expert), and that would likely be costly too. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Let's imagine that one day (I hope not of course) a neighbouring country invades Thailand for no other reason that a phony theory - repeated at nauseam - states that Thailand historically belongs to it and that the Thai culture and identity does not exist, devastates large regions of Thailand etc etc. I wonder what then the reaction of Thailand would be, at the moment of voting against the aggressing country, dozens of countries around the world decided "to abstain because the vote “takes place during an extremely volatile and emotionally charged atmosphere and situation, and thus marginalizes the chance for crisis diplomacy to bring about a peaceful and practical negotiated resolution to the conflict". This complete and total BS on the part of Thailand and I hope it will be remembered.

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