Longwood50

I know this is true for 90 day reports but this is the first I have heard of it for Retirement Extensions.  I would be most interested since mine is due this month

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

most buildings including older one's have what's called a pipe shaft .... which is a void usually in the corner for all pipes, water, electrical and conduits etc ...  and each condo has it's utilities run from there.

I was not aware of that.  If that is true, certainly the retrofit would be far easier.  However it still does not change that such an installation is expensive.  Getting every condo owner to pay is more than a challenge.  For apartment buildings or hotels that have gone through two years of Covid, I doubt they have money just laying around for installing a sprinkling system.  

In the USA, all new facilities must have them.  Older facilites retrofitted if they are like for children or nursing homes, hospitals etc. 

4 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Another straw man. Nobody said, implied, or suggested the amount required is trivial. I think you should come up with some useful, informative point or quit the thread, as you're just repeating the same thing over and over.

Back at you.  I pointed out, they are a good idea.  However you and others keep pounding the refrain that they should be mandatory.  I merely point out the obvious that you seem to want to ignore.  THEY COST MONEY. 

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Stainless or whatever, who cares, Anything that looks OK and provides some help if there's a fire. 

Do you want to use MasterCard, Visa, or your bank account to pay for the installation?  

Definition of a Liberal:  Someone who believes they have a great idea, want to implement it by mandate, and have someone else pay it. 

17 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Like everything else, duh. A trivial point you keep repeating as it's some kind of news.

And you believe having money to pay for it is trivial and keep repeating it.  You must be a liberal. 

16 hours ago, scorecard said:

Well fitted stainless pipes, nicely installed better than nothing.

Ah now stainless pipes.  Why not shining copper or platinum?  

Marie Antoinette " let them eat cake" 

Thailand "let them just have stainless"

15 hours ago, BigStar said:

Those projects wouldn't save me if my building starts to burn down. I'm more concerned with my own life, you see. So I'll go for the sprinkler system. You go for the saved lives on the roads and enjoy your barbecue.

Yes, and it would be good to have a fire station right outside every apartment building and condo.  

The fact remains that whether done expertly, or aesthetically so as to not detract.  IT COSTS MONEY.  

If it was an apartment building that doesn't mean that the apartment owner has the money for the retrofit or that he/she could borrow enough to have it completed.

As a person who lives in a village of homes, I can tell you that not every homeowner pays their common fees.  So saying Condo Owners even if the majority agree will come up with the money to pay for the installation is a pipe dream. 

Do I think sprinkling systems are a good idea, YES.  So are fire alarm systems,  so are security cameras, so are security guards etc.  However they all cost money and many of the posts advocating the mandatory installation of sprinkling systems seem to ignore that reality. 
 

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Ugly, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Some must like it it if a hotel deliberately chooses to surface mount steel pipework all over the room

Some may think putting lipstick on a pig makes it more beutiful but common sense tells you otherwise. 

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

When I said the electrics were in pipework, I meant metal plumbing pipes

I did not say the electrics were in pipework.  I said plumbing pipework.  I had electric done that had to be encased in PVC but that had nothing to do with the installation of a plumbing network to install a sprinkling system.  That would be far bigger and uglier. 

9 minutes ago, sandyf said:

I was in a hotel in Udon last week where electrics had been put in surface pipework and used as "Decor". Ball valves on the wall lights etc !!!

Must admit, not to my taste.

Yes we added security cameras to our home.  The only alternative was exterior wiring inside PVC.  Cable TV was added.  Hole was drilled from the ceiling with wire inside a PVC conduit to conceal it.  

Plumbing pipes.  Great if installed when facility is under construction.  Difficult, expensive, and likely very ugly as a retrofit. 

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Why would anything be required on exterior walls?  Buildings already have water and sewer lines inside and between floors and if new holes required it is not that hard to drill them.

Yes they do, however i am not sure that they are adequate in terms of flow to support a sprinkling system.  Also those water lines are already hidden inside the walls.  To hang a sprinkler it would likely require the plumbing to be exposed.  You sure cant connect a fitting to a pipe through a 4 inch hole in the wall or ceiling.  The existing pipes would have to be cut with some connector and pipe leading to the sprinklers.  

Even assuming that the retrofit could be accomplished there is still the issue of $$$.  Who is going to pay for all of this. 

7 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Between lesser aesthetics and burning to death, I'll take the former, thank you.

Well I agree with you regarding aesthetics and burning to death. However, this is Thailand.  I seriously doubt that any retrofit here would be as aesthetically pleasing as done in another country. One way or another, sprinkling systems cost money.  That money comes from someplace.  If it is an apartment complex or hotel, they have set their rates in the past based on the capital they invested in the project, not with the anticipation of building a large sinking fund to pay for future major sprinkling system costs.  If it is a condo, well now you have to get the approval of all of the condo owners for that retrofit.  Once you have secured enough owners to authorize the retrofit, the tricky part comes.  Getting the money from each condo owner to fund the project. 

There are many worthwhile projects here in Thailand and elsewhere.  Improving the roads, traffic lights, and enforcement of traffic rules would likely save far more lives than those lost to fires.  With that said, it is the same problem.  $$$ and will.  I might like to force all the people in Thailand to not throw trash outside their homes, on the street or burn rubbish but that ain't going to happen either. 

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Why would they need to do that?  Pipe can easily be attached to ceilings and walls.  Much easier to fix a leak if exposed and much less change of driving a nail through it.

So you would propose having pipes affixed to the exterior walls and ceiling.  Yes, you could do that but consider aesthetically what that would do to the hotel or condo.  Also lets say the building is 5 to 10 stories.  Just exactly how do you propose getting the water line from each story if it is not drilled through the ceiling. 

41 minutes ago, jphasia said:

Does anyone is facing the same issue as me:

It's starting last month was I was on vacations in Kop Lipe. I am usued to pay in shops / restaurant by scanning the QR code (promptpay).

I have not had it fail to pay but some months ago, loading the app and running transactions took several minutes.  I would stand by an ATM to do a withdrawal or pay as I checked out at the supermarket.  I also maintained an account at SCB and their SCB easy was instantaneous.  So I stopped using Bangkok Bank for my digital payments.  

19 hours ago, ricklev said:

Apparently there is some way to transfer money from my USA account to my Bangkok Bank account going through the New York Bangkok Bank branch that is cheaper than doing an international wire transfer. I can't figure out how to do it though. I guess I'll call my USA bank to figure it out but I just thought I'd check in and see if anybody has successfully set it up.

 

I know I can use Wise but I like the security of staying within the regulated banking system.  

You can not open an account at the Bangkok Bank in New York.  It is not a conventional retail bank.  It is for trade purposes.  You can transfer money assuming you also have an account with Bangkok Bank Thailand.  Its cost of doing so however is not cheap. 

As to staying within the regulated US banking system, Wise is a company and it maintains its accounts as Community Federal Savings Bank also called Evolve.  So transferring money to Wise would be no different than transferring it to Bangkok Bank in terms of both being inside the U.S. regulated banking system. 

5 minutes ago, Tony M said:

We have sprinklers in Jomtien Beach Condo.  Not only do we have them, they are tested regularly. The condo is 20 years old, so no reason why older buildings shouldn't also have sprinkler systems. 

Very simple cost of retrofit.  Buildings in Thailand are for the most part cement.  Unlike in the USA where you can take out drywall and put pipe in easily, I can't imagine the cost of attempting to retrofit pipe into the walls and ceilings made of cement. 

On 2/1/2023 at 5:03 PM, San Fran Dan said:

Call Trump he organized it , Didn’t he bring Taliban to Camp David , didn’t he have 5,000 Militants Released Also <deleted> , The art of the deal lol

You would be one who if they found a dead body in the trunk of Hillary's car with a gun with her fingerprints on it would blame Trump saying the evidence was planted. 

He did not release 5,000 militants the Afghans did.  One way or another Biden refused to heed the advise of his military advisors that they needed to stage a withdrawal out of Afghanistan.  He just left, abandoning both military equipment and U.S. citizens.  He was the one driving the bus at that time. Not Trump. 

If anyone deserves severe blame it is George W. Bush.  He was the one who pushed the U.S.A. into Afghanistan for absolutely no reason and with Zero chance of "winning" .  There is no "winning" when you occupy a country whose citizens don't suport you.  Korea and Vietnam already proved and so did the Russian experience in Afghanistan  Unless you are willing to occupy a country indefinitely and control it with military force you can not control the will of the local population.  

Maybe electric cars are the future.  However I suggest all the problems associated with them have not been discovered and they will have some very unintended consequences. 

1. First off, to be successful there has to be a replacement technology for Lithium based batteries.  Lithium is a precious metal whose price has skyrocketed.  It is also extremely enviornmentally damaging to mine it.  It takes 500,000 gallons of water to extract 1 ton of lithium.  That is enough to make about 90 cars on average. Less if they are long range or large SUV's or Trucks

2. Electricity comes from someplace.  Right now the vast majority of electricity is still generated from Coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear.  Only a small amount is from Wind, Solar, or hydro electric and even those renewable sources have enviornmentally damaging characteristics, Wind Turbines are enviornmentally damaging to build and erect, Solar panels again use materials that are enviornmentally harmful, and hydro electric dams alter the fisheries.  The wind turbines, solar panels and even dams have a life expectancy and their disposal creates enviornmental waste as does the electric wire, and insultion used in the wire to transmit the electricity.

3. Cost, the cost of electricity will rise with demand for it.  There is already a shortage of elecricity in many areas and using todays cost to charge is probably not indicative of what it will be going forward.  Also the price of an electric car is already significantly higher and will be even more so as the price for lithium rises.  Insurance costs on electric cars is and will become increasingly unaffordable.  Tesla's are being totalled in the USA with under 15,000 Kilometers on them because of the exhorbitant cost to repair an electric car.  The vast majority of that cost is the replacement of the battery pack. 

4. Resale value on a electric car plummets precipitously.  This becomes even more pronounced as the car reaches the age or mileage where prospective owners recongize the limited time left on the car and the cost of replacing the battery pack.  

5. Lithium batteries are recyclable however at present most are not.  The cost of recycling the battery is greater than the cost of building one new.  Hence there will be unless this is solved a huge problem with what to do with spent batteries. 

If electric cars were such a great alternative you would not have to have governments mandating their use and prohibiting ICE in certain regions.  If they were such a cost effective alternative, you would not have to have governments giving rebates and subsidies in order to sell them.  The public would flock to them recognizing the value of them.  They don't and why because the financial cost of an electric car at least today both to operate and purchase does not stack up well against an ICE.   The only people who will financially come out ahead are those who live in urban areas and drive a huge amount of mileage each year.  Taxi Drivers in Bangkok or elsewhere would be a good example.  The typical driver putting 15,000 to 20,000 km per year will never reduce their electric vs. gasoline cost enough to offset the higher cost of purchase and depreciation on the EV.  

39 minutes ago, Chainsaw said:

I need some documents translating from Thai to English. Any recommendations please?

 

I am not sure how good a translation you are looking for and whether your documents need to be authenticated.  However, if you have a cell phone, you can use Google Lens to view the document, translate it, and then print it.  You can also capture the text off the documents, paste it to a Word Document and Word will translate it.  Finally there are a variety of programs that will view document images and translate them.  I use Babylon.  It is by far the most accurate.  There is a free download of a trial program online.  If you are translating only a few documents, that is what I would first try. 

On 1/26/2023 at 11:40 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

To return to my childhood, all those were built and without any superstar rich people. Just by taxes of ordinary people.

Again, you seem to have trouble "thinking"  Just where did those people who paid the taxes get their money from.  Unless your neighborhood had geese that laid golden eggs, or had money trees, they got that tax money from working at a job provided by some entrepreneur.  

Entrepreneurs if successful become wealthy.  If they didn't become wealthy they would not take the risk of their own money in the venture.  People buy lottery tickets because of the hope of a big payoff.  Same with those in business.  They are willing to gamble, and risk their money in order to obtain more than they otherwise could working for someone else. 

Money to pay for roads, schools, bridges, police etc is generated businesses.  They pay their workers and those workers pay taxes income, property, sales tax etc.  Remove the business and you have no workers, and no income to pay any taxes.  

So it is the wealth generation by business that improves society.  The more businesses there are, the more successful they are, the more income they generate and the more employees they hire.  That sir is what provides the income for societal benefits.  

On 1/26/2023 at 11:51 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I am 100% aware of that, and it could be utopia where no one needs to work to obtain all they need,

Utopia?  No that would be the end of society as we know it.  Also as mentioned assuming that robotics could provide all the labor to produce everything mankind needed, no one would have a job with any income necessary to purchase anything.  Unless you believe in a magic lamp where a genie gives you everything you want, it isn't going to happen. 

13 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You miss the point that businesses will not be employing people in future- it's going to be AI/ robotics as prices of the machines reduces.

Will robotics change employment yes.  You will no longer have menial repetitive jobs performed manually.  However consider this.  If machines were able to produce everything required for mankind, food, clothing, shelter, cars etc.  NO ONE WOULD BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THEM BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT HAVE ANY INCOME SINCE THEY DIDN'T HAVE A JOB. 

Automation will reduce the need for human labor but increase employment in the robotics industry.  The robots don't build themselves.  Also labor will be shifted from manufacturing industries to service industries and more highly specialized jobs that require education.  

One way or another common sense you want to encourage people to be successful.  You want them to expand their business, start new ones.  Very simple economics, you tax things you want less of.  Cigarettes, gas guzzling cars, coal burning plants and you subsidize things you want more of, major USA subsidies include agriculture, housing, farm exports, electric cars, and health care. So confiscating the wealth is stealing the seed corn and you will get less of it.  Subsidizing by redistribution to others means you will have more with their hands out. You do not create wealth by taking from one to give to another.  You create wealth by job creation that allows the person to earn their wealth rather than it being given to them from the work of others.