David006

- Free heat, clean unpolluted water from our well

- market produce..best eggs I have tasted, meats , fish, crustaceans, fruit, sweet stuff and a great bowl /bag of something tasty to nibble on while shopping......and of course free smiles from the market girls/ladies and their kids..lovely people....oh and pretty good wellies for 165bt, kitchen bits, hand tools, baskets, bags, shirts, 35bt flip flops etc etc etc.. Don't have use for those mountains of 99bt bras though...yet....maybe should buy a Sopwith Camel.....

Deeja:.. thx for reminding me...dentists are so inexpensive here full check up/cleaning antibiotics for infected molar and cleaning 800bt in newly opened dentist on SV11 bkk. beautiful young Thai girl dentist taboot....

Thanks for that...interesting... wonder what the logic/safety aspect the design is based upon...

I was repairing our cheapie Panasonic Plastic dual tub washer (only has a two flat prong plug) and noticed both motors have ground bonding connected which go no place....same with our the fridges...ah well!

Not being experienced in HT distribution AC theory....anyone know what the resistance to ground of the "neutral" standard is? I suppose theoretically it should be the same as local ground since it is effectively that at the source. Also I noticed there is always a few ac volts to "ground" on the neutral ...ie a pd.( I have seen this in several locations in Thailand)! Suspect this is induced voltage only..the source of ground hum..?

The Schuko is a very safe design, the outlets are shuttered and the plug fits into a recess, it is impossible to contact live metalwork whilst inserting/removing the plug from the correct outlet, in both versions the ground connects first / disconnects last. As to why we get these on Thai appliances, who knows.

The neutral-ground connection at the transformer should be a few ohms if it has a proper earth mat. Your local ground spike will likely have a few hundred ohms, which is why an RCD is necessary, a L-E fault will not pull enough current to drop the MCB.

The N-E potential you're seeing is the volt drop along the neutral under load, the ground is at the same potential as the neutral at the transformer.

thanks for that mate...I have installed parallel ground rods and would hope that the ground should also be nearer the neutral . I which were have seen "paralleled" ie multiple rods in electrical room grounds in Canada which produced an effective ground resistance of less than 3 ohms.

Interesting story re grounds...I was managing the installation of an early electronic telephone exchange which kept getting a corrupted database every summer . turned out it was the system/building ground which had been driven into the land fill on which the building was placed. On the recommendation of one of our power engineers who had "meggered" the ground for me... had to get a drilling rig in to sink and drive 100m long copper clad carbon filled rod!! Ground dried out every summer...

Entertaining pics of real customers shopping at Walmart... think I may have seen some of them in Bangkok too?

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com

Add East Germany to your list.

Check out the delinquent pensioners, weekend drivers and boys still not old enough to shave.

An excellent form of entertainment in Vankong Canada was to watch the Asians drive in the snow..our telephone co building was on a hill at a junction....whenever it snowed it was a wonder the building didn't fall over as the employees gathered along the windows watching and making bets on first "fender bender"...usually it would be a Mercedes or a BMW with a little face peering through the "white knuckle" gripped steering wheel...

So how does this fit in with the fact that Thailand attempts to be a non-combative culture and that jai yen yen is a standard Thai way of dealing with aggression?

Thais usually learn well how to defend themselves if their live and integrity is threatened. They are ready to defend themselves and their country. Look at how important the martial arts culture is here; Muay Thai is the Thai national sport and it's roots are clearly combative and self defense. Don't mix up situations in which your life, your existence or your integrity are actually threatened with day to day confrontations.

My own mentality is typically Swiss. We are neutral but ready and well prepared to defend our neutrality and integrity if someone is violating it.

Very interesting...my brother in law is Swiss and had no idea you guys were so "tough" until I did some reading about the Swiss in WW2.

Goodonya mate , not sure I agree with you about the combative nature of the Thais though..rolled over to the Japs and declared war on the US in WW2???... ... most I have met seem to avoid confrontation..local cops here call me Rambo..quite a compliment to the original 90 pound wimp..

re this chap and his "sexy wife" ..all sounds a bit suss...? maybe give him kudos for his perceived trophy wife but suspect he wants his 15 minutes of fame..as we used to say in the sales business... great product but re the features....SWWC...so what and who cares ...

On a positive note: The trucks/cars built in Thailand, which are also exported, seem to be exceptional..my old Mazda pick up puts up with all sorts of abuse..only spent about 20k baht on it in 4 years...'course now I have said that the bleeding thing will probably conk out on me..lol

....but mop/broom garden tool handles ......another story... I also have numerous "heads" which detached/snapped after "days" of use...as I write the wife is up a tree barefoot cutting new hardwood handles....

...first take the plank out of thine own eye....

FBIF (Foreign Policy in Focus) web site quote

Child Labor

For the past 82 years, the tire giant has operated the world’s largest rubber plantation in Liberia. Children have worked on Firestone’s plantation in Liberia for decades. Rubber workers and their families have lived in squalid and inhumane conditions since the plantation’s beginning. Management wrongly believed that the world wasn’t paying attention. But they were wrong. Unfortunately for Bridgestone Firestone, the company’s dirty little secret is out of the bag.

Bridgestone’s legal and public relations dilemmas are now numerous. Former child laborers used on Firestone’s rubber plantation in Liberia have joined together in a 2005 class action lawsuit filed against the company in the U.S. District Court in the Southern district of Indiana, Indianapolis division. The lawsuit remains in discovery phase. With virtually no coverage in the mainstream press, its progress is being kept largely out of the public eye.

What a w...er .............we came here to be bored with great food , good warm weather..lovely ladies and for the most part good people... not sure I'd want to sit in front of the TV listenng ,to my budgie and burn my knees in front of the coke fire....djeees..!!!! A miilion "euros" freezing their buts off watching coronation street....would be a bit tempted to change places????

.Anyway maybe they got me mixed up with someone who gives a flying...!!

gotta go.... got to be bored eating prawns,crab and coconut veggies... and watching the moon come up ...sitting in my jocks....aaah! boredom.....

No mate ..I had a boat here for a few years..used to buy from barge or marina ..cost me more than pump price..a you say some the fish boat people transport from gas stations. Used to fill up + a few 20ltr containers duty free in Langkawi....

Two alternates:

- run some hot water over cylinder ..condensation will show level of gas

- I jst bought a second cylinder....

Hi mate: I was in Perth earlier this month and met a guy with a dependent child who was getting a IMM O.

He said ( and this was confirmed by the nice gal in the consulate) that he could he could extend that visa for another year at immigration within Thailand. Worth checking out. No funds or anything involved just birth certificate and mum's ID I believe.

good luck..

:D

...If not I'll cry..absolutely true mate, I have been thinking that for years..I thought it just must be my luck!

A few things:

-- New Japanese pressure water pump started to leak after three months..

-- I am on my third mid priced DVD player in 4years..just fitted a computer fan in the back of the entertainment cupboard unit ..maybe that will help

strangely enough my old Denon compact pre mp3 cd/radio player still going strong....brought IT from Oz.

-- light bulbs Philips ....don't talk about it!

-- ceramic relatively expensive kitchen tap drips!

-- Tools: all the wooden handles break! ( maybe my overzealous brush cutting), new skil saw burned out commutator in three months, spade bent, rake snapped at weld etc

-- gas regulator started leaking propane after 1 year

-- plastic Panasonic washing machine dryer lid snapped at hinge

-- and of course re the shower heaters have to turn the tap down to "dribble" before its decently hot..both new..suspect this is a function of the voltage as they are rated 3500w an unlikely requirement of what?...about 16 amps at 210v good luck in rural areas like ours.

okay bored now ??...but you get the drift...

maybe its the constant changes in temperature humidity...not sure its an overall Thailand quality issue ..maybe just Friday pm or Monday morning product? The wife tells me "you not careful"....who knows?

DID THE SAME THING LAST MONTH ..COPY OF HOUSE PAPERS AND PASSPORT FROM WIFE 'TIS ALL..GOT IT IN TWO HOURS. lOVELY LADY YVONNE VERY HELPFUL... I AM AN OZZIE BUT SHOULD NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE...LET'S HOPE THIS CONTINUES....

... LOTS OF IT ABOUT HAVE SOME IN MY GASH BOX... BOUGHT LOCALLY IN HARDWARE ..EVERYTHING STORE..PATTEX "NAIL POWER" 179 BAHT

The best is from Krabi. There are bus services from Krabi Airport for about 600 Baht. From Phuket it takes you about 4 hours by car or 2 hours by boat (pier to pier).

You must have bought your car from Fred Flintstone as it does not take four hours to get to the pier from Phuket. Takes me typically two and half hours once off of Phuket.

Spot on advice though for the bus from Krabi Airport.

Live south of Krabi and never been able to meet you're flight path record...!! Hare and the tortoise??

Bet you use your Thai style headlight flash on the wrong side of the road....get the f out of my way...just kidding..I know its 4 lane..

Am about 45 mins from Hwy 4 Ko Lanta turn off ..great day out... .....Wish I'd bought land there in 2004............

Okay stand corrected.."she who must be obeyed" "advises me" that if "you drive too fast" we go from home in Ao Tong/Wang Wissett to Kata Central (our friends bar) in 3.5 hours..... how to do?

Hi guys: I am certainly a beginner in the farming field so to speak so:

I am researching the purchase of a probably "used "backhoe/digger).

It seems to me that they are a potentially very versatile machine..have lots of applications from road grading to pool/or lake excavation etc. :

My question is : with the wealth of experienced guys out there what would you recommend..

my applications include excavation thru brush cutting plus maybe 240v generation on occasion..

Has anyone any experience and/or advice re what machine has the most versatile plug and play bolt on goodies.

Seems to me with the hydraulics one should be able to add many advantageous farming gizmos.

I should point out that we are on a rubber farm which has some serious gradients and would necessitate a caterpillar based unit.

Thanks for any and all advice..

regards

david

You answered your own question there by stating you don't do anything of significance here in Thailand. Sitting around in shorts and a tank wearing flipflops drinking beer all day every day isn't going to involve you in Thailand in any way that you will be exposed to much at all.

You got the shorts and flip flops right but not beer or wife beater top...

Thats it then.... happy life in Thailand..... shorts and flip flops.... and nothing significant.... peace on Earth bro!

Best piece of advice i have ever seen on TV...thanks...

keep out of anything significant in Thailand and do not expose yourself

I don't think anybody REALLY came to settle in Thailand to do anything significant or world changing... A roof, good food, good woman/women, warmth and a little entertainment...what else is there...goodonya mate...

I can't wear flip flops hurt me toes and I look silly in a tank lol.....

gotta go ..have to pick the ticks off the dogs and I think I forgot to push down that little switch on the rice cooker..busy busy..lol

r00....if you were to think a little as to why those guys "have been here for years" you may well get a reasonable answer to your question..???......

Can't comment as I'm not too familiar with Thai condoms. I have to custom order all my condoms from Africa just to get one big enough.

v. funny

Laughed out loud

So how many does he order just to get one that's big enough....? I guess a GROSSE ordered from Michelin no doubt..using tyre sizing..shipped in a roll on-roll off container?

While we end up with piles of these bags from our normal shopping, it never ceases to amaze me how much packaging comes with the goods we buy.

Ever order from a famous Japanese restaurant chain here? more plastic packaging than the cumulative amount of bags I get in one trip to the grocery store.

Exactly .....anything and everything we buy is wrapped in layers of packaging..( even bottle of milk or a chocolate bar gets put in a plastic bag it seems). refusing the bag for every minor purchase could be a start at least....could be an issue in some stores though as you would need to hang on to your "bin" !

Australian banks will not send replacement credit cards to Thailand by post, too risky they say!

NAB sends my replacement/new cards by mail.

Very responsive..

- got a call from CC security dept said that my card had been used in Malaysia for beauty treatment.etc I had used the card in Langkawi for the purchase of duty free booze etc..they had obviously "swiped" it.. I'd let it out of my sight! Got a new card by express mail in one week.

- after fraudulent transaction by a travel agent ( had used a credit card with him for an air ticket months before) near a Phuket marina ... spotted it when checking my account in his internet cafe..summoned him to the screen and showed him..his wife went ape shit ..hussled me off to the nearest ATM and withdrew the offending amount plus some ...begging me not to take action..didn't get police involved as suspected nothing would come of it but told NAB and got a new card again in one week....softy me hugh.. It was some relative at the airport that had done the deed or so the wife said...TIT

- en route to Malaysia found my ATM card rejected..phoned NAB CC dept and found they had stopped it based on the fact the last mailed statement had been returned as undeliverable ( moved marinas and the old one sent my mail back). Was re-instated within 12 hours.

Conclusion: we are our own worst enemies as far as fraud is concerned..vigilance is paramount!

Books belongs in a library or in a university not in a home.

S

Interestingly( to me atleast) my wife and her twin sister seemed to be obsessed with "owning" books ( wife reads one novel a day!!.. mostly double spaced though) ,she takes out 11 at a time from the local library!

Storage is becoming an issue...

Banks of loud speakers blasting out distorted music at funerals from 6 am for a few days.

Got one 2 doors away and have got a headache

9 day funerals?

Wifes' uncle had a 19 day "wake " ( or as the wife calls it "dead people party" } with a band as well...amazing Thailand..

When I first came to LOS the standard greeting of "you eat rice yet" threw me... thought they were offering to feed me?? I have since read that it is originally a Chinese greeting ...post famines.

This beats designer bags/shoes and knockoff DVDs LOL.......is nothing sacred?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle6911127.ece

And?? A news item on the "sky is falling" theme? ( no pun intended)....