TroubleandGrumpy

Sounds like you have a good draiage system - especially with a river nearby, which means downhill to it. In the concrete jungles that aint usually possible and in the farmlands there is no need to do that. Can you do some handyman work? Have a hacksaw and a ladder? There are several hardware chains in Thailand where those pipes and the 'blue glue' are sold. Easy to do - cut and remove the corner section broken - just below the corner join and about 6 inches from the broken straight pipe, Take that to thestore and buy new corner and straight pipe that will go over the top of it - use the blue glue and tape it up for a few hours and the glue will keep it in place. Paint it if you have some to match.

Yes indeed mate - a bit of lunch and then maybe some shopping in the Mall (they all have a Tops for me and a 'market' for her) and sometimes we catch a movie while there too.

I have noticed the same here when it comes to gas cyclinders for cooking. The house we currently rent did not have a gas bottle so we had to get a new one. When at the 'gas bottle shop' in a shopping district but amongst other townhouses (shop down, bedrooms up), they had brand new units for sale. It took me ages to get the wife to ask the right questions - but in the end I established that they did not refill bottle, but would take it back when empty and then give another one (used) already filled. I saw the old ones and they were all very old - some over 10 years by the stamp. When I selected a 5 year old one and asked how much for this one, it was the same price as the brand new one. That created a whole new series of communications 'lost in translation', so in the end I bought ther new bottle and in the car I said to the wife - where can we get this gas bottle filled when it is empty - she said 'at the gas garage'. So I got a full new bottle and we take it to the 'gas garage' about once every 6 months 🙂

Get rid of them - let the water run off the end of the roof - use a link-chain water drain if you must. When it buckets down here the getters will either break or overflow inside the house/structure - no gutter can handle the monsoon downpours.

We do the same. I get a table and the cutlery and sit there, while the wife gets the food. If there is no table to get, we walk away. We used to arrive in the busy time and walk away sometimes, but now we arrive at the end of the lunch 'hour' and there is always tables available. And as the wife said - it is best to arrive late not early, because if they do keep any food leftover from yesterday, it will be the first they sell on the next day - win/win. And I still am amazed at how cheap and good the food is in food courts - just as good as in most restaurants and way less cost.

Go into the nearest Big Mall with an Apple Store and ask them.

As I said - Many people take them off and lay down across other seats - that should be banned too. If you can do that while keeping the seatbelt on, then OK by me - but most I see take them off and leave them off - including the wife who I make put it back on. I wont have that problem now 🙂

Smart thinking that - good idea.

Yep - a lot goes into planning and packing for a 1 month trip to Japan or whatever, when you have a wife, and when you know you will need all those 'little things' they dont have in most places - including in remote Thailand. Not a full-time job - but we start packing 2 days before - having learned the hard way that doing it the morning of the day you are leaving leads to mistakes - including weighing each bag to make sure not over 20kgs. But if it is you alone and you only need 1 bag for everything, then no worries - you can start when you call the cab/bike 🙂

I would not be surprised to see that there are some sort of rules regarding where such a business can operate - but as we all know it is the 'policing' of the rules that is lacking in Thailand. Apparently the place was not registered or the opewrator licenced - probably because it and he would not have been approved.

Thanks for that explanation - I did know a little bit about it, but that gives me all the details. I woud bet 90+% of 'tradesmen' in Thailand using welding tanks with acetalyne in them have no idea what you just explained.

As they say - those with an 'issue' are often the last to recognise it in themselve - without professional help. You introduced the 'Trump Factor' into a discussion about Big Joke in Thailand. PS - All politicians deceive their supporters - some way more than others - but they all play the game.

Only one guard on the gate - that is how mate. And yes maybe 'decent' was not the right word to use from your word library - but from where I come from it means 'very very good'. We often say 'that was half decent' - meaning good. So what I meant was a decent gated community with 2+ guards on the gate - guards that patrol the community - no one enters without permission - residents have a auto pass card - and non-residents have to sign in and get stamped out - etc etc etc.

TDS much? That bloke is living free of charge in your head mate - you should let it go because he will be POTUS again. After all it is not as if you live in the USA.

Seems to me that Big Joke has been attacked a lot in the past (even shot at) and that 'they' are desperate to keep him from getting the top job and cleaning 'them' all out. If he was as corrupt as they are saying, then why are they trying to stop him getting the top job? Surely if he was as corrupt as the others, they would just let him have his turn at the big cheese, and wait for their own turn. No - me thinks he is clean(er) and that he will take them all down if he is in the top job, and that is why they are desperate to stop him being promoted. It is not only the corrupt Junta in this country that knows how to manipulate the system in order to remove their opponents.

Sadly yet another Thai business operating without due care and following 'proper' procedures - and apparently with no authorised registraton and no staff training. I see it so often - some Thai operating a 'workshop' in a little townhouse in the middle of a residential area. As we leave the village I often see across the road a Thai 'tradesman' working on metal stuff outside on the concrete floor - cutting, welding and hammering etc etc. - unbelievable, but I see it everywhere in Thailand.

10 years of a Junta has decimated economic growth and the Thai economy is totally screwed - and they are hiding this from everyone. The high season Tourism failed to get it going, and all the PM does is talk about new deals that will probably never happen - and the handouts are a massive risk to the long term economy. What that economic disaster has caused, is that people dont have the money to keep their kids in school - they are coming back home/farm to help the family through this tough period of time and the upcoming planting season.

What might happen as an outcome of this event, is that all passengers will be forced to keep their seatbelts on at all times - unless using the toilet. I always wondered why they allow people to undo their belts - at the very least it should be on - maybe not so tight as takeoff/landing - and thus stop you hitting the baggage racks above you and from being flung across the ailse if the plane hits turbulance. Many people take them off and lay down across other seats - that should be banned too.

I doubt she will ever be in a senior role in Govt again for the reasons you said. Back then when it all broke she was clearly 'lost' and it seemed to me that she had been taken advantage of by other Thais who always seem to get away with those sort of things.

Because you have a house to come back to and somewhere to keep all your things and somewhere to live when you decide to settle down and stop travelling. Single blokes with all their gear that can fit in a bag or two and living in a 30m2 room just dont have the need. That was me when a lot younger - now we take aseveral days to pack bags for a trip away somewhere.

Ditto - we have lived in two gated communities built and run by a well know Thai developer (no names), and recently bought a house in a new estate of theirs. Meanwhile, in this cheaper place we are renting in a very basic 'gated community' has had several break ins - luckily not us (yet?). I heard through wife from other Thais that it is often teenagers - they can squeeze in though open bathroom windows etc. If someone is home they will grab what they can quietly, if no one is home they open the door and let in their mates. Place next door has a dog - and he barks when someone in the soi pharts - best protection is a dog that barks IMO.

Sad story. But obviously the house was not in a 'decent' gated community with real security - perhaps I should have added that.

This is why is is a wise move to buya house in a gated community if you are going to be away for extended periods of time.

Bring back Yingluck I say - she was charged under the Junta aligned Courts for being corrupt, when all she did was to be stupid. I saw absolutely no evidence that she personally gained from the rice deal, or any member of her family. What I saw was a politcal vendetta abusing the system thaty the Junta created in an attempt to jail a political opponent. Just like they did in Myanmar. But Ying luck was told to 'get out' and she did the wise thing and has lived in exile ever since. Bring her back and let the cards fall where they may.

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