Screws

Good time at Noi's place, took me ages to find though, kept going down the wrong soi's, but it was worth the effort. Noi makes Potato Ash (Stew) just like my mum's!!!

Chris

Hi folks,

I don't have time to read through all 45 pages and don't see it on the last 2 - is this tonight - Friday June 1 ?

Thanks,

Crouton

Yes Crouton,

See rockets post #666 for directions.

You bringing soup? Pumpkin is my favorite -

;-)

Cant find a good Electrical engineer. Have you?

About half way along the soi that goes down to Banglamung Hospital (on the west side, opposite the vacant block) - look for washing machines etc outside) there is a guy who has done some rewinds etc for me - am happy with his work, sometimes he needs some persuasion if time is of the essence.

AU Motor or something like that.

Chok dee.

P.S. He is motor electrician, not an auto electrician.

Cant find a good Electrical engineer. Have you?

About half way along the soi that goes down to Banglamung Hospital (on the west side, opposite the vacant block) - look for washing machines etc outside) there is a guy who has done some rewinds etc for me - am happy with his work, sometimes he needs some persuasion if time is of the essence.

AU Motor or something like that.

Chok dee.

Me too.

Monthong variety (just coming into season now) seems to be the best flavour and also smaller seeds (i.e. more flesh!)

Also good is Too Lien Gun which is the cooked durian inside the baby crap yellow plastic sausages - 45 baht for small & 70 baht for large. I could eat far more than I should.

Any health concerns with durian?

"LoveDaBlues" Wrote

"What is the reflective foil UNDER the roof reflecting?"

HEAT! And very very well.

If you are open minded on the subject of insulation, I can describe a simple test you can do so you can see if it works yourself.

Conductive insulation (ie.e non conductive - foam, fibreglass, etc) is hardly necessary in Thailand. unless in the North where it can get cool.

But why for gods sake have they decided to change the spelling to 'Don Mueang'? (Bangkok Post yesty)

Don't they know that one of the principles of any language is to use the most simple spelling possible - which is why most commonly used words are short.

Also especially in this case as the name 'Don Muang' has such a long history. Everybody knows it as that. Farangs, anyway.

Ours is not to reason why -

Thanks all involved, it was really worth the mad dash from Suvvannabhum!

It was great to meet lots of new people. (Well, new to me, anyway!) ;-)

Ribs were excellent, and that Asahi draught is not far behind!

Looking forward to next meet -

Screws

Hi I signed up earlier, but can't see my name on the list. Please put m down for one -

Thanks,

Screws.

Orright, orright.

Sounds great, should be there.

Was it the 5 am 5 am (Then a lot more to be discovered) or the 11 am 5am? (in which case it may be as it has been suspected)

But very unfortunate in either case.

PhilHarries said "I can forsee domestic and low cost carriers transferring plus maybe a few smaller international airlines but not the majors. This would take some pressure off Suvarnabhumi and allow time for properly engineered repairs not just cut and paste patches."

But it is the majors flights that are causing the rapid breakup of the runway.

Smaller planes might be ok. at SWB, Don Muang we know can take the majors, SWB can't.

Or U Ta Pao.

'Properly engineered repairs' means completely rebuilding runways and taxiways & god knows what else.

Perhaps SWB could be one of the nicest domestic airports around?

From what I have heard bedrock is 500 meters plus below SWB.

Them's long piles!

ALL INTERNATIONAL flights should be moved back to Don Muang. SWB's runways might support local traffic, but will not stand international traffic for very long - not far into the wet season anyway, when it starts.

See how these problems happened just after the recent rains?

It appears that the runways are made from poo.

When will we see an amesty for whistleblowers?

When will we see some arrests?

Old Thai proverbs shed light on airport fiasco

Why can't they do one thing right at Suvarnabhumi Airport? In a way, the Suvarnabhumi Airport mirrors Thai society.

We have an excellent location to be the transport hub of Southeast Asia. We are a great nation with a rich history (have you watched "The Legend of King Naresuan"?). We have the natural resources. We have the facilities. But we can't do things right.

Why?

You probably have to go back to the Thai proverbs or old Thai sayings to understand the particular traits that have given rise to the mother of all sloppy and corrupt projects - the new airport.

It took more than 40 years, an incredibly long time, to plan, design and build this airport, during which time politicians came and went. This is in line with the saying chao cham yen cham ('I just wash one dish in the morning and another dish in the evening'), which describes motionless people who are very economical with their energy and who rarely set their sights on getting anything done. Chao cham yen cham is most often used to describe civil servants who are lazy and lack the incentive to work. Well, that's why it took us 40 years to build the airport. Cracks have begun to appear in a taxiway and runway only four months after its opening. This has raised doubts about the standard of safety at the airport.

It all goes back to the time when politicians, civil servants and contractors colluded to fill in the land at Suvarnabhumi in a suk ao phao kin ('I'll eat it regardless of whether it's cooked or burnt') way. Suvarnabhumi was originally swampland with a high incidence of floods. Efforts to fill in the land began during the government of General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and continued through to the government of Chuan Leekpai.

Engineers and technicians will have to investigate whether the land at Suvarnabhumi was filled adequately enough to support the taxiway and runway. The authorities, at one time, used to allow some water into the land to alleviate flooding in nearby areas, possibly undermining the foundation of the taxiway and runway. So, now we have the cracks in a taxiway and runway as a result of this substandard practice.

We happened to have dishonest politicians, civil servants and contractors responsible for this, who went about their jobs in a manner that was suk ao phao kin. Suk ao phao kin means to do things sloppily or recklessly. This suk ao phao kin behaviour is another prominent Thai trait.

The roof of the terminal also leaks. You might substitute suk ao phao kin when referring to this approach to construction and call it loop na pa jamook ('I just need to stroke my face and patch up the nose then I can get away with it').

Don't forget to open up your umbrella once you are inside the terminal - it might rain!

During the six years of Thaksin Shinawatra's reign, construction of the airport terminal and other facilities got off the ground and it was eventually completed. This gave politicians and civil servants a good chance to revise the design and call in new contracts to facilitate bribes.

The contractors had to pay bia bai rai thang ('I have to pay money under the table all the way'). With the cost of the bia bai rai thang, the contractors had to compromise on the quality of the jobs they were hired to do.

While the Thaksin government was in power, politicians adopted a nam khuen hai reep tak ('I must fetch the water while the tide is high') approach. It was time for the opportunists to make money without fear of the consequences. They wanted to open Suvarnabhumi as quickly as possible because only then they could walk away with lucrative deals from the contractors. Now that Thaksin has gone, all the dirty tricks that occurred while the airport was built have become evident. The saying nam lot tor phut ('when the tide goes down, all the stumps show up') accurately captures this. The stench of corruption hovers over the procurement of the CTX luggage scanners and the underground power-line system. There are not enough toilets for passengers, as toilet bowls had to make way for shops.

Shortly after the coup, the military leaders asked the airport authorities if they were ready to open Suvarnabhumi or not. If things were not ready, they could delay the opening further. The authorities assured everybody that the airport was 100 per cent ready to open.

This haste to open Suvarnabhumi was an act of phak chi roi na ('topping my face with coriander just to get a way with it'). In July, two months before he was ousted, Thaksin had proudly launched a soft opening of the airport by flying from Don Muang to Suvarnabhumi. He wanted the new airport to become a hallmark of his government's success.

As a result, we have an airport that is beautiful from the outside, but inside it is hollow. This is equivalent to khang nok sook sai khangnai pen kluang ('I look beautiful from the outside, but don't ever kiss me!') It's hard to believe how badly things have turned out at Suvarnabhumi. Only the old proverbs can say it all.

Editorial Opinion by Thanong Khanthong - The Nation - 26 January 2007

As far as I can see, the airport is within days of being shut down. I think the best solution would be to reopen Don Muang to international flights and some domestic flights. Other domestic flights can stay at SWB. That would reduce the capacity required of Don Muang, and give the international flights the strong runways they need.

Once the SWB runways start breaking up, the damage will increase very quickly, esp when it rains. Hydraulic fracture is the main cause of potholes, and their progress. A new road near my place (rebuilt about eight months ago) was breaking up fast, until the rains stopped 4 months ago. I doubt that SWB could survive one wet season.

IF the new government is serious about getting to the bottom of the corruption they should offer an amnesty to anyone with any information about it, not being directly involved, (and 'police protection' if requested), providing that they provide a full disclosure within 45 days; otherwise all will be charged as accessories after the fact - or before - for concealment.

Those involved may get leniency for full disclosure of their & others involvement; as a considerable reduction of their sentence AFTER sentencing, to be reinstated if it is found that a full & honest disclosure was not received.

I also am loooking for an A3 printer, and I may have one for sale. Bought an HP 1280 about 6 weeks ago, pretty happy with it, but have found that I need a flat sheet capable printer.

Anyone have any recommendations for a flat sheet capable A3 printer?

Thanks in advance,

Screws.

Slightly off topic;

Best guacamole I've ever had was at Tequila Reef, soi 7, Pattaya, last week. Chunks of avacado, right squishiness - you know what I mean.

Aroi mak mak.

Trying another Mex in Pattaya tomorrow night.

Chiang Kong, near MBK and the National Stadium in Bangkok, they'll have it all.

i heard that too. any chance of finding a phone number?

found it, 01-654-0209

thx steve

anybody know if these folks got a line on shops that rebuild second hand engines, transmissions, etc?...with a 6 mo guarantee? Someone said that there are a lot of junk yards around there...could we presume that if the junkyard on the phone ain't got what we're looking for could he find someone that has? (sorta like what they do in LA with parts in general)

what was the song? 'I sold my heart to the junkman, and I'll never fall in love again...'

Actually usual procedure here is to junk the existing engine/ gearbox and pop a second hand one imported from Japan - the shops you see around with wall to wall engines are doing that. That presumes that your engine is available from Japan -

For my car a Nissan NV going rate is 24,000 for an engine, 6,000 for a gearbox, 30,000 a set.

Good luck!

"Futher more their is evidence that the death penatly does not work as a deterent, just look at america, 11,000 gun killings every year, more people in prison than any other contry in the world... (The land of the free)"

The death penalty is 100% effective.

She said some of them kept looking inside and smiling the whole time, for reasons she did not know.

Welcome to the Land of Smiling!

(One of the reasons I came here)