Boksida

They have made the big 150gm burger wider and a little thinner so it cooks more quickly and doesn't go dry.

Who are "they"?

There is a product called bentonite that is sometimes used to seal leaky ponds. I have no idea what it costs in bulk but you could likely get information from a foundry. The material is also used for making molds for casting. I think it is also a major component of cat litter. The material itself is a mix of mostly clay that swells when wet. I remember the foundry bought it in one ton bags.

Drilling grade bentonite is 8 baht/kilo from Thai Nippon Chemical. They have a website. There have also been several previous threads on bentonite which may have further information.

There are a couple of methods to prevent damage to a submersible pump from dry running. One can be retrofitted at the surface and senses the drop in amps when the load goes off the pump as it runs out of water and shuts it off. The second method has three electrodes in the well that can turn your pump off when the water in the well reaches a predetermined level and turns it back on when the water level recovers.

I suggest you have a look at the last two items on this website to get a good description in English. You should be able to buy equivalents from any big hardware store that sells submersible pumps.

"Ian Lush - you look same Ian Lush".

Any more of the self portraits and it will be "Ian Forbes - you look same Ian Forbes"

We are leaving tomorrow morning (Thrusday) for Chaing Mai but plan to spend the night in Lampang first then visit the National Elephant Institute before moving on to Chaing Mai. I located a couple of places that may be ok, Pin Hotel and the Tipchang Lampang Hotel. Has anyone stayed at either of these places?

The Tipchang is run down and can be noisy. The Pin is a better option.

Is anyone ever going to get back to giving their story about why they have stayed here? I seem to remember the OP asking something about that.

Well I'll bite then. I came to Thailand in 1970 because I had a job to come to. Although working, I lived a lifestyle that could charitably be described as dissolute until about 1977 when my body could take no more. For all the right reasons, but also for my health, I was married in 1978. Since being here I can't really remember how many provinces I have worked in, but it is in the scores. I think the only province I haven't at least driven through in over a million kilometres is Narathiwat. I have lived for extended periods in Bangkok, Khon Kaen, Udon, Chiangmai and Lampang. Our children did their primary education in Chiangmai and then went to boarding school overseas where they presently remain and we now have a grandchild.

I have only provided the previous information to explain why I feel comfortable living here. I have also not really had the opportunity to leave as I would need to sell my business interests first. Every time this has looked to be a possibility, the government has shot itself in the foot and the economy has collapsed. I am not particularly bothered about that though. These days I do overseas jobs quite a lot so I do have some exposure to be able to make comparisons with Thailand.

So I'm still here, still married, still working, still driving and still happy.

And for the other posters with the sticks up their <deleted>, I still enjoy going out to bars and pubs. Admittedly though, this is usually with my wife who I have thoroughly corrupted and turned in to my best mate and drinking buddy.

In the old scale, it is 1 mile per side, that's 1.6 kms these days. But as Winnie The Buffalo says, it depends whether you are on the inside, outside or down the middle.

I have always wondered how come the dimensions of the old city are so close to being a statute mile per side that it could not be an accident. Does anybody know the history behind this? Blinky Bill was probably around when it was built but surely that can not have been too many other farangs.

I bought one (without papers) from a pet shop in Chiangmai for 6000 baht.

The Royal Lanna is over the road from the Meridien in the Night Bazaar area. Current rates are 1,000 baht per night with two breakfasts. Free WiFi in the lobby but some of the rooms also pick up signal from unsecured WiFi points in the area.

I needed a dual sim smart phone and ended up getting an ACER DX900 in Chiangmai. Seems to do everything I want it to after downloading Garmin Maps and fring.

What is the salt used for?

It sounds like Mike has a salt water pool and you have a fresh water one. There is another thread running on salt water pools here.

I don't know anything about woodworking but I've never had to drive around for more than 15 minutes to find a standard metal turning lathe in Chiangmai. There are probably more CNC lathes around Lamphun but nobody is going to program them unless you have several hundred pieces to do.

The machine shop with one of the best reputations in Chiangmai is Yontakij in Sri Donchai road but they are usually very busy and may not want to fool around with wood. They may be able to recommend somebody though.

It's a shame that some of us boring, depraved, know it all, old farts won't be there.

I'll make up for you. Boksida + 1 please.

I live in Thailand but travel a lot, both in Thailand and abroad. I often had the same problem in hotels etc trying to find the correct outgoing server settings. I now use a program called smtp2go (can be googled) and pay about 20 bucks a year. It handles all my email wherever I am and seems to be at the same speed.

Hi, arriving in Chiang Mai early next week and wonder if there's a good bar somewhere (where I can take my beautiful wife) to watch the Australian NRL State of Origin Match on the afternoon of Wednesday June 3rd.

Any advice would be appreciated.

You can watch the Toads beat the Cockroaches at the UN Irish Pub. No problem with taking your wife there.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21535038125

I would consider the valve at the end of your suction line in the tank to be the most important. The one near the pump is redundant and just another restriction.

I suggest that if you need a filter for your mains supply water, you install it between the supply and the tank. Anything you fit to the suction side of your pump is just something else to go wrong.

The foot valve will look something like this:

If there isn't one on the end of the pipe going in to your tank, you definitely do need it.

Beardog, does the contractor have a device to measure depth to water level while pumping ("tee what radup narm" might do it)? If not, you may be able to make a makeshift one with some electrical cable and a multimeter. Drop the cable with a small weight on, and the ends of the wires exposed, down beside the pump column. If you have the wires connected to your meter at the surface, you will see a resistance drop when they short in the water. If the water level is still dropping at a noticeable level while pumping, you may have a problem. You also need to measure the water level after the pump has stopped and the level recovered so that you can monitor seasonal changes.

You can also do this to other wells in the area for a comparison. The smaller the difference between pumping and static levels, the better the well.

Boksida, the water pump is ground level 3 metres from an underground 1200 Litre water tank.

Dave, it still sounds to me that the pump has been losing its prime. This would only have to happen once and the heat generated from running dry would damage seals. Does the suction to your underground tank have a foot valve on it? If this leaks, all your problems will start.

Undo the castellated plug on the suction side on the top of your pump (with the pump switched off) and see if it is full of water. It should be. If not, pour water in there until it is full and then see if the level drops. If it does, it is draining back into your tank and the foot valve is not holding. With the pump running, loosen the other plug on top of your pump and see if there is water coming out under pressure. If there is no water, or air with the water, you have found your problem. See if you can bleed off the air and the pump may start operating correctly. Tighten it back up and your pump will stop when it reaches cut off pressure. It will still fail again until the foot valve is changed.

It sounds like an inadequate water supply to your pump. Are you pumping from the mains or a tank? If a tank, is it higher or lower than your pump?

I just saw Thai TV news and they sent out divers to check the containers. There are indeed skeletal remains around the containers and the news reader said that they are possibly related to deaths from to the troubles in Bangkok some years ago. They will bring up the containers over the next few days, so I suppose we will get some factual information at that point.

Cheers, Rick

i saw a report from Channel 3 last night where one of their own reporters went out on a fishing boat, donned his dive gear & went down with a film crew and filmed everything at the container site.

there will be no sweeping this one under the carpet now.....

If it does turn out to be the missing from 1992, there won't be much of an effort to clear it up from a military installed government.

Arrogant, ignorant prick that you are. Perhaps your right hand is your lover. Or is it your left?

Blinky, don't beat around the bush, just tell them what you really think.

Aren't you being a bit tough on the poor woman though?

Hope to see you at the TV get together in CM next month

Slapout, I will be trying to make it to the party but have an overseas job on in the second half of May. If I'm back in time, I'll be there. Looking forward to swapping some lies.

For next time:

http://www.oilfieldbooks.com/FISHING.html