Boksida

I would expect she will be on a plane home very quickly, even before the Egyptians insist on it.

Normally this would be the kiss of death for a career, well at the very least no more overseas postings except maybe Laos or Myanmar which is hardly the pinnacle of someone's career. However TIT and her family may be connected or she may have a " special relationship " with someone senior or be protected for any number of reasons.

It's sad to automatically think like this but that's what happens when used to seeing how things work so many times.

The Amranand family have a long history with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prok Amranand was Ambassador to Washington in the early 80s, considered to be the top posting available at the time. His son, Piyasvasti, was a Cabinet Minister in the post coup Surayud government and later CEO of Thai Airways until the government changed. I think he is still an adviser to PTT.

I don't know where this girl fits into the family, one of Bangkok's old elites, but she should have some stroke, although not with the present government.

I first met Bill down in Songkhla where he was running Taylors Catering Services who provided chilled food etc. to the offshore rigs. Bill was also the first Westerner to obtain ownership of his own light aircraft complete with a license to fly the aircraft anywhere in Thailand.

Good Luck I say to him.

I regret to inform you that Bill Heinecke was not the first westerner licensed to fly around Thailand. William (Bill) Bird was flying around Thailand in his own aircraft on a regular basis in the 60s and 70s. His son attended school (ISB) with Bill Heinecke.

It looks as if Fedex have paid the import duty on your behalf. Whether they actually paid that amount is another matter. All countries that I know of calculate duty on the CIF value. If you did receive an electric light fitting of some sort shipped from somewhere in Asia, there is not much you can do about it.

Nakorn Kilo - south east corner of Airport intersection.

I hope I can help with a couple of tips if you do have to pull your pump:

• a pipe vise laid on its side on top of the casing can be a handy thing to hold your column pipe when pulling the pump. The main advantage is that it can be removed from around the pump at any time. I would suggest not really tightening it on the pipe but a snug fit that you can rest the pipe couplings on. It is even safer if you can use two of them - one to pull up and place the other below the next coupling, and so on. A metal c-plate can do the same thing if you can get one made.
• If the existing couplings are glued on, I would leave them there and cut the pipe about 6" above them. Just put new couplings back on when you run the pump back in the well. A lot of drillers put self tapping stainless screws through the coupling and pipe for additional safety and to save waiting time on the solvent.
• You may be able to re-use the electric cable. Is it 3 wire? There are a couple of common ways to make the splice - crimp type fittings are easy to get and use. After crimping you can tape over them. Use only Scotch (3M) 23 and 33 tape. The 23 goes on first in a double wrap, you must keep it in tension all the time you are applying it. The 33 goes on over it, also in a double wrap and extends beyond the ends of the 23 tape. This must also be kept tight when applying it. The other way is to use a length of plastic hose for each wire. After making the crimped connection, slide the hose over the connection (make sure you have put it over the cable before commencing) so that the connection is in the middle. Hold it vertical, plug the bottom, mix 2 part waterproof epoxy and pour it in. One other thing to remember is to cut the cables so that the connections are staggered. This avoids having a big lump in one place which can fill up the annular space between your pump column and the casing.

By the way, PVC will probably be in 4 meter lengths. It is best to use Class 13.5 pipe and fittings.

Clear as mud, isn't it? Watch out for your fingers.

Antbody know where I can buy a submersible borehole pump in Mahasarakham or close to. Looking for a high head low volume pump as bore only makes about 200 litres per hour. Need to lift about 40m out the hole then another 20m on the flat.

Have you tried Thai Pipat in Khon Kaen? They always used to have submersible pumps in stock, but I have not shopped there for pumps for a couple of years.

The best submersible pump for really low yield wells is a progressive cavity pump (google Mono pumps). They are positive displacement so can be rotated at any speed and still produce water. The bad news is that the pump may cost more than the well. A plunger type pump, as used with windmills and hand pumps, would also work. You may even be able to convert a hand pump, as used in public village water wells, to use with an electric motor by yourself. These are also positive displacement so can be run at any speed.

The plunger pump is the type you see on low yielding oil wells all over the world, also known as the "nodding donkey", so setting depth is not a problem.

Maidu, I have previously installed these after buying the control boxes in Bangkok. One type had an electrode set below the pump (always submerged), one above the pump (low level cutoff) and one higher up in the well below static water level (restart after recovery). Lately the Franklin PumpTec (or similar) has been more popular due to easier installation. It is an above ground box that senses pump speed increase when pump starts to cavitate and has an adjustable timer to allow restart. None of the other types suggested in this thread are suitable for deepwell usage and I assume this is your application?

If you are interested and can't find a supplier, let me know and I will check some of the Bangkok suppliers for availability. They are not very big and could be sent to you via tour bus. The supplier would need to know motor specs.

Just to summarize:

• The Government requirement is for wells deeper than 30m to be licensed. There are two approvals required - a drilling permit and a pumping permit. They are issued in the well owner's name rather than the drilling contractor's. Depending on the area, this may be laxly enforced for shallow wells (less than 100m) as the money to be made out of it is minimal. The regulation does exist however, and there is a potential liability as KarenBravo pointed out.
• Thai water well drillers are licensed and must pass a written examination set by the Department of Groundwater. Failure to inform the Department regarding the drilling of a well can result in forfeiture of license. The name of the driller is on the licence rather than the name of his company. A Contractor who cannot produce a licence is either a cowboy or works for the Government anyway (common).
• The depth of the well has nothing to do with type of pump required. What is important is the depth to water in the well before and during pumping. It does not matter if the borehole is 10 or a 1000 meters deep.
• Jet pumps are widely available in Thailand. There are two types: a "shallow well jet" has the venturi at the suction of the pump at the surface and a "deep well jet" has it down the hole. The latter requires two pipes to be down the well - one sending recirculated water down the the jet and a larger pipe bringing the water up to the pump. A submersible pump is usually more reliable than a jet pump however (in my opinion).
• Groundwater in Thailand is considered a mineral resource and its extraction is subject to government charges like any other mineral resource. This is mostly an issue with industrial users.

Readers should take note of Naam's nickname. On all matters pertaining to water use and air conditioning, I have never seen him post anything that that is incorrect or cannot be supported by facts, so contradict him at your peril.

Are you in the book as PR-holder, Thai national or only as father of a Thai national?

I am in the book as the house owner. I am a PR holder but have made an application for citizenship but I think that post dates the issue of the house registration book, so is probably not an issue.

An 8 i believe means permanent residency, a 6 means that you you have a Thai ID number because you are on a yellow household book.

The ID number shown in my blue House Registration book starts with a 5. My two kids are in the same book and theirs starts with a 1, which as Thai citizens would seem to be correct. In view of Thanyaburi Mac's post with the code explained, I can't figure out how I came to be in the "5" category. Does anybody know?

I don't really understand why you want to explicitly exclude all the mining and upstream oil and gas people who work onshore, but up to you.

Why was it more fun? I don't doubt that you had more fun than you typically do today, but to a young person then, and a young person now, why would the young person of 1972 have a better time?

I came to Chiangmai several times in the early 70s. What I remember is:

1. It took about 12 hours to drive from Bangkok so you inevitably arrived at dark o'clock. The last part of the trip on the Lamphun-Chiangmai road was harrowing because of all those bloody magic trees on either side of the road keeping the pace down to that of a bicycle. They must have caused deaths on a daily basis.
2. I don't recall any bars on Loi Kroh. At that age, I was more likely to be found loitering with intent around Kampaeng Din.
3. I stayed at the Montri several times which was the extent of my budget. There were many unsuccessful attempts to pick up CMU girls in the coffee shop there. I did have some limited success with the singers though. In the mid 70s I was able to elevate my status to the Rincome.
4. The Pub was the best place in town in the early 70s.
5. I missed out on the movie star treatment.
6. Chiangmai became a better place with time (in my opinion) but has become less attractive over the last few years.

Over half a million votes counted now and Sukhumbhand looks to have unbeatable lead

Looks like you have two options:

1. Emigrate to Africa

or

2. Treat yourself with vinegar, lemon juice or any other mild acid to neutralise the caustic

Dr Boonsom Martin

ACM Siddhi Savetsila

I was friendly with a BKK Thai family that had 2 electronic engineers, worked at the same place. On a public holiday we had a family day out at a water park, the kids ran around only come back to eat, the women gossiped continually, the 2 men had a beer each and then slept the whole day.

I can sympathize with those two guys. Faced with a farang with an obsessional neurosis about Thaksin, PTP, UDD etc., I can understand why they would choose to tune out after the first 10 minutes. Both perceptive and polite of them.

done trip to south a good few times,i always stay at hua/hin for a few days,if you go the chinat route you can do hua hin in about 9/10 hours,from chiang mai.

can you tell me what is the chinat route?

Chiangmai-Lampang-Nakhon Sawan-Chainat-Suphanburi-Uthong-Kampaeng San-Nakhon Pathom-Ratchaburi-Petchburi-Chumphon etc.

Will get you to Hua Hin by beer o'clock.

Can you tell me where is the Robinson intersection?

I guess that would be the Airport Plaza intersection. Just a warning though: At the branch I bought mine, they did not even know they had any in stock until I found them. Raro might be your safest bet.

I forgot to ask how long ago you bought it.

About 2 years ago

Can you tell me where is the Robinson intersection?

I guess that would be the Airport Plaza intersection. Just a warning though: At the branch I bought mine, they did not even know they had any in stock until I found them. Raro might be your safest bet.

I bought a couple of 12" cast iron frying pans from Nakorn Kilo for about 700 baht each. They are very heavy with a 1cm wall thickness and a good quality casting. Their website, www.nakornkilo.com , indicates they have a branch in Chiangmai.

Though their site has an english tab, it doesn't appear to work. I am unable to see where they might be located in CM. I google search did not bring up anything.

It says something like Branch No. 7 is located on the corner at the Robinson intersection on the same side of the road as Lotus. I haven't noticed it there but haven't been looking either.

I bought a couple of 12" cast iron frying pans from Nakorn Kilo for about 700 baht each. They are very heavy with a 1cm wall thickness and a good quality casting. Their website, www.nakornkilo.com , indicates they have a branch in Chiangmai.

I would bet there is no foreigner who drives more than me in Chiang Mai, and maybe all of thailand.

That's a big call, might make an interesting poll. How many total kms do you estimate you have up in Thailand?

Just to make you guys feel better about your wells, the going rate for an industrial size water well in the Bangkok area is roughly 10,000 baht per meter, not including pump.

The old driller's trick is to start submersible pumps with full column pipe against a closed valve. Open it after the motor has started. The idea is no flow = no load = lower amps. It has to be done manually so much not much good for a permanent installation. There also needs to be a check valve at the top of the pump to keep the column full.