thaisail

Does anyone have a design for putting in rain gutters using PVC pipe which is a lot cheaper than the the ones they are selling at Global or Home Pro? The other issue I

have is that I will have to have scaffolding to up there to the roof to install the gutters. Or if anyone knows a company in the Chiang Khan, Loei area that can do this job at a reasonable price, please let me know.

Just now, Crossy said:

 

If not actually in the water you should be fine.

 

How do you intend making the joint?

 

Crimping (with the correct tool) then adhesive-lined heatshrink over each core (I have some crimps which already have the heatshrink) followed by an overall adhesive-lined heatshrink (you'll need a proper heat-gun) will give you as good a joint as possible without specialist jointing kits.

 

I have used these 3m underwater splice kits from 3m in the US. They are very expensive but they are designed for underwater splicing. I don't know where you can buy one of these kits but if done properly they will last as long as the cable itself. 

7 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

Depends on your home country and what options you have. A couple of options for example that negate the need for a Thai bank account for daily life (obviously one may be required depending on visa status, property purchase etc.); Americans have Charlie Schwab, Aussies have ING - both options no forex fees, no home charges, overseas ATM fees reimbursed and excellent exchange rates.

 

 

Charles Schwab will reimburse the ATM charge only for Americans who have the Schwab One Brokerage accounts based on a US resident billing address. I have so far not been offered a conversion rate more favorable than the rate offered by Schwab. 

1 hour ago, mahjongguy said:

As it was explained to me, a properly ionized resin filter will not actually remove calcium but will convert much of it to sodium.  This "softer" water is better for making bubbles and is less likely to form crusty solids in your faucets.

 

Unfortunately, sodium is less healthy than calcium, so the water might (still) be undrinkable. The only practical cure is an RO stage. You can add a small one just to create drinking water if you want but a whole-house RO is not practical nor worthwhile.

 

So, bottom line, if your well water is not high in Total Dissolved Solids (mostly calcium) then the resin filter may be unnecessary and best used for additional carbon instead.

 

If I got any of that wrong, please let me know.

 

 

Calcium is needed to ballance the PH of the water. RO water can be acidic depending on the final <deleted> reading after the membrane. Some good quality RO systems have added a post filter to raise the PH of the water after the membrane.

To make good drinking water you must add calcium. On commercial ships at sea we make water by distilling seawater. We boil the seawater under a very high vacuum into steam and then condense the steam back into pure demineralized water by cooling it. The water after distaltion has a <deleted> (total dissolved solids) of around 2 ppm (parts per million) of sodium. This water is then passed through a dolomite filter to add calcium to balance the PH to around from 6.8 to 7.2 before entering the potable water tanks. From the potable water tanks, the water is pressurized with a pump and passes through a UV sterilizer to kill any bacteria that may grow during storage in the potable water tanks before being pumped through the ship. The UV sterilizer will kill 98% of all the bacteria in the water and so chlorination will still be required to make the water potable according to the World Health Orginazation standard which is minimum 0.2 ppm chlorine. On commercial ships, we rarely chlorinate the water because the crew do not like the taste. 

This water once it is through the dolomite filter will not corrode your piping like distilled water does. The pure distilled water is great to replace the water that is lost in a lead acid battery. We also use this water for adding to our boilers and for mixing chemicals like engine cooling water treatment. It is also useful to make coffee as it has no minerals in it. But once the distilled water was been through the dolomite filter and the UV sterilizer, it is the best drinking water you can find. 

The other option used mainly on cruise ships is to sterilize the water using silver. This is used instead of the UV sterilizer. The water passes through another tank containing an anode of pure silver. An electrical current is passed through this chamber that controls the corrosion of the silver anode. On the outlet of this system there is a silver content meter which controls the electric current that adds silver to the water to maintain just the right PPM of silver to sterilize the water. The advantage of the silver is that the water remains sterile throughout the ship's water system even in storage. Also chlorination is no longer required. The disadvantage is the the high cost of silver and maintaining the silver sterilizer. 

1 hour ago, ctxa said:

Overall make sure to cook some tasty food for the Boys in Brown, it always helps to be kind, and treat them to a lunch. Even if you owe them nothing. 

 

I don't think bringing the chief is necessary at all. You'll do fine with just 3 witnesses. 

We don't actually live in the village though we are just a bit more than walking distance. Unfortunately we don't know many of the villagers because we just moved here a few months ago. We have friends that a bit far from us but they are willing to be our witnesses. I am not sure if the witnesses have to be in the same village. Plus don't know if we can have my wife's brother come as a witness since he is family. My main concern is the witnesses and I need to know if they have to be from the local village.

Just got my marriage visa extension in Chiang Khan. I was told that there will be a home visit set up for tomorrow sometime. I was told that I need to find three witnesses and have them come to my house when the immigration arrives. They said they will call my wife to arrange a time for the visit tomorrow sometime. I need to know if one of the witness could be my wife's brother who lives in the next village. I have two other witnesses that are Thai friends who live about 3 villages away and they have agreed to come when the immigration will be here. Should I ask the village chief who knows us well to come to our house as a witness? Anyone who has been through this please let me know what to expect.

Surprise.exe

I paid only 920 baht for my home water pressure pump on Lazada. I knew they were cheap so I bought two of them to have one as a spare. Well the first problem was the the pump was cycling on and off far too often so I built a home made pressure accumulator to prevent the pump from cycling so often. Now when there is a certain flow rate of water as soon as the pump reaches 2 bar pressure there are now a bit of chattering from the pressure switch just as the pump is ready to cycle off. My guess is that the pressure switch starting to fail. Perhaps the contacts in the pressure switch as starting to burn from all the cycling or perhaps the springs are in synch with some harmonics when the pump check valve on the inlet pipe shuts. I can see the needle of the pressure gauge jumping up and and down when the pump stops and check valve closes. I know that it is the pump pressure switch at fault because when it chatters, I just have to tap the pressure switch with my finger and the pump cycles off.  I have decided to mount a remote pressure switch that is of a higher quality than this one shown on the pump. Can anyone recommend a good quality switch that can be mounting in a remote location on the PVC pipe somewhere near the pressure gauge and this way, I will have a no more chatter from the cheap pump pressure switch mounted on the pump. 

I also need a second pressure switch with a small buzzer connected so that the deep well pump doesn't burn up when the filter plugs up on the water line that goes into the big blue tank. This will let me know that I have to go clean the filter before the pump back pressure builds up too high causing the pump to burns up. So if anyone can advise a good brand that I can find on Lazada that is able to handle these two jobs.

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Bingo.  Had removed two groups of lazada cookies but that did not help - after using search "lazada" in the cookie view of Chrome got about 8 more and after removing them back to English and can obtain purchase history.  Thanks a lot.

Were you able to get the description of the item also in English? I have all of the Lazada in English but when you scroll down for the description is changes back to Thai. I have called Lazada on the phone and had to use their service people to translate the Thai to English so that I can order and I complained about this and they said they will send my complaint to upper level management. My experience in dealing with them on the phone has always been very good and they speak good English. The phone number for Lazada is: 020180000

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

Everything wide open with fans and loads of shade plants.

 

Until it gets dark and the Creatures of the Night are abroad at which point we retreat into the A/C.

 

Still enjoying the perfect weather we are having now in CK. When we built this house 6 months ago, we put 2 layers of 2" insulation above the gypsum ceiling. We fitted three ventilation fans in the attic under the unpainted Aluzinc roof that turn on when the temperature sensors up there reach 35 C. We installed 100% opening screen doors in the front and back of the house and all the aluminum windows have screens. There are 3 x 12000 btu double inverter Samsung aircons placed one in each bedroom and one in the living room. The rest of the house will roast with fans this summer. I fitted a 50cm x 50cm screen in the gypsum board above each of the two toilets in each bathroom so that when the fans turn on in the attic, the air is sucked through the bathroom windows and up into the attic to cool the attic. The bathroom windows are always open when it is not too cold. Every hole in the attic has been plugged to prevent egress of any other source of air or other wildlife from entering except for the screens in the bathrooms. So the fans, when on, will draw cool outside air and circulate it under the steel roof. Later when there is a chance, I hope to paint a couple of coats of good heat reflective white paint to keep the fans from coming on too often. 

So our plan is to keep the all the windows open with screens closed unless it is too cold like it has been for the past month. We have not used the aircons since we moved in the house in November and have been very comfortable so far. So our air cons have not yet run beyond testing. When do you think we will need to start up the aircons? Will it happen in February or March? We don't have any shade plants yet!

The link below will take you to a very entertaining 15 minute video made by an automotive specialist in Australia. This video is several years old but the main subject is the difference between ordinary diesel and premium diesel. Basically with premium petrol, there is a higher octane reading which will offer better performance. It seems that is not the case with premium diesel. According to this video, the ordinary deisel is identical to premium except for an additive to assist cleaning the injectors. I believe the issue with premium fuel and normal grade diesel in Thailand is identical with Australia. If you have any doubts watch this video and you will never buy Premium again!

https://youtu.be/5fKxLOTVEnI

I have just put some really good soil around my house and it is only about 20 square meters of earth. I can see that there are a lot of different grass seeds for sale on Lazada and I was hoping that someone out there has had good luck with one of them. If not, I will buy sod. But here in Chiang Khan I do not see where to buy any any. Does anyone know where we can buy good quality sod that will survive the hot dry summers we have here. Water is not a problem with our 42 meter deep well and we have 3 ponds also on our 6 rai rice farm.

On 1/19/2021 at 11:12 AM, ubonjoe said:

The fee for a multiple re-entry permit is 3800 baht. Not sure who you paid the 5000 baht to (agent ?).

A single entry is 1000 baht.

I thought I paid 5000 baht at the Thai embassy without an agent in Savannakhet in 2016 and it seems to me that at the Thai consulate in Los Angeles and in Miami, I was paying also 5000 baht or equivalent in USD without an agent also. Since 2016, I have had my extensions paid by my employer for the last 4 extensions. The company lawyer always told me that he had to pay 5000 baht for the multi-entry. But now I am no longer employed so I have to pay on my own. But thanks for giving me the official price because since I own a US flagged sailboat in Phuket, I have to sail down to Langkawi every 6 months to satisfy Thai customs once the border reopens. So I it may be better for me to apply for the multi-entry when I apply at the end of February. It's not just the money but the aggravation of having to loose a day at immigration each time I have to leave the country and return to Thailand. I also want to drive my truck through Laos when the border reopens to Laos and China to pick up my solar water heater that will be shipped to China near the border with Laos as soon as the border reopens. So that means 3 re-entry permits which I assume is 1000 baht each, right?

I went to Chiang Khan hospital yesterday, where I live and my Thai wife went in to ask the cost of a Covid 19 test. The answer was 3000 baht. When my wife told them that I was an American, they told her that they would find out if it was possible and call back. This morning, the CK hospital called my wife and told her that only Thai citizens and foreigners from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia could be tested at CK government hospital. My wife asked if I could be tested at Loei government hospital and the lady on the phone said she didn't know but that Loei Ram private hospital was offering tests for farang. I am sure that the price will be substantially higher!

At the time, I was under the impression that I would require a negative test to be able to be issued a marriage extension at CK immigration which is due at the end of February. Last night it appears that the latest version is that the negative test will not be required for the extension to stay at immigration. But I may be flying to France in March and right now they require a negative PCR test less than 72 hours before flying and I don't understand how a government hospital can refuse an American patient the option of testing in CK rather than making the 1 hour drive to Loei to test there. I had a Thai work permit for Phuket which was cancelled on December 28 while I was in Phuket. I feel like I am being discriminated against! I will find out and post the price for testing at Loei Ram. I will also find out if Loei government hospital will offer the test and if so at what price. 

I was forced into early retirement by my Thai employer in Phuket in April during the lockdown.  So we drove from Phuket to CK in my Ford Ranger on May 15th when the bridge opened after the one month lockdown. While crossing the bridge to leave Phuket Island, the government put a red sticker on our windshield since we had a permit from the Ampur in Phuket to go to CK. When we stayed overnight in Bangkok, my wife called the local health department closest to our house in CK. They told her that we were not welcome to come to our bungalow in CK and would be forbidden entry to the village. This did not please my wife who responded to this with a rare show of anger. She told the lady at the local health department that she would call the governor's office in Loei and request assistance. The lady told her to stand by for a return call. She was called back about an hour later from the CK hospital who told her that we were to report to the health department at CK hospital before starting a home supervised 14 day quarantine. When we arrived at CK hospital, we were told that my wife,  our 13 year old daughter and I must take a chest x-ray before being allowed to go to our rice farm bungalow to start the quarantine. We agreed to do the x-rays and were not charged for it. We stayed in quarantine for 14 days and then we were warmly welcomed by the village chief who knew my wife from 5 months previous when she built the bungalow. We stayed in the 12 square meter bungalow for two months before returning to Phuket to pack up our things in our  rented house and ship them on a big truck to CK. By then a 48 sq. meter garage was built with a toilet and shower and we lived in the garage with all of our furniture and belongings until the 96 sq. meter house adjoining the garage was completed at the end of November. We moved into the new house in December and we are so happy we made this move. Life is great in Chiang Khan.

On 1/17/2021 at 6:55 PM, ubonjoe said:

If you extended the 90 day entry from a non-o visa you need a re-entry permit to keep the extension valid when you entered the country.

If your visa was still valid and you used it to enter the country you would get a new 90 day entry that would make your extension invalid.

I have had multiple entry stamp for 4 years on a marriage extension and paid 5000 baht per year so that I would not need to apply for a re-entry permit each time I had to leave Thailand. Has that system changed?

13 hours ago, TeaMonkey said:

I would think they would use some common sense and let anyone out if they don’t show any symptoms during the detainment period. 
The issue is really having to go into hospital isolation  for a test that cannot determine if you currently have the disease and can also produce false positives.   

I am assuming the detainment period is 14 days? So you think the doctor will release someone from quarantine with a positive PCR test? Somehow, I doubt that.

As a negative PCR test is now required to fly, this means that once you test positive for Covid, you may not be able to get a negative PCR test in order to board your flight. Imagine you fly to another cou8ntry and get infected with Covid. When you complete your quarantine and or treatment, you may not be allowed to board your return flight. Same for applying for an extension of stay in Thailand. Once you test positive you will not be allowed a permit to stay under the new law.

5 hours ago, TeaMonkey said:

None of this makes any sense at all. The PCR test does not show you have an active infection. You could of recovered from Covid 2 months ago and still test positive because your cells are still shedding dead viral fragments. 
And none of the vaccines have been shown to prevent you getting Covid.
This is now a worldwide endemic virus. We cannot eradicate it. Your immune system learns about it through a natural or vaccine induced infection. Any further infections, so far have mainly shown to produce none or mild symptoms. So this will turn into another one of the cold viruses. 

If I take a PCR test for my visa extension and I test positive, I can imagine that I will be sent to the closest suitable hospital that is capable of handling Covid 19 treatment. If I am asymptomatic, they could keep me in quarantine until I make two consecutive negative PCR tests which are 3 days apart. If what you are writing is true, I could remain in the hospital for more than 2 months since what you wrote is that I could continue to test positive for that long? Is this true? 

15 minutes ago, seajae said:

I bought the same insurance just in case it was needed, have actually just got home from immigration with my new extension stamped in my passport, there was no mention of needing a test now or in the future while I was there

From Richard Barrows twitter feed on January 16

IMPORTANT: According to this document published in the Royal Gazette, the Immigration law for Section 12 (4) and Section 44 (2) is being changed to include the need for the foreigners to have a #COVID19 test done in order to visit (and stay) in #Thailand.

This document was published in the Royal Gazette on 25th December. The part that is underlined says it will become law 30 days later. So on 25th January. As usual, not everything is clear and to be transparent here, there has been no announcement by Immigration yet

7 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

That could well be 850 Baht well spent, do you have a link to the relevant web page?

 

https://www.tipinsure.com/Promotions/content/PhGoHalf

I cannot read Thai but this was from the current website promotion when I click on Covid 19 box.

6 hours ago, PGSan said:

The horse in around 1000AD?  What happened then? 

OOPs I meant 19th century, when the horseless carriage came on the scene.

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

The "hybrid" chooks are just crosses between known breeds, they lay fertile eggs if you have a roo, but they don't go broody so if you want babies you need an incubator. The ones we got are easy to sex when a few days old, girls are yellow, boys are white.

Thank you for your chicken lesson. I had to look up "broody" on Wikipedia! 

56 minutes ago, djayz said:

If you do get young chicks only, no mother, then you will need a heat lamp to keep them warm for a while.

You can also ask in FB, there's a group called  backyard chickens Thailand. 

I have made a request to join. It looks like they are in Chiang Mai but I am in a different Chiang. Chiang Khan!

Just starting up on a rice farm in Chiang Khan area and we want to buy about 5 chickens to lay eggs. The wife wants hybrid chickens that will lay larger eggs in huge quantities. I just want a normal chicken that can run free around the farm and lay nice organic eggs that taste good. Not the CP eggs which look nice but don't have that organic free range chicken egg taste. If anyone knows where I can buy chickens like this in Chiang Kahn or Loei area, let me know. My wife thinks buying the small chicks is a bad idea because they need their mother because of cold weather. Others say buying the small chicks is fine. I am a beginner so I don't know the right  way to get started but just want to keep the wife happy.