Westering

We often see these container transports in traffic here (KK). Since noticing long ago that containers were not fastened at all, just sitting on the flatbeds, we've never spotted a single one that was properly secured. Might be an important factor in this spillage.

I think, with large buildings such as this, professional engineers are responsible for specifying and supervising every detail of the construction process.  They should be held liable for the consequences of any structural failures.  Building inspectors can only visit to check things periodically and can easily miss hidden flaws.  

Here in Thailand we had an engineer design our house but he thought his job ended there.  It took a lot of pressure to get him out to the building site to check what the contractor was doing.  It was my impression at that time that the concept of "building inspector" was unheard of.

Realistically speaking, the one way to put a stop to this needless death and suffering is to hold building inspectors personally responsible for any injuries/damage causes by their 'overlooking' violations. Sometimes they overlook the violations of safety and building codes because they are lazy and sometimes because they are bribed. In the end, it doesn't matter why they didn't adequately do their jobs; they need to do some serious prison time as a lot of lives are at stake if they don't do their jobs well.

Okay, I'm jumping at the chance of actually coining a word here: Falang people have often been criticized for their failure to understand "Thainess". Now I think we should embrace our bafflement about "hubness". It's a cultural thing. We just don't understand! Thailand is the hub of hubness.

Here in Khon Kaen province our tractor man told us to plant the rice pretty damn quick. We had the seed on hand so I went out and threw it around and then he disced it in. The rain played coy for a few days but eventually a moderate thunderstorm brought the young green rice up. Last night it rained steadily all night. My FIL actually drove out to our place today, worried that our paddy might have been overly flooded. No fear, the soil absorbed it and the rice is thriving.

This is what I love about the land and the people here. The climatic cycles allow for abundance in proportion to the understanding that people bring into the relationship they have with their natural environment.

Don't know if I'm learning fast but I'm learning.

"Or an investigation into Suthep's ability to buy large land parcels within the last 5 months with cash when he had declared himself last year to have a negative net worth?"

Interesting. Or maybe just unsubstantiated partisan rumor mongering. Can you point to facts showing that he actually bought large amounts of land?

IMHO the Country belongs to the people, therefore it is the people and only the people that are responsible for "saving" the country.

Say what you will about the Americans but they have had some great leaders who have been quoted throughout history.

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world." -----Abraham Lincoln

"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."

- John F. Kennedy

The Thai people need to find such a leader.

That would be good.

The historical fact, however, that both American presidents you quote here were assassinated while still in office might give us some hint as to why leaders of this kind have not been eager to step forth into the Thai political arena.

Oh dear

i forgot

AND a "permit" from immigration.

My experience- I had hoped my name could be put in the same book with my wife's name but as it turned out i got my own book. We only needed to show translation of my passport, copy of my wife's ID card, a copy of her house book, our marriage certificate, and a statement from immigration police that I had shown our house as my location for some time.

Everything was rip roi and I got my book relatively quickly and easily.

I don't want to come across as an "old hand" because I'm not, but my experience tells me that when they start throwing extra requiirments at you they are looking for a small inducement (cash) to let your application go through.

I should mention that my wife knows how to do these things and we brought a family member who is a gov't official along to speak for me. Our little gift was just some baked goods.

Good Luck

I'm just this evening harvesting a small experimental garden plot of black sesame which my wife and I are interested in for nutritional/medicinal use. I found it to be surprisingly vigorous and trouble free to grow (heights up to 2 meters). We can see that the seeds separate themselves from the pods naturally but harvest timing is crucial. Waiting until the pods dry out on the stalk is a mistake because they open and drop their seeds quickly. I'm cutting the green plants and drying them on a smooth floor so that we can easily collect the seeds when the pods open. The mature plants have a very nice sesame smell. This seems to be an encouraging sort of plant to grow; no weed or insect problems at all, no need to water often, it was even very easy to transplant. Thumbs up for black sesame!

Location: just outside a village near Khon Kaen. We bought land, car and built our house for cash, outright, so we have no rent or debt payments at all. We get along very nicely on about 20,000 baht each month, max. As time goes on we produce more and more of our own food and we'd like to go solar for electricity when we possible.

It's the quality of an interesting active way of life I appreciate rather than the cheapness.

We're just in the first year of experimenting with our soil and climate to see what we can grow successfully here in Khon Kaen. Soybeans would be very interesting both as food and to add nitrogen to the soil but I wonder if true-breeding non-GM seed is easily obtainable. Can anyone suggest a good supplier who would give reliable detailed info about the seed they sell?

The key here is to have......

The agreeable, good written, and enforceable contract detailing

-Dateline on each stage of construction

-Materials specification

-Pricing of all items

-Payment detailed

-penalty of project delaying

-design modifications pricing - in details

…..etcs

Just to name a few, and will sure minimize your heachaches later on

Good advice and if the contractor understands all this in the same way you do then things should go fairly smoothly. I would add that you shouldn't expect your architect to come to the worksite to check the work or to take any responsibility in ensuring that the contractor builds according to the plans and specs. You will have to spell this out with the architect and this sort of periodic supervision may cost you more.

When we had our house built the plans were viewed by everyone except us as a mere formality needed to get a building permit. The designer thought his work was done when the permit was obtained. It was assumed that the contractor would build in any way convenient and profitable to him so he was shocked when we required him to actually follow the plan. We eventually had to take over as contractor and that turned out for the best in our case.

Impressions are relative. In 1968 I arrived from the appalling chaos of Calcutta. Bangkok seemed quiet and clean, like a small town extending in all directions. The people were unbelievably clean, the women beautiful. Didn't see anybody dying on the street. It was a relief to walk around without a crowd of beggars in pursuit. I was trying to get home to Canada and had very little money left. I slept on a beach in the Pattaya area (wasn't much there) for a few nights and fell in with some nice young Thais who took me back to Bangkok and found me a place to stay for free until I could leave for Japan on a freighter. Altogether a very good impression!