Mitker

4 hours ago, Beatriz said:

A friend of mine built a home-made water heater but it is not solar panel system. He just made use of the energy from the sun. He had these water pipes all painted black to absorb heat and these pipes run up and down like the car (old car system)cooling system. He also install mirrors that will reflect the sun light onto those pipes. Of course on raining day ( long hours of rain) then no hot water.

Well, he get hot water during the day and warm water at night. In the morning the water is not cold just normal room temperature. I quite like the idea.

Anyone seen this kind of home-made water heating system?

I put up and used such a system for several years.

Great and as cheap as you can get: just a PE pipe on the roof and a basic plastic storage water tank of 100L with insulation wrapped around (still warm in the morning): no pump or any mechanical/electrical stuff since the tank was slightly higher than the pipe: natural flow when heating (sun) and still when not. All DIY.

Why don't I use it anymore? The trees around the house grew until covering the roof, something I wanted since my air con can now fully retire.

I should move the system a little apart of the house

Silly me thinking the country had enough 'sleeping policemen' already

there:

(Krabi 2 weeks ago - and some questions from the kids, difficult to answer)

24 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Actually last year (2016) was relatively good in terms of haze.

agree totally

On 12/31/2016 at 4:23 PM, AlexRich said:

I'm not sure that there are any areas in the north that are smoke free ... perhaps only option is the southern islands or pattaya. They burn in Laos and Myanmar and despite bans it's hard to avoid smoke.

 

I'll be interested to see the suggestions. I avoided Chiang Mai until April this year and still had to endure about three weeks of smoke. I like Chinag Mai but suspect that it is only really liveable 6-7 months of the year. Lung cancer rates are high there and I doubt that is down to just smoking. 

Radon has to do with it too.

Saraphi district has the highest level in the country from a Uni research, published a few years ago, and would contribute explaining high lung cancer rates in that area. Well ventilated housing prevents that.

But back to the smoke, any satellite imagery of fires spread all over the region including the neighbor countries means there is no "close" escape.

Go to a place with (ocean) breeze but far from lawless burning activity (like Indonesia smoke poisoning Singapore)

My partner is Thai and successfully works here

My business is dependent on local sourcing

Otherwise, yes, I would seriously consider leaving

I know I will never call Thailand "my country" since I'm repeatedly reminded it is not

I come from a country that is basically multi-cultural and Thailand seems terribly narrow-minded and self-centered to me. I know some just don't care and go with it.

I can't.

1 hour ago, gk10002000 said:

They had a big "scam" a few years back with the new scanners didn't they?  Some kick back, bribery, few worked or few worked shortly after installation.  As far as being safe, well, I believe that is very unproven.  yes they are not supposed to use x-rays, but I recall an article stating that they were NOT required to be UL approved.  So there is little oversight on how they should be set up, used, maintained and monitored, etc.  Basically there are no safety checks or reviews. 

If I'm right, the scandal was about bomb detectors (luggage screening) and not passengers scanners

Last time I bought a reusable bag at Big C, the cashier didn't really understand why I opposed her wrapping it in... a plastic bag.

Still a loooong way to go

But, as said before, the hope lies in teaching the next generation

We're swimming against the tide here but, like any tide, with time it's supposed to reverse

If it was to be repeated again, I wouldn't come with the idea that Thailand would be my future home.

Not that I wouldn't like.

Just that Thailand doesn't want any foreigner to feel that way. You will remain a foreigner and will be felt accordingly until your last day.

This being said, plan in order to enjoy the positive things you can get but always keeping an exit plan ready and avoiding investments/commitments that would make it impracticable.

It's not about gun control.

Although many are quick to jump on that bandwagon and are missing the point.

It's about self-control and the childlike mentality that is a cancer on this nation: Losing Face.

"The high numbers of homicides in Thailand, it was reported, was often due to “loss of face and businesses disputes”, which recent deaths would appear to confirm."

"What may make Thailand stand-out however is that so many murders we hear about ... happen over what most people would consider trivial matters, mostly concerning ‘loss of face’."

“You see in Thailand there’s no 1, 2, 3,” he said. “There’s only a 3. In some countries you have a shouting match, then you have a fight and sometimes it goes to murder.

Here, you can get into an argument and the next thing you know you have been shot.” People don’t like losing face, he said, and on top of that it’s easy to acquire a firearm."

"As has been reported, losing face seems to bear much of the responsibility for murders in Thailand, perhaps more so than in other countries where ‘face’ is not deemed quite as important."

I do agree with your analysis

However, removing guns is easier than reshaping the psyche of millions of so-called "adults"

It's a concern for me too

I live in CM and the issue is sadly chronic - on a yearly basis -, just as the sterile meetings/declarations of local officials

I stay indoor as much as possible with the HEPA filter on

If I can fly abroad, I jump on the opportunity, while telling my friends to definitely avoid this period to visit Thailand

Burning habit costs a lot to the country but, in this domain too, inertia is the rule and I think the result achieved by the authorities for the years to come will be a big flat zero

There's simply no will

I've seen many pickup trucks in Thailand, but I have almost never seen a ball hitch attached to the back of the vehicle for towing caravans or utility trailers for transporting goods, etc.

I have also seen very few utility trailers, which I would assume would be popular in Thailand.

They're must be a reason for this, and it isn't because my sight is going bad.

A few years ago, when asked about applicable regulations in order to get a trailer (new model) allowed on the road, an official told me that a file had to be presented by a registered engineer to the Transportation Ministry where it would be decided if such a model should be allowed or not according to... their opinion of the day.

We know what it means every time a local official opinion is the key to any decision

I guess such a blur process is the reason why trailers are so rare here.

Feeling

proud of / sorry for /impressed by (make your choice)

this country

Ex judge with behavior like that it is no wonder she is an ex judge.

Imagine having a clown like that sitting presiding over a life or death case.

Problem is precisely if she has been a judge someday

Scary

Do you know where the water is coming from?

It's from the klong fed by the dams at MaeJo, Mae Kuang, Mae Ngat.

They may run dry pretty soon

I visited the place last week (Mae Kuang at Doi Sakhet)

On the dam pic, each pole goes down 2M from upper level

The graph pic shows yearly levels, last update mid-Dec: we are about to break a record

And yes, here too they pump 24/7 the little water that's still released in the river down the dam.

No restriction (?)

I've been interested in them for a long time. Shipping container homes to. Would love a decent motorhome here but costs importing one would probably be ridiculous.

While easy to convert into a working/living place, shipping containers have a few drawbacks to consider in terms of quality of life:

- marine paint is high in toxic chemicals in order to withstand ocean corrosive environment

- wooden floor has been equally treated with loads of substances to achieve long term resistance to insects, moisture, load weight, repetitive (un)loading cycles, content leakages...

- steel is among the worst performing materials in terms of insulation; both for noise and temperature

And weight is also something to consider the day you decide to move it: a 40ft container is around 4 tons and will require a large crane for any move

We use one as a safety box for our company tools but I wouldn't live in it.

I am still seeing rice being grown, fields being flooded. Warnings falling on deaf ears.

But you fail to state where in Thailand.

Apologies, chiangmai and lamphun

I confirm

Here in CM they still pump like hell direct to paddies even if the river is near dry

pumps running 24/7 for about 2 weeks now

You're right

Not being sure it keeps its properties, I think I will both try to speed up my planting schedule and spread the extra on the compost area

Hi,

We run a medium size aquaponics system for our own use.

To reduce solid residues and to prevent filter clogging, we drain our transit tank each morning. A further 24H rest gives us a thick sludge residue.

We use it diluted for fertilizing some plants but the quantity (a couple of liters per day, before dilution) far exceeds our needs.

As a result, we now have a few hundreds liters of this sludge stored for later use.

I noticed the product passes through several stages: fresh sludge / active phase (lids pop-up and fly under pressure in the storage containers) / stabilizing phase with sedimentation and change of color (turning black)

My question is:

If I want to make the most of this sludge, should I use it as soon as possible after collecting or is it still beneficial after long term storage?

Does the active phase and the subsequent stabilization reduce its properties or are the main nutrients preserved after that?

Thanks for any insight

Breeding and keeping such potentially dangerous animals is like walking the streets with a rifle except this one has a automatic firing option.

They can be controlled and are most of the time. But regularly we hear about victims of such beasts owned by brainless masters.

There is no justification for the average citizen to have to risk their (kids) life in order to satisfy the mental issues of some disturbed minds. I personally don't see the point to maintain this human-selected species.

They should simply be outlawed. And until then, full responsibility upon the owners. No excuse: their weapon fired.

I didn't know special committees were required to enable a government to deal with crimes

Stupid me!

I wonder if a person on death row with an execution date set would meet the criteria?

Could save a little money.

could save money, yes.

but doesn't exactly fit the "terminally ill" criteria.

conviction isn't an illness so far.. hopefully

If they follow the impressive household appliances labeling stickers example, the good news is that they can save in printing costs: we will see only the "dee maak maak" 5 stars label.

Totally useless but.. everybody's happy. And that's the point, right?

The cop on the far left is very erect.

Arresting foreigners seems to excite him.

Actually, it looks like the 3 of them are ready for take-off

The one on the right is already getting the wings ready.. what a great catch!