canopy

10 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

Once again some people suddenly see problems in Thailand while being blind to similar problems internationally.

Just deny the problem exists eh? Maybe you need take a tour of the north this time of year to put this problem in perspective. The horizon is a pretty big place, but they have managed to fill it with smoke and keep it really bad half the year. There is only one air supply out there and everyone is breathing it. The result is hospitals filled with people with respiratory problems which can rise to over 100,000 people a year not to mention everyone else suffering to one extent or another. The fire starters attitude is "I do what I want". The population simply puts up with it and does nothing. This is complete and unnecessary nonsense. I am appalled at your comment belittling this problem. It's one of the most commented on issues in all of Thailand because people go there thinking they will find a clean countryside like elsewhere in the world and cannot believe it when they see the smog and have to breathe it. There are days Chiang Mai has the worst air pollution of any city in the world, even worse than any city in China.

Did you know this year people wanted to have a peaceful meeting about this problem in Chiang Mai? And do you know what the reaction was? The government demanded they cancel the meeting and on top of this instantly slapped a lawsuit against them. Pretty touchy subject that apparently someone does not want you to know about.

Might it be possible to prove just one of these watches was manufactured after the lender died?

Good info. Only my plot of land has tune, no other land in the area does. Why? The Thai's and hill tribes trap them for food the instant any are detected. The tune population on my land has become very prolific over time and they disturb a lot of plantings especially papaya roots and ornamental peanut. I would think a gopher snake would be in heaven and stay a very long time. And yes, I can guarantee the instant it left it would be killed on sight. But since I border national forest it might escape to some safety.

There are many ground squirrels around as well. But they are not a bother and I enjoy having them around scurrying here and there and picking wild bananas and enjoying over-ripe papayas. The difference is tune kill a lot of the trees. Papayas grow quickly and fruit in just a year or two but it's a chore re-planting so many so frequently.

I could accept a small population of tune so a hawk perch is still my first plan to see what, if anything happens. I am in Phetchabun province.

Well no one seems to know if there are snakes for this purpose, but your posts inspired me to search the internet for other solutions. There are surprisingly many alternatives people swear by that sound plausible. The idea that immediately drew my attention is to make a hawk perch to encourage hawks to prey on them. In my area there are many hawks that I see or hear just about daily. It would be wonderful if any of these majestic birds could help themselves. It's very rare to see a tune outside its hole, but I have and snapped a photo. Hopefully hawks will use the perch to their advantage. Worth a shot I think.

A billion baht to build what looks like 50 houses? Where is the rest of the money going?

Tune (ตุ่น), which are similar to gophers, are thriving and making dirt mounds everywhere. Is there a natural predator that can control them? In California we would release gopher snakes for this purpose. I don't like the idea of poisoning them and prefer a natural predator over letting the locals trap them.

I was warned by a well driller the thing that kills submersible pumps are the voltage drops. During high demand periods of the day like early morning and evening the voltage delivered to your house can fall below 220 volts. It's a common phenomenon of Thailand. Couple that with the voltage drop on the cable going way down the well which may have been incorrectly sized to begin with and the pump is running on voltage way under its specifications.

If you want to prevent a pump from over cycling, a pressure tank can often be fitted. Grundfos for instance has many and their support will discuss your requirements and make a recommendation.

So for pump reliability: buy a good brand like a Franklin submersible, use a pressure tank to prevent short cycling, and understand and allow for the voltage drop to your house and the voltage drop to your pump.

LolaS that map does not appear accurate. There are many discrepancies. Let's take for instance Khon Ken has the worst air quality of all stations in Thailand at the moment yet it's in the white zone on your graph. Can you explain this? What is the source for that map?

Is anyone going to boycott friends who have taken an elephant ride or chastise people seen feeding a begging elephant? Elephant cruelty should stop everywhere, not just a single annual event. Isn't it peculiar how people are only angry at an event that was designed to promote elephants who was blindsided by a mahout doing something he agreed and signed a contract he would not do? How much condemnation has gone to the guy who abused the elephant? None??? Wow now isn't that amazing. Now if the man dishing out the abuse was rich like say Premchai you would be ripping him a new one and demanding animal cruelty charges wouldn't you? But since it was just some poor guy the standard changes and you let it go and don't care about him. The organizers of this event care about elephants more than most people, certainly more than the hypocrites responding to this thread. Who would bet against them assuring mahouts never break their rules again, even if that means closing the event? It's only too clear the reaction to this incident is one of hatred and jealousy, not concern for elephants. The innocent captive elephants all over Thailand are subject to abuse everyday and need your support and you turn your back on these precious creatures and care nothing about it.

Every captive elephant is beaten all over Thailand but somehow no one really cared until some rich folks put on a show and now the focus is nailing only this event to the wall. Why can't people show some sympathy for the captive elephant population that are brutalized by poor people all over Thailand instead of focusing their hatred on the rich? Why not boycott taking elephant rides and feeding begging elephants? You will be sorry to see how these majestic creatures are treated and what they had to go through. It's sad to see no one really cares about the wildlife. It's just another double standard for the rich and the poor can abuse the animals as much as they want.

On 3/15/2018 at 3:54 AM, lannarebirth said:

March 15 is the historic "hump day". It only gets better from here ... usually.

And then again, maybe not...

On 3/27/2018 at 12:08 PM, mrmillersr said:

What the hell good is it to ask that the WHO standards be adopted,  installing more monitoring devices or adding warning systems when the pollution levels get too high.  How does this solve the problem? 

Actually I think this is an important first step of the process:

1. Measure air quality to identify the scope of the problem

2. Determine what factors are creating the pollution as a pie chart (china wind, burma fires, thai farmers, etc)

3. Put a plan into place to improve air quality that most effectively addresses the above areas and enforce it

4. repeat from step 1

Well we are stuck at #1 and it's difficult to progress past it because Thailand is resisting revealing the scope of the problem by refusing to disclose PM2.5 pollution and meanwhile made up their own "thai scale" for air quality that classifies air that is not good by international standards as good here. It's plain as day to the most casual observer how bad the problem is out there, yet baffling as it may be Thailand mostly has trouble admitting a problem even exists.

You just don't get it yet. Excellent solutions are abundant, but no one wants them. You need to understand the mindset you are dealing with here. These people are not like you. The farmers don't want any part of your ideas and solutions even if there are shining models of success and praise elsewhere in the world. It's their land, they do as they please. They burn because they like to and could care less if that poses health concerns to you or anyone else. As far as they are concerned you are the only problem because before you came barging in telling them they could farm better and condemning them about air quality everything was just fine because no one else was complaining. I am not saying they are right or supporting them, just saying that you have to know more about the people here. They don't necessarily do things because it's in their best interest. Far from it. Remember the old saying: you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You need to understand what you are trying to do has no chance of working. You can learn this the hard way or the easy way.

You are right. What vinegar can do is magical. Using your paper towel method it can effortlessly, and I mean effortlessly, remove all mold and discoloration from shower silicone by soaking alone. It's also perfect for cleaning windows to crystal clear perfection. But this day in age the masses have been conditioned to turn to the big chemical companies whenever they need to do anything. Their products don't work nearly as well and cost more. Vinegar is a well kept secret.

No, it's easy. Laws generally provide that an officer may be removed by the board whenever in its judgment it would be in the best interests of the corporation.

It's their fault for not firing him. I have no sympathy for this company and because of their inaction will always hold a negative impression of this company.

Rains this time of year tend to be very localized. Some places it rains cats and dogs meanwhile a stone's throw away not a drop. This system was like that. Our area got none, but 5 miles down the road there was a good patch of rain. This system was very hit or (mainly) miss in the north which is a little disappointing.

Those statistics are a fantastic find to now be able to see the actual trends. What is astonishing is how few "good air" months there are if using the US standard. I would have thought for sure the wet season months would all be green. But in fact 11 or even all 12 months of a year can average sub-standard air.

A link to a park official in this case excusing the poor to poach is here. The only reason this case gets so much press is people hate the rich. I support all of the charges and condemnation he is getting for such a heinous crime--serves him right. I just wish the poor were held to this same standard. But sadly no one cares about saving wildlife, this case is only prominent because there is a rich guy in it. The poor take what they want out of the forests every day of the year and no one gives a hoot.

5 hours ago, edwinchester said:

If an old couple can get 12 years for picking mushrooms in a National Park this guy should be doing serious jail time.

The old couple were never accused nor convicted of picking mushrooms. They were convicted of illegal logging. The mushrooms and firewood defense failed. Time to consider just maybe they were guilty as charged.

Every year it seems some claim it's getting better, others claim it's getting worse. It must be somewhat subjective since year over year statistics do not seem available. But all years follow the same pattern. When the rains stop around October the air sours quickly and goes into the yellow range. Then before long it's orange and march and april is very red and purple. The air remains awful all the way until the rains are consistent enough to stamp out all the smoke and prevent new fires from being lit. Well in excess of half the year the air is not of good quality. And that's sad because there is no good reason the air shouldn't be excellent all year round instead of weighing it vs bangkok all the time.