canopy

Aren't these types of breaks typically repaired using a union? Cement in a new segment, then screw the cap, done. What is the advantage of a bunch of 90's jutting out instead?

Nice map. If those orange spots are pollution then it's pretty clear it's not coming from China since the air between China and Thailand is good. Pollution is made in Thailand. Make no mistake, the burning season of northern Thailand started late October (when the rains stopped) and is going strong and will go until around May (when rains start). Same story every year.

No relief until 1100hrs, surely you jest. I have observed rural Thai's can't possibly have lunch at a day long event or even a school day without extremely loud music played all throughout lunch. Everyone sits down to eat and they blast music at extreme levels. You'd think maybe they would want a break from the noise, some peace with their meal, and maybe a little chat, but no never. It's a strange thing to see.

A key to stopping noise with windows is the 2nd pane needs to be a much different thickness than the first. Otherwise noise that can resonate through the first pane also goes right through the 2nd. But switching to glass blocks and thus having the rim cemented versus a loose fitting sash with gaps should make a good difference. Overall you are fighting a losing battle as you can't have any chinks in the armor like roof, walls, etc as another said.

A complete redo of the room to a recording studio quality is needed. I'd contact an SCG center who has a wide array of sound proofing products and get a professional to design it right for your space. They do things like put up several layers of cement boards of differing thicknesses. They also have sound blocks, sound proofing paneling, and much more.

On 1/7/2018 at 1:30 PM, mrmillersr said:

In fact, there were already averaging high daily PM 2.5 levels back in November and December....The big question is does this mean the burning has started earlier than usual and it possibly won't be as bad going forward

You must be new. Short answer: in the north, no rain = bad air. Since last year the rains ended in October that's why you notice bad air in November and it will be that way until roughly May. The worst is usually March/April as it is the driest and massive burning will go on then in addition to the accumulation. The air quality won't just be in the unhealthy yellow or orange, it will red line or worse. Same story every year. The only thing that changes is the scapegoat and it's clear nothing will change or get better.

I really wish they were not allowed to open the boxes in the store. This is a strange oddity of Thailand. Frequently every single box have been opened many times and even rotated out to be on display. Things get lost, broken, dropped, and scratched up. I have seen things in the box in worse shape than what is on display. I have witnessed 2 homepro locations the most peculiar thing. I tell them I want to buy something and ask if they have one in a box. They then rummage through the opened boxes at what is available and discover none is quite right. They then dump out and spread the display unit and boxed units all over the floor and disassemble them all to make one "good" one. When they do this in front of me I say no thanks I came here to buy new, not refurbished goods. And remember that with homepro you can always order anything they have online at the same price.

23 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I say again, we have no right to complain how they live their lives in their own country. 

And for the record, I am not complaining.

From all appearances you don't speak Thai fluently enough to have an idea how the Thai villagers feel about the noise thus your comments appear limited to understanding how yourself and 3 other westerners in your village feel. On the other hand I converse fluently with Thai people in their native language and thus probably have a much more accurate and relevant viewpoint. For instance, the only reason I knew fireworks were going off until 2am in our village is because it woke up some Thai villagers who were discussing it in not glowing terms the next day. Noise can bother Thai people. It's not just your grumpy western friends. Personally, i slept right through it.

13 hours ago, soalbundy said:

...what right do we have to complain how Thais behave in Thailand

It's interesting you wrote this in response to a post that laid out how some Thai people are negatively impacted by the noise. Maybe you should try reading what you quoted. There was no complaints from westerners in it.

In my village kids were setting off loud fireworks as late as 2am that woke some. In many places in Thailand including mine music and events must shut down at midnight, everyone knows this, and the local police will enforce this. I am not sure if it applies to new years eve or if they relax it for that night. In any event I don't see how stopping the music at midnight on new years eve is considerate. A lot of old folks in their 80's would want to go sleep for the last 4 hours of it the same as any other night. Newborn babies could be negatively impacted at all times. Again there's the sick and bed-ridden. So considerate to who exactly? The reality is that whenever one blasts a village with noise they are being inconsiderate no matter what time it is. Personally it's of little significance to me but I sympathize with those not as fortunate that suffer and do not like to see them swept under the rug.

Refund is automatic. I find typically the refund amount is somewhat small however.

2017 has been the breakout year of Amazon for shoppers in Thailand. While you can't get everything, the amount of products available is getting to be amazing.  Note even for items that don't appear to have shipping to Thailand, just check other sellers for the item and you can often find one that will send it to Thailand. True, shipping and import taxes are high, but in many cases it's still worth it for things you can't get in Thailand. This is much better than the old days where if you wanted to buy a premium product you would have to make a trip to a specialty Thai shop and they wanted to rob you for 3x the normal price in the US due to the exclusivity.

If you want something quick and opt for super expensive expedited shipping it's extraordinary how quickly they can deliver it to your house; just a matter of days.

My experiences. Usually good, but I have had is an item stolen in transit (was replaced free) and another delayed (they threw me a little money), neither of which were too much of a bother and handled promptly and neither were amazon's fault. Another thing i like is i can always open a live chat session with amazon about anything 24-hours a day and be with someone in seconds who's goal is to help. I would highly recommend buying from amazon US and plan to use it a lot more myself.

Note while the white surgical masks may offer some help with larger particles, the dangerous PM 2.5 goes right through thus they are not an effective defense from the pollution.

Floor panels would go into a house real easily. q-con floor panels are just 60cm wide. Thickness is up to you and same as the blocks: 7.5cm and up. Length of each panel 2 meters and up.

17 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Anyone know if these blocks can be used to raise floor level?

Use q-con AAC floor panels, not blocks.

The big jars are not as traditional as you might think. It wasn't until the 1980's a technique known as ferrocement was introduced to build them and they took off. They are a major source of mosquitoes. It used to be mosquitoes were a nuisance in the rainy season, but thanks to these jars they are now a year round problem.

Just because some can sleep does not help the one's that can't nor does it resolve any of the other noise associated problems. I am standing up for the poor and the sick suffering all over Thailand that have been kicked down and conditioned not to have a voice in this. I want to see kids have the opportunity to be what they want to be, not taught school is less important than other people's noise. A parent once said to me it would be wrong to complain about outdoor thai tourist karaoke at a resort because they were important people. You know what I said? A kid in the village is more important than any tourist. And it had a good impact because it's true. I also believe all the poor living in bamboo huts deserve the right to peace and quiet rather than it being a function of when someone wants to pop off on loud speakers. And as you know it isn't just the so called special occasions of funerals/weddings/ordinations. It's also the village head yacking, the temples, the school speakers,  the trucks selling wares, the resorts, the village drunks speaker systems, and who knows what noise "culture" will arrive tomorrow.

The thing that amazes me is just how unnecessary all this noise is and things in Thailand were perfectly fine before it all started up. In fact I sort of feel robbed of the real Thai culture. Imagine a ceremony that had a traditional Thai band with traditional instruments instead of loud speakers? It would be just so Thai and so exquisite. And to think not long ago all would have been that way and so many artistic bands could flourish all over Thailand. They've been pushed out in favor of noise.

1 minute ago, soalbundy said:

it would only be harmful to health if it was constant

Are we supposed to just take your word for it as some sort of authority on this matter, case closed? I think you need to do more research before saying something like this. Consider people just released from the hospital who are very sick and bed ridden and the doctor recommends rest for recovery. Can you say with 100% certainty blasting these people with loud music, denying them of sleep and keeping their brain overworked in total conflict of what the doctor ordered is not harming their health?

14 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Imo way overdone this moaning about noise

Really, so what do you say to the students who have homework to do and tests the next day? I really want to hear your view. We are not talking about the drone of city noise, but over 100 decibels of ear piercing non-stop loud music. Many Thai houses, especially the poor, cannot even be completely closed to the outside.

13 hours ago, soalbundy said:

living in Germany I could never quite get used to the fact that one couldn't just drop in to see friends, you had to telephone first to say you were coming

Comparing a custom of politeness in another country with noise in Thailand doesn't make sense. The noise we talk about is harmful to health, disrupts people's lives, and robs everyone of the serenity every generation before us all enjoyed. Calling ahead and saying you are coming is both considerate and polite. I don't see the connection.

Yes, there was a splash of rain in the north yesterday and it erased a lot of the pollution in the air for the time being as is always the case. My area is still foggy/drizzly today. It's welcome; rainy season stopped 2 months ago and haven't seen a drop of rain for over a month.

Yes it is visible when an automatic change over valve switches to the other tank.

The gas always runs out in the middle of a shower! 

There are automatic change over valves.

[LPG] had a very hard time during summer months 

Good point. LPG heaters typically specify minimum in addition to maximum heating but calculating the minimum for your particular usage might not be an easy task.

24 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

As for the above LPG option...

I can't talk about LPG units from days gone by, but the instructions with my LPG heater say it must be mounted outside and so it is. So such types might even be safer than the electric type that fry a few people every year.

If you use a western large storage unit...

And I never recommended doing a whole house with a western style storage tank system. I small tank plumbed specifically at the shower could be compact, cheap, and easy which is what the OP wants. And the beauty is no sacrificing flow for heat.

That's interesting the manual says in wet areas to build up with concrete at the bottom. A q-con video shows at least one alternative: q-con wall in bathroom. In this video he says q-con can be used everywhere in the house. He stresses strongly there should be plenty of slope on the bathroom floor and smaller slopes are problematic. And he says slope alone isn't going to be enough and there should be a cement based waterproofing agent applied that goes 30cm up the wall before tiling. Everyone should show this video to their builder to get some ideas and understanding.

I've paid my dues using that type of system and it was constant trade off to find the most acceptable heat vs flow setting on a given day; always a case of robbing peter to pay paul. But now I have a 35,000 watt heater (not 3,500) since the shower head I have delivers an incredible 50 liters a minute and there are no longer any compromises. Boy is it nice to have a gushing shower that is steam hot on a cold day with thermostatic perfectly regulated temperature. Here is the secret for getting enough heat: use LPG (mine is), not electric. LPG always gives great heat no matter how bad your village wiring is. Another option to consider is you can install a hot water tank in line to your shower so that plenty of hot water is buffered and ready to go.

17 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Thai's seem to sleep through everything, whether kids or old people, it amazes me.

True some can, but this is not an excuse to punish the one's that can't. You've obviously never seen the innocent child crying in bed because he can't sleep and mom, who can't sleep either, patiently at his side trying to comfort him rather than dare say a word about the noise. This is wrong. Everyone in the village should have the right to sleep at night.