canopy

If you think this had anything to do with mushrooms I have a bridge to sell you because you are gullible.  After making up a fairy tale about mushrooms they eventually admitted to the actual crime they committed. The news story says: "They cut down more than 1,000 valuable trees and illegally possessed restricted timber." Sounds pretty cut and dry. Every court has found them guilty including the supreme court. It's refreshing to see the justice system step in and protect the forest from greed. This is a good step and the country needs a lot more of this.

And 186 builders who yesterday said "no problem, it will hold".  And today "not my fault the wind was strong". Mistakes are never made or learned from.

I find it interesting that agricultural burning was present that long ago. There are several points to consider when comparing burning now to Thailand to 150 years ago. I can't find exact figures, but perhaps the population was 1% of what it is now. That alone could mean 99% less burning, 99% better air. Second, in organic farming it was common not to burn fields but to reuse what was left after harvest so in many cases farmers were not burning. Also at that time they didn't douse everything with chemicals and poisons like now so less contaminants went airborne. Another point is forest burning is rampant and a factor in air quality. With a much smaller population presumably it was also much less back then compared to now.

To the gentleman who wants to go biking in the north, perhaps keep your eye on the air quality map. The rains are not yet broad enough and consistent enough to knock all the smoke out of the air and prevent new fires from being started. Some areas today are enjoying good air (green zone), and a lot aren't (yellow/orange zone).

9 hours ago, wolfmuc said:

I'm Upnorth (Phrae Province) and I think we had a very lucky year 2017 concerning smoke, smog and dust.

The comment seems strange because presumably Phrae, like others, has had sub-standard almost every day for the last 6 months,

Even scarier think about this. picture at right: lungs of a typical person. picture at left: lungs of people living in the north.

You are absolutely right. This was discussed in this thread some time ago and there was a story in the news section about it. To recap, the reporting of air quality is misleading for two reasons: first the dangerous PM 2.5 is omitted as you point out and second the Thai government inexplicably changed the air quality scale such that air twice as bad as air that would not pass international standards is classified as good. There has been no explanation from the government for either of these discrepancies.

A of now the air quality has dropped into the orange range.

I bought a replacement battery for a Samsung S5 at a mobile phone section of a shopping mall. They tried to sell me a generic brand saying they are better than the original, but I insisted on an original Samsung battery. Reluctantly they sold me one. From all appearances It looked legit. For the first charge I let it stay plugged in overnight as I believe is the proper conditioning. But after a few weeks the battery life has dropped dramatically. The battery that came with the phone lasted many years before that happened. So I am suspicious this is not a genuine battery at all, but  a cheap fake with a Samsung decal. Is there a way to buy a for sure genuine Samsung battery? Like lazada, from Samsung directly, etc.

The rains stopped for a few days now and the fires are starting up again and the air quality is deteriorating. In the space of just one day the board has gone from green to yellow. This worsening trend will continue as dry days accumulate and could be back in the red zone very soon.

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Despite the rain there are still points in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai where the air is a bit below international standards for clean air. Certainly a good trend overall, though expected like any other year. And remember all it takes is a few days of dry weather, then the fire bugs will plunder the air quality once again.

Any suggestions where to find 4 core speaker cable such as online? Want 4 core so cable runs can be neat and compact. I have looked in all of the audio shops, electrical shops, and everywhere else I can think of and only see 1 or 2 core.

Does the 20A rating Tyco specifies assume/require one is using 120V?

I found the perfect product, but must buy it from the US apparently. Product description:

Use this splice tap kit in place of a junction box for splicing 12 or 14 awg (300 volt), 2-conductor nm cable with ground. Many contractors and homeowners doing Wiring in a house have found this kit easier to use than a traditional exposed junction box.  This splice can be hidden behind a wall. This product is UL & CSA listed and it is NEC compliant.

Again, I hope to get some better ideas other than mounting a classic junction box above every single place there is an outlet because it seems unnecessary overkill for this type of application. Was hoping something simple to snap over the connection would be available like the below picture. Another possibility would be to run the cable back up the wall to eliminate the T altogether. Comments on these or other ideas welcome.

What are ways to make electrical T's in the pictured case? There is a large conduit above a wall containing several 220V romex cables. Take now for instance a cable that goes through this conduit and drops down to each outlet in its circuit (slides down through a pvc conduit embedded in the wall). What are some good ways to make T's so cable can run down to each of these outlets? Hoping there is something simpler than mounting a classic junction box every place a T is needed.

According to the air quality data available online I'm not aware there has been even one single day of healthy air for the last 5 months.

True site selection can help reduce noise and should be carefully considered, but in itself it will never be a completely reliable solution. Nor will windows, but having the ability to silence window openings are a must ingredient. No matter where you build your house in Thailand from the very "quietest" country home to the biggest metropolis you will find unwanted man made noise outside rearing its ugly head.

8 hours ago, Naam said:

double glazing helps of course to reduce noise transfer.  

Only if done properly--proper spacing, proper pane thickness differential, glazings, etc. In Thailand noise reduction is more important than energy efficiency. If you can't sleep or concentrate, it's irrelevant how much money you are saving on electric bills. Quality frames also have full weather stripping and multi-point locks to make really tight seals.

There are good and bad frames of each type. Good aluminum frames have thermal breaks between inside and outside. Good upvc frames have multi-chambered designs. Good upvc frames have a 10 year color guarantee, cheaper ones have no guarantees.

The answer to this question is surprisingly simple. Think first: why do people smoke cigarettes? After all isn't it a filthy, unhealthy, wasteful, expensive habit? Answer is because they enjoy it. I've asked farmers in my area why they burn their land. The answer is the same; they enjoy it. Nothing at all to do with their crops and if you tell them it degrades their soil they don't care. They enjoy it and that's it. Compare this to modern countries farmers do not burn their crops even if it is rice, corn, or whatever. And farmers in modern countries are better off than Thai farmers. Also worth noting Thai's burn not only their fields, but everything they can including unused pastures and forests. Add in the daily ritual of each household burning a pile of trash including the day's plastic. In my village there is no garbage pickup. The villagers have successfully fought against the government who wish them to have it. Why? The villagers enjoy burning their garbage, every single one of them except yours truly who doesn't count. So it's a very simple answer across the board: they enjoy it.

Isn't exercise the worst thing to do this time of year? It results in inhaling acute amounts of soot deep into the lungs in a very short time. The government says people are to stay indoors with windows and doors sealed with no exercise to facilitate minimal shallow breathing and people are to wear face masks if having to venture outside. It's the same message every year.

It's interesting to read about the funding, but to be fair it's not a huge amount of money and they have numerous objectives it needs distributed to. It does however answer a curiosity. It's plainly obvious the thai government has been closely monitoring the air situation in recent years unlike the past. Now we know why--it's a system from this organization. That explains why they have all this monitoring going on yet seem to be doing nothing with the data coming out other than announcements. The strategy is as of yet incomplete. Monitoring is a good thing, but it's not solving anything on its own. There's got to be some red faces as the monitoring equipment reveals how awful the air quality actually is and just how long it goes on like this.

On 3/31/2016 at 1:59 PM, webfact said:

He further said that the felled trees would be replaced with trees about 10-20 years old which will not take too long for the environment to be restored.

It's one year later. Can someone by chance do some fact checking and provide a photo showing the new trees that were promised (or lack thereof)?

Chiang Mai air quality has reached the very unhealthy bracket at 207.

Undoubtedly the reason for the recent improvement is due to the strong storm system has blown into Thailand from the south. Related story: Upper parts of Thailand to experience tropical storm. This could conceivably be blowing the smokey air out of Thailand and into Burma. Later in the month is expected to be hot and dry, so prepare for worsening conditions accordingly.