canopy

Several times the Thais could have easily have killed some of the critters, but their respect for life would not let them do that.

Living next to a national forest in Thailand I find a glimmer of encouragement as maybe education is beginning to form, even if wider prospects are generations away. I cannot sense a respect for life in the countryside. The basic strategy is villagers and hill tribes clear cut all of the land they own and loot the national forests. Everything in what on paper is to be precious forests is hunted or cut down to extinction from the smallest eggs to birds to the biggest animals to orchids to valuable trees and plants and just everything in between. In the present state of things, the only thing that seems to stand a chance of thriving are weeds. I have yet to meet anyone in my area who appreciates conservation, preservation, or sustainability. Occasionally the police or forestry crackdown but it's really a no win situation when the culture and education for these things don't seem to exist yet.

Steel wool is usually undesirable when working with wood. Invariably what happens is some of the steel fibers get pressed into the wood and create rust streaks in time. Brass wool and brushes are widely available in Thailand paint shops and hardware stores though grades I cannot speak for.

This is good news. I was aware refusing a fare was illegal behavior and it seems to be more common now. It's not uncommon to see a taxi swoop to a group of people wanting a taxi, turn them away one by one, then speed off. It usually seems they have time and are looking to optimize their their day somehow. Observing pedestrians it seems for certain destinations getting a taxi to go there is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. It is nice they created such an easy process consumers can use to address this. In my experience, the Bangkok taxi system is excellent save for this issue.

Have you considered a pressure tank? It allows you to have an amount of pressurized water during electrical outages and they come in different sizes to suit. I would imagine cost is less than building a water tower. If you look at how high a tower must be to get to the low end of decent pressure, it can be rather daunting.

Khao Kho in Phetchabun has the nickname little Switzerland. Phu Ruea in Loei is similar, maybe better. And there are many other lesser known mountains all over Thailand. I read somewhere Loei has the coolest weather on average in Thailand though again you need to be high up, not just anywhere in the province to get ideal weather. While the weather and scenery is dramatic, most people would be bored to death in such mountains with little to do and limited places to go nearby.

OK, I'm from Orange County. Where is OC weather in TH???

As I alluded to earlier, look for a high enough mountain.The mountain I am is also known as little Switzerland due to the cool weather. A lot of days like the California coast and we get the fog too.

Also from California, count me as another data point for never. In Thailand I lived in air conditioning for years. I also lived without any air conditioning at all for years. I never acclimated. The so-called cool months like December are a myth to me because the temperature still often tops 90 degrees which is hot no matter how many days I experience it. I tried all the remedies and nothing helped. Living in air conditioning was the better of the two. Not only more comfortable but it seals out bugs, noise, and pollution which are problematic in Thailand.

Then I found a place where California weather exists in Thailand. I wouldn't have believed it had someone told me second hand. I moved there and have been happy with the pleasant weather ever since. I even needed to buy a light jacket for cool days when it gets down to breezy, 60 degree temps just like California.

Another myth to be aware of is cool weather is in the north. The north is hot and sees its share of 100+ degree weather. The key to finding cool weather is very high altitudes. I found an equation that typically every 220 meters of altitude decreases temperature 1° celsius.

I had a chance to look at all the ivy bridge notebooks up close. When you throw out anything that isn't ivy bridge, anything that's black, and anything with a small display there really isn't a lot of options. For some manufacturers there's just nothing in that category at all.

The most impressive available is the Dell 5520. Nice spec sheet with quad core, 15" display, 8GB RAM, 1TB disk, choice of 6 colors, and priced at 27K. Build quality is fair with the outside coming off better in the looks department than the business side which is ugly. It was the only one that I would buy, albeit reluctantly, and I almost did. That was until I saw an XPS which finally had a beautiful fit and finish and finally a machine with full HD graphics, priced at 50K. Unfortunately Dell haven't got around to refreshing their product line so it has the old CPU and they said it ivy bridge would be coming soon whatever that means.

The other promise is Sony has good style but almost all of their machines are still on the old CPU so shame on them being so late to the game. They have one decent ivy bridge offering with full HD, but it's black, argh. I plan to wait for Dell or Sony to get the rest of their products up to date and probably go for one or the other. I can't believe the transition is taking so long. Perhaps their last round of notebooks didn't sell as well as they forecast and they are left with a huge inventory backed up now for nearly a half year so far they cannot get rid of, particularly for Sony.

Roofs do collect harmful farm chemicals to dangerous levels and even if you aren't near a farm roofs also collect things like dead bugs, bird droppings, and dust since the last rain. That is what a first flush water diverter mentioned earlier in this thread is for. It's just a matter of proper design.

Seems to me your logic is a bit lacking. Since the loggers have not stopped trying. You are advocating the same policies applied to the people involved in the Drug Trade and Terrorism. Both of which are continuing to occur and it could be argued that the policy has increased the occurence of each.

Don't lump this in with drugs and terrorism policies that are certainly stupid and failed approaches. It is clear that simply arresting people like Cambodia advocates has likewise proven to be a failed approach in their own country. Defenseless tigers, elephants, forests and the like must be vigorously protected or they will be gone to the detriment of all of us and those that follow. You won't get any sympathy from me for taking on armed bandits stealing from all of us. Though imperfect, I don't see a better solution.

I want to use Sikaflex 11fc to seal stainless steel that will be immersed in hot water. The Sikaflex label says to use a primer in this situation to make a good bond, but I have not been able to locate a store that carries such a primer. Is there anywhere worth checking that might carry a stainless steel primer?

I checked the Dell website and indeed the new XPS 15 in the US is cheaper than the old XPS 15 sold in Thailand. However a Thai keyboard is a must as stickers don't cut it. I'll have to check places that sell replacement keyboards if they have a compatible Thai keyboard if going this direction. Warranty must also be considered.

I have a Thai brochure for Dell July-August 2012. It shows the XPS 15 in silver with 1080p for 45,990. So far so good, but the spec lists the old CPU so they are apparently still trying to clear out their old inventory before introducing the up to date model to Thailand.

A strange trend with notebooks I notice is the more expensive they are, the less color choice you have to the point everything becomes black. I'll vote with my baht to reward the manufacturer who put the effort into making their machine look good in addition to having good specs versus sacrificing one over the other. I am replacing what I and many people who have seen it would admit is the most beautiful notebook ever made: the Acer Ferrari 3200. It cost 100,000 baht packed with features unheard of in a notebook at its introduction about a decade ago including one of the first mobile 64-bit processors and a desktop performance graphics card. I always feared the day I would need to replace it since the trend in notebooks is cheap looks, but it's time. The Acer Ferrari is an old war horse on its last legs now.

By the way, where is the best place in Bangkok with the most variety of notebooks to see in person? Might that be paragon? I'd like to spend a day just browsing.

Quick responses in reverse order:

1. The MSI look pretty black so that's out

2. The Core i7-2637M sounds like the old, 2nd generation CPU family and I don't want that. Ivy bridge is the 3rd generation and model numbers start with a 3, not a 2.

3. The problem with the notebookspec site is I can't figure out what the real color is. Take for instance the acer aspire v3. The top photo shows silver. Click the detailed photo and it shows it is black. Which is it or is it an option? Also got a kick out of that link as someone wrote a comment that it is perfect because it is full HD which is certainly not true.

Criteria:

• Not black absolutely required. Any other color. It needs to look fashionable when closed which will be most of the time.
  
• Ivy Bridge CPU absolutely required. Prefer 4 cores for a specialized app I run.
  
• 15" display absolute minimum
  
• Full HD 1080p graphics 1920x1080. I guess this may not be available in the Thai marketplace so reluctantly realize I may have to sacrifice this.
  
• blu-ray preferred
  
• memory and hard drive doesn't matter--can upgrade these for a reasonable cost after market
  
• ideally under 50,000 but could go higher if justifiable
  

Any possibilities out there?

Exposing pvc to sunlight causes poison to run into the water which is why in developed countries it is absolutely illegal to have pvc pipe used for drinking water exposed. It's probably illegal in Thailand as well, but like most things people do what they want and no one cares. Here is some reading: pvc pipe and your health.

Rainwater doesn't need to be "consistent" to drink. In fact, storing water in tanks improves water quality since the still water allows sediments to drop to the bottom.

That is the kind filter you want because it is designed to shed debris and leaves. In Thailand, the only kind I have seen are just a flat filter in a funnel which creates a debris trap needing regular maintenance to clear. The other unfortunate part is they make them out of blue PVC which leaches toxins into the water which I personally wouldn't want even if I was not drinking the water. This particular component could probably be built DIY, but importing would be less hassle and probably more refined. If it is something you would use for years then it would probably be worth importing along with a set of all the other essential parts in one shipment.

To be honest, I had no problem with them using these divining rods. Even though they are just a placebo pretending to be something they are not, terrorists watching them use them at road side checkpoints would not necessarily know that and think twice. I figured they cost 500 baht each so no harm done. But now that they disclosed they spent as much as a new car for each little plastic widget and a billion baht overall raises questions on the judgement of everyone who supported the purchase because everyone knew in advance the units capabilities were completely fake.

I can't think of anything better to drink water off than genuine clay tiles, widely available in Thailand. Homemart even sells excellent quality, double locking types designed in Germany, though many outlets do not know it.

The socket outlet at the place of use should be 3 pin with the earthing contact earthed. It should be protected by an RCD.

I am trying to understand something in a book about this: "GFCIs cannot be used for clothes dryers whose grounded neutral is connected to the frame of the appliance". Might this apply?

When building a teak wood / hardwood thai house should the timber poles be buried into concrete a couple of metres and if so should there be a waterproof between the pole and the concrete and not just straight into the mix ?

Burying posts in earth or concrete below grade will rot even teak as moisture will wick into it. But if you don't bury them then you'll probably need cross bracing so the structure is rigid and cannot be blown over as well as need attachment from post to slab to prevent lift. Best to consult an engineer if your goal is a long lasting, stable design rather than making something up.

My eyes are drawn to the blue pvc in that photo which is a bit of an eyesore. At minimum I would use black hdpe for the plumbing/conduits and run them flush against a post on a side out of view.

I switched from the gym to body weight workouts at home years ago. No need for any expensive gym equipment or to go anywhere. All I need is a bamboo bar and a stability ball. Such good results too and get very usable, balanced strength. Body weight programs can be tailored to suit anyone from the weakest to the toughest and they are less prone to getting injury since you never move more than the weight of your body at one time. I am thankful to have learned about this alternative when I did and highly recommend them. Just choose a program on youtube to get started.

Code in the US requires at least 2 rods spaced minimum 6' apart unless you can prove <=25 ohms resistance with one rod. Code requires rods to be minimum 8' long and minimum 5/8" diameter. Above code is 8 rods spaced 8-20' apart and tied to well casing if available.

Ahhhh, when I hear/read about Central World, I always think of the 1990's (its name was World Trade Center then) and the beer garden/festival set up in front of it every year between November and February. It was great atmosphere. I am sure some of you remember/know of it.

Since many years ago, I have been going to Thailand very infrequently but I think they haven't had the beer garden thing there for many years now. Am I right ?

Yes! You are right and I also miss that. What they have now is nothing like the glory years you remember when food vendors stretched a half kilometer, you chose a live entertainment zone in the type of beer zone you liked each attended to by sexy girls wearing beer uniforms in a sea of thousands of tables and the place was buzzing. For one thing, Central World expanded the building taking up a tremendous amount of space from the outdoor area. But what really killed it happened before that. Sometime in the last decade there was a moral crusade against alcohol, not just that you could only buy it during two segments of a day. They actually outlawed girls wearing sexy beer uniforms, banned the mere display of beer logos, and even banned outdoor beer garden events in general in Bangkok. This crushed the World Trade new years beer garden event which last time I saw was like a small outdoor restaurant and about as exciting as a firecracker and haven't bothered going back. The crackdown also wiped out many other smaller, unique and interesting new years beer gardens elsewhere in the city. I can remember when December in Bangkok was wonderful. Nice cool weather, all the christmas lights, and the pleasant surprises of finding the neatest outdoor beer gardens to enjoy the night at.