canopy

Does anyone have experience making expansion joints with aac blocks or know if the materials for doing so are available?

it cant be anywhere as expensive to buy as im my case it would be in Australia

Brace yourself. Thailand might have the most inflated prices for solar equipment. Off-grid is a killer because you'll have hundreds of thousands of baht of batteries you need to throw in the trash and buy new ones to replace every few years. Hardly green or cost saving. I have seen projected 20 year payback break even on PV panels, but he question you have to ask yourself is given the average person lives in a house for 7 just years before moving, who is going to get the payback? And that's given they perform 100% and don't break down early.

How about a one patient, one farmer program? Bring a minivan of hospital patients suffering from this out to a various fields being burned. Explain to the farmer he is making these people sick and should stop this practice permanently. Right now it seems farmers have no idea they are why the country is choking in smog year after year making everyone sick. If laws aren't enforced to stop it then maybe this sort of education could help.

From what I have read, low-chill varieties are a must for this climate. Still no luck on finding any sources.

I haven't seen any talk of using AAC wall panels instead of the blocks. Why aren't people using these? Unlike smooth blocks, wall panels are keyed to allow solid, locked joints and have very high strength.

That's from a AAC report isn't it.

I am skeptical anytime a Thai product slaps on a label that it is natural, whitening, or virtually any other claim. But in this case the acoustical properties have been carefully quantified and verified to meet the specifications that are described in the document. This was all clearly done meticulously in Germany and the conclusions drawn by Hebel are sound. The only question would be how the various Thai AAC blocks compare to Hebel, of which Q-Con in particular is a licensee.

It appears this ngo was operating illegally and the forestry department acted within their rights and responsibilities. Was it just that the paper work was not in order as we are led to believe or do allegations that triggered the raid go deeper than this? It would be nice to hear the other side of the story from an unbiased source.

Below is some acoustical information from the Hebel AAC material properties specification:

AAC has been shown to provide better insulation to sound transmitted by air than other building materials, for example concrete under comparable conditions. The inner damping of AAC is one of the significant reasons for the high sound insulating performance of AAC. In comparison with other materials of the same mass per area, AAC has up to a 7 dB higher STC.

cheap underground , build pond like , with pvc or hdpe foil with concrete slabs on top for the cheapest . The plans from UNHCR are 2nd cheapest , a swimming pool construction is by far the most expensive .

Your small post pretty much says it all. I received a price quote for a swimming pool type for 500K baht. Now I am trying to think of a reason not to use the first option -- pvc/hdpe foil with concrete floor panels over it. Any idea where liners of this size could be found?

Tonight, all Google services (google.com, plus.google.com, gmail..) do not work for me (for about 2 hours). Only google.co.th works. I'm using TOT.

I have experienced this exact same issue for the last 3 consecutive nights, also TOT. Every other site works normally and this issue has never happened in the past. What I did next was to VPN to the US and this allowed google and gmail to work.

I've been reading through this topic. Is a correct synopsis that AAC blocks offer every single advantage and traditional bricks and blocks are disadvantageous in every way and anyone who doesn't use AAC for all interior and exterior walls is making a misinformed choice?

It displaces the blame onto foreigners as the reason for the killing of elephants... instead of on the locals.

Well said, but those who skim the headlines won't ever understand the truth or reach this conclusion. This is an unbelievably creative headline considering the author writes "but to date it has not been proven right. In fact, neither the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Suppression Division (NRECD), or the office of the Phuket governor, have found any evidence that such a place exists. Nor can the official that made the statement give any weight to his claim. It seems like a deliberately made-up claim"

The title should have read that elephants are being killed by greedy karen people indifferent to these majestic creatures in order to line their own pockets with illegal money.

Removing and selling the tusks would be very lucrative - a small pair would easily fetch Bt100,000 - but it takes too much time.

This is the one encouraging part of the article. The forestry department is out there doing their best to thwart the efforts of the hill tribes rather than turning a blind eye. This is different than what happens in my hill tribe area.

For any tourist visiting an elephant camp and riding these beautiful animals, the latest information has serious implications. People who ignore what is occurring effectively support the killing and torture of wild-born elephants.

This is something we can do to help. But most are uninformed. If it really is this serious, then put signs in front of the elephant camps explaining so people can make an informed decision.

Can a mod move this to the DIY forum? Maybe a few more ideas can come from there.

Thanks Steve for that. Some good info there, but it also highlights the dilemma I am in since these specs are higher than locals have recommended, who by the way make leaky tanks and consider that to be normal. I would like a design from someone who has successfully done a project of this size before or better yet a design approved by a qualified engineer. But I don't know how to go about finding someone who could take this on.

Nice tool, but if you have time and are into wood craft, why not use traditional mortise and tenon joinery? Cheaper, stronger, no special tools.

Can you handle the truth? I can't speak for the Karen, but to be perfectly honest I have noticed the hill tribes in the area I have lived for years are the most environmentally destructive people imaginable, even more so than the Thai people. They farm by poisons, burning, and chemicals and repeat this cycle of destruction over and over. While Thai's themselves do the same thing, the hill tribes go on to clear pristine forests to farm areas that are clearly inside national forest boundaries with no legal right to do so. They also go there to hunt absolutely every square inch of land, killing every type of protected species. Nothing is sacred. They cut down or burn down every tree around. Anything of value in the forests is considered fair game and looted down to the smallest fish, bird, bug and plant species. Garbage is thrown and dumped everywhere. Streams are totally cut off and diverted to irrigate fields, leaving not a single drop to escape killing off vibrant ecosystems. The land becomes dry wastelands of weeds among poisoned fields. Sorry to disappoint the illusion of precious beings living in harmony with nature making crafts because after living among them I know first hand the reality is quite different. This is not a flame, just an account that is relevant to the subject.

I wish to make a tank to supply the water needs of a house fed exclusively by rainwater catchment. That means the tank must have enough water supply to last up to 6 consecutive months. I have read enough topics in the archives to understand an expert will be needed to properly design such a tank. How can I go about getting a sound design? I have no idea whom to contact or where to start.

Underground is not required, but it would be preferable to have the tank out of the way. Are there other tradeoffs to consider there? I plan to use a pressure tank to deliver the water since the house is near the highest elevation point. This is in mountainous terrain, high clay soil with good drainage.

Right, the 90 degree type would be a ball valve. For unrestricted flow then specifically a full bore ball valve will achieve that. You can examine a valve at the store to see if it is full bore or restricted. The rotate and rotate type is called a gate valve. There is no need for this type.

The crux of the matter is in order to fill a bath you want bigger than the de facto 1/2" water pipe. Otherwise it will take so much time to fill that by the time it fills it will be too cold. Note commercial faucets use 3/4" pipe to increase the flow and that's just for a kitchen sink. Also trying to fill a tub using a wall mount heater intended for a shower head is not going to provide enough flow either. So on both the hot and cold side you have some challenges because your needs are different than typical thai households.

I live in the provinces and have seen what happens across the age spectrum. As most ladyboys get older they reach a point that they can't make the girl look work anymore as they succumb to becoming fat, balding, and middle aged. They no longer use a contrived voice, wear women's clothing, or spend much time looking pretty save for special occasions. That means most people will no longer "see them" though there are effervescent telltale clues. But inside ladyboys identify themselves as being female for their entire life, preferring careers and hobbies like women. They are accepted and sometimes revered by society during their lives in ways they may not even recognize.Though some people including parents may oppose who they wish to be, it is in vain.

This is probably a long shot. Can anyone help find the wind load for Thailand or specifically Phetchabun province? This is needed by a structural engineer state side designing a residential house frame. Would by chance Thailand building codes be available somewhere?

If you have good water pressure then I would echo Crossy's last comment. In my experience up country 3500 watts means you can take a cool shower at full volume, a warm shower at half volume, or a hot shower at low volume. Moral of the story is 3500 watts is not enough. Get something bigger.

If your water pressure is low then even bigger units restrict the flow as they are necked down much smaller than the normal 1/2" tubing internally. They usually let you open the hood on the display shelf so you can compare for yourself. Due to the restricted flow at the outlet in this environment, 3500 watts should be enough.

In some villages there aren't chickens running around and learned it is because after they poison a nearby field the chickens die. In some cases they have given up trying to raise them. Imagine eating the chickens that barely survive the poison. Surely happens all the time. The worst to me must be the fish raised in the runoff water of fields. The amount of burning and poisoning in this country is just awful especially as it is unnecessary. Good to be aware of it but may be difficult to do anything about it.

Let's not forget red plates come with restrictions. So they aren't just a temporary stop gap measure until the real plates arrive. The only rational explanation I can think of for only being able to drive daylight hours and only roam short distances and anyone infringing on these sticking out like a sore thumb is to assure the driver has time to become accustomed to a new car before using the car in less familiar / less safe settings.

Like other countries, I am sure everyone has noticed various provinces offer a decorative license plate option instead of the standard white background. In Phetchabun, they have a picture of tamarind. I inquired about these plates and was given a color brochure about an incredible auction that will take place with special numbers on these special plates that can be bid on. The most desirable numbers with lots of 9's are expected to go for hundreds of thousands of baht. Having a bit of experience with auctions in Thailand, I expect the auction to be seeded with fake bidders to drum up the activity and the prices. I asked the dmv if I didn't care what number was on them and after a long pause was told I could get such a plate if I paid 15,000 baht. The process seems surprisingly expensive and underhanded so in the end I decided to opt out. Anyone else have experiences with these or know what this is all about?

I would forge the butt of the tool flat but to the profile of your desired handle to take a nice piece of timber rivetted to either side - does that make sense? Make it something to be proud of.

Don't know of any blacksmiths in these parts, but that is something I wonder if it might work would be to take an existing machete and rivet it to the handle to make it stay put. Usually there is a tongue of tapered steel that goes fairly far back into the handle. I just don't know how to go about it or if it would be practical. I favor wood handles given a choice.

1. Get the most suitable, long term type of visa you can immediately. Visa rules are always changing, usually raising the bar to qualify, more expensive, or getting phasing out.

2. Devote a lot of effort into learning the language immediately and don't let up.

And as someone mentioned, it's never too late even if you have been here a long time.