canopy

There is a bee colony up about 5M high inside a bamboo post that have been living there peacefully for months. It is the small type of bee called daen. I need to do some work on the roof so must do something about them since I must work on the post. Is there a way to get them to leave without killing them? The area is highly flammable so smoking them out could be difficult. Also have no running water there. Any ideas appreciated.

We don't have enough land to spend the money to get certified.

What type of certification would this be--Burma's or an international certification? And what is the certification cost?

Let me ask you a question, a local co-op produces organic fertiliser from farm wastes but they use rabbit brand pelletised Urea as the nitrogen source. Their product is certified. Whats your view of that?

Seems you have found a fly in the ointment with that one. Organic standards define minimums, but there is no requirement to stop there. For instance, just because one is allowed to use up to 1KG of nitrogen per unit per season does not mean one must use that much, or even any at all. Urea is the same. As long as a substance is allowed per certification then growers should be free to choose it or not choose it. If a grower or consumer thinks strongly enough that urea should have no place in organic farming then the matter should be taken up with the certification department to get it removed. As for me, with the little I know about urea I would not use it, and if I find other world organic standards do not allow it then would contact Thailand's certification department to urge them to come into line. If other world organic standards also allow it I would like to know their reasoning as well as Thailand's. So overall my philosophy is follow open standards, deferring to experts to make the right specifications and then going beyond minimum standards as I see fit. It's sort of like building codes--build to specifications and exceed them in desired ways.

From my experience selling to restaurants direct is a good way to go.

I hope this doesn't sound harsh. You are doing a lot of posting about organic and certified organic here, yet I see you are not certified, choose explicitly not to farm organically, and instead came up with your own set of standards somewhere between because they make economic sense in your situation. I hope you are not giving buyers the impression they are getting organic especially since they might pass such misleading information on to their customers. Organic is a binary yes/no and getting certified is a good litmus test. As a consumer, I see too many people claiming organic in this country for products that aren't so it is good to see certification is rising in prominence and I suspect serving that market is where the growth is going to be as Thailand develops and consumers become more educated.

Understood, but I actually was referring to legal teak trees with perfect paperwork that are quite reasonably priced, particularly if getting them by the truckload. For the price of a few flimsy teak doors you could just as well buy a metric ton of legal teak. And teak is just one example. The pricing of things made from other types of wood is also very high compared to the raw materials price.

So is this area overpriced because it is well known or what?

There is something strange about the price of wood items throughout Thailand. The asking price of a simple door is more than the price of buying a big teak tree. The materials price for a teak door would be about 200 baht and on top of that Thailand has very reasonably priced labor. So where can you find all these 300 baht teak doors? Well for some reason when wood items of all sorts gets to the consumer the prices are marked up tremendously almost like there is a monopoly controlling prices. Even a simple plank costs just so much. The way they price these things seems strange for a country with such a strong tradition in wood.

The below link shows anywhere from 150 to 10,000 liter SS tanks are readily available in Thailand. You should be able order these anywhere you see the smaller ones:

http://www.diamondbrand.co.th/product-diamond-brand-tank.php

They also have a new line that claims "no rust":

http://www.diamondbrand.co.th/product-bluedimon-tanks.php

The PEA made a mistake and cut the wires running down the pole a little too short such that they couldn't reach the bottom of the weather proof box where the breaker resides. Their solution to this predicament was to drill a hole in the side of the weatherproof box and run the wires in the side. See picture. Now when it rains water runs down the wires, into the box, and all over the breaker. Any suggestion on a good resolution to this?

Agree eucalyptus has issues, but note teak is deciduous. Bananas are another option.

I know it's subjective but LOL that chair manages to combine every single facet I hate about office chairs common in Thailand: it has a borg ship / darth vader look to it, it has a shiny steel bling to it, it is made from gobs of cheap plastic, it only comes in ugly black, and costs a huge amount of money.

There is a Scandinavian company with a factory in Bang Na that makes furniture mainly for export. I haven't seen these at any of the nice shopping centers. They used to have a showroom near Emporium but seems to have moved or is gone now. They have full leather office chairs appointed with wood. And this is real leather and wood, not fake plastics. The style, leather color and wood type are selected by the customer and is built to their specifications. The price compared favorably with the other cast of borg ships and bling cruisers found elsewhere. And having owned one for several years I can appreciate it is on a totally different quality level. Ergonomically it is built right and adjustable in many ways, though the one limitation is the arms don't adjust vertically and horizontally. Overall feels like being in a soft recliner and is comfortable all day long. The seat and arm padding have remained as good as the day it was bought.

I don't know of anywhere in Phetchabun where the soil wouldn't work though amendments may be needed to make it ideal like anywhere else. punpunthailand.org has information on soil testing and making blocks. Just remember you want clay from down deeper, no top soil.

That doesn't sound as bad as I thought; they broke off 1 of the 7 strands. When I objected the other option they gave me is to get a 30 amp meter which has bigger contacts. Couple questions on this:

If I use the bigger meter are there any reasons for or against increasing the main breaker size? According to the calculator there will be too much voltage drop at higher loads due to the long distance involved.

There is going to be a breaker installed on the power pole after the meter for safety so I have a way to shutoff power to the long underground cable run. Should it be equal in size to the main breaker such as 63amp? Or should it be sized differently?

Last, I noticed the return on the power pole is wired to ground (these are brand new power lines). Does that mean it would be appropriate to implement the MEN/PME link on the panel?

During install, the 25mm² cable did not fit into the meter contacts. The tech then cut strands off until they did. Was that a good solution?

You will notice most tanks have the outlet placed some distance above the bottom of the tank. This is to minimize picking up sediments that settle to the bottom while the water stands. When cleaning it is important to get all the sediment out. Over the years it accumulates and more of it will plume up into the water. Often there is a special drain at the bottom of the tank for aiding in purging all the sediments.

Although at times the speakers in my village are incredibly loud and annoying,they do in fact to me serve their purpose fairly well...telling me that our house was about to be flooded

That is shocking because on the contrary this demonstrates how terribly misused the system has become. Imagine if as some have suggested one had earplugs inserted so they could continue to sleep when such a message occurred? Imagine a person in a village who could not understand the message in Thai well enough to know they were in any danger. Imagine all those who have trained themselves to sleep through these things. Imagine the elderly who are hard of hearing. Imagine those just out of range enough from the speakers. Imagine if there happened to be a power failure that night. The possibilities of missing the message are endless. This speaker system should never be relied upon for an emergency. There are too many lives that it puts at risk.

Chanote Tee Din or Nor Sor Sam Gor paper, as these are the most secure - although even these carry no weight in the case of land on a hill. Such land, may seem attractive, but if above the 80m mark, even with legitimate title deed, you will not be able to build any permanent structure on it, as this is against Thai law.

Good info. How is the 80M mark determined? Surely not from sea level.

our land has a chanote but not nor sor 3. the papers are with the army but name has changed to my wifes

That is not a chanote, but having it in your wifes name is very, very good as this is typically not possible. Maybe she is next of kin? My understanding is there are no chanote tee din or nor sor sam gor at all in 4 tambon's of Khao Kho and one of those is Sadao Pong. If one thinks they have such a title from those areas, it might be wise to have a lawyer look into it or explain more about it here. Never mind land titles though as it is plain as day there are thousands of people living in those tambons, a building explosion is going on now, and the government just keeps extending and improving infrastructure to support this. Land is typically sold with the approval of the PYB or Naa Yok Orbidor as the accepted way. Sometimes a TB5 or NS2 is possible, in others a sun yaa seu kai is used. There are loosely defined limits on what type of land usage is tolerated and where. The situation scares off 99% of prospective buyers and justifiably so.

A trend in other countries is to use no poisons whatsoever. Instead an impenetrable screen is laid below the slab. Termimesh is one such company that has a presence in Thailand. If there are other sources I would be interested in that too.

brought 12 rai near sado pong 1000000 fantastic views last year resort quality.

Not everyone here will know you are talking about land that doesn't have a chanote or even ns3. Outlaying farm land without good papers in khao kho can be found for 25,000 per rai and it goes up and up from there in my experiences. Everyone is selling, having received their land for free or thereabouts, but very few are buying creating sort of a lottery system to that lucky seller who lands a buyer.

A lot of the land in Sadao Pong has army papers. This is land given to soldiers who served in the war there and it states the land cannot be sold, rented, or leased plus the army can reclaim it within 30 days notice. The army does go through occasionally and examine every plot of land and takes photos. Never the less, this land is being sold but prices tend to be low as question marks remain over what could happen.

I suspect you have not had the assistance of a lawyer based on a couple things you have said. Having a good relationship and working with the PYB is a good thing, but not a substitute. Land without a chanote cannot be legally leased so it is doubtful the lease you have would hold up in court should it ever be challenged. Second, opening a resort is not the same thing as building a house or farming on such land and is not something the authorities want. Numerous Khao Kho resorts have recently been served papers due to their presence and this has been in the news. If any of these things come as a surprise or could be a concern, get a lawyer or consider changing the one you have.

<br />I see it as a way of stopping people selling eggs of mixed sizes by number and then ccharging the largest price.  Like when we buy apples they may have 4 large ones and 2 small ones but as they are sold by the kilo no one is cheated.<br />

You are right about that and this is going to be great for the consumer. This will eliminate the trend of ever smaller eggs supplanting the bigger ones at the same price. Surprised that after you posted this people are still asking why.

good money to be made in small resorts

Really...so maybe you can fill me in. I have often wondered how a resort can make money in Khao Kho. The place is dead 10 months out of the year. Resorts often at 0 occupancy. December and January it is popular with the main concentrations over a few long weekends. And many tourists come on camping trips and pitch a tent.

Don't take the advice you are getting lightly. Land is priced based on who is doing the asking. A peasant in the village where the land is would get the lowest price. A farang walking in could be quoted quadruple that price or higher. If you go through a 3rd person they will get a cut, often 5%. Land prices are high and going higher. Virtually everything is for sale even if they aren't being marketed as such.

Sad to say, but in my experience, Thais think the environment is something to exploit, not treasure.

Even sadder, I do not see any evidence that that attitude will change.

Sad, but true and well said. Thailand may have the tightest laws on the books and can boast its standards are in line with the best countries of the world. But what does that mean when the reality is rampant environmental exploitation is an accepted norm and environmental awareness is so painfully non-existent.

Nitrates and nitrites are bad for people and that has been known for decades. The theory on why to use them can be summed up as it is better to deteriorate the health of all a little bit to prevent that one person somewhere from dying.

Earth electrodes minimum 12.7mm copper clad steel. 1.8M.

Earth conductors insulated conductor green /yellow or green.

Earth conductors. main earth minimum 4sqmm, PEA/MEA may require 10sqmm.

Grounding--I really appreciate those specs. To me the art of grounding is an extremely important subject. My observation is grounding is skipped altogether in Thailand with 2 prong sockets the norm. To go on a little tangent, I insisted a grounded outlet be added to the house I am renting now and found it interesting they chose a RED colored wire for ground that dangles down the wall where they sank a rod directly below it inside the house. The wire is fastened by way of a steel bolt (not even stainless) which is an incompatible metal with copper. The ground wire is sandwiched between 2 metal nuts on the bolt and does NOT directly contact the ground rod! Just saying this to emphasize again I am really counting on you guys to help me get this right because it doesn't seem like I have the possibility of finding better guidance than what you are supplying. Here are a few observations from my shopping:

The heaviest green wire I have found is only 6sqmm and it is multi-strand at that. One store even steered me towards an even smaller size as being "all you need for that". That's strange because even a hypothetical 10sqmm which I could not find would not meet code in the US. I plan to select 16sqmm and that means it will have to be black color and putting some wraps of green electrical tape on the ends seems the best I can do.

Each store I visited only sells electric cable where the ground wire is a smaller gauge than the other 2 wires. There seems no way around this issue.

Electrical shops only offer small copper plated rods which would not meet code in the US for many reasons and it seems would not even pass Thailand's own codes either. However, I found big 16mm diameter solid copper rods--at plumbing shops of all places.

One other curiosity; I asked various shops about warning tape for trenches and best I got was some laughs. One claimed Thailand doesn't have that sort of thing.

Great. I think what I will do is use a basic main MCB and then use an RCBO for each circuit. That way if in the future I want an unprotected circuit it can easily be accommodated.

One curiosity; I noticed they sell HDPE elbows. Are these a good idea or is the conduit flexible enough on its own to contour a decent 90 degree bend up the trench? The reason I ask is it seems preferable to have continuous conduit rather than have underground breaks with elbows.