islandguy

Lomprayah is the fastest ferry. Like the other ferries they sell airport transport tickets. Always a specified bus with no other stops.

Great news. KUL is Air Asia’s main hub, best place to plug into their wider system. Lots more budget choices than Suvarnabhumi.

Perhaps they didn’t book anything when the van made its surprise stop at a travel agency on the way to their destination?

Used to live on a papaya farm, didn’t do any thinning. University of Hawaii College of Tropical Ag is a leader in this field, here is some general info from their extension service. As it says, selecting for hermaphrodite plants is part of the strategy for optimal fruit production. 

 
Why Some Papaya Plants Fail to Fruit
C. L. Chia and Richard M. Manshardt, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences
Fruits and Nuts Oct. 2001 F&N- 5
 Papaya plants in home gardens sometimes fail to fruit. The plant may begin to develop fruits, but the fruits drop from the plant when they are about golf-ball size. This is not because the plant is unhealthy or under growth stress. It is a natural abortion of a female flower that had not been pollinated and therefore failed to develop into a fruit.
Papaya plants occur in one of three sexual forms: male, female, or hermaphrodite. These forms are ex­ pressed in the plant’s flower.
Male flowers have no ovary and do not produce a fruit. They contain stamens bearing pollen that can pol-
The three types of papaya flower
linate a papaya flower with an ovary, causing it to pro­ duce a fruit. Male papaya plants are somewhat rare in Hawaii, since the “solo” types generally grown here do not produce male plants. Male flowers are conspicuously different from those of the other types because they are borne in large numbers on a branched, drooping flower stalk (peduncle).
Female papaya flowers have an ovary and are borne on the stem of the plant, where the leaf is attached (that is, in the axil of the leaf petiole). Female flowers are bulbous at the base and, before they open, pointed at the tip. The ovary of the female flower must receive pollen from another plant (either a male or hermaphrodite type) before it can be fertilized and produce a fruit containing viable seeds. The pollen is carried in the wind or on an insect. If there is no pollen in the vacinity, the small, developing fruit aborts and falls from the plant. Com­ mercial growers remove female plantsfrom their fields as soon as the first flowers appear and the sex of the plants can be determined.
Hermaphrodite flowers have both an ovary and sta­ mens bearing pollen. They can pollinate themselves and do not require the presence nearby of another papaya plant. They are borne in the leaf axils, like the female papaya flowers.
The hermaphrodite plant is the preferred type of pa­ paya plant for dependable fruit production, but under certain conditions its flower morphology is unstable and subject to “sex reversal.” Cool winter weather or high soil moisture can lead to a shift toward femaleness, where the stamens fuse to the carpels or ovary wall. The re­ sulting fruits become severely ridged (carpelloid, or “cat­ faced”) and hence are deformed and unmarketable. High
   1 inch
Female
conical bud; petals free; large ovary with prominent stigma; no stamens;
does not form fruit unless pollinated
Hermaphrodite
cylindrical bud; petals fused at base; con­ tains both ovary and stamens; self-fertile
Male
slender, spoon­ shaped bud; petals fused at base; contains anthers but no ovary; cannot develop into fruit
   Published by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Andrew G. Hashimoto, Director/Dean, Cooperative Extension Service/CTAHR, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822. An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Institution providing programs and services to the people of Hawaii without regard to race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and court record, sexual orientation, or veteran status. CTAHR publications can be found on the Web site <http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu> or ordered by calling 808-956-7046 or sending e-mail to [email protected].
 

Using this kind of mesh netting was able to successfully grow tomatoes in Hawaii in the cooler months. No white fly and fruit fly problems, no spraying. This was a commercial operation, I was a farm hand. Biggest problem was the occasional severe wind storm. Good luck.

Thanks for update. You are right, the testing station did do the VIN check as part of their inspection. I was focused on the tracing of the number and that being included in documents. That is what changed, still checking visually.

The safety reasons for not putting heavy bags overhead are real. One reason I rarely book an aisle seat. Caused someone I know personnally permanent disability.

Yes. But i haven’t been asked for the ‘security check letter’ recently. You mean the one where they check that the engine serial numbers match the frame serial numbers?

Since this seems so unlikely I’m guessing he was trying to communicate the concept of ‘Monday through Friday’ and didn’t understand my attemps to make sure of what he meant. Going Friday as my most convenient day anyway, so not worried!

The friendly guy at the inspection shop just told me the transport office only does yearly registration on Mondays and Fridays. Anyone know if that is currently the case?

Reread you post and saw you have ‘organized’ your ocean activities. I would still try to keep some flexibility on what day you actually use those bookings if you still can. If i woke up here today planning to go on a snorkel trip, for instance, i would want to postpone. If a friend who was a beginner at kayaking wanted to go out right now where I live on the West side of the island, you could still do it but it would be a lot less fun for a beginner. But probably more fun for me! Still might be fine right now to be on the leeward coast of the island for kayaking but not snorkeling. The prime spots for ocean activities are away from Samui Island, many operators use 20-40 pax speedboats with powerful outboards and cowboy captains to get there. Can be really a pounding ride if there is any swell at all. If you or your partner have any back issues, there are some  bigger boat with a different hull design.

Never easy to predict the weather, but for ocean activities would recommend trying to book last minute so as not to be committed to a day that is windier than you would like. Rain squalls with gusty winds often happen in the afternoon this time of year so morning is usually better, often much better. Hard to book at the last minute for an early morning trip, but you can’t trust the local tour operators to cancel or give a rain check. They are going to just go every day they can. Actually, not booking at all, but just showing up early at the pier the company you have checked out and like uses would probably work fine, but not the way most visitors arrange these trips. If you are not used to ocean kayaking remember that if it is windy you may not be able to paddle back against a wind that gets stronger, again morning is usually better. You should be fine, this is all done all the time here, but you need to be aware of conditions and make your own informed decisions to make sure you have a fun and safe experience.

Saw one a few years ago off the West Coast of Samui.

Thanks for the update. Improbably enough, i ended up taking the last charter flight to Kota Bharu to get my visa.

Sorry, was V. P. Autotech

Went to A n P Auto (saw in CM forum). Excellent all aound, got reconditioned part.  Seems there has been a lot of these parts failing lately, maybe the smoke? Thanks all

Cockpit seems to specialize in tires, Wheels and suspensions. Do they also do such repairs as this?

Thanks for the answers. I only use the truck when I am in Chiang Mai, another friend of the owner lets her keep it at his house and occasionally uses it. They took it to the neighborhood shop, and yes, they threw away the body with the sensor still inside. So yes, it is taking in unfiltered air. Any suggestions for getting this fixed in Chiang Mai? And this question is certainly for anybody reading the thread from Chiang Mai. Will look on the Chiang Mai forum for suggested tradesmen now.

I have been occasionally using a friends truck (she left Thailand without selling it). It is an older Toyota pickup (tiger? Hillux?). It started being very weak up hills and a neighborhood garage took out the air flow regulator sensor. This seemed to take care of the problem. Now I have had a chance to take it into the Toyota dealer. They say that they have to order the part from Japan which will take 45 days and recommend not driving it until then. They at first said some local driving would be ok if there were no hills involved. Does anyone have experience with this problem? Is it better to not drive at all (I am 60 km from nearest car rental), drive to shop near car rental and leave it, or just drive it locally for a week, then drop it off near shop? To clarify, I don’t live in this area and have been using my friends truck when I visit every month to take care of a property here. I will be flying out in about 10 days. Thanks for sharing any helpful info.  

I told them 8888888888888 and got a smile and my purchase.

Was in that neighborhood recently and heard the amplified sound from there.  This was midday and I had just driven by the site and seen some men arriving there (across the street from the arch pictured above at a small temporary structure). I was about 200m away and I would say it was loud enough you would have to raise your voice somewhat to talk to someone in the same room as yourself. Would get me thinking about moving if I lived nearby.

Thanks, happy to try. Regarding the rice straw, was there any downside to this and does it fit into any local understanding or practices?

Thanks for the reply and information. When you talk about pumping and aeration, were you pumping just water or a mix of air and water? Or letting water mix with air using a surface spray or jet? I already have a pump house next to pond so this would be pretty easy to set up.

Been seeing plenty of internet references to barley straw as a safe biological control for ponds full of algae and perhaps other sources of turbidity. Never considered it possible to actually get some in Thailand, but today saw a company that had a liquid extract which seemed to be pretty concentrated (5ml for 1,000 liters of water as I remember). Anybody know a source for this or have other suggestions? I have read some of the threads here that touch on this, so flittering water (not really part of our problem), having water plants in floating planters with roots in water (will be doing this), and reducing light on ponds (waiting for trees to get bigger) are concepts I’m already familiar with. Thanks for any helpful or interesting replies.