Konini

No rain but a monkey came in and ate a kilo of mangosteens on my table 15 minutes ago.

Rest easy, searches for a bloated overweight monkey are underway.

I reckon if he ate that many Bill may be able to follow the trail of diarrhoea

No rain but a monkey came in and ate a kilo of mangosteens on my table 15 minutes ago.

How awful out at the lake. I hope it doesn't take much to patch them up, they're all small traders aren't they?

And a correction to my only losing a facecloth from the balcony during those winds. A custom made 8 foot long and 5 inches deep mattress for the sunlounger went. I didn't think at first, only yesterday I mentioned to Mr K that we were going to have to be careful and make sure we close all the west facing windows and sliding door before we out so while I was out there I didn't think anything to it, just assumed he must have brought it in and put it in one of the spare bedrooms. I only even noticed it wasn't there because wedged the table and chairs with legs interlinked underneath it (I was stuck out there for a good 5 minutes with the (very full load of) towels, too scared to open the sliding door in case it all came in on me) and by the time I managed to find a 10 second lull in the wind to get in I knew they were wedged good and tight and going nowhere so just forgot about the whole thing

That mattress weighs a b!oody ton! I didn't have time to patrol the car parks or ground floor yesterday, but let them know and security were going to keep an eye out for it. Even the lady at reception couldn't believe it had gone over - she was kind of awe struck when it was delivered because it was so thick and heavy. And comfortable.

At home near the Gymkhana club now: only a few drops ... where's that hail and heavy rain when I need it

And what an awful thing for the last day of the cricket out at Gymkhana. Mr K went along on his bicycle, I hope he got there before it hit.

Wow - that was some storm. I don't think I've known the winds to be so fierce in the two years we've been in this condo. Of course it was towel washing day, I had almost a dozen of them being blown everywhere, along with the big drying rack and table and chairs slamming into me. I lost a facecloth but think everything else is here. I had everything gathered up in the biggest towel and had to wait at least 5 minutes. maybe more before I could open the sliding door - I was too scared it would come off the tracks.

I'm glad though, it was short and sharp, but hopefully this means the rains will come early this year and there will be a lot of them. The farmers certainly need it.

They stopped letting people do that a few months ago, latest reports are only those with visa's that allow them to re-enter are allowed to do it.

UPS. Had to pay approx 90% of value. First and last time used.

Royal Mail tracked and signed. Paid 7 yes seven baht to postman. Gave him 13 baht tip.

Both packages from UK . Small bike engine parts about 100 UK pound value.

Does anyone know what the 7 baht charge is? The office downstairs always pays it and gets it back from me, I know it's a valid charge because sometimes there is a stamp on the parcel in Thai but obviously indicating a charge of 7 baht. It isn't every parcel either, maybe 50% hit rate.

I'm not objecting to the charge, but if anyone knows what it actually is I would appreciate their sharing.

Basil and his good friend Parsley, who broke records of longevity are no more. Rest in peace.

They went from seeds to 4 months old, neither under or over watered (for once) and I was quite confident that they would survive on the balcony, positioned as they were to maximise the rainfall whilst we were in Europe for a month or so but, sadly, I'm going to have to start again. On the up side, I've still got lots of seeds left.

I can't believe that there still isn't any rain so far into the year.

Thank you both - I'll try Kaseem for the pumpkin seeds, at least there is a good chance that they'll understand me and know what I'm looking for - they even sell bread with whole seeds in it (very nice it is too) so I can show them if all else fails. I fear that the ones at the supermarkets might be the salted type - most people would find the taste of both types of seeds very bland without salt (and of course sugar).

I thought that I remembered seeing someone on this forum saying that they were making (or going to make) seeded bread, I'll be able to get back to my laptop soon and do a proper search, but keep the answers coming if you can please.

I've just realised that I always seem to be asking for something. I must spend too much.

I've tried supermarkets and Kad Luang but no luck. I have linseed, poppy and nigella seeds, but need sunflower and Pumpkin to mix up a nice tasty batch to go in bread dough. Hoping that there will be a simple answer and somewhere that I haven't thought about.

Thanks in advance

Not easy to ascertain in a drive-by what the purpose of the place is. The layout is weird, and there are a bunch of specialty shops within that don't have much appeal. The long awaited Rimping was a disappointment. Everybody likes the full size Rimping, but what good is a micro version?

On visibility, we went there a few years ago. The huge sign was pointing to the right side of the road (travelling from the moat). We looked around at the fruit and veggies (hardly any, nothing different to other markets) a couple of stalls selling hand made craft stuff, a plant nursery and a lot of closed and shuttered shops which may have sold furniture, but we'll never know. I remember thinking what a disappointment, what on earth are people raving about it on Thai Visa for, especially the bit about organic veggies - the ones we saw may have been, but nobody spoke English and Mr K didn't know the Thai word for organic. We had no idea that it was also over the road - it was Sunday lunchtime and we were ready to eat. Went elsewhere of course, but would have at least had a look around to see what was there by way of restaurants..

I remember when that Rimping was going to open and I tried to figure out where they would put it, and it was only last year when there was a discussion about fish and chips that I looked again when we were on our way back from Tesco. We were in traffic and going slowly enough to spot something on the other side of the road.

It's as though nobody in Thailand understands the concept of marketing. Perhaps the owners are making enough money with the tenants they have got and the tenants are happy with the amount of trade they do, if it's the lower end and poor students who populate it, there wouldn't be too much money being thrown around.

As they often say, mai pen rai.

Yeah, there must be a warehouse someplace with all that dead paperwork. Hmm, maybe the mayor owns it and rents out the space to the Federals.

When I worked in Bangkok my work permit application included 27 pages of paperwork most of it in Thai. It probably gets re cycled there's some money in that.

I've often wondered how they go about disposal. I had to organise some bulk secure shredding for work and it was quite expensive compared to the charges for them to take ordinary blue wheelie bins full of paper away when full. I hate to think of them being sloppy though and just sending them off to the binman; copies of your full name and address, passport, bank statement and other documentation required would be an identity thief's version of winning Lotto.

There's no way the project should use hand sanding to strip down. Need the floor sander. Hand sanding only lightly between coats.

The "water damage" may well be the result of them trying to thin down with something - maybe even water. Don't know why, but the first thing a typical Thai painter does is thin whatever to about 50%.

Thanks, sounds like it's going to be a nightmare.

The water damage appeared spontaneously when we came back from a 3 week trip with nobody in the apartment, they just didn't seem to sand far enough down to get rid of it. I don't know how old the old varnish was, it was starting to show signs of being bit worn when we moved in a year ago but wasn't too bad. I can definitely see them watering the varnish down last time it was done however many years ago that was, they actually put the varnish on over the top of small (and largeish) paint splats near the walls.

If, or should I say when, you do have it re-done (and that's what's needed) you should insist on proper supervision of the workers. Maybe yourself if you know what's needed. Thai painters are the bottom of the food chain and cannot be left to their own decisions.

I know hind sight is not helpful at this point, but you really should not have moved in until the floor was acceptable. The dust will get into EVERYTHING and is very nasty. Try to put up barriers. And, make sure the idiots wear masks.

I really would like to do it myself, then I know it's done properly. I've done it before but with a big mechanical sander in an empty house. No way I'm going to do that here, but I can clear one room at a time and have dust sheets to cover any cracks around the doors so the dust will be totally isolated. I can also live with walking around on bare boards until the whole floor is sanded, maybe better to do it that way as I can dust the walls and ceilings down and make sure that everything is dust free before varnishing. It's just so annoying.

We've been living here for over a year, the floors were perfectly OK apart from expected wear and tear in high traffic areas. It was part of negotiating a longer lease that it came up as needing to be done. It probably hasn't been done for years.

Still no ideas on where my 'water' damage came from? The only clues are high traffic areas and being left totally alone for 3 weeks.

Thank you for that.

We have negotiated a really good deal with the rent, and have found ourselves the perfect (if a little large) condo in the perfect location facing the perfect direction (no sun), so really don't want to move and are hoping to stay here until we're carried out in boxes. Our landlord is also the owner of the building (large high rise) and is very reasonable and accommodating, so I'm sure he'll come to the party. I am still holding out some hope that the situation can be salvaged without having to go through the inconvenience and cost of having to move out for a couple or of days - especially as we had a new fabric lounge suite delivered yesterday and don't want dust anywhere near it - it was custom made so we couldn't delay delivery. It really may be a case of if I want a job doing properly I'll have to do it myself, although my husband is not at all happy with that idea. I've also been promised re-grouting in the bathrooms and kitchen, and have been assured that the old grout will be totally removed before any new being put in, so the owner is aware of how things ought to be (but are often not) done and the problem with finishing in general here in Thailand, which is why I know that I won't have a problem if I have to go to him instead of being able to fix it up myself.

Any clues on why (what I think is) water damage would have appeared during our 3 week absence? That one is really baffling me; I can't reconcile it being a coincidence that it was just 'time' to strip and varnish while we were away - nobody was in there when we weren't, I last mopped the floor a couple of days before we left and the damage wasn't visible before we left, which means it can't be water - can it? Perhaps doing the only just warm iron trick that I've used on wooden tables in the past to get rid of coffee cup marks would work - I certainly have the patience if I thought it was going to work as I get obsessive about things being perfect as well as squeaky clean. Also, why the sticky/waxy/greasy film would be in some places but not others and if that can be fixed? Of course the worst of it is in the most noticeable areas with the light showing off every imperfection. I could (at a stretch) live with the dust in the varnish and water (?) damage if I can get the rest of the floor looking nice and clean.

It really is such a beautiful floor, and with it being such a large expanse it truly looked stunning. Such a shame that they have done this to it. I want my old floor back.

EDIT: Grammar

i was in nim city this afternoon and saw this new rule that I didn't know about

in don't need to explain it coz its in English

what is coz?

It's short for because.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Not likely to see one on a bike,even in Thaiand

I didn't know that - a long time ago? It's what the Aussie soldiers (now politically incorrectly) called the locals who were helping out with resupplies, directions and path clearing to make the Kocoda Track in Papua New Guinea during WW2.

Namby Pamby Andy would be OK then

Coronation St worlds longest running soap,

My guilty secret is that I never miss it. Or Emmerdale.

Sad, but true.

_{It is just possible that if the router was supplied by the ISP, you would do well to replace it with a good wireless router and skip the cabling.}

_{Maybe they've improved over the last few years but the ones included with installation were a tad junky.}

I've thought about that as I DISLIKE HAVING WIRES ALL AROUND.

Is it easy to configure a new router ?? Or do I need a specialist ?

Pretty easy. My D-Link router needed my 3BB password so I took a recent bill to a branch office and they knew just what I needed.

This. I bought mine from the TOT shop and they configured it so it was literally plug and play when I got it home, I assume that if you bought elsewhere and took it in they would do it for you (if not the shop where you buy ii, who I assume also would) although it is easy providing you know your password.