welo

I assume you are familiar with RAID systems, and decided against it for some reasons?

yeah, raid 1 would be the easiest en fastest way.

RAID protects against hard disk failure but cannot help against corruption...(not the thai kind the data kind) If you use raid it is also important that you back up your data regularly.

That's a valid point and I can only second that!

Since OP asked about incremental updates to another harddisk that will still be bootable, and he plans to do that several times a day, I assumed that his purpose is mainly for disaster recovery. 'Incremental cloning' will also delete files that are deleted from the source drive.

But it is certainly a good idea to point out the need for real backups since he might mistakingly think the data is safe - whether he goes with RAID or the cloning software.

welo

welo

I recommend Avira Antivir Personal which is free for personal use and has excellent virus detection rates. This will provide you with a Guard/Shield/ON Access Scanner (whatever you name it, the one that runs all the time and checks files before you access them). The Guard is important since it will catch most of the viruses/malwares BEFORE they can infect your system.

Combine this with a free On Demand malware scanner, e.g. Malwarebyte's Malware Scanner. 'On Demand' means you have to start the program to scan your computer. You can do that once a week/month for your whole computer or whenever you have suspicious files (e.g. downloaded files, email attachments). You can also use one of the online scanners which are also free.

There is not the one best anti-virus sofware that catches 100% of infections, even NOD32 cannot do that. However, if you are willing to pay, NOD32 is probably a good solution, since it combines anti-virus AND malware functions and shines on both.

I personally do not like to get a cracked version of NOD32. Besides legal issues, I had to look after computers running NOD32 in the past where the update process had stopped working - and the best-antivirus software sucks if you don't do regularly updates...

Another advantage of Avira's free version is that you can do offline updates, meaning updates without an internet connection. This is really usefull for computers that are not connected to the internet. In Thailand you still find many users with a computer but without internet, and those computers are still at a great risk of being infected with viruses by means of corrupted software installs or shared thumb drives.

EDIT: of course I forgot to mention that Avira's free version has a slightly annoying 'nag screen' that displays every couple of days after an update and encourages you to buy the full version. But for me this is acceptable, just click the big OK button and the window is gone.

welo

Hi!

I need to prepare a 20m2 area for a party in 6 weeks which has a pretty awfull lawn at the moment with a stoney clay-type soil. I guess I better go with turf tiles due to the time constraint. Actually I just want to pep it up a bit, no need for a Golf-course like lawn..

Can anybody give me advice how to improve an existing lawn with soil as described. Might watering and use of fertilizer bring significant improvement or is the only way to redo the whole lawn, adding or mixing with 'din dam'.

Appreciate your help!

@Nick

How did your grass seeding project turn out!?

welo

Thanks for all the info, Tingtongfarang!

I will stop using detergents in the toilet or at least keep the use to an absolute minimum. The water in our area contains a lot of lime though, will be a hard job to keep the toilet nice over the years

I also wonder whether the water from the secondary tank overflows to the primary tank, also causing the 'system' to 'collapse', e.g. when it is raining and the primary tank is filled to the top. I guess the overflow pipe should be constructed so it will not flow back. I guess there is no easy way to find out other than opening the primary tank. Can I just lift the cover, or is the primary tank cover 'sealed' in a more sophisticated way.

welo

Not only do these detergents kill the microbes but also turn into a kind of fat which stops any liquid drainage into the ground....alternative systems had to be well thought out.

Would that apply to the typical toilet/bathroom cleaner ('stain remover') as well?

welo

As i understand if the waste water as in water from the sink with washing up liquid or water from the washing machine with detergents enters the system the enzymes or bacteria which acttualy eat or break the <deleted> down will be destroyed

This makes sense but kind of contradicts what Artisi said about the thinking nowadays.

The thinking now-a-days on kitchen / diswaher is to put it thru' the primary tank with the toilet waste, modern detergents breakdown and combine with the grease / oils and become part of the scum which collects at the top of the primary tank. - no need for a grease trap.

I guess the detergents sold in Thailand are not the ecological sort of but contain rather strong chemicals, maybe even some that are already forbidden in some western countries. That is of course just speculation based on my experience with lack of ecological thinking in Thailand and the 'the-more-the-better' attitude.

welo

2. Do incremental updates hourly on the cloned external drive from requirement 1 to keep all subsequent files backed up on clone drive and retain its bootable feature. Presumably this just takes a few minutes.

If I get you right you want to maintain a clone of your primary drive in case the hardware dies.

I assume you are familiar with RAID systems, and decided against it for some reasons?

Have a look at Acronis TrueImage! I use it only for simple Partition backups, but I see a lot of features that go far beyond that and might be usefull to you. Prices start at USD 49.

However, from what I understand the backup will always be made to an archive file, not to a disk. I wonder whether incremental changes to a cloned disk is supported by any program...

welo

Hi guys,

I am really so glad to find this discussion here and would like to use the expertise on matters of <deleted> and such that is so overflowingly present in this topic to solve my own <deleted> problem.

I have rented a house with this dual tank system: primary tank collects the toilet waste, and overflows into the secondary tank. Bathtube and water basin are piped to the secondary tank. The basin was actually installed by a friend of mine and myself, and we installed a U-tap for smell prevention. Waste goes into the secondary tank.

Problem is this: the (western) toilet gives off bad smell after flushing. The primary tank has been emptied a couple of weeks ago, and the system was further treated with some kind of magic chemical or whatever to reduce odeur, but by now the problem (the smell after flushing) has come back.

Back when we moved in, the landlord instructed us to use a pump lowered into the secondary tank to regularly empty tit and pump the sewage into the surrounding garden. The secondary tank is not covered and fills up when raining.

I am thinking about installing a level-triggered automatic switch for the pump since just piping the water away is not easily possible. I have no idea how to fix the odeur problem, and not really understand by what it is caused exactly. Reading all the information provided in this thread I guess I should know what to do but, honestly, I would really appreciate some opinion/advice on that?

welo

well, the topic is from 2007...

ShareTV is a paid service (monthly subscription) to receive german-language TV in Thailand. Servers are located in Thailand hence streaming actually works where other international streaming TV services mostly fail due to the bad international bandwith in Thailand. Any 2MBit package should work for that reason.

welo

Great post, complete with pictures, maps, directional arrows, etc. You should write a travel book! I read it just for the entertainment value--not even planning on visiting Cambodia. But if I do, it sure beats the BKK-PP roundtrip ticket on Bangkok Airways I paid about 3 years ago (at that time $250!). Thanks.

Thanks for your encouraging post!

Whereas the bus roadtrip is definitely budget-friendly, one has to say that it is not overly comfortable Roads and buses are not up to the standard of other more developed countries in Asia such as Thailand and Malaysia.

Just for curiosity I checked out Bangkok Airways to PP from Bangkok. If you book one month in advance you pay 6070 THB (180 USD), taxes inlcuded. With same-day service you could arrive in PP at 8:50 and leave at 20:00. You don't have to stay a single night. You'll save two nights and maybe 3-4 meals. If you usually stay at mid-class hotels (30-50 USD) and go to better tourist restaurants (meal+drink @ 10-20 USD) you'll save between 60 and 110 USD, cutting down the cost increase compared to travel by bus to something between 70 and 120 USD.

Btw, I spent about 90 USD (3000 THB) for the whole trip, including fees, transport, food, well everything, but this was a backpacker style travel with room rates at 5 USD/night

welo

You may find this Report useful.

Indeed!!!

How about the Pong Nam Ron border post? Is it possible to get transport to Battambang from there via route 57?

I found one report on talesofasia from January 2008. The author took the bus from Bangkok to Chantaburi (4hrs, 200B), and a mini bus to the border (150B, 1.5hrs), then a moto from the border to Palin for about 3 USD, took him 30 minutes. From there a shared taxi (10USD) to Battambang which took about 3hrs ("Made Battambang in record time, definitely not the 4 hours mentioned in some guidebooks."). The road is not paved (a report from Feb 2009 confirms this).

source: talesofasia

From my experience Battambang to Phnom Penh takes about 5 hrs by bus and is about 4-7 USD.

Cambodian Visa On Arrival is available. When coming to Thailand, there are reports that Thai immigration requires an onward ticket for the 30day Visa Exemption Rule.

welo

I would like to have a brief description about how to do a visa run to cambodia via poipet/aranyaprathet. I am interested in the border crossing part : aranyaprathet-poipet and vice versa.

If you want it brief, you have to provide more details:

• How do you plan to get to the border?
  
• Do you keep going to the embassy in Phnom Penh or you just want to do a border run (leave Thailand and re-enter immediately)?
  
• What is more important to you: convenience or money?
  

Answer these and we can prepare you how to get through the border without falling for one of the touts that will try to extract money from you.

The border formalities are similiar to other crossings:

Thailand->Cambodia

1. get exit stamp at Thai immigration counter
   
2. walk 100 meters to the big stone arc covering the street and get your temperature checked (if they still do that)
   
3. cross the street and get your Cambodian Visa on Arrival at the visa service counter (bring one photo), takes 5-15 minutes, you'll have a 1-page sticker in your passport
   
4. keep walking for another 100m passing the casino hotels, get your Cambodian entry stamp.
   
5. Welcome to Cambodia!
   

Cambodia->Thailand

1. get exit stamp at Cambodian immigration counter
   
2. walk 100m passing the Casino hotels to the big stone arc, cross the street, keep walking until you come to the the Thai health checkpoint and have your temperature checked there (if they still do that)
   
3. keep walking and get to Thai immigration, where you get your entry stamp
   
4. Welcome to Thailand!
   

welo

Now that wouldn't be your good report would it by chance, Welo?

LOL It's no secret that I get 1 Stang from Thaivisa for each reader. We all have to make a living.

welo

Note: Just checked, that would be stunning 5 Baht by now (if it were true that I get paid), I guess there are more popular threads around And I'm still waiting for another Visa Runner who is crazy enough to do Phnom Penh overland by bus...

If my plane gets in Phnom Penh at 9:00 AM, will that give me sufficient time to get from Airport to the Embassy to get the one day visa if I decide on that option?

Embassy closes rather early for visa applications (11:00 I think), but one member reported that he arrived 11:30 and contacted an agent outside the embassy gate to get the same-day service and it worked out. He picked up the visa at 16:30 the same day. Don't expect to be able to pick up sooner, from what I understand the same-day applications are always processed that late.

welo

If you have a Thai Wife yes. KL is the place to go.

...or a Thai child

Phnom Penh is OK for Single Entry Tourist Visa, free of charge, with Same Day Service available for 15 USD (find an 'agent' outside the embassy gate). Embassy is not very busy, organisation good (ticket machine), waiting times minimal, staff is OK. I did not have any troubles, went there 2 times in the last 6 months.

There are 2 reports of delayed processing time (standard is 1 day=next day, applicants were informed about 2 days processing time), but reported situations were always resolved by showing a flight ticket out of Phnom Penh. This does not affect same-day service which always means pickup the same day in the afternoon at about 16:30 (as opposed to normal pickup time starting at 15:00-15:30).

I came to understand that Phnom Penh embassy didn't have a good reputation in the past, but Tourist Visas (single entry) seem to be (nearly) hassle free now and quite convenient with the same day service available for only 510 THB (converted from USD).

check out the reports here and here

No Double Entry though.

welo

Guys,

from what I see you might be to harsh with the Volunthai project.

1. The prohibition of any kind of volunteer work for foreigners without work permit under Thai law poses a known problem to short-time volunteering.

2. The organization seems to be self funding, so obviously has to cover their expenses. Even as a non-profit organisation it is necessary and legitimate to pay a salery to an employee who coordinates the project.

Wheras I understand and encourage critisism of projects like this, I have the feeling that some of the arguments here are one-sided.

I therefore just wrote an email to the project to encourage them to respond on that thread. I am curious to hear whether they want to engage in a discussion. Maybe they could even take some advise out of it on how to handle the work permit issue.

welo

moskito,

thanks a lot!

welo

was a bit tired last night when I typed the above thread. Forget to let you know, I have been in KL for a one year multiple entry.

Hi moskito,

b

Good to hear you had no troubles!

What kind of Non-O did you get? And what paperwork, funds did you have to show.

Thanks a lot!

welo

As there are two websites claiming to be the legal source for e-visa and reports that what is being sold may not be accepted highly advise you not to try them at this time.

The official eVisa website is (and AFAIK always has been) http://evisa.mfaic.gov.kh/e-visa/vindex.aspx.

However, the Cambodian Government has warned about 3 fraudulent websites, one - www(dot)cambodiaonarrival(dot)com - mimicking the application process very closely. However, the application process aborts with a massive error message after the second step, before any credit card data is requested (I just tried it).

The official website is working and the issued Visas are valid and accepted, as reported by several members of the board during the last weeks. I obtained a visa myself just two weeks ago. However, the website has some minor issues, and it has been attacked and manipulated in the past, a situation which has been resolved meanwhile. There are no reports so far that credit card data has been stolen or an incorrect amount has been charged.

Furthermore, there is an issue with TOT's DNS servers which often leads to timeouts and non-availability of the website, however, there is a workaround which btw also solves problems with other websites.

That all said, I definitely agree that there is a higher risk using one's credit card with this website than compared to other, more established websites in the region such as Airasia, etc.

Check out the threads here and here

welo

I just get visa on arrival using express service as Welo mentioned, and over the border in 10 minutes.

well that depends heavily on the queue at Thai immigration If you arrive at the wrong time you easily wait for half an hour. I found morning hours more busy than in the afternoon. What is your experience, thaiphoon?

However, having a Cambodian eVisa or not does not affect the waiting time there.

welo

And for your next question....I am guessing Mo Chit traffic department..???

I heard that there are companies offering 'International Driver Licenses' which are not the real thing, just a translation of your license, but not the official 'International Driving Permit'. In western countries only view authorized organisations are allowed to issue an IDP, not sure about situation in Thailand.

welo

James,

thanks for the feedback, I'm actually glad I didn't write the whole report for nothing

I guess the same-day service was double worth it in your case, without it you would have had to wait until Monday to apply and pick up on Tuesday! Even for 15 USD (510 Baht) this is a fair deal! Also good to know they can provide the service even when you arrive late!

Do you remember the opening hours of the embassy?

Did you fly in or come with the bus?

Btw just found a holiday calendar here.

welo

1. You will be fine having a Tourist Visa, I never had to show an onward ticket and I did this border multiple times in the last two years.

2. If you are willing to pay the extra tea-money for the 'express service' the visa on arrival service has maybe 5 minutes waiting time (add another 2-5 minutes for filling the application form). The official price is 20 USD, the price including the tea money is either 1000 Baht or 25 USD or 20 USD+200 Baht. The eVisa is 25 USD because it (officially) includes 5 USD processing fee. It will save you a page in the passport though! Don't forget to bring one photo if you apply at the border.

welo