Dean1953

I've held off contacting the gardener until several things are done to my lawn. First is fixing the sprinklers for the underground sprinkler system. I screwed up and brought the wrong sprinklers with me, pop ups instead of rotors. I brought. One of the old rotor sprinklers back to the. US and bought the right type and mailed them (fortunately, no taxes were collected by Thai Customs). I replaced my Raibird 5004. Rotors with the Hunter I20 rotors because of the recommendation of several people in the sprinkler business. As they are shorter than the Rainbirds that they are replacing, I sent everything that would be needed; PVC connectors and a flexible line for the extension and various nozzles for the sprinkler heads. ( even plumbers tape). I had my step daughter translate to Thai the instructions for installation and to adjust the heads and nozzles. Now, I just need to find someone to do the work. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

I can only suggest that you call the number that you listed and see if the person that answers understands English. Possibly, the person t Customer service is only worth hat you dealt with is no longer there. I dealt with them last month and as short a time as yesterday. Customer service is only as good as the people that stand behind their mistakes. It sounds like your experience went well. Part of my problem may be because I did the measurements in feet and they had to convert inches to meters. Like I said, paying an additional 1,000 baht for a small curtain isn't a big deal. By refusing to charge the amount over the phone and at least mail the curtain to my house in Bosang (and then asking me twice to call back in 3 hours), they showed me that customer service after the sale isn't a high priority for them.

I forgot to add that I had taken pictures of every window and door that I wanted curtains on and showed them to her for suggestions on fabric and color, I'm not sure how the measurements got reversed on her order but as I gave them just after she saw the photo of the door (and being in the business for years), she should have caught the mistake then. But, like I said, I was willing to pay for her mistake but it is pretty obvious that she wants to wash her hands of the matter.

That is the same curtain shop that I used. It is run by a husband and wife team, with the wife handling the customers. I originally called there and asked if they spoke English and she said she spoke a little and then handed the phone to an English customer there that spoke Thai and he translated for me and answered some questions. I went to the shop the next day, as I had 3 weeks to get the curtains and it took them two weeks to make, and had my 2 step daughters, who speak both thai and English, with me. I went by myself to pick up the curtains, as I only had to pay the 50% balance due and there were no questions. I've called twice from the U.S. and both times have been given the run around and asked to call back 3 hours later. With 12 hours difference, I was calling at 9:30 PM Central daylight time (9:30 AM Chiang Mai time), so I wasn't going to wait up until 12:30 AM to call them back. I next expect that they will use caller ID to avoid answering the phone and hope that I will go away. If that is excellent English and excellent customer service, then I stand corrected.

If you do use the shop near Klaimore Hospital, make sure that you double and triple check the measurements with them, or have them come out to do the measurements. I ordered curtains for 5 windows and 1 door for my house in the U.S. I brought the curtains back Tuesday and unpacked them Wednesday. I haven't tried to hang the curtains for the windows yet but they did manage to reverse the measurement for the window on the door, making the curtain 41 inches wide and 27 inches long (reversing my measurements). Rather than argue with them, I just asked how much it would cost to make a new curtain, which was 1,000 baht. I agreed to pay it and was going to use my credit card to pay for the curtain and to ship it to the U.S (they do take credit cards at the store). She refused to do this and wanted to be paid in cash and have someone else handle the shipping. All this while having my step daughter do the translation over the phone, as the lady doesn't speak English. I wouldn't use her services again if she had the only curtain shop in Thailand. I still have the list of curtains and the measurements in front of me and I gave her the measurements as they were written. The curtains for the windows look to be the right length and width but it will probably be 2 weeks before I get around to hanging the curtain rods for them, so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed until then.

I'm more inclined to mail them here after I return to the U.S. next Wednesday. The cost of the Rainbird rotors wasn't much, around $150 shipped. The PVC pipe and connectors wasn't much and I paid the plumber 3,000 baht to install (I did dig myself the trench for the fours PVC pipes going from the control system to the outer reaches of the last head, at recommendation; 1 foot deep; not much fun). I've got 80,000 baht into the well and the tank. Yes, the water does stain the walls after repeated spraying (I hope that it doesn't affect the wall's foundation but shouldn't as I have a concrete gully surrounding 3 of the four walls which leads any excess water to the creek behind me). I wasn't going to bring up the leaning wall but it has gone from 3 inches out 2.5 years ago to 7.5 inches now. I'm assuming that it is going to cost at least $2,000 to tear it down and fix it right but I can't get any builders in the area interested in looking at it. The general contractor of my house (and wall) is going to look at it this weekend, so I can at least get an idea of what it will take to replace it properly. I do have two people that I trust that can inspect it daily to see that the foundation is deep enough and drainage is taken care of. I'm just about done with what I can do myself on the house. My wife several weeks ago had 4 bamboo trees torn out. I used my saws all and a hatchet to get rid of the stumps on the 2 bamboo trees that I had away from the wall, so grass can grow there. The other 2 series of stumps, I surrounded with paving bricks (they are near the front perimeter wall). I thin that I'll start chilling out Wednesday at the Delta Club at Narita and then continue for 4 hours at the Delta Club at Atlanta. By the time I reach Kansas City late Wednesday night, I should be all chilled out.

I've got a 6 year old sprinkler system at my house in Bosang. I had problems with the first Thai that claimed he could do it (and was recommended by the person that built my house). After buying the supplies at Global House, he had several leaks in the tubing, which he tried to fix with tape. After firing him, I got on the internet and decided that I would use PVC pipe and have my sister ship Rainbird rotor pop ups from the U.S. It is on a box Hunter timer, with 4 zones and 4 pop ups per zone. My family then moved to the U.S. and have a caretaker take care of the house and lawn. The problem with the intiial installation is I had a local plumber do it and the sprinkler heads were set a little high for a lawnmower to cut over them. I put red flags near each of them and asked her to use the weed wacker near them instead of the lawnmower. Three years ago, we decided to have a well dug just to supply water to the sprinkler system, as the water bill from the government was pretty high. I am at the house now and brought 16 new Rainbird pop up's with me. Unfortunately, I screwed up and they are not rotor or gear but spray pop ups. A person working at a sprinkler shop near the nurseries near Tesco Lotus told me he could adjust the sprinklers to spray further. After paying him 4, 600 Baht for his "expertise," the sprinklers don't spray any further and 3 of them constantly leaked (I took them out and put the old sprinklers back in). Now, to the questions. I have done some additional research and think that Hunter PGP or I-20 stainless steel gear pop ups come with the most recommendations for reliability and ease of maintenance. If they are compatible in size to the old Rainbird pop ups that I took out, I'll probably buy them and ship them over and have a plumber put them in for a lot less than I paid the sprinkler shop person. Is there any rotor/gear pop ups that anyone could recommend, that can stand up to 12 months of use with well water that probably corrodes the working parts? Of the 16 sprinklers that I will have put in, 10 shouldn't need any adjustments at all but the other 5-6 are near walls or near the patio and I would like them adjusted so the walls and patio aren't sprayed. Does anyone know of someone that could make these adjustments? I could probably print off the instructions in Thai and include them with the shipment (and include the tools used to make the adjustments). There is no particular hurry, as I hope to have the parts shipped here by the end of August and the adjustments could be made anytime after they are installed.

If its anything like an Ipad or Iphone, good idea to let someone trained to do it. Ebay is littered with people selling either their Iphone or Ipad after trying to replace the screen themselves and damaging the wiring or connectors to the motherboard. If a trip to Bangkok is soon, I know of 2 shops in MBK, Phone Friend and Tann Comm., that could do the job.

I couldn't find the Makita shop but stopped at Homepro on the way home and found a pack of 5 blades for 450 baht. They aren't as long as I would have liked but will work in getting rid of the stumps from some of my bamboo trees. I'll ship over a couple of longer one's from the U.S. for my caretaker. Thanks again.

I brought a couple of Ipads over from the states. I had bought them cheap on Ebay, with the screen broken. I took them to MBK (Phone Friend) and had the screens replaced. I asked him to change the battery in my Ipad. He said that he couldn't but could transfer my songs from my Ipod to my Iphone, which he did while I was waiting by transferring to his computer and then to my Iphone. He didn't charge me anything for doing it. I was surprised that about 1,700 of the 2,200 songs transferred. Is this because of the deterioration of the hard drive in the Ipod?

I'll try a couple of Makita dealers today, starting with the first one mentioned. If I don't find anything today, I'll just ship a couple of blades over in the next couple of weeks from the U.S., so my caretaker can use the saw for gardening work. Thanks

Hopefully, this will be the last of this type of post before I return to the U.S. on July 31. I have a battery operated DeWalt saws all that I brought over several years ago. I could use several new blades for trimming trees and taking out as much of the root of 5 bamboo trees, so I can plant grass over them. I checked at Global House yesterday and they don't have any. Any suggestions?

I just turned 60 April 1. Although living in the U.S. for 5 years and probably another 5 years (so my wife's 3 kids get through High school and the 5 year old gets through 4th-5th grade in the U.S.), I considered buying health insurance in LOS because I had heard the same things about acquiring insurance before age 60. However, I had also heard that, while BUPA won't drop you, the rates can get high enough that you can't afford to keep the insurance, particularly after age 70-75. When my son was born at the hospital near Tesco on Hong Dong, he was keen on selling me a term policy for my son, and even one for my wife, who was 34 at the time. I asked him about me (age 54 at the time) and he wasn't very keen on that. I've got 5-7 years before moving back, and will institute medicare when I turn 65. More than likely, my health insurance will be a combo of medicare and thai accident insurance, and hoping for the best.

Thanks, I'm going into CM today and will give them a try. I talked to the headquarters of Husqvarna in Thailand this morning and found out that Husqymowers in Chiang Rai has closed. There is a dealer in CM but, after having my wife talk to them, most parts have to be sent from Bangkok.

If I had the string, I could re-string the line head (thanks for the label) but, assuming that all line heads are interchangeable, for close to what you are quoting, I would buy several and keep them as spares at my house. My housekeeper had no idea how to take off a line head but at least I could show her how to do that.. Thanks

Thanks, I'll have my wife ask him about that.

Does anyone know if HuskyMowers in Chiang Rai is still in business? I've tried to get a hold of them for the last week, both by email and phone, and no one replies. I bought a lawn mower and weed eater from them years ago and need to find someone that has a replacement stringer for the weed eater. Thanks

I brought over from the U.S. three years ago a Dreambox 7020s, which I planned to integrate with my large satellite dish, that I bought 8-9 years ago. I come over every 2-2.5 years from the U.S. but would like to rent house out for the 5-10 years that I plan on spending in the U.S. (until the youngest child is in college). I really haven't checked to see if I can pick up anything from my satellite (I guess just about any programming now is scrambled), but I thought I would leave the dreambox here for any renter to use, if it can be used in place of the boxes supplied by the cable providers. If not, I'll take it back to the U.S. in 3 weeks and try to sell it on Ebay.

I live between Borsang and Ton Pao, about 14 kilo from CM. I own the house there and am there for 3 weeks and then going back to the U.S. However, if I rent the house (hopefully), I'd like to be able to tell any prospective renters what their options are for cable TV and Internet. I do know that there is a large factory behind my house and they have internet service. Any idea which companies service this area?

Thanks. My wife is Thai and her 3 children speak both Thai and English fluently, so communication isn't a problem. I do have a 5 year old Husqvarna lawn mower and weed eater, so he is welcome to use them instead of having to bring his own. My wife hired someone to cut down several bamboo trees and replace them with longran trees, so hopefully the gardener just has to maintain what is there and fertilize and cut the grass. I live just north of Borsang, near the temple in Ton Pao. If you can PM me the details, I would appreciate it . Or you can call me at 0892270114. My name is Dean. All of my contacts from 5 years ago are pretty useless. Now, I have to find someone to replace some rotten wood on my front gate and the gazebo, replace one side of my perimeter wall. When I was last here, it leaned out 3 inches. Now, it is 7.5 inches. And a little bit of electrical work. But the garden and wall are the most important things to settle while I'm here. Thanks again, Dean

I've been away from Thailand for the last 5 years, taking my wife's 3 children and my infant for schooling (the infant starts kindergarten in August). We have a caretaker at my house, one of my wife's friends, who does very basic cleaning and cutting the grass for a place to stay and 4,000 B a month. I got back yesterday and was surprised to see how much the trees and plants had grown in the 2.5 years since I was last here. Unfortunately, so have the weeds and other unwelcome vegetation. My intention is to rent the place when we leave the middle of August (its been listed on Thai Visa and Craigslist for 5 years and have had a few serious potential renters over the years but no takers). There are many things that i have to do in the next 3-4 weeks, like arrange to have a leaning perimeter wall taken down and replaced, replace the sprinkler heads in my underground sprinkler system, some simple carpentry and electrical work (the carpentry work i can do, the electrical work i'll find someone). But the thing that will change the house/landscape the most is to hire a gardener to clean the place up and then maintain it when I'm gone, by including it as part of the rent for the house, which sits on one rai of land. I've been advised to go to the plant are next to Tesco lotus on the super highway but if anyone can recommend someone, it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance..

Price wise, does it make any difference that I have a 4S 64GB, versus a 16GB?

Market Trader, I am confident that we all feel pretty much as you about Chiang Mai. This is why it is true that to be able to better appreciate many of the good things that Chiang Mai offers, it might be nice to find a few places where there is not very loud music played sometimes until 3:00 AM. A place that provides some assurance of stable power supply, high speed internet, freedom from inordinately loud music played at levels not acceptable to the large majority of residents in a given area is not an unreasonable desire.

I was just trying to tie the noise in, somehow, to 'desire', and a 'streetcar', but

Depends what u want to rent, but when travelling around staying in cheaper hotels, I always ask for a 'high floor', and city centre hotels I return to are one's which I have found to have a 'quiet side' away from a main road, and even a pleasant outlook, often a piece of waste ground or unused land overgrown with banana trees and the like. The high floor means noise from traffic, dogs and roosters are distanced, minimal traffic pollution and mosquitoes, and more breeze when leaving terrace doors and windows open. You also have a huge block of concrete behind you blocking the noisy side if u know what I mean. I spent much time in the noisy centre of Udon last winter, but 5th floor up on my hotel quiet side was fine until a pile driver started and pounded away all day for about a week on a small construction site right behind the hotel. I went away for a week or 2, and on return, to avoid the ongoing construction, I took a room for a month on the hotel's noisier side which faces UD town etc. only about 2kls away. This side is generally noisier but tolerable unless there is a festival or rock concert or big noisy promotion going on in UD town or centre. Then earplugs r a must for me to sleep. But after a few days a daily pile driver also started up on a much bigger site on this side of the hotel. You cant win! Anyway, sorry but no knowledge of 'living' in CM, but renting a condo or apartment, or long term hotel room on a high floor carefully chosen to face the right way would be my solution to long term city centre living.

If you do go with the upper floors, check out the exits in case of fire. And check for fire sprinklers.

I have at least a 10 year old Ipod classic that has over 2,300 songs on it, mainly from non I Tunes sites. I bought an I Phone 4S last year and cant transfer the songs to the phone. At the Apple store, they told me it was because the songs were not from I Tunes. They also told me that there was no Apple approved method to transfer the songs to my I Phone. I have seen web sites that will transfer from I Pod to computer but haven't seen web sites to transfer from I Pod to I Phone. I am content to keep the I Pod but if it is going to fall apart in the near future, I would like to transfer the songs to a computer, and preferably to my I Phone. I'll be in Thailand for the month of July and will bring both the Ipod and I Phone and will be in Bangkok for a couple of days and then CM for 3 weeks. If there isn't a web site to do the transfer, is there a shop in either city that can?

I don't do it anymore but I used to wait until the able bodied driver that parked in a handicapped spot was out of site. Then, I placed the biggest amount of spit that I could muster on the windshield, where the driver could clearly see it when they got back in the car. It probably didn't alter their behavior but it made me feel good.