Valentine

All these 'shortages' are sheer <deleted>. I went to buy some San Miguel yesterday and there was loads of the stuff, in a Thai style supermarket. No farang, too scared to go in unless they recognise the brand names TOPS/Tesco/7/11. And the prices of everything were exactly the same as before the call for a new Noah's Ark. Same as the local talad nats.

But many places price gouging. Just stick to the places that the locals go to. If you can lower yourselves ...

You must be very brave.

IT Mall, I think 5th floor (or 4th). There is an electronics parts shop when you exit the IT Mall portion. I believe it is all Chinese parts on sale though. I have seen circuit boards, LED's, DYI kits etc.

Thanks.

Where is IT Mall? Is it near Pantip Plaza?

This could be the place for you http://thailand.rs-online.com/web/op/all-products/

Went to Sizzler yesterday & many of their beef, pork & chicken items were not available. GF usually gets the cheaper steak which IMO is just as good as the expensive one but they did not have the cheaper one. I opted for salad & baked potato as the usual salads were still there. If this is affecting a large chain like Sizzler then surely the smaller restaurants are going to suffer as well. So, don't plan on getting your favorite menu item when you go out to eat. The flood situation in Bangkok is only going to get worse & seems like it will take quite a while for flood waters to drain away. I think Phuket will see much more shortages than what we are seeing now.

Sizzler and KFC and like businesses are franchise businesses and more likely than not have a central distribution centre in Bangkok

I doubt Macro has run out of beef, pork or chicken

Or of lamb, deer, fog meat or anything else they sell

There will be shortages of items purchased from Bangkok

And Makro, Big C, Lotus, 7/11 etc do not have central distribution centres in Bangkok? I wonder why I often see a large DHL articulated truck at Big C & I don't think the local slaughterhouses are large enough or can receive enough animals to supply the likes of Makro with beef or pork. I have seen small trucks with live pigs going to some slaughterhouse but these will only be enough for the fresh food markets. Phuket population is likely close to one million yet I don't know of any large abattoir that could supply the demand. Many of the products on supermarket shelves are supplied by local distributors who in turn are supplied from Bangkok.

Anyway, glad to see you agree with what I said. Phuket is already having food shortages & will likely get worse. We will have to get used to the term mai mee.

Went to Sizzler yesterday & many of their beef, pork & chicken items were not available. GF usually gets the cheaper steak which IMO is just as good as the expensive one but they did not have the cheaper one. I opted for salad & baked potato as the usual salads were still there. If this is affecting a large chain like Sizzler then surely the smaller restaurants are going to suffer as well. So, don't plan on getting your favorite menu item when you go out to eat. The flood situation in Bangkok is only going to get worse & seems like it will take quite a while for flood waters to drain away. I think Phuket will see much more shortages than what we are seeing now.

I was in Big C yesterday & bought 3 bags of rice as there was hardly any on display. Floods will be affecting deliveries plus there will be less rice to go around considering the flood damage & spare stocks will be eaten up by the rice mortgage scheme so expect prices will increase quite dramatically. Had a pump sent to BKK for repair under warranty which was supposed to be back already but floods being used as an excuse even though there are no road closures heading south of BKK.

I cannot verify this nut my foreman just told me there has been a fairly big accident on Patak Rd by the Shell pump. Apparently all the power is down in that area. As I am writing this I have heard quite a number of rescue vehicles go past my place which is on Chao Fa West near Home Pro Village. Anyone have any reliable information? I would suggest not trying to go look with a car as traffic is already building up around the circle.

One time whilst working on an oil rig out in the middle of Australia where it can stay dry for years there were heavy rains north of where we were. From the rig floor you could see far off in the distance this wall of water moving slowly but inexorably closer to us. We battened down the hatches & moved to higher ground & with about two days our rig site was totally flooded under about 2m of water. At that time the flooding covered a vast area & it shows when the water builds up like that there is no stopping it.

My heart goes out to all the flood victims seemingly made worse by gross incompetence & lack of clear management. Next year will likely be a normal year & with the short term mindset prevalent here all the bluster about grand water management plans will be forgotten or the vested interest will squabble over it for years in order to get the best pickings.

"The installation of the CCTV cameras and the recruitment of beachfront workers as volunteers is expected to help police monitor Patong and make it more tourist friendly, he added."

The installation of the CCTV cameras is expected to put yet another backhander in someone's pocket...

Did anyone notice the cost estimate for the CCTV cameras? 15M Baht for 100 Cameras. That's about 500,000 USD give or take... divided by 100, that is $5000USD per camera. Does that strike anyone else as obscenely high?

Even when you factor in installation, connecting to a network & associated backup hardware it is of course an extremely high budget but then again reading any news item about proposals in this country it seems the estimated cost is always high. Just imagine how much better the standard of living could be if they shaved 50% of all these bloated budgets which would still leave plenty to go around.

I got a pricelist from TOT. It contains "Home" and "Business". What is the difference?

They say that Business is for "many computers" and Home for only one. A strange answer as a router can, to my knowledge, always be used. The price difference is about 50-150% extra depending of connection speed.

I'm at PHV Condo (about 200 meters past Simon Cabaret at the foot of the first hill towards Karon). Anyone know what the best connections avaiable are? TOT says 30/30 (Home 9500 B, Business 22 800B). True says no fiber available. Currently I have 3BB Adsl 12/1, it's OK but not in the afternoon. I work a lot via remote desktop so I would like something exeptional.

BTW, any changes in the experience of TOT Fiber2U since the creation of this thread?

I have had Fibre 2 U 10/1 (1,490 Baht per month plus initial setup cost)for just over a month & was working well until a week ago when download speeds suddenly slowed from an average of 9,000Kbs to around 1,000. Strangely though, upload speeds remained pretty much the same.

If you want Thai and a good job forget Phuket, it will be cheap as possible with the most spent by you.

If you need Thai who are good source them from the north and sort out accomadation etc.

Otherwise Myanmmar.

I have yet to meet a Thai construction worker who was born & raised in Phuket. Workers are very hard to find right now, I have been looking for a long time & for skilled workers we already pay above the promised minimum wage & have been all year. One time we had some Thai workers who said they could do everything & wanted 400/day which we agreed to. Turned out they could do everything but standards were poor, drinking on the job, ya bah, were part of the package. One guy did turn out good quality work, did not drink or do drugs but he was slow & family ties pulled him away to go work for less wages. Despite his slowness I would have been happy to keep him. Part of the problem could be to do with the floods & the upcoming rice harvest as many will have gone home to help on the farm.

You might have better luck going direct to the airline e.g. Thai's Royal Orchid Plus has lots of package holidays & they do fly to Johannesburg. Try at their office in Phuket Town. Also Singapore Airlines through the Silk Air office.

For good repairs I always went to a cobbler who had a shop in Phuket Town on a one way soi from Phang Nga to Ratsada Rd. It is many years since I have been there so not sure if he is still there. I have had my work boots repaired by him which needed to be a good job as I was working on offshore drilling rigs at the time.

Video on

http://blip.tv/grantphuket/landslides-beside-cracks-in-middle-of-by-pass-highway-phuket-5624906

Raw footage from car and roadside along bypass highway as minor landslides behind some shops on west side of northbound highway from town to airport and now new cracks in middle of highway at elevated section, are observed on Saturday 8 October about midday. The Rasada Mayor khun Suratin gave interview in Thai to NBT TV Phuket crew and then briefly in English to me, explaining one lane of traffic northbound is being closed now as it is "dangerous" but he had not yet closed any lanes on the southbound side, as long as necessary. (The thin cracks in the earth near barrier were about 50 meters long and the slide on some rocks below were about 10 meters long and 2 meters deep)

When they built that raised section of the bypass all they did to reinforce the slope was to place rocks on it.

Tents etc...what is prohibiting them to travel like normal people?

It is not a bad idea. I happened to be at the airport a few years back when the pilgrims were leaving for the Haj & they were almost swinging off the rafters as it was jam packed.

I drove along there this morning as I needed to order some tiles at Ban Sukopan. A stretch of the road running past Adisak & stopping just before Kee Hin/Ban Sukopan has been cordoned off with pink cones but only out as far as the shoulder.

A belated update. My cable provider (PA Cable, Patong) is a partner with KPP Cable. PA will be offering KPP's digital package at the end of this month - c. B1900 for set-top box and B350/month for the subscription. Requires (I belive) that your TV has a digital tuner (which, fortunately, mine has).

They might call it digital but the picture is only of low to average quality although now it is not working which means the card probably needs to be upgraded. When you switch off the box with the remote it immediately turns itself back on so you have to manually switch it off at the back. The installer said it was a cheap Chinese box so would have to live with it. Mind you it is a cheap package & most likely has all the channels you would ever want to watch.

is this the same mob of thugs they mobilised during the bloody crackdowns in the 70's. I don't think they have a good reputation for advocating peaceful settlement. Combined with the red shirt villages this a disturbing trend. Could it be they are mobilising in the event of another coup & better prepared to wage civil war?

valentine, some of those pictures are from my neighbors and i can attest they do a very nice job. infact they are the reason i have been looking for stamps to do it myself but might just use them now that you've found them. thanks

I am looking for an alternative to sandstone for pool coping at a comparable price. I emailed them but got back one those mail box full messages so will have to telephone & ask him to visit.

http://www.suwan-napoom.com/portfolio-stamped-floor/

was looking at this yesterday

This is surely what the OP was asking about. I often see a pickup driving around with stamped concrete written on it. Maybe this is them http://phuketideadesign.com/phuketstampedconcrete/

Whatever you do, don't Google "fag tube".

It’s like when someone says”I’d like to introduce you to my co-worker, but please don’t stare at her nose because she’s very self-conscious about it.” So, of course I would check out the nose, and of course I Googled it, and yes, I regret it.

I was thinking someone would come on here and declare that it’s a floor care device, or a sausage maker, or a gear puller, or a cow inseminator, or something like that.. Does anybody know what it is used for? I really hope not for sexual fetishes. I was thinking of phoning the advertiser up and asking, but under the circumstances I'll probably not.

This looks like chrome http://www.shopwiki.com/bissell-hose

If anything is going back to the pool while vacuuming it must be extremely fine or there is something wrong in the multiport valve. The best thing to use in a sand filter is glass filter media. Although more expensive than the normal filter sand it cuts out almost to the same level as DE filters, requires less backwashing. Here is a link to a company who pioneered the product. I considered importing from them, with a view for resale, many years ago but the cost was prohibitive for me at the time.

http://www.afm.eu/

Most pool companies in Phuket should be able to supply this as it is much more readily available.

no media that does not dissolve can be crushed as fine as Diatomite and therefore no media filters like Diatomite.

The size of the media has nothing to do with it in the case of glass filter as they also have other properties to help make the water safer which DE & normal filter sand do not have.

tell us more about these "properties".

It is effective in removing cryprosporidium, cysts, giardia & reduces Legionella levels. Here is a link to another site which shows two types of glass filter media http://www.swimming-pool-information.com/sand-swimming-pool-filters.html

If anything is going back to the pool while vacuuming it must be extremely fine or there is something wrong in the multiport valve. The best thing to use in a sand filter is glass filter media. Although more expensive than the normal filter sand it cuts out almost to the same level as DE filters, requires less backwashing. Here is a link to a company who pioneered the product. I considered importing from them, with a view for resale, many years ago but the cost was prohibitive for me at the time.

http://www.afm.eu/

Most pool companies in Phuket should be able to supply this as it is much more readily available.

no media that does not dissolve can be crushed as fine as Diatomite and therefore no media filters like Diatomite.

The size of the media has nothing to do with it in the case of glass filter as they also have other properties to help make the water safer which DE & normal filter sand do not have.

A while ago I suggested to True they should offer an option of hard copy or e version of their guide with a deduction in the monthly fee for those who opt for the e version. This would not only save costs but is a good environmental initiative. Of course they never even considered this idea much like I have never been polled on proposed programme changes even though they always claimed changes were made at subscriber's requests which is a load of <deleted>, just look at their BBC E debacle. The other day I finally cancelled my subscription after being with them since they first started in Phuket as IBC. They even had the cheek to ask for the dish back but it actually belongs to me as part of their promotion when they first started, not that it is really worth much. They just gave a nice smile when I said this knowing I was correct. The girls still remember my name even though I would not have been in their office more than once a year. I now have a really good system with all the channels I want & can find all the programming online if desired.

A new road just opened which runs from the back of PSU through to Wichitsongkram Rd is apparently designed as a shortcut. Currently if you come out on Wichitsongkram & want to go to Makro or Central you have to turn left & make a U-turn at the lights & to get on it if coming from Honda dealer towards PSU you have to drive over the grass median strip. To me it makes about as much sense as the shortcut which runs behind Homeworks i.e. absolutely useless. There will possibly be benefits for landowners who want to develop the land alongside the new road. It might make some sense in the future when the area from Honda to PSU gets developed.

Repairing the cut up bypass road between Lotus & Central instead of resurfacing an already good condition Thepkasatri Rd, buying land & widening roads throughout Phuket Town, a professional traffic management programme, a proper public transportation system; these are what Phuket needs.

If anything is going back to the pool while vacuuming it must be extremely fine or there is something wrong in the multiport valve. The best thing to use in a sand filter is glass filter media. Although more expensive than the normal filter sand it cuts out almost to the same level as DE filters, requires less backwashing. Here is a link to a company who pioneered the product. I considered importing from them, with a view for resale, many years ago but the cost was prohibitive for me at the time.

http://www.afm.eu/

Most pool companies in Phuket should be able to supply this as it is much more readily available.