Valentine

There is a new system coming soon & I do not know how to describe it suffice to say it is like a saltwater chlorinator except it odes not need salt unless the TDS (total dissolved solids) gets too low i.e. it uses TDS to produce a sanitizer.

Probably the most relevant point made so far, I havn't looked into it yet....to scared

I'd rather be ignorant and happy.

I propose to buy the land with cash. If anyone can help me further than this, your advice is definately welcome.

What is the go now anyway, with land and properties in Thailand? My wife is Thai, we live in Australia, she makes her own money has her own job, actually we have one shared account where both our pays go into.

Can't we buy it with this money?

Paying for the land is not the issue, it is the setting up of the legalities that you need to be very careful about unless you do not mind having it in your wife's name giving you no legal claim in future. You might be quite happy to do that. I am in that situation & was well aware of the pitfalls when we built our home 11 years ago but still went ahead & have no issue about this as it will go to our kids at the end of the day.

Quiet spots can be found even in what appears to be well built up areas. The key is having a well built home in a secure environment.

Keep posting as I hope that fair justice will prevail. Judging from what has been presented to the court there is no way the conspirators should walk free. In fact it seems like the whole faimly are in cahoots over this sad affair. However if they do get jailed you should be looking to leave the country quickly for your own safety.

The retraction of the original confession could signal that they are getting worried.

It could be due to the push to build a tunnel up near the obscure bar in Kathu (Bottle House).

How much for one of those decent sized infinity pools? Or do they only install them alongside buying a new villa?

They can be installed anywhere, even if you don't have a sea view. The sound of water falling on to some stones gives a nice relaxing "babbling brook" effect. Cost will depend on pool size & there is no premium for being an infinity pool. Feel free to PM me if you want more info or a photo.

Everything Mr T does is to keep himself in the limelight in the forlorn hope he will regain his power & seized funds, pure & simple. He & anyone who lives in Thailand knows what short memory spans people have & if his image was to slip from view then he would soon be forgotten.

Koo & others may have sincere motives for their red leanings & some of their ideas are very laudable but why do they need Mr T to achieve this? If the reds were to publicy drop him & have no further association with him they would garner more support. They would also need to strictly follow their professed ideologies & do away with all the hidden agenda & ulterior motives.

Previous governments led & sponsored by Mr T took policy corruption to the highest level ever seen in this country & money spent on improving the lives of ordinary citizens was a pittance compared to what they plundered. If the lives of the ordinary citizen was so much improved how come the average household debt rose dramtically during Mr T's reign?

I do not necessarily disagree with the initiatives which were put in place but the implementation & administration was always suspect & provided a great front for certain groups to reap huge profits.

There's an update in the gazette about the missing boy. Lifeguard saying the undertow was too strong for him etc. I wonder why the lifeguards don't have fins, some sort of surfboard, and a rescue buoy. I've not seen any of the Karon lifeguards with this most basic of equipment, although I have seen a nice 4WD truck that the guards drive in Kata when they aren't too busy renting out their jet skis.

I agree as I often see a top of the range pick up around town during the day with Phuket Lifeguard logo (they are not the only ones as I see Red Cross have two Toyota Prados which cost 4 to 5 million each when a Fortuner would easily suffice leaving a lot of funds for other more useful causes). It would be OK if it was equipped with some emergency equipment & stationed at the most likely trouble spot. Incredible that the lifeguards do not have the most basic rescue gear such as big surfboard, neoprene tube & the lifeguards having proof of being strong & competent swimmers. There is also the fact that jet skis are used all over the world for surf rescues.

These guys need to watch Bondi Rescue on cable TV & although I do not expect them to attain the high standards of the lifeguards at Bondi they can at least aspire to get close. This whole lifeguard contract both now & in the past just looks like one of the usual rorts prevalent in this country. I hope I am wrong & these guys do have a genuine desire to be more professional but if they are lacking in training & equipment they should ask as I am sure there are plenty of trained surf lifeguards (I am one but my methods go way back to surf belt & reel) on this island willing to assist & others who could take up the cause to provide good equipment which is only useful with the proper training.

So sad to learn about another girl who died after being on Phi Phi who I think was just there for a day trip. If this girl is found to have the same poison in her body then the only conclusion can be there is malicious intent in these unfortunate deaths. The odds of these being coincidental must be extremely high & surely after the initial publicity everyone would take great care to ensure there were no tainted water bottles.

I do not believe H2S to be the cause as this gas is heavier than air so even if a bubble broke the surface one would have to be very close to where it broke. A large enough dose of H2S will kill quite quickly & it usually happens in confined spaces such as storage tanks. When you can smell H2S it it is generally not in a large enough concentration to kill. In large concentrations you cannot smell it as one of the effects is it completely dulls your sense of smell.

That was a great reply any chance of a few photos if you have made a filter similar to the one recommended.

Any idea where I can get Lava stones in Thailand.

Have been trying to make a filter for 6 months now with varying degrees of success.

Coral is available in the pond shops & is a good alternative to lava rocks.

Itlooks like a good system but I am guessing the additives will not be cheap, nor is the original cost. In my experience salt water pools are very user friendly & easy to maintain.

It looks like the BBQ idea is going nowhere at present. Not having been to a TV event before I have no idea what it takes to organise but I am willing to offer my assistance.

Airports were ordered closed by the authorities not the yellow shirts who were protesting outside the airport but were forced to go inside after grenade launchers were used against them. Recession in Thailand may have been hastened by the airport closure & subsequent tourist cancellations but the current recession is truly due to the financial crisis which originated in America & from which most of the world is now suffering.

Red shirt rioting in isolated parts of Bangkok made dramatic headlines while the rest of the city & the country continued to enjoy Songkran. The antics of the red shirts in CM portray them as thugs because everything they do is totally anti democracy. They are responsible for at least one death, closed down the gay parade while the police looked on, prevented the health minister from performing his role in checking on influenza 2009, & tried to stop the finance minister from performing his role.

I think the red shirts have a deliberate campaign to stop the government from performing their governing role in red shirt strangleholds & they refuse to engage in any meaningful dialogue.

As for double standard I read almost everyday about yellow shirts having to surrender to the police to face charges resulting from the airport closure & have yet to see anything about fast tracking prosecutions against red shirts although they too have surrendered to face charges apart from Jakrapob who has fled the scene.

There are all sorts of bargains & deals just now. A couple of days ago I was offered a 50" plasma at Power Buy, cost came in about 35,000 after two discounts one of which involved using a credit card & then getting 0% interest with payments over 10 months but only certain credit cards are allowed & they must be issued by a Thai bank. I did not buy the plasma but used my card to purchase a new refrigerator on 0% & 6 months.

Check the refresh rate, contrast ratio, does it have ultra clear panel, 1080p, HDMI, USB connections? These are important if you watch a lot of DVDs but for general use with cable or True Visions I don't think the specs make much difference although a good idea is to check the TV while watching True. However I have yet to find a shop which is connected to True.

The thin ones Neverdie mentions are LED & supposedly have good energy saving features but are quite expensive although given time they should decrease considerably as did the LCDs. I don't understand the topbox he is talking about as I have never seen them connected to anything other than a home theatre system. My preferences are Samsung for looks & innovation or Philips which have some good deals on offer right now.

Many businesses here tend to increase prices when times are tough reasoning they need to charge more to make the same money. So, it is refreshing to see a business operator offering a value added service which translates into a decrease in cost to the customer. I hope more will follow suit.

HCl can be purchased in most pool shops in 20 litre containers. Can't help with the rockwool.

A sad scenario indeed. If the Chiang Mai red shirts & those in other places allowed unhindered access to anyone, no matter their political sway, then they could truly say they are fighting for democracy but thier current actions totally belie that fact.

It is long overdue for Phuket to have a centrally coordinated public transport system as there are far too many modes of public transport all seemingly operating under their own laws. The suggestion for an extra 300 plus tuks tuks is horrifyng. The tuks tuks would be better served to come up with a more efficient system to ensure both the public & the operators get fair treatment before calling for more. The present transport system seems to serve vested interests rather than the public but one way to improve the system would be to persuade all the controllers they can still get their share of the cake even with major changes.

Does one still need special eyewear when viewing just a partial eclipse?

The title says it all.

Does anyone know where to buy the cheapest salt for my pool in Phuket?

Thank you.

I v tryed different supplyers, but some salt are very dirty, colors the water and clogg the filter.

Makro is approx 35 baht/5 kg bag and very clean salt.

Anyone cheaper for clean salt?

Thank you, katabeachbum.

This is the kind of answer I was hoping for.

It is cheaper behind the market in Phuket Town for 25kg bags, just make sure you do not get sea salt.

The title says it all.

Does anyone know where to buy the cheapest salt for my pool in Phuket?

Thank you.

Prices can vary according to transport costs & weather (too much rain limits production). Where do you normally buy your salt, how many kg in the bag, how much have you been paying, do you go & buy it yourself or have it delivered.

One of the bridges is not very old & I never see any traffic problems, it is always a breeze to cross. Could it be the structure is not safe? The money would be better spent on land acquisition to widen roads in Phuket Town. It is almost gridlock at times. Some new feeder roads would not go astray either.

I will try & make it more simple. Of those that do die from influenza 2009 they all appear to die quite quickly after contacting the illness. I am not disputing whether or not more people die from normal seasonal flu. Today from The Nation "Disease Control Depart-ment spokesperson Dr Suppamit Chunsutiwat estimated that over 6 million to 30 million people will get the new flu virus infection and about 600 people to 1,200 people will die during the pandemic as most of people do not have immunity against the type A (H1N1) of influenza." Based on the current 5 in every 1,000 that have died so far that adds up to a lot of heartache given the worst case scenario.

Another way to look at it would be to see the numbers who contact normal seasonal flu as it could be this strain has the potential to infect many more.

Story in The Nation or BKK Post stated the cost of testing in private hospitals was between 4,000 to 5,000 Baht.

I apologize if anyone thinks I am scare mongering, it is certainly not my intent. The whole point of my original post was that we all have the right to reliable, credible & factual information.

The problem in this country is that reliable facts are generally hard to come by. They are witheld, kept under wraps, distorted by both the authorities & the media for many reasons which is why rumours become so widespread & easily believed.

As this flu is in it's early stages there are still many facts about it which are unknown including those most at risk. Outlandish statements by some doctors to seal the borders especially when this can be interpreted as meaning the flu is only spread by foreigners, the possibility that schools might be closed early for the mid term break, conspiracy theories about pharma going to reap huge profits selling dubious vaccines containing mercury, all help fan the flames.

The line between fact & rumour can be very small as can be seen by the rumour about the student from PSU dying which surfaced two or three days before it was actually reported. Number of infections must be understated as I do not believe they get data from every hospital & clinic which could mean the death rate is actually lower unless some are dying because of the flu but death listed as something else. Having seen some of the costs associated with testing for this flu then Thailand just cannot afford to test every suspected case as the cost would be staggering & the latest announcement that medicines will be given to those considered at risk, & exhibiting symptoms, without waiting for tests, show this. The frightening thing is the speed with which it can kill.

I still have not built the PC but gathering information of which ths posters here have been helpful. Although I have always Asus MBs I am now leaning towards Gigabyte with two models under consideration, the ga-ep45-ud3r or ep45 - ud3l, to be used with an E7400 cpu as I believe this combination will be relatively cost effective & still give all the power I will need for the forseeable future.

I have managed to source an HD 4770 graphics card & the choice so far is between this & a Ge Force 9600 Gt but I favour the 4770 considering the rave reviews although a little more expensive. Does anyone have any views on the HD 4830 as an alternative. I have looked at he 4850 & 4870 but seem to be considerably more expensive?

This month's IBAP meeting will be held at Phuket Brewery on Friday 10th July. Doors open at 6.45pm. Members & guests (do not need to be accompanied by a member) are welcome. The guest speaker is Richard Bell who has an interesting background working with some the big names in business including Merrill Lynch & Wal-Mart.

Prior to & after the meeting there will be ample time for business & social networking plus catching up on those you may not have seen for a while. Snacks & some complimentary drinks are provided as part of the entry fee.

Further details canbe found at http://ibap-phuket.org