d0om4gloom

Oh i should have said we are in central Chiangmai.  I saw something from electricity company about 100amp supply but now i realise that doesnt mean its available to us.  All starts to make sense

Oh wow thankyou for that information, i can see its very different and now understand the builders comments.  I really appreciate the reply

Hello, its been a long time since i was on the forum after moving back to UK in 2010.  However light is at the end of the tunnel, i am building a house in Chiangmai and have reached the electrical stage.  Im looking for advice:

In UK the domestic electrical supply is typically 100amp single phase and the earth is literally a pipe in the ground.  It might be lost in translation but the builder has said i need 3 cables into the house because we need multi-phase supply.  I dont understand, is that what he really means ?   It a 4 bed, 5 aircon with western kichen appliances house

What about the size of supply, 100amp single phase domestic supply in UK has 25mm cables (typically),  what does thailand do ?

Then theres a really old supply into the plot which was sub-divided from next door.  The main pole is next door and the existing cables come across the road to their pole then drop down to our sub-division.  Builder says we need our own pole.  I dont see it, the neighbors pole is just 1 meter from our boundary.  The neighbour doesnt care, do we really need our own pole ?

Last, on the lighting I am used to using GU10 connectors with mains voltage on LED bulbs.   Thailand seems to use MR16,  we can get hold of GU10 so i’m more inclined to go with them.  However, if they fit MR16, isnt that 12v DC ?  What do they normally do, fit a transformer at every single light fitting ?  We have 80 of them so if I need 80 transformers then GU10 is definately cheaper and i can get the bulbs easily as well.  What recommendation does anyone have and the reasoning ?

Hoping you can help me 

Thankyou

So basically everyone seems to think that if your a foreigner in this country your not allowed an opinion ? In every 'western' country you become resident, pay your taxes and have to basic human right to peacefully demonstrate and participate in political debate. In most you can also become a citizen of that country and be eligible to vote.

Savage's actions ARE stupid and idiotic but the comments on here saying foreigners should not have an opinion and should stay out of Thai issues are well off the mark. After all, many of us are long term resident here

Keep it under wraps during the workshop perhaps ? Don't want bad publicity drawing attention away from the event. In answer to the earlier question, who knows what routes traffickers use to an eventual destination nor their reasons. All we do know is these despicable things occur far too often

Let him run its only fitting. Then after he losses we can see what excuses they come up with.

It's not about whether he wins, it's whether he gets the expected 20% or more of the vote. If he does it's goes to show the red shirts rally is completely justified as bkk is certainly going to be one of their lowest support areas of the country. It an important indicator for their support in the so called 'rich' south

Another opinion that starts off with 'poor Thailand' and then goes straight into another attack on the red shirts. Well that will be another step on the reconciliation road map will it ?

No surprises here, Savage was on the front page of dozens of papers so set himself up for it and should answer for anything illegal he may have done. However, his actions do raise a question about whether a resident foreigner should participate in Thailands political landscape when they haven't any rights to vote anyway. In coming here, should we just accept things as they are and never express any sort of opinion ?

Isn't it funny how in the depth of the crisis the Thai media could no longer sustain being so one sided. Now that the leaders and many others have been arrested without charge, the government and media can turn again to it's single minded pursuit of one man ! Attack the foreign reporters for not saying the right thing and attack the uneducated for being stupid. Thaksin wouldn't stand a chance in his quest to destroy all if this government would just get on with the job in hand instead of all this rhetoric

Is this article trying to quote as many curreincss as possible ? Why are they quoting Euro countries in GBP ? Then up comes $ as well ! I can't make head nor tail of what they are saying except there's another cash strapped government looking to raise stealth taxes same as everyone else.

This article is another dreadful piece of reporting. Not wearing hemets is not a CAUSE of accidents, it may be associated with Head injury. Drunk driving is a cause but not an injury. A more appropriate report would examine the number of deaths associated with head injurys as opposed to something else and as a percentage of the total. Expand that to give the same figures on serious injury and non-serious injury and you might have some meaningful stats. Unfortunately this report is designed to support it's objectives without really caring to provide the truth. I am certain the numbers of head injurys are actually much lower than the 78.9% the report implies. Still, at least the helmet brigade can jump on the bandwagon again !

Mate,

You're leaving yourself open to a massive flaming there, the Yellows looked like boy scouts compared the the antics of the reds when they were forced to leave.

You are right that the yellows started with mob rule, but the reds have now shown that they are simply thugs and that they couldn't give a sh1t about their own country. They should never be allowed to run anything, yet alone a country.

These people are not Thai, they are simply scum.

Tom.

attitudes like this are precisely why Thai society is so broken

New leaders will emerge to take the place of those arrested. Abhisit has a window in which to make real progress toward a true resolution of the social issues. If he fails, we will be right back where we started after the election regardless of who wins it. The question is whether Abhisit commands the power to make a real difference or is he just another slave to the elitist hidden commanders we all know are present in Thai politics.

Abhisit is clearly intelligent and understands the problem but whether he can resolve it remains to be seen

absolutely pointless attempting to discuss and explain then? that one of the parties involved is an official government bound by international laws and rules and supposedly committed to responsible governance of its people while the other is an unelected gang of hotheads not subject to international laws?

sheesh.

regardless that you clearly support the government side, this article is about them breaking the law using live fire. Are you saying you support the shooting of unarmed protesters ? Whether or not they are a gang of hotheads is personal opinion but considering TV images regularly show protesters using sling shots against army using bullets I think amnesty have a valid point.

Why are so many people on here so one sidely supporting violence and death ? Personally I'd prefer to see the government stop aimlessly calling everyone terrorists and actually try to sort these long standing issues out. Guns just aren't going to do that

Be interested to hear the outcome of this one. I think your saying your only accomodation is going to be a hotel room and then your going to rent something once your there. I'd be surprised if this is acceptable the way that I read the MAA pages but you might convince them that since you have decent savings you can afford to do it that way especially as you are providing detailed living expenses. On the downside they might say that there is guarantee you could find anything so application refused. Please do let us know.

Personally I think a safer bet is to have family offer you accomodation. Even if thats not where you'll ultimately end up it would satisfy your need to live somewhere when you arrive.

To confirm, this is the first sentence from the BBC

"One soldier has died, reportedly from a shot fired by a member of the security forces, and at least 10 people have been injured. "

Source: BBC News

Isn't the quality of CNN and BBC going muddy now? I remember the time when things were backed up by pictures/clips. Now they run more on hearsay than facts. They're trying hard to appear different to the mainstream and start cheating like Reuters did years ago.

Shame on them ...

Oh right, so you dont like whats the BBC & CNN are saying so now your casting doubt on their reporting as well. Shame on you ! They are both far more objective and impartial than ANY thai media but up to you if you want to shut your eyes. Finding the truth is hard but the more sources reporting it the closer your likely to get.

Great pictures telling a very visual story. The power of nature & human inconvenience. Does anyone see the hidden story within that tells us of our preoccupation with ourselves. Still now the airports open again we can expect the news to move onto insurance claims, hard done by families and their losses and finally maybe a few bits about damage to environment and wildlife. I love that it all comes out of a natural event.

Is it me suffering de ja vu or is 95% of this article the same as we've seen everyday this week. Surely shutting down the tv station is worth more of a story than 2 lines followed by the same garbage we've had for the last

month

Yep, such an informative bit of reporting worthy of an award in my opinion. As for peacefulwarrior, get real, I have to conclude your one of the Klingons.

A fair number of reds do not support Thaksin. But people in general, and Thais in particular, need a leader to look up to. He is/was a hero for many and as such will remain at the fore of the movement. Without him, it will begin to fracture even more than it already has.

The point is, his relevance is decreasing within the movement. Even if they win and he is somehow allowed to return without going to jail (unlikely), there are institutions in place that would prevent him from resuming the premiership easily. Those agencies and institutions won't go away nor will the laws, rules and regulations of the country unless there is a civil war and that is looking less likely.

New people will rise to the top in leadership roles (in all parties). Hopefully they will listen to the wants and needs of the people.

You can be pro-red, anti-Thaksin and anti-coup. It's not possible to turn back the clock of time.

Well said. Thaksin is a figurehead for a movement that needs one but very much part of the past. The only reason he is important is that he was undemocratically remove from power by a military coup supported by the elite. Too many Nation readers don't look any further than the propaganda put in front of them.

Think about it a little. There are some very intelligent people on both sides who will try to deliver their own propoganda messages. Despite a largely anti-red media here we finally see an article that recognises the reds do have grass roots support.

Breaking: Department of Redundancy Dept. announces 'Up is the new down'... again.

Good to see things turning back to normal.

I agree, it is logic. At this monemt driving along the beach road, the beach is on the left side. Nobody can turn left.

If they change to opposite, beach is on the right side, everybody can turn left, without abusing the traffic law.

Hopefully they will think carefully about the roads between Rath Uthit and Beach Road. It shpould be logical to left side drivers.

Your logic is even worse then theirs !

wow !

notes to self:

1. continue NOT to go to Phuket/Patong

2. continue NOT to have a motorcy

1) then you'll miss out on a beautiful place in a beautifully country

2) absolutely correct, do not come here to learn how to ride as so many others do

Yep what happened to the train link, getting rid of dodgy taxis, clearly signposting the official taxis etc. Then there's king power and corruption throughout. Wait for luggage, wait for entry immigration - although at least departing has substantially improved.

However, unlike all those that are slagging it off here I think it is slowly but surely improving throughout and is placed about right in my experience

Oh no, cost of 'insurance' just went up. You'll have to pay an extra 10baht a DVD now.

Should have been 666 the number of the devil