trainman34014

Well, this is Thailand so any wall will not be load-bearing. Construction in Thailand is almost guaranteed to be post & beam, meaning that the weight of anything will be carried by steel-enforced concrete posts. (Or wooden posts, of course; construction in Thailand essentially has not changed from when houses were built on wooden stilts, it's just that the materials have changed.

So then for the walls, which are really just fill-in. The cheapo bricks are cheaper, but they have some negative qualities :

* Size is not uniform, so it's harder to built a wall with them. The result tends to be a mess, but that's not a problem because they then render it with cement so it will look smooth.

* Walls of this type will heat up more and retain heat more if they're exposed to the sun.

So for these reasons you may want to go with those white Q-con blocks which are light, uniform in size and don't retain heat. They're actually so light they float on water! So they'd be an excellent choice if the extension is an area you live in and if it's exposed to the sun. If this is for a garage or whatever then I would not bother.

Thank you for this helpful and informative reply Winnie and thanks to all others who have put in their considered opinions. I've learned a lot today which I will attempt to put to good use.

I wonder if all retired builders out there can help me with a bit of information. Planning an extension to side of bungalow; size 4m long x 2m wide x 3m high. Roof will be steel bars as per original Moobahn construction with 'proper' tiles.

Question is can I build with the blocks that I see being used in Thailand for some building jobs or should I stick with those horrid little bricks they use? I don't know the make-up of the blocks so don't know if they are strong enough to take the weight of an extension like this.

Any help and guidance would be much appreciated.

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We use REAL mayo, sold in 1 liter plastic bags at Makro/Tesco etc.

This one has the lowest amount of suger, 3.8% which is more to my western liking.

Most of the other have 28% sugar !!!!

Try it.

Agreed; this is the best around and Makro is the cheapest too but, do they have any? Haven't looked since these 'shortages' began.

Flatten it and build a Big C.

Acting like flippin kids the pair of em.

Why not build a ruddy great Mall with half the shops run by Thai's and half run by Cambodians. It could be called 'Thaicam Mall'. Err; no, wait a minute, maybe it should be 'Camthai Mall'. Oh cripes! not another argument that could start a war !!

While the names of some of the places in the story are familiar, the description of Chiang Mai by Mr. Richardson is quite the opposite. I didn't hear anything about how there is a vibrant street market somewhere in the city every night of the week. Or the fascinating cultural or musical events that happen throughout the city. Perhaps Mr. Richardson was in a different city and not the Chiang Mai that I live in.

Quite possible he wasn't in Chiang Mai at all but merely re-hashing some old article he has been reading from three or four years ago. Lets face it; not a lot has changed in the Red Lion in that time has it ?

My Wife has a Sony which went Kaput and we took it to the Sony Service Center on Hang Dong Road. Inspected it, said what parts were needed, costed, sent for the parts and all repaired within a week. Very good service indeed.

Location:- Coming out of town.....Hang Dong Road, pass 'Big C' intersection....pass 'Makro'...about 1k further on you will see a a large red sign with an Apple above your side and a 'u' turn on your right. Turn at that point and it's almost opposite the Apple.

If the bloke booked online he should have been able to print off his own e-tickets. That's what I do all the time. He should have a booking reference number so, he can go back into the website and back to his booking and should still be able to print off his own tickets. Sorted !

For all the haters, catch a flight to Manila---you will come back and kiss every employee at BKK.

Only the Totty!!!

In my experience it always costs more through an agent and it is better to book direct with the airlines on the web. I always want the protection that is gained by using credit cards and agents always want to charge fees for their use. As it happens I wouldn't trust agents in LOS to book flights for me when there have been so many bad stories about these things on TV.

Amazing how so many people get freaked out over these occurrences yet will jump into a Bangkok cab without a care.

At least you can get out of the cab and walk home if need be..

Yes, but you are many times more likely to be killed or badly injured so that you can't walk home. I know it's difficult to whip up unnecessary fear and hysteria when things are shown in proper perspective though. The facts keep getting in the way.

As has been shown here, this is the first time this has happened on an A-380. Though rare, it's commonplace enough that when it happens on other aircraft it hardly makes the news. A component fails, and an aircraft returns safely, as it's designed to be able to.

Statistics for people killed in Bangkok Taxis would be interesting. A lot more than in the air since taxis were invented in Bangkok I would imagine!

"The price should have been 6,000 baht for the only seat they had left in Business Class , but they only charged her 2,500B which was all she had on her in cash."

As you say - hats off to Thai Airways. I do not usually have good things to say about Thai but I am impressed by their gesture.

Hope that the little lady is OK now.

Yes; a great gesture by Thai Airways and I'm glad that the lady arrived alive and well. I don't use Thai often because they are too expensive in most cases and fly out of date aircraft with poor on-board facilities but I have to say that the staff are always very pleasant and helpful.

I used to use Ryanair and Easyjet services a lot in Britain and I have witnessed several incidents similar to that of the AA experience with this lady. It really is a case of 'you get what you pay for' with budget airlines and I think most people are aware of that.

In my experience they haven't been accepting Dollars since April this year but some people still seem to have got away with it.....or they say they have. The three times I've been this year they have been quite pissy with people trying to pay with dollar bills and.......the old sign has been taken down.

Can't blame her. Being married to a PM and dealing with the hate and abuse from nutters 24/7 is not worth it.

People like to crap all over politicians, but you should see with the freaks and losers they have to deal with. Evryone thinks his or her problem deserves immediate priority.

Strange; I thought it was politicians who crapped all over the people of Thailand on a daily basis !

Presumably 7-11 will have to have a scale of charges because if they call the Old Bill to come out, they will want tea money. I guess if it's a simple mugging it could be as low as 200 Baht but for a knifing or some other form of attempted murder it could run as high as a couple of thousand! Of course; if you need water or beer to help you overcome the Shock and Trauma of it all the price of those commodities would be added on the bottom of the bill.

I still love the A380 though. It s an amazing looking piece of engineering

It's great to fly in too.

Qantas seem to have had a raft of problems over the past couple of years and you have to begin to wonder about Maintenance levels. Freddie Laker once said to me back in the 80's, 'The first thing you do when you take delivery of a new aircraft is throw the Maintenance manuals straight in the rubbish bin and let your experienced fitters do things the way they always have'. ' If we followed the Manufacturers instructions our aircraft would be falling out of the sky every week'.

Engine failure can happen for a multitude of reasons and we may or may not find out what happened depending on why and how it affects the airlines credibility.

we budget 30000 per month for myself, wife and 2 children, 3 bed house, electric, internet, gas, water charges, we don't drink, we use car and bike but car is used mostly for expressway driving about 20000km per year, we eat mostly thai food with the once weekly western feast, eat out no more than 2 times per week (thai), otherwise wife cooks at home, groceries mostly bought from local market, but the odd jaunt to makro for small purchases, only thing I havent added to that would be daughters school fees as I can't remember exact cost but I think about 30k per term, but I also think there is a big difference in cost of living depending on where in thailand you live, for example on recent visit to makro I saw some item 10 baht cheaper in one district than it was in another makro store in another district, not much variation 10 baht, but on a big shopping bill then surely quite a difference.

A very sensible lifestyle for the average 2+2 I would say. We own our own pad and there are only the two of us with 1 car and 2 Bikes. We get by very easily on 20,000 all included. We eat out once a month bigtime but only drink alcohol at home. Majority of shopping comes from Markets and once a month to Tesco. A simple life but a very happy one.

We are a family of three, me British, wife Thai, Iysha 9.

We all eat Thai food,

We do things as a family, I do not really enjoy the bar scene

I love fishing, daughter dancing swimming and singing, wife likes hair being done and eating Somtam

Would like 3 bed house either rent or purchase - with pool own or communal ( probably rent )

Will buy a vehicle of some type, probably new with warranty ect

Food & Groceries - 20K

House - 14K (incl. fees for garbage collection, pool use, maintenance fees for typical out of town 2 floor 3 bedroom house)

School - 12K (assumes bi-lingual school, but not a super fancy international school, then you will spend a lot more)

Singing, dancing, etc classes - 2K

Electricity - 2K

Car payments - 12 K

Car insurance - 2K (assumes 24K annual)

Car fuel - 2K (varies of course)

Car maintenance - 1K (Or a bit less; new car, just change the oil & stuff)

Health insurance - 60 K / 12 months = 5K (for 2 adults, one child)

Visiting home with the family once a year: 90K / 12 = 7K5

Other travel in Thailand / region: 5K ?

Maid - 6K

Clothing - 3 K

Hair dresser, beauty shop etc - 3 K

Other shopping - 6 K

Going out for dinner, etc. - 6 K (varies of course)

Hobbies & things - 6 K

Truevisions TV - 1K5

Other small expenses - 4K

Total: 120K baht.

Note to all: I'm not answering any "<deleted>, I can do this for far less!" type remarks or "You stingy bastard, I'm paying at least X!". If / when you feel you won't spend as much, or will spend more, then feel free to adjust as needed.

Yeah thats bout what I spend in total per month, I dont have car payments or employ a maid nor have a child who needs schooling and dancing lesson.

Any advance on 120?.....going.....going,,,,.

Wakey Wakey; we've already had 150!

That's 500 baht for a litre of beer

And we complain about the price of petrol.

I don't...its still almost half the price of petrol in the UK. Just to make people there happier, VAT goes up to 20% from 1st January. Oh; and beer here works out at about 70p a pint if you buy a box of 12 bottles. Over 3 quid a pint now in most British pubs!

wow, almost double the price in the UK? It's close to the same here as the states. I always thought it was a regulated thing but after hearing this I guess not.

The only people that 'Regulate' anything in Britain are the Government and they sure know how to regulate taxes on the likes of Petrol and Booze. Close to three quarters of the price of Petrol and Beer is tax. They don't want you to escape too easily either so they now have the highest Air Passenger Duty in the world to grab your wallet one last time before you leave!

That's 500 baht for a litre of beer

And we complain about the price of petrol.

I don't...its still almost half the price of petrol in the UK. Just to make people there happier, VAT goes up to 20% from 1st January. Oh; and beer here works out at about 70p a pint if you buy a box of 12 bottles. Over 3 quid a pint now in most British pubs!

Never buy a paper because all the news I need is on the internet. Pal gave me a Bangkok Post last week and I thought it was full of rubbish I don't want to read and adverts for everything I don't want to buy. In short; do we really NEED an English paper in Chiang Mai?

Plenty of good deals on nice beds in Lamphun. They will often give you free bedding as well as free delivery. Lots of Duvet's available at Warrarot Market but the smaller , thinner types than we are used to in the West.

You are a good candidate to be a recipient of collateral damage if thats the kind of people you hang around with. Those who carry firearms are probably a menace to all within range and those with knives put you in a similar position, when they pull a knife on a gun toting dude.

Do you know any Thais?

Even my wife carries a big flick knife!

Her papa walks around Bangkok with a S&W .357 magnum, loaded with hollow points all the time. Carries it in a little clutch bag.

I know plenty of Thai's and they do not walk the streets 'tooled up' as it seems your friends and family do. Slapout was right; you do hang around with the wrong kind of people....or perhaps you watch too many violent movies? Either way, it's not a healthy lifestyle.

Yes,

Last time I went , a few weeks ago, AON were not charging.

There is one branch at Tesco Lotus Hang Dong and there must be others around.

Used Aeon in Tesco yesterday and no fee. I am told there is another Aeon somewhere in the City but I know not where. Aeon are a Japanese bank and a young lady there told me some months ago that they will not be imposing a charge for withdrawals as it is not head office policy.

Try to remember the Red Shirts are to blame for everything that is wrong in Thailand

I thought it was the elite...

Wrong again........Farang are to blame for everything.

RIP the poor lads who have died as a result of another typical screw-up in the Land Of Screw-Ups.

I did the trip about 4 weeks ago. It was $11 or 500Bht but I think I read that they were now NOT accepting $.

Most days they are not accepting $ at all so advisable to have the 500 Baht ready. Also; they do not give change so make sure you have exactly 500 or your 1,000 Baht note will vanish before your eyes. On my last trip both the guy's in front and behind me tried to pay in $ and they got really pissed off and threatened not to let them enter Myanmar at all. A lot of heavily armed soldiers around the border that day too so maybe some big chief or the like visiting the area.