OOTAI

3 hours ago, Thailand J said:

The slab will settle evenly under an evenly applied load. But nothing in real life is ideal. I would suggest running finger size steel rebars longitudinally at about 12" o/c to create a monolithic slab. Allow 48" overlaps at the splices. Don't forget wire mesh and expansion joints to reduce hairline cracks. The slab should be 5" min thickness. 

 

My license to practice structural engineering in the state of Florida expired in 2008. This is a low risk project does not need an engineer.

 

 

 

Here's what I said in post#39 with Thailand J's recommendations in RED

Now having said all that I personally would build the slab on top of the uncompacted (because it would be cheaper) fill you have placed BUT with the following proviso's.

Make the slab at least 150mm 5" min(125mm) thick.

use strong rebar (20mm dia. finger size) which is closely spaced (no more than 300mm apart 12" o/c) and located nor more than 50mm from the bottom of the slab so that would mean it would have 30mm of concrete under it. This should provide sufficient tensile strength to the slab to stop any buckling which may want to occur if the soil settles unevenly. 

the tanks are all connected before any water is added to enable them to fill evenly so the load from the slab is evenly placed onto the fill.

So there you have the opinions of 2 Engineers saying almost the same thing. The main thing to take out of Thailand J's reply is the comment at the end that this is a low risk project and does not need an Engineer.

MJCM

While I am an Engineer this is not exactly my area of expertise but I will give you my opinion anyway because that what forum's are for people to express opinions not necessarily to provide expert advice.

Anyway I think you best option would be to do as you have suggested and that is dig a hole down to the original soil surface and place your slab on top of that soil. As Cake Monster has just suggested make you slab 1m wider than your tanks to allow access all around. When making the slab use good rebar, I would suggest at least 10mm, reinforcing not the <deleted> wire mesh that they usually use this will ensure that even if the slab does develop minor cracks it will not break up.  If possible arrange your trench so the longest dimension is going downhill (based on the original ground surface) that way you should be able to install some simple drainage to ensure it doesn't fill up. A point to be aware of is how are you going to maintain the sidewalls of the "trench". I personally would build a retaining wall along the sides at least 800mm high if the trench is going to be 1.2m deep.

Now having said all that I personally would build the slab on top of the uncompacted (because it would be cheaper) fill you have placed BUT with the following proviso's.

• Make the slab at least 150mm thick.
• use strong rebar (20mm dia.) which is closely spaced (no more than 300mm apart) and located nor more than 50mm from the bottom of the slab so that would mean it would have 30mm of concrete under it. This should provide sufficient tensile strength to the slab to stop any buckling which may want to occur if the soil settles unevenly. 
• the tanks are all connected before any water is added to enable them to fill evenly so the load from the slab is evenly placed onto the fill.

The reason I have said that the first is perhaps the best solution is that as your wife says it allows you to somewhat hide the tanks if you think that would be a good idea.

Bevup

Yes we did the PR while in Australia but it was nearly 17 years ago so I am sure things are different now.

However it was simple as we were not married when my future wife came to Australia on a fiancée visa. So once we married (in Australia) it was just the next step in the process.

Fiancée Visa to Temporary Residency to Permanent Residency.

• Fiancée Visa was applied for in Bangkok and took nearly a year to be approved. We had 9 months to get married once she arrived in Australia.
• Temporary Residency followed on after marriage took place
• Permanent Residency followed after 2 years of Temporary Residency

I am not sure how it works if you are already married.

silvermane

All I can say is "bloody bewty", well done hope everything goes well for you both.

Because I have never been someone who says little I also want to say that I think you hit the solution on the head in that you put you supporting evidence in a coherent timeline that could be read easily.

I am reminded of the time I applied for my wife's permanent residency in Australia and they wrote back to me and said that I had failed to provide this and this and this. I called the case officer and asked have you really read this bit or this bit or this bit as the answers to all your questions are there you just need to read a bit more closely.

The residency was granted the very next day with no further information provided by me.

So the lessons to be learned by anyone else going down this path is persistence as they will quite often test your resolve by refusals but if you persist they start to understand you are serious and grant your request.

15 minutes ago, transam said:

Put your paid for stuff back in the trolley, when you get outside, or in a clear space, transfer into your own bags....????

I thought they had stopped offering bags not service as well.

If I'm holding up their customers they can assist me by offering a service to help me i.e. they can put the stuff back into my trolley not on the shelf next to the register after scanning where I have to get it for my self.

It is of no concern to me if their customers get held up and therefore upset, I hope they go away and shop somewhere else to perfectly honest.

2 hours ago, farangUSA said:

Yeah no doubt the cashier appreciates the break but there is only so much 'jai yen yen" or the ability for those in line not to pass on the frustration from the slow down in the check out process.  We are being conditioned to load our own bags but in the past the checkout people did that. Jobs are lost and you are in effect then an unpaid employee violating the terms of your visa/extention.  Oh for the folks that are having problems with the way the bag is packed I can sympathize with you. Maybe leaving the fragile items until the end to be packed last will help. 

Sorry if English is not your first language as you obviously didn't pick up on the fact that I was being sarcastic.

As for "working" then by your stupid definition I am breaching my Visa when I put the stuff into the trolley.

The reason I take my time IS because I am jacked off about them not helping me pack my stuff into the bags they just try and quickly move all your stuff through the scanner and then stack on top of itself on the other side while I am still "working" getting my stuff out of the trolley. Maybe where you shop they have both a cashier AND a packer but where I go they are the same person so no jobs are lost.

My main gripe is not that they stopped using bags but they happened yet learned to ask if I have any bags before they just start pushing stuff through the scanner. If they asked I would give them the bags and then I would hope that they would use them and stack my purchases into them making it easier for me to not have to "work" to get the stuff back into my trolley. Stick your "jai yen yen". 

When I go to our local Tesco Lotus I always have some plastic bags folded up in my shoulder manbag and when I get to the checkout I just let them scan stuff through while I unpack my trolley.  Once its all out I move onto putting back into my trolley if its big or a large hard item any smaller stuff I take a bag and pack it myself.  All this time the check out person is getting agitated because she is waiting for me to pay but I dither and keep packing until I have finished then I turn my attention to paying the bill.

If I don't make them wait they start stacking the next customer stuff on top of mine. The checkout people are under the pump from the boss to be quick so I think I am helping them get a short rest the poor things.

Anyway if they think they are helping the environment then they must be because the government tells them so.

Andrew

Believe me I feel for you as I/we have the same problem here at our place. Luckily for us the leak location is obvious as the water comes up from the floor. It is in our ensuite bathroom and not far from a drain hole so if the pump is left on there is not any risk of a flood or damage. So in typical Thai fashion my wife has decided that we don't need to spend any money ripping up the tiles and fixing the leak instead we just go outside the bedroom door and use the switch for the pump in the main electrical box. Problem is I just about always forget to turn it off after I have used it so she is often yelling at me "bit nam" and I yell back "f***ing fix it". 

Anyway our house was built 10 years ago and the leak has been around for about 5 years (no wonder I get cranky) so that would be about the same time as yours started i.e. 5 years after building. I believe the leak has resulted from minor settling of the house causing a minor fracture in the blue PVC pipe we used and which was run under the tiles in the 2inch thick grout/cement they use to lay tiles on.

So the solution would have been to use heavier duty PVC as someone on here has suggested or as a mate of mine did when he built his house run your supply line inside a bigger diameter protection pipe. Then the outside bigger pipe could fracture but still protect the inside supply line. In hindsight we should have run a pipe to each location in the bathroom directly up from underneath through the floor. Our house is not quite a metre off the ground.

In my opinion you are doing all the right things to eliminate areas and narrow down the location of the leak unfortunately in your case there is no simple solution just keep going until you find it.   In the meantime just switch off the pump at night so you can sleep.

Silvermane

I suppose you had no better choice than "Uncle" but it would take some explaining to try and change it to fiancée now.

As it has so long since I dealt with the Embassy I have no more suggestions except to say your only choice would to be there in person and ask for more detail then.

Good luck

Silvermane

I really think the rejection is based on nothing at all and is them testing your resolve, unfortunately it costs every time you apply but if you keep coming back they eventually realise you are genuine.

I would reapply but make a very concerted effort to address the statement I have pasted below.

The main point I take from that is the bit I have highlighted in red. 

Really push the point that while she may not have a great monetary reward (financial) to return to she does have her children (personal commitments) and she has returned 3 times already. Explain that she has changed jobs since the last time she was granted a Visa and maybe say why she changed (strong employment).

And as Aussiebob18 say she is now your Fiancée and explain that you would love to spend more time together but with her commitments at home and yours in Australia it only leaves a small window of opportunity for you to visit Thailand and for her to visit Australia.

Just keep going and they eventually run out of excuses if you specifically address their <deleted> every time, don't give up or they win the pricks.

Accordingly I am not satisfied that you intend only a genuine visit to Australia.
On balance, I find that you have failed to adequately demonstrate strong employment,
financial and other personal commitments that may support the likelihood of your compliance
with the conditions attached to the visa and your return home at the end of your proposed
stay in Australia.
I therefore find that you do not satisfy the requirements of clause 600.211 in Schedule 2 of
the Regulations. As you do not satisfy clause 600.211, I have not assessed your application
against the remaining criteria for this subclass of visa

You don't say how serious your relationship is or whether you intend to maybe take it further but if you were going to go down that road then you could apply for a fiancée Visa, I think they could it proposed spouse visa or something like that now. Anyway that's the way we went and that visa took nearly 12 months to be approved. However while that was pending they did grant my wife (GF then) a tourist visa in the interim waiting period. Unfortunately for you I think they are making it harder and harder nowadays.

Anyway good luck and let us know what happens.

Silvermane

I don't know if things have changed a lot since I first got a tourist visa for my then girlfriend to visit with me in Australia but here's what I did. It was almost 20 years ago though so might not be true for today.

My GF made an application in person at the Embassy in Bangkok, I was home is Aussie.

It was rejected because we didn't have enough documentary evidence at that time, so we gathered it all up and she applied again, rejected again. So this time I phoned the Embassy from Australia. I think there must have been the name of a person on the rejection letter but not sure now. Anyway I talked to this lady at the Embassy and she was very helpful in explaining everything. She told me some amazing stories about what some people do, for example 1 guy wanted visa's for his GF and her kids to visit him so 4 people all up and how was he going to support them, easy he was on the dole.  So I then understood why they initially reject applications and seek more info.

In the end armed with everything I needed (as told by my lady friend at the Embassy) I flew to Bangkok and when to the Embassy with my GF (now wife) and we were in and out in less than 10 minutes with the Visa for her approved.

She reckoned it was because I was there that they approved it, but it was the ground work done beforehand that sealed the deal.

So my advice to you is to not give up and to seek out further information i.e. more details behind the <deleted> they write in the rejection letter as that is a standard response. Once you have got all the personal detailed requirements apply again.

As an aside My GF came to Australia 2 times on Tourist Visas and then on a Fiancée Visa and then got temporary residency after we were married in Australia, then after 2 years permanent residency.

And every time we had to provide heaps of documentary evidence and they questioned it all every time.

Tondidi

In the post above morphem summed it up very well and I agree with him that Eucalyptus trees would be the way to go.

As for "tagoo" we have/had some here and I don't like them, they have a large canopy so can't be planted closely spaced. They also have a tendency to have their branches fall off in a strong wind, I have cut down most of ours for this reason as they are in an area close to where we spend our time and one branch could do a lot of damage to a person. The timber I found to be almost useless as it was very soft. Also found that the white ants love building their nests up the trunks.

As for the main argument against Eucalyptus trees that they damage the soil that is a load of <deleted>. They have a large and long tap root which they needed in the dry country they come from i.e. Australia so they do tend to lower the water table in areas that they are planted. If their leaves are left on the ground then not much will grow there as the leaves contain, believe it or not, eucalyptus oil which stops other things from growing. They, the leaves, also burn very well so be careful of out of control fires if they are left for a long time to build up.

If you harvest the trees after 6 or so years and let them regrow you would need to cut most of the regrown suckers of or you will get many skinny little trees second time around.

Once you have finished with them the hardest job is removing the stumps because of the long tap root. We have use of 8 rai that previously had them growing on it and it cost us TB14,000 to hire a large Excavator to dig them out.

We have now successfully grown cassava on the land for the past 10 years so the Eucalyptus trees do not do any long term damage to the soil.

I hate the trees but believe they would be the best choice for what you want, good luck and let us know what you eventually do.

1 hour ago, Kiwi Jacko said:

Thanks for your responses everyone. I will take on board the advice on dealing with (or avoiding) the traps & difficulties with Thai in-laws. In terms of supporting the family the suggestions to provide some cash to help with expenses is probably the best way to go about it and we will continue doing that.

That said I’d still really like utilise our land for something productive, even as a medium term project which may become useful down the track (maybe planting trees for fruit or even for timber). Even if its not a great income I’m sure going to need a project if I’m going to spend a lot of time here in the future so maybe that’s a better way to look at it. Farm land in Thailand has some value so surely it cannot be completely useless. There must be some ideas out there on how I can put 20 Rai of land with water, electricity and road access to some use. 

Kiwi Jacko

If you decide to provide some cash to help with expenses for growing rice or something else make sure you make it very clear that you are giving a set amount and not a commitment to fund all their future schemes because there will be many I can assure you.

As for putting the land to some use it really depends on your plans regarding when you think you will be there full time. I would suggest planting a whole lot of fruit trees of various types but only do that a few years before you are there full time. I have seen it happen too often that the enthusiasm will wear off very quickly for the Thai family if there is no cash flow to provide instant gratification for any labour input. So the trees that you plant will most likely not be fertilised, at least not as you would do it. They may be watered but again not like you would and as for pruning I have never seen a Thai prune a fruit tree they just harvest any fruit it produces. I always have to remind myself that these people are not all that far removed from subsistence living and really don't think of the longer term benefits to be gained from working hard today. That is Thai culture out here in the sticks.

So whatever you decide to do, do it with the timing of your retirement to live there as the basis for all the decisions.

Whatever you do provide I think will be appreciated.  I asked my sister in law one day if the family's life had improved since I came on the scene. She said yes it had but when asked how your reply surprised me. She reckoned one of the biggest things was having access to a car (ours) to take them or their kids to hospital if they got sick. So don't make the mistake of trying to do things the way you would in your home country they may not work here.

Good luck

The best way to change people's behaviour is to give the problem i.e. burnt straw a value then they won't burn it.

I see this happening in that there are many balers being used around here to bale the straw up into bales which can be then sold. The straw is used for cattle feed, even though it has very little if any nutritional value or like I use it for mulch on my garden.

Having ploughed paddies with unburnt straw on them it can be an issue as the straw collects in big clumps and blocks the plough. This then requires the driver to stop and clear the plough. If the majority of the straw is baled then it is quite easy to plough the stubble left into the ground which indeed should help with improving the soil.

The way things are done here are slowly changing.

In my time here I have seen them go from hand planting seedlings to now casting seed by hand, from hand cutting the rice to using mechanical harvesters and moving from small paddies to expended large paddies.

LukKrueng

I would be the same, I didn't realise where you were. I obviously didn't pay enough attention to the first couple of posts.

9 hours ago, 473geo said:

Hello Kickstart 

Good looking dairy cattle - is the rain gun power take off driven?

473geo

I don't know exactly but at a guess there are 2 ways it could move:

1. Get pushed or towed into position, or:

2. be powered by the water being pumped through it which would drive a motor in the wheel/s

I would love to have one but I couldn't justify 190,000

LukKrueng

Now that you have shown what you need in more detail I believe that Ruangsangthai will have something that would suit your needs. I was in Buriram yesterday and went there to look at something else but noticed they have quite an extensive range of tiller/cultivators. Their contact I posted in post #7 above.

If you don't want to buy something new then as I also suggested above have a look at the website for JSSR auctions they sell lots of what they call "hand tractors" at their monthly auctions.

When I did my first application they paid a visit to our house and while they didn't ask for any money my wife gave them some to buy their dinner on the way home. If they cam e from Buriram its about 70km trip so I don't you could begrudge them asking for a little gasoline money.

Anyway I think you probably have 3 options.

1. Pay them the 2000

2. Pay them and ask for receipt

3. Refuse to pay, but this option depends on how badly you want to get your Visa.

Quote: CLW

But those machines in the pictures are all with open blades.

They leave a rather rough soil structure.

Why is it so hard to find machines which the OP posted at his initial posting?

Quote.

CLW I am not sure what you mean by "They leave a rather rough soil structure".

The OP asked about an "earth Tiller Cultivator"

I call what I posted a picture of in post#7 a "tilling machine" and what you posted in post#8 a "cultivator"

So I suppose he got the best of both. My explanation why it might be hard to find a cultivator is because here in Thailand there are numerous very small tractor that had rotary cultivator attachments that they use instead of the hand "tractor" cultivator.

If the OP wants a cheap second hand cultivator then I would suggest visiting the website of JSSR Auctions they have many of these for sale at their auctions in Bangkok every month.

In regards to me I also have a cultivator that I tried before I bought my tilling machine but I found it was too difficult to use in my more confined spaces and as it doesn't have a "shroud" over the back of the rotary it threw soil everywhere so I went with the tiller.  I did actually borrow a friends tiller and tried it before I bought my own.

Here's a picture of the cultivator I trialled in belongs to a Thai guy who is a friend of my wife so I don't know where he bought it. It is called "Hercules".

Can anybody tell me exactly what rank/position the guys father held in the Police force?

I really don't give a toss about the story except I would like to find out how high your daddy has to be to get away with murder.