turgid

Saw an earlier post about a leaking office chair hydraulic cylinder. You can buy new cylinders on Lazada. Knock the old one out, put the new one in. Typically all  standard office chairs come with a short or medium cylinder in Thailand.  You can order a long one. The cylinder on my chair from homepro went in 9 months. The taller replacement has worked for 4 years and I'd tower over the minions if I had any.

Same experience. Moved Province. Had to cancel in P1 and start new contract in P2. Don't you love territory commission structures? Old deposit would take 60 days to refund. Said i'd sign new contract when i got deposit back - never did. In the end had to do angry falang fuss in the shop to get paid. Never used them since.

 

However was told this week that premiere league will be 285 Baht per month on their App. If that turns out to be true and i can share to a TV will probably use it.

Utopia - UK channel 4 series that is currently being remade for Amazon.     Conspiracy Apocalypse if thats your thing.

Lasted 2 seasons in the UK - i think C4 lost their nerve. 

Watch the UK one first.   I doubt Amazon will be as brave with the subject matter.

I took one with LivingDNA which was the only company I could find that ships to Thailand. It was US$80 + $20 shipping I believe.  

I ordered in March - the shipping turnaround was about 3 weeks and they told me i'd get the results in August. Actually came the end of June.   I've been doing some family tree research and am back to 1800 on all branches. The LDNA results are in line with what i see on the tree.  Its hasn't  told me anything new though. 

They oversell  and underdeliver in my opinion.       Their family matching thing  hasn't delivered anything so far    The report was pretty basic, their website is thin and support is slow and poor .    I believed i'd ordered the Ancestry with Father/Motherline extra - they claim i didn't but instead of offering proof,  or to upsell it to me closed the case. 

   

The most interesting use I've got from the DNA  file is uploading it to Gedmatch   where they have a bunch of researchers looking at different ways to analyse the data . You can upload for free and get reports on possible relative matches either for free and various  family history reports for free or nominal sums.   

I believe All DNA testing is currently US/European centric because its part science and part data analysis and its all westerners in the  databases.    

I do however believe that companies offering to match your DNA to your starsign or romantic partner are WuWu nonsense. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ive been looking for a new high end 65" TV so some  of observations. There are 3 components to current high end TVs Screen, Usability, Sound.   This is all 4K i cant see why anyone would buy an 8K TV currently there is no content.

 

Screen

OLED is without a doubt the best picture currently.   Regardless of brand all TV OLED displays  are currently made by LG. OLEDS are like tiny lightbulbs , when you turn them off they are totally black. Low power consumption and viewing angle is excellent. However screen burn is real and a real  problem. 2100 hours of fixed content will burn in. Thats two hours a day of a CNN or Amarin logo for 3 years. 

Note:  The big electrical stores are currently clearing out demo 2018 OLED TVs for half price.   Thats still 50-80,000 Baht Just remember they've been on 12 hours a day for 365 days playing the same content. Thats 4,400 hours.    

 

There is a 1 year burn in  test of OLED here

 

OLED Burn in test

 

LG's screen warranty on high end TVs is 3 years, Samsung is lifetime against burn in   - i wonder why.    

 

Samsung have QLED a word which looks like but has nothing to do with OLED.  It is a modified LCD. The quality is very nice and its about 30% cheaper in Thailand for the same size  QLED over OLED . They are the same price in USA after discount. QLED  doesn't show blacks quite as well but once you get past that its a really nice picture. Its also brighter than OLED  if you have in a bright office or sunny room. Viewing angle not as good as OLED but fine in normal viewing situations.

 

LG Nano cell is a rebrand of their IPS technology . They claim  its equivalent to Samsungs QLED but i dont think it looks quite as good and it should be cheaper than it is.  However IPS viewing angle is better than Samsung QLED and it probably wont burn in a logo. 

 

The AI is mostly about local array dimming. OLED generates light.  QLED and IPS are LCD  like slides or transparencies  in that they switch colour but you need a light behind them to shine through. Like in an old  power point slide,  black shows up as dark grey because its got a big light behind it. Its also why the TV is fat  its got a big light behind the LCD.

Old TV's , and cheap current ones,  use an on all the time  light source.  Expensive AI TV's use an array of LED lights and turn them on and off if that part of the screen needs to be black. 

 

Useablity/ OS

If you plan to play streaming services or watch "ahem" downloaded movies on the TV - LG is the way to go. Samsungs Tizen OS wont play sound on a lot of content and video on some content. I sent a Samsung QLED back because of this - it wouldn't stream UK TV. .  Also LG with its wand mouse  approach is much easier to enter passwords, select things etc. If you use a separate media player or cable box you wont care.  None of these TVs have microphones or cameras in them. They do have a mic in the remote - you push a button on if you want to use voice. I've tried Samsungs TV bixby voice and its a waste of time    

 

Sound 

With its OLED TV LG makes a big  deal about how slim they are . This means the speakers are tiny and the sound is awful. Frankly charging 130,000 Baht for a TV i'd expect a soundbar to be included.   On that subject based on reviews and my own testing Samsung sound bars seem to be much better than LG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Estrada said:

I had this problem once. Flew to Singapore for a meeting in the airport transit area with a friends transiting through Singapore Airport. Neither of us entered Singapore but I exited Thailand. They gave my agro at Immigration because they said I must enter the other country. (Thai logic). I remember years ago a friend used to go to a border crossing, get stamped out and then go to the the end of the building and get stamped back in again. It seems like there are people still using this system. I do not believe that there is anything in the regulations that stated you have to enter another country after receiving an exit stamp.

I did it on the Cambodian border when we couldn't meet the extortion "administration" fees and document surrender  for driving the car into  Cambodia which appeared to be based on the assumption we couldn't go back.  We were heavily grilled on return to make sure we weren't trying to cheat the visa system and asked if we'd purchased duty free.  The thing that seemed to frustrate  the Thai side the most was the computer wasn't to set up to allow Thailand  as both arrival and destination and the solution was to  cancel the exit in the end.   I felt we were dealt with reasonably on  the Thai side although it  took a hour to process. 

 

In Singapore  you will be fined if you pass through passport control and don't leave the Country without a very good excuse. It was a thing for a while where kids were not buying a ticket or  buying the cheapest ticket possible to mob  pop stars inside and grabbing a bit of duty free on the way out. I think the fine is  S$1000.

I've had a couple of Nissan dealer body shop repairs and been disappointed - I suspect they outsource the repair because it always takes a long time. First one paint  peeled after 6 months and some filler fell out on the last one. And they charge premium rates. 

Anyone used a body shop in the Eastern Bangkok / Samut Prakan  area they can recommend ?   

I know this is a Bangkok thread but living in Samut Prakan this is how it practically works for me.

 

I come back into the country and at the airport get a new TM6 form/number linked to  my passport and visa.

Visit Samut Prakan immigration the next working day.

Sit there for between 10 minutes and 2 hours depending on workload.

Person looks me up online and asks me if i still live at same address. First time owner came in person since then checked by phone once.

Enters or checks new TM6 number (not certain but seems like in SP at least they can already see the TM6 against passport).

Stamps my receipt of notification todays date  and staples it back in my passport .

Staples a warning  paper that I must report within 90 days.

I take photo of new TM6 number, immigration stamp and notification receipt date.

Send those details via Line to owner who does online reporting.

 

I have done some hotel stays in Thailand. Immigration said the hotels do online reporting against passport and TM6. If you don't leave the country the TM6 number doesn't change - you don't have to report again when you come home  provided you are staying in the same permanent place and your 90 days have not elapsed.    Whether this is law or Samut Prakan implementation I don't know.

 

At first we thought just the owner needed to report but they told her I had to get the receipt stamped as well.

Neither I or my owner have ever been fined and i've done six overseas trips and 3 hotel stays since this started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does the offense of manslaughter exist in the Thai legal system?

Murder is about intent

Manslaughter is not caring about the consequences which seems a better fit here.

 

More people die from apathy than intent but it's important to separate them out.   Intent tends to be individual, apathy is societal.

 

My prediction - Yes vote today -  pound will rise. Business likes certainty.  UK Shares based on international currencies (miners, oil - most of the FT 100) will fall. Stuff like BT with revenues in UKP  might  rise.

 

No vote - more chaos and uncertainty.

Guy on Sky News just pointed out that its impossible and irrelevant  to vote against or exclude no deal. The very definition of No Deal is no deal .

EU have said deal or no deal  has to be in place by 24th May otherwise the 2019  EU elections will throw a spanner in the works as any deal would have to be ratified by the new representatives.  Interesting times.  

 

 

Just had  a day of sulking on this myself because i wanted to buy a deep well pump and they wanted me to buy a Hitachi but while its fresh a couple of points that might help people new to wells or Thailand/Laos wells . This is Laos but i suspect rural Thailand is the same.

 

For definition purposes: 

A Thai/Laos water well is a deep hole drilled in the ground with a sealed PVC pipe inserted.

The bottom of the inserted PVC pipe is the depth of the Well.

If the PVC pipe is properly sealed water can only enter at the bottom of the Well.  Water will fill the Well to the upper water level. 

The water is only as good as the lowest sealed point in the well. So if the top is open and your dog has good aim - guess what.

 

1: A big shiny yellow Hitachi pump in the garden delivers more status to the neighbours than a deep well pump with a boring blue pipe coming out. Remember this over all other things

 

2: There is major  confusion about the different depths quoted by everyone with an opinion.   Here are some questions with our answers.

 

A:  How deep is the  water

For the hole we just drilled they hit water at 7 metres.

 

B: How deep is clean water

Local village consensus in Southern Laos  is now that holes should be 40 Metres deep (see 2C).

United Nations advice is that water source should be at least 30M away from pollutants sewage etc.

In our case several toilet soak aways, pigs, dogs and  chickens  are in or near the garden so I'd said as deep as possible but we're at  40M.

 

C : How deep can you drill

This is the big one. My guess is at some point in the past someone bought a job lot of drilling rigs and sold them in South East Asia . So there are lots of guys running around with a drilling machine on a broken truck that will drill up to 40M very cheaply.

That's a skinny drill which wont allow many brands of deep well pump. 

I asked 4 drillers in  Southern Laos. Drilling 40M was between 3,000 and 6,000 Baht. Bloke up the road drilled 40M for 3,000 Baht.

But in Laos at least If you want to go over 40M then you have to get a specialist in. That is 60,000-80,000 Baht for 40M - 100M.  The only person doing this they knew of was the ice guy.   Personally I thought that was a good reference.

 

D :At what depths will your pump technology work

i) Basic straight top sucking pump 8 metres . That's either physics or god depending on your belief system. First proved by James Watt who blew up a lot of steam engines trying to pump water out of deep coal mines.

ii) Parallel jet 30 Metres. Still not really sure how they work but as mentioned above they seem to pump water down to get water up. If you look in the garden of rural houses or hotels and you  see a blue pipe with two pipes in it they are using PJ up to a maximum of 30 Metres .

iii) Deep well pumps - up to 150M depending on brand and power consumption. You put it near the bottom of the well and they just pump up.

 

E: How much reserve do you want in the well.

In our case the water is coming from 40 Metres deep and if left alone today will  rise to 7 Metres below ground level in the well.

So if you shove a pipe down the well and pump.

At 40 metres you will be pumping sediment and submerged  cigarette ends dropped down the pipe by the workers. 

At 8 metres you will only have a metre of water  above in the pipe. It  will quickly  pump dry ingesting floating cigarette ends as it goes.

It seems prudent to be a few metres above the bottom to avoid sediment but as low as your pump technology will allow to give the maximum reserve.

 

In our case with a parallel jet pump we will pump from 28 metres which will give about 21 metres of water reserve in the pipe on a good day .   

 

Most people in the local area seem to be doing 30 M wells with 20-25M locally branded parallel jet pumps. I asked the driller about deep well pumps  (via a translator) and he said people wont buy the expensive ones. The cheap Chinese ones fail really quickly so contractors don't want to use them because they get called back to dig them out.  Plus pragmatically throwing an electric wire down a well seems like a bad idea to people who regularly get shocked by crappy electric wires .  Plus see point 1. 

 

This is only the well part. Above ground tank, shower pump etc yet to be done.

 

 

The pump is being installed in Laos so Laos customs is the issue not Thai customs.

 

I was hoping in this era of Asean Thai Watsadu might be able to ship across the Mekong into Laos but they laughed when i asked about it. Also had no idea what a jet pump is

 

The reservoir mentioned is the height of the water above the pump in the well "pipe". One of the videos makes reference to the fact that pumping capacity can temporaily exceed the inflow into the well and you have no real way to know  that without running a year round test well.  Putting the pump several metres below the water line prevents the pump running dry.

For a surface pump 8 metres is the absolute maximum at Sea Level as i understand it. 7 metres allows a bit for raising the pump above ground level and wear.

 

16% will do what they are told, 68% need to see everyone else do it before they will, 16% need real pain to understand.  This is why Singapore is always harsh on the first offenders after they change the law.

 

Park your vehicle in that field .

Go get a license / crash helmet.

Come back when you have one.   

 

I know of people who are paying more in "fines" each year than the cost of fixing the problem once. There is a network of people calling each other to let them know where the police checkpoints are in the morning. They need a nudge to change behaviour. 

People are basically lazy. Conformance needs to be easier than non conformance.

 

Thanks for all the responses.  I didn't understand deep well jet pumps before .

This video may be useful to others understanding the technology.

 

So I have gleaned.

-  Shallow well jet pumps - if the water level never drops below     7 metres

-  Deep well jet pump       - if the water level never drops below   40 Metres

-  Submersibles up to 100 Metres

12 Litres of water reservoir per metre of pipe below the water level . 

We'll probably go submersible if i can get one  past customs, translation, consensus decision making, the local driller. 

 

This video also good although based on US measures and expertise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helping a friend with a house renovation in Laos and one of the things that needs to be replaced is the water well and pump.

As I understand it currently they drill a hole 40 Metres deeps and then put a 40M,  6CM dia UPVC pipe in the hole which fills from the bottom and makes a skinny well.  Surface pumps can't suck more than 10 metres vertically  in ideal conditions.  So put a smaller bore UPVC in the well, seal the top and surface pump the water out into a tank either at ground level or on a tower.    Then either gravity feed or pump the water into the house.  So you are consuming 40 Metre "quality" water pumped from 5 metres assuming the pipe isn't cracked and there is no contamination from the top.   

 

A lot of this stuff seems to be done because they've always done it that way.  Are there best practices ?   I assume the conditions are similar in Issan. Anyone have any experience tips guidance on this. Is 40M enough ?  I've seen some UN guidelines that says a water should be a minimum 30 metres away from contaminants so that may be the reason for 40M given the animal and human waste on the surface.    Is there any advantage to using a submersible pump at the bottom instead of a surface pump? They solve the suck problem and I've seen them in Thai Watsadu but haven't seen anyone using them.  

Just came back from a 4 day trip in Laos. I'd agreed with my Condo owner she'd do the reporting as it is the owners responsibility and they were told they could do it easily on line. As I crossed the border on Sunday  I sent her copies of the passport stamps and TM6.  She could not make the online system work so took time off work and went to immigration Tuesday  and did it there. But they told her I had to also go to get the "receipt of notification" stamped and signed with a new date. No part of the process has this as a requirement but yes I had to do it. So I queued for two hours today and we repeated what she did yesterday. Officially we were late even though we worked hard not to be. 

 

I'll have to go again next week after another trip.  It's clear that everyone involved thinks this is insane.  The Samut Prakan office has been redesigned to deal with a bunch of non fee earning paper work. There were 300 people notifying addresses  according to the ticket numbers today.  The person I travelled with lives 200 metres away in Bangkok. No notification required. My lease is up in January I may just move 200 metres. 

 

They have my address on a TM6, Visa extension, multiple reentry permit, condo lease , owner notification, bank account, car registration, insurance, phone registration, 2 x driving license.  Cant trust any of those so lets add another stamp on a form.

   

The pragmatic answer to the problem they are trying to solve is to get everyone to do 90 day reporting regardless of travel in and out. Verify your address every 90 days and within  7 days  when you permanently change accommodation.  Do a few random checks to keep people honest. Fine and ban those who abuse the system.  

After a discussion with my condo owner following my Visa extension last week she had no idea what a TM30 was. (4 years same condo).   We both went to Samut Prakan today to do a formal TM30 and for her to understand the rules. There were a lot of Thai people doing the same - most of them were getting fined 2,000 Baht. Some people were clearly registering hostel type places with multiple pages of people and getting fined more.    She didn't get fined.

 

Some of this is translated hearsay some was told directly. It is a bit different from what I was told last week and it doesn't agree with the process I was given but here it is. I'm the alien.

 

The TM30 is mandatory in Samut Prakan. Owner will be fined if alien goes in for a 90 day report or a Visa, extension or renewal without a registered address  against  passport number / TM6 in the system. 

For long term condo rentals an initial TM30 must be registered by the owner.

Subsequent overseas trips by the alien can be reported online by the registered owner, OR a Thai passport holder if they are registered on the rental agreement OR the alien can  attend the Samut Prakan office after their trip.    Either way reporting must be within 24 hours. 

 

New rental agreements at the same address don't have to be reported with a new TM30 if the same people are on the agreement.  

They will be doing spot checks with owners. They wrote the owner phone numbers on the TM30 receipt in my passport.

 

Owner was also told that after a period of  time  alien Visas will be cancelled for those without a registered address attached to their Passport/ TM6 in the system. No idea on timeframe or implementation or whether this was just to scare me. If it's true your owner could be fined for failing to do a TM30, but you could be asked to leave the country.          

 

My owner has agreed to do my reporting  online so we're going to trial an internal and external trip in December and see how it works.

 

There are differing opinions about an internal trip in Thailand. If the Alien checks into a Thai hotel for a weekend away and therefore changes address on the computer without leaving the country does the alien  have to check back into their condo?  Seems obvious right ? The first answer was no problem. On the way out a Thai agent said yes problem. Apparently the computer record may not show the dates.  My assumption is they will look at the date closest to the TM6 date and say OK. Be aware of this if they claim your last reported check-in  date and TM6 don't match and they try and fine you. 

 

My owner did ask why now. The following may be speculation .

They've had a number of high profile blacklisted aliens turn up in unregistered dwellings. Also many "worker" dwellings don't bother registering anyone.  By fining owners they'll make it less attractive to ignore it which most owners have been doing. 

Basically enforcement of what they were always supposed to be doing.  

Primer - tiny budget time travel movie I enjoyed - plot not action.

Thief - Stars James Caan and is an early Michael Mann movie. Not sure if its cult but i've never met anyone else who has seen it and its good.

 

 

The drum bearings have gone on my 4 year old Panasonic washing machine. Its sits on the balcony so heat hasnt helped.  YouTube suggests its a serviceable item. Panasonic Thailand dont sell them as a separate kit you have to buy the whole drum at 6,000 Bht. Kits are available on the internet but its going to incur duty and be heavy and expensive to ship. Anyone know a place in Bangkok? 

 

Suplementary question in case I can't fix it.  Whats the best brand of washing machine to buy in Thailand for durability, parts, service and support?  It isn't Panasonic

Thanks  - within reason they do have money although i'd prefer to avoid the hospitals with piano players in the lobby.

If you can suggest  a doctor /  hospital would be useful.

 

 

Family friends 10 year old boy in Vientiane has developed what appears to be epilepsy over the last 5 months .  He is currently taking medication which doesn't appear to help. 

She is looking for a formal diagnosis   and i would assume a strategy for long term treatment.

Anyone have experience with Epilepsy and can recommend either in Bangkok or North East competent sympathetic resources?      

I suspect she will need support groups as much as doctors advice if such things exist here. 

I did Retirement visa extension  , re-entry permit and 90 day reporting today at Samut Prakan.

I have done 90 day reporting before but my last 90 days is based off a trip to the UK in August. I've rented  in the same condo in Samut Prakan for 4 years.

On applying for the visa extension they asked why my owner had not reported my address in August. I said probably because I don't talk to her much - I sign a one year rental agreement and I don't tell her when i travel i.  

Initially it was a bit aggressive, why wasn't i doing what everyone else did etc.    There was much discussion and several phone calls.  Then  they asked to talk to my owner which was a fairly lengthy discussion. I don't know what was said. After the discussion they gave me my visa extension  and said that it was all ok.  I didn't have to pay anything for the address reporting. I asked for clarification but they basically told me to clear off. 

 

I got the re-entry permit without issue. 

 

When i reported the 90 days they told I had no address in the computer - why not? I said i didn't know. I report every year on Visa extension, and either every time I come into Thailand or every 90 days. 

Plus the visa extension guys just told me it was all OK.     

There was again a lot of discussion and phone calls. 

I showed the rental agreement and Internet and a bank bill bill which they used to update the record.  

She gave me a piece of paper which looks like an SQL search  from a database record and said i must keep it in my passport and present every 90 days or when i return from overseas. 

The record shows my name, passport number, visa type, dates, TM6 ID,  and presumably a lookup for my address.   

So now i have to keep TM6 or receipt of notification, and database record in my passport, 

I said if i fly out and back to Singapore six times next month do i have to come to Samut Prakan and report my address  six times. She said yes.

Can i do it at the airport? No. 

Does the owner have to come ? No. Only if you change address .

 

I asked for and they gave me a copy of the rules in English. However it doesn't say this in English. As far as i read it it says the owner must notify within 24 hours of alien moving in and  being given permission for stay in Kingdom.  

I would argue that my permission is the start of the 12 month Visa extension or even the original Visa and every time i move after.  Most sensibly it would be the term of the rental agreement.  

I assume Samut Prakan are reading it as address reporting must be done somewhere within 24 hours of issuing every  TM6.

What it does do is force me to go into the Samut Prakan office at least once every 90 days which may be the purpose.

Before If i travelled a lot I used to have to get my address certified by the UK embassy for a 90 day report or car licence because they didn't hold a recent police report.

 

 I assume that Embassy certification letter will never be required again so perhaps the next announcement from the Embassies is they will no longer certify addresses as well as  incomes.