MESmith

combined with bad governance, IMHO.

But from the OP, referring to areas with burning "Officials are now keeping a close watch on these areas." No good watching if nothing is done

I'm just a bit confused about the term "Dusty".

It isn't dust, it is smoke.

See Tywais' satellite image of the fires burning right now, and you will agree.

http://www.thaivisa....50#entry5060159

Combination of the two. Dry dusty roads + traffic = dusty air. Add in all the building sites with no watering down of the dust....

And then there's all the pollution belching vehicles. So there's 3 major sources of pollution. We need rain pdq

Stone (3/4) 5 cu (1 truck load) = 2300 Bt

Sand 5 cu (1 truck) = 1700 Bt

Thanks cmsally.

Depends on how far they have to haul it to get to your location and on the quantity and quality. Stone comes in different sizes at different prices (half inch, three quarter inch ...) and river rock is another story. Sand has several different grades. Also, as you probably know a 3 cubic meter load is often less than that. I usually try to find somebody building nearby to check out their stuff and ask who they buy from and at what prices or go to a couple of places nearby that have piles of sand and stone for sale. Sorry I can't help with current prices, it has been a few years. Good luck with your project.

Thanks for that. Understand about the different grades of stone, not about the sand. Just want cheap sand, to brush into cracks in the lawn (too much clay). Stone is for driveway, not sure which stone yet. Prices do seem to have risen substantially since we last had stuff trucked in, about 5 yrs ago

While we're on the subject of getting or not getting ripped off out shopping, does anyone know current prices for truckloads (3 cubic metre) of sand & stone? My wife, not being in the building trade, is just as likely to be ripped off as anyone else "not in the know".

Do you mean sand & stone mixed together - ie like you use to fill in potholes and level dirt paths?

No, I meant separate - truck load of sand, several truck loads of stone. Been a few years since we were up to date on prices.

While we're on the subject of getting or not getting ripped off out shopping, does anyone know current prices for truckloads (3 cubic metre) of sand & stone? My wife, not being in the building trade, is just as likely to be ripped off as anyone else "not in the know".

Foreign governments should be advising their citizens to avoid Chiang Mai right now........

.....because of the smog

indeed we're in a spike today:

Or the edge of a "plateau"?

and make sure to check the dates on any topos you buy. The rolled ones at DK Books are the latest edition. The folded ones, at least as of last year, were the older edition. And quite a lot older.

Got my Topo maps at DK Books, but they did not know anything about rolled up versions. The ones I bought were folded and in plastic with a data date of 2007. Much more modern format than the ones with green covers at Suriwann Books. I am thinking I got the most recent ones and that they figured out rolled up versions are hard to deal with.

I guess when I said last year, it could've been late 2010, when they only had rolled copies.

Today seems especially bad. Tried working in the garden this morning, but gave up after a few minutes of cutting. The air just "felt wrong". eyes felt sore,

The pcd website now directs to http://aqmthai.com/ 2 sites in CM - 35t & 36t. Both showing high levels of ozone. a68 is Lamphun - showing high pm10 levels. btw this site updates throughout the day, & shows locations on googlemaps.

planning Permission? Are you serious Mr Smith!

'twas more like wishful thinking.

But hey, the XLT has auto headlamps & rain sensing wipers - very useful for folk with no arms ;-) "I want USB audio" I told the salesman - "Wildtrak has this" he replies "and voice control". "Excellent", I replied. "Does this mean I shout FASTER, & the truck speeds up? "

Forget the Wildtrak, let's just have an XLT with similar accessories (or close to) to the Thai mythical Wildtrak. I can live without roof bars, bed rails & leather seats or cruise control....

Be sure to check your battery after having your car serviced. I never bothered, but when it died, lifted the bonnet, & <deleted> is that. Different brand to the one there before

Not sure who else could've swapped it out apart from when it was in for a service....

Never left it at a car wash.

and make sure to check the dates on any topos you buy. The rolled ones at DK Books are the latest edition. The folded ones, at least as of last year, were the older edition. And quite a lot older.

Download this pdf from the Royal Thai Survey Dept. It's the index map for 1:50,000 topos

It's grim up north, eh pet?

I'm a pretty good gauge when the air is bad, because my sinuses soon kick in. Last 4 days have been horrible.

Maybe the mods could pin a "cmsally's sinuses update" thread at the top of the page ;-) Probably more reliable than the pcd site

I've seen stacks of new D-Max here in Rayong but not a single Ranger/weird Mazda.

It's the same up north. Seen quite a lot of new Dmax, but only 2 Rangers.

Maybe that's 'cos they're only for the home market, no one else wants them? Looks like most of the Rangers are being exported to Australia

Just visited the Pollution Control Departments website as the air quality seems worse today (11/02) in MaeRim (north of Chiang Mai) only to discover that they haven't put in any updates since January 31. In the past, the PCD has been a good (only) source of information. Wonder what is going on?

The air quality is probably worse and presuming it is what are you going to do about it ? Either put up with it,and none of us enjoy it, or move to the coast for the next 2 months.

Even when the site is up to date, it only shows what the air quality was...... yesterday. Look out your window, if it looks 'orrible, it probably is. Easier if you live outside of the city, where you can judge visibility, not so easy if you're low down in the centre & can't see so far. Keep your windows closed (best to do anyway, as it's hotter outside than in, so open windows only allow warm air into the house) and avoid strenuous exercise outside. Take a trip up Doi Suthep, & hike to the top of Doi Pui, & take a look at the brown filth that is the air over the city Cleaner air up there, & cooler. Last couple of days have looked horrible - but that might be just humidity, haze, or pollution. Not easy to tell, just assume the worst.

How much is a speeding ticket in the US, when you drive with 200kmh?

So the fines go towards subsidizing new car prices? Interesting.....

You mean like the Big C Hang Dong disaster, with people coming out of the Big C parking lot and immediately wanting to do a right turn or even a U turn..

Yes, winnie, all it needs is a U-turn created in the ring road (and not the present 2km slog), so that CM bound trafic could exit onto that and not the HangDong Rd, doing a right turn then at the traffic lights without causing the present chaos.

And make the likes of Big C, Home pro pay for said construction as a requirement for planning permission.

if you mean the location on the Superhighway / Doi Saket road diagonally opposite the juvenile court - yes this is going to be developed into a Central Mall.

It was planned for years - construction supposed to start more than 2 years ago - but due to the political problems the project was postponed.They finished Central Festival in Chiang Rai and the one in Chiang Mai is next now.

"Located at the first set of traffic lights on Highway 11, about 4km south of BIg C, just to the east of Saraphee"

"SE of the city"

From what I've been reading, no "public Wildtraks" have been delivered. I think you'll find that was a press car, that review has been out over a month.

I'm translating Thai back to English which doesn't always work. There's issues with QC of certain parts, that's what the gossip is leading us to believe.

My apologies. But it did come up on "last 24hrs" google search. And the red plate misled me...

Off topic, perhaps, but lovely Canal Road north is suffering similar construction, which will soon, between condos and shops = constriction.

1001 to Maejo, once a better northerly escape route from town (save during rush hours), has building 4 or 5 housing projects before one drives much beyond the outer ring.

How soon, one wonders, will going anywhere in town be akin to driving from the moat, on Suthep Road, to Niebelungen-Falangland? Or BKK??

Look on the bright side - one wont have to travel far to go shopping ;-)

Looks like someone has finally got a Wildtrak