MESmith

Is this the "real" one sponsored and run by Mae Jo University? The last 2-3 years have only been a mini version where sellers rented a little space along one soi. Those "festivals" sucked IMHO. They were just a little walking street with many food sellers.

The "real" one like they used to have was massive with exhibitors from all over Thailand; many of whom graduated from MJU. I really enjoyed the festivals like they had in 2007 and 2008. Hope this is like those...

I don't know. I agree, the one last year was a disappointment. Maybe someone living in the area can let us know next week.

Runs until 10th or 11th. Wifey saw a feature on it on TV. This confirms what was reported in the wood chipper thread. I think the one they had last year was just a smaller version, as they alternate the main fair with CMU.

if your battery is almost dead, this is a fix until youv replaced it.

Problem is the battery doesn't always tell you when it's almost dead. The first signs I get the battery is on its way out, I'm not sure it would have started with the ac on. Always turn my ac off after the engine. Switch it on immediately after start up. Where I live there's no one close by to connect jumper cables to.

The ones that size are pretty expensive but there are several types of electric powered (and smaller) units around for about 7000 baht. They are about 2 - 3Kw and work well for garden waste and branches up to about 1.5 inches in diameter - a lot less noisy too.

Could you please provide more details about these, such as where they are for sale?

We built on land about 30cm above surrounding rice paddy. Footings dug into existing land level, raised house about 1m above this level. Then added fill extending about 1 - 2 metres away from the house, then sloping down to the existing land level. So most of our nearly 3 rai garden / orchard was not raised.

jaideeguy, I sent an EMS package from Chiang Mai to US on Monday, it was delivered yesterday. Package from UK arrived yesterday - took less than a week. So I guess international mail is ok. Phone bills are always late, regardless of floods in BKK.

If you head down Chiang Moi rd, on the left hand side at the first junction, there's a bamboo / rattan furniture shop selling blinds made from some kind of wood. Very thin strips. Varous sizes or made to measure. They do let light through, but are great for outside, as you can still see through them, cutting the sun out enough to sit behind. I've got some that have been in use for 8 years. If you do get them, best to replace the pull rope & add a couple more pulleys, available from Global House. They go up & down better then.....

Looks like this is the best option so far. Do yours get subjected to constant sun and rain over the year?

I have some of these on some inside windows and never thought about that option for outside. BTW it is not real wood as far as I can tell but looks good anyway

They get the sun all afternoon, all year round. They get wet if I forget to roll them up . I like them because they take the glare off, provide some shade & you can see through them. The ones I'm talking about are real wood.

If you head down Chiang Moi rd, on the left hand side at the first junction, there's a bamboo / rattan furniture shop selling blinds made from some kind of wood. Very thin strips. Varous sizes or made to measure. They do let light through, but are great for outside, as you can still see through them, cutting the sun out enough to sit behind. I've got some that have been in use for 8 years. If you do get them, best to replace the pull rope & add a couple more pulleys, available from Global House. They go up & down better then.....

I believe the shrimp are fresh water that are farmed around here too. Different areas have their regulations concerning what can be farmed as there is worry about the salt effecting the water tablets etc. And if you want to pick on the guy it's shrimp, not shrimps, just a pet peeve of mine (and no I don't have any pet shrimps named peeve!!)

I prefer prawns

many seafood, esp shrimps and some tabtim,

since when was "Tabtim" seafood?

That's why I wanted to know what our rights are in case of any funny business by the landowner. If we suspect he's digging too close, he'll soon be made aware that we have already been to see orbortor.

Just back from a visit to the orbortor. They informed us that the owner would have to get permission to excavate, & the regulations are that the distance from adjacent land must be twice the depth of the hole. Sounds reasonable, as long as it's enforced.

Stocks should replenish some time after the floods recede I guess.

Oh, yes! It hadn't really registered with me that stocks for all kinds of boats and such will be depleted right now because of high demand.

Might be some second hand ones available next year

There's a plastic product shop just before Makro on the superhighway. I think they have the plastic boats. Also a similar shop across the road, I think. There's also a shop on the southeast corner of the crossroads south of Big C, Hangdong road. I think they also had kayaks there, but not 100% sure.

And . . . . . you must also be aware (this being Thailand) to play the "Cultural-Rules" properly. Give your neighbor ("The Excavator")an opportunity to have a discussion, before you take things to a court. Because, besides being able to bribe a judge, he may also decide to hire a gun-man and then the consequences are far more grave. Give him an opportunity to "be reasonable" first ! !

Good luck with this

Wise words. No plans to go in feet first, escalating a situation that may not even arise. Just need to know where we stand in case they start excavating right up to the boundary. A couple of metres or so & there shouldn't be a problem. If the previous owner had approached us first, we'd have probably paid more per rai for some of the land adjoining ours.

That's why I need to know how we stand legally. Wifey will be off to govt offices in the morning to see what if any rights we have.

From the Civil and Commercial Code:

Section 1343. Land may not be excavated or overloaded in such manner as to endanger the stay of soil of an adjoining piece of land unless adequate measures are provided for preventing and injury.

Thank you. So it's not a physical distance as in the building laws.

Is your house close to this excavation? if so you might want to be getting a retaining wall/sheet piling to stop your property ending up in that hole. Which will fill up with water. Maybe they are starting a fish farm

House is about 70m away from that boundary, so no problems with respect to that.

Even so you could lose a lot of soil into that hole!!

That's why I need to know how we stand legally. Wifey will be off to govt offices in the morning to see what if any rights we have.

Is your house close to this excavation? if so you might want to be getting a retaining wall/sheet piling to stop your property ending up in that hole. Which will fill up with water. Maybe they are starting a fish farm

House is about 70m away from that boundary, so no problems with respect to that.

No idea legally, but bet on them going right to the marker posts

Do they intend making a lake or something?

We're out in the ricefields. I imagine it will be just abandoned & left to fill with water in the wet season, to be pumped into the rice fields during the dry season.

It's about 9 rai.

The land next to ours has been bought by someone who intends to dig out the soil to sell for fill. This will result in a very large & very deep hole. Legally, how close to our land can they dig?

Went to superhighway Makro this morning. Seemed well stocked with beer to me. My personal stocks now are 3 cases of Chang Export, 3 cases of Chang Light, & 3 cases of Chang draught. And a 5 litre box of Mont Clair. Cheers Don't understand the p1ssing contest mentality of this thread & the one in the news forum. I like the beers I like, & if someone else prefers Leo, Singh, San Miguel, Chang classic etc, up to them. Everyone's taste is different.

Bittorrents or usenet - get the best quality HD or SD programming from the country of your choice, on your computer to transfer to a thumbdrive to watch on your HD television WHEN you want to watch it Unless you want to watch sports live, this is the way to go. Gave up Truevision over a year ago. Never been happier tv-wise . David Attenborough's "Frozen Planet" tonight 1080i.

It is hardly heartening to read that the people who are in charge can make comments as inane as this.......

"Asked whether flood water was about to swamp the heart of the capital, the city governor said, "It depends on whether more water will be entering Bangkok."

He gave an honest answer.

I think it's more inane to think that anyone should really have a clue about how a 50 year flood of this magnitude should unfold. There are too many variables and that is just the way it is - an act of God that no one had prepared for.

Its not an act of god its an act of stupidity, building on flood plains cutting down trees damming water etc etc etc

No, it's a catastrophic 50 year flood. A similar Act of God would have caught everyone off guard in any country. People build on flood plains, rivers, beaches, earthquake faults, near volcanoes etc etc everywhere on the planet. Using your logic most of the world's inhabitants are stupid.

No, it's bad management of water resources. The warning signs should have been acted upon back in May & June, when excessive rainfall was filling the dams up north & insufficient release occurred.

They are also written by academics who's primary purpose is to disprove a hypothesis. That's what scientists do, and it's not always a bad thing.

Only a bad scientist would ignore results that don't favor his hypothesis.

If they worked, there would be scientific literature to support it. I'm not a bio-chemist, but I haven't been able to find a single article stating EM balls can clean waste water. Anyone find any?

EM can be added to septic tanks to help digest the cr@p.

My two questions are: (1) Where did all this <deleted> water come from...I don't recall the rainy season being any more "wet" than most other years? and (2) What happens to all this sand after the emergency passes...does it end up down the sewers and in the klongs thus filling/plugging them up and constricting the water flow so it's even worse next year?

You raise a very valid point about the sandbags and sand.

Sandbags will most likely be left out in the sun, which will break down the bag, spilling the sand to be washed into the drains.