Diary of a farang in Isaan

[owl sees all]

12 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Both videos play for me Owl .

 

Leeds need a win at Millwall to regain 2nd place, should be easy ….. I think !

Can't rely on play-offs to go up. One in 4 chance. Any team can do it. Luton or Coventry last year.

[owl sees all]

14 minutes ago, degrub said:

Videos work fine on ipad using Firefox, sound too.

Thanks for that bud. I'm using Opera on Linux. I'll try Firefox right now and report back.

[owl sees all]

12 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Thanks for that bud. I'm using Opera on Linux. I'll try Firefox right now and report back.

@degrub @Andrew Dwyer

 

Works for me too using Firefox. Switched to Opera to stop the intrusive pop ups while posting.

 

Thanks.

[rexpotter]

On 11/18/2019 at 6:12 PM, owl sees all said:

Back from Nong Khai.

 

I called into the Nong Khai aquatic centre on the way back. Their fish food is too expensive for me. But I like to wander around and look at the koi carp. A Japanese jumbo koi, is - wait for it - 25K baht. They are beautiful fish but,,,.... They don't care too much for buddha at the centre. Must pay respect to the mighty koi!

 

 

While I was visiting Nong Khai i sought out a fishing place in the east of the town for a member on another thread who want's cheap and then more cheap, when he visits.

 

The party, for the old lady, is still going on. I wasn't familiar with the lady who passed away (at 97), as she had been bed-ridden for a good while and didn't get out and about so much. I saved her daughter from a nasty accident, and maybe death, about 2 umonths ago; so she owes me one.

 

Didn't go to the farm today. Just too busy all round. I'm bothered about a durian tree. Don't think it's gonna make it.

Sounds like you are trying to justify to all of us how wonderful it is, while secretly you are going bonkers up there.

[Andrew Dwyer]

16 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Can't rely on play-offs to go up. One in 4 chance. Any team can do it. Luton or Coventry last year.

Fortunes can change quickly when they are so close together, the Foxes were sitting pretty a few weeks ago but now have to fight with the others !

[owl sees all]

4 minutes ago, rexpotter said:

Sounds like you are trying to justify to all of us how wonderful it is, while secretly you are going bonkers up there.

You could be right there Rex.

 

Mrs Owl reckons that gold, handbags, ear-phones and clothing are a much better way to waste money than solar cell systems.

[GarryP]

We want to to have a water borehole drilled at the front of our house. Problem is that access is quite limited. Maybe a pickup could fit but not a 6 wheel truck, so trying to find alternatives in my area. Doesn't look that promising.   

[HighPriority]

1 hour ago, owl sees all said:

You could be right there Rex.

 

Mrs Owl reckons that gold, handbags, ear-phones and clothing are a much better way to waste money than solar cell systems.

Don’t waste your time Owl, he’s still back in 2019.

[chickenslegs]

11 minutes ago, HighPriority said:

Don’t waste your time Owl, he’s still back in 2019.

Yes, he's still on page 1. The leaning tree was still upright in those days.

[HighPriority]

2 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Yes, he's still on page 1. The leaning tree was still upright in those days.

Seems like only 5 yrs ago… 😎🤣

[it is what it is]

On 3/16/2024 at 9:00 AM, marty147 said:

 

I suspect that vehicle it is a mobile music bus that can be hired for your celebration.

Looks very similar to something I recently saw/heard at a local wedding.

They roll up to the venue and start blasting out their wares for everyone in the village to 'enjoy'.

The Thais love their bass!

The one I encountered was also bright red.

 

 

The Thais love their bass!

 

they certainly do, and their distortion, and snowstorms on their tvs

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

We want to to have a water borehole drilled at the front of our house. Problem is that access is quite limited. Maybe a pickup could fit but not a 6 wheel truck, so trying to find alternatives in my area. Doesn't look that promising.   

Post a pic Garry.

[chickenslegs]

2 hours ago, GarryP said:

We want to to have a water borehole drilled at the front of our house. Problem is that access is quite limited. Maybe a pickup could fit but not a 6 wheel truck, so trying to find alternatives in my area. Doesn't look that promising.   

When my wife had a bore hole drilled on her land near Surin, the drilling rig arrived on the back of a normal size pick-up.

I guess the size of the rig will depend on the depth of the bore and the soil/rock.

 

Not my photo, but similar to this ... and very, very rusty.

[GarryP]

55 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

When my wife had a bore hole drilled on her land near Surin, the drilling rig arrived on the back of a normal size pick-up.

I guess the size of the rig will depend on the depth of the bore and the soil/rock.

 

Not my photo, but similar to this ... and very, very rusty.

My wife jus got a quote for drilling and solar cell (35k but only one solar cell) or drilling plus electric hook up (23k). No charge if no water found. Seems a bit expensive. 

[chickenslegs]

2 hours ago, GarryP said:

My wife jus got a quote for drilling and solar cell (35k but only one solar cell) or drilling plus electric hook up (23k). No charge if no water found. Seems a bit expensive. 

If I recall correctly, the drilling (30m deep) including pipes and pump to the surface, cost 19,000 THB. Then I had to connect the water and power to the house myself and fit some valves to separate the house supply from the garden irrigation (maybe 3 or 4 thousand - plus my own hard labour). No solar (maybe later) @owl sees all could probably tell you whether your quote is reasonable.  

[owl sees all]

3 hours ago, GarryP said:

My wife jus got a quote for drilling and solar cell (35k but only one solar cell) or drilling plus electric hook up (23k). No charge if no water found. Seems a bit expensive. 

 

Having had to find out about solar systems has given me an insight into, not on what to do, but not what to do. The whole thing is a bit of a balancing act.

 

I take it Garry, that you wish to draw water from a deep well, with a DC current supplied by solar panels. And be independent of any regular water and leccy supply. Right then, certain things are musts.

 

1/ The well must actually go into a water table. It's obvious I know. But no water means no independent system.

 

2/ You will not use that much water for a home. So no need to go over the top on the equipment. But there are essentials. Can't by-pass them.

 

3/ You need a tank or something to hold the water. Then you will be able tap into it 24/7.

 

So! Assuming that you find water  - usually 6 to 10 metre down - you will need a DC pump, and a solar unit to drive it. I'll suggest that you don't get the most powerful pump. A 500/600 watt unit would be OK. To drive the pump you will need a solar set-up of between 800 and 1000 watts in total. That will be two panels. You will need a controller. Some of them are programmable. And some programmable remotely. Keep it simple. Keep the cables consistent. If the cable attached to the pump is 4mm square then the whole cable to the control box should be the same throughout.

 

Thought should be given to the mounting of the panels and the distances, to both the pump, and the controller.

 

Ask about Garry about the water. Find out if it is consistent once you get into the table. If it is, then 30 metre deep should be OK for the pump. If you hear that pumps are cutting out, due to lack of water, then you might have to go deeper; perhaps to 40 metres. BUT!! In that case a more powerful pump will be needed, and that means more panels, or at least two higher rated ones.

 

As I say; it's all a balancing act. Get the basic about the water in ya mind first. The rest is pretty straightforward.

 

One final thing. If the water is good, then it will go through your system into the house taps. If - on the other hand - the quality is not as good as hoped for, then a filtering i=unit should be considered also.

 

Good luck. Keep in touch with it all.

[GarryP]

20 hours ago, owl sees all said:

 

Having had to find out about solar systems has given me an insight into, not on what to do, but not what to do. The whole thing is a bit of a balancing act.

 

I take it Garry, that you wish to draw water from a deep well, with a DC current supplied by solar panels. And be independent of any regular water and leccy supply. Right then, certain things are musts.

 

1/ The well must actually go into a water table. It's obvious I know. But no water means no independent system.

 

2/ You will not use that much water for a home. So no need to go over the top on the equipment. But there are essentials. Can't by-pass them.

 

3/ You need a tank or something to hold the water. Then you will be able tap into it 24/7.

 

So! Assuming that you find water  - usually 6 to 10 metre down - you will need a DC pump, and a solar unit to drive it. I'll suggest that you don't get the most powerful pump. A 500/600 watt unit would be OK. To drive the pump you will need a solar set-up of between 800 and 1000 watts in total. That will be two panels. You will need a controller. Some of them are programmable. And some programmable remotely. Keep it simple. Keep the cables consistent. If the cable attached to the pump is 4mm square then the whole cable to the control box should be the same throughout.

 

Thought should be given to the mounting of the panels and the distances, to both the pump, and the controller.

 

Ask about Garry about the water. Find out if it is consistent once you get into the table. If it is, then 30 metre deep should be OK for the pump. If you hear that pumps are cutting out, due to lack of water, then you might have to go deeper; perhaps to 40 metres. BUT!! In that case a more powerful pump will be needed, and that means more panels, or at least two higher rated ones.

 

As I say; it's all a balancing act. Get the basic about the water in ya mind first. The rest is pretty straightforward.

 

One final thing. If the water is good, then it will go through your system into the house taps. If - on the other hand - the quality is not as good as hoped for, then a filtering i=unit should be considered also.

 

Good luck. Keep in touch with it all.

Thanks for that. I (my wife) got another quote today. 60k including 3 solar panels, pump, drilling etc. The only problem is that the equipment is loaded on a 6 wheel truck and it may be difficult to get into the area we wish to drill. The drill system is pneumatic percussion as opposed to rotary, which is probably okay as there is a lot of rock (in our case even piling the fence piles around our property enountered issues with rock only 6 or 7 meters down).

 

Limited area for drilling.

 

FYI, we already have a tank so we could probably link up to that. 

Really, the only reason we want to do this is that the local water supply starts to stink in March and starts to get visibly dirty until the rains kick in. It is a money spinner for the local Tesaban. The regional water supply agency offered to link our district to the Lam Pao dam supply and that would have been great, but then the locals in office and string pullers would not be able to skim any money off for local water supply. So we are still using the local pond ( which is not really big enough for the district town where I live).  

 

Hopefully, we will find something that works either this month or next.    

[roo860]

'Had a problem with Oacar harassing m/cs as they pass the house. The Mrs wants to put a muzzle on him; otherwise he can't go out.'

 

So he's free to run in the road outside your house?

 

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, roo860 said:

'Had a problem with Oacar harassing m/cs as they pass the house. The Mrs wants to put a muzzle on him; otherwise he can't go out.'

 

So he's free to run in the road outside your house?

 

He gets let out supervised for an hour every day; usually after Mildred goes to school, and I spend time picking up soi trash.. Robert goes out when he wants.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

Thanks for that. I (my wife) got another quote today. 60k including 3 solar panels, pump, drilling etc.

Can't know what solar panels, or pump, until the status of the well-water is established. 60k is simply far too much dosh. 

 

Get the well drilled first. You can do the rest yourself. The equipment don't come to more than about 18k. And that is top quality items.

[owl sees all]

2 hours ago, GarryP said:

Really, the only reason we want to do this is that the local water supply starts to stink in March and starts to get visibly dirty until the rains kick in.

 

Bit concerned about this. Is there contamination when the water table is very low? How far is the water supply you speak of Garry, to your house?

 

Although I'm still learning the hard way, by doing it myself, I spent years designing water system, so that's helpful.

 

TBH, there is nothing to it. Just have to have the confidence to get stuck in yourself. Keep things as simple as possible. I prefer wiring in series to parallel. Don't think you need to fret there.

 

You need to do some homework Garry; on the nature of the water table. Will the level be reasonably stable once water is extracted? With a 5 inch dia bore, there will be about 300 litres above a pump. set at 30 metres, if water is 6/7 metres down. When the pump is in operation, what happens to the top level? it can go down quite a few metres while pumping, and should replenish, back, during the 18 hours while the pump is inactive.

 

Have to ask about the water table before spending any dosh mate. If all seems OK, then you are sitting pretty; assuming you can maneuver the driller in place.

 

[sherwood]

On 3/17/2024 at 3:40 PM, GarryP said:

We want to to have a water borehole drilled at the front of our house. Problem is that access is quite limited. Maybe a pickup could fit but not a 6 wheel truck, so trying to find alternatives in my area. Doesn't look that promising.   

Of if give a drilling crew a job they will find a way.

[GarryP]

It is all a bit confusing. The sister-in-law had a bore drilled at the back of her house and the water was greasy/dirty, so she had another drilled at the front of her house and the water was crystal clear, which she now uses instead of the local tap water (so less than 20 meters apart). Another person we know had two ponds dug out that were less than 20 meters apart on a slope and the water in the one at the top is crystal clear blue/green (stunning actually and I've never the like of it before - wouldn't dare swim in it though until I know why it is that colour) and in the pond below, the water just looks like normal pond water. All of these are in a radius of no more than 750 meters of my house (maybe even slightly less). 

 

The local resevoir is about 2 kms from my house. I've already raised concerns about water quality with my wife and we both agree that if the well water quality is poor, we'll just use it for watering the garden (unless there are a lot of chemicals too, in which case we'll just ditch it). 

 

One thing is for sure, I'll not be doing it myself. I don't have the background in stuff like that. I do only pretty basic stuff like grouting, gardening, putting together Ikea furniture, hanging pictures, fixing taps, etc. 

[owl sees all]

4 hours ago, GarryP said:

 

One thing is for sure, I'll not be doing it myself. I don't have the background in stuff like that. I do only pretty basic stuff like grouting, gardening, putting together Ikea furniture, hanging pictures, fixing taps, etc. 

Dear me Garry! I hear you, but if you can 'put together IKEA furniture' you can supervise a simple solar system installation.

 

Get the bore done. Get a couple of local lads - preferably ones that can keep off the Lao khow for a day or two - to put in the frame to hold the panels, and to help on set-up day. In fact you could utilise that front garden wall for the panel support.

 

You will need:::

 

DC pump

Control unit

Solar panels

Appropriate cables and snap-on fittings.

PVC pipes or flexi tube.

Strong rope or cable for pump support.

Solder kit.

Heat-shrink kit.

Plenty of leccy tape.

Two sensors; one for the well - one for the holding tank.

 

Everything else can be got from a local hardware shop.

 

Total cost 15/16k + Labour 2k + Bore 9/10k.

 

If you get good water at 30m depth; then 600 watt DC pump. Control unit with a range of 50 to 200 votls. 2 x 450 wall panels.

 

If 40 m depth; then 750 watt DC pump. Same controller. Either 3 x 450 watt panels or 2 x 550.

 

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I'll pop along to help on the big day.

 

[sotonowl]

On 3/17/2024 at 6:50 AM, owl sees all said:

32k in the ground to see Rams beat the Wanderers. Best third tier gate of the season.

Some crowd that. Wonder what the best ever was/is.

[sotonowl]

On 3/17/2024 at 6:50 AM, owl sees all said:

Owl was right. 6-0 to Tractors.

Can't imagine what the manager was thinking there, all on him that one. 4 at the back, 2 in midfield and 4 up front away to one of the best sides in the league.

 

Videos work fine BTW, great to see the bus in full swing.

[owl sees all]

48 minutes ago, sotonowl said:

Some crowd that. Wonder what the best ever was/is.

I reckon the  the biggest was at Villa Park some years back. I'll look it up and report back, but I think it was 57k.

 

Don't now think Owls will go down. Who knows what will happen, but Rotherham and Brum for me, with one other. I know it's nail-biting time for many fans, but exciting all the same.

 

Forest have just had a 4 point shock in the EPL. Other clubs breathing a sigh of relief. While at the top; it's more than close.

 

Turning out to be a good season all round.

 

A little footy question::: What club in the top flight came third three years running? Only one club it has happened to. Who?

[sotonowl]

12 hours ago, owl sees all said:

A little footy question::: What club in the top flight came third three years running? Only one club it has happened to. Who?

Arsenal, but I had to look it up.

 

 

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, sotonowl said:

Arsenal, but I had to look it up.

 

 

What years would that be Owl?

[sotonowl]

4 hours ago, owl sees all said:

What years would that be Owl?

Now what was the biggest league 1/Division 3 gate Owl, did you find it?