Anyone know where I can find linseed oil, for mixing with beeswax, as a wood preserver in lieu of the poor varnishes sold here? Many thanks...M

Well speaking about Udon and Nong Khai - Global Home, Homepro and HomeMart are oil free deserts. I have to get mine via a timber merchant who imports his via his office in Bangkok. It really is a pain in the butt!

But yes in general the wood finishing products available from TOA are utter <deleted>! Even the 2k polyurethane hasn't managed to last 6 months let alone 12 month before yellowing, flaking and cracking! 2k Poly should be tough as old boots and manage as least 12 months even in the severe sun/rain environment. What I'd give for the full Liberon range over here!

On the note of Liberon my timber merchant friend used to be a stockist of it and Liberon used to have an office in Bangkok however it was closed due to lack of sales.

For wood preservative/coatings the best bet might be to try a marine supply shop .?

Lots of good North American/Swedish coatings with UV inhibitors etc plus the grossly inflated prices that go with the assumption you own a boat and can afford it.. However there are lots of local/Japanese coatings used by Thais for their boats/houses etc some good some not so..

i have been looking for both tung and linseed oil to treat wood and seal earthen floors. local friends of mine came up with the following contacts:

Linseed can be found shop called "Som-jai"

1st. Branch in Jamjuree Building T: 02 160 5219

Can reach by MRT

2nd. Branch in "The Old Siam" T: 02 222 6260 ext: 20

Recommended, as people can speak English a bit

In "Peep" Thai's measurement or "Gallon" Size is 18-20 litre, approx. 600 baht.

khun um from chiang mai sells tung oil at 120 baht per litre i am told, 083 901 77 73.

i have not ordered so cannot say anything about product quality, but those are good leads...

That's great information, but I wonder if you can speak of the quality. The following is from the pun pun in Chiang Mai that has experience using Linseed found in Thailand:

The linseed oil we have access to getting in Thailand presently is very diluted with turpentine degrading the quality quite severely. It has still proven a good sealant for walls (even walls with no roofing) and helps on earthen floors but does not give nearly the quality 100% linseed oil can achieve

If pun pun can't make it work for floors, I doubt anyone can as pun pun is very forgiving if things aren't just so.