'safe ' Timber Treatment

[mls]

I am about to build a compost bin out of timber (reclaimed softwood from pallets) and would like to treat it to prevent it rotting or getting eaten too quickly. I have looked at the timber treatments available in the usual HomePro type stores but am not sure if the chemicals in the treatments would be harmful to my compost (and therefore my plants) or to the wildlife around and in it. Would be grateful if someone could advise on which timber treatments are safe to use and as 'green' as possible and stockists local to Pattaya (am North/Bang Lamung).

On the same subject, I was going to use galvanised nails to build my bin but... Has anyone ever seen galvanised nails here in Thailand/Pattaya? Had expected them to be easily available considering the climate, but everyone has looked at my sample blankly. Any suggestions for alternatives available here most gratefully received.

[SeanMoran]

Deildren (sic) isn't all that PC thesedays, so maybe linseed oil or any sort of clean oil might do the job half-way, although deildren (sic) is about the best wood preservative for outdoor stakes in the ground.

[jackr]

Any soft wood near the ground here will quickly rot/be eaten no matter what you treat it with me thinks. Probably best off building it out of concrete blocks. They're only 3 or 4 baht a piece (400x200). Or how about rebar for uprights with chicken wire strung around, or a large plastic bin with a flap on the bottom?

[Eff1n2ret]

I use a 200 litre plastic bin, inverted with the top cut out and the original lid for a cover, and a flap cut out at the bottom as the previous poster suggests. It pretty much mimics the purpose-made compost bin I had in the UK, and seems to be doing the job. We've been charging it for four months now with vegetable peelings and other kitchen scraps, grass cuttings, dead leaves and other detritus from the garden, and I guess I'll be digging out the reward from the bottom in not too many months from now.

Two would be better if I had the space.