Fridge Problems

[wilson steer]

My fridge is very bad. It does not chill my beer. Can someone recommend a good make and model of fridge to buy in Thailand. Basically I want a good cold fridge that does not need defrosting every 10 days. Money no problem, I just need quality with a capital Q.

Fellow dwellers of the L.O.S. please help........

[george]

A house populated with both Thais and Farang will not work out. Very annoying.

Buy a new fridge for you alone, that NOBODY is allowed to access. That fixed my problem. They are not even allowed to open it!

Then they can open the Thai fidge every 3 minutes, or whatever, and do their things, but YOUR fridge is YOURS.

Youe beer will be well chilled and your farang food (cheese, salami, white wine etc.) untouched.

Never share a fridge with Thais, it won't work!

Different refrigerating culture.

[Boo]

George you are so right, keep your own fridge Wilson, padlock it if you have to, it's the only way to have a happy home.

Brand wise, I've always gone for the more popular eurpoean brands, they cost a bit more but tend to have a longer warranty than thai brands, some of the thai ones only have a 1 week warranty, not a good sign!

[meemiathai]

George,

do you live in isaan?

[george]

George,

do you live in isaan?

I understand that this is a nationwide problem. Keep your own farang fridge.

[Heng]

The reasoning behind "falang fridge rules" is nearly identical to the reasoning behind Thai property laws.

[Guest ka1234]

Buy a cheap one made for the local climate in the local hardware store, not any expensive imported european model. Fridges made for northern europe does not work in tropical climate while the cheap ones made for the local market does.

[Thetyim]

Place a lump if blue cheese in the fridge

The thais will not go anywhere near it.

As for brand, I am happy with Toshiba but do not get a Whirlpool

[KevinN]

Right you are,,when my wife and I got together,I had a 2 month old WHIRLPOOL washer and fridge,I moved them here and she had a 3 year old SINGER.

The Whirlpool needs defrosted every week and the Singer needs it once a month max. But the washer is great,,no comparison to a singer so she gave the singer to her mom.

[Guest IT Manager]

I just got a Thai cheapy for about 7,000 baht and has a water pump in the door and a pipe goes into a 2 litre water container.

It was a simple matter to make a special connector to go on a tall brown bottle. It seals the bottle and I push the button and voila... Chang on Tap on Door on my frig.

Cold.

[jayenram]

I bought a large Mitsubishi fridge. It was expensive (Bht 20,000+) but the door holds 24 large bottles of Chang and even on 1/2 setting keeps them very cold. Defrost is automatic and the resultant water evaporates from the collection tank, i.e. never needs emptying. It's now been running continuously for 3.5 years without any problem whatsoever. The freezer is also of sufficient size to keep an adequate supply of frozen foods.

[lopburi3]

George is correct that most Thai will spend excess time with the door open picking out treasures to eat so it would be best to have a reserve unit for less used use (assuming you are not a 'chain' drinker).

Make sure the unit you now have is sealing properly when closed. Do you have proper electric power (if upcountry)? If it low you may need a step up transformer for the compressor to work properly.

Any of the local sold brands should be fine. Just make sure you buy a two door unit if you want to freeze anything and that it is advertised as frost free.

[tomy]

I drink my beer with ice, does anybody do that also.

yo george, can we have our picture enable i like to use some of mine smillies.

[Kan Win]

I drink my beer with ice, does anybody do that also.

yo george, can we have our picture enable i like to use some of mine smillies. 

Nope Tomy, I like my beer natural without diluting it, me think it has enough water in it already

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’ll second that one.

Turn it on George

[sbk]

frost free is the way to go. I had never heard of a fridge that needed a button to be pushed to defrost until i came to thailand. my grandmother said they had fridges like that when my mom was a girl. most 7,000 baht cheapies will not be frost free. if you are unsure, just look for a small button near the temp. dial. if there is a button, it is not frost free. a frost free is also called an automatic fridge.

i hate those darn fridges, down here in the south they need to be defrosted constantly, and never really get cold.

tomy, my sister introduced me to a drink, can't remember what she called it, beer with ice and lime and salt around the rim. not bad.

[KevinN]

Are you sure you are thinking of beer? sounds more like a marguarita,thats tequila and lime with salt around the rim,hate the stuff, and we used to drink beer with ice in Nam in the good ol days,,nuthin like a lot of ba mu ba over frozen contaminated water drank from a dirty glass to keep you loose.

[tomy]

are you sure its a beer and not TEQUILA.

[sbk]

absolutely! I hadn't had that much to drink I couldn't tell the difference between BEER and TEQUILA! I mean, really! they aren't that similar. I'll ask her what the drink was called, but it wasn't bad.

[tomy]

coulda be CORONA, it's a beer drink with lemon sticking out the top , no salt tho

[SoCal]

SBK was right. There is a mexican drink exactly as he describes. It starts with an M as well. If you really want the name, let me know, and I will get it for you.

[sbk]

michelaad, or something like that. in texas they called it a gotcha glass. my sister said alot of people drank it in the summer when it got really hot (she was in amarillo for a short period, so she knows heat!).

[tomy]

MICHELADAS

put some ice in a mug

pour a few drops of both worsteshire sauce and tabasco sauce

add some pepper and celery salt, and pour in the beer

It's best with Mexican beer (XX, Corona, Tecate, etc.) Some people like to add V8 as well

[SoCal]

Tomy, spot on. Think there are several derivations, but that's it.

[tuky]

Keep your own farang fridge.

Agreed George, some of the food and vegetables my wife and her family put in their fridge have this certain odour that can almost turn your stomach.

I'm not talking Durian smell I am talking something even worse.

Does not go well with the milk for my morning coffee

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Another problem, is a Thai wife trying to save money, turns the fridge off overnight, the poor bloody fridge cannot cope with the task of cooling down the beverages again ( and it costs more to run ) The maloderous content of a shared fridge is somethin' else. The green cheese trick might work

[lopburi3]

Reason to have more than one refrigerator. Keep the western food in one.

One thing to remember is that if you do not have it located in air conditioned area make sure it is designed to work in at least subtropical weather. Another reason not to bring from northern Europe and expect it to work well here. The following are current ratings of Samsung models:

Extended Temperate SN 32°C (90°F) 10°C (50°F)

Temperate                N 32°C (90°F) 16°C (61°F)

Subtropical              ST 38°C (100°F) 18°C (64°F)

Tropical                      T 43°C (109°F) 18°C (64°F)

[tomy]

Another problem, is a Thai wife trying to save money, turns the fridge off overnight,

and then they would eat the same food in the fridge as last night, wonder where that smell coming from

[mrvietnam2001]

farangrefrigeration.com

Mr Vietnam

[kwiz117]

Easy..

Buy a Poly Form box. [Normally they use it to keep fish]. You can get this from Tesco Lotus.

Tell the front door shop to inform the Ice Truck to deliver 2 Full Bag of Ice each morning to your door step.

Then, put the Ice into the Box and then the Beer Inside. I am sure you can freeze western food as well.

If you put Sandwiches, then remember to wrap it properly with some water proof paper coz the Ice will become water when it gets melted, and you will get a pudding in the morning instead of your Sandwich.

You can keep this for one day, until you replace the water and re-fill with new ice in the morning.

So you get free Cold Water too. No electricity Cost.. Only the cost of Ice .

Cool …

[Guest The Judge]

Thaivisa isn't a fount of knowledge. It's a bloody Mountain.

Thank you.