Lava Stone 10,000 Baht/10Kg?!

[magpie3]

Hi

I built a nice cook place/bbq outside he house for 'smellies' and found no-one wanted to go to the trouble of setting up charchoal fires.

I see the point when it's hot enough already and most food is available already cooked and at reasonable pices.

Still, I want to perservere and finish the project, leaving it operational and user friendly for anyone who may want to try their hand at some home cooking.

Google pointed me to Somerville Siam - who gave me the above price

At (google again) 800kg/cu m I guess I want 1 or 2 kg, but it still seems expensive for something I've seen advertised in the uk at 10 or 15 gbp per bag - size of bag unknown but thought to be 4 litres - is that about 3kg? (I guess it all depends on how much air there is in the stone and the bag!)

So I'm just looking for any pointers from anyone with a similar experience: where to purchase, how much to use and how much should it cost?

Any advice welcome.

Edited January 13, 2013 by PoorSucker
Increased font size for readability.

[craigt3365]

You could try Doc here:

http://www.gasbbqthailand.com/

[notmyself]

What are 'smellies'. Why is lava needed?

[somchaismith]

A 5 kilo bag of charcoal costs about 30 baht. Can pick it up from many shops. Macro has it.

[HeijoshinCool]

Go to one of the restaurant supply companies in Klong Toey. They sell the lava rock. Not cheap, but not prohibitive. Can't remember how much by the kilo, but for my 60 x 60 grill about 900 bahts worth.

One I used:

Kluay Nam Thai Engineering LP

464 Soi Paisingto Rama 4 Khwang Khlong Toei Khet Khlong Toei Bangkok 10110

022593337,022592093

Owner speaks English.

Edited January 14, 2013 by HeijoshinCool

[magpie3]

Updated info.

Even after 25 years I keep having the same old experiences here in Thailand.

I sent an e-mail to a senior figure at the company mentioned in my first posting above and received this reply:

Please visit http://www.factoryoutletshop.net and kindly call 086-305-8648. They sell lava stone Baht 250/kg.

This gives us a 2,500 baht price tag on the original 10,000 baht quote for a 10kg bag.

The same old same old . . .

Can't say much really, as the guy who gave me the information did me some sort of favour. Unlike the original contact at the company who would not reply when I queried the price.

So perhaps I should have (once again) involved my Thai wife in the purchasing enquiry - or learned to type Thai - in order to avoid discrimination/victimisation - call it what you will, that can of worms I do NOT want to open a discussion on!

Many thanks to all, particularly HeijoshinCool and Craig 3365, I think between us we have provided some useful pointers for those who follow.