Plumbers ?

[pepsi666]

Is there any Thai plumbers or Thai plumbing contractors in Thailand ?

How do the Thai's become plumbers ?

Are there any schools/apprenticeships to teach Thai's how to become plumbers ?

Are there any regulations that governing Plumbers in Thailand ?

What qualifications do Plumbers have in Thailand ?

Is the plumbing left up to who ever is on site ?

Is there any Plumbers who offer a 'call out' service ?

Do the 'plumbers work on both 'fresh and fou'l ?

Does 'storm water' apply to plumbers over there as well ? (collection and storage)

Please dont take the pi**, this is a genuine enquiry about the state of the plumbing industy in Thailand

[udon]

Ok, I'll bite.

Why?

[CGW]

From my experience, having built three houses here, there is no such item as a Thai Plumber as known in the profesional\western world!

[pepsi666]

From my experience, having built three houses here, there is no such item as a Thai Plumber as known in the profesional\western world!

If there arent plumbes as we know them who puts the 'pipes' in ?

So who does the plumbing work ?

whoever is handy ?

Are there any regulations governing supplies or is it up to the water suppliers ?

[GuestHouse]

There are Craft Training colleges throughout Thailand, one is located on the left hand side of the Bang Na Trad highway as you pass Jontiem on the way to Sathahip.

I've worked on a number of projects (Refineries and Chemical Plants) where Thai plumbers where installing industrial water systems, and HVAC, their work was excellent.

A lot get said on this forum running down Thai workmanship. Perhaps Somchai the farmer turning his hand to building/electrics/plumbing might make a mess of it, but the Thais I have worked with on large construction projects have been excellent.

An example, Thai coded welders are renowned for the quality of their work. Something a lot of westerners don't like to accept, but the QA records demonstrate that they do do fantastic work.

Not only that, Thai compliance to safety instructions on the projects I have worked on have exceeded anything I've seen in Europe.

[pepsi666]

There are Craft Training colleges throughout Thailand, one is located on the left hand side of the Bang Na Trad highway as you pass Jontiem on the way to Sathahip.

I've worked on a number of projects (Refineries and Chemical Plants) where Thai plumbers where installing industrial water systems, and HVAC, their work was excellent.

A lot get said on this forum running down Thai workmanship. Perhaps Somchai the farmer turning his hand to building/electrics/plumbing might make a mess of it, but the Thais I have worked with on large construction projects have been excellent.

An example, Thai coded welders are renowned for the quality of their work. Something a lot of westerners don't like to accept, but the QA records demonstrate that they do do fantastic work.

Not only that, Thai compliance to safety instructions on the projects I have worked on have exceeded anything I've seen in Europe.

Many thanks for an excellent reply

How would a westerner cope with starting up a school for plumbers ?

Giving them the same training and qaulifications as a UK plumber (NVQ and GNVQ)

[penzman]

I think most of the qualified plumbers are mostly working on big projects and the ones working around housing projects are improvising. The whole project here was connected wrong when every single house's pump system was laid out, except for mine now and my neighbour's which I've fixed. Pumps all over the place are shooting water back to the underground tanks , I guess many are wondering about their lack of pressure.

We have a shop as well near here where the pump shoots water back to the tank ... Can't be fixed as the pipes are now too short and stuck under ceramic and concrete.

[EVO]

Pepsi, drop me an IM.

I run a company here that does a lot of plumbing, though it is not our core business.

I/we are thinking along the lines of what you are, a vocational school teaching western practices.

I gotta admit, its only an idea, and i havent done any research as to how feasable it is, or even whether it is morally feasable, but 2 heads are better than 1.

Regards

[pepsi666]

Pepsi, drop me an IM.

I run a company here that does a lot of plumbing, though it is not our core business.

I/we are thinking along the lines of what you are, a vocational school teaching western practices.

I gotta admit, its only an idea, and i havent done any research as to how feasable it is, or even whether it is morally feasable, but 2 heads are better than 1.

Regards

Sent you a PM

[pepsi666]

looks like I might be going ahead with this, now

BAA has been bought up by a Spanish outfit and they may well be bringing in their own teams after WE have shown them how things work and where they are

Just got to find out about Visa's, work permits and such, but then again I could just retire there and do a visa run every month

[chownah]

All in all, residential plumbing is pretty simple stuff. I don't think that Thailand needs alot of overtrained plumbers to do this kind of work. The most common problem that I have heard of is leakage after completion and it is my understanding that the leakeage is usually caused by the plumber forgetting to put glue on a joint....or cutting corners by not putting glue on the joint intentionally. Neither of these problems would be solved by training. If a trained plumber costs more to hire then most contractors won't hire them. I guess there is a need for highly skilled plumbers for factories etc. but this is a very small minority of the plumbing that goes on in Thailand. I have done lots of plastic plumbing as have a lot of my untrained friends and we all seem to do just fine with a minimal amount of understanding. My Thai uncle never went to school (or so I've been told)and he has been doing some plumbing for me (his specialty is electrical wiring) and has never caused a problem.....he uses a chicken feather to spread the glue on the pipe end to avoid the expense of buying a brush!!!

Chownah

[pepsi666]

Chownah,

I wouldnt say there is an overtrained plumber, there are plenty of people who call themselves plumbers though, and sticking a bit of pipe together certainly doesnt make you a plumber (if he cuts corners using a chicken feather as a brush, what other corners does he cut ? )

Domestic plumbing doesnt just start when it comes into a house/condo, its well before that, what about cross contamination ? (easy to spread dysentry, typhoid, legionaires disease, if no controls to stop them )

I cant see how your uncle can understand drawings and circuits if he cant read and write

Does he know the difference betwwen power and lighting ?

single phase/3 phase circuits, the use of fuses and why a fuse is there ? AC/DC ?

Just out of intrest what do you think a plumbers job is ?

I love people like your uncle, I get a lot of work from them, when it goes wrong and dont work

Another thing, why cant you swim in the sea after a storm ? BAD PLUMBING (yes, beleive it or not that is part of a plumbers job/responsability)

[gcad]

Good idea, I think you should try and combine the other bread and butter trades, electrical and carpentry, but plumbing is certainly a good start.

Speaking of plumbing, does anyone know if those open grates on Soi Bangla in Phuket are sewage pits? I've done a bit of work in the sewage industry and I know shit when I smell it.

[chownah]

Pepsi666,

If my uncle is doing plumbing or electrical for a Thai person, he does it just like all the other plumbing and electrical in the village and everyone is satisfied with the results since their expectation is that they will end up with plumbing and electrical just like everyone elses....Thai people (in my experience) like to have things just like everyone else more or less. When my uncle works for me he understands that I'm a farang and want things a bit different from Thai people so he sometimes/often/usually asks me how I want stuff...and I tell him...and he does it....he doesn't cut corners when working for me...at least so far I've had no problems with anything he has plumbed.

My uncle can not read drawings as far as I know....but then no one here in the village has a drawing for their houses. As far as I can tell no one (except myself) who has worked on my house can read a drawing. I don't have a drawing for my house. I'll make up drawings of details, like stairs so that I can calculate dimensions but it is a struggle to try to explain something from one of these drawings.

My uncle does understand why you use a fuse but I don't think he understands how it works. He doesn't know the difference betweend AC and DC but he does know that batteries are different from utility electricity. He doesn't know about 3 phase but then no one has any here in the village.

As to what a plumbers job is.....here in the village it is to cut and glue pipe together to accomplish what the home owner wants. If the homeowner doesn't know for sure they can go over to the neighbor's house and say "do it like that". Also plumbers dig trenches and break holes in concrete for passing pipes through...stuff like that.

I don't think you'll get much work from my uncle's mistakes....unless you want to work for 170 baht per day....also....he really doesn't make that many mistakes because the plumbing here is really simple stuff.

I'm not trying to deny the need for some good plumbers in Thailand...I'm just trying to give people an impression of what the bulk of plumbing is like in Thailand. It is really really simple stuff. MOST of the plumbing done in Thailand is done by mostly untrained people (at least no formal training) and it works just fine. My plumbing works just fine and no one working on it had any formal training. You probably think that the standards in my village are too low.....we in the village think that your standards are too high....there is room in the world for both of us. We have no problem with the quality of our plumbing usually and if we do then we fix it! We hope that the quality of our plumbing is not a problem for you either.

Chownah

P.S. I don't understand about not swimming in the sea after a storm....I've never heard this....what does it mean?

Chownah

[pepsi666]

Pepsi666,

If my uncle is doing plumbing or electrical for a Thai person, he does it just like all the other plumbing and electrical in the village and everyone is satisfied with the results since their expectation is that they will end up with plumbing and electrical just like everyone elses....Thai people (in my experience) like to have things just like everyone else more or less. When my uncle works for me he understands that I'm a farang and want things a bit different from Thai people so he sometimes/often/usually asks me how I want stuff...and I tell him...and he does it....he doesn't cut corners when working for me...at least so far I've had no problems with anything he has plumbed.

My uncle can not read drawings as far as I know....but then no one here in the village has a drawing for their houses. As far as I can tell no one (except myself) who has worked on my house can read a drawing. I don't have a drawing for my house. I'll make up drawings of details, like stairs so that I can calculate dimensions but it is a struggle to try to explain something from one of these drawings.

My uncle does understand why you use a fuse but I don't think he understands how it works. He doesn't know the difference betweend AC and DC but he does know that batteries are different from utility electricity. He doesn't know about 3 phase but then no one has any here in the village.

As to what a plumbers job is.....here in the village it is to cut and glue pipe together to accomplish what the home owner wants. If the homeowner doesn't know for sure they can go over to the neighbor's house and say "do it like that". Also plumbers dig trenches and break holes in concrete for passing pipes through...stuff like that.

I don't think you'll get much work from my uncle's mistakes....unless you want to work for 170 baht per day....also....he really doesn't make that many mistakes because the plumbing here is really simple stuff.

I'm not trying to deny the need for some good plumbers in Thailand...I'm just trying to give people an impression of what the bulk of plumbing is like in Thailand. It is really really simple stuff. MOST of the plumbing done in Thailand is done by mostly untrained people (at least no formal training) and it works just fine. My plumbing works just fine and no one working on it had any formal training. You probably think that the standards in my village are too low.....we in the village think that your standards are too high....there is room in the world for both of us. We have no problem with the quality of our plumbing usually and if we do then we fix it! We hope that the quality of our plumbing is not a problem for you either.

Chownah

P.S. I don't understand about not swimming in the sea after a storm....I've never heard this....what does it mean?

Chownah

No offence intended, I didnt know you were talking about village type plumbing or wiring, I have supplied villages with water and power in some of the loneliest places in the world (Oman, Aden Africa, ) and it was basic and it worked, and even though it wasnt 'just glueing pipes together' it did work, same as the power, we supplied them with generators and strung cables from trees or buried them in te ground

But what about the plumbing in larger towns and houses ? THey must have plumbers

As for teaching other trades, I could teach any Thai about wood carving, THEY do fantastic work there, first and second fixings in houses in houses and condo's I think is unheard of (but I maybe wrong, same goes with plumbing)

I was thinking more of teaching plumbing skills rather than laying and installing pipwork

I'll get back to you this evening with a UK plumbers skills and responsabilities, well at least mine at LHR (Heathrow)

[pepsi666]

As for teaching other trades, I COULDNT teach any Thai about wood carving, THEY do fantastic work (apologies for typo error)

My work and responsabilities at LHR (Heathrow) are fesh and foul water supplies to ALL terminals, freshwater tank underground, pumps, settling lakes, firemains, fire hydrants, firemain and other pipework bursts (this also includes toilets, cisterns, freshwater tanks in the buildings, urinals, hot water supplies, cylinders, high and low pressure,calorifiers,high pressure hot water, taps, sinks, handbasins, traps and pipework, electronic flushing systems and electronic taps)

Sanitation block, macerator pumps, sump pumps, check water temperatures for water borne diseases

We laid ALL the fresh water supplies to Terminal 5, and the new firemain, hydrants, fire hoses and laid the foul water from Terminal 5, but we are not involved with the 'fit out' of the new toilets, cisterns, pans, h/basins, kitchens, sprinkler system

We also look after the BAA houses which they rent out, so that is the domestic part of it (we look after the water supplies, drainage and hot and cold water and central heating in them)

We also do mains laying, sizes are from 48 inch down to 15mm poly pipes, with various types of pipe, ie concrete, asbestos, ductile, cast, plastic, poly, PVC, and various ways of joining them, lead, flanged, fusion welded, VJ's,

Jetting for preventative maintainence, clearing blockages from various size pipes (scale, fat, passports, other nasties), slot drain jetting, petrol interceptors cleaning, storm water drainage

I also do private work at weekends, to keep my hand in and earn extra money

I have to admit that this is not a usual plumbers work, but it is a plumbers work at an airport, but it does enable me to talk with some authority about plumbing

I dont do this all on my own, I do have other lads to help, (Perry, Dave, Peter, Simon, Ian, Malc, Dennis)

The airport is the equivilant of a largish town I think and has the same problems I reckon, , things wear out, vandalism, things break, burst, and just generally dont work (but nothing we cant handle )

[icecubes]

Have you stopped to think about how much cash you will need for this.

Setting something up like you are talking about wont come cheap.

Have you got any figures in mind ?

[pepsi666]

Have you stopped to think about how much cash you will need for this.

Setting something up like you are talking about wont come cheap.

Have you got any figures in mind ?

At a rough guess, I reckon £5000, but it depends if its worthwhile, ie, getting students in the door, getting contractors/builders involved,

I dont mind too much if I run at a loss or break even, its the only thing I can pass on, my knowledge and skills, the airport and the UK dont want me, I'm too old (or will be when I get to Thailand)

tools I have, knowledge I have, just need a classroom/workshop and someone who is bi lingual to pass it all on to.

But at the moment I'm just asking if it would be viable or worthwhile, I dont want just retire and visit bars and sit in the sun (I used to be a soldier(SF), but I dont want to pass on those skills)

How much do you reckon it would cost ?

[chownah]

My wife says that at wittialai schools (like a trade school....where many students go if they are not going to university which is called maha wittialai) teach basic plumbing. I'm not sure if she is correct on this or if all of them teach basic plumbing but you might try to check into their programs (if they exist) and see if you could connect with one of those schools or at least you could see what they taught and then you could design your course work as an extension of their program. I don't go to town often but next time I go I'll try to find a wittialai and see if they teach basic plumbing skills.

Chownah

P.S. The educational experience in Thailand is quite different from most westernish places.....the classroom experience and students' abilities and attitudes might surprise you....learning happens in schools here sometimes but not as often as in westernish countries. You might want to consider teaching English for one term somewhere or at least going and observing some classes somewhere. You might check out the Teaching Forum here and you might even ask some questions there about your proposed project.

Chownah

[icecubes]

Have you stopped to think about how much cash you will need for this.

Setting something up like you are talking about wont come cheap.

Have you got any figures in mind ?

At a rough guess, I reckon £5000, but it depends if its worthwhile, ie, getting students in the door, getting contractors/builders involved,

I dont mind too much if I run at a loss or break even, its the only thing I can pass on, my knowledge and skills, the airport and the UK dont want me, I'm too old (or will be when I get to Thailand)

tools I have, knowledge I have, just need a classroom/workshop and someone who is bi lingual to pass it all on to.

But at the moment I'm just asking if it would be viable or worthwhile, I dont want just retire and visit bars and sit in the sun (I used to be a soldier(SF), but I dont want to pass on those skills)

How much do you reckon it would cost ?

I don?t know how much it would all cost.

But 5000 grand wont go far.

Just look at the staffing issue.

You would need to spend a lot of time and money

training people to relay your skills over to the student.

To pay them the correct wage and keep them

Not an easy task.

The gentleman above is right try and get involved with an

existing project all ready over here.

Not trying to piss on your fireworks

but you would have a far lees stressful time

Sitting in the bars all day.

Hope you don?t loose your job.

Have a nice day.

[pepsi666]

Have you stopped to think about how much cash you will need for this.

Setting something up like you are talking about wont come cheap.

Have you got any figures in mind ?

At a rough guess, I reckon £5000, but it depends if its worthwhile, ie, getting students in the door, getting contractors/builders involved,

I dont mind too much if I run at a loss or break even, its the only thing I can pass on, my knowledge and skills, the airport and the UK dont want me, I'm too old (or will be when I get to Thailand)

tools I have, knowledge I have, just need a classroom/workshop and someone who is bi lingual to pass it all on to.

But at the moment I'm just asking if it would be viable or worthwhile, I dont want just retire and visit bars and sit in the sun (I used to be a soldier(SF), but I dont want to pass on those skills)

How much do you reckon it would cost ?

I don?t know how much it would all cost.

But 5000 grand wont go far.

Just look at the staffing issue.

You would need to spend a lot of time and money

training people to relay your skills over to the student.

To pay them the correct wage and keep them

Not an easy task.

The gentleman above is right try and get involved with an

existing project all ready over here.

Not trying to piss on your fireworks

but you would have a far lees stressful time

Sitting in the bars all day.

Hope you don?t loose your job.

Have a nice day.

I was hoping to just have a GOOD translator and teach them myself, I have no idea what a good translator would cost though

And someone to answer the phone and take details and give them out

I have seen what happens to people who just sit at bars all day (not a pretty sight)

If anyone knows of an existing project or contractors I would appreciate their details

I doubt I will actually lose my job, but I may not like working for our new owners and the pay and conditions the new company has to offer, then early retirement will call

Mind, after reading some of the other topics about attacks down South, maybe I could use my 'other' skills

[EVO]

Hey Pepsi,

I know i havent replied to your PM yet, and trust me, i will get to it just as soon as i have a spare 30 mins.

Im afraid 5000 quid will barely cover the company setup, incorpporation and work permit for yourself though. Without any figures, i would take a wild guess at at least 10 times that amount, giving myself around 300% upwards of leaway.

Things here really arent that cheap.

[chownah]

I'm wondering if it would be effective to have a teacher stand in front of a class along with an interpretor and then have the interpretor interpreat everything that the teacher said....I really doubt it.

Chownah

[pepsi666]

well, I have gone over this thread and so far, I havent found anything that even gives a glimmer of my setting up a scholl for plumbing any hope of success,

IF I was going to it would set me back 50,000 quid, estimated (I wouldnt get a return worthwhile on that, as the average wage is too low)

I could set up a bar and earn more (as my mate Danny has done in Phuket) but that's an easy option and there are hundreds out there

I could set up a Plumbing busines over here for less (AND get taxed to the hilt) AND the sun is a lot warmer in Thailand

I reckon I'll shelve the idea for a while (but stilll keep it in mind, things might change by the time I get out there)

[Fraktalkid]

well, I have gone over this thread and so far, I havent found anything that even gives a glimmer of my setting up a scholl for plumbing any hope of success,

IF I was going to it would set me back 50,000 quid, estimated (I wouldnt get a return worthwhile on that, as the average wage is too low)

I could set up a bar and earn more (as my mate Danny has done in Phuket) but that's an easy option and there are hundreds out there

I could set up a Plumbing busines over here for less (AND get taxed to the hilt) AND the sun is a lot warmer in Thailand

I reckon I'll shelve the idea for a while (but stilll keep it in mind, things might change by the time I get out there)

Thailand could certainly do with some decent plumbing knowledge. Recently I've been having problems with a badly blocked drain that runs from the showers and sinks to the outside. In the west, we'd probably use rods or a hose to clear the blockage. Instead the guys hired by my landlord dug up the front paving tiles, located the pipe and cut into it to try and inspect to find the block. They then deemed that it would be too difficult to clear the blockage and have instead decided to run a new pipe out to the stream behind my house. And not a shred I can do about it (as it's not my house). No wonder Thailand's waterways are polluted!

Really if a plumbing school were to be established, I'd imagine that what would be imperative would be to promote the profession as a profession in its own right, and for charges to be levied accounting for the fact that extra training had been undertaken. Unfortunately, getting workers is cheap, getting skilled workers is not. I think the model could work if initially the target clients were farang and richer Thais who did not want their house covered in bright blue piping. If the school could somehow tie in with providing client referals and marketing the talents of the graduated students then it would perhaps stand a greater chance of success?

Fraktalkid

[pepsi666]

This is exactly what I was saying in previous posts, there just isnt a standard out there (that I have seen,) I have a simple philospy, if I wouldnt have it in my house why should I put it in someone elses

You only have to look at various bars and resturants, the plumbing looks awful, but it works (and that is the only thing in its favour)

Strange, blue poly is FRESH water in England (some cases black) Green is foul water, yellow is gas

I'm surprised they never put in a cess pit or soak away, it must be a lot less polluting

I got so many negative replies in previous forums, I shelved the idea,

I still think there should be a standard in Thailand, I spent 4 years apprenticeship and time in the Forces, practicing my skills and I am still surprised there hasnt been a lot more cases of dysentry and legionella, and salmonella in Thailand

[astral]

I'm surprised they never put in a cess pit or soak away, it must be a lot less polluting

That is exactly what we have at our house in Chonburi province.