Rain and wind and lights go out again !

[worgeordie]

At our Moo Bahn out here on Mae Jo road,every time we get a bit

of rain you can hear the transformers blowing up,same happened

last night,it also happen 3 times the time it rained before about a

week ago.

Now this is a Country that is aspiring to have High Speed Trains,

running through the countryside at 200 K.ph or whatever,they

would also like to have Nuclear power stations,but I feel they need

to get the basics sorted first,like a reliable electricity service.

Is this just a local occurrence or are other parts of Chiang Mai

affected as well when it rains?

regards Worgeordie

[Sparkles]

We lose power quite often here during storms in BWT, Hang Dong but mainly from falling branches.We love the trees here but originally planting them directly under power lines wasn't the smartest idea. Expect more of the same as the early summer storms are on their way.

[onthedarkside]

Happens all over Thailand.

[bushman1666]

Good point sir. We lose power often when there are storms. And on a very frequent basis we lose water all day. That happens on average twice a week with no warning.

Sent from my very clever thingy that uses battery far too quickly

[masuk]

maybe 'cos they still string power and phone lines up in the air??

I've seen concrete poles snapped off at the base when a strong wind tore up Huay Keow Rd. No power the rest of the day, the elderly in the condo had to struggle up many flight of stairs in the dark. Emergency lights? haha! Generator

Time for the wireless electricity maybe??

[Aceboy99]

It's normal, and remember that the high-speed trains are only a pipe dream at this point.

[circusman]

Nothing. Nothing but a power outage can make you appreciate electricity more.

[Thighlander]

used to crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy the cooler air brought by the storm that caused the outage. Unfortunately; you can't get good wine for three usd here. And cheese? forgeddaboutit! Bags of ice are cheap, though.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Thighlander

[uptheos]

At our place we only need to see a rain cloud and the power goes out.

Doesn't take them long to find the fault and wrap some garbage bags around the line to keep water out.

[Joop50]

Living in Thaton, Mai Ai now I must say it is not that normal as it seems. A half year I live here and only one time we lost the electricity and not bcoz of storm or thunder or heavy rain but bcoz a truc hit a pole. I lived in Saraphi district, outside in a village and when there came a weather change with wind, electricity dropped out. One day the electricity campany send a team to cut al the tree branches which grew into the electric wires and for about a year it was much less worse but unfortunatly trees keep growing and the problem returned. I have the impression that only when many people complain a lot, this company take action where there should be a foresight check up and action. BTW, Kon Thai accept these powerless houres more than we do.

[northernjohn]

It's normal, and remember that the high-speed trains are only a pipe dream at this point.

Not even that. they are a new fund for the politicians to fatten their bank account with funds from it.

Seems like we lose power here about 6 times a year. Funny I have yet to here a transformer blow up. Back in the states when I was a lot younger you would here one every time the power went out. We do have some underground in are area so that could be the reason I don't hear them. We have emergency generators here where I live so the elevators always work.

We keep a small flashlight handy in a place we can find it in the dark by groping around.

[northernjohn]

used to crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy the cooler air brought by the storm that caused the outage. Unfortunately; you can't get good wine for three usd here. And cheese? forgeddaboutit! Bags of ice are cheap, though.

that is new on me. A good wine for $3 U S.

Maybe a bottle of chateau upchuck at that price. I doubt it.

[MrBrad]

"... BTW, Kon Thai accept these powerless hours more than we do."

And they also accept the carnage on the highways better than we do. Most think this is the norm around the world. Maybe it actually is, but it doesn't have to be this way, as most of us Khon non-Thai realize.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

It has caught the Thai electrical company employees off guard. They only had 6 months to prepare for this year's wet season...

[wolf5370]

I have always said, Thailand will never be the first world country that it wants to be if they can't keep the lights on day to day. Every time it rains somewhere in the area the power goes out. My UPS records all outages, even micro ones - there are thousands of switch-overs a day that are milliseconds long - enough to damage electronic equipment - and several longer ones too. The price of electricity in this country, they should be actively replacing overhead cables and post transformers with underground cable tubes and inspection chambers - this is the problem with a state owned electricity company - it needs to be privatized non-geographically (i.e. no monopoly on areas) and a separate infrastructure owners which rents the cable usage and is fined for loss of service. As always here - profit is going to pockets and monopolistic state company allows service to stay bottom rung with no investment.

[GBHK]

You can take pleasure in knowing that when I was in Canada last summer, there were power outages all the time including one that kept a small town in the dark for three days. It's not just in Thailand...

[kimbathewhitelion]

It has caught the Thai electrical company employees off guard. They only had 6 months to prepare for this year's wet season...

Sorry, was that sarcasm?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Thighlander]

used to crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy the cooler air brought by the storm that caused the outage. Unfortunately; you can't get good wine for three usd here. And cheese? forgeddaboutit! Bags of ice are cheap, though.

that is new on me. A good wine for $3 U S.

Maybe a bottle of chateau upchuck at that price. I doubt it.

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2014/01/wine-value-below-five.html

I've bought some pretty good plywood from Canada, though, not much else.

[zyphodb]

Every time theres a storm & quite a lot of times when there isn't the power goes off... probably 6 or more times a week, mostly not for very long though. Corruption is at the heart of this problem just like so much else in this Country, any Money to sort it out just gets pocketed by the Hi so's in the upper ranks of the power company,

Until this stops (& I wouldn't hold your breath waiting) we'll carry on having this, & all the other problems, roads, railways, etc. that you come to expect living in a third world country...

But of course the flipside is, if it wasn't like it how many of us could afford to live here? A double edged sword if there ever was one...

[Mousehound]

You can take pleasure in knowing that when I was in Canada last summer, there were power outages all the time including one that kept a small town in the dark for three days. It's not just in Thailand...

Same in OZ. Also had the power off three days in a row while they cleaned the poles to try and avoid the blow outs when it rains. It may be that any country stupid enough to have it's power above ground and has long dry spells and then heavy rains may be affected this way. But for us it is normal to loose the power 6 or so times a year at least. We are geared up for it - torches, power packs for lights and a generator if needed.

[trainman34014]

High Speed Train ? They couldn't run a Hornby train set properly.

Thai's in charge of Nuclear Power Stations ? Way out Man; Where is the Exit ?

Power cuts, normal !

[TexasRanger]

Wife thought I was crazy when I spent a load of money on a honda generator. She soon came round to the idea though. Best money I ever spent here.

[valdor]

I am amazed there isn't more power outages to be honest! Look at the poles! How can they even figure out what cable is what in this mess...

[worgeordie]

Think most of those birds nest tangles are phone wires, thats why the Internet also works so well here. regards Worgeordie

I am amazed there isn't more power outages to be honest! Look at the poles! How can they even figure out what cable is what in this mess...

[beau thai]

used to crack open a bottle of wine and enjoy the cooler air brought by the storm that caused the outage. Unfortunately; you can't get good wine for three usd here. And cheese? forgeddaboutit! Bags of ice are cheap, though.

Yep. wine seriously overpriced but just sipping (slowly!!) a nice Chilean Chardonay Frontera) - I think about 450b in Rimping from memory. But if I drink 2 glasses instead of a bottle the cost is not so different from my last place in Spain I guess!!

Maybe you have tried the 2kilo blocks of cheddar from makro for 745b - just bought another yesterday. (they freeze well). To my taste, very good but then cheese is such an individual thing - like wine and pizza according to TV...

[beau thai]

In a coffee shop north of mae Jo when we had the high winds earlier this week, in the daytime, and the electric dropped momentarily about 3-4 times but no big deal.

Not sure how this stuff works but maybe OP's local substation/transormer or whatever is underpowered/under rated for all the kit (aircons etc) in use in Moo baans just now? Or is it to do with the insulation/lightning conductors at the substation.?

[Frank James]

You guys talking about undergrounding the wiring here...STOP, you're killing me!

We have periodic local outages at Santhitam Road. It's just a feature of life here. I saw a bolt of lightning strike an aerial on the roof across the street. Direct hit, flying sparks. Earth Mother speaks!

[Frank James]

Yeah, part of Suthep'sBig Reform Package is undergrounding all of the wiring in the Kingdom, universal free WiFi HotSpot, and free fiber optic Korean speed internet service for all. Gonna be just like the Eurozone around here, you bet!