timbothaivisa Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 Simon, how do you send an email via ham radio ? Look here: http://www.winlink.org This is a global network of shortwave (and VHF) radio-email servers, operated by volunteer hams such as myself. This sounds invaluable - is the service restricted, or can anyone subscribe for access? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) Simon, how do you send an email via ham radio ? Look here: http://www.winlink.org This is a global network of shortwave (and VHF) radio-email servers, operated by volunteer hams such as myself. Basically: - Download the RMS Express program to your laptop/PC - Configure your modem to connect between the PC software and your ham rig. - Run RMS Express and select the best server to connect to. - Connect up via radio and the software will automatically check for received email and send any outgoing email That is a very basic overview. You need to have a suitable modem. Many yachties use a 'Pactor' modem which although expensive to buy, allows communication on shortwave over long distances (thousands of km), and under bad radio propagation conditions. (I am amazed how yachties manage to connect up to my radio server from such long distances, when 'voice' comms fails. Of course, bandwidth on shortwave is limited, so you cannot send emails with large attachments, (you can send/receive attachments, but not videos etc). The beauty of this system is that it works, especially for emergency comms (ecomms) scenarios. If there were a disaster in Phuket, and my radio-email server had no internet connectivity, I simply 'reverse' my equipment configuration and connect via my radio rig to radio-email servers in India or Indonesia, and use their internet connection to send/receive email. Here is a worldwide map of these servers: http://www.winlink.org/RMSChannels In Thailand, there are no other such radio-email servers, (probably because it is very difficult to get a ham licence...) the real expensive offshore systems run on V-sat these days, but not cheap, typically one off fee of USD 18000 for equipment then around USD 4000k/m for 1MB band width for a smaller 4 user system, but gets you internet connections same as being land based...run your phones through VOIP, have email and internet... Smaller scale and more affordable, not seen them in Thailand but in Singapore, you can buy a "case" for your I-phone which turns it into a Satellite phone and you can have a contract for even buy minutes on the system same as a shore side prepaid system, but again phone/internet email, not sure of the pricing but one of the guys I work with offshore had one and it works great.. Edited August 29, 2015 by Soutpeel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 You can get very efficient water filters cheaply these days, the better ones include a carbon filter which clean up the taste as well. Reviewers talk about having a swig of washing-up water and report it being clear & tasteless. But yes, tuna is a great backup. I use it anyway on pasta if I wake up with a sore head and find the fridge empty - delicious! A lot of preppers talk about when the SHTF, but you hardly see anyone talking about their plans for actually dealing with the non-proverbial if the water supply stops. I imagine there will be a large number of very red-faced red-necks trying to swap a clip of ammo for some bog-roll if that happens. I live in a condo, so there's not much I can do about a plan-B for sewage at this location. What did you end up with? Many small black plastic bags. And that white powder (is it called lime in English??). Plastic bag in a bucket, the brown thing in the plastic bag, lime and than the paper....disgusting. Than close it and store it as far away as possible if you can not get rid of it. We had it in the flooded backyard. Not not in the water, but a few small holes developed (animals) they water there did not move. Going there was a challenge. Mosquitoes and Flies eat you alive. We than put the small plastic bags in big plastic bags and this in another plastic bag to contain it. Some Thais did similar but just throw the plastic bag into the water. In our soi when the water was only knee deep were several half swimming half submerged. People who went without boot got nasty infections..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 You can get very efficient water filters cheaply these days, the better ones include a carbon filter which clean up the taste as well. Reviewers talk about having a swig of washing-up water and report it being clear & tasteless. But yes, tuna is a great backup. I use it anyway on pasta if I wake up with a sore head and find the fridge empty - delicious! A lot of preppers talk about when the SHTF, but you hardly see anyone talking about their plans for actually dealing with the non-proverbial if the water supply stops. I imagine there will be a large number of very red-faced red-necks trying to swap a clip of ammo for some bog-roll if that happens. I live in a condo, so there's not much I can do about a plan-B for sewage at this location. What did you end up with? If the red-neck with his itching back side has a gun in his hand and I have toilet paper, he doesn't need to swap, he just need to ask me....... Maybe good to have several stocks....if someone robs you you give them your stock and whine a lot and than live from the second stock..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 If you live in rural Thailand , and where it is not likely to get a monster flood , there is no need for prepping. Prepping is very much needed if you live in the ussa or europe. Rural Thailand has veggies & rice in abundance and enough water.( may need some filtering or put a silver coin in ). The one thing that would kill me is no electricity = no aircon and computer , so the heat & boredom is going to get me for sure. The big financial reset that will ravage the " first world" , will barely be felt in Thailand. Monster flood...are you insane ?.....What about the solar flare and a massive EMP that's coming ?.....Zombie Apocalypse.....aliens landing on the white house lawn ? dinosaurs in your back garden ? for the most part these "Prepper cults" are just an excuse for gangs of fat red necks to play tin soldiers at the weekends, have a circle jerk and fuel each others paranoia Well I was first stuck 1 week in the floods in the South and than 1 month in Bangkok. That was very real. I wouldn't have died as the army brought transportation and food with boats, but have it a bit more and it the army can't help anymore. Or a civil war was at some time not complete impossible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 This sounds invaluable - is the service restricted, or can anyone subscribe for access? It is restricted to licenced radio hams. Because the service is free to use, many yachties obtain a ham licence in their home country before they set sail, (the technical exam/test is not so difficult to pass). For Thais, the ham licence is a written test in Thai language, which obviously restricts the ease of obtaining the licence for foreigners living in Thailand. I have a Thai ham licence because I had one from the UK, and was able to use that in place of taking the Thai exam. Most yachties do possess a sat mobile phone (Iridium etc), but use of this is usually limited to urgent and emergency voice calls, (the airtime cost adds up on a long voyage...). The ham rig and Winlink allows free voice comms and free email, as well as downloading weather maps etc from the Winlink servers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 If you live in rural Thailand , and where it is not likely to get a monster flood , there is no need for prepping... 2 weeks ago in my location just 1km from Phuket International Airport, there was major flooding (2 metres on some roads), with the Thai Navy operating boats to help locals through the flood. My pick-up was 'prepped' to allow me to drive through 1 metre flooding on the access roads to my hotel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbothaivisa Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 At least 2 people here with first-hand experiences which will now influence the way others take plausible catastrophes into account in the future - the toilet one at least, if not the knowledge of Winlink. Stick your fingers in your ears if you must, but that's prepping folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 One should also ask yourself what event you are prepping for. In Thailand, there is a major event on the horizon that we cannot discuss. That event might cause civil unrest and the need to be prepped for it. OTOH, it seems just common sense to prep for a natural disaster which has a reasonable possibility of occurring in your region. So think tsunami in the coastal area, major earthquake in north Thailand, flooding... er ... just about anywhere! Don't assume that the authorities will look after you and certainly do not believe any promises that they make. I prefer to prep for myself/family, because I know that if a major disaster should occur, we will either get scant assistance, or those who are tasked with providing assistance will be too incompetent to do their job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 If you live in rural Thailand , and where it is not likely to get a monster flood , there is no need for prepping... 2 weeks ago in my location just 1km from Phuket International Airport, there was major flooding (2 metres on some roads), with the Thai Navy operating boats to help locals through the flood. My pick-up was 'prepped' to allow me to drive through 1 metre flooding on the access roads to my hotel... flood.jpg Admit it, this cover is for the zombie apocalypse...so that the gore of the zombies don't mess your engine.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorC Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I take preppers serious , but like simon43 ^^ says , in Thailand prepping for what ? As a foreigner here , when a tsunami/flood/vulcano/earthquake strikes , you just go to a different part of the country and wait it out. The minority with property/houses , might want to considder stocking up on essentials if they don't want to leave . If the government or whatever party goes full retard Khmer rouge on us, we're just a couple of hours away from one of the borders. When Trump starts WW3 , Thailand will not be in the "hot" zone even with China so close. That leaves very unlikely major events like big asteroids/ CERN-accidents/ orbital changes / worldwide pandemics,....Do you really want to survive them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbothaivisa Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 As thousands of people in New Orleans discovered too late, you can never predict what disasters are plausible. Yes it's essential to study your surroundings and take into account likely scenarios, but the only way to be prepared, is to prepare to survive without infrastructure, power, supplies & shelter. Obviously it's no guarantee against mega-disasters, but those are pretty rare. Psychologically however, knowing you have formulated a solid backup-plan which is good for most scenarios, is going to massively reduce your stress levels if things go wrong. It's the difference between helplessly watching the waters rise around your worldly possessions & family - or dropping some pre-filled sand-bags into a few access points, and being reasonably sure you have sufficient food & power to remain comfortable until things return to normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeJoMTB Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Prepping is about the apocalypse. Those who worry about ham radio and toilets aren't preppers. Those who prepare to survive for 20 years when civilization has been destroyed are. No prepper would ever consider setting himself up in an area that floods, that's just silly. Edited August 30, 2015 by MaeJoMTB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbothaivisa Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 In the UK I collected guns ...... till the government stopped me. In Thailand I collect swords and knives. Prepping is about the apocalypse. Those who worry about ham radio and toilets aren't preppers. Of course you have every right to your opinion, but that's still no guarantee of validity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 As I understand it, "prepping" is preparing for some kind of event, one that will destroy the current structure of society and the services/infrastruture etc that we all enjoy and generally rely on, like electricity/water, law & order etc etc. Now, there is probably more to it but that's the gist of it. So, what exactly is it, that some or most of these "preppers" actually think is going to happen in their lifetime ?? that warrants the kind of extremes that some go to in their hoarding and prepping quest.? Are their concerns valid ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbothaivisa Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 As I understand it, "prepping" is preparing for some kind of event, one that will destroy the current structure of society and the services/infrastruture etc that we all enjoy and generally rely on, like electricity/water, law & order etc etc. Now, there is probably more to it but that's the gist of it. So, what exactly is it, that some or most of these "preppers" actually think is going to happen in their lifetime ?? that warrants the kind of extremes that some go to in their hoarding and prepping quest.? Are their concerns valid ? Is this what's called a "thread hijack"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeJoMTB Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) As I understand it, "prepping" is preparing for some kind of event, one that will destroy the current structure of society and the services/infrastruture etc that we all enjoy and generally rely on, like electricity/water, law & order etc etc. Now, there is probably more to it but that's the gist of it. So, what exactly is it, that some or most of these "preppers" actually think is going to happen in their lifetime ?? that warrants the kind of extremes that some go to in their hoarding and prepping quest.? Are their concerns valid ? As I previously posted, I'm expecting a Zombie Apocalypse. So no need to hoard food and water (Zombies only eat living people), just a big collection of swords to hack their heads off. Other branches were prepping for 'Peak Oil', which seems to have gone away after everyone's back yard appears to be flooded with fracking. Yet more are waiting for 'alien invasion' or 'asteroid strikes', not to mention EMP from solar flares. You pick the flavour of apocalypse you like, and wait quietly for it to happen. Thailand is a lot easier for preppers than the west. No need to worry about fuel for heating (it isn't cold enough), food (it grows everywhere all year round) or water (it rains a lot). Edited August 30, 2015 by MaeJoMTB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 As I understand it, "prepping" is preparing for some kind of event, one that will destroy the current structure of society and the services/infrastruture etc that we all enjoy and generally rely on, like electricity/water, law & order etc etc. Now, there is probably more to it but that's the gist of it. So, what exactly is it, that some or most of these "preppers" actually think is going to happen in their lifetime ?? that warrants the kind of extremes that some go to in their hoarding and prepping quest.? Are their concerns valid ? Is this what's called a "thread hijack"? No not at all, and I apologise if that's the impression given, I am genuinely curious about the subject and the motivations of the "preppers" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 "No need to worry about fuel for heating (it isn't cold enough), food (it grows everywhere all year round) or water (it rains a lot)." But wouldnt some kind of nuclear disaster destroy all that and block out the sun so nothing would grow and most everything contaminated ? same with a mega Volcanoe eruption, dust blocking the sun etc etc so cold would be a factor and nothing would grow for years. Have I got it wrong ? please enlighten me on the "what if's" Nuclear EMP Volcanoe/ other natural disasters Meteor impact Deadly virus what else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeJoMTB Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 "No need to worry about fuel for heating (it isn't cold enough), food (it grows everywhere all year round) or water (it rains a lot)." But wouldnt some kind of nuclear disaster destroy all that and block out the sun so nothing would grow and most everything contaminated ? same with a mega Volcanoe eruption, dust blocking the sun etc etc so cold would be a factor and nothing would grow for years. Have I got it wrong ? please enlighten me on the "what if's" Nuclear EMP Volcanoe Meteor impact Deadly virus what else ? Sorry Charlie, You need to ask someone prepping for those scenarios. I'm so sure it will be Zombie apocalypse ....... no need for cold weather precautions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Mega Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 As I understand it, "prepping" is preparing for some kind of event, one that will destroy the current structure of society and the services/infrastruture etc that we all enjoy and generally rely on, like electricity/water, law & order etc etc. Now, there is probably more to it but that's the gist of it. So, what exactly is it, that some or most of these "preppers" actually think is going to happen in their lifetime ?? that warrants the kind of extremes that some go to in their hoarding and prepping quest.? Are their concerns valid ? Is this what's called a "thread hijack"? not its not, you have opened a thread on an open forum with the intent of garnering various opinions and your getting them...you cant start complaining if you get opinions you don't agree with or don't follow the "Prepper cult" party line, and this is exactly what the this "prepper" thing is... "a cult" no different from the loonie religious ones which use the "end of the world" thing to recruit members... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon43 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Admit it, this cover is for the zombie apocalypse...so that the gore of the zombies don't mess your engine.... The zombie apocalypse might not yet be upon me, but I am able to 'practice' this nightmare scenario because my dysfunctional Thai ex-family live just 100 metres down the road... Back on-topic, maybe we have different definitions of prepping. I think the likelyhood of a zombie apocalypse/destruction of civilisation is rather unlikely, (unless the price of yaba hits an all-time low). For me, 'prepping' means preparing for a major disaster, whether it be natural or manmade. So, violent civil war could be a remote possibility in Thailand, (after that which we cannot discuss takes place). More likely is a major, natural disaster. Because of my police volunteer work in Phuket and my techie comms skills, for me 'prepping' also means preparing (and testing) a comms plan to cope with the thousands of Chinese tourists who are likely to be running around like headless chickens at Phuket Airport. I have already tested several scenarios of this plan ==> deploying a low-power, broadcast radio service on FM, that can be received on mobile phone radios, deploying a captive wi-fi hotspot from my vehicle that is linked into a php and mySQL database app that I wrote, rapid deployment of my mobile antenna system and testing comms with stations in Bangkok and countries in Asia etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petercool Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 A post discussing moderation removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Now that makes sense!!! But you can't live from beer alone. He should also stock some wine. Or maybe the wine is in the next chamber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandersnatch Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 If you live in rural Thailand , and where it is not likely to get a monster flood , there is no need for prepping. Prepping is very much needed if you live in the ussa or europe. Rural Thailand has veggies & rice in abundance and enough water.( may need some filtering or put a silver coin in ). The one thing that would kill me is no electricity = no aircon and computer , so the heat & boredom is going to get me for sure. The big financial reset that will ravage the " first world" , will barely be felt in Thailand. If you live in a condo in a city you are heavily reliant on the infrastructure working, so if the water or electricity shuts off or food deliveries can't get through to the local supermarket, then you will want to "Bug Out" Doomsday Preppers (2011-) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2069270/ As FlorC stated, rural thailand is well set up for when the infrastructure breaks down. So I would suggest cultivating a friendship with someone with a farm up country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko123 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Learning the language ought to be at the top of the list for any prepper living in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Learning the language ought to be at the top of the list for any prepper living in Thailand. Not if there is a civil war, the only Thai you will need is airport now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipi Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 How do you prep against a viral or bacterial outbreak? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 How do you prep against a viral or bacterial outbreak? Hazmat suits, gas masks, lots of disenfectant and lock yourself in your basement with a .50 cal pointing at the door Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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