Proffesor

Dealers typically have monthly ( and yearly ) quotas that they need meet to maintain their purchasing power ( discount ! ). So the closer it is to the end of the month ( year ) you are able to purchase, the better deal you might get if they are just a unit or two away from their quota.

A client has just messaged me saying that his girls are reporting getting electric shocks when using the showers ( in an old building in central Pattaya ). I've messaged him back saying DON'T USE THEM ! He's asking "Any ideas what would cause this as wasn't an issue before? Apparently its both rooms so we cannot use them until they are safe. Why would this happen all of a sudden ?" To which I replied :- It's a wiring fault somewhere. Possibly water got into the electrics. From memory, the shower units are "basic" i.e. no inbuilt protection. I haven't seen any protection built into the Consumer Units / MDB's - but then I haven't really looked. From what I've seen of the wiring, fitting protection in the MDB's probably wouldn't work because of the poor state of the wiring. You'd be getting what are called "phantom trips" - trips for no apparent reason. "Okay so best option would be?" Electrical survey, which will probably prove what I already suspect. If the existing cables are deemed adequate, upgrade the showers to ones with in-built protection. If the cables are not deemed adequate, re-wire with protection provided at the MDB's. "I can't afford that it will cost me a fortune. Sorry I need a safe repair yes but not a Rolls Royce solution." What the f**k am I supposed to Say ? I have no interest in trying to do electrical work "on the cheap". Electricity kills, especially when combined with water.

I sense another Curry night in the offing . . . .

Hate them with a passion.

Might I ask, " Is there any interest amongst those of us here in Pattaya, in holding a Wake for Phil ?" The other Phil ( Mr Egg @ LePub ) has intimated that he is happy to host the event, and with the assistance of a BM, even provide catering. If there is interest, I'm happy to set it up. If I was clever ( HELP ! ) I'd set up a poll asking :- Are you interested ? If you are, what evening of the week would suit you best ? I'll say no more . . . . . Cheers Proffesor

By eck ! She gets about a bit . . . .

I have the 49" version of this and am pleased with it.

Huge respect for all involved. Very gratifying to know that when the excrement hits the whirlygig, assistance will be forthcoming. I'm curious, what are Puang's and Thomas's plans for the future ? Are they planning on staying in the U.K. or returning to Thailand - post Covid ?

Now there's man who appears to have been dragged up proper ! Very nicely put, Sir.

Happy to help. If you want my bank details, P.M. me. I drop the funds into Bazle's Thai A/c ( he is stuck in London ) he then transfers GBP from his U.K. A/c to TA's. A bit convoluted, but it works and avoids anything other than local bank fees. I should state here I"M NOT LOOKING TO STEAL TOMMY DEE'S THUNDER - Tommy is doing a sterling job, on all fronts. I'm merely offering an alternative.

If you want to send to my Thai ( Kasikorn ) account, there are B.M's ( Thinking Allowed ) in the U.K. who I can fund from Scotland, that will get the money to Puang. P.M. me if you want details

I would make a big effort to get to a remembrance "do" at LePub, and would leave cash in the collection bucket for Phil's family. And if Mr Egg agrees, I'll also make a sensible contribution to food for the occasion. Would have thought that with the number of us that there are, a cash swap shouldn't be too difficult to arrange - funds collected here deposited into a members Thai Bank Account, for said member to then transfer from his U.K. account direct to Phil's missus, or whatever . . . If arrangements are made, please let me know. May he R.I.P

Wot He Said - nice one BritBoy

Without doubt, talk to Tony at MagnaCarta; . their job is to protect your interests. The realtor works for the seller - his job is to get the seller the best possible deal. If the realtor offers to "process" the paperwork for you, I would be highly dubious of his intent. If he offers you a portion of his Commission . . . . ask yourself " Why is he so desperate that he needs to bribe me to buy this property ? ".

O.K. images as promised :- This is the bathroom of a Pattaya town house, built approx 15 years ago. As you can see, it has a toilet, a bath tub ( used only as a shower ) and a wash basin The electric water heater feeds hot water to both the bath mixer tap and the wash basin tap. We are currently working on an identical bathroom directly above :- The bathtub has been removed, together with the toilet and the wash basin. The ceramic floor tiles lifted and the floor "tanked" - the justification for the upgrade was that water was leaking down through the floor to the room below; the floor tile grouting had failed. The wall tiles below the waistline trim removed. An extension has been built to widen the showerhead wall ( the width of the original bath alcove being insufficient for a decent shower cubicle ). New wall tiles fitted from the waistline down. A beam formed for the shower door to sit on, approx 4 cm above finished floor level. The floor tiles yet to be laid and the shower head wall and return ( shelf alcove ) yet to be tiled. I'll post more images when fully complete. F.Y.I. here are images of a similar bathroom upgrade that we did last year ( same problem, water leaking through to the room below ), using the same style of shower door, which is in fact a white powder coated aluminum patio door frame, fitted with laminated safety glass, which our sub-contracting glazier can make to virtually any size :- Before the eagle eyed among you point it out, I wasn't happy with the capping riveted onto the top rail of the shower door frame, so at my request, I'm told the glazier has now sourced a different section that comprises a rectangular box section with 3 blades underneath ( that the doors slide between ) to replace the open topped top rail used in this installation ( with a capping subsequently riveted on ).

If you are in Pattaya and have a serious interest in engaging us to do work, I'm able to take you to various properties where we've undertaken work, to show you the end result. If you're not in Pattaya, and have a specific interest in having us refurb, say, a shower room, we can provide images of work that we have done in different room sizes, shapes and in different "styles". I'm off to work now. I'll try to get images of a bathroom that we're converting to a shower room and post them here, then later, I'll post images of the completed works.

Your kind words are hugely appreciated, thank-you very much. I'm an engineer, not a word-smith. Engineers live in a world of "right" or "wrong" ( and would-be engineers have a third category "good enough" ). My background was in submarine engineering, where "good enough" = people die ! I was somewhat trepidacious about posting such a self promoting text, but commercially, one has to take the opportunities presented; which is why your comment " you seem to have pitched it just right" is so welcomed. Again, thank-you.

Seeing as you asked . . . . . My (Thai ) wife and I have a small Company ( Engineering & Property Services Co Ltd ) based here in the Darkside. I'm an Engineer to trade, so have a reasonable understanding of how things "work". We have Thai staff ( as required to meet my Work Permit quota ), we have a Furniture Workshop / equipment store and we have trusted sub-contractors that cover all the trades that I can imagine you ever needing; which include :- Air Cons Glazing Ceramic Tiling Electrical Plumbing + water tanks, pumps et al I.T. Decorating - painting, papering etc. Curtains, blinds etc Granite & Marble ( and refinishing work ) Security safes Security doors Mild steel, stainless steel and aluminum fabrication Bespoke furniture General Building work Etc. etc All sub-contractors work under our ( my ) supervision. Where possible, we aim to provide a near European standard of work. We have been called out to replace a Bum Gun head. I've been employed as the Project Manager of a THB 35m+ house ( mansion ) build. These two jobs represent the two extremes thus far. Currently, we're upgrading the 2nd of 3 bathrooms in a ( Pattaya ) town house, due to start building some internal walls and replacement of old steel water pipes ( with PVC / PP-R ) in a 200 Sq.M Jomtien Condo renovation next week. Also in discussion regarding the revamping of a 3 storey shop-house bar in central Pattaya. We work on a straight forward "Cost + 20%". Labour day rates for various staff skill sets are declared up-front, as is my wife's and my day-rate. Quality materials are purchased at the best rate we can find. The work is done, the cost of materials and labour added-up, a 20% premium is applied ( Overheads, Profit Margin etc. ) and the total is what we ask you to pay. If the job goes well, you pay less. If we hit an unforeseen snag ( TiT ! ), we tell you, we fix it ( properly ) and you only pay what it costs ( + 20% ). The alternative is that you invite a contractor to Quote for the work; he Quotes for what he can see, + a huge contingency for what he can't see, but experience has led him to anticipate, + a profit margin. If the job goes well, you pay through the nose and he makes a killing. If the job goes badly, he has the option of covering-up any problems and walking away with a small profit, or doing it properly and making a loss . . . . unfortunately, the latter doesn't often happen. You will find cheaper than us, but I would like to think that, although more expensive, at the end of the day, we provide Value for Money. So, if you think we might be able to help, please give me a shout. Steve ( a.k.a. Proffesor ) 08221 68865 [email protected]

The attitude that I adopted was " If I'm asked a question, I tell the truth. If they make an assumption, I don't correct it. I don't volunteer information". I was in Thailand when it became time to "claim" my UK Pension, so I claimed on-line, answering the questions asked. I have no reason to travel back to the U.K. since the contract that I was working on was terminated ( some 5 years ago now ). Financially, it isn't worth me booking a flight back ( leaving aside the Covid difficulties ) just to try to claim the entitlements I would get by purporting to be a UK resident. Yes, I have an accommodation address and Bank Account in Scotland. If you had an alternative reason to travel back on a regular basis, such as providing school holiday supervision for a grandchild, and the UK Government made the assumption that the UK was you primary abode, I wouldn't go out of my way to explain the error of their assumption. Nor would I decline an automated payment of the Winter Fuel Allowance if they decided to drop it into my Bank Account. My concern would be that if I was caught lying when asked a direct question, then I would put my Pension at risk; which would be foolhardy to say the least !

Against what the UK resident Pensioners spend in the UK, need be balanced what they "cost" the U.K. Health Care Social benefits Free Bus Pass Subsidized train travel Winter Heating Allowance Etc. etc. U.K. Pensioners resident in Thailand get none of that and still don't get an Index Linked State Pension Pension Has anyone ever calculated how much 1,000 average U.K. resident Pensioners typically cost the State, over and above their State Pension, and then compared that to the cost of Index Linking the Pensions of 1,000 average U.K. Pensioners living in the likes of Thailand ? I would be surprised if there wouldn't be a Nett saving. A saving that would then be increased by not having to have an additional administrative system just to keep track of which Pensioners did not get the "full" pension.

I suggest you get your eyes ( or your dick ) looked at . . . . .

It was a good night out Jambo. Always good to meet up with old friends, and Mr Egg is a fine host. Looking forward to next time, perhaps with a curry thrown into the mix . . .

I've been refused with a letter dated the day prior, so always go to the Bank first thing, then toddle off to Immigration. On one occasion was refused because the account was deemed dormant ( I leave just over the required amount in the account all year round and don't touch it ). Had to go back to the bank, Deposit THB 100, update the bank-book, re-print the Statements and upgrade the letter. Have NEVER managed to do a renewal without something being wrong ( or deemed to be wrong by the Immigration officials ). Always allow 2 consecutive days and am satisfied if I can jump through all the hoops on the first day.

I was talking with another BM earlier this evening, and this topic came up; I realize that I don't know as much about it as I'd like to. Perhaps there are some of you that are qualified to educate me and others . . . . Planes. Like any other complicated machine, planes need to be "serviced". There will be set service intervals that I believe ( please correct me if I'm wrong ) are based upon a number of factors, including Days since last service Number of Cycles ( a Take-off and landing = a cycle ) since last service Hours in flight since last service So, based upon the curtailment of International air travel in mid - March, nearly 11 weeks ( 75 'ish days ) ago, and the current suggestion that "normality" ( whatever the hell that will turn out to be ) might return at the beginning of July, many ( most ? ) of the aircraft will have been "parked" for more than 100 days, how onerous will the servicing requirements be, to enable them to return to service ? Maintenance staff & facilities. Most of us have seen images of non-active airfields, stuffed to the gills with stored planes. How many of these have the maintenance staff and facilities to undertake the "return to service" maintenance tasks that are likely to be required ? Flight crew. I believe pilots have a legislated limit as to how many hours they can work in a day, in a week and in a month. But is there a minimum limit of hours within a set period, that they need Log, to be considered "current" ? If there is a minimum limit, what is it ? If it is exceeded, is there a requirement to "refresh" or would they need "re-qualify" ? Presumably, "refreshment" or "re-qualification" would take place in a flight simulator ( ? ) how many flight simulators are available and how many pilots a day could be processed in one such unit ? Return to service. Based upon the answers to the foregoing, together with any other salient facts, how long will it take for international air travel to return to, lets say, 20% of the capacity that was available in January of this year ? Is 20% capacity sufficient to enable an effective return to service ? I presume there is a "critical mass" that need be achieved ? Thanks in anticipation of informed answers Proffesor ( a retired Marine & Transport Engineer )

Nice one ! Is he a Thai or a farang, might I ask, please ?