Thread: Japanese House

Just amazing what you have achieved mate. Incredible.

Good luck with the future.

Thats a good one I was only discussing with my wife about drilling a well for our Durian farm. The method we are using at the moment is a pump from a pond to a sprinkler system which is not a reliable water source with levels dropping so interested in how you get on.

Starting to get furniture (this concept, furniture, does not exist in the thai culture, they did not have a word for it, they borrowed and use "furniture").
I hesitate between no furniture, which is more in line with the traditional Japanese way, but a bit hard on an old farang ass, and having my own made, since comfort is absent here!
I will keep simplicity in mind, lines and zen.

But back to the well...
A tractor to level the ground for the big truck.

The air pump is on another big truck.

Once leveled and all set, with much dust, the digging starts.
Pipes are added the deeper it gets.

Finally, Saturday, 66 metres deep, 1500 litres per hour. The pipes are taken out and cleaned.
The contract stipulated 2000!
So, Sunday, he comes to me to explain that I have a choice to make!
1, a casting with cement and clay will be made and he will go drilling at another site on the farm, so that, if he finds another 1500 L. I will need to buy 2 submersible pumps and will have 3000 L !!!
2, no casting, the well is filled, and I end up, with lots of questionning and translating, that he will move his trucks away...
So, I don't have a choice on where he will dig the well #2 either, it's on a flat surface close to a fish pond so that his truck will be parked on a flat spot!
I use his divining rods and there is no reaction with them, with him too. Will there be water there?
But he has "experience" and the site he chose is sure to have water at 30 m.
This fear of loosing face makes discussion impossible.
His mind is made up before. He will play the part of consulting me. Normally, I will ask question and not too many... But at the end, he will do as he had decided before.
I should not be aggravated, all I have to do is smile and pay.
The first years I was here, this was impossible! Now, I know it's no use trying. This culture is immovable. As easy to change as a pyramid in Egypt!
This is why they never got colonized during the centuries when the Chinese, the Indians, the Vietnamese, the Cambogians, the Burmese were under the boots of Europeans. Very powerful, right?
Well, being close to the education system, it is also a major weakness. When the Asean treaty is being applied in 2017, the poor uneducated thais will be eaten alive by the vietnamese, the burmese and other neighbours who received a real education!
My oldest girl, who spent one year in farang land school, and who gets excellent grades in all subjects, my Amee-Loulou, all smiles and good will, she frightens her teacher. Why? Because she asks questions!
Think about that...

Now, I'm obsessed with a tricky problem.
The filter of the swimming pool does not hold its water, exactly at the same level as before I had cement poured everywhere!
Tons of rocks were moved twice...
I meditate on this for a couple of weeks now, trying to find a solution that will involve a minimum of efforts.

I thought that a joint between the bridge post base and the new cement was the weakness, but the water is over this level.

oh man.... im dying to see that pond progress.....

And me!

Just caught up with this cracking thread. Great home you have there Old Monkey, keep up the good work!

Before moving the equipment, the well is cleaned with a shot of compressed air. There was a 4" PVC casing pushed in the night before, 66 m deep, estimated 1500 l per hour.

After removing the gravel, geotextile and plastic, here is the biggest hole discovered! And there are others... I was not over his shoulder, watching his every move, it's my fault, and he had been drinking!

This waterproofing coat is made with no rocks, sand and cement only, with a silicone additif and "Tiger" cement will not do!

Eagle cement?

A morning view to meditate on at breakfast.This is a cool season, it gets as low as 13o to 17o in the morning, but the sky is blue 9 days out of 10... How could anyone complain?

Note that the rubber trees leaves have suddenly turned yellow and are falling, which marks the end of this first season... for 3 months.

That first job they did on the cement looks rough as guts, not surprised it leaks.

as was said, the leak will be where the water level drops down to, and there may be others above

so not that difficult to trace......

OM I have been calling on TD for almost 3 years and this is the best and most riveting thread I have read. I have to admit I have no skills in any part of the condtuction industry and less knowledge. I congratulate you on your industry and inovation in overcoming problems. I love your attitude to the indigenous population and your obvious love and trust in your family and your understandingof their ways. too many expect western standards instead of accepting theirs. I sympathise with your loss of farm manager and the circumstances it happened.
This is a breath of fresh air so different fromthe usual complaints and denigration of everything Thai, domucjh of it I wonder why some of them are here instead of returning to where they would seem to be happier.

Now that I see the light at the end of the tunnel for the swimming pool, I will redo the other house next month, repaint the walls, repair the roof and ceilings, put water heaters in each of the 4 bathrooms and revolving fans in each room (there are 6).
My goal is to rent the rooms for long staying guests, minimum one month.
My social life is quasi inexistent, this would give me a chance to have an intelligent conversation now and then without a phone or Skype.
My wife agrees completly, it would be steady money, which is the most important thing for her.
It would keep her busy, which is the most important thing for me!
It would include meals, clothes washing, the use of the pool and the sharing of this paradise. I'm thinking of 600B/day, all inclusive.
What do you guys think?
I also want to make 3 rooms each with a private intrance in my house in downtown Chiang Mai, so that my guests could spend some time in the city, this time not including the food.
So, the offer would be varied and could attract the kind of interesting people I would welcome in my life.
I'm selling all the pigs, as fast as I can, my farming days are almost over. I enjoyed the 11-12 years of it, time to move on...