Mae Sai 05/10 to 05/13 Lots has Happened

A lot has happened in the last three days. Besides the constant battle to get the Burmese tile setters to keep putting the tile with the shiny side up we, Daeng and I, did all the plumbing piping.

Patience and tolerance, patience and tolerance, patience and tolerance.........

That's correct, this old, fat, plumber, at the age of 68 broke out the concrete floor in the cooking/garage area, punched holes through the concert walls and installed all the piping, with Daeng's help. The plumbing for the kitchen sink, shower, toilet and bathroom sink is in and the water back on and tested.

It also gets me in shape to return to California and fix air conditioning system this summer. We will be back in California by June 1st.

Since the whole family wanted a squat toilet, we had the tile men install a squat toilet in the third floor rest room. They did it as a side job and we paid them 500 THB to do it. that is about $16 US dollars.

Now, besides the purchase of the place next door and the recording of the Land Lease, while doing the other work we learned that the 8" drain line that should go to the street drain has been blocked off. This was done when concrete posts were installed for a second story addition in the shop house next door.

Now, we knew there was a problem with the gray water drain when we bought the shop house but we did not know the magnitude.

What this means to us is we need to put in eight (8") drain piping to the street drain for sinks, shower and rain water. The system is what is called "Gray Water Drain". It is a job but we can do it with lots of labor to dig the trench. We think we will do it in PVC or cement pipe. We need to break out more concrete and dig down to investigate more to make that decision.

As far as fun, we are going to a wedding today. Bang, a girl that Tun, Daeng's brother, and Hlong raised, is getting married at 6:00 PM. It will be a small Christian wedding with a little reception after the wedding. She, at about age 22, is marrying a nice "Akha" man, of about the same age from Myanmar (Burma).

As for me, I'm going to continue working on the place and will add pictures and write more later.

Well, the main tile setter didn't show up today. We were worried about that when we gave them the 500 THB last night for putting in the squat toilet. Sure enough, got drunk last night and no show for work today. TIT w/BT (This is Thailand with a Burma Twist). The other tile man started grouting the walls.

I went next door and used an impact hammer to break up part of the floor. I don't think the drain line can be saved. We have one more neighbor's drain to look at and we'll know for sure if we have to install a new drain system.

We also see some water on the floor so we need to be sure and install a floor drain, just in case.

Daeng and her nephew, Kit, worked all day cleaning the 3rd floor. It is my understanding that the tile cutting is finished so no more tile dust. YEA!

We are going to shower and have some fun at Bang's wedding. She stopped my today and she does look "hot" for a 22 year old Thai girl! Although she is to old for me! (Come on, it's a joke!)

The wedding was nice. It was a simple wedding ceremony, although the only part I got is "as husband and wife live happily together...". I still, after four years, don't understand Thai.

There was a lot of girls, too. We think the girl to boy mix was about 10 girls to one boy.

We also want to show you the typical Thai kiss. It is a long kiss on the cheek with a kind of inhaling noise. It is very seldom done in public. This is an exception.

I came home around 9:00 PM but Daeng stayed and helped with the party.

The food was all cooked by Hlong and it was delicious, fried rice with chicken, soap and a kind of Thai cold slaw.

A fun time was had by all.