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Ten practical notes

Notes from the plant room: what we explain before anyone signs

Short, specific guides on the questions that decide a build in Thailand: chiller sizing and cost to run, glass in the sun, timber in humidity, power, imports and condo committees. Sources are named; where a rule is local, we tell you what to ask.

A slim stand beside a plunge pool holding a small plain display that shows the digit 4 and a degree sign, with lagoon-teal mosaic and still water softly blurred behind
Chillers · 9 min

Ice bath chiller sizing and cost to run

Litres, horsepower, pull-down, noise and a worked cost-to-run example, plus five questions for any supplier.

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A Thai woman sitting on the coping of a round plunge pool shaded by a flat teak pergola at midday in Phuket, dappled leaf shadows on the deck, her feet in the water
Phuket · 10 min

Cold plunge in Phuket

Four heat sources, the dew point, the enclosure and a permit checklist for a Phuket plunge pool, with prices.

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Close view of a sauna's frameless glass door with a hand on the stainless handle, the glass reflecting coconut palms and sky while the warm cedar interior glows through it
Glass · 10 min

Glass saunas in the tropics

Where the sun is, what double glazing and coatings do, and which wall gets the glass: the choices that matter in Thai heat.

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Flat-lay of timber sample boards on a workbench: honey teak, dark thermally modified timber and pale cedar, with stainless screws, a small square of white fibreglass liner and a block plane
Timber · 9 min

Teak or thermowood for a cold tub

What the specifications say about teak, thermally modified wood and cedar in humidity, and how we choose for each tub.

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A Thai villa housekeeper folding linen robes onto a teak bench beside a glass sauna and a plunge pool before guests arrive, with rolled towels and a tray of water glasses
Rentals · 8 min

Wellness amenities for villa rentals

The market numbers that carry a source, the uplift claims that do not, and a break-even you can run yourself.

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A woman holding rolled drawings and a tape measure looks down at the chalk outline of a sauna cabin and a small pool on the concrete floor of a bare 12 square metre condo room with a city window
Condos · 8 min

A condo recovery room in 12 m²

The square metres, the electrical loads, the heat path and the committee's likely objections for a small Bangkok room.

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An electrician's hands wiring a three-phase isolator switch box beside a sauna heater supply, with neat conduit, colour-coded cables and a tester in the other hand
Power · 9 min

Sauna power in Thailand

Amperes by heater size, PEA meter sizes, when three-phase becomes necessary and how surges are handled.

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Wooden crates wrapped in plastic film stacked on pallets in a clean bonded warehouse with a worker in a high-visibility vest checking them with a blank clipboard and a forklift behind
Imports · 8 min

Import duty or local assembly

The order of charges in an imported sauna quote, likely customs headings, origin certificates and questions to ask, with no guessed rates.

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A yoga deck with a few people in stretching poses, a path of stepping stones leading to a warm soaking pool and a round cold plunge pool, with a corner glass sauna beyond, in a tropical garden
Retreats · 9 min

Retreat circuit design

Distances, path, edges, the order of stations and a rotation for a class of twelve: the layout rules for a retreat circuit.

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A Thai woman in a wool robe and thick socks walking a lit stone path to a corner glass sauna on a teak deck among pines and ferns on a clear cool morning, a mug in her hand
Chiang Mai · 7 min

Chiang Mai cool-season sauna

How cool mornings raise a cabin's heat loss, what allowance the heater gets and how the same circuit works in April.

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Missing a topic? Send the question on WhatsApp. Several notes here began as one message from a villa manager or a condo committee.

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Tell us the space and who will use it, and we propose the circuit

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