Workshops

Earthbag Roundhouse Workshop
Date: 7 days, April 19-25, 2010
Cost: $500 includes excellent hotel, shuttle van, breakfasts, dinners, snacks
Location: Sakon Nakhon, Northeast Thailand
Instructor: Owen Geiger
Email: strawhouses [@] yahoo dot com

Workshop update:
The necessary number of participants has been reached and so the workshop is a GO! Today (Nov. 25, 2009), I will email everyone asking for $100 deposit and final confirmation.

Roundhouse information:
Round earthbag office, 15’ interior diameter, 18” walls, earthbag foundation
Wood doors and windows, small bathroom, earthbag benches
16 sided wood bond beam, steel compression ring
16 sided roof is framed with 8 wood poles and milled lumber, plus terra cotta tile
Exposed wood ceiling with peeled eucalyptus saplings
Cupola with vents for natural convection cooling

General building plan:
Goal: build walls and roof in one week (some parts won’t be completely finished, such as the plaster and roof tiles, but we will do as much as we can so you get at least some experience on each step of construction)
Hard, dirty work will be completed before the workshop (earthwork, digging trenches, peeling poles, etc.) so the focus can remain on learning
Workshop participants can assist with any or all building activities as they choose (ex: you may or may not want to climb on the roof, that’s okay)
The emphasis is on hands-on learning, although there will be short training periods throughout the day with white board, and question and answer sessions.

Sign-up procedure:
1. Send a short note saying “yes, I am interested in your workshop” by email to strawhouses [@] yahoo dot com.
2. If we get enough people to fill the workshop, then I will contact you and ask for a $100 non-refundable deposit.
3. Full payment will be required sometime next spring.
4. Note: First come, first served. Every workshop I’ve taught has sold out.

[Note: Another option is to sign up for our internship program. See below.]

How to send money
The best way to pay for the workshop or internship program is with Western Union. Most post offices have Western Union. I will provide you the details by private email, but here is the basic procedure. First, sign up by emailing me. Then locate a Western Union service. I will send you the necessary addresses and contact info. Fill out the form at Western Union and wire the money to me. Then send me the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) from your sender’s receipt, and the city and country you are sending it from.

Tours and related activities during the day: all except the national park headquarters are within 5 miles of the training site, all near the base of Phu Phan Mountains.
Phu Phan Center: cutting edge research sponsored by the royal family on permaculture, rubber trees, CEBs (compressed earth blocks), rice, aquaculture, etc.
Queen’s Siriculture Center (silk research)
Royal Family Organic Farm
Royal Palace
Nong Han Lake and park
Thai OTOP handicrafts
Phu Phan National Park
Tour of sustainable features at the jobsite: earthbag dome with living roof, fruit trees, earthbag bench/garden trellis, outdoor kitchen with 3-way stove (cooking/ grilling/baking), roofwater jars, raised bed garden, compost bin

Phu Phan National Park

Evening activities: (most places within one to four blocks of hotel)
Nightclubs (limited), karaoke, coffee shop, Big C shopping center, Green Corner restaurant and bakery, Makro and Tesco Lotus shopping centers, night market, Expo open air market (small shops with low cost everything), department store, Internet cafes, Thai movies, massage, bookstore, numerous banks with ATMs (also ATMs at Big C)

Special features:
Chauffeured air conditioned shuttle vans for transportation (and on standby if needed for any emergencies)
Best hotel in the city, just 3-4 blocks from downtown
Meals and snacks served by best restaurants in the city
Very nice coffee shop and bakery (with some meals available) across the street
Work with Thai builders and Owen Geiger
Thai/English translators available during the day
Shaded break and instructional areas next to jobsite
Fruit, snacks and filtered ice water available in the shade all day
Work at your own pace (it will be hot and it is best to work gradually with plenty of breaks)
Free limited earthbag consulting for one day after the workshop (very useful for those planning their own homes or careers in natural building)

Elegant Hotel:
This is the newest, nicest hotel in the city. It just opened this year. Traditional breakfast and dinner included, or for more variety they have an excellent menu in English. New European style restaurant opening soon right next door. Free live music in lobby every night from 7-11. Karaoke rooms. Each room has wi-fi. Free Internet in lobby. Internet cafe across the street. Much better Internet cafe about three blocks away. Print the hotel business card below. It will come in handy when dealing with taxi drivers and sam laws.

Elegant Hotel

Elegant Hotel business card

Single room

Double room

Bathroom

Hotel restaurant

Coffee shop and bakery

Shuttle vans

Visa info: Thai Visa.com
In most cases you’ll be able to easily get a 90 day tourist visa upon entry. Some airlines pass out the necessary forms shortly before landing, or you can get one at the airport in Bangkok, which is Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Note: you could transfer in Bangkok and get a domestic flight to Sakon Nakhon, but it’s much less expensive to take the bus (about $25 versus $200 last time I checked about three years ago).

Bangkok taxis: Assuming you will spend a night in Bangkok to rest up, print the hotel name, phone number and directions from the hotel website. Be sure to include any Thai text to avoid translation problems. Taxi drivers claim to know English, but the reality is often far short of what you would hope.

Bangkok bus station: Take a VIP bus from Mo Chit station in Bangkok. You can buy VIP bus tickets upstairs (2nd floor?). If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to ask local people. They’ll be glad to help. Just use short simple phrases like “VIP bus” or “VIP to Sakon Nakhon.” You may have to ask two or three people. Your VIP bus will look similar to the one below. These buses make minimal stops, which is good because it’s about a 10 hour trip. They’re also much more comfortable than ordinary buses.

VIP bus

Nong Han park

Sakon Nakhon City Gate

Sam law bicycle taxis

Sam laws: Do not get in the sam law until the price is agreed on. Always negotiate the price beforehand. Example: two fingers equals 20 baht. Most everything you need is within a few blocks, so expect to pay somewhere around 30-100 baht. Sam law drivers can be difficult to deal with and often try to overcharge foreigners. Be wary of drunk drivers. Most everything in downtown Sakon Nakhon is within about 10 blocks, so you may choose to walk once you learn your way around. (Maybe take a sam law 1-2 times to get your bearings.)

Motorcycle taxi

Motorcycle taxis: This is my preference. Cost is about 30-40 baht from the Sakon Nakhon bus station to the Elegant Hotel. Show them the hotel business card. Drivers are clearly recognizable by their orange vest.

Songthaew

Songthaews: Interns will be taking songthaews at times. The cost is 10 baht (30 cents) each way. We’ll explain the details when you get here. You’ll have a shuttle van during the workshop.

Internship program
Cost for 6-week internships: $1,200

The Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building announces a building internship training program in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand starting November, 2009. The internships largely involves a learning by doing approach with some classroom time. It encompasses earthbag building, sustainably harvested wood, earth plaster and floors, CEBs, adobe, thatch, and low-fired brick, as well as most aspects of general carpentry – setting doors and windows, tile, etc. through all stages of construction.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the program is excellence in building design. Over the next two years, we will be building a series of unique buildings that have been carefully chosen for magazine articles and a future book: a roundhouse office, guesthouse, roofed dome, earthbag pantry. One project includes this office. Each building will focus on the best, low cost building techniques: what works best and why.

Interns will work directly with Owen Geiger (now a Mother Earth News Magazine Green Building Expert) and Thai builders learning a multi-cultural way of building with natural materials – where east meets west, so to speak. Students will rotate through on an ongoing basis (start and stop when they want), enjoy exceptionally low cost living (nice, new apartment = about $75/month plus about $10/month utilities, 30 cent taxis, etc.), go on field trips and attend workshops at no additional charge. Class size is limited to a few students, so please apply early. Send a brief summary of your skills and interests to: strawhouses [at] yahoo.com.

Update: The internship program has started and about 10 students have signed up. Most are coming during the April 2009 Roundhouse Workshop. There’s quite a bit of interest in earthbag domes, so I’m considering building a roofed earthbag dome immediately after the roundhouse workshop. Email me if you’re interested. Students who stay beyond 6 weeks get a 50% discount. This is likely the lowest cost natural building internship you’ll find anywhere.