Finding the little things, like knobs.

I've lived in Chiang Mai for about 9 months now, and I'm really enjoying my new home here in Thailand.  That said, there's a lot of little things that can get annoying, especially if you haven't learned to speak Thai.  I found that I'm

Some of the things you can't find, can turn out to actually be rather maddening, so I'm posting this to hopefully help someone that runs across a similar problem.  Very often, I've found that, unlike most of the stores in the U.S., people sell all kinds of things, and for most of the things they sell, including appliances, they don't carry any replacement parts whatsoever. 

So 2 months ago I bought two burner TEKA portable gas stove.  If you're curious, it was on sale for 1,790 baht....about $56 US.  I've been relatively happy with it, until one of the plastic control knobs developed a crack.  I tried to glue but that last only two days.  Then it was toast.  Then the other one broke....within 2 days.  And you can't light stove without at least one working knob....and I cook most of my meals...so it way really annoying.

I went back to where I bought it, but they were out of that model, and it took several minutes to communicate to the sales clerk what my problem was (my fault, not hers).  But once she understood, she told me that they don't carry any spare parts...and definitely not the plastic knobs.

She sent away with a map to the TEKA customer support center....all in Thai.  But I just looked them up on the internet and sent them an email, that included the model number and a photo of it in their catalogue.  I told them that I was looking for new knobs, but I also asked her if that stove would accept any other third party knobs, because the first ones only lasted two months and I wanted something more substantial that wouldn't keep breaking.

She responded that these knobs were the only ones that would fit on this stove.  She said that she'd have to order them and that they'd be 350 baht each!  So two of them were 700 baht (without shipping).  Remember, I only paid 1,790 for the whole stove! 

I sure wasn't about to buy two more flimsy plastic ones for $22 plus shipping, and I didn't believe for a second that there was no standardization for things like knob.  So I went to where I got my propane bottle, and they also sell stoves and parts.  I got very lucky and the salesman spoke pretty good English.  I showed him the broken parts and asked if carried replacements for those particular knobs. 

He informed me that almost all of them are interchangeable....that was important information, and then he opened two drawers full of knobs and I picked some that were seriously beefier.  The total for the two of them was only 70 baht, or $2.18.... and no shipping.  So the places that JUST sell and fill gas bottles, along with stoves, BBQ's, and other gas appliances, will usually carry ALL the parts you need.  They are also generally cheaper than buying from the big box places, but don't always have the more expensive stoves, if that's what you're looking for.  But if you're looking for the people with solutions for gas appliance, stay away the big box stores, and find a local place. 

Hope that saves you some time....hunting for the little stuff.