RamdomChances

Some excelent posts Khinwan, thanks

What do you think of Moo Bha ? if often though about keping a few on a small scale as I assume that their higher selling price could mean better profit. Quite a few of the thais around here say thay are difficult to keep, but you go to any hilltribe village and a large percentage of the houses have them.

I might take you up on that vist offer as I'm not far from you and get up that way fairly often as I have another friend living near Mae Wong, I'm in Tak Far southern end of Nakhon

I think you'llprobably find that those figures are possible under optimum conditions,wether you'd get them month in month out is anyone guess.

Update

A quick note to bring all up to date.

Tim was moved to California on Tuesday, and is off the grim reapers Xmas list. If anyone who knows him is in the LA area and wants to visit, drop me an email or message for hospital details.

Ing says a big thanks for all messages and will get round to acknowledging each one in person over the Xmas weekend.

Derrick V.

Thanks for that up-date mate, I'm relived he's doing well and hope he has a speedy recovery

RC

Yea cold season is great for the cows, it's a bit of a catch 22 situation for most people thou, as although it's nice and cool there is usually a lack of decent fodder, rainy season is mastitis season but you've got loads of grass, hot season is well.....just hot really

Hi Random,

I am in Lansak and would be interested to drop in for a beer if your not too busy.

If you could send me your adress or phone number we could arrange it.

Neil.

Drop me a line with you number and stuff and well sort something out, Bill's down for Christmass, if you fancy a roast lamb dinner I've got sort of a open house policy if I'm here your welcome

I'm actualy just as close if not closer to Uthai than Nakhon how far from chai Nat are you, have'nt got a map handy at the moment ?

Sawan Park has a sort of open Gym set around the lake , good for doing circuits.Early morning or evening is the best due to the heat. Don't know about ant indoor aircon ones.

Just had the latest news from Tim's wife

To answer the question everyone has asked and to thank everyone for the messages wil you please send the attached word document to the forum to be pasted up as I am not a member of the forum.

I appreciate very much every one wanting to contact but I dont have the time at the moment but will check the forum every few days.

Thankyou very much

Sa-Ing

For All

I have had 6 emails to day asking what happened. I havent the time to reply to each so this is what we understand happened.

He was cutting corn with the forage harvester and some barb wire got caught in the cutter box. He stopped to climb down to pull the wire out. There is a magnet at the mouth which automatically stops the cutters and rollers if it sense metal. What he did not realise that the barb wire had gone past the side of the cutter in a small space about 1cm and wrapped around the rollers behind the blades before the magnet sense it. So when he pulled it away from the magnet and thought it would just come out, the wire came away from the magnet and the pto switch back on and the rollers start to turn and pull the wire more in. The end of the wire catched his sleave at the elbow so he bent his arm when he tried to pull away and because this his shirt cannot be pulled off his body and he got pulled into the machine.

When the cutter bar hit his bent arm it cut some way then stop but the roller continues to turn and pull him in to crush the arm and included the shoulder and the right side for his chest.The only part not damaged was the hand with his arm bent it is the last part to go in just when the machine stop the 2nd time. I must be honest like everyone who has been involved and say he is partly to blame. With his experiance he should have known to switch off the engine and not just to put the main gearbox in neutral.

I know some of you work with the rice harvestors. Please please be very careful with farm machinary. This was the very big forage harvestor not the small Thailand rice harvesting machine but actually the rice harvesting machinery is the biggest killer in Thailand with farm accidents. It happens every year and it happen always with the experienced worker who doesn’t it expect it. And it happen so fast maybe 1 or 2 seconds before anyone can do anything.

Tim is lucky to be alive and went to the military hospital in Loei first and then after 11 days the insurance company transferred him to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kowloon. As soon as he is well enough to move again the advice is to move him to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Our daughter and my dad are with him and I will go back for the weekend on Thursday night with my mom and our son.

I want to thank everyone for all the kind message on the forum which I will print out and take.

Tim has little time for the foreigner community, just all of his friends are Thai and up here are not many foreigners. He just lived his work and family. When he joined the farming forum he did not know that there were so many trying to make a success doing farming and was really happy and pleased. In case you didn’t know he was asking my dad now for a long time to speak to the right people to help make small farms like many foreigners have to be 100% legal. He always felt that this was a positive and constructive thing for foreigners and that they should not only be allowed to do it if they have so much money to do it under the Board of Investment which at the moment is the only way to do it with the rule book if you want the law to recognise and protect your business.

I will keep everyone up to date.

Thank you

edited by me slightly for use on an open forum

How did the bash go RC. Any pics?

Regards.

Pretty quiet, I had one member "Ruud"come along in the morning but could'nt stay, he'd been planing a visit for a while but is only out here now and again. RCM and ChrisB came over. Billd766 coud'nt make it but was down the next day on a "flying vist" on his way to BKK that turned into an all day affair again. Sadly no pic's and no "curry" cos I just ran out of time. Not many falangs around this part of the world

We are so sad to tell you that we have gotten word from the family and friends of MaizeFarmer, that he was very seriously injured in an accident with farm equipment, and he nearly died. They say that he is recovering in a hospital in Hong Kong after very extensive surgery, and he seems to be improving. We don't have much information.

We know that members of ThaiVisa would want to know about this, and that you wish him all the best toward a speedy recovery. Thanks for your concern.

RC and the MOD team

Are you confusing it with Mai Makha ?

Makha

Most of my house is made from that, but I have'nt found much on it, it's very hard

Coffee Kroo next to Chang House, just down from The Moon Cafe is ownd by an English Guy, probaly about your age, there are a couple of expat teachers living in the area he could probaly introduce you to.

but I've only read about this and have no direct experience so I'm hoping that RandomChances of Maizefarmer come on and post about raising the unwanted calves from dairy herds.

Teletiger sumed it up nicely. We usually get rid of ours for about 500 Bhat a head just after they finnish on the colostrum. The first 3 months is the big problem with them as you have'nt got any mothers milk, a bag of powderd milk is just over 1000 bhat, you would probably spend 3000 bhat feeding in the first 3 months to get a "for sale value" of 3000 bhat !! After that is not too bad, they are still more suseptible to parasites and illness than Brahman and don't seem to to grow as quickly. Fine if you just want a mobile lawn mower to keep some ground clear, comercialy I'd go for the Brahman.

Thank guys. They say they have contacted the property agents and not found anything. I've writen to a few myself but yet to get replies. I posted this on the off chance that someone would have one to rent privatly.

They are'nt really that good with computers and a bit fussy so that probaly why they have'nt found anything !!

why do people put predator fish in the ponds, to cull out weaks ones or to make them move around a bit or what... i'm asking, no question key sorry.

Usually they don't I've put some in mine as I only feed at a very low rate and I feels theres to many small fry in there to support. Apart from that Pla CHon is one of my fav eating fish

My folks are out again in January, they were hoping to move into the apartment they are buying in Jomtien, but it's not finnished!! Anyway they want to rent an apartment in Jomtien Jan the 12 th for 1 month, up to 30,000 bhat ish preferably with a pool.

If anyones got anything for rent or know's a mate drop me a line, I'm going to be away for about a week but will get in touch when I get back, I'll be down in Pattaya on the 16th so could probably come and have a look then.

Cheers RC

we even tried making fishfeed to cut costs but because of the birdflu this was to risky

we also tried the maggots, but thai people dont like maggots and pigshit

I know where you went wrong..... the fish that are supposed to eat the maggots and shit not the people

I dabble in fish farming, but the more I look into it the less likely it seems to be able to be done profitabley on a large scale unless you have a cheap readly avalible food source i.e chicken farm.

Food convertion ratios of about 1:1.5 have been quoted which at around 20 bhat Kg for food maens that you have to feed 30 bhats worth of food to increace the weight by 1 kg (Yes I know you can get cheaper but I'm just being general) add to that the cost of the fingerlings, water, electricity, wastage and the margins tend to look very small.

This year I have'nt stocked my pond at all, but it's teaming with fish, mainly Pla Nin, last year I did about 5000 mixed Pla Duk/Pla Nin low stock rate/low feed rate probaly broke even.

I'vew spent 100 bhat on food for the fish this year, but as we have so many and they seem to be doing quite well we've been looking at alternatives, basicaly they now get, waste cow food make it into a powder is best, Chicken food (my BIL delivers the stuff and sweeps his lorry out after usually a couple of Kg a day), stale bread and anything we, the cow's or the dogs don't eat

My biggest expence with it is keeping it toped up with water although I do have my own bore so the cost is a lot lower than Gov water

I estimate there's about 10,000 in there this year if I can sell a pond full a year with minimul outlay I'll be happy and just see it as a bonus

Oh I've added about 50 Pla Chon just to keep the numbers in there managable, I'll eat them myself

teletiger,

It is difficult for me to know what you have been reading. I even googled "what has teletiger been reading" and the only thing it found was something about the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital having another strike.....so.....?

Chownah

I sometimes worry about Chownah's mental health....he's not joking...I checked

Our bales are 36 x 47cm and set at about a metre long. Weight will vary quite a bit depending on straw and moisture content (I haven't weighed them). The lighter the better.

Yea about the same here, say usually about 20kg ( roughly). It goes up to about 25 bhat rainy season price here but not that much of a problem as I have forage for the rainy season. I think the going rate for bailing here is only something like 3-5 bhat a bail !!

I used to buy bails of fresh grass, same size but up to 40kg...pain in the bum to handle

inks ideas etc... or sources resources in thai would be very nice....

Try this link for aron , all downloadable e-books in thai

http://www.dld.go.th/nutrition/Nutrition_K...information.htm

Have a look through our "links and resorces" section loads of good stuff there

i really hate it when i take the time to pm someone etc with tons of info and they dont respond; on second thought maybe they have no access to internet, still... sort of annoying.

Just post it, everyone can read it then and respond

The "going rate" to make bales is Bt15/bale and we are doing them for Bt13. The costs are string, diesel for the tractor, one operator plus a labourer and, of course, the machines.

Can you expand on that a bit Pun, is that what you actually sell the bails for or charge for bailing them ? It sounds expensive either way at the moment I can buy bails for 11 bhat a bail if I go and pick them up or 17 bhat delivered. Bailers are fairly common around here most people who have one contract them out.

As rcm said there's a couple there. If your in Ta Tako your only about 25 km up the road from me, I'm in Tak Fa.

I'm still wondering how the plan was supposed to work.

Chownah

It was supposed to run something like a "cow bank" They would give "poor" people cows and let them keep them for a while to fatten, they would then give them back at a later date and be paid for the difference in weight. Very few cows were ever given out, there were lot's of reports of massive coruption. At a local level it was rumored that you had to prove how "poor" you were by offering the biggest bribes to get the "free" cows

It's a type of forage sohgam, try "Khao fang wan" it does'nt seem to like warter logged soil much, will have limited growth throu the dry season.

I've moved this into the Visa section

RC