cooked

I am a bit puzzled by this question as in Buriram, hardly the centre of the horticultural universe, I can easily buy sacks of, well, not black, but brown organic stuff. I can't read Thai so the guy asks me what I want it for and gives me what I need.

I will be starting a compost heap soon and expect the rats and snakes to appreciate it, but in Thailand its should pretty rapidly turn into nice black stuff. It just needs air, moisture and warmth, all of which are pretty abundant.

I have grown several types of vegetables on 6 rai of our land. i change the type every year since because when i make a nice profit and people hear about it they start to grow the same thing and the marketprice plummets (sold korinder at 85bath/kilo, 20 people started growing and prices dropped to 5bath). Also grew pumpkins, fak, watermellon. Main problem iz mice getting to the crop and eating it. I use sprinklers for irrigation. It is very labour intensive, lots of weeding

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Interesting... what do you do about security, do you sleep near the crop? This is my main worry at the moment.

I objected above about over protective 'health and safety' regulations in the UK. Thinking back 40 years, I was give responsibility for spraying all the roses belonging to the parks and gardens in the town of Bern. If all went well this took up two and a half days every two weeks in season. No protective mask, no protective clothing ('doesn't matter, you just get a headache and puke in the evening'). When I did eventually get a mask there were telephone calls complaining about this guy spraying poison all over town, so they took it away 'to be cleaned' . Not seeing it again, I bought my own and after a few trips I think my boss realised that I was right, and they left me in peace especially after I complained by letter.

Just an anecdote, but it's not so long since Europe was in about the same place as is Thailand now.

Bamboo scaffolding is ok.

Let's just hope that Thailand doesn't go the way of the UK where recently police watched a guy die in 50cm of water because they didn't have the needed qualifications to go into water above ankle height. Or where guys working have to wear helmets even if the only thing that may fall on to them is a passing aircraft. ...

I think if you have sufficient tattoo-cover, a shirt isn't really necessary.

EDIT: At this point I should probably mention a particular fellow resident expat as a prime example: https://www.facebook.com/timshark

I think he blends just fine.

this guy is low life, in and out of prison and boasting about it.

get some business cards printed explaining the situation. Languages: English and Russian.

Years ago I got some made saying that people that don't answer when you say good day (wishing them a good day) are doomed to go to hell.

I have T-shirts saying I don't want an^y Plastic bags, thank you. Go on, do something!

I think some of the most important skills/traits to teach my children are (in no particular order):

* you're capable of doing just about anything if you want it strongly enough

* your purpose in this life is to figure out what you love to do, what you can do that no one else can, and do that

* money, power, fame and even social status are not decent ends in themselves, but important means to your real ends

* the ability to define a goal, plan the steps and to do what it takes to get there without being pushed

* find something that people will pay you for that you truly enjoy doing, that you'd do for free, and get very good at it

* how to think for yourself to solve problems creatively

* when things go wrong, think about what you could have done to increase the odds of success next time

* it's OK to make mistakes, in fact the more you make the faster you'll learn from them - but make sure you do

* try to learn from others' mistakes as well to save making the same ones yourself - do what I say not what I do 8-)

* you don't have to be good at schoolwork or even get a degree to be successful, but it helps

* do what you know is right, and if you're not sure, talk to someone about it or wait until you are

* be true to yourself - it's not important to fit in with the mainstream, nor to be "popular"

* don't trust "authority" (teachers, police, government) above your own conscience

* save your money and learn how to make it work for you so later on you won't have to work for your money

* building strong relationships with people takes time and work, and is one of the most important skills to learn

More I'm sure but that's a start eh?

well that's all stuff that is becoming increasingly out of fashion in the West also. I bought a few cheap quality toys for some kids in the village last year. I heard 'cannot eat' a couple of times from the parents. I had imagined that we could get the kids together to see how to use this advanced technology (catapulting LED lights in to the air DURING NIGHTTIME) but no no, 'I know how to do'. So the stuff disappeared very quickly as they didn't know/didn't want to lose face by admitting they didn't know how to prepare the parachute.

It is not just financial poverty, it is spiritual poverty that these people inflict on themselves despite going to the temple, entering monk-hood and the rest.

I love the Thais. I know how it is when you can't speak or understand the Lingo, people assume that you are stupid, everywhere ( I lived in Switzerland for 40 years).

I imagine that we are going at this problem in the wrong way, confrontation is bound to occur if we come come here with western assumptions

As soon as I get a handle on it I'll let you know, may take a few years or centuries.

run for the hills! Grab the Chang and run for the hills!

You'll need an elephant in thems there hills. Chang... great idea!

-mel.

well you could load more beer on his back, that is true

There are many electrocutions every year in Thailand, tourists included, Thais think it is normal to get a shock of fridges, computers and so on. They will earth electrical systems on to pvc pipes... etc. There exist apparatus to test if your system is earthed, I don't know how these work. Anyway, my brother in law is an electrician and he fixed up a safety cut system in his house in Kanchanaburi and reckons this is the way to go. Our house is on a circuit breaker set at 5mA and we test it now and then. When they installed the air conditioning they installed a mini circuit breaker as a matter of course which is a good idea.

Most Thai houses seem to be installed with two prong plugs anyway, so unless you want to redo the whole wiring, by someone that isn't colour blind and doesn't think 'in Thailand we not do' then this is probably the best way to go.

I paid around 3500 Baht in Switzerland for mine. I think I'll import all the same

reading these posts I have gone off the idea, I can get pissed at home and have a shouting match with my wife any time.

Exactly Smokes

reading these posts I have gone off the idea, I can get pissed at home and have a shouting match with my wife any time.

Why when you go to Party's do you often have arguments with your wife? In that case best stay home i agree

well I never shout at my wife or anybody else for that matter.Thai visa members seem to spend most of their time descending into personal critisism of each other instead of sticking to the topic. I think I'll take the village kids to the elephant village like I did last year, I think that'll be more fun (and maybe less expensive)

run for the hills! Grab the Chang and run for the hills!

These are cheap, maybe 800b plus the 2 poles, any hard where store.

sorry, are you sure about that? I know a guy that is putting one in his luggage from the UK soon, so please give me some news. Quick!

reading these posts I have gone off the idea, I can get pissed at home and have a shouting match with my wife any time.

...nothing funnier than self inflicted damage (up to a point). I took 40 years to learn that if something hurts when you do it, stop doing it. duuuuh

get well soon.

Try

it may help

.. and while we're on the subject, water analysis also? I am in Buriram area

To give you an idea of medical costs and remember these can vary depending on where you are but a good rule of thumb. A heart bi-pass in Pitsanulok I was told was 1.5M bts, I need to have cataracts done on my eyes 6500bts in Nakhon Sawan. The Thai Insurances I have seen dont seem to be that good value to me.

If you are married and you have a house, your wife will have a blue book which entitle her to a free Thai health card. If you obtain a yellow book ( these are both to do with owning property ) you night be able also to get a Thai health card giving you free access to Govt hospitals as well, some areas seem more supportive than others in this area.

Overseas international cover may be an option depending on cost and whats on offer, otherwise you can consider self funding in a bank account and hope you dont need to touch it

the 'Thai health card' is being phased out and being replaced with the Thai ID card. It was the case in the past (and knowing Thailand) may still be, that Farangs got the health card (gold card) automatically, this is no longer happening. Having a credit card in your wallet when you are delivered to hospital unconscious is a good idea.

No contest just another suggestion.

Fair comment - there are many choices and the Falang population in rural areas continues to expand.

Nevertheless, a centrally located, major conurbation would seem favourite - especially where the road network is a factor,.

I often considered Prakhon Chai, Buriram to be the perfect local and setting....

ha ha so now I know who you are , mate!

Tilapia? Maybe look it up on Google? there are some threads on Thaivisa about setting up for Plaa nin ponds... good luck

yes I have been partying for 40 years now and things have changed from the very formal setups that used to be the norm.

Sitting everyone at little tables is a good way of stopping people from mixing. Sticking the tables together, medieval style, encourages people to move around and sit elsewhere. Very simple, I have seen it countless times.

Someone should be in charge of things, answering questions and in an informal way leading people through the evening. (leading a sing song? maybe not these days), finding a way to get people to mix.

Booze: lovely. Paying 500 Baht all-in is very unfair, my wife for instance won't drink any at all, I understand that there may be Australians and Brits present? I can easily drink for 500 Baht.

Music yes, also possibility to dance. Not so loud that you can't chat up the ladies.

Any talent out there (not that kind)? Invite people to bring musical instruments, tell jokes...

I don't know what to say about the dreaded Karaoke

yes, sorry about the joke, thanks for the reference. I was actually wondering if there were any independent laboratories around.

Lettuce is notorious for not germinating properly at high temperatures (over 25 C I think) so you'll have to sow them in pots somewhere cool I guess

thanks, there are many threads here. I look forward to visiting the erection Dept. you may have misspelled it.

My personal solution has been to open a joint account into which I pay 10 000 a month for household expenses. She has up until now, been very sensible using this, at the same time I can keep things in control. No sick buffalo fund, if somebody or something needs funding, no cash, we decide together and go get whatever it is in the truck. Maybe. Being the cynical person that I am, I may lend a few thousand to the next relative that asks for a 'loan' and then refer future requests to this person Way to go for me, maybe not for everyone.