Michael Hare

You can get a phytosanitary certificate from the Plant Protection Organization of Thailand, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok. Their office is next to Kasetsart University in Bangkok. They also have a Plant Quarantine Station at Suvanarnbhumi Airport. You have to take the plants to be inspected before a standard phytosanitary certificate is issued. If there are any diseases or insects which have to be declared by the importing country, lab tests will have to be done. These take about 14 days. 

48 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

Makes you wonder why grass chopping machines are manufactured...

 

Never mind the quality of the stem, my cows eat better when the grass is chopped than if I simply feed them the long (up to 2 meter high) pieces of Napier grass.

 

In the latter case, they tend to eat only some parts, while furiously shaking their heads left and right to separate one piece from another, and it all ends up with significant losses.

 

On the other hand, when the grass is chopped, they eat every last bit of it.

Of course, Napier grass must be chopped before the cows will eat it. That is because it is not a good quality grass. Good quality grasses do not need to be chopped.

Any grass that needs to be chopped it either the wrong kind of grass or too old and stemmy.

Grow a softer grass that does not need to be chopped. Plenty of seeds of various species on the market. 

1 hour ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

Ridiculous to even contemplate doing this at the present time.

 

Surely it is not beyond the wit of those involved to exchange production contracts electronically and post/defer wet signatures.

It was an inquiry only. There is far more involved than just signing contracts and getting signatures. In many villages new species are being introduced that the farmers know nothing about. Training and explaining has to be done over and over and foundation seed has to be carefully distributed. If it was easy, we wouldn't even consider going. After working with Thai farmers for over 40 years nothing really is easy and straight forward in order to get a quality product. Exchange contracts electronically! Many farmers can not even read.

I live in Ubon and this coming Friday, April 17, I planned to visit a village in the northern part of Roi-et province to sign new season seed production contracts. The drive would take me through Yasothon province. I just inquired at the provincial offices in Ubon and they said they would issue me a "pass" to travel out of Ubon province and then I would have to get another "pass" in Yasothon province and another "pass" in Roi-et province. The meeting in the Roi-et village would take a couple of hours but the Ubon office told me that after the meeting I would be put in quarantine there for 14 days. What they told me may not be entirely correct but it is too risky to take the risk. We have postponed the meeting to a later date when these travel restrictions are lifted. Also similar meetings in Kalasin, Mukdahan and Amnart provinces. 

58 minutes ago, mortenaa said:

So when you book on eg Agoda, you use your name written in Thai? 

No, I write everything in English. But it isn't a problem when I present my ID card at hotels in Thailand as the people at reception are Thais.

12 hours ago, stbkk said:

I am sometimes asked for copies of my passport and the current visa page. Now it is many years since I have not had a valid reentry visa, since I travel a lot on business. But my current one runs out in a week or two, and is not going to be renewed for the foreseeable future! Even my accountant (who knows all about my PR) asks for it saying some government offices (or more likely, the people they deal with in those offices) ask for this. I'll let every body know what transpires! Also, does anybody else get asked for this, or are they just picking on little old me!! ???? 

I think the confusion is that what we call a re-entry visa or permit is titled NON-QUOTA IMMIGRANT VISA. My accountant who does my work permits every two years used to ask for this saying that it was a requirement at the Labour office. I told him each time that I believed he was wrong. Last year when my work permit came up for renewal, I went myself to find out if they really did need my passport showing this re-entry visa. Their reply was that there was no need to show my passport at all. Only my PR documents. So that got sorted out. 

3 hours ago, onthemoon said:

Hotels need it, because if they key in your passport number, they also need to key in the TM number. All my bankers love it too.

It was difficult at air travel for me, because they couldn't confirm the spelling - I now use my driver's licence for domestic flights.

I have no TM number because I start my journey in Thailand. If I gave the hotels my new passport, there would be no record of it in the Thai system anywhere. My new passport (two months old) is completely clean with no stamps in it. Not even a reentry visa because in these times I won't be traveling overseas for many months. Hotels definitely don't need your passport number if one has PR. You can even let your passport expire, as it is only needed if one is going to travel overseas. 

26 minutes ago, mortenaa said:

There is another one (at least with mine) - it doesn't tell your name in ENGLISH, only with Thai letters. I've sometime used it for hotels etc, and they are looking very confused every time, and I have to spell out my name in English every time. 

Since I received my pink ID card 9 years ago, I use it in place of my passport everywhere in Thailand. Domestic air-travel, hotels and banking. In fact everywhere, where identification is needed. Hotels in Thailand really like it, as my home address is clearly printed on it. 

I live in Ubon Ratchathani and I have always liked Pornchai. Very pleasant chap. I think he is being used as a scapegoat. Years ago he had the local branch of TNT and I shipped my seed through him. He had contacts everywhere. When he was PAO chief he helped us with village agriculture projects. I think he also developed the big Sports stadium complex on the northern outshirts of Ubon city. I drive pass his former house estate quite often and it is now in a state of disrepair. I hear that there are other well-known Ubon names also under investigation. I wonder if they will get 20 years? 

7 minutes ago, scorecard said:

'...the old red-brown PR book...'  I wonder is you mean the red police registration book which you must get updated after first 1 year then every 5 years?

That is right. But my book is not red. A very faded red that it looks like a brown colour. It was like that when I first got it. They must have printed a pile of these books 100 years ago and they have been sitting in a cupboard somewhere at the police station. The binding comes unstuck easily. 

11 minutes ago, GabbaGabbaHey said:

Last month I renewed my driving license in BKK and thought I could go without the passport, I almost succeeded with Pink ID card actually, just at the last minute to receive my license I was asked to read and sign my information and the form said "Nationality: Thai" (due to PR side-effect I guess) I told I was not Thai citizen to which the answer was "Ok, can you show me your passport?" - fair enough. That's actually one clear limitation of the pink ID: it doesn't say anything about your nationality. 

In Ubon they were not interested in the pink ID card. They didn't even want copies. It was the blue tabian baan book and the old red-brown PR book that they inspected closely and wanted signed copies of every page (which I had). The latter is what the big boss said was most important. 

1 hour ago, mortenaa said:

I also got my new driving license the other day. Even though I brought copies of PR Book, Pink ID card, Tabian Baan etc, the still used my passport number as ID number. I don't see that it makes a difference for my personal life, so I didn't bother to argue about it. 

The problem with passports is they have a limited life and with each new one, a new number is issued. When I clicked in to listen to the on-line seminar about traffic rules etc (compulsory) I used my ID number. Therefore my ID number was in the system. I also took in hard copes of all the books so they could see that the Tabian Baan was a blue book and not a yellow book. But as you say it is not that important. A few years ago I lost my ATM card and when I reported it to the bank they wanted to see the passport that I opened my account number with, which was more than 20 years and three passports ago. After some discussion my new ATM card was issued. Since then, I have changed all my bank accounts over to my ID card. So at any branch of this bank, I only have to show my ID for transactions. 

I got my new 5-year drivers licence last week in Ubon Ratchathani. One had to listen to the seminar on-line and register with one's ID number and drivers licence number. When the first 5-year driver's licence were issued some years ago, my PR ID number was used. Then 5 years ago they refused to accept my ID number and would only accept my passport number. This time, there was much discussion at the desk about the PR ID number and PR. The ladies there didn't have a clue about PR. Fortunately, the guy in charge knew all about PR and my PR ID number was accepted. 

Not far from my house, a building in the local Tha Bor primary school on Chaegsanit road (road to Yasothon; 100 m from the ring road intersection) has been turned into a field hospital by the Public Health Department. It is to monitor people suspected to have COVID-19. I guess there are not enough isolation wards in the city hospitals. Also the authorities may be anticipating a sudden rise in cases as people lose their jobs in Bangkok and return to Ubon. I wonder if other places in northeast Thailand are also setting up field hospitals?

1 hour ago, Raphus said:

Thank you . I will try it.

I doubt very much that you will get a medical certificate saying you are free of COVID-19 virus in Ubon. Even from the hospital. I hear that the hospitals do not have the test kits. Definitely not the private hospitals. Sappasit probably but I heard it costs heaps to test for it.  But if it is only a general medical certificate stating you are "safe to travel" that could be done.

On 3/23/2020 at 2:53 PM, KhunBENQ said:

Keep us updated. That would be a first

Cross your fingers that there is no government office shutdown on the horizon.

I got my new 5-year driving licence today here in Ubon Ratchathani. A few changes since 5 years ago.

The seminar takes place on-line. Went I got to the transport company this morning they informed me that I have to take the seminar on-line. On my computer or download the app on to my mobile phone.

Click into    https://www.dlt-elearning.com/index.php   and follow the instructions. All in Thai. Enter your ID number and then your licence number. Also the date of first issue (on the licence) and the expiry date. Then the I hour seminar starts. Same stuff as before in the room. I went back to my office (10 minutes away) and listened to it from my computer.

After the seminar is finished you have to re-enter your ID number and licence number. Then reconfirm again. A picture comes on the screen saying you have passed listening to the seminar. One must down-load this picture or take a photo.

This I didn’t do. When I returned in the afternoon the lady at the door asked if I had listened to the seminar and where was this confirmation. I thought it would be on their computer. It is, but she had to see this picture of confirmation. No problem. A few clicks here and there on my phone and the picture appeared.

Upstairs it was back to the old days. They check your documents. In my case it was house registration and PR book. For others it will mean one’s passport. Then over to another room to look at coloured traffic lights, press foot brakes and an accelerator and pull strings on some primitive gadget. In all my 26 years of living in Ubon I have never had to do these things before.

Then back to the main room, pay 550 baht and get my photo taken. (Forgot to mention that everyone has to have a face mask on at all times and sit 2 metres apart from other people while waiting).

From the time I entered the building and departed it took 1 hour.

I just did the annual registered for my two vehicles. It was drive thru. Wound down the window and gave the officer my documents. Took about 3 minutes. Tomorrow I will go and renew my 5 year driving licence. I don't think that will be drive thru but maybe they will cut out the seminar. 

Road checks this morning near the Provincial offices just outside of Ubon on the Yasothon road. 

Some years ago I went to a dermatologist In the old part of Ubon city. His clinic opens in the evening and during the day on weekends. The clinic is on the corner of Phrommathep Road (the one way road running parallel to the river) and Luang road. Problem is that there are very long queues as he has an excellent reputation. My treatment was for a skin rash. Friends in Ubon who suffer from skin cancer or itchy skin spots don't seem to have any luck in finding a dermatologist in Ubon. They end up going to Bangkok for lazer treatment. 

Here in Ubon the central shopping areas are becoming quiet. People are staying at home. Retail shops at Central Plaza are suffering from very few customers. In particular, the restaurants and coffee shops. Starbucks informs me that they have never had it so quiet. I am not sure about the restaurants outside of Central Plaza around the city. What I do see is a massive increase in the number of Grab motorbikes delivering food. These motorbikes are everywhere. People must be ordering home deliveries. 

My local vet told me that he has very few people bringing in their dogs for their regular vaccination shots. Now that is a worry.

5 hours ago, stament said:

Visited Chevrolet Lamphun yesterday was dead, I expect closure very soon.

What about the Chev servicing in Lamphun? Is there another service centre?

19 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

Not true.

Ford is now building another service centre/dealership here in Ubon Ratchathani. That will make three in the city. 

1 hour ago, SantiSuk said:

Agree with 711 sentiment Newpix, but a U-turn under a bridge is not the same 'accident-waiting-to-happen' as a same-level U-turn. I read the proposed U-turn (as described) as being similar to say the U-turn if you are coming out of Central and wanting to go north-eastwards towards the Yaso junction on the Ring Road; down, under, round and up!

Exactly right Santisuk. It is an underpass road just like the one near Central. I certainly hope it is wider though. 

Regarding 7-11 stores everywhere in Ubon city. I was wondering if coffee shops outnumber the number of 7-11 stores in the city? I can't see how all these coffee shops make any money.