thedi

You come close to the dream of many woman in Isarn: A honest franag who wants to live with her in Isarn.

Your one flaw is: you are separated, but not yet divorced. I think 8 out of 10 of this Isarn woman would consider this a minor detail. But you should not. The chances, that this will be the source of misunderstandings and/or pretence for troubles in your relation with any woman, are real.

You should know what you want.

For fun, go to Puket or Pataya and meet a lot of Isarn ladies in a casual environment.

If you want a wife, you should be ready to get married. In Isarn this means to get ready to live with her and all her family . Naturally you should be free to do so too.

Some posts suggested that Isarn woman are not so sexy as other Thai woman. If that concerns you, go to Puket and Pataya and look for yourself. It is a fact that most of the more pretty Isarn girls are not in Isarn, but went to BKK or other places where the economical situation is much better.

If you are not primary looking for beauty, you will need an introduction. You may start with a PM to me or other board members.

Regards

Thedi ************

Yes, the itch is not from the snails, but from parasites of the snails. The parasites need two hosts to propagate: some sorts of snails and the birds, usually ducks. Ducks eat snails, but they can get invested by the parasites this way. The parasites can come with bird shit or new water into the pond. There is no sure way to keep this parasites out of a pond, but if either the snails or the birds are missing, the will die out. I don't know how long this would last.

My pond contains about 3000 qm of water. So poison is out of the question, it would need to much.

I just try to reduce the risks. As view snails as possible, no ducks, mostly just rain water and water from a irigation canal only when there is a lot of water flowing there. This year I didn't take any water from that canal at all.

I think I may get around this parasites in the long time. After 4 years I do not have them yet. The discussion started here because I want to increase the water quality (it is too turbid now), and for this reason I plan to deplay less fish and more plants.

Thanks, to the help of some board members I understand now where the itching would come from, hence I can decide better what to do.

Thanks to all who contributed to this discussion

Thedi [email protected]

Hi Konwan,

Thanks, this sounds interesting. I will keep your post for later reference, if my pond gets heu kan.

Right now there is no problem with heu kan. My current problem is that the water is too muddy to swim. So I want to reduce the fish and plant more pak bung and other plants. This is the way to get problems with heu kan and I am looking for a solution ahead of time, if this pest should come into my pond.

Thanks for your tip.

Thedi [email protected]

Local wisdom here in Nakhon Sawan treats the ihuay kan nfected ponds with cut papaya trees. Worked for my pond!

The whole papaya trees, or just the leaves?

Whole or shredded?

How big is your pond, and how many papaya trees did you use?

Is there a constant flow of water through your pond, or is there always the same water?

Are there o lot of other plants (pak bung, lotus etc), = food for the heu kan in the pond?

Do ducks have access to the pond = natural enemy of snails?

I have two ponds and plan to dig a third in the next dry season.

The first is outside in the rice fields, 3 meters deep and a bit more than 1/2 rai in size. There is always water in there, but it is a bit salty. Fish is a problem: without feeding them they will have just big heads but no meat. 3m deep is to much to rise fish. It is difficult to catch them. When I wait until the water level is down in the dry season, the fish will be stolen: there is nobody watching them in the dry season. It would have been better to make two or three smaller ponds, so I could pump water from one into the others. As it is, I just use it for irrigation and let the fish to whomever wants them (boys looking after buffalo and cows in the dry season).

The second pond is in my garden. Because it is fenced and right by the house there is no problem with thiefs. It is about 2.5m deep and a bit more than 1 rai. Still to deep for fishing effectively with a net. Always more than 1m water in there.

More a hobby this one. There was never any profit in it for me. The fish food costs more than I can sell fish. But this is also because most of the time when we catch fish, we and all the family eat free - and each time when we catch fish, I am surprised how much family we have

I will convert this one soon to a pond for swimming in the hot season: only small fish and more water plants so the water will be more clear.

The next I plan will be only 2m deep with two or three basins, so I can concentrate the water in one of them in the dry season. Fenced is a must because of buffalo and cows: they would trample down the ponds borders. Thiefs should be no problem because it will be visible from the house - otherwise I may have a dog there 24 hours a day.

You should look at fish farms, if you want to do any profit with a fish pond.

I live in Isarn and there are a lot of ponds here. Many of them are pumped dry to catch the fish, but all others have water all year round. This may be different in other parts of Thailand.

Regards

Thedi [email protected]

Dear David Duke,

When I read the replies from the regular posters, I thought at first that there are all possible extremes here. But when you come to think of it, they all tell you the same: there are basically two ways of relationships here in Thailand, and you mixed them up.

Short time one night stands: take one from any bar, keep her a night or two and then look for the next one. Nothing wrong with that: you both get what you want: it is a fair deal. You will never have to take any responsability and can keep your freedom: both of you - or rather you as well as all your girls. You both satisfy your current short time needs.

On the other hand, if you go the way like looking for a friend/partner/wife, you should be ready for a friendship/partnership/marriage: both of you. The target is a future with secutity for both. You must be sure to agree on the main points of live.

The point is: One night stands should last not more than a view days, only long time relationships should last.

Your problem seems to be, that you mixed this two ways now. It just developped in a way that it is not a short time relationship any more, but you can not find an agreement for a longtime partnership which works out for both of you.

From your posts I think you are an intelligent gentleman. You may find it time to do some analysing of your and her live and then decide which is the best way to go. Many others have pointed out that you accepts it really is 'Game Over'. Look at it realistically.

If you see it that way too, you may have to take things at hand: Thais are often to emotional in such situations. An ending with horror is better than a horror without ending. Organize a future for her first and then organize a end with the minimum of horror that is possible.

In the more sympatic case, when you come to the conclusion, that there is a common future for the two of you (or rather three - lets be realistically: you and her whole family, grandparents, parents, aunts, brothers ...), I am sure that you will enjoy living in Isarn much more than wherever you are now - with the additional attraction of a daughter to take care of.

Regards Thedi [email protected]

They could maybe issue a sticker at the transport dept for qualified people to stick on their bikes!! Just an idea.

Motorbikes are a poor man's transport - politicans drive cars. Only very view Thais are sufficiently crasy to pay the same price for a real bike as you would have to pay for a car. And then go without aircond, be exposed to sun, rain, exhaust fumes...

I happend to be one of this very small minority here in Thailand, but then I am not a Thai and I would never want to drive my bike in BKK - Isarn is much better for me

Your idea sounds good, but nobody who could change things will be interested.

Just my two cents

Thedi //e-mail address removed as per forum rules -Tywais//

____

Enjoy Thailand as it is - do not try to change it or it will turn out be the same way as the place where we came from... remember why we went away there?

The proper name of the chemical Teletiger mentioned is Furudan (or Furadan?) - small dark purple granules that can be sprinkled on the soil around the tree and then watered in; most agricultural shops sell it; it is used for termites and may also control the other insect problems mentioned above because it is a systemic insecticide – it will travel from the roots up to the leaves of the trees where insects will ingest the chemical and die.

I found it without problem in the local agricultural shop: Furadan 50 Baht a kilo. My gardener will apply it tomorrow morning. In the shop they advised me to not to mix it with water but to disperse it, about a soon full around each tree, and then water it in. I should also take care that it will not go into the pond, because it is toxic for fish.

Regards Thedi [email protected]

PS: while Furadan and love for the trees are applied by my gardener; huging is reserved exclusively for the boss here - but I never tried it with trees...

I use ADSL from TOT 45 km from Khon Kaen. Naturally this is only possible, if the phone in your house is from TOT. You will need patience or a personal interest from the guy who will connect you. You may be able to speed things up if you start by finding out this guys name and phone number There is usually just one guy in a region which handels ADSL connections.

ADSL is not possible on every phone line. My house is a bit over 4 km from the next ADSL booster (I don't know its technical term) and that is more than the official 2.5 km. But it works anyway.

TOT ADSL service is OK for me. I have only 256/128 and I get this in the morning until about 10AM. Later it slows down - I usually stop internetting after midday. The service is not always up. But if you have an analog modem as back up, you will be able to survive here

Regards Thedi [email protected]

You may check the Bangkok Riders Club Forum and Archives: http://www.geocities.com/bkkriders/. They have experiences in importing bikes (which is difficult) as well as renting or buying bikes (both are easy).

Regards Thedi [email protected]

Hello Asian Frog,

I guess Sakon Nakhon is rather remorte. If you would open an international school in Khon Kaen, I would send my daughter to your school for sure

In Khon Kaen there is just one bilangual school: Vites Suksa which is about 150'000 - 200'000 Baht a year. They have primary and secondary school (in Thai Pratom 1-6 and Matayom 1-6). Each class has a Thai and a Farang teacher. The school has boarding facilities, but these would have to be checked: I heard rumors there is not much control there, that kids can do pretty much as they please - just rumors, I did not check it at all myself. Most (or nearly all?) kids return home to sleep.

I was looking for some time for good schools in Isarn - and I still am. The only good alternative I heard about is St. Stefen near Korat, but that is above my budget.

If you find anything interesting, would you mind to drop me a note?

Regards Thedi [email protected]

There are different Tuk Tuks from town to town. Your friend may look around a bit - not just go to one town and compare there, but go to different towns.

Tuk Tuks are more common in Isarn, much more than in central Thailand. Tuk Tuk driver I know here (Manchakiri, 45 km from Khon Kaen) tell me a the best place to buy Tuk Tuks is Udon Thani. You would have no problems to find Tuk Tuk shops there, they are all over town. But for me, the Tuk Tuks that run in Ban Phai (Khon Kaen) or Sri Racha (Chonburi) look much better - it depends on what you like.

Regards Thedi [email protected]

THEDI - insect crap - 100% certain about that - though what type I wouldn't have a clue.

Thank you Maizefarmer, thats a relief. If it is only insects that eat the leaves of this trees, that will not kill them. Once the insects are eaten by the many birds around here, the trees can grow on.

Thank you for your help - I will sleep better tonight

Regards Thedi [email protected]

There are small black things under the most affected tree. My wife is sure it is insect or larvae shit. It is visible only where there are tiles. I saw them before but suspected them to be seeds (the trees are blooming). Here are some pics (you would have to click them to see any details):

Whatever it is, it is dry - not moist at all.

Regards

Thedi [email protected]

Thank you Tim,

The trees will surely last that long

The local people here can not help me at all. Some tell me to try fertiliser, other recommend insecticides and most think its not worth to try anything: this kind of trees will never have any fruits anyway, so why does the farang care?

I will wait until tomorrow.

Regards Thedi [email protected]

.... we'll try and eliminate the options one by one

hello Tim,

1. Only new leaves are dying. Old leaves are not dying.

2. There are bloches on older leaves, not on the one that are dying:

Only two of the trees have leaves with blotches now, but other had them before.

From the two trees with the most dying new leaves, one has a about 10% of old leaves with blotches, the other one has just dying leaves, no bloches.

3. from my 10 trees, only one has a damaged bark. This one has some dying leaves but is not one of the two who worthend in the last 10 days. It had bloches before, but not now:

All other trees have some damages which result from the transport 20 month ago. All barks are dry.

4. I leave in Manchakiri 45 km southwest of Khon Kaen.

Many thanks for your interest in my problem.

Thedi [email protected]

Hello farmers

About 20 month ago I planted 10 trees as protection against the evening sun around my house. I bought them already grown up. They came as just trunks without leaves and only a little bit of roots. At first they had problems to adjust with the earth here. But after about a year I thought they where doing well. They had not to many leaves, but what there was as leaves looked healthy.

Now (since about 10 days) some of them look sick. For example the middle one of this group of three:

An other one in front of the house has more leaves. It grows on filled up earth which was not salty like the original rice field. About 2 weeks ago it started to make a lot of new leaves. While many of them look good, other look sick:

What is wrong? Is there something I can do?

Thanks for any hints

Thedi [email protected]

As an after thought: Nam Tok Ta Ton is about 25km north of Chayaphum. You would need a car: from Chayaphum follow Route 2051 north, there are good signs. It is a national park with a water fall and entry for farangs is 200 Baht (Thais 20 Baht). There are bungalows for rent there. They look nice and comfortable but no luxery. Governement prices (usually not cheap).

The bungalows are near the river in a valley with a forest. The river is nice for playing in the water, but swimming will not be possible. At night there may be moskitos and probably snakes in the forest. So if this panics your folks, this is no option for you.

This bungalows are well separated from each other, have room for a small party and are often visited by groups of teachers or bank employees etc for a weekend, drinking etc, but probably no girls. This kind of groups usually take their food along. I do not remember any restaurants there. At day time there may be a lot of Thai tourists visiting the water fall.

I guess other national parks may have similar bungalows.

<email removed and slight edit to post>

Yesterday we went for a family outing: a minibus full of family. The Thai way of having fun: lots of shoping/eating and visiting one temple.

We travelled from Khon Kaen east on route 209 - 2116 - 2136 to Amphor Nong Phok and Pha Nam Yoi. I was amazed of the many small resorts along the roads in the middle of nowhere. I did not check any of them, but as a guess they wont have a swimming pool but look clean and obviously have aircond. Also obviously NOT visited by families ;-)

Though this does not answer your question, it may give you a hint of what you should be aware of and try to avoid when your folks will come.

To answer your question: I never heard of a place like you are looking for in the region I know - which is South-East of Khon Kaen: Pra Yun - Manchakiri - Gaeng Kro - Ban Phai. I would be very surprised if such a place exists here.

I would very much appreciate it if you would give me a note if you find something nice and decent.

There are first class hotes in Khon Kaen with swimming pools, there is also one in Kalasin. Locals from Khon Kaen go to the 'beach' at 'Pataya 2' or 'Bang Saen 2' which are both located north west of Khon Kaen on a big reservoir called Ubon Rat.

Regards

<email removed>

Congratulations, well done, Farma!

The dermnetnz site is more what you are looking for. It refers to Swimmers Itch with information on treatments etc.

http://dermnetnz.org/arthropods/swimmers-itch.html

“The technical name for swimmer's itch is cercarial dermatitis. In developing countries, swimmer's itch has been called ‘rice paddy itch’, ‘clam diggers itch’, ‘sawah’ (Malaysia), ‘kubure’ or ‘kobanyo’ (Japanese) and ‘hoi con’ (Thailand).”

Yes, you solved it. All the phenomenas like why are just certain places in the huay - and just at some times - invested are clearly explained. With this information it will be quite easy to keep the problem out of my pond. Even if I would get invested through water from the canal or imported plants, there is no reason for panic as long as there are no birds in the pond. The worst that could happen is, that I would have to wait for a view month before I could swim again in my pond.

I certainly will not rise ducks in my pond now (I was considering to have just one or two pairs, but that's out now).

Thank you very much for your help in researching this. I would never have found it.

Regards

Thedi [email protected]

Hello ray23

There was (and still is) a yahoo-group called 'isanviking' founded some years ago by a viking who was at that time riding a Haybusa and living near Udon. But it is dead now and the viking is gone (I heard with a new wife and a car now in central Thailand?). You may find the old yahoo group by googling 'isanviking'.

There is a active 'bangkok rider' club with a forum: you may look for bkkriders at geocities.com. But this is only for Bangkok. They have some interesting stuff about shops, laws, import of bikes etc in their archives. I do not read it any more because the discussions center now more on where to meet for a beer. Nothing against that: but I am too far away to participate.

There are too may forums around. I suggest you start a thread here - well you already did There surely is a information vacuum for isarn bikers.

I myself live in Bankok, 4km north of Manchakiri which is 50 km south-west of Khon Kaen. I drive a Yamaha Royal Star (1300cc, V4, touring bike) and I am also constantly looking for riding company. There are Thais, but they have different ideas of what is fun. Are there any farangs with a bike near Khon Kaen (Ban Phai, Pra Yun, Mancha) reading this?

If you, with or without your club, ever pass here you are cordially invited to a beer at my home. Bankok is a small Thai tourist attraction: there are turtels living in the village. But I guess you will be bored by the turtels rather quickly. Your wife may hope for a lottery number hint, you may prefer a beer in my garden: ask for 'Thedi' or look for my house when you ride on the main road from Manchakiri north: you will see my home on your right standing out into the rice filelds of the village with three conspicious green roofs. Just give me a notice first: [email protected].

Regards

Thedi [email protected]

PS: a mailinglist may be a good idea too. If you start one you may add me to it - so Udon is a bit out of may way, I may learn things like news about repair shops etc. But i still think that thaivisa will be a place where a lot of people will find you. And the more there is to find, the more interesting it will be ;-)

Theoretically yes, you could own a motorbike. BUT you will need a confirmation of address from immigration which they did not give me in Nong Khai about 3 years ago when I tried for one (also on non immigrant O multiple entry visa).

If you have a wife she may be the best owner of your bike - she (my wife, not your wife ;-) is it in my case.

You will not only have to convince the immigration and bike registration office, but also your dealer (the seller usually does the registration for you) and insurance company. It is a complication for all of them.

But what is more important: Check the green book (registration) and compare the bike chassis number against the book and DOUBLE check that the bike's chassis number was not changed to match the papers.

If there is any doubt abaout this chassis number not being the original number of the bike: hands off. Just say no!

With a new bike this is usually no problem. You will get the insurance paper when you get your bike, the brand new green book within a week and the number plates after an other month. No problems there. The shady things are rather with second hand bikes and the bigger the bike the more suspiciouse you should be.

If you have a genuine registred bike (in anybodys name) you have a bike which serves you. As long as it is not stolen from you it is your bike. Bikes are a bit like currency in Thailand - whoever rides it, has it.

Take care...

Thedi

This is a typical example, as well known here in the huay in Bankok Manchakiri:

But this one looks not like a heu kan to me, so it was under this title in the internet:

So I have now images, I still don't know much about them: why are they only in certain eareas of a huay? what are the natural enemies? what are their prvered environment?

Thedi

I visited Kanjanapisek Wittiyalai Chayaphum:

From Chayaphum drive north on route 2051 which goes to Ta Ton waterfall. Between km stone 7 and 8 is a small road going off on your left. Signs are only in Thai, but there is a conspicuous green archway like at the entry to some rural villages with 'Nong Waeng' written (in Thai) on it. Follow this small road for about 300 meters and the school is on your left. It has yellow roofs like everybody tells you when you ask for directions, but the roofs are hidden behind trees, as long as you are on route 2051.

The school was not open when I visited it last Sunday. It looks a bit come down and is NOT an international school. All signs are in Thai only and of the view people who where around every body was very happy that I was fluent enough in Thai for a little conversation.

There are 1800 students there (Matayom only), but only about 500 stay in the school. The dormitories look rather cramped considering there are 40 kids to a room.

I liked it that the school is in the country. Lots of good air and nature around. I also liked that it is a Thai school and does not pretend to be anything like Christian or the like. Its rather cheap too. They emphasise the good home care for boarding students: there is a teacher assigned to each sleeping room which looks after the kids. Bed times are checked etc.

On the down side: only two non-Thai english teachers from Philipines and India - no farangs. Each dormitory-house has 6 rooms with 40 kids each and downstairs a closed room with one TV and six computers with internet (for 240 kids!), an other room is open and contains an other TV. There are not enough tables and chairs in this rooms for everybody to sit in cosy groups, but there are more tables under trees outside and then the place has a lot of rather scruffy grasland and bushland within its walls.

I intend to visit this school again in about two weeks, when it is open to see it how it is when full of students and to interview one or two teachers.

Regards

Thedi

Hi,

'heu kan' are a common problem in Isarn (Khon Kaen). This are small water snails living on plants in 'huay's which bite you if you get in contact with them. Such bites look like flea bites and itch for days.

Heu kan seem to be only in certain places in a huay. Also there are times when a lot of fisherman get biten by them - in other seasons nobody is biten by heu kan.

Does anybody know anything about them? They have a spiral shell which is flat, not rising to the center and are about 1cm in diameter. They like to cling to roots of floating plants too.

The reason I want to know: I intend to plant lotus and other plants in my pond. But the pond should still be usable for swimming. Last year I bought some lotus in a plant shop and they had heu kan on their roots; fortunately my gardener saw and knew them.

Local people tell me they are mostly found in clear water; me pond has very muddy water (clay particles). But I intend to chenge that.

If I get heu kan, how could I get rid of them?

Does anybody know a name for heu kan which could be googeled?

Thanks for any help

Thedi