Vegemite

You have to be a little careful with these things.

In New Zealand, the government did something similar but they did not go as far as Thailand is going ( they havent tryied to ban drinking yet ).

After the smoking ban came into force anything with the slightest chance of danger started to be targeted. Childrens playgrounds, swimming pools, car driveways and it never seems to stop.

Soon we wont be able to walk to the shop without being wrapped in cotton wool and wearing a helmet.

Seems I read somewhere the laws are strict because of all the Thai moon shining and all the money folks are making with the few legal version allowed to be brewed.

you have it in a nutshell - all governments are the same, if they are missing out on tax then they jump in and ban it.

This thread brings back fond memories of living in Boulder, CO (the homebrew capital of the world)...everyone homebrewed there and you could get some really nice ingredients there. I'll never forget saving up and buying my first glass set of bottles instead of using plastic water 5 gallon jugs...

Ahh Bolder great home and micro brewing state. Some excellent beers along the West Coast, I had a few memorable stops in Oregon as well. Amost made me think that you Americans can actually make beer, then someone handed me a Bud lite and I realised how wrong I was.

When I left Oz I had a HUGE goodby party and handed out over 2,000 bottles of home brew all in 375ml bottles that I had collected over the years. There was wheat beers, stouts, lagers, ales and eveything in between. Brought tears to my eyes as all my mates slid sideways up the drive way after a full days BBQ drinking and holding onto a carton of 24-48 beers

Question - plastic bottles? how do you gas it? Do I really want to know?

have fun and remember drinking and driving are not mutually acceptable activities.

I have been using plastic bottles for quite a few years now. Until then I only used glass and metal caps. But once my arm was bent by a friend using plastic bottles it was no turning back.

I can buy food quality brown plastic beer bottles with screw caps for bugger all.

It just makes bottling so much easier and faster.

After bottling it is just a couple of good twists on the cap and thats it.

No machinery or extra operations to perform.

The plastic bottles gas up the same as the glass ones and can handle the pressure no prob. In fact the friend that steered me this way uses his kids old plastic 2L coke bottles without a problem.

They say that you can only use the caps 5 or 6 times but in reality you can keep using them for dozens of times with no trouble. The only thing that I have found is that they will start to leak once the seal gets to old and you end up with a bottle or two of flat beer.

Way back I had the odd disaster ( bottling to early ) and ended up with 30 little time bombs. Sticky splinters of glass everywhere, but the plastic ones just dont blow.

Give it a go and I am sure you will be surprised. There is no plastic taste and once it is in a glass nobody can tell the difference.

All the best.

Vile stuff boys ... vile stuff ... bottled or draft ....

But, I like Chang beer.

Going to Laos in a few months to try a bia Loa draght.

Drawn from a bottle.

Cant wait.

Not sure if this should be here but . . .

My wife bought a bottle of Chang Draught beer at 711.

The sober or drunk will be aware that if the beer is in a bottle is is not draught but TIT!

It is also not unlike bad tasting water so do not be tempted to try it. If there is nothing else try an icecream!

Surprise, surprise.

In the antipodes ale has been called draught for generations. Bottled or out of a tap.

Bloody colonies eh!

The nearest home brew shop to Thailand is in Singapore, I was going to bring Coopers home brew kit over with me as a pressie for a mate of mine who in actual fact is a police officer in Thailand, good job I have read this post.

I was unaware that home brewing is illegal.

It isn't - as long as you make it for home consumption and not sell it. Same as most countries.

I brought all my home brew stuff here when I moved and "accidentally" included a few (ok 12 cans) of liquid malt. The temp here (Chiang Mai) is similar to Oz so you will need a good Hot yeast - do not even think about sticking bread yeast in with it. Buy a dozen packets of Coopers yeast which will work well in the heat.

Beer needs:

Malt

Dextrose

Yeast

Hops

Water

The Malt can be found if you look around in the health food shops - buy it by the kilo.

The Hops are harder to get hold of and you may have to consider getting them sent over from home as part of a "home survival pack" If you are lucky you can do the same with liquid yeast but to be honest I find they brew out way too fast in the heat so unless you make a cool water jacket or make the brew under ground are not really an option.

I had a truly serendipidous visit to the Rimping supermarket and they had a six pack of Coopers Ale (red) which is a) truly wonderful stuff and made as a huge scale home brew with natural fermentation and carbonisation so I just drank most of the bottle and kept the last cm with the yeast sediment, added a bit of dextrose and water, capped it with a rubber bung and airlock as in a few days there was my yeast ready for rounds 2-5. tragically I have not seen any more of it since. Nor will they bring in supplies of malt, yeast, or dextrose (see below)

Dextrose - this is where the whole thing comes unstuck - I have not been able to find a supply of dextrose and the only alternative would be to use cane sugar (erg) or do a full malt fermentation. Dextrose is corn sugar and much superior to cane sugar for home brewing.

Oh last thing - for your own sake remember to use clean filtered water - nothing ruins a good home brew faster than bad water, well except for rogue yeasts, infections, dirty bottles.

Hope this helps out

Thanks for the info Crow Boy.

Are you sure about home use being legal?

I have asked questions on TV before about this very topic but all I got was negative comments.

You obviously brew from scratch, boiling all the ingredients ect..

I have been brewing for years using the canned extracts and all I have to do is add sugar and water ( I brew for consunption ) and I just find it so easy and fast.

When I was a kid, my friends father used to brew beer under the house using bread yeast and now and then we would liberate a bottle or two.

It was terrible stuff. I know the yeast is important these days.

If brewing isnt illegal for home use why cant someone or yourself import the cans of extract.

Thanks for the info.

There have been a number of reports lately about marriages between Issan women and farangs bringing prosperity to parts of Issan and the women becoming farang in their eating habits. Successly relationships they seem to be generally

I am 2 years now seperated and live alone but would like to meet and possibly reside in Issan. Where do you meet prospective wives? The bars are really risky and agencies are just money making machines so it must be personal introduction friend of a friend I guess any advice on this. I don't live in Pattaya but down in Sattahip

Constructive advice only please

John

My upcountry wife says she can find you a good Issan lady easy.

Last time we were up there she never stopped answering questions about how to get a shiny white farang type man.

Not sure if all the ladies asking the questions had love in mind though.

One of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen was sitting on a table at a village market. She was surrounded by chillies and fruit with some offal behind.

The market was as Issan as you can get and they dont see a lot of farang.

They are really awesome people.

The internet has its pitfalls though as nobody really knows who they are really dealing with.

All the best.

I believe that home brewing anything is illegal in Thailand without the relevent licence. I own a home brewing store in Australia and was interested in doing some fermentation here in Chiang Mai but found out that I legally couldn't. I suppose its the same as distillation in Australia, its illegal but it is done. Here are some links that might help:

www.brewcraft.com.au

www.essencia.com.au

www.stillspirits.com.au

www.qbrew.com.au

PM if you want to know anything else about brewing......

Anyone can brew wine, beer or spirits legally in New Zealand.

It is cheap and easy using " kits " of extract ( for beer ).

I make 32 large bottles of beer for around NZ$12.

Wadsy, can you send these kits to Thailand?

P.S. not there yet but need a plan.

Doesnt anyone know about the Poon Petch Sport Club.

Serviced apartments and sparkling clean. The units have a real toilet and hot water shower, TV and a fridge if you want, a balcony and air con. It was new when we were there ( Feb this year ) and there was a pool being built. It has a resturant and bar down stairs with good food. It is accross the road from The Roi Et City Hotel and a few doors away from The White Elephant.

What more could anybody want?

We will be making a bee line to the place next trip to Roi Et.

P.S. stay away from Kan Kaen Hotel unless you can sleep with the smell of urine and the sound of many thousands of mozzies. It is listed in Lonely Planet. Shame on them.

Here you are Yorky, thought you would like this, but don't be a naughty boy and open the windows before the due date.

What a great idea.

Can you hang them over the bed?

Great info and thanks a lot Issangeorge,

Do you know any half decent places to stay at Mukdahan? Maybe with a real toilet and a shower and clean? Guest house or serviced apartments or hotel.

If you know of anywhere to stay do you have phone numbers or any other info??

Have you been to Laos via Mukdahan and are there any problems or things that I need to know or do?

Sorry for the 20 questions.

Thanks for that.

I am trying to get some sort of travel plan together and was wondering about a trip out to Mukdahan. And maybe a day trip into Laos.

I want to base at Roi Et and after we have done the village thing ( Wapipathum ) we will eventually be heading down to Ubon.

Do you have any information on buses or other forms of transport from Roi Et to Mukdahan and how long it takes to get there? Also where to stay at Mukdahan. Is it good for a day trip?

Is it better to up roots and go Roi Et - Mukdahan - Ubon - BKK or Roi Et -Ubon - Bkk. and just visit Mukdahan for a day or two?

Any info would be really helpfull.

Hi All, first post, only recently informed of this forum. I Have been living in Roi Et for almost the last four years. Funky town and growing fast. My wife works at the travel-car rental place any info required call 043 513230 or 01 8727649 English and Thai spoken.

For now,

TapDam

Hello TapDam and thanks for your reply.

Is there a chance that you can tell me what the car rental prices are? Ball park would be O.K..

Also, out of interest, what do you think is the make up of the farang population in Roi Et.

By this I mean where do the majority of farang come from?

When I was there I didnt hear a lot of English being spoken by the few farang that I came close to.

I am from way down under but just loved Roi Et and will be there maybe Feb or March and want to have a better look around.

Thanks.

I loved Roi-et when I visited this year. It is clean and easy to get around.

The lake is really beautiful and full of fish that you can feed, just thousands and thousands of them.

There is a TV member named Roiet and he can probably help you if you can find him.

I was advised to visit the White Elephant bar and resturant close to Roi-et city hotel.

The owner can point you in the direction of pretty much anything that you want.

You can contact them; Poo and Klaus tel/fax 043 514778 mobile 01 0590060.

I will be visiting again next Feb and want to spend much more time there than the last time.

It is a real gem of a place for sure.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I would probably go up in a flash as well.

Most of the village were there and if I get the right pic, you can see them stretching out for a fair way in front and there were many behind as well.

To tell you the truth, I didnt find it depressing at all. It was a huge honour for me and the Thais were very happy to have me there.

The only part of it that was a little strange was when I had to rest a branch against the coffin.

It was pretty high but not long after, they poured petrol or something over the body.

The deceased was 101 years old.

They have a lot going for them in these little villages. They are really poor but happy with life and the family values are very strong.

The monks did a great job as well.

The food and drink are a great way to comfort the family and a village worth of company goes a long way.

Went to a funeral upcountry earlier this year. They got on the turps for 4 days with the body in the house ( 35 degrees ).

There was a procession through the village and across the rice fields where they had a stack of wood. The coffin was placed on the stack, there was a ceremony, a few rounds of gun fire and some fireworks and the coffin was burned.

So if you are wondering how you are going " out ", this is it!

Would put more pics on but only know how to put one.

06:30 - out of bed

06:35 - coffee and smoke ont'stoep

06:50 - log into Thai Visa

06:52 - read "interesting new posts"

06:56 - log on to "Alternative Chat"

07:00 - commence talking <deleted> to a bunch of divvies

12:00 - open first bottle of Archa

13:00 - open second bottle of Archa

14:00 - go t'rub-a-dub, drink beer

16:30 - go t'snooker, play snooker and drink beer

18:00 - return home

18:15 - cook dinner drinking beer

19:00 - eat dinner and drink beer

20:00 - fall asleep in front of telly

22:00 - go to bed

Anyone would think I'm in a rut!

I'me in!

Show me the way brother.

Hello,

I am new to this forum ( or any forum ) and I have a Thai wife from the Isaan. Next year I will be going to upcountry to visit her nine brothers and sisters and ageing parents. My wife comes from the Khaen sub-district of Wapeepathum.

The reason that I have joined this forum is to ask those of you that live there or have visited the area for some or any information on what I can expect.

For me, the thing that worries me the most is the food as I can not eat isaan food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and the insects don`t turn me on at all. Is it possible to get farang food. As far as accommodation goes what is the best and the worst place to stay. Can I get a taxi or another form of transport to her village and back without relying on her family. In fact any information would be greatly appreciated.

In reality, my wife will probably organize many things for me but better to be prepared.

Thanks for any input.

Hi my name is John,

I have only just come across your post, regarding Wapipathum.

I am English and I live in Wapipathum, I have been told that I am the only Falang living here, so if you still need any help let me know. As for Falang food Tesco Lotus in Roi-Et in the easiest and best to get to. Roi-Et also has a great park to relax in.

When I go back to the UK I usually bring back food items I cannot find here, like good tea, Oxo cubes etc. It's also difficult to get good cheese here unless you go to the major citys like Bangkok or Pattaya.

Don't try to organise local travel yourself, the family like to take care of the Falang and you may upset them if you try to be to too independant.

As for Wapipathum, according to internet information, the population in the town is around 12,000, but if you include all the nearby villages the population is nearer 25,000.

You cannot buy Falang food here, you have to go to Roi-Et or Maha Sarakham. In fact there are no facilities for Westerners here, only a few Thai Karaoke bars just outside of town. But the people here are really nice and we also have a small market here on Monday and Thursday.

Hello John,

and thankyou for your message.

I have since been to Wapipathum and to Waengchai this year, March 06.

Wapi is a great place to visit when you have been staying at " the village ".

I used the internet shop there and had some really great BBQ chicken.

We will be up that way again next March/April.

Maybe we could cross tracks.

I will PM you.

All the best.

In addition to the currency risk, remember there is no deposit insurance in NZ. So, if the bank fails you could lose it all.

with NZ being a harbour of instability and all....

the sheep must be getting restless!

They are for sure.

But nothing wrong with an unstable sheep if you have big gumboots ( wellingtons )

Here`s a pic of an upmarket, upcountry village toilet including shower , vanity and everything you could possibly ask for.

Just no dustbin. Or paper.

Looks just like mum-in-law's

At least she has installed a bum squirter, paper and bin (for her Farang son-in-law)

Yep. You got it.

It is the father in law`s and I`ve got concrete, tiles plumbing and comfort going in as we speak.

"Thankyou to the gods"

Hi,

Another why...;-)

I don't know in Thailand, they don't use Toilet like in European country.

I don't know why you have a dustbin in each toilet.

Some ppl say me that you must not throw ur toilet paper in Toilet...other ppl say yes.

I don't understand why they don't throw paper in it...I think it will be again better for hygienic

Thanks to know.

Here`s a pic of an upmarket, upcountry village toilet including shower , vanity and everything you could possibly ask for.

Just no dustbin. Or paper.

"Saw today one bank ( Kiwi Bank ) offering 7.55% but not sure of the term. Will check."

my bank in Singapore offers for NZD deposits:

overnight......7.35%

2 weeks........7.42%

1 month........7.55%

6months........7.70%

Very good!

What about tax ect.

What is " your bank ".

P.S. you are probably right about NZD, maybe early next year.

mmm, how about new zealand? seems easy to get in, I heard.

might have to have a bit more in the bank than the equivalent of 800K baht.

very expensive boredom from what i've heard

I spend almost exactly the same (if not more) in Thailand as I do back home in NZ.. as for the boredom... well you get out what you put in. I wouldn't go to NZ if I was after drink and women.

True.

At the moment there are flowers and spring growth everywhere and it is really something to see.

There are many days that the sky lookes as though it has been wiped with window cleaner, it is so clear.

You can drink the water everywhere and the people are generally friendly to any nationality.

Summer can touch 30 degrees in some parts and nobody lives more than a stones throw from the ocean or major river. And. It is all free!

There is a mojor skill shortage.

However, the government leaves a lot to be desired and for me the winter is the pits.

I crave Thailand.