turnpike

If you have Pla Chon (Snakehead fish) in there I don't think you are going to see any other fry or small fish.

Whereabouts is your pond?

wasn't aware pla chon were a predatorial fish. thanks for the info.

pond is in isaan, about halfway between khon kaen and udon thani.

Pla duk can breathe air from the surface, so they should be ok. Plan nin are notorious for rampant overbreeding followed by stunting when their food supplies become limiting due to over population. If you seem to have zillions of small pla nin you could try thinning them out periodically and/or offering some supplemtary feed such as rice bran.

I do have an article somewhere about a farm (in Nepal) that was growing plan nin in cages within ponds. Stunted 'wild' individuals living freely in the actual pond itself were harvested and turned into fishmeal to make feeds for the next crop.

thanks for that, crushdepth (you must have been a submariner for sure).

i'm pretty sure the fry i've seen in my pond are pla chon, just by the shape, they seem to hang out near the shore.

if there are pla nin fry in there, maybe they hide out deeper, but i don't think they are breeding. i would have seen some extra small ones feeding. i might be wrong, i'll see the pond again in 6 days and should possibly confirm. have seen the pla nin gulping air, that's for certain, especially an hour or two after feeding

speaking about "gulping for air", it's kind've like this forum, trying to learn as much as i can about the topic. thanks to all who have contributed.

turnpike

He's right - 1.5 is a good manageable depth for a fishpond. The problem with deep ponds is that you get stratification of the water - the bottom layers can become oxygen depleted if there isn't enough mixing.

you're likely right on that, i did try circulating bottom to top with a small centrifugal pump a few months back, and the water coming out smelt pretty rank, but , as i said earlier, fish seem to be doing okay, and they taste okay. unless i start having fish die off, i don't plan to aerate or circulate, but it likely wouldn't hurt i guess.

turnpike

An 8 metre deep pond!

well, the missus dug the pond (with a large excavater, not by shovel) while i was working, but not knowing any better, i would have done the same. it's right full now , only dug it last year, will be interesting to see how far it drops between now and the next rainy season.

i might be a bit off on my thai here, if i was home i'd ask the missus, but the pla duk are thriving, the plachon are thriving and multiplying, not sure of tis one, terraplin??, big silvery fish, anyways, they are thriving, only the pla nin refuse to grow. i'm thinking of trying to net a few, chop them up and refeeding them to the other fish (anyone ever tried that?). i've since been told that pla nin do better in shallow water, they aren't dying or anything, just eating but not getting any bigger. (sounds stupid, but hey, i'm new at this)

when i make my million and build my 20 fish ponds, i won't go quite so deep.

turnpike

if you,ve got the stomache for it, google "maggottry fish food", you'll find a link to a place in Benin (west africa) song hai experience i think its under.

haven't done it yet on that sort of scale, but maggots make excellent food for fish and chickens.

now, i haven't found any info on this, but wouldn't pigs eat maggots as well?

47 % protien if i remember correctly, dry weight is about 1/4 of live weight.

if you could farm a couple hundred kilos a day of live maggots you could feed a sh*tload of fish chickens, and pigs.

i actually find that exciting, i only have one pond, 20m by 20, by 8 m deep, but i plan (one day) to have about 20 ponds, once the wall is done, house is done, money earned etc. etc.

now you guys can get started, and by the time i'm ready to go with this, you'll have it all figured out.

good luck to us all,

turnpike

when i leave thailand for work, sometimes her mom accompanies us to the airport. i'll usually give her mom a hug and a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. you can feel her just tense up when i do this, like i was giving her a needle or something. she always smiles when i'm done, likely just relieved that it's over. i know she's not 100% comfortable with that, so that's why i keep on doing it.

was in phuket a couple years ago for loy kratong. there were literally thousands in the air, flying out over the ocean.

beautiful to watch, but i just hate to think how many of those large plastic bags end up in the water. i wish they'd make a law that using plastic bags was illegal, and go back to the originals (correct me if i'm wrong) which were made from rice paper.

thanks for the links, udon, you've definitely tweeked my interest.

turnpike

err, i hope he's just trying to humor us...

by the way, how is your cat doing?

considerably better than his friend by the sounds of it......

I have only bought parrots (Conures) without probs.

If buying a bird like the Conure, put yr hand in the box and see if they will step-up onto your hand.

If they do, buy them, as they have been raised from the shell and have been subject to a lot of care.

Make sure you get the breeders contact details as you may want to buy more, later.

Most good, part-time breeders won't be there every week, once the clutch is sold.

Sun Conure Aratinga Solstitialis

Great little watch "dogs"

Green-cheecked Conures

Much quieter than the Sunnys,

Ideal for an apartment.

Both types are very affectionate and respond to time spent with them out of the cage on a daily basis.

Let me know if you need a good cage and where to buy one on wheels. (2000Bt, in 2002)

Enjoy

edit: conures don't have 'dander' on their feathers, powder, to you and me, which makes them ideal for peeps who may suffer from alergies.

They love a shower and will join you if loose in the bathroom..... True!

udon,

just wondering, would birds like the ones you have do okay in a large covered cage outside if it was in a sheltered spot? i haven't got a house yet, just living in a small bamboo hut for now, not enough room for an inside cage.

never thought about it much before, but looking at your birds got me thinking about buying some one day. are they singers/talkers or both? just curious.

thnx,

turnpike

If you would have made a headline like: "Problem with Lesbian Computer" I'm sure you would have solved your problem in just one day....!

LaoPo

dammit, Laopo, you beat me to it....

Having spent some time in Issan, time with Issan families – dispersed around Thailand and all the issues raised above I can’t but agree that the life there is hard. Very hard. But it doesn’t at all surprise me that they rate as the happiness. These two things don’t seem at odds to me. It is the stoic heart of the Issan people in the face of all this which is the source of the happiness. Life is full of suffering – it’s how we deal with it that is the measure of happiness. We never have enough, we always have adversity, there is always death and deceit. This is life. And the Issan people have more than their share. They are not a bunch of enlightened people – I’ve seen the fights – the deaths from the fights, the cheating, the gossip – it’s not a picnic. But there is something very, very special in the Issan heart. There is a happiness there in spite of everything that has really touch me deeply.

very well said valjean.

i've only been there just over 2 years, half of that away working, but i couldn't agree with your post more. there really is something special about these people that has made me start to look at life in a different way. i'm not talking a major transformation here as of yet, i still worry about petty things, and i suppose i always will, but when you see how happy these people are with so little, you have to wonder why waste time fretting about the little things.

are they the happiest people in thailand? how long is a rope? impossible to say, but they are a long ways from being the saddest, even though they have every right to be.

again, thanks for the good post valjean.

does anyone know of breeders in the khon kaen area? i'm about 2 months away from finishing walling my property (6 rai), and once i "train" the locals to close the gate behind them, i intend to buy one.

6 rai should give him/her room to run (i would hope). i don't know too much about them but i know they have energy to burn.

u answered your self tutsi,... like duh!.... of course u build your own, or look for suitable junk that fits the bill.... and then set everything on brickes or legs or whatever so there is drainage... (use wood, cheap and available from wooden platforms that places use for putting huge containers of things on-- forgot the word )... etc .

be inventive, creative, recycle... jerry cans, metal barrels sawed in half (watch out for safety issues when doing so), packing boxes for long and skinny items from stores, whatever...

have fun.

bina

i think the word you were looking for was...like duh!...pallet

i'm not one who normally "double posts", but in this case i thought it appropriate. (i've only just posted this in the "tomatoes:please move if wrong" topic.)

anyhoo, google "upside down tomatoes", you can grow tomatoes upside down in a five gallon bucket, search enough and you'll find directions. sounds perfect for a balcony or terrace providing you have something strong enough to hang a five gal. bucket full of wet dirt.

no weeding, easy to water, i haven't tried it yet, but it looks promising. i've read somewhere you can also grow a tomato plant out of the top of it as well.

hope this helps

try googling "upside down tomatoes"

you'll find ways to grow tomatoes upside down in buckets. the beauty of that is you can move them into shaded areas if need be, no weeding involved, and very easy to add fertilizer and water. apparently a variety of vegetables can be grown this way. maybe not so good for large scale production, but for personal consumption they'd be good.

i brought 5 store bought ones (google "topsy turvy upside down tomatoes" to see the exact make) and brought them back from Canada recently. beauty of that is that they were all half price seeing as the garden season was well over at that point. i haven't used them yet, but i've got tomato seedlings started, when i get back from work i'll give it a go. i've had little or no luck, actually no luck, with tomatoes. when i was a kid growing up on the farm, i practically lived on toast and fresh garden tomatoes with a little salt and pepper. fried green ones were good as well.

hope this helps someone

I kind of miss the old airport, especially the "smoking pub" in the domestic end. i quit smoking almost a year ago, but a couple of the gals that worked there were good for a laugh, always looked forward to seeing them and having a few leos.

also, some might think i'm a bit off, but i even miss the long walk between the domestic and international terminals, didn't do a body harm after a long flight in, might have helped shake off the deep vein thrombosis....

the only place i could find in the domestic terminal at the gate i was flying at was the "green city" something or other restaurant/"bar?" . you pay for your beer with a prepaid plastic card, very institutionalistic, if that word even exists.

I used to live in a village near Kumpawapi full time, in fact I was the only Falang to live here despite 5 other Thai Falang marriages and one gay couple. I have been told that the other Falangs all stayed in hotels because they couldn’t handle the dirt/dust, flies, no hot water etc.

I didn’t mind all that, my problem was the boredom.

I got up with the family around 6 am had a cup of coffee, then sat around for a couple of hours then had breakfast at a more civilised hour.

If my dodgy internet connection was working I would check emails and surf the net until lunchtime.

I would then have a light lunch and return to the computer with a beer, I made it a rule of mine never to drink before noon !

The highlight of my day was to go shopping with my wife in Kumpawapi or Udon Thani.

During the day my wife did all the things Thai women do, a few chores, and a lot of eating, sleeping and of course non stop gossip !

I would go to bed around 8 pm.

Next day I got up with the family around 6 am had a cup of coffee……etc, etc, etc,

.

BORED !! I was!

Because I had always led an active life, I found I was not ready to curl up and die just yet, ( Retire !! )

So last January I decided to go on a teacher training course down in Ban Phe. My wife was horrified when she found out that it cost nearly 70,000 Baht. She did everything she possibly could to try to stop me, even after I qualified she was telling me to stop being silly.

But I am now an English teacher in a fairly large school 3 hours south of my wife’s village.

A house is supplied with the job, and my wife and our 2 year old daughter live with me most of the time.

I teach 1,200 students a week from the age of 13 to 18, and now there are not enough hours in the day for me. My wife gives me very little support despite being told that I am a good teacher ( something she doesn’t want to hear as she was sure I would

“ Crash and Burn” when I started teaching ). I know I am not a good teacher yet, but one day I will be, as I get on well with the kids and my fellow teachers ( they think I am a crazy Falang teacher ).

I only drink at weekends now ( and then not to excess ) and I now live in a small town population approximately 12,000. I am the only Falang living here, and there are no western amenities, just a couple of Thai Karaoke bars just outside of town. We haven’t even got a 7/11 here, so I now have to go shopping at Tesco’s in a nearby large town 30 kilometres away.

I decided on Teaching after I visited some friends in Pattaya . where I felt embarrassed to be a westerner. I looked at all the brain dead, western morons there, most of whom have never seen Thailand,

( Pattaya is Pattaya and is not representative of Thailand !!) and felt that there was more to life than Sun, Sex and Beer,

I didn’t like the way the western males treated Thai people especially the women there.

Most of us who live here know that Thai women do not work bar because they like it, (one once told me that,”it was a dirty job but the money was good”) most have young children they have to support, and nearly all their money is sent home to their families. Most of the Pattaya type males show no respect or understanding for these Ladies. Of course there are some Thai women who enjoy the lifestyle, but I am sure not many.

So if like me any of you are not ready for the scrap heap just yet, and can’t face endless days of dull boring routine inactivity, try going on a teacher training course, age is not a problem. Once qualified you could even teach privately in your own village, it doesn’t have to be a full time job and it will give you the chance to have something to aim for in life, instead of just filling the days until you eventually die.

My only regret is that I didn’t find out about teaching years ago. I really enjoy the work, and the Thai kids are great, they are very respectful to everyone, unlike Western Kids !!

When I lived in a village I was 58 going on 70. Now I am teaching I am 58 going on 30 !!

GREAT POST!!

this has to be the best "feel good" post of the new millenium.

i also live in a village, between kk and udon thani, and getting married dec. 1st (to an ex bargirl, by the way) who is the best woman i've met . by the way, i LOVE village life.

wish i could write more at this time but i'm sitting on a rig in the bay of bengal on a 15 minute coffe break.

good luck to all of us!

turnpike

Thai's are brainwashed from birth with so much hokus pokus its a wonder their own shadow does'nt scare them.

There must be books written somewhere describing an A-Z of auspicious do's & do'nts. The more illiterate ie hilltribes such as Lisu, Lawa, Hmong. Still make voodoo ricestalk dolls and practice all kinds of occult stuff. This stuff is inbred in them from way back when the Mons spread from China.

Makes me laugh, they spook themselves that much they have to buy a spirit house to protect them.

Inbred? Illiterate? Brainwashed?

But we are so much better yes? Brainwashed into wanting the latest fandangle...

These are people; the same as you, born with the same native more or less brainpower; who have not had the opportunities, by accident of birth, that you have had

If you have wasted it, and feel resentful, well.... that is up to you, but please do not sneer at these generally lovely people

Well said, Yorkman. I had the same impression as you when I read that post, and I couldn't have replied any better than you did.

Thanks.

Pretty sure if she were fully clothed, there would be nothing discussed about it here, or anywhere else for that matter.

Do you think maybe that's why she's wearing a bikini?

Smart if you ask me.

I have always found it pretty dumb how many farangs talk to Thais and it's no wonder that some Thais speak the way they do listening to the gibberish. There is no need for it. When I met my gf she barely spoke a word of English but had a good grasp of it on paper. That was 3 years ago. Now she speaks with a nice American accent because I've been speaking regular intelligible English with her over that time. I've never heard her say "same same" or "my friend she" or whatever.

You for real?

Does your gal say in her nice american accent " could y'all pass l'il ol' me the barbeque sauce" now?

I guess I'm guilty, or "dumb", because I think it's a naturally evolving process for some to adapt their English, or american, to their Thai partner, but it happens.

I sure wish I spoke "regularly and intelligibly" like you, and not the "gibberish" I speak now.

I get your point, but.....

Thnx for that Udon.

A good start to my day...

Anyone know if they have for sale in Isaan (Khon Kaen or Udon Thani) a gas powered chipper for mulching small branches, large plants, grasses, possibly coconut husks and smaller peices of old bamboo? ( mainly for adding to a compost pile). Nothing too heavy duty is needed.

If so, could you give me a ballpark figure in cost?

Many thanks for any input recieved.

This guy messaged me 7 times yesterday lol.

Ive already told him im into females not blokes.

"messaged" or "massaged"

I like how they'll stop whatever they're doing and stand at attention for the national anthem, and as mentioned before it's pretty cool how much they adore their King. Pretty rare to see that kind of devotion anywhere.

I like how the gals can so lithely step out of their sandals when entering a house. I like how they ride side-saddle so effortlessly on the back of a motorcycle. Looks very graceful as well.

I like the kids, most so well behaved and obedient, not little hel_l-raisers like I'd see so often back home.