Snoozy

2 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Will be interested to hear what Big Joke thinks about this new development . I can see a mass exodus to neighbouring countries who will be more than happy to watch and see us put our money into there economy. 

Honestly, I think that is exactly what they would like. My belief is they surely want tourist dollars, but they really don't want westerners living here full time, you know, as it we are the source of Thailand's crime and other problems. Once they have all of our banking info, who is to say they change some rule and seize accounts as well. 

Quick question... does anyone have a source for pig flooring, or livestock flooring. I've struck out on Google, so thought I'd ask here. We are up in the Chiang Rai area and looking for a way to get some of the pigs off the concrete (it is to pitted and very difficult to clean). 

On 3/14/2018 at 6:13 AM, surfdog said:

I read these are not good by many sources of professional bee keepers, I won’t comment on how but just let you know to check that out. I’ve been trying to get up and going too, but I for now I really just want bees to live here to help pollination. They came here before but unluckily got damaged in a brush fire. So maybe they remember and not so keen on coming back.


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Yes, I've heard of of conflicting thought regarding those things. I really just want a beekeeping hobby, and really don't want more than one or maybe two hives, that is... if I even do it at all. I'll so more research though, and even if they prove to be "ok", I'm not sure the import tax would be worth it. It's just a thought at this point. 

On 3/14/2018 at 9:20 AM, thoongfoned said:

there was a thread on hear with members talking about the small machines that are available last year, 10,000 ish thousand baht, sort that you could pick up and put in the back of the pickup....brand new. if i were to buy this would be the type i would buy. lazda could sell them?, they seem to sell most things, delivered to your door, our children are always buyin stuff from there with no probs....

Thanks... now they are talking about buying a machine from the person who was supplying their rice hull. I'm not paying for it outright, but if it was worth it, I might chip in. Personally, I think they should get out of the whole things seeing as how they make very little profit, if any. But like everyone else, if there was a way to cut the cost of feed, then maybe it would be worth it to them. They seem to enjoy it. 

I'm thinking of buying one of those Flow Hives that are being promoted by that Australian company. Has anyone bought one here in Thailand, I'm curious as to what the duty/tax was on something like that. 

Also, just wondering if anyone could share any links that relate to beekeeping in Thailand. Not sure I want to do this, but it is something I've thought about for a very long time. Just as a hobby though, nothing more. 

Does anyone mill their own rice hull to use as a feed supplement? My wife and her mother are contemplating purchasing a mill/grinder (not sure what they are called). 

If anyone does this, can you recommend a brand or place to buy? I'd be interested in learning more, independently of what they do. 

If it was April 1st, I'd think it was a joke. 

I know this thread has kind of died out, but I'm trying to find something for those stinging red ants that leave trails on the soil. Do you think this stuff would work on them as well? I used to use fipronil on ants back in the states and it worked better than anything I have ever used. I'd use it again if I could find it here in Chiang Rai. But with that said, maybe the Beger/Bayer stuff would do just as good of a job. 

You guys are huge operations compared to my wife's struggling mom. They try to raise 20-30 piglets from birth (she has 4 sows) at any given time (2-3 times per year). The feed costs are sinking them faster than a canoe full of lead. I wish I knew more, or could find an inexpensive way to supplement the feed cost. That is what is killing them with the falling price or pork up here in CR. 

On 7/22/2017 at 7:42 PM, grollies said:

I've a contact for grafted avocados, I'll send him your query.

Thanks grollies. Look forward to finding some one of these days, haha. 

Any new information on buying grafted avocados here in Thailand? Any sources? Or names of nurseries that might ship to Thailand?

I believe your Thai wife will need to get a tourist visa to enter the U.S. In order to get that, you need to fill out the DS-160 form online, pay the fee at a the gov't bank (5,600 baht), then make an appointment for an interview at the nearest consulate that gives visas. 

My wife and I are legally married too, and have all the supporting documents... but with that said, her being married to you really doesn't get her a pass into the states until she has a visa. Getting the visa all depends on the interview at the consulate. My wife passed on the first try, simply because she could answer all the guys questions about me (my middle name, b-day, brothers names, where I worked, where my mother lived, etc)... which proved that she really knew me and wasn't some sort of convenience marriage. I know others who didn't pass, but passed on the second interview.... and others who didn't pass until the 5th interview. If she is declined, they don't say why,  you don't get a refund, and the only recourse you have is to apply again and pay another fee. It sucks that it is that way. Oh, the interview was only about 10 minutes long, was in either English or Thai, or a little bit of both. My wife interviewed on a Monday morning and received her passport with the visa in it via mail 4 days later on Thursday. 

As far as your daughter goes, I don't know about that. I assume that if she was born in Thailand, your wife could take her to the gov't office that processes passports and just apply for a one. In our case, that was in Chiang Rai. That was a real simple process and takes about a week. If I remember right, it costs about 1,100 baht. Since she has a U.S. passport, there is no problem getting into the states, but there would be a problem returning to Thailand, which I guess is why you need the Thai PP. 

It isn't any better up here in Chiang Rai. Speed test shows I have a pretty good connection, but trying to stream a movie from an "out of Thailand" site is virtually impossible now. This has been going on for about 1-2 weeks now. Everything else seems to be working fine.

Don't forget to buy the 10 baht gold too! There really isn't a way of getting out of the sin sod (in my opinion) provided you are having a traditional wedding. It is for show, and you may or may not get it all back. I gave 400K, my wife suggested we give her mom 100K of it after the wedding. I was fine with that, as her mom is widowed and works incredibly hard in the rice fields and is just a really nice woman who could use the money. I got 300K back as agreed. Now if you are marrying someone in their 50's, who has had kids, was already married once or twice... you may get out of it completely. At least that was the case with one of my friends.

Our donations accounted for about 80% of the wedding costs (275 guests), which covered the rental for the wedding, catering, and booze (which I severely underestimated, lol).

Thanks for the great advice. Interview was Friday. 15 minutes. Lots of papers showing proof and plans were ready, nothing was shown. After 15 minutes she was told that everything is ok and the passport would be delivered to the post office. She mentioned that she was flying today which meant Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... they said it should be fine. Today she intercepted the passport at the post office where the embassy sends from, before it was sent to the post office where it should be picked up. 10 year visa and made her plane. I'm in shock as all the tales of woe say that nothing about her situation should have enabled her to get approved at all. But here she is approved for a 10 year visa on the first shot.

Thanks for all the great advice!

Congratulations to you and your girlfriend! Yeah, that was our experience. We had everything we could think of, and nothing was looked at. I really think if the application is spot on, and she can answer questions about the information on it, it is a go. Well, that and not trying to bs your way through the interview. As stated somewhere on the gov't site, the main reason people are denied is because they screwed up on the application somehow, was improperly filled out, or had blank spaces.

What a relief to get that 10 year visa on the first try. I think it wore on my nerves more than it did my wife's, and you are right... there are way too many tales of woe. And although I can't back up this statement with irrefutable proof, I still think given the same application and interview process in BKK vs CM, more are approved in CM. BTW, we just came back from her first trip to the U.S., and although the wallet is significantly thinner, it was worth it. Amazing how quickly a month can go by.

Congrats again.

*Edited posts removed*

If I remember right, there was an option to either have the PP mailed, or you could pick it up at the consulate. We opted to have it mailed since we couldn't stay in Chiang Mai, she had to go to work on Tuesday. But with that said, if your gf is granted a visa, maybe she can ask when she can pick up her PP at the consulate... it might be faster than mailing it.

My wife and I made the drive from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai for her visa interview on 29-02-2016.

Thanks for the great post. My gf is from the north but currently living with me in Singapore where she is studying. We are setting up an interview in Chiang Mai but will need her to get her passport back in order to return to Singapore. With that in mind, how long did it take for your wife to get her passport back after the approval?

Her interview was on a Monday morning, she received her passport four days later on Thursday afternoon in the mail. They were pretty quick about it. I still think that DS 160 is probably the most important part of it all, please make sure the info is accurate and that she can answer everything that is stated on it. I honestly think if my wife couldn't tell the guy my birthday, what I did for a living when I was working, where we were going to go, or my brothers name (as already stated on the application), she would have failed. I read somewhere that the largest cause of denial is an improperly filled out application. I think that is where they don't even take the time to interview you, and just say denied. Best of luck to you with the process.

Very good advice for the next time, maybe in 1 year. I think she did not want to involve employer because she would "lose face" if application denied.

Why wait a year? If there were gaps in the application, why not just reapply and explain the situation and include better evidence of reasons to return? A years wait will not necessarily change someones circumstances.

I don't know why you would wait a year. I have a friend in Alaska whose gf got rejected in BKK. Applied a few months latter and was approved. Although the way I understand it, she was about to get denied when she lost her temper and yelled at the guy.... saying something to the effect that she has already been denied once, came back with more evidence, and if they were going to deny her again, they could shove it... she went on to say whatever she brings they won't believe, so why bother. Either she made a good point, or the guy was afraid for his life having a pissed off Thai woman yelling at him... it was at that point he said approved, lol.

The whole problem with our interview procedure is that they will not tell you why you were not approved... so there is no way to fix whatever the issue is. I realize why they don't give reasons though, as it could actually help the people they don't want in, get in. But for those hard working Thais who just want to vacation and then come back, if they are denied, I think they should be told why... after all, it could be something as simple as a misunderstanding to a question.

My girlfriend just asked me if I could ask my friends who raise pigs if they knew why or what would cause a piglet to be coughing and vomiting a yellowish material, this piglet also has diarrhea. It is 12-13 days old at this point. So far, this is the only sick piglet, and she is wondering if someone could give advice as to what medicine to give the piglet. Maybe there is some general type of medicine?

I have read to inject the piglets in the neck muscle and not the ham, as it can damage the sciatic nerve... and stain the meat. I have tried to explain this to the gf, but the language barrier is too difficult, lol.

With that said, in in real life... I don't know if injecting in the neck vs ham is the standard practice. What do you guys do? I also read that you should use a 1/2 inch (1.27cm) 18-20 gauge needle. She has so far used a number 21, but it looks to be over an inch long. I don't know how far she is poking that thing in there either.

Thanks again for the advice.

When injecting the newborn piglets with iron, should you use a new unused needle for every piglet? Or can you use the same needle? I assume it would be a fresh needle for every injection, but I'm not sure, so that is why I ask. My gf told me that a vet came a few months ago to inject an antibiotic to the pigs they were growing out... she said he used the same needle on all of the pigs, which to me, doesn't sound safe. But again, I don't really know.

So as it stands... the first three sows gave birth, 35 piglets in all. Only three piglets survived (from one sow), and now are 2-3 weeks old...and seem to be doing fine. The last sow gave birth two days ago to 11 piglets. All have been injected with iron, and have been given some vitamins orally. Mother seems fine, babies are eating and active. Teeth and tails have been clipped. No mortality yet, and I hope it stays that way.

snoozy. use these 2 months to read through this whole tread. everything uneed toknow is here !

i love livin here and raising piglets and pigs is the best way tomake an income in myopinion.use the information here.common sense and DO NOT ACCEPT 'THIS IS HOW THAIS DO IT' arguments.

my other advise would be to ask ur gf not to invest in equipment until.u done this and are here. you gotto look at the market first before u decide how toproceed. until you have a reputation or many buyers, doing it like others in the area do, is a sure way tolose money. the buyer is king. u gotto find ur niche.

in my case thats high quality pigs with low fat and much red meat. lots of others raise pigs on ram but butchers have found that my meat sells first and at higher prices.

if u got the money to build a 100+sow , 600 finishing pig farm. thats not important.but if u start smaller scale and still want to make a reglar income , think things through first.

Thanks again Revar... I agree with proceeding with caution. They, the mom and gf (who is kind of a non-working partner since she works full time at a school) are already into this a bit. They bought another dozen piglets to grow out two days ago, and have close to another dozen of various ages. They also have four more young sows (to eventually breed) to add the the 4 adults that just had (ok, three of them, the 4th is due in two days) babies. I'm busy trying to learn. I'd really like to see this fourth litter survive, and will pass on the info you provided to me regarding shots and care for the first week or so. I think they just bought a farrowing crate today, didn't see any money change hands, but that is the impression I got... and has been kind of confirmed in a roundabout way, lol. They don't have room to grow out more than I'd say 40-50 pigs at a time right now, so diving in much deeper than this isn't an option at this point. Eventually if they get it down, they have room to probably double their size, but that will be about it.

They have confidence growing them out, having just sold 25 pigs within the last 2 weeks for close to 130,000 baht. But again, at this point, with no record keeping... I have no idea if they made a profit. I guess time will tell how this venture will go. So far, I'm only into it for a small amount money wise ($350)... and that was to buy fill dirt. They have not asked for help, and seem to want to do this on their own, and to learn as much as they can to become somewhat successful.

Will post questions as they arise... thanks to the group for the advice!

I am using pens and not cages to breed piglets. heres my input.

if young piglets die there can be many reasons.

assuming that they were born healthy and its not a crushibg problem i can think of the following common reasons:

1) malnutrition.

- pregnant sows need different food than finishing pigs. when they give milk they need other food again.

- a week before birth give the sow a 10cc catosal injection to stimulate metabolism andmilk production.

- during the first 24 hours the newborn need to drink at least every 2 hours. during this time the milk contains a substance which develops their imune system and antibodies. if they dont drink enough of this first milk they will often die sooner or later. even if they survive they stay very suspecticle to disease.

2) draft and cold

newborn piglets (and realy all pigs) get a cold very easily.

there should absolutely be no draft or wind in their pen. there must be a closed heated area where they can go sleep after drinking. put straw on the ground there too. during the first 2 days i also put straw in the mothers pen because they havent learned yet to go sleep in 'their room'. u much teach them that by placing them in there after they drink.

the sleeping area must be heated at night the first 3 nights.

3) iron deficiency

young piglets dont have enough iron in their blood to last more then a few days. only later they will get that from feed.

they will need a 2cc iron injection on day 2 or 3.

(iron is needed for the blood to cary oxygen,)

4) on day 0,1or 2 most farms clip the teeth and tail of the piglets. giving them a 1cc penstrep injection to prevent infection also combats other deseases.

5) poisoning

the pen must be cleaned daily. mold develops quickly in thailand and is deadly.

6) diarea

diarea is another reason many young piglets die.

if not caused by poisoning its often because the intestines havent properly developed.

to develop strong , efficient intestines piglets need to suckle e ough of the first 24-hour milk, drink mothers milk as long as possible ( minimum 2 weeks, but i do 4 weeks) and be gradually be introduced to solid food. ( i make it available from day 7 ) using EM in their water helps a lot in this too.

7) birthing problems.

u should help the sow when shes giving birth. if the piglet stays too long in the birth canal or get strangled by the 'cord' she may be born weak. wiping them dry. getting them breathing etc is also important.

Thanks Raver, those were some of the milestones and other bits of info I'm looking for. I'd like to try to establish a timeline that can be used as a guide, and this is a good start. I think this was the first time giving birth for all of the pigs, but I'm not totally sure. I have never been around breeding sized sows before, and didn't realize how big they can be until this afternoon when we went to some other guy's farm that is slowly closing up and I saw his. Our sows seemed about half the size to two-thirds of his which leads me to think that maybe they weren't ready... not sure about that though. Also, when looking at the one sow that has the three surviving babies, it doesn't look like she is loaded with milk... and the other two sows don't look like they even had babies. So now I wonder if malnutrition was the culprit. I can't remember on which pig it was (I think the first to give birth), but my gf mentioned via chat that the babies would eat (meaning suckle). I will be living here full time in about two months, and will be able to have first hand infor, instead of poorly translated infor to post, lol.

Look forward to figuring out some sort of timeline for the shots, teeth and tail clipping, castration, breeding and so forth. That plus when to feed supplements, how much to feed, and so forth and so on.

Thanks again for you advice.

did they inject with iron on birth?

have they kept pigs before,?

and as for saying the feed lady dosnt care,, well i would think she would want you to have pigs, she sells you the feed, she isnt a vet she sells feed, try and find a vet near to you, they are about,

we cant really give advice without seeing what is going on,

as for chickens running about, some say its bad, i have a few chickens running about, i think they do more good then harmas they eat scorpians and a scorpian bite will kill a pig no matter how big it is,

some say they can transmit disease, yes they could be so can wild birds so you are going to have to fully enclose if you go down that route,

there will be many factors why you are loosing piglets not just crushing, i would ask if they injected with iron at birth,

did the piglets look yellowish?

I don't believe they injected the piglets at birth, but with that said, we visited a man's farm that is selling off his sows and farrowing crates as he is getting out of the business. He gave them two bottles, one of injectible iron, and another of injectable vitamins, Hopefully he can be a wealth of information for them, unfortunately he speaks only Thai, so I can't play 20 questions. No, they have not raised pigs before... I believe the mom must know a little about it though, but my gf knows relatively little... but she is learning quickly. I was in Chiang Mai when most of the babies had died, I have not been there to actually see them. The only ones I've seen are the three living ones, which are now about a week old.

They did buy a farrowing crate/pen from him, and will pick it up tomorrow. I mentioned that they should clean it thoroughly at their home, disinfect it, then bring it to where they have the pigs. Don't know if that is sound advice or not, but I'd hate to bring in someone else's potential problems, as I think some preventative maintenance is always a good thing. I don't think the feed lady doesn't care, I've just never seen her offer any help. I know she was asked if they knew of a source for crates/pens, and all she said was they don't sell them... end of discussion, lol. Anyway, thanks for asking about the iron... I wouldn't have known otherwise. Like I said, I'm up for both the challenge and the learning curve!