PaoloR

Do not buy into rubber unless you (or your partner) have experience. A tapper can ruin your trees by being greedy or inexperienced. If they cut too deep then the yield will drop and the tree becomes non-productive. If they cut too much, (more than one third of the tree circumference), yield will be up in the short-term, which increases their wages, and falls off badly later.

The local government here in the South (Nakhon Si Thammarat area) is paying me to remove 40 rai of rubber and re-plant palm. The recommendation is not to re-plant rubber on the same land as diseases are spreading through this area and yields are diminishing.

The OP does not state which area he lives in, however since he also talks about rice fields in the area check that there are experienced tappers available. It is becoming harder to find them, even here in the heart of Thailand's rubber production region.

On the plus side the wood has value. Get a quote for removing the trees and subtract the value from the land price to see what the true land price is. I have just received 1.5m THB for the wood on my 40 rai.

9 minutes ago, Emdog said:

A molotov cocktail IS a firebomb. to misquote the bard: "A firebomb by any other name would burn just as hot".

Also, the term is "cut the muster", British military origin I'm fairly sure: are you (or whatever subject is at hand) of high enough quality to pass standards of inspection and be part of the troop? You do use the term 'muster' later, so give you that credit.

Trump wouldn't just send arms: he'd send US troops like he is doing in USA for imaginary bogus reasons

Peace out 

The term is originally from the USA and is "cut the mustard" It has been in common usage in the US and UK since the beginning of the 19th century. Recorded use by author O.Henry in 1907

"Cut the muster" is attributed to Emdog, Recorded use 2025.

6 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The RTP is on all levels incompetent as a new proof again.. Violence for a ticket is not done.. 

They were being chased for their failure to stop at a police check - not for their failure to wear a helmet.

Failure to stop when instructed to may have many reasons (carrying drugs, outstanding warrants etc.). It is considered a far more serious crime in law than failure to wear a helmet and warrants more than a ticket.

I am over 70, been using for 55 years. For the last 2 years over 2 grams per day of high quality, high THC per day (I grow my own)

I am currently on an extended stay in a country where it is illegal and 3 weeks without a toke.

No cravings, no symptoms of withdrawal. Just finding I dream a lot more at night and getting to sleep is harder.

So many truly deluded people. Once you lose your manufacturing base it is never coming back. How long will it take to re-build manufacturing? Who is going to pay for it? Where is the labor going to come from? How many products are going to be even close to competitive at US labor cost? AI doesn't make things. it is not the solution to this problem as many seem to believe.

Plus - the biggest single con is looking only at consumables and not balancing it against services. For example, is Google tariffed? The money income flow from banking, insurance and so many service industries needs to be balanced against the outflow from purchasing consumables. Looking at only one side of the equation, then jumping on to tariffs as a means of miraculously bringing non-competitive manufacturing back to the U.S. is pie in the sky.

The solution should have been to offshore manufacturing as it became uncompetitive and relocate the machinery and expertise to owned subsidiaries in low-cost countries. It worked for the Japanese and is now working for the Chinese. The USA which suffers badly from short-termism was not able to take the long-term view on offshoring and provide the finance to build elsewhere. It leapt at short-term profit taking and now thinks it can rectify the situation with tariffs.

Wonderful how many of the cool-aid drinkers that post on here have fallen for the "AI will fix everything" trope.

AI won't spin, weave/knit, dye and cut fabric.

AI won't sew millions of garments.

AI can't perform a manual task; it can only direct a program or a robotic machine. How much would it cost to build a factory full of cutting/ sewing/finishing robots? Probably comparable with the cost of setting up a car factory.

$200 basic T shirts would sell well wouldn't they!

Get real - it is the American consumer who requires cheap goods and has caused most basic products to be manufactured overseas. There is no way back except to move on to selling services and intellectual product, which the USA has already done.

Nike - for example, manufacture 95% of their products overseas. Product development, design, marketing etc. happen in the USA. Garments come into port at 3 USD landed and retail for 20 USD.

The manufacturer is lucky to make 15%  (45 cents) The rest goes to Nike and the retailer less transport, write downs etc.

So who is the winner here? Nike and the retailer, not the factory who makes the garment. The other real winner is the end customer who gets what they want at the best price.

Charge them the price it really costs to do all of this in the USA and hear the screams! Followed shortly by Nike going bust.

Take a sector that every American consumes regularly - Clothing and footwear.

There are no factories of any size manufacturing for the domestic market. Over 90% of apparel and footwear items are imported.

Building factories to make clothing/footwear in the USA would involve a substantial cost. Machinery would have to be imported; labor would have to be trained and paid at a labor cost way, way higher than current sources overseas.

All fabrics would have to be imported- there are virtually no textile factories producing volume goods in the USA

All trims such as buttons, threads, zips, labels would have to be imported.

To move manufacturing of these goods back to the USA is a complete non-starter.

Prices would be at minimum double their current level.

Take an order from Walmart for 5 million fleece hoodies with a 12 week turnaround from order to first delivery - how are they going to deliver that domestically? How are they going to persuade their customers to pay 60 USD for a basic Walmart hoodie? Where are the 6 factories with 2/3 thousand workers in each going to be found?

This is all wishful thinking from the uninformed Maga crowd. History shows that once you allow manufacturing to leave and move to a service-based economy there is no way back.

The above relates to just one industry. Extrapolate it over the many products that a consumer driven society like the USA requires every day and even someone with half a brain can see the absurdity of just assuming mass manufacturing can be re-instated on a wish and be operational within any reasonable time scale. Let alone consider who will invest the large sums necessary to build the required infrastructure.

Pie in the sky

Setting up a company that does nothing - just owns some land, is a potential long-term burden.

I did this 15 years ago and bore the costs of set up plus annual accounting and auditing fees.

Two years ago, after the company had conducted no business other than owning the land and paying the accountants for 13 years; I was informed by the local government that unless the company started to function as a company should, with cash flows and transactions, then the company would be deemed inactive and be forced to close.

I didn't bother to contest this - I had enough of accountant's fees!

I only eat Thai food - there is no deterioration in any of the restaurants I eat in.

Why go to another country and complain about the price and quality of food when you choose a cuisine that uses imported ingredients, or ones the local population don't use?

Not the router's fault 

Ditch the paranoia, your affliction is psychosomatic.

As the Thais would say:

You think too much!